"You will not be remembered. No stories shall be told of your reign. Your petty empire among the stars will fall into ruin, and then to dust. You end here."

Adrenaline surged as Szar's machete bit into the Kaordonian warlord's head with a satisfying crunch, spraying bluish gore over Szar's broad chest. Primitive, to be sure, but effective. For too long the Anubians had been enslaved by Kaordonian technology, divided and kept strong enough to work, weak enough not to fight back. Szar had finally changed that. He had united his people and now they were free, free from their chains, free to choose their own destiny, free to--

"I had started to wonder if you wouldn't manage it, you know. It's good to finally see you in person like this."

Szar spun to face the unfamiliar voice, cursing himself. He had let himself become complacent, let his guard down, and now he would pay for it just as Korphus had paid for his complacency mere moments ago.

"Relax," said the woman, raising her hands. "Spoiling your victory is the furthest thing from my mind right now." As much as he'd tried to learn of the universe beyond his planet, Szar was unable to place her species. She was short (although with a few exceptions everyone was short to an Anubian, and Szar was quite tall even for his kind), her skin a deep, rich green. That all seemed like a footnote in comparison to her beauty, though; her curves were as ample as her clothes were tight. Szar loosened for a moment, and then tensed. He would not be caught unawares, not again. He pointed the bloody machete at her.

"Who are you?"

"Who do you want me to be?" the woman smiled, looking him over. Appraising him.

"That isn't an answer".

"I think you'll find that it is, Szar, once you get to know me."

"How do you know my name?"

"How could I not? It's been whispered around the palace for months, now. The servants all knew you were coming to liberate them, even if Korphus didn't. More like Corpse-us now, though. I was his concubine, you know."

"You are a concubine?"

"Do you want me to be?"

"Stop answering in questions!"

"You don't get how this works, do you? I belonged to Korphus. You killed him. Now, I belong to you. I am what you want me to be."

Szar considered this for a moment, as the strange woman ran her hand over his arm, examining Korphus's blood with apparent amusement. When had she gotten so close.

"Then you are free" they said, simultaneously.

"Ha! I knew you were the type!" the woman grinned. "It's not that simple".

"What do you mean?"

"What did he use to enslave you guys? Some kind of explosive shock collar, right? Sloppy work, really, but much better than that gets expensive really fast, especially for labor. See, if you want to *really* slavery to stick, you can't do it externally."

"I do not understand... your collar is... inside of you?"

"I don't have a collar. Not a physical one, at least. If you really want a good slave, you have to make them *want* to be a slave. It's a big universe, there's all sorts of species out there--I should know. And they all know different things. It was my... fifth owners, I think. Knew all kind of stuff about minds. Really gave me the creeps at first. But I'm used to it now. Come on, have a seat. It's not like *he* needs it any more."

"Fifth owner? And they all wanted a... what you are... as a concubine?" Szar asked as he sat down. The throne wasn't particularly comfortable--Kaordonians were shaped rather differently from Anubians--but the woman began to rub at his shoulders, massaging out the tension he had carried with him constantly for years now.

"Well yeah, but probably not like you think. One sec." There was a flash of light, and twisting to the side, Szar could see where the green woman had once stood, a Tamaranean now floated--though her figure was no less impressive than before.

"What? But h--?"

"Does 'how' really matter? What matters is that it's easier to get at your neck this way. Did you have a Ectonurite literally go in and tie your muscles into knots or something?"

"But-"

"It happened when I was a child, okay? There was this capsule that crashed on my planet from space, and there was this device inside it, and later there was another accident and I got stuck like this, and then I got sold into slavery."

"Stuck like what?" Ancestors, he hadn't felt this relaxed in years. Not even on that night with N'Aisha.

"Female."

"WHAT?!"

"Don't look at me like that. I was a boy once, it barely matters anymore. I was only ten!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

The woman leaned forward, resting her chin on Szar's shoulder, her cheek up against his, her chest pressed against his back. "How long ago was Blackfire's rebellion, again?"

"But that was--"

"See? In the scheme of things, 10 years barely matters at all! And like half of those I was too young to really remember anyways. So really, it's like I was never a boy at all. Or my original species for that matter." She had floated over his shoulder now, settling lightly into his lap. Her finger idly traced patterns on his chest, and Szar's heart surged.

"Your original species?"

"A girl's got to have at least some secrets, right? Although I really should thank you for your timing; that corpse on the floor was getting ready to move against my homeworld. And now everyone involved in planning that is dead."

"The time was right. An opening finally presented itself, a way to get in." he wanted her so badly now. It was something about her, something he couldn't place his finger on. It was as though every move she made was planned out to be as inviting, as alluring as possible.

"Yes, it really was convenient, wasn't it? It's so nice when things work out." she climbed in his lap, pressing her lips to his--the kiss was deep, seeming at once to last an eternity and still end far, far too soon as she pulled away. "Now, let me ask again..."

"What do you want me to be?"