Hotbloods 5: Traitors

I smiled. “Where I’m from, people promise to love each other through everything, including sickness. It’s in the marriage vows.”

“Your species does seem fairly feebleminded,” he stated with a nod. “I imagine it stems from pack mentality, in which you protect your weakest members rather than leave them behind. You still believe there to be safety in numbers. Our species has surpassed that. Here, we leave the weak and sick to their fate.”

Yeah, very Spartan, I thought to myself wryly.

“If your father is so busy, surely he doesn’t have time for his alchemy anymore?” I prodded, knowing I had to get back on track with my questioning.

Kaido shrugged. “He is an alchemist first, an advisor second. These days, much of his time is spent at Queen Gianne’s side, but he will always find time for his experiments, just as I always find time for mine.”

“You and your father seem to have a lot in common.”

“I am not sure he would agree with you,” Kaido murmured. I could tell what I’d said had bothered him, although it didn’t come through in the way he spoke. It was a perpetual game of reading between the lines.

“You don’t get along with him?” I pressed.

Kaido sighed. “I owe him a great deal. I am not like everyone else. It is impossible for my parents to feel a familial bond toward me,” he said. “My mother is unique in that she shows a level of affection that she should not, but it only serves to increase my debt toward them. I have great respect for my father, and that is all there is to it.”

“You know, I hope you won’t mind me saying this, but there are people like you where I come from, on Krypton,” I said, wanting to make him feel better. I could sense his discomfort, even if he didn’t know how to express it.

He looked up, startled. “Like me?”

“Yeah, people who struggle with social cues, interaction, humor, that kind of thing.”

“I have never found these traits in another species before. Are you quite certain?” Kaido asked, a peculiar expression on his face.

I nodded. “I knew one guy who was very similar to you, and there are countless others. Are there more like you on Vysanthe?”

“They do not live long past the age when their deficiency becomes evident. The state sees to it that they are disposed of,” he said evenly. “I have a lifelong debt to repay, in return for my continued existence here.”

“Were you supposed to be ‘disposed of’ the same way those other coldbloods were— the ones who had the same difficulties as you?” I asked, dumbfounded. My heart ached for him. He had clearly suffered so much, not only at the hands of his siblings, but at the hands of a society that had undoubtedly rejected him.

“I have a great debt to repay,” he repeated.

“Are any of your siblings like you?” I wondered.

Kaido smirked. “No, they are not.”

“Navan told me he had nine brothers and one sister, but I’ve only met four of you. Who are the others?”

For a moment, it looked as though Kaido wasn’t going to indulge me. Then, to my delight, he reached for a stool beside his desk and wheeled it over to where I sat. As he spoke, he undid the restraints on my arms, while removing the nodes that had been recording my vital signs.

“Navan, Bashrik, and Sarrask, you already know,” he said, reminding me of our run-in with Sarrask in the kitchen, the other day. He hadn’t come back since.

I smiled sadly, thinking of Navan and Bashrik. “I do, and I’ve heard about Naya, too.”

“Well, Rethela is the eldest brother. He works in universal diplomacy. Garrik is next, and he’s in the elite corps as an intelligence officer. In fact, he sometimes worked with Ronad, before everything that happened with my sister,” he explained, barely looking up from his work. “Then, there’s Lojak, who is a ship mechanic. Igor, who works in satellite repair. Harko is in weapons manufacturing, and Szayan in medicine.”

I whistled. “That’s quite the mix. Your parents must be proud.”

“They are. As far as Vysanthean families go, we have had many successes.”

“I just feel sorry for your mother, having so many kids! She must have been exhausted,” I joked, though it drew a confused glance from Kaido.

“Why would she have been exhausted? Do you mean from the births?” he asked curiously. “If so, there was plenty of recovery time in between children, and she decided when the time was right to have them.”

It was my turn to be confused. “What do you mean she decided when the time was right? Were they taking those herbs to prevent pregnancy?”

“No, those herbs prevent fertilization of eggs in the first place, but married couples are not supposed to use such things,” he explained, boggling my mind. “Vysanthean females can hold up to twelve embryos at any one time, and they choose when they wish to gestate those embryos. If they do not wish to gestate any, then they force their bodies to destroy the embryos, to start the process again. Is this not how your species does it?”

I shook my head, aghast. “We have one at a time, and there’s not really much choice in the matter. We have contraceptives and preventative measures, but if you get pregnant, you can’t decide when you want to have it.”

Kaido tilted his head to one side. “How interesting. Would you mind if I took a look at your reproductive system?”

I could tell he was only interested from a biological perspective, but the question prompted a shocked squeal of displeasure from the back of my throat, followed by a burst of laughter. He looked baffled by my giggles, and his confused expression only made me laugh harder.

“I don’t think so, Kaido. That’s not really something you should ask a person,” I chided, though not unkindly.

“Oh, have I caused you some sort of offense?” he asked, seeming genuinely concerned for the first time since I’d met him.

I chuckled. “No, not at all. Just make sure you don’t say that to any female, ever again—especially if you plan to flirt with anyone!”

“I have neither the time nor the inclination for flirtation,” he remarked firmly, which was probably a good thing. “It is a pastime that only ends in disruption and upset, for one party, or both. I find it best to avoid it altogether. It is why I am not considered a party animal, as you would say.”

He eyed me with a look that bordered on amusement, and I realized he’d attempted a joke. It was a terrible one, but I could see that he wanted me to laugh. I imagined that was all he ever wanted from anyone—a sign that he had done well in something. Dutifully, I made a show of chuckling. A smile spread across his face. It was worth it, just to see that.

“So, where are all your other brothers?” I asked, my laughter fading. “Don’t they want to help with your mother, too?”

He shook his head. “I am the only one living in the house at the moment. It is my father and I, and nobody else, though my brothers come and go as they please,” he replied, with a hint of sourness. “Somebody must be here for my mother, and that somebody is me. It is the least I can do, considering the debt I owe.”

“You really think you owe them, just for existing?”

“It is our way, Riley. I would not expect an outsider to understand the manner in which things are done here.”

I sighed, realizing he was a victim of Vysanthe’s indoctrination. Order and discipline, and a strict dogma to live by, had an immense amount of power over the coldblood people. I could still see it in Bashrik from time to time, in the way he looked at us humans and the way he spoke about other species, as though they were inferior. He was a good person, but he was still a product of his early environment. It had even managed to get in the way of his affections for Angie, though a dose of Draconian sense seemed to have put an end to that silliness.