The Shrike — T.C. Southwell

The Shrike has made Rayne his wife to save her from the empty existence to which her empathy condemned her, shunned by all who fear her power. He has revealed his face to her and told her some of his secrets, and there are those who would do anything to discover what she knows. Various rival empires, factions and slavers have offered bounty totalling many millions for his death, and the image she carries in her mind means she is in grave danger should she ever stray from his protection. Yet still he remains mostly a mystery, a gentle, but aloof companion, and she longs for more. If his enemies capture or kill the Shrike, however, millions of freed slaves will die or be returned to slavery. He is his people's saviour and protector, and hundreds of thousands will lay down their lives to protect him and sacrifice themselves to avenge him. He is their emperor, who saved them from slavery, and they love him. An ex-slave himself, the Shrike carries the mental and physical scars of his horrific past. He started the Slave Empire with a single spaceship and it has grown into the third largest in the galaxy. Even all his warships will not be able to protect him if his rivals discover the truth about him, however, and only Rayne can betray him. If the Shrike dies, the Slave Empire will go to war with whoever kills him, and the retribution it metes out before it falls will be terrible, bloody, and final.