Slave Empire Series by T.C. Southwell

Alien hunters invade a dying Earth in search of a saviour, and an ancient prophecy predicts a golden child who will save a galactic empire. A mysterious black ship is Rayne’s guide and a masked outlaw known as the Shrike her guardian. Others want to slay her and prevent the prophecy from coming true. In the midst of two great empires’ strife, the Shrike holds the power to save or destroy her.

Rayne dreads the coming of the Crystal Ship and the legendary monster it bears. An Envoy destroyed a world once before, an almost forgotten event. One man, whose life the creature ruined, remembers. The mysterious Shrike has built the Slave Empire on blood and tears, and Rayne must have his help if she is to defeat the Envoy. The battle to protect her will bring three empires to the brink of war.

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... moreThe 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. less