Hor-Denay resumed his former stern glare at me. “Your first meeting will set the tone for what follows. Don’t you dare confront him. Confront me, if you’re so inclined. When you’re with Lord Elentinus, conduct yourself with modesty and grace. Don’t be snide or sarcastic. Don’t try to be clever either. It’s best that you try to say as little as possible. He knows you’re frightened. It’s acceptable for you to show that fear. Don’t try to hide it with false bravado or anger. Defiance is never acceptable. You’ll receive harsh and swift punishment.”
He took a little black rectangular thing out of a small satchel on his hip. When he pressed a button on it, there was a WOOM sound and a bright pink laser glowing rope thing appeared. It started on the top of the black rectangle, went down to the floor, and spread from his feet to mine. When I looked down I realized the laser rope went up my body towards my throat. When I reached up I felt a fuzz of static, but then touched a collar. It was solid and too tight for me to fit a finger under. A new panic attack started to build inside me.
“You’re always wearing this collar even when you can’t see or feel it. It’s composed of a force field that Lord Elentinus or I can activate at any time.”
He tugged it and I was jerked off balance. I had to grab on to the console to keep myself from falling flat on my face.
“You can’t hide and you can’t escape this vessel. Further, this collar will be our means of disciplining you. If you’re disobedient we can inflict a shockwave that will wrack your entire nervous system. No description of the pain would be adequate; therefore I’ll demonstrate the lowest possible setting now.”
“No!” I practically screamed this. “Please. I believe you. I don’t need a demonstration. I’ll be good. I...I promise.”
I think it was fight or flight instinct that got me to beg not to be shocked. After seeing the magic pink laser thing appear around my freaking neck I was ready to go numb again. The stuff he’d told me before couldn’t be real. It just couldn’t be, because I’d have to accept the loss of my world and everyone—everything I’d ever known. I was putting all my hope on some other explanation. The language trick was the first thing to chip away at that hope. Now I had this thing laser force field thing appear around my neck. What the Hell could it be?
Hor-Denay stuck his nose in the air and made this very snide expression. At that second I stopped seeing all his bullshit alien features and saw him as a person. One who had a wretched life and who reveled in the small amount of power he had now.
“What if I offer you a bargain? If you are sweet and humble before Lord Elentinus then I won’t demonstrate the collar. But if you offend him in any way…”
I put my face in my hand. “Got it. It…it’s a deal.”
That son of a bitch tugged the collar again. I stumbled but then caught my stride. He led me out of the white room into a corridor that had the same rounded walls.
“Don’t ask Lord Elentinus any questions. I’m the one to educate you about your situation. My master is far too busy.”
I followed close enough behind him to give my leash some slack. “I’ve got a question right now. How can I understand what you’re saying?”
“The language centers of your brain were enhanced with the additional neurons and synaptic connections required for you to understand all the languages you may encounter.”
That horrifying answer gave me an itch inside my skull. I wanted to drop on the floor and go into a fetal position. The fact that I still had to meet my ‘husband’ kept my adrenaline pumping and my feet moving.
The corridor opened up into something like a huge lobby with a high round ceiling. We’re talking a room the size of a warehouse here, so if we were really on a spaceship I was just now getting an idea of the scope of it. I focused on the concave glass panels in the ceiling first. It was a kind of skylight showing lots of the sparkly stars outside. Something moved in my peripheral vision. That’s when I noticed them.
Robots.
I would have stopped dead in my tracks and just gaped at them if it hadn’t been for that fricking leash. They were actually pretty ugly. One white unit with black seams was watering a plant that looked like a withered fern. (It turned green and the leaves perked up when the water hit it). The thing was rectangular and had big round bolts attaching its joints. Its head was shaped like a cylinder with one long horizontal eye that wrapped all the way around. When it finished watering the plant and moved across the floor on its robot roller skates (or whatever they were) it didn’t turn around. The things didn’t seem to have backs, just two fronts.
If I hadn’t been so shell-shocked I might have enjoyed seeing such a pathetic excuse for a robot.
Hor-Denay brought me into a new corridor that was wider and higher than the first one we went through. He stopped at the big imposing door at the end and knocked.
“Yes?”
If that was Lord Elentinus, then his voice sounded deep and placid.
“I have the girl with me, master.”
There were three or four seconds of silence. Then he said, “Come in.”
Hor-Denay pressed the button on his black rectangle to make my leash and collar disappear. Then he hid the control unit back in his satchel. His sneakiness made my brow twitch.
The door slid open. Hor-Denay and I stood side by side to face Lord Elentinus. He was seated at a sleek black desk that had a lot of equipment and doodads on it. I took in the room before looking at my ‘husband.’ It was definitely an office. A fancy one, with a big window showing outer space, a nice couch type thing to one side, and weird receptacles embedded in the walls.
No bed. I expelled a big puff of air in relief.
When my eyes finally rested on Elentinus I realized he’d been staring at me. I couldn’t help but stare at him in return. He was obviously the same species as Hor-Denay but he was so much more regal. I realized that the Dak-Hiliah weren’t ugly. Just Hor-Denay was ugly. Elentinus was so much nicer to look at. His serene face framed by wispy white hair just oozed coolness.
“Hello, Maritza.”
He said this in English. I thought that was kind of him, but then I had to lower my eyes and accept a big stab of dread in my middle. Was I really buying all of this?
Hor-Denay nudged me. We walked to the front of his desk and sat in the two “floating” chairs facing him. The door slid closed behind us.
“You’re much lovelier than what was described to me,” Elentinus said. “I’m very pleased.”
Hor-Denay cleared his throat. “I haven’t educated her on our customs yet. She was too overwhelmed with just the preamble.”
Elentinus gave me a piercing look. “Of course. It must seem like a nightmare to you, my dear.”
I nodded. Oh please let his compassion be for real. I really needed the kindness he was showing me right now.
“I hope you’ll come to understand that we are not monsters. What we’re doing is a matter of survival. It’s unfortunate that things must happen as they do.”
“You know,” I said (and then immediately wished I’d kept my mouth shut). “There are probably plenty of human women who’d marry you willingly.”
Elentinus smiled and made kind of a laugh through his nostrils. “That’s a…generous compliment.” He looked at Hor-Denay. “I presume you haven’t told her about our regrettable past.”
“She doesn’t know our reputation. I need to make some time to educate her, but I’m still working on the summaries you need for the next council session.”
Elentinus nodded and then sighed. “My dear, the druids allowed me to collect you at a tremendously busy time. The new young druid in the holiest seat thought a replacement wife would relieve some of my stress. He didn’t consider how difficult the transition would be for you.”
I wanted to ask what had happened to that other wife, but just pursed my lips.
“She’s fine.” He smiled softly. “She was unhappy and ran away. I chose not to search for her.”
“Oh.”
“I can already see that you’re a much better match for me than she was.”
He smiled again. I managed to force a nervous smile in return.
“You should eat dinner now, master.” Hor-Denay got up from his seat. “We’re going to be tied up in that conference call until late.”
Elentinus looked at me. “I imagine you’re getting hungry now, also.”
I couldn’t have been less hungry, but I was curious about what the food would be.
“Send a Domestic in with my dinner,” Elentinus said to Hor-Denay. “And bring her to the kitchen so she can select something.”
Hor-Denay grabbed my arm to draw me up from the chair. I didn’t want to leave. Elentinus’ kindness was reassuring. That was just what I needed right now.
“We’re not eating together?”
Elentinus smiled broadly enough to show teeth this time. “How adorable. Was that a custom in your time?”
I became confused. “For a…husband and wife to eat together? Yes. It was.”
“We’re not yet married, my dear.”
Now I was really confused. I thought Hor-Denay had clearly established that fact as part of the game.
Elentinus stood. He touched my shoulder lightly to walk me to the door. His face was even more striking up close.
“We aren’t married until the tenth degree. Hor, make our dining together the second degree.”
“Yes, master.”
Elentinus took my hand. He flashed his charming smile. “I’ll make much more time for you tomorrow, my dear.”
Hor-Denay, who I now referred to as Whore in my mind, ushered me out. The second the door slid closed behind us, Whore hissed at me.
“I told you not to ask him any questions!”
I was incredulous. “I thought I behaved just fine.”
Whore started walking ahead of me. He was dusting off his outfit all of a sudden. “Yes. All things considered, you did fine. But don’t get complacent.”
I kept up with him. “What are those ‘degrees’ he was talking about?”
“Psh. The ‘Degrees of Intimacy.’ It’s something the new high druid made up to help acclimate abducted brides. Your meeting just now was the first degree. For the remaining nine days you and Lord Elentinus will have some interactions that will raise the degree of intimacy between you. The interactions are at Lord Elentinus’ discretion, except for the tenth degree. That’s what will bond you as husband and wife.”
“What’s the tenth degree?”
Whore made an exasperated grumble. He’d done it a few times so far, but this was the first time I’d really noticed.
“I don’t really have to spell it out for you, do I?”
His rudeness was starting to irk me. I guess it was still good, because it made me too angry to go numb with shock again. I couldn’t believe how insensitive this jerk was.
“I thought you said he was already my husband?”
He threw up his hands in another gesture of exasperation. “I didn’t know he planned on carrying out the Degrees of Intimacy. The new druid just made the proclamation three days ago. Normally a Dak-Hiliah mates with his bride forthwith and is done with it.”
Ugh. A really unpleasant shiver ran down my spine.
“Lord Elentinus is trying to have things be better with you than his first wife. I didn’t realize he was going to take it to this extreme. It’s just going to delay your first breeding cycle.”
My first what? No. I wouldn’t ask. I’d had enough shock for one day.
Whore brought me into an elevator. When it opened we were on a mezzanine above that giant lobby I’d been in earlier. He led down the length of open area to a corridor at the end. It was a lot like that other corridor leading to Elentinus’ office downstairs. There was a large domed door at the end. Whore stopped a little ways in front of it and tapped a panel on the wall. A hidden door slid open. The room inside was barely the width of the door.
I couldn’t believe what I saw. There was a twin sized bed, a sink, something fairly recognizable as a toilet, and a large round cylinder spanning the floor to the ceiling which I presumed to be a shower. I blinked in disbelief with my mouth hanging open.
“Is this my room?”
“Just for now,” Whore said in an especially annoyed tone. “You’ll eventually share quarters with Lord Elentinus.” He gestured to the door beside us. “This is his room right here, so don’t make a racket.”
I hugged myself and stayed planted where I stood in the corridor. I hated the thought of being locked in that little prison cell.
“I thought you were bringing me to the kitchen?”
Whore made his grumble while rolling his eyes. “Are you really hungry?”
“No,” I admitted, “but I’m not ready to go to bed either.”
Whore pounded his finger on some keys in the wall panel. “Damn it! I don’t have time for this!”
“Yeah. I know. You’re all crazy busy here. I’m sorry kidnapping me and destroying my life is such a huge inconvenience for you.”
Whore turned to look at me very slowly. His eyes had narrowed to angry slits. I cringed back, and my heart started racing a mile a minute. What the frick was I thinking? I’d completely forgotten about the choke chain this asshole had around my neck.
“You may speak this way to me,” he said with slow angry words, “but don’t you ever take such a tone with my master.”
I swallowed a lump so hard it hurt my throat. “Sorry.”
“Hmph.”
His face returned to normal and I let out a sigh of relief.
“Isn’t there someone else who can take care of me while you do your job?”
“You, I, and Lord Elentinus are the only people on this ship.”
Another secret door—no, more like a hatch—opened halfway down the corridor. One of those robots I’d seen before whirred out on his feet wheels. He glided over to us.
“These are called Domestics. It knows what parts of the yacht are off-limits to you. It will take you to the kitchen and wherever else you’d like to wander. Bear in mind that it’s monitoring you for me.” He started speed-walking away from us down the corridor and spoke without looking back. “If I get the feeling that you’re looking for an escape you will be punished.”
There went my idea of exploring. I didn’t know how paranoid Whore was, but I wasn’t about to test him. If I really was on a spaceship over 2,000 years in the future, the thought of escape was ludicrous. Where the Hell would I go? How the Hell would I get there? But, then, I guess the other wife had ‘run away,’ so there was some justification for his threats.
I looked at my new host’s cylinder head. “Um…are you…able to…communicate?”
“Yes, mistress,” he said, in English, but with a weird marbles-in-the-mouth kind of accent. “I am at your command.”
I liked the polite thing at once. “I guess we’ll go to the kitchen, then.” That was the one place Whore had given me permission to go.
“Of course, mistress. Please follow me.”
He started rolling down the hall. For a second I thought he was going backwards, because I assumed the side I’d been talking to was his front. Both of his sides were identical.
He went too fast for me to keep up, but then slowed down and modified his pace to match mine. We went into the elevator.
“Are you able to tell me about my situation here?”
“Please make a more specific inquiry, mistress.”
“Like, can you tell me stuff about the Dak-Hiliah?”
The elevator opened and the Domestic led the way out. “I have extensive information on the Dak-Hiliah, mistress. Please make a more specific inquiry.”
“Ah. Okay. I will.”
I took six steps out of the elevator and realized how weary I felt. I didn’t know where the kitchen was, but the Domestic was heading towards the far end of the lobby. One of the seating areas with the plants to the side called to me. I stopped walking and the Domestic stopped in front of me. I thought
it would turn around to look at me, but, duh, it was already looking at me.
“Maybe I can find the kitchen some other time. Can I just go relax over there for a while?”
“Of course, mistress.”
I plopped onto a nice cushy couch and sniffed a fern leaf. “Would you mind bringing me something to drink?”
“That would be most acceptable, mistress. What would you like?”
I blinked a few times. “Uh…yeah. How about a diet Coke?”
“That beverage is not available here, mistress. May I bring you something else, instead?”
I knew it was futile, but I just kept going. “Gatorade?”
“That beverage is not available here, mistress. May I bring you something else, instead?”
“Orange juice?”
“How much orange juice would you like, mistress?”
Bingo! “Um…a big one.”
He took off at what looked like thirty miles per hour. I watched where he went in case I had to find the kitchen on my own someday. He disappeared through an arch and then emerged five seconds later with a glass of orange juice the size of a tall vase. I wondered how I was going to lift the thing to my mouth. When he set it down on the little table in front of me I realized there was a straw.
What I tasted was honest to goodness orange juice. It might have been a little sweeter than it should have been, but it was close enough. After the first sip I realized I was intensely thirsty. I downed half the thing before settling back into the cushions.
My host hovered next to me. I tried to sort through all the questions I wanted to ask in my mind. All of them presumed I took everything at face value, but I still wrestled with the implausibility of my situation.
Exhaustion started to hit me. I hadn’t felt it around Whore because that creep kept me so on edge. With him gone, I might just have been ready for the prison cell after all.
Then again, maybe these things only came when Whore called them. Maybe they’d ignore me if they didn’t have his orders. I had to take advantage.
“Who’s Lord Elentinus?”
“Lord Elentinus holds the 3rd seat on the Ruling Council and is the overseer of Earth.”
“What’s the Ruling Council?”
The Complete Alien's Bride Page 2