Rule (The Draax Series Book 2)

by Elizabeth Kelly

  The human was suddenly completely understandable. I heard Bran heave a sigh of relief behind me, and I poked the human this time in the thigh to make her stop talking. “Human, do you understand me?”

  Her mouth dropped open. “I… I do.”

  “Good. The translator is working.”

  “There’s been a mix-up,” she said. “They put the wrong chip in me. I’m not Sabrina, I’m Evelyn. I’m here on a breeding contract, not a nanny contract.”

  “We know,” I said. “Bran realized the error when I brought you home.”

  Her eyes flickered to Bran and bright red stained her cheeks. “I’m sorry about last night when you came into my room. I thought – I thought you were the king and I was supposed to breed with you.”

  “Why were you in her room last night?” Jealousy, all too familiar and unwelcome, was seeping through me. Which was stupid because I was absolutely not attracted to the female. She was too small for my tastes and her skin was too pale, even for a human female. Of course, her eyes were a fascinating shade of green and her pink lips were plump and her dark hair…

  Krono, I was acting like a fool. Still, it didn’t stop me from scowling at Bran and repeating my question. “Why were you in her room?”

  “I was checking on Bella and I heard the human crying. I went into her room to tell her to be quiet so she would not wake Bella.”

  “What did you do to her?” I asked.

  Bran’s skin darkened with embarrassment. “I did not do anything to her. She kissed me.”

  “I thought he was the king and I was supposed to breed with him,” Evelyn said quickly.

  “Did you sleep with the human?” Obvious jealousy infused my words.

  “Of course not.” Bran gave me look like I had gone mad, but under it, lurked a small hint of guilt. “I pushed her away.”

  I turned to the human and I could see her lower lip beginning to tremble and her too-white skin paled even more. “I’m very sorry. I would never have… I mean, if I had known he wasn’t the king….”

  “King.” What she was saying was finally sinking in. “Are you here to breed with King Quillan?”

  She nodded, and I turned to Bran. “Krono, she is our future queen.”

  “The king is taking a human mate?” Bran said.

  I nodded. “I’d heard a rumour last moon in the market that he would be taking a queen soon.”

  “About time,” Bran said. “If he dies without an heir, King Eastolf would take the western province and then we would all be fu-”

  He stopped and glanced at Bella who was still staring wide-eyed at the human. Normally she’d be hollering for her breakfast by now.

  “So, um, now that the translators are working, do you think you could, uh, get in touch with the palace and let them know about the mix-up,” the human said. “Sabrina’s translator must not be working yet either.”

  “It could be,” I said as Bran moved away and stirred the faven that was bubbling in a pot on the stove. “The storm has knocked out all communications.”

  “Oh.” The human bit at her bottom lip in a way that made my dick stir in my pants. “Well, do you think I could trouble you for a ride to the palace?”

  “A ride,” I said.

  I hadn’t meant to sound derisive, but embarrassment crossed her face at my tone. “Um, yes, in your land vehicle.”

  “You think it can drive in the storm?”

  “I’ve never been in a vehicle before,” she said defensively. “I didn’t know it can’t drive in, um, bad weather.”

  “It is more than bad weather.” Bran set a bowl of warm faven in front of Bella. She was still staring at the human and Bran ran his hand over her dark hair. “Eat, meena.”

  She didn’t move, and Bran sighed and pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. He held a spoon of faven in front of her and she opened her mouth and ate the bite without taking her gaze from the human.

  “No vehicles or ships can be used in this storm, and we have lost all ability to hologram or email with the palace,” I said. “Draaxan storms are not like the storms on your planet. We are cut off from everyone until it ends.”

  “How long will it last?” the human asked.

  “A moon.”

  “A moon?” She stared at me in shock. “That’s a month in human time, right?”

  I shrugged. “Give or take a few days.”

  “I – but, what do we do now?” Evelyn was chewing on her bottom lip while she rubbed her side. “I’m supposed to be breeding with the, uh, king.”

  “He will have to wait until the storm ends,” I said. “Just like we have to wait for our nanny.”

  Her gaze flickered to Bella. “So, we’re stuck with each other for the entire month?”

  “Yes.”

  I moved to the stove and spooned some faven into three bowls as the human smiled tentatively at Bran.

  “Okay, well, uh, my name is Evelyn.” She glanced briefly at me. “I know his name is Court, but, uh, I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Bran.” Bran deliberately avoided looking at her as he spooned another mouthful of faven into Bella’s mouth.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Evelyn said.

  He just nodded, and I grabbed some spoons from the drawer. Evelyn was sitting on the other side of Bella and she smiled at her before reaching out to touch her arm. “Hi, honey. What’s your -”

  She made a strangled sound of fear when Bran’s hand dropped onto her wrist. “Do not touch her.”

  “Bran,” I said warningly as Evelyn stared at him in stark terror. When Bran released her arm, she folded her arms over her torso protectively and leaned back in her chair. She was visibly trembling, and I scowled at Bran.

  He didn’t notice. He was giving the human a steely-eyed glare, and she licked her lips anxiously as he pulled Bella’s chair closer to him. “We will allow you to stay in our home, human, but there are rules you must follow.”

  “A-all right.”

  “You are not to touch Bella.” Bran studied his daughter before turning back to the human. “Ever. Do you understand me?”

  She nodded, and my tail flicked rapidly when Bran said, “I mean it. You are not to go near Bella at all. If I see you touch her, your punishment will be severe.”

  “For Krono’s sake,” I said, “she is not -”

  “You are free to move around our home, but do not go into my room, Bella’s room, or Court’s room,” Bran continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Do not go outside. You will get lost in the storm and freeze to death, and I am not losing my head just because the king’s future queen was not smart enough to stay inside during a storm.”

  The human flushed and stared at the table as I set the bowl of faven in front of her. “Eat, human.”

  She picked up the spoon and stirred at the faven as I grabbed the other bowls and set one in front of Bran before lowering myself into the chair next to the human. Bella had finally started to eat on her own, although she was still staring at the human, and Bran began to eat.

  “Eat,” I said again.

  The human tasted the faven a bit tentatively before smiling at me. “It’s good. It tastes almost like oatmeal.”

  “What is oatmeal?” I asked. I had taken human studies in school just like every other Draax, but I didn’t remember much.

  “It’s a grain that we grow on Earth. You can bake it in things like cookies or cook it in water and eat it for breakfast. You can add milk and fruit, if you like it sweeter.”

  “We do not have milk here,” I said. I knew my face had a look of disgust on it. “Draax do not drink the bodily fluids of animals.”

  “I don’t need milk,” she said immediately. “I’m not picky and will eat whatever you want me to eat. I won’t be any trouble, I promise.”

  I frowned a little. The human’s behaviour was bizarre. Dana had been very vocal about her dislikes when it came to, well… anything. Her refusal to do anything she didn’t want to do, was an annoyance that I’d found hard to
ignore. It was my assumption that all human females were the same.

  This human was practically cowering in the chair and it made me feel weirdly guilty. I looked over at Bran. He was steadfastly ignoring the human, staring into his bowl of faven and occasionally glancing at Bella as she ate.

  When I turned my gaze back to the human, she was staring at her bowl of faven as well. Her hand was pressed against her side, her formerly pink lips were now the same pale white as her skin, and I could see the sheen of sweat on her forehead.

  “Human, are you sick?”

  She shook her head. “No, of course not. I’m fine.”

  “You are not eating,” I said. “You need to eat. If you are sick, then you must tell us, so -”

  “I’m not sick.” She scooped up a big spoonful of the faven and shoved it into her mouth. She swallowed and then took a sip of water. “I just wasn’t hungry last night. I’m perfectly healthy.”

  She was lying. Anger burned in the pit of my stomach. The human may not be vocal in her dislikes, but she lied just like Dana lied. My unsettling concern for the human disappeared in an instant. What did I care if she was sick? She wasn’t even our nanny and, in a moon or so, we’d be rid of her. Draax did not get human diseases so there was no fear she would make Bella sick. If the human wanted to suffer, so be it. It wasn’t my problem.

  “Uda?” Bella’s voice made me turn toward her.

  “What is it, meena?”

  “Girl?” She cocked her head in a questioning way and pointed at the human.

  “Yes, she is a girl,” I said.

  “Girl?” Bella said to Bran. It was clear she didn’t believe me.

  “Yes,” Bran said. “Drink your juice, Bella.”

  Bella took a swig of her juice, studying the human the entire time she drank. The small town we lived near had a few human females mated to Draax, but I didn’t think Bella had ever seen them. Neither Bran nor I were particularly social, and we rarely went to town for anything other than supplies. She studied the human’s pale skin before staring down at her own purple skin.

  “So, um, what do you do for a living?” Evelyn asked.

  “We are farmers,” I replied.

  “What do you farm?”

  “The gallberry plant.”

  “That’s interesting,” the human replied. “We can’t grow it on Earth.”

  I gave her a look that suggested I thought she was simple, and she ducked her head in embarrassment and stared into the bowl of faven again. “Sorry, you know that obviously.”

  There was silence. The human stirred the bowl of faven before giving me and Bran a quick peek. “So, um, are you two, uh, a couple?”

  My mouth dropped open and Bran made a loud snort. “No, human. We are not mated.”

  “Bran and I are only friends. We like females,” I said.

  “Are there any Draax who are gay?” she asked.

  “A few,” Bran said shortly. “It does not happen often, but there are some who prefer the company of other men.”

  “Is that like, a taboo?” Evelyn asked.

  “What does taboo mean?” I said.

  “Um, like forbidden or frowned on.”

  “Why would it be taboo?” I said. “There are humans who are gay, are there not?”

  “Yes. But many years ago, there were some humans who thought it was wrong or-or bad and it was considered taboo.”

  I rolled my eyes. “A Draax is free to love whomever they want.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Girl,” Bella said again before pointing at Evelyn.

  The human started to smile at her before seeming to think better of it and staring at her ceaselessly stirring spoon instead. “What does uda mean?”

  “Uncle,” I replied.

  “So, you’re her biological father?” Evelyn said to Bran.

  He nodded, scraping the bowl with his spoon to get the last bit of faven out.

  I waited for the human to ask about Bella’s mother, inwardly preparing myself to keep my cool over her prying and hoping that Bran would do the same.

  To my surprise, the human didn’t ask. Instead, she said, “What about meena?”

  “It is a pet name,” I said. “It means little one or small one.”

  “She is very small,” Evelyn said with a quick look at Bella.

  “She is normal size for her age,” Bran snapped.

  Evelyn recoiled, dropping her spoon into her bowl. “Of course. I didn’t mean, that is… she looks very, um, healthy and normal.”

  I sighed inwardly. If the human was going to be this afraid every time Bran said something sharp to her, it would be a long storm. My best friend was a good man, but unless it was with Bella, he wasn’t known for his caring or patient nature.

  I was relieved when the human pushed her chair back and stood up. She blanched, her hand holding her side again while the other gripped the edge of the table. I could see sweat sliding down her temple and her smile looked more like a grimace.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll have a nap.” Her voice was so faint, I had to lean forward to hear her. “I, uh, I didn’t sleep very well last night. Thank you for breakfast.”

  She walked quickly out of the kitchen, her body stiff and her hand still pressing against her side.

  “She’s sick,” Bran said to me when her footsteps died out.

  “Yes.”

  “We should give her juice.”

  I shrugged. “She lied to us, Bran. If she does not want to be truthful with us, why give her gallberry juice?”

  Bran frowned, but I ignored him and carried my empty bowl and the human’s full bowl to the counter. I didn’t feel sorry for the human, I told myself, as I emptied the faven into the garbage. She was a liar, just like the other females of her kind.

  Chapter Six

  Evelyn

  My mouth was so dry. Keeping my eyes closed, I unstuck my tongue from the roof my mouth with difficulty, before swiping it across the cracked landscape of my lips. I was getting worse. I could try and deny it, but something bad was going down internally and if I didn’t do something about it, I was going to die.

  Drama queen.

  I croaked out a sound that was almost a laugh before peeling open my eyelids. I stared blearily at the ceiling of my room then checked the clock next to my bed. It was almost six in the morning and every part of my body pulsed with pain.

  It was ironic that after all the times I’d been beaten by Alex, I’d never needed a doctor until I was stuck on a completely different planet with no access to medical care. The storm raging outside had only grown worse in the thirty-six hours or so I’d been here, and I understood now what Court meant by the storm being different from Earth storms.

  I’d never seen a blizzard like this one. The house was solidly built but every now and then it would shudder at a particularly strong blast of wind, and the snow was falling so hard and thick that I could see less than half a foot when I peered outside my bedroom window.

  The house was freezing despite the heat constantly blowing out of the vents and the fireplace that was always on in the living room. I didn’t have much in the way of winter clothing and didn’t have time to pack what little I did have, which meant I was always cold.

  If I even ventured out in search of medical help… I shuddered and groaned when it made my side throb with fiery pain. Nothing could survive outside in a storm like this.

  I licked my lips a second time. My tongue felt like a fuzzy caterpillar and kept wanting to stick to the roof of my mouth again. I had a fever. I could feel it raging through my body, drying everything out. There wasn’t even enough moisture in my body for me to pee anymore.

  Considering how much it hurt to pee, that was a good thing.

  After yesterday morning’s disastrous breakfast, I’d stayed in my room for the day. Neither Draax had tried to coax me out for lunch. I’d dozed fitfully off and on, all day, but the pain was growing steadily worse despite how I tried to ignore it. I made an appearan
ce at dinner, afraid that if I didn’t, my lie about not being sick would be discovered.

  The dinner was awkward and painful to sit through. I had no appetite but, worried they would realize I was lying about being sick, I’d forced myself to eat half of the food on the plate.

  Unlike breakfast, where at least the one named Court had shown some interest, at dinner neither of the Draax spoke to me. They barely spoke to each other, either. Their attention was kept mostly to the adorable little girl and making sure she ate and drank. She’d studied me all through dinner but was as quiet as her father and her uncle.

  I’d excused myself as soon as dinner was over and gone back to my room, vomiting up my dinner into the toilet only ten minutes later. It had hurt to barf, a lot actually, but I couldn’t stop. After, I’d stripped out of my clothes and tried to shower.

  The bathroom attached to my bedroom had an amazing shower. The bathroom at my old apartment was small and the shower had produced a tepid trickle of water at best. This shower never seemed to run out of hot water no matter how long I stood under it, and the showerhead actually sprayed a steady stream of water the way it was supposed to.

  I’d taken three showers yesterday, trying to warm myself and hoping the hot water would ease the pain in my side, back and shoulder. I couldn’t wash my hair, my arm wouldn’t lift high enough, so I’d only rinsed it instead. But when I’d tried to take a fourth shower after dinner, the pain in my side and from the bruising was so great, that the pressure of the water hurt more than helped.

  Now, I tried to roll to my side, a whimper escaping when it sent excruciating pain across my lower back. I closed my eyes, breathing through the agony, ignoring my urge to vomit. The pain was like nothing I’d ever felt before. God, maybe I really was dying.

  You need gallberry juice.

  I stared blearily at the ceiling again. Right, of course. The damn juice. I’d seen the little girl drinking it at breakfast and at dinner yesterday. I needed to get my hands on some of it. But I couldn’t ask them for it. They’d know I was sick if I did that. I had to steal it.