by Lisa Lace
Ruth, Lizzy, and Anna came strolling in, and Anna got Bethany a glass of water.
“Jealous, right? I wish I could do that.”
“Is… is there anything else I need to know?” Bethany couldn’t help but sound tentative.
“Plenty. You’ll learn as you go along, we all did. Don’t try to put the moves on Klowix, he doesn’t like that.”
Beoli sighed. “He’s so commanding. He always makes the first move, takes control…”
Snia giggled. “Not that any of us would really know.”
“What?”
Ruth pouted. “Oh, he hasn’t taken any of us yet, not even kissed us. We don’t know what he’s waiting for or how’s he going to find a secrena if he doesn’t… sample the goods available.”
They all fell to giggling again, but Bethany wasn’t listening. She was finally feeling like she could breathe, for the first time since the slavers took her. If the others were telling the truth, and she thought they were, all she needed to do was not get noticed by Klowix until he chose someone, then she’d get to go home – and with a small fortune, by the sounds of it.
“Come on, I’ll sort out your nails.” Anna grabbed Bethany’s hand and tugged her to another huge bedroom. “You’re right next to me. Where’s all your stuff, by the way?”
Oh dear. Bethany got creative. “My family has a custom that when you start a new life, you take nothing of your old life with you. Even this dress is one Untri got for me.”
They seemed to swallow the lie easily. Trili squealed. “Ooh excellent, shopping!” We’re not allowed to leave the house, of course, we need to be available should Klowix desire us, but we can send a bot and watch through the screen.”
“Move over, give me some room.” Anna dumped out a huge box filled to the brim with different gadgets and nail polishes.
Culip grabbed some kind of fancy screen and snapped her fingers. A small hole opened in the screen and a rod extended. Within seconds, it was in front of them on a tall metal stand.
“Ok, let’s see… clothes first, I think.”
At Culip’s words, the screen filled with more clothes than Bethany had seen in her lifetime.
“What do you think, Bethany? Klowix favors silk… but of course, you can get whatever you want.”
“Who pays for all this?”
“Klowix, of course. Or rather, it goes to his account. He doesn’t really care what we buy; he wants us to be happy here.”
Despite everything, sitting there with the other girls, giggling and doing her nails, giving her vastly different advice on clothing, Bethany found she was enjoying herself. She tried to buy only a few outfits, but the rest of them wouldn’t stand for that. By the time her nails were done, she felt like she’d bought an entire planet’s worth of clothes, though nothing in silk.
As the sun began to kiss the horizon, they all disappeared into their bedrooms to get changed. Culip assured Bethany they’d get her all the other stuff she needed tomorrow; by the looks of their rooms, there was a lot more stuff they thought she needed. Trili showed Bethany a brief glimpse of her room, grander than a king’s, before pulling her away and fastening a diamond necklace around her neck worth more than Bethany’s parents had seen in a lifetime.
“You’re new, so Klowix will focus on you at first, get to know you a little.”
Snia reassured her, no doubt seeing the look of panic of Bethany’s face. “Don’t worry, we’ll help you. If you’re not sure about anything, just look to one of us, and we’ll get you through it. Klowix isn’t patient, and he’s demanding, but he’s not cruel. The worst that can happen is he’ll dismiss you for the night. He’s over it by the next day, though.”
Lizzy spoke in a half-whisper. “We think he’s frustrated. He’s been searching for his secrena for a long time. I think we’re the fifth group he’s been through.”
The other ladies chimed in with advice and suggestions.
“Don’t touch him without asking.”
“Be submissive. He likes that, but also speak up. He likes a woman with personality.”
“Remember to smile. He doesn’t like it when we’re not smiling, I think he worries we’re not having a good time here.”
“Make sure you let him eat first. It’s Evion custom, and it’s rude to do otherwise.”
“Oh, and there’s a different greeting you need to use for him: bend your knees and head, then he touches your forehead. Then you can look at him.”
Bethany tried to keep the onslaught of advice in the forefront of her mind, working out which ones she would stick with. She didn’t want to commit a cultural faux pas and get into trouble, but she could tell the advice on how to be more appealing to Klowix was going to be very useful in her effort to be as unappealing as possible.
The door handle turned, and all the girls’ heads turned.
“Come on.” Trili took Bethany’s hand and urged her forward. “He’s here.”
Chapter Three
Bethany hovered nervously behind the other girls, who lined up at the door. She hurried to join them, placing herself beside Trili, but Beoli took her hand and moved her so that she was right in the middle, between Lizzy and Snia.
When the door opened, Bethany had to hold in her gasp. Klowix was… gorgeous. Actually, gorgeous was too dull a word. His brown eyes moved so fast they made Bethany dizzy, faster than Snia’s hands moved when doing her hair. He was powerfully built, and he held himself with an air of authority and power that made her breathless.
Remembering herself, Bethany quickly followed the others’ example, bending her knees and tilting her head towards the floor. She felt a touch on her forehead, and reluctantly raised her eyes to meet his. Klowix’s expression was inscrutable as he seemed to evaluate her.
“You’re new.”
Bethany glanced nervously to Snia, who nodded encouragingly.
“Yes, I just arrived today.” She sounded meek.
Klowix nodded. “Come.”
His hand on her arm sent tingles through her, and Bethany gasped as the room flew by. When they stopped a moment later, they were in a dining room with a huge, domed ceiling lit by floating chandeliers. Bethany gasped as he let go of her.
“Sit down.” Klowix indicated a chair, and she collapsed into it.
“How was your day, Commander?” Snia curtseyed before sitting down on his other side.
“Regiment training proceeds as planned.” Klowix met her gaze before turning back to Bethany. “Tell me your story.” His voice sent shivers down Bethany’s spine.
“My family wanted a better life for me.” She did meet his eyes, worried he’d see the lie in her gaze. “They applied for me to come here. I don’t know much about Evion society, but the girls have been teaching me.”
“You find the companionship satisfactory?”
“Very much.” She’d only known them a few hours, but already the others felt like friends.
Lizzy whispered in her ear. “Commander.”
Bethany quickly corrected herself. “Very much, Commander.” Klowix nodded.
The food arrived – food as alien as the man sitting next to her. There was a tall mound of gooey-looking spheres about the size of her fist. Spread around them were thin strands of what looked like spaghetti. Everyone around her started picking up the strangest utensils Bethany had ever seen – long sticks with circles on the end, like those sticks children used to blow bubbles through back home.
“Oh, right, here.” Lizzy saw Bethany’s confusion and leaned over to help her, but Klowix interrupted and Lizzy drew back at once.
Klowix instead murmured in her ear. “You hold the fork like this.” Klowix deftly spun the stick in her hand so that she was holding it somewhat like a pen, with the circle horizontal above the table. “The spoon in your left hand, thus.”
Upon closer examination, the ‘spoon’, while exactly the same shape as the ‘fork’, had a slightly smaller circle, and tiny spikes on the end.
“Watch.” Bethany watched as
Klowix used the spoon to push one of the spheres into the fork, then twirled it around to catch the end of a piece of spaghetti, draping it over the sphere.
“This is erish and lete.” He told gestured first to the sphere and then the spaghetti. “It is an Evion delicacy.”
Ruth gave her a subtle thumbs-up across the table.
Remembering her instructions, Bethany waited for Klowix to take the first bite before tackling dinner herself. Klowix made it look a lot easier than it really was. Bethany dropped the erish the first time, and spent ages using the stupid spherical spoon to snag a piece of lete. Klowix ignored her incompetence and spoke to Culip about her day.
Apparently, Culip was always one to want to learn new things, and Klowix obliged her by bringing her any book she wanted. She was currently learning about inter-dimensional theory. Though her words boggled Bethany, Klowix kept up with the conversation with no difficulty. Of course, he had to be gorgeous and intelligent.
The erish was good; it tasted like a strange mixture of meat and spices, though it had the texture of mousse. The lete seemed to be some kind of vegetable, and complemented the taste of the erish perfectly. Bethany eyed the plate, wanting more but hesitant to embarrass herself with the utensils again.
Lizzy saved her, casually taking Bethany’s fork, expertly snagging more erish and lete, and handing the balanced parcel back to her.
“Thanks.”
Lizzy shrugged. “Don’t mention it. Took me weeks to learn how to use these things, and that’s with some prior experience dining with Evions.”
Beoli chimed in. “This is the proper way to eat, but where I grew up, where it wasn’t so high class, people would use the ends of the forks and spoons to spear things to eat.”
Privately thinking that seemed a much more practical approach, Bethany chanced a glance at Klowix. He was watching her. She blushed and went back to her food.
Dinner was about as good as she could have expected. Klowix was polite, spending time talking to each of them. He seemed nice.
That wasn’t what was bothering Bethany, though. She felt flustered around him. He seemed to make her lose her voice with just a look; no doubt he thought she was an idiot by now. She reminded herself that it was a good thing; she didn’t want him to like her, after all. Did she?
She snuck glances at Klowix throughout the meal, finding herself wishing he’d put his hand on her again. He never did.
She could see his muscles flex under his clothes as he ate, as though he worked out every day, but not excessively. His skin was tanned and his bright green eyes seemed to see everything. His black hair was neat and cut close to his head, though still long enough to run her fingers through – not that she wanted to do that.
Klowix was slightly taller than her and powerfully built, but it was his face that captivated her most. High cheekbones illuminated his captivating eyes, and his thin mouth seemed pinker than most people’s. Entranced, Bethany even watched those lips move as he ate.
After they’d all eaten their fill, Klowix stood up and the others hastened to do the same; Bethany copied them.
“May I give you a massage, Commander?” Anna was eager to please.
He seemed to think about it. “Yes. Come.”
Anna followed him to his room, looking pleased.
“I thought he hadn’t…?”
Trili shook her head. “Oh, he hasn’t. It really is just a massage. Anna gives them to us as well, she’s excellent. Anyway, we’re all off for the night, let me just get something for you first.”
It seemed a bit early to Bethany to go to bed, but she wasn’t complaining; she was exhausted. More than that, she was frustrated. Watching Klowix throughout dinner left her wishing he wasn’t quite as restrained as the others had told her he was.
Everyone else seemed to melt into their individual rooms, but Trili came back out holding something long and purple.
Bethany nearly choked. “Is that… a vibrator?”
Trili laughed. “Oh, come on, you know you want to. Where do you think the others all went off to? Klowix didn’t just get so many applicants because of his money. Most any woman on the planet would jump at the chance to be with him. Watching him sit there, all sexy and remote, all through dinner… anyway, we keep a spare for new people, because never come prepared.”
Bethany hesitated, but Trili pushed it into her hand and was gone before Bethany could protest. Not wanting Klowix to see her standing in the hall with a vibrator in her hand, Bethany quickly went into her own room and shut the door.
She couldn’t resist. She imagined Klowix’s strong arms around her, imagined him kissing her…
She turned the vibrator on and pulled up her dress. Not even making it to the bed, she sank down onto the floor as the vibrations went through her…
The next day, Anna came to wake Bethany up for breakfast, which was a lot easier to manage than dinner. It consisted of a kind of sweet bread they called reni, and it was thankfully eaten with hands rather than utensils.
They all said goodbye to Klowix in the same manner as they greeted him. Once he was gone, the girls clustered around Bethany once again.
Ruth gushed right away. “He likes you.”
Bethany knew she should be horrified, but she couldn’t help being a bit pleased. “How do you know?”
Snia explained. “Klowix isn’t exactly known for his patience. He didn’t help any of the others with their food, he left that all to me.”
Culip interrupted. “Enough of that, we need her to have something spectacular to wear when Klowix comes home.” She whipped out the same screen they’d used yesterday. “Let’s see what we can do.”
Bethany watched as Culip searched for silk dresses. She opened her mouth to indicate she didn’t want silk, but the words wouldn’t come out. She wondered how Klowix would react to her in some of the things Culip was flicking past. Before she could put a stop to the madness, the girls had ordered at least ten stunning dresses for her, from simple and elegant to the kind a queen might wear.
“Come on, while we’re waiting I’ll teach you Evion etiquette.” Ruth grabbed Bethany’s hand and dragged her through to the dining room.
The day seemed to fly by. Bethany was glad she’d gotten a good night’s rest in that huge, comfortable bed. She’d been especially tired and relaxed after… well, the vibrator was now in the drawer next to her bed, and there it would wait for her.
The bell rang intermittently with deliveries, which always signaled a pause in what they were doing to try on yet more dresses. Bethany had to admit, they were amazing. In them she looked… regal. She’d never worn such clothing before.
In every spare moment, she was learning. Ruth taught her about Evion etiquette. Snia taught her how to dance in the traditional fashion. Beoli ran through common customs with her. Lizzy gave her tips on how life with Evions differed to life with humans. Culip showed her the proper way to dress on Telion. Trili told her about history, both the history of Telion and Klowix’s personal history, which she found a lot more captivating.
Constantly throughout the day, the girls shared bits of advice on how to be a good member of Klowix’s harem. They seemed to know a lot about what he liked and what he didn’t. It was all so much to remember, Bethany was tempted to ask for paper to start writing it down, but resisted the urge. She could do this.
By the time the sun started setting, she was once again exhausted. While the others were all getting ready to greet Klowix, Anna massaged her shoulders, which had been getting more and more tense for the past hour as the time for Klowix to get home drew closer.
Despite feeling slightly overwhelmed, Bethany was a little more confident tonight. She knew a lot more now; hopefully she wouldn’t make a fool of herself. Trili had called ahead to ask the chef what they were eating for dinner, and Bethany had already practiced picking up the new food with the strange Evion utensils.
She didn’t even scream anymore when one of the Evions suddenly blurred out of sight and appeared on
the other side of the room. She was still working on keeping her feet under her when they took her with them.
Klowix surprised everyone when he came home. After exchanging greetings, he announced that he would like to have a private dinner with Bethany to welcome her. Instead of looking disappointed, the girls gave Bethany encouraging smiles; perhaps this lack of competition was an Evion thing she had yet to understand.
Klowix handed over a card and told the others to go have fun. Their faces lit up; from what they’d told Bethany, this was the first time they’d been given permission to leave their quarters. She wished she was going with them. All too soon, she and Klowix were alone.
“Tell me more about yourself.” His voice was commanding and sexy.
Bethany scrambled to work out what she could tell him and what she couldn’t. Not wanting to get caught in a nest of lies, she told him mainly about her past, avoiding her more recent history. Klowix seemed genuinely interested in her life.
“So these… backlands. The king of your planet does not visit them? He does not make promises to you to improve your lives?”
“Earth is ruled by governments, not kings. They say they’re going to make things better, but never really do.”
“Ah yes, Lizzy has told me of these governments. I do not mean to sound judgmental to your chosen system of ruling, but it seems an awfully inefficient one to me.”
Bethany couldn’t help it; she burst out laughing. Klowix looked at her in confusion. “You’re right, it is inefficient.”
Klowix smiled at her, and she felt herself melting. “Here too, there are many areas that could be improved. Some of my men have joked that they could replace the king with a monkey and no one would notice.”
Bethany giggled, and Klowix smiled more widely.
“Of course, I disallow such talk, but though I would never say it to them, I believe they have a fair point.”
“From what I know of the history of Earth, human kings and queens were about the same.”