“Yes, I saw you when you first arrived and were still unconscious. You’re actually pretty lucky that you stole some juice from one of Quill’s ships. Sigan said the faulty translator in your head probably would have killed you in another day or two.”
“Oh, I didn’t steal the juice,” I said.
“Right. Cheryl stole it.”
I jerked in surprise and Sabrina grinned at me. “My husband was amused by your cleverness.”
She drank some more juice and I ate a piece of the citrus like fruit called jeanda. I glanced at Adrix and lowered my voice, “Thank you so much for what you did the other day. That was really nice of you.”
“Truthfully, I did it for Galan,” Sabrina said. “He’s an amazing guy and while he is my husband’s best friend, if Quill had found out you escaped, it wouldn’t have gone well for Galan.”
“If you hadn’t said anything, I would have told the king that it was my fault, not Galan’s. I wouldn’t have let him get in trouble. I swear.”
When she didn’t reply, I said, “Is Galan okay? I haven’t seen him for a few days, and I’m worried about him.”
Worried was an understatement. While I was fairly certain he wasn’t around because he was pissed at me, there’d been a large part of me that worried he’d gotten in trouble for what happened.
“He’s fine,” Sabrina said. “Busy.”
“Is he?”
She paused. “No, at least no busier than usual. But he asked Adrix to keep an eye on you for now. He’s upset with you, but he’s also upset with himself for being so careless in leaving your door unlocked. If you had escaped or if you’d hurt someone in the castle, Galan would never have forgiven himself.”
Guilt streaked through me and I stared at the table, worried that Sabrina would see it on my face. “I wouldn’t have hurt anyone or tried to escape,” I said in a small voice entirely unlike my usual one. “I just wanted to do a bit of exploring.”
“You asked me where the front door was,” Sabrina said.
I continued to stay quiet and Sabrina said, “May I give you some advice, Ellis?”
“Yes.”
“Try to see this apartment not as a prison but a gift. I realize it’s difficult, I was in a somewhat similar situation to yours for the first few weeks I was here, but the alternative will be much worse. My husband is not always a patient Draax, and if you keep trying to escape, he will have you sent to the Draax prison until we can return you to Earth.”
I appreciated what she was saying but she wasn’t the one who would be imprisoned for the next forty years. As grateful as I was for the Draax king’s kindness, I still needed to look out for myself. I’d learned the hard way that I couldn’t count on anyone but me.
She was obviously waiting for me to reply, so I painted on a sincere expression and said, “Of course. You’re right. I’ll follow the rules from now on.”
Her look suggested that she didn’t believe me, but she finished off her juice before heaving herself to her feet. “Ugh, my ankles are so swollen. I know tons of women love being pregnant, but I am definitely not one of them.”
“When are you due?” I asked as I stood.
“Another couple of weeks. It’s nice to formally meet you, Ellis.”
“It’s nice to meet you as well, your highness.”
She made a face and I smiled and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Sabrina.”
I followed her to the door and Adrix opened it for her. “Come, my queen, I will escort you back to your quarters before I take the human for her walk in the garden.”
“Thank you, Adrix.” Sabrina paused in the hallway. “Remember what I said, Ellis. Okay?”
“I will. Thanks.”
The door shut and locked and I wandered back to the table. I sat down and pushed my fork around my half-eaten food. For the first time since I arrived, I’d lost my appetite. I hated that Galan was upset with me and hated it even more that he was upset with himself.
Enough to tell him you lied?
My face went hot, and I pushed my food away before crossing the room to stretch out on the bed. Lying was what I did. Next to boosting ships and repairing mechanical shit, it was one of my best skills and it had saved my ass more times than I could count. I’d never felt bad about lying to someone before and these feelings of regret and remorse were foreign and unpleasant.
I didn’t need to feel bad. Galan and I weren’t even friends for God’s sake.
* * *
Ellis
I sat cross-legged on my bed and stared across the room at the lock on my door. My palms itched and I traced the leather case sitting in my lap. Picking the lock and leaving my apartment would be a colossal mistake. I knew that.
But it’d been two days since the queen’s visit. Two days of nothing to do. Two days of eating meals, lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, and twice daily walks with Adrix in the garden.
Two days of not seeing Galan.
There was a knock on my door, and I shoved the leather case under the sheet before standing. The door opened and a woman with warm brown skin and pink hair stepped into my room and smiled uncertainly at me. “Hi there.”
“Hello,” I said.
A second woman walked in and I said, “Inara, hi!”
“Hey, Ellis.” Inara smiled at Adrix who was standing behind them in the doorway. “Thank you, Adrix. We’ll holler if we need you, okay?”
Adrix blushed, his gaze flickering to Inara’s breasts for the briefest of seconds. “You are welcome, Inara.” He hesitated. “Your hair looks very pretty today.”
“Thank you. I like your shirt,” Inara said.
Adrix’s skin turned an even darker green and I could see his tail waving around behind him like it was in a stage two hurricane. He glanced at me, the excited wave of his tail slowing. “Do not try and harm Inara and Candala, human.”
“I won’t,” I said. “My murderous intentions are only at about a one today and I need them to be at least a seven before I go all Lizzie Borden.”
Adrix just stared at me and Inara laughed and said, “She’s joking, Adrix. We’ll be fine with her.”
“I will wait in the hallway while you visit,” he said.
He closed the door and I walked over and stuck my hand out to the pink-haired girl. “Hi, Candala, I’m Ellis.”
She shook my hand. “Hi there. You can call me Candy.”
“So are you guys here to, like, clean or something?” I said.
“No,” Inara wandered over to the loveseat and sat down. “Sabrina asked Candy to stop by and work her sewing magic for you, and I decided to join her just for a visit. I imagine you must be bored out of your mind.”
“A little,” I said. “What do you mean sewing magic?”
Candy laughed. “I’m a pretty good seamstress. None of the women who work here have clothes that will fit you, you’re too small, but if you let me take your measurements, I’ll make you some clothes.”
“Seriously?” I said. “That would be amazing.”
Candy had a small bag with her, and I watched as she brought out a tablet. “I won’t be able to make a bra or underwear for you, but I can at least make you a few shirts and some pants, maybe even a couple pairs of shorts.”
“Whatever you can do would be awesome,” I said.
“Great, let’s get you measured.”
Fifteen minutes later, Candy had all of my measurements entered into her tablet and the three of us were sitting in my small living room with bottles of gallberry juice. I’d dragged a kitchen chair over to sit in and I shifted on the hard seat. “So, do you guys have the day off today?”
Inara nodded. “Yes, thank God. I had to clean the sparring room yesterday and that’s always a nightmare. I swear it took me three hours alone just to scrub the blood off the floor.”
“Blood?” I said.
“The Draax often spar with real swords and sometimes they get cut so, you know… blood splatter,” Inara said.
“Holy shit. T
hat sounds like a good way to lose a limb,” I said.
Candy laughed. “The Draax are pretty tough. And with this stuff,” she pointed to the bottle of juice she held, “any damage they get from sparring is pretty much healed by the next day.”
“Speaking of which,” Inara said, “I heard they healed you from your cancer. That’s pretty awesome.”
“It is,” I said.
“Adrix told me that you would be going to prison on Earth as soon as the war between the Emirans and the Cillades ended,” Inara said. “I’m really sorry, Ellis.”
“Well, I’m innocent,” I said, “so I expect a lawyer will get any charges dropped once I tell him my side of the story.”
“Right, it was a woman named Cheryl who made you steal the juice,” Inara said.
“Boy, word gets around fast in the palace,” I said.
“No,” Candy said, “word gets around fast to Inara, especially when it’s something that Adrix knows.”
“He does seem to have a thing for you,” I said to Inara.
She blushed prettily. “No more of a thing than he has for any of the other women working in the palace. He’s just a flirt.”
“Bullshit,” Candy said. “I guarantee the second the clock strikes midnight tomorrow night and this three month waiting period is over, he’ll be knocking on your door and asking if you want to mate with him.”
“And when I say no, he’ll move on to the next woman and ask her,” Inara said.
“Doubt it,” Candy said.
“Are you saying no because of your sister?” I said.
“Yeah. I’m not staying here a minute longer past the year I agreed to,” Inara said. “I can’t. Wendy needs me.”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t bang Adrix for fun,” Candy said. “The Draax will be fine with that. Trust me.”
“I wouldn’t feel right about it, at least not with Adrix. Sigan told me Adrix is looking for a mate, not just sex. I don’t want to lead him on.”
“Technically, aren’t they all looking for a mate?” I said.
“They are,” Candy said. “But some of them are more eager to be mated than others. My experience has been that there are plenty of Draax just looking for sex and not a wife.”
“How do you know that?” I said.
“I banged a lot of Draax back on Earth,” Candy said.
Her matter of fact tone made me giggle. “Oh, well, um, good for you.”
Candy grinned at me. “I didn’t do it just because. My son, Roden, was really sick and I used to barter sex with the Draax for juice.”
“Um, isn’t that illegal?” Inara said.
“Oh yeah, but I was desperate,” Candy said. “Roden was worth the risk of going to prison.”
“Why didn’t you just join the breeding program?” I said.
“I tried. I’m breeding incompatible,” Candy said. “Anyway, a friend got enough juice to heal Roden and that same friend helped me get the job here on Draax. Which, even if it is just housecleaning, I love it. I was a lower back on Earth and barely scraping by. Here, I have a nice place to live, food for Roden, as much gallberry juice as we want to drink, and a weekly paycheque.”
“They are pretty generous with the juice.” I took another drink, relishing the sweet taste. My intense cravings for it had ended once my cancer was healed, but I still drank at least three bottles of the stuff a day. “So, are you planning to stay after your year of work is up, Candy?”
“Probably,” she said. “I like it here and so does Roden. Mind you, he hasn’t been enrolled in an actual school yet.”
“Why not?” I asked. “Is he too young?”
“No, but Sabrina thought it would be best if he and the other two kids are kept separate for a while. This new work program is still in the testing stages and very few Draax outside of the castle know about it. Sabrina hired a teacher, Luka, to live in the castle and tutor them. Once the year contract is up and as long as the program works out, Sabrina said we can enroll the kids in regular school. Roden likes Luka but he’s a pretty social kid and now that he can move and breathe without issues, he likes participating in sports, that sort of thing. I’m just hoping that the Draax kids aren’t mean to the human kids.”
“They won’t be,” Inara said. “All of them are half-human themselves.”
“I know, but they’re also green or purple and have tails. Roden will stick out like a raisin in a chocolate chip cookie.”
“Ooh, I should make cookies this weekend,” Inara said.
Candy laughed and I took another drink of juice. “So, are you going to date a Draax now that you’re allowed to socialize with them?”
Candy shook her head. “No. I’m over the just bang them and walk away thing. I did enough of that on Earth, and while there are plenty of Draax who are cool with just having sex, the ones who are looking for a relationship, are looking for a breeding compatible mate. They want kids, you know?”
“There’s some who don’t,” Inara said. “Laos told me that the head of the King’s Guard isn’t looking for someone who can breed. Crap, what’s his name…”
“Galan,” I said through weirdly numb lips. “His name is Galan.”
Inara snapped her fingers. “Right. I see him all the time in the sparring room. He’s hot. You should go for him, Candy-girl.”
“How does Laos know he doesn’t want kids?” I said.
Inara shrugged. “I don’t know, I didn’t ask.”
“So, he could want kids,” I said. “Which means he wouldn’t work for you, Candy.”
Candy studied me and I could feel my cheeks heating up. “I mean, if it isn’t true that he doesn’t want kids. If it’s true, then you could totally mate with him.”
“His living quarters are right there,” Inara pointed to the wall of the kitchenette, “why don’t you pop by and say hello.”
“Hmm, tempting… but no,” Candy said with a grin.
“He isn’t there anyway,” Inara said. “He’s always in the sparring room in the afternoon.”
I stared at the wall like I’d never seen it before. Galan was right on the other side of it? Holy fucking shit.
“Are you serious? Galan lives right there?” I pointed to the wall.
Inara picked at a hangnail. “Yup. I was mopping the hallway floor, not two weeks ago and he walked out. I remember because I’d left the bucket right in front of his door and he tripped over it. Water went all over his boots and pants. He had to go back into his apartment and change. I felt terrible but he was super sweet about it. Said it was his fault.”
She finished off her juice. “You know, the Draax have better technology than us. You’d think they have auto-brooms and auto-mops like we do on Earth. Not that I’m complaining. If they did, I wouldn’t have a job, right?”
I didn’t reply. I was still staring at the kitchen wall like it was the first goddamn wall I’d seen in my life. Galan had been right beside me this whole time. Eating, sleeping, showering, maybe doing… other things.”
My pelvis clenched tight and I immediately shoved that dangerous thought right out of my head.
“Ellis?”
“Yeah?” How thick were the walls anyway? Were they, put a glass to the wall and still not hear anything thick?
“Ellis? Helloooo, Ellis.”
I made myself look away from the wall. “Sorry. What did you say?”
“I said maybe I could ask Sabrina if you could hang out in the common room with us, sometime,” Inara said.
“Common room?” I said.
“It’s just a big room with couches and hologram screens and shit like that,” Inara said. “A bunch of us ladies hang out there in the evenings a lot as a social thing. I’ll ask Sabrina if you can join us. You must be so bored.”
“I am,” I said. “And thank you for the offer, but I’m pretty sure the queen isn’t going to let me go to the common room, even with a Draax guard.”
“You never know,” Inara said. “It won’t hurt to ask. Anyway, I should go. I
told Rachel I would meet her in the garden to do some yoga. Candy, you want to join us, babe?”
“Not this time. I want to get started on some of Ellis’s clothes before Roden is finished school for the day.”
The two women stood, and I followed them as they headed toward the door. “Thank you, Candy. This is really nice of you and I appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem,” Candy said.
Inara opened the door and smiled at Adrix. “It was nice to see you again, Adrix.”
“You as well, Inara. Are you headed back to your living quarters now?” Adrix said.
“Actually, the garden,” Inara said.
“I will walk with you,” Adrix said.
Candy glanced back at me and mouthed, “Told you he liked her.”
Adrix shut and locked the door. I waited until their voices had drifted down the hallway before I ran to the kitchenette and pressed one ear against the wall and plugged the other ear with my finger. I couldn’t hear anything and after a few seconds, I muttered a curse and straightened.
“What are you doing, idiot?” I paced back and forth. “One, these walls are made of goddamn stone, you’re not going to hear anything, and two, he’s not even in his apartment. He’s at the sparring room and…”
I chewed at my bottom lip as I stared at my bed. My legs a little unsteady, I crossed over to the bed, opened the leather case, and grabbed my tension wrench and my hook pick.
“Seriously, what are you doing, Ellis?” I knelt in front of the door and inserted the tension wrench. “This is a very bad idea.”
It was the worst fucking idea in the world.
Chapter Nine
Ellis
I opened my door, looked both ways, and stepped out into the empty hallway. I knelt in front of Galan’s door and went to work on the lock. Nerves made sweat slide down my back, but my hands didn’t shake. They never did.
Galan’s lock was just as easy to pick as mine. I was inside his apartment in less than two minutes. I shut the door and leaned against it, holding my breath as I strained to hear any noise.
Galan’s apartment was bigger than mine but not lavishly so. Nothing like the king’s living quarters anyway. Galan’s decorating tastes were minimal with a few pieces of art on the wall and some pictures and other knick-knacks on a large bookshelf. The bookshelf was sandwiched between two doors on the far wall. One was shut but the other was open and I could see part of a dresser and the end of Galan’s bed. I crept across the living room, running my hand along the back of the couch, before opening the door on the left. It was a bathroom and I studied the towel hanging on the rod and the razor and shaving cream sitting on the bathroom vanity before closing the door.
Rebel (The Draax Series Book 3) Page 12