The fish-faced man blinked again.
“But don’t you wish to make a profit?”
“I just want to break even,” Need said. “I want my bank account—and my life—to go back to where it was before I saw her crying on that damn auction block.”
He wants to forget me, Lan’ara thought dully. Wants to pretend I never existed.
Well, that should be easy enough to do. She was, after all, his property. So he could sell her and get rid of her and pretend he’d never seen her in the first place.
Gods and Goddesses, she wished she was dead.
“Very well,” the fish-faced man was saying. “I’ll need the girl to go with our medical tech here…” He snapped his fingers and a squat, toad-faced woman stepped forward and bowed. “For verification. If the test reads negative for male seed, the forty thousand will be deposited in your account at once.”
Need nodded.
“Fine.”
“Come along, dearie.” The short woman took Lan’ara by the arm. “Just come with me into our verification room. Just one little test—won’t take but a moment.”
Dully, Lan’ara followed her into a small room with an exam table set up in its center. She lay on the table mechanically when requested to do so, and spread her legs, not caring what was done to her.
The toad woman put on gloves and then a metal probe so cold it felt like an icicle was inserted into Lan’ara’s channel and held there for a long moment.
In fact, it took so long, Lan’ara almost began to hope. What if Need had somehow left a trace of his seed inside her that one time he had entered her? What if the probe found that she wasn’t technically a virgin anymore? Would Need be forced to keep her? Would he have to take her back to The Dark Star with him? Would he, in time, forgive her for disobeying his orders and going into Drung’s room?
But then the probe emitted a friendly sounding beep and the technician pulled it out. She looked at it for a moment, then nodded as though satisfied.
“Very good, dearie—there’s been no seed in you,” she said, smiling. “I’m sure Senator Pouncenblast will be happy to have you.”
“Th-thank you,” Lan’ara whispered, feeling her last hope blow away like so much dust in a cruel wind.
The medical tech patted her leg.
“You’ll do just fine,” she told Lan’ara. “The Senator is old, so in spite of performance enhancing drugs, he hardly ever asks to use a girl more than once a solar month or so. It’s an easy life and will get even easier as soon as you give him an heir.”
“I…I see,” Lan’ara swallowed hard and nodded.
“Well, come on.” The medical tech nodded at her. “Let’s go let the Senator’s secretary know you passed the test.”
She led Lan’ara back to where Need and the fish-faced man were talking. When she nodded, the man said,
“Splendid! Everything seems to be in order. I’ll have the credits transferred to your account at once. And as for you, my dear,” he said to Lan’ara. “You can follow me to the harem wing. I’m sure if you’re lucky, the Senator will be wanting to see you tonight. He’s been talking of little else ever since I informed him that you had been located.”
Lan’ara said nothing but only nodded. Truthfully, she didn’t trust herself not to break into tears if she tried to talk. She shot Need one last glance, but the big Kindred was looking pointedly away—clearly he didn’t mean to let her catch his eye.
He’s not even going to say goodbye, she thought and it felt like a final dagger had entered her heart. Bowing her head, she allowed the fish-faced man to lead her away, deeper into the Senator’s palatial home.
Her new life as about to begin and she would never see Need again.
Forty-Nine
Need cursed himself for a fool for not being able to put the girl out of his mind as he returned to the ship.
She’s out of your life, he told himself, even as his mind continued to insist on dwelling on how sad Lan’ara had looked—how sad and how beautiful in the new green and gold gown he had bought her. She’s out of your life and it’s for the better. So just forget her, all right?
But somehow, he couldn’t.
It didn’t help that the moment he boarded The Dark Star, Laxah came up and demanded to know where Lan’ara was.
“I saw you leave with the girl but where is she now, hmm?” she asked, frowning.
Need set his jaw.
“She’s gone,” he said shortly. “I sold her to Senator Pouncenblast, just as I always planned to do.”
“You what?” Laxah demanded, glaring up at him. “You sold her like a piece of property to some rich old bastard?”
“That was always the plan,” Need reminded her tightly. “And it’s no business of yours what I do with my property anyway, Laxah.”
“Oh, you…you man!” the med tech spat angrily. “That girl loved you, did you know that? And she wanted to stay on board The Dark Star. I was going to train her to be a med tech and she was going to continue with the cooking, too, just because she enjoyed it. She had a whole new life planned for herself but no—you had to get your money back so you sold her like the bastard you are! Well, I have no respect for you left—none! You disgust me!”
“Enough!” Need roared at her. “I don’t answer to you or anyone else in this matter. So keep your fucking opinions to yourself!”
He had stomped off to his rooms, determined not to talk about Lan’ara again to anyone.
But that proved to be a difficult promise to keep. That night at dinner, with Lan’ara gone, they were back to their rotating kitchen schedule. It was Captain Glo’ll’s turn and he made a mud-based soup with live silver- fish swimming in it which was inedible to almost everyone.
Psoas groaned as he looked into his bowl and muttered that he missed Lan’ara’s cooking. Krax and Kreeva echoed his sentiments while Need sat in stony silence. Only Drung ate the soup with apparent enjoyment and asked for seconds and thirds, slurping down the living fish and crunching their bones and scales between his teeth voraciously.
After supper, Need went directly back to his quarters to avoid talking to anyone else about why Lan’ara wasn’t with them anymore. It was clear the whole crew missed her and blamed him for getting rid of her. Strangely, only Drung didn’t seem upset by her absence, though he would have expected the Trollox to explode with anger on hearing that Need had sold the girl he wanted to someone else.
But Need didn’t give a damn what any of them thought—or so he told himself. He only wanted to forget her. He just wished that they were moving on from Genu Six, but Captain Glo’ll had ordered that the ship stay in orbit around the world for a little longer as they looked for new trade opportunities. Genu Six was a rich planet and he anticipated finding plenty to keep them busy for the next solar week or so.
So Need was stuck here, in orbit around a planet where the girl still was. His only hope was that they would find business quickly so they could go and he could forget her once and forever.
Fifty
“Well, my dear, how lovely you look!” Senator Pouncenblast eyed Lan’ara’s bare skin greedily, his gaze traveling over the skimpy outfit she’d been given to wear by the Mistress of the Harem.
“Thank you, my Lord.” Lan’ara bent her head modestly, looking down at her hands. She had spent the night before and all of today being pampered with baths and skin treatments to get her ready for this moment. She knew the Senator would probably expect to take her tonight but she didn’t even care. She felt dead inside—empty. It was as though the big Kindred had taken her heart with him when he left her here on Genu Six. She felt hollowed out, emotionally and physically, as she waited for her inevitable fate.
“Well now, are you ready to give me an heir?” the Senator asked, raising both of his bushy gray eyebrows as though he was asking if she wanted a particularly nice treat.
“Yes, my Lord Senator,” Lan’ara said again.
“Now, now—you don’t have to be quite so formal, my dear,”
he chided gently. “Just ‘my Lord Pouncenblast’ will do. You don’t have to call me by my title in the bedroom, at least.”
“As you wish, my Lord Pouncenblast,” Lan’ara said mechanically.
The Senator frowned.
“Are you quite all right, my dear? You seem rather dull tonight—at least, compared to the last time I saw you at the Beauty Ball at Twyleth Tigg.”
Lan’ara thought about pointing out that the last time he had seen her she hadn’t been kidnapped by pirates, sold at a slave auction, then fallen in love with and been summarily dismissed, rejected, and sold by her captor. But of course the Senator didn’t care—he only wanted her to be the bright, bubbly girl who had captured his attention at the Beauty Ball.
She had better make an effort here or she might be kicked out of the Senator’s palace—and then where would she go?
“Much has happened since we last met,” she said, forcing the corners of her mouth up into an approximation of a smile. “But of course I’m very happy to be here with you at last, my Lord Pouncenblast.”
“Of course you are. For what girl wouldn’t be?” he asked and laughed at his own joke. “Well now—let’s get down to business, shall we? First remove your clothing and let me see your lovely body.”
Feeling like she was watching herself from a distance, Lan’ara did as he said, removing the skimpy pink harem outfit to bare herself for him.
“Good…good.” Senator Pouncenblast nodded, his faded eyes roaming over her naked flesh greedily. “Ah, my dear—I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I took a ripe young bride for my pleasure. I really must do it more often!” he added, as though making a note to himself. “Some pleasures never get old.”
That’s all I am to him, Lan’ara thought dully. Just a thing he can take pleasure with. He doesn’t think of me as a real person with thoughts and feelings and likes and dislikes. He only wants to use my body to have some fun and make a baby.
She supposed the thought ought to make her angry—outraged. But she felt nothing right now…nothing at all.
Nothing until the Senator touched her bare flesh, that was. Because the moment his liver-spotted hand cupped her breast, Lan’ara felt a wave of nausea come over her.
Oh no! The illness caught her by surprise and she struggled against the urgent need to throw up. The sudden sickness reminded her of how she’d felt when the “customer” at Mistress Bigaboo’s whorehouse had touched her and that reminded her of what she’d read in her file.
“…you need never worry about your Twyleth Tigg bride cheating on you because the touch of another male’s hand upon her skin will trigger an attack of nausea so strong, she will eject the contents of her stomach upon him the moment he attempts to violate her.”
The words swam back into Lan’ara’s memory as she fought with her gorge again. How could she have forgotten? She should have told Need—explained to him that she had already formed a bond with him and that any other male would make her sick!
But would it have mattered? The big Kindred had been so angry with her, he hadn’t been willing to listen to anything she said. So now she was stuck here, trying not to puke all over Senator Pouncenblast while he fondled her breast.
“Such lovely firm flesh,” the Senator was murmuring as he continued to palm her left breast. “My dear, it’s going to be a pleasure to breed you.”
The correct response was, of course, “Thank you, my Lord Pouncenblast.” But Lan’ara was struggling so hard not to puke that she dared not even open her mouth. Instead, she offered him a closed-mouthed, tight-lipped smile and a noncommittal, “Mmm-hmm.”
“Such lovely symmetry, too,” the Senator went on, reaching for her right breast with his other hand. “Some girls, you know, have one breast that is a trifle larger or smaller than the other but I do believe that yours are the exact same size and shape. They are absolutely perfe—”
At that point Lan’ara lost the battle with her stomach and threw up all over him.
“Ugh!” The Senator jumped back, much more quickly than Lan’ara would have believed a man of his age could move.
“Sorry!” she exclaimed, wiping frantically at her mouth. “Oh my Lord Senator, I’m so sorry!”
“You should have told me if you felt sick, girl!” he snapped, looking down at himself. “Now just look! My favorite breeding robe—ruined!” He glared at her. “Why did you not tell me you were unwell? Or better yet, you should have told my secretary before he let me come to you. I’m a very busy man and I don’t have time to waste with sick concubines.”
“I’m so sorry,” Lan’ara exclaimed again. “It’s just, I wasn’t feeling sick until you…I mean, until a moment ago.” She bit her lip. She had almost blurted out that it was his touch that had made her sick—that wouldn’t have been good.
But the Senator’s eyes were narrowed as he studied her.
“Tell me something, my dear,” he said to Lan’ara as he took off the puke-stained robe. “Exactly how close did you get to that big Kindred before he sold you to me?”
“My…my Lord?” Lan’ara stammered. “I don’t understand what you mean. You…you know that I passed your virgin verification process,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t form a bond with someone else—with that Kindred, perhaps? Hmm?” He raised one busy eyebrow at her accusingly. “Do you think I was born yesterday, my dear? You are not the first concubine I have purchased through Twyleth Tigg Academy, you know. I’m very familiar with the way a Twyleth Tigg bride is unable to stomach being with another male once the first male has put his stamp upon her.”
Lan’ara’s heart sank.
“Oh no, my Lord!” she protested. “I assure you that—”
Before she could finish, Senator Pouncenblast reached over and grabbed her by the arm.
The minute his liver-spotted hand came in contact with her bare flesh, Lan’ara began to gag. She had nothing left in her stomach, but her gag reflex was triggered anyway, as surely as though she had put a finger down her throat. She couldn’t stop until the Senator withdrew his hand. Then, suddenly and mercifully, the awful gagging and nausea dissipated at once.
The Senator frowned like a thundercloud, his bushy gray brows drawing low in disapproval.
“It is as I thought—you are tainted! I should have known it was too good to be true when that scoundrel of a Kindred called and told my secretary he had found you!”
“But, my Lord—”
The Senator held up one hand for silence.
“Enough. Do not perjure yourself further, girl. I will have my secretary call that Kindred’s ship at once. You will have to be returned.”
Fifty-One
Lan’ara sat in miserable silence as the Senator yelled for his secretary—who apologized again and again for bringing him a “defective bride”—and gave orders for her to be cleaned up and removed.
As she showered and rinsed her mouth and changed back into the green and gold silk dress she’d worn the day before at her arrival, her mind was a tumult of uneasy questions. Was The Dark Star even still in orbit around Genu Six? And if so, would Need agree to take her back?
Lan’ara doubted it. For of course the Senator would expect to have his forty thousand credits returned. And Need was so angry with her, there was no way he would part with the money twice. So what was to become of her? Would she be thrown out of the Senator’s palace and have to live homeless on the streets?
Maybe I can beg him to let me be a chambermaid or work in the kitchens where he can’t see me, she thought desperately. It would take my whole life but that way I could pay him back the forty thousand myself.
But would Senator Pouncenblast agree to such an arrangement? He, too, was angry with her for being “tainted” and he might want nothing more to do with her.
Oh, if only Need hadn’t gotten so angry with her! What in the world had Drung said to him that made him so mad? He seemed to feel like she was manipulating him in some way, just because she
’d been following her training. But how else was she supposed to act when faced with a strange and frightening situation where her very life was in his hands? How—?
“All right, they’re coming.”
The secretary’s words cut through her incessant inner monologue of anxiety and fear and Lan’ara’s head yanked up in surprise.
“What…what did you say?” she quavered.
“I said that someone from the crew of The Dark Star is coming to get you, girl,” the fish-faced man sneered at her. “They even agreed to pay back the forty thousand credits and then some for the inconvenience which was caused to the Senator.”
“They…they did?” Lan’ara could hear the hope in her voice but she couldn’t do anything to quell it.
Need had forgiven her! He must have! There was no other reason why he would agree to pay for her again and come down to get her. Maybe now she would get a chance to explain herself a little better and he would learn to care for her and they would get along!
Maybe she would be allowed to stay aboard The Dark Star and keep cooking, which she loved to do, and learn the med tech trade from Laxah and have a life as something other than a sexual plaything for someone else to use and abuse and toss aside whenever they were tired of her.
“I’m very glad they saw reason,” Senator Pouncenblast said with a sniff to his secretary. He had changed into his second favorite breeding robe and was apparently in the act of choosing another concubine to use for his sexual pleasure.
“Mustn’t waste the effects of the performance medication,” Lan’ara had heard him muttering to himself.
She felt sorry for whichever girl he chose to service him. She—whoever she was—would have to lay there and let the liver-spotted, bushy-eyebrowed old Senator do whatever he wanted to her. Lan’ara, on the other hand, was going back to a ship she wanted to call home with a handsome Kindred warrior whose touch she craved.
But when the chiming came from the front door and the secretary went to get her savior, she didn’t hear Need’s voice outside in the echoing marble hallway. Instead, there was some deep, rasping speech too low for her to make out.
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