by V. K. Ludwig
I kept that part to myself, knowing full well how ridiculous that would sound coming from a grown male. But darkness held memories I had no desire to revisit.
Back in the hall, I pointed at the main door. “Approach it.”
She eyed me warily, but her expression quickly softened when the door opened as she stepped up. Her fists clenched, and the draft of the hallway played with the fabric of the standard-issue black dress I’d given her. While the color reflected my stratum, the material was stiff, the quality below her status. But there were only so many morning hours I was given after our unexpected mating; the Toroxian tailor still asleep when I woke. Now she wore a dress neither indicating my rank nor carrying the crest of my noble house.
“We’ll grab you something to eat at the common area and visit the tailor while we’re at it.”
“I’m okay with what I’m wearing,” she said, the bite of her voice underlining that troublesome personality of hers. One day this female would grow my seed, but I expected her to fight me every step of the way. Just like I had predicted the day I caught her.
I led her to the transportation tube at the wall across. “Since you can’t read our language, you’ll have to pay very close attention. This is the code to the common area. Abide, olgem, abide, njor. Up, down, up, right. Can you remember that?”
She stared at the panel wide-eyed, several earnest nods rolling from her head. “Yeah, I won’t forget.”
“Hold on to me.” I wrapped my arm around her waist, but all I received in return was a stare as sharp as a dagger. “Or refuse and break a bone, leska, because your body isn’t used to the force of these tubes.”
She cursed quietly enough that I couldn’t make out the words, but eventually complied. I loathed the way she pressed her palms against my chest, her touch so unbearable, disgust swelled underneath my ribs. It shouldn’t have been like that, but I couldn’t help it.
A blink and a squeal later, I peeled myself out from how she’d wrapped her arms around me, her limbs shaky. “You’ll get used to it.”
I was well on my way to the tailor before I realized the hurried tap…tap…tap of her steps had disappeared. A glance over my shoulder revealed Eden open-mouthed, her head turning and tilting in all directions.
“I have an important meeting later,” I said, which was enough to set her back into motion.
“This place was here all along? While I sat in my shoebox of a room, this has been going on right next to it? Are you serious?”
Hands clasped behind my back, I followed the red walkway along the outline of the common area, passing laughter-filled groups of Vetusians with Eden trailing behind me. “My troops need entertainment. Stimulation beyond their duties.”
“N’each,” a healer said.
I acknowledged his bow with a curt nod, as I did with all the others. One reason why I hated moving about public areas, it tended to give me neck pain.
“No shit. You know who might need stimulation as well?” She paused and stared at the Toroxian pastries displayed in the window, covered in stardust, dried ice berries, and kivei nuts. “All those women you keep locked up here. This would have made a world of difference if I could’ve come here.”
“Are you saying you wouldn’t have escaped four times if you had access to this area?”
“No, I would still have tried to run, but I would have been in a much better mood doing it.” She gave me a taunting sneer, but at least she wasn’t mute anymore. “Why is everyone bowing?”
“Would you like coffee?”
An internal battle played out all over her face, making her shove her lips around as she desperately tried to refuse taking something from me. “Yes,” she said, her teeth barely parting, then she added a snarky, “Please.”
“Very well.”
I approached the vendor, acknowledged his bow with yet another nod, and ordered. When I handed the warm mug to Eden, she sniffed it with caution. “Everything is synthesized, and we can imitate over three-million Earth recipes. Are you hungry?”
“No,” she said, taking a judging sip of her coffee.
“You need to eat, Eden.”
“I ate all day yesterday,” she said, following as I stepped through the archway and into the tailors. “Besides, I feel a bit nauseous.”
“Do you want me to call the healer?”
“Melek?”
“I don’t want you to associate yourself with his kind,” I said in a sharp tone. “He’s below us. If you’re unwell, I will call my personal healer.”
“Below us? What does that even —”
“Commander!” The Toroxian tailor walked out from between stacks of fabric which reached the ceiling, one leg lazily dragging behind. “What can I do for the noble house of L’naghal?”
“You will speak English,” I said and pointed at Eden, who stared at the six-handed craftsman in a state of shock. “My mate requires a new wardrobe. I was thinking ten sets of Silk of the Three Suns for now. Thicker fabric for the colder season since fall is approaching quickly. I need one right away. The rest is to be brought to my quarters tomorrow.”
The tailor bowed deep, eying Eden over the rim of his undersized glasses. “It has been many a decade since I clothed a human, but I shall be honored to attire the mate of the honorable Torin da taigh L’naghal.”
Fingers to her parted lips, Eden shuffled back a few steps, and I placed my hand at the small of her back before she went crashing into the shelving behind.
“Is this too much for you?” I asked, letting my voice fall into a whisper against her ear. “The tailor is what we call a Toroxian. Small. Harmless. But the best craftspeople in all the universe for obvious reasons.”
Of all the things she could have said. All the things she could have asked. She turned to look at me, whispering, “Who is Torin da tak Kanagal?”
The blood in my veins thickened. “Are you saying you bonded yourself to a Vetusian last night without even remembering his name?”
“That’s you?”
“By the Three Suns… yes!” I stared at her in disbelief, astonishment holding my throat in a tight clasp. “I told you my name after you ran from the intake module.”
“And you expect me to remember that? All I knew was that you were the Commander. And I didn’t bond myself to shit.”
I didn’t know what to do with this information.
Throughout the brief mating last night, I restricted myself from moaning Eden as I bonded myself to her. And she didn’t know my name?
“Torin. Say it.”
A snarl, and then, “Torin.”
Hearing my name from her lips made me want to mate her all over again.
“Da taigh L’naghal,” I said slowly, emphasizing each sound. “Of the house L’naghal. And you are Eden da taigh L’naghal now.”
“Why do I have a new last name? I sure hope you’re not telling me I accidentally married you or something!”
“We don’t have marriages, we —”
“Good, because this,” — she let her index finger dart back and forth between us —, “is nothing but an agreement, okay? I don’t care who you are. I don’t care if you have a title. And I’m okay with the dress I’m wearing.”
Her quiet demeanor crumbled at the most inconvenient of times, making the tailor take a step back to watch the scene unfold with a bemused smile on his face. I blamed the coffee.
I took a deep breath and sat down on the couch by the window, grabbing the beverage from her hands. “Take her measurements.”
I suffered a moment of concern, but Eden stood quietly and let the small Toroxian go about his work while unloading all those cold stares on me. She could hate me all she wanted as long as she’d honor our agreement. I didn’t need her affection. Cared even less about her opinion.
“It will only be a short while,” the tailor said and placed a tray of gemstones and other adornments on the table by the couch. “In the meantime, perhaps your mate would like to choose whatever speaks to her.”
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nbsp; He disappeared into one of the backrooms, the clinking of machines soon resonating through the store.
I stared over the display of purple arozites carved into petals, glittering rocks, and gold-plated leaves. But instead, I clasped the pale-blue stone between my fingers and carried it over to my mate.
“We call this Tear of the Mother.” I held the tear-shaped stone against her collarbone. “I think this color would go well with the paleness of your skin.”
“Yeah, well, that can happen when you haven’t seen the sunlight in over two weeks.”
“Is everything coming from your mouth either a complaint or a provocation?” I dug my hand into her soft hair, twining a red strand around my finger. “Didn’t we come to an agreement? Why make this harder on yourself than it has to be? I’m trying to be generous.”
“Generous?” A storm formed in her eyes, so turbulent not even the way I tangled her hair tighter contained it. “Considering the way you fucked me like a brute last night, I can guarantee you there’s nothing generous about our agreement. There aren’t enough things in the world I could have asked for to compensate for the pain and the… the humiliation.”
“Pain? What pain?”
She scoffed. “As if you don’t know…”
I didn’t know.
How could I have?
And yet, harsh and heavy, her words seized the air from my lungs, making me fear the worst. Was I too damaged and deficient to even mate? “Are you saying our mating caused you pain?”
“Mating?” She slapped my hand away, sending the stone clinking across the tile floor. “You tossed me around and bred me like a freaking mare, stabbing inside me like a lunatic. Yes, it fucking hurt!”
Tension crept up my spine. “Don’t misunderstand me, Eden, but that’s hard to believe. Considering how you keep fussing about everything, surely you would have said something.”
“You didn’t give me a chance to say anything, because you slapped my hand away. Next thing I knew, I had my face pressed into the sheets!” she shouted, blue veins swelling on her forehead.
“I asked you several times not to touch me! You’re lying!” Please be a liar. My posture lost all of its strength, disintegrating while guilt and rage battled inside my chest. “Show me where I made you bleed. Where I bruised you. Broke a bone.”
She took a step toward me and quickly shoved one leg between mine. Then she kicked me in the crotch.
“Hrgh!”
An excruciating pain shot through me, almost bringing me to my knees. I screamed out, making the Toroxian slam the door to his backroom shut.
“Are you bleeding?” she asked, her eyes brimming with gleaming hate. “Did I break a bone?”
Chapter 10
Eden
I stormed out of the store, my heart punching the air out of my lungs.
“Eden, wait!” came behind me.
No. Keep going.
Walk walk walk.
I hurried across the lawn, around shrubs, and along the red-brick pathway, trying to get away from his retribution.
Clearly, there had to be punishment if you kicked someone with a freaking title in the balls. But shit, it felt so good!
“Can we speak about this in a more private setting?” Torin’s massive frame pushed into view, following me like a nine o’clock shadow. “There is something I would like to explain.”
My pulse hammered against my temples. The last thing I needed was to be alone with him right now.
Shit shit shit. I’m just racking up trouble left and right.
His hand grabbed around my elbow. “I will return you to my quarters.”
“Let go!” I barked, shaking his hand off me. “I’m free to be here, right? Wasn’t that the deal?”
Good lord, I could hear him grind his teeth, staring me down with wide eyes while Vetusians all around us stopped to play witness.
“Yes, you are free to be here.”
That was good enough for me to set back into motion, wandering aimlessly along the line of stores and restaurants.
“Eden,” he said in a sharp, commanding tone. “You will return to my quarters with me right now.”
“Go ahead! Throw me over your shoulder like that savage you are.”
He let out an annoyed grunt and spun me around by my arm. “You don’t even know where you’re going!”
“Doesn’t matter!” I shouted. “Any direction away from you is the right one.”
At that, he shrunk back, his lips opening and closing, his voice small. “What did you just say?”
I bit my tongue.
Just stepped away from underneath his heavy palm and kept going, each glance over my shoulder making him grow smaller with each foot I brought between us.
This wasn’t good.
I shouldn’t have kicked him.
But with the way my muscles burned after a while, I didn’t have much of a choice besides slowing my steps.
When I reached an intersection, I told myself I wasn’t lost. You can’t be lost if you don’t even know where you’re going.
The hallway split in three, and yet there was no doubt one path would be just as fucked up as the other. There was no escaping this place. There was no escaping him.
The moment I turned left a familiar voice stalled my foot. “Oh, you don’t wanna go that way.”
Turning around, I found Melek leaning against the wall with a mug in his hand.
I eyed him warily. “Why not?”
“It leads to the sparring area for the lower ranks. One step around that corner over there, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by at least a hundred half-naked, sweaty, unruly, and unsatisfied Vetusian warriors.” He released a slow, tired breath. “Trust me. You don’t want that.”
I took a step back. “Are you here to sedate me?”
“Why would I? You’re not my problem anymore. Actually, none of the females are my problem anymore since you ran, and the Commander stripped me of a rank for it.” He took a sip of his drink. “Besides, not sure if you noticed, but he had your tranq pad removed.”
I flung my hand onto my neck, letting my fingers trace for the rubbery outline. But there was none. Torin had removed it. “That’s why he didn’t sedate me when I walked off.”
“Oh, come on, Eden. If the Commander wanted to catch you, you’d be shouldered and hanging upside down by now.” He offered a sad smile. “You understand you can’t leave Ardev Five, right? There was never a chance for you to escape.”
“Yeah, I know.” Saying it out loud killed that last bit of rebellion in me. Maybe.
“Want me to walk you back to his quarters?”
I stared down at the floor and bit my lips. “I’m sure he’s pretty pissed at me.”
“I bet. The entire ship’s going to gossip about the Commander’s mate walking out on him like that.” He gestured toward the hallway to the right. “Come on. We’ll take the long way around. Give you both some time to calm down.”
I nodded and walked along the hall beside him, each step bringing tears to my eyes.
“He’s awful,” I said after a while.
“Can’t be so bad, considering you bonded yourself to him in less than a day. All this time, we figured you were not suitable to be matched just yet. Seeing you in a black dress was… surprising.”
“Thanks, Melek. If I didn’t already feel like a slut, then I’m sure you just fixed it,” I said in a choked, exasperated voice. “And I didn’t bond myself to him; whatever that means. He and I made a deal.”
A child in exchange for freedom.
It sounded even more messed up now.
He placed his mug onto a hover cart and punched his fists into his pockets. “Let me guess. It has something to do with the rotations of the females he ordered? The entire crew is on double shifts because of it. Except for me. I’m on triple shifts now. Wanna guess why?”
A bit of pity crept to the surface. “Look, I’m really sorry I ran again, okay? I didn’t do it to get you in trouble.”
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nbsp; “The Commander isn’t very fond of my kind.”
“Hmm, and what exactly is your kind?”
Shoulders sagging, he gave me a tilt-headed glance. “Ever noticed that my eyes appear to have two colors?”
“It’s pretty. Makes you stand out from the others.”
“Uh-huh, immediately gives me away as a drug addict.” He smacked his tongue, then quickly added, “Ex addict. I’ve been clean for a few solar cycles now. Souldust leeches the pigmentation from your irises. I was born with green eyes.”
“I wouldn’t have taken you for someone who struggled with drugs.”
“Not everything about the Vetusian Empire is great, Eden,” he said. “We’ve got our own issues, and souldust is perhaps one of the biggest ones. It’s easy to slip into a habit that makes you feel content when you can’t get it from anywhere else. Like I said once before… we’re a lonely bunch.”
“Well, he wants me to stay away from you.”
His laugh quickly diminished into a moan. “And here I am, walking you straight to him. He’s probably gonna put me on the next stargazer back to Cultum for it.”
“Like I said. He’s awful.”
“You couldn’t have done much better than him, Eden. He’s one of our three Wardens and the most powerful of them. There isn’t much he can’t give you.”
“Aside from some basic respect and consideration,” I snarled. “Can I be matched to someone else?”
“Eden, you and he have been matched because you’re fated to be together.”
Unease seeped into my bones, leaving me feeling brittle, frail. “What are you talking about?”
“You should have spent more time listening and less time throwing stuff at me.” He stopped dead in his tracks, placed a hand on my shoulder, and turned me to him. “Humans and Vetusians share Gaia links because we originated from the same gene pool. Everyone matches to exactly one person, and no other.”
“Yeah, for healthy offspring or something like that. I did listen!”
“No! Think about it. We can access pretty much any compromised cell, so why would we even care about that?” His voice dropped into a tone so severe now, I wanted to press my palms onto my ears so I wouldn’t have to hear his next words. “You share that link because you’re fated to be together. Our scholars discovered that ages ago, and we established a databank to help couples find each other quicker. I swear, Eden, our language doesn’t even have a word for divorce anymore, or anything that indicates a split between a couple.”
