by Alma Nilsson
She smiled at the thought, “We’ll see. Right now, that sounds so wonderful. I’m so tired of being alone and confused. It’s been too long and too hard.”
He held her back from him but his hands were still on her shoulders. He looked directly into her green eyes and said, “But you have made it Drusilla. You have almost run the entire gauntlet and you are still here.”
She knew then that he would have had her no other way. A small part of her wanted to leave him now for pushing her into such experiences, the loneliness of the ban, the duel by his association, and the disapproval of the binding tattoos. But she reminded herself, He gave me an opportunity to walk away and I didn’t. I can still walk away and I’m not going to. “You feel I’ve earned the right to be your wife then?”
He looked at her with confusion, “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant you came to the Alliance in ignorance and emerged a goddess in my eyes. I’m honored to be your husband.” He knelt before her then with his hands on the back of her knees and pressed his head against the front of her legs.
Drusilla was surprised by his words and actions. She wondered if this was a set cultural Alliance practice that she didn’t know about and if she should say something. The truth was she was so overwhelmed she didn’t know what to say so she leaned over him and caressed his hair, all the time saying, “I love you. I love you, no matter what. I love you.”
Zol contacted Dru and arranged to meet at what would be her and Ket’s home located within the House Vo compound in the Imperial Ring of the city. Dru had never been to an Alliance home before, except for Kara’s home, but at the time she had been too anxious to take in much, except that it was red and she knew that was considered distasteful. The only thing Ket had told her about their home was that it suited his rank. Dru was worried that it would be as large as Kara and Tir’s and that she would have to furnish the whole thing alone. She had no experience with such things even on Earth and definitely not in the Alliance and not of his social rank. Her childhood home in the Exterior had been small and had only a small hodgepodge of inherited furniture. Afterwards, all of her accommodation had been provided for her either by the human fleet or the Alliance.
Dru had contacted Rebecca to ask her about her home in the Alliance with her husband Kole. She had not expected the hour-long VM she got in return or the unexpected entrance of Kole in the middle and witnessing their small argument over his mother, but it was very insightful as to what Dru could expect from Ket’s family. Rebecca had married an officer in the military and his home and family were very traditional and didn’t want her to have anything from Earth. Rebecca said flatly, ‘They want to pretend that I’m not human at all, so it’s a constant struggle.’ But it didn’t matter so much for Rebecca because she and her husband live on ship together and are rarely at home. For Dru it would matter because she would live the rest of her life in this house, if all went according to plan, so she wanted things from Earth. She had made a list and was planning on defending it.
Dru hired a transport to take her to Ket’s family compound. She reached the gates and the guards let her in. There was no forcefield and she felt for the first time since she arrived in the Alliance the excitement of becoming a real person again, not a prisoner. This was not a cage but a home, she told herself, No forcefield.
Dru walked up to the main house, which was a massive yellow stone block with many windows. This house was far larger than Kara’s house had been and Dru hoped her and Ket’s house would be much smaller. She knew by tradition that Ket’s older brother would inherit this house when his parents died. She was grateful the large mass of stone would never be hers to deal with. Before she got to the door, a slave in green opened it for her and told her that Zol would be out presently. Dru waited outside wondering what this would be like. She looked into the large foyer and saw a beautiful stone black floor and a glass elevator at the end of the hall. Then she saw the elevator come down and Zol walk down the hall quickly, her shoes echoing with each step towards Dru.
Dru had felt embarrassed after what had happened on the night she swore her blood oath to Kara, but Zol had assured her that she had nothing to be embarrassed about and that what everyone had seen would be kept secret for now. Then she said, ‘And no one will tell Ket yet, but at some point, you must. Because there will be a time when Tir does. I reckon you have about a year before they are drunk on Zota and he says something. It’s forbidden, but I know Tir and he won’t be able to help himself. Or he will use this to get you to do something for him. Don’t let him have either position Drusilla.’ Dru thought that that was actually the best that she could have expected to come from that horrible night and resigned herself that at some point she would have to tell Ket so that it didn’t catch him off guard. It made her feel a bit ill every time she thought about telling him, despite her lessened emotional connections to the event since Zol had distanced her from her own memory.
“The gods are good,” Zol said as she reached Dru.
“The gods will show us the way,” Dru replied automatically. As she remembered, she saw both Dera and Ket in Zol. She had Ket’s grey eyes but Dera’s more joyful face. She and Dru were the same height although Zol was incredibly slender like Dera.
Zol was pleased Drusilla didn’t hesitate to use the common expressions. She had heard that some of the other human women refused, however she knew Drusilla was different from the few times she had met her already. “You are perfectly on time. I will invite you in here after we look at your house. Come on,” she said walking along.
“Sounds good,” Dru said. It was not close to a mealtime so unlike in a human meeting, there was no need to invite someone in for tea or a snack.
The women walked side-by-side silently for many minutes through a symmetrically manicured garden. Then Zol said, “I know that you aren’t used to this. The Alliance or a large house or any of this. Just don’t tell anyone outside the family. Inside the family we are all here to help. Ask Dera or me first about things if you are unsure.”
“Thank you,” Dru said quietly.
“There’s no thanks Drusilla. It’s just a new experience. You’ll learn, there is nothing to it. It’s just living but on a larger scale.”
“I’m not sure what to expect as the only real Alliance house I have seen is Kara’s and she painted the whole thing red.”
“Yes,” Zol said evenly. Tir really went out of his way to find the only one in the galaxy just as crazy as he is, she thought.
“I’m not planning on painting anything, but I would like some items from Earth. I have a small list.”
“Of course, you would like some things from Earth. I would be suspicious if you didn’t,” Zol said with a smile.
Dru was relieved that so far Ket’s mother seemed normal, almost friendly about incorporating some things from Earth. Soon they approached what would be her and Ket’s house. It was another large stone box house with lots of windows with different beautiful geometric patterns around the building.
“This will be your home Drusilla,” Zol said.
Dru didn’t know how to respond. The house was not as large as Ket’s parents’ home, but it was very large. “How many rooms does it have?”
“There are six bedrooms and the whole house is about 20,000 square meters.”
“I think I’m going to faint,” Dru said and put her hand on Zol’s arm to steady herself.
Zol couldn’t help but smile at Drusilla and used her influence to lessen her anxiety. “You’ll be fine here. It won’t seem so big after a while. Let’s go in so you can look around and I’ll introduce you to the slaves.”
“I hope the slaves are as surly as my own, so that I’ll feel at home in that regard.”
“I’m sure they will be.” As they approached the large stone front door a slave opened it, and the rest were standing in the entryway to greet them. “These are Ket’s slaves that will now be yours too. I will introduce you to everyone. The guards are not here right now but you will meet them lat
er. After your marriage you will be much more protected than you were in House Human.”
Dru wanted to say that she didn’t need to be looked after but after everything that had happened lately, she knew that she was going to have to sacrifice a bit of her privacy so that she could have peace of mind and not always have to watch her back every minute. Before she could reply Zol continued speaking.
“Unfortunately, there are many who would like to sabotage this whole idea of humans replenishing Alliance women, more than I think the High Council first realized. However, you are here now, and I believe that we are making the right choice in inviting you back into our civilization.”
Dru didn’t have a chance to reply to Zol as she began introducing the eight slaves, four men and four women who maintained the house. Dru met them and just like the slaves in her building they were not like slaves. They questioned Dru a lot about being human and what kind of work they could expect, one even asked if she was extra dirty as she had heard humans leave hair everywhere. No one but Dru seemed to think this was a rude question, so Dru assured the woman she would try to pick up her own hair when she saw it, and this appeased the slaves.
Then Zol took her on a tour of the rest of the house. Just as Ket had said, it was sparsely furnished. It was livable but that was about it.
“Does Ket live here when he is home?”
“No, he stays in his childhood home or the barracks. He can’t occupy this house until he is married.”
“Who lived in it before?”
“Juh and I lived here a long time ago,” she said. “Long before Kio was even born.”
“Have you been married a long time?”
“Yes, almost 50 years. I married very young, like you. It’s a good thing to do when you’ve met a suitable man.”
The house had many empty rooms and Zol explained to her what their functions were, and she was overwhelmed after the tour which they ended where they began in the drawing room. “Is this your furniture?”
“No, our furniture is with us. This is your house now Drusilla. I can feel your reservations, just relax and think about one thing at a time. Now, let me see your list.”
She motioned to the table between them and Dru brought out her IC and brought up the list on the 3D computer.
Wallpaper
Art
Rugs
Greenhouse
Wine cellar
Heat
Viewscreen
Zol looked over the list and then asked, “Where do you want the wallpaper? Everywhere?”
“No,” Dru smiled, “I thought to put the light blue one with the flying birds in the main bedroom and the cream colored one with the menagerie of Earth animals in the nursery.” She brought up the pictures of the wallpapers. “They can be bought at the Earth Store.”
“You aren’t worried about your future child being distracted by such busy pictures on the wall?”
Dru shook her head and tried not to laugh, “No, I’m sure it will be fine.”
Zol looked through the rest of the list, “What will you do with the art?”
“It will be hung on some of the walls to be enjoyed by us and visitors. It is nice to look at beautiful pictures.”
Zol didn’t think so but she was slightly intrigued by the idea and decided she would read about human art later to try and understand this practice. Then she moved on, “What is a green house?”
“It’s a small enclosed building to grow plants. I would like one to grow my own herbs from Earth. The owner of the Earth Store has one, but he charges a fortune for the most basic herbs.”
“Give me the specifications and it will be built, but you will teach one of the slaves to do it. You know as Ket’s wife you shouldn’t be doing any manual labor.”
“I wouldn’t consider it manual labor,” she protested a little but Zol gave her a look that said, ‘I’m being reasonable, you be reasonable too.’ So Dru nodded and waited for the next question.
“Why do you want a specific place to put wine?”
“I intend on buying wine from Earth and some of it is stored for years.”
“I don’t understand, but fine. Again, the specifications. What do you mean by heat?”
“I would like a fireplace put here in the drawing room, so that it makes the room a bit warmer for me. We have one in the building I am in now and it is nice. Also, in my bedroom and the nursery I want the heat to be able to be adjusted to at least 26C. I don’t want any computer overrides for health. I also want the water in my ensuite to reach 45C.”
“Kara and Tir’s child have adapted to Alliance temperatures maybe your children will too?”
“Possibly, but if they don’t, then it is already done.”
“And a human viewscreen. What is that?”
“It is a place to watch fictional human dramas and listen to music. I’ll send you the specifications along with all the others.”
“Fine. Now you must decide on more furniture.”
“I was hoping you would help me.”
“You know, I’m not allowed. You must do this yourself.”
“I’m not from here. I don’t even know how to begin. I wouldn’t ask for help if I thought that I could do a good job myself. Please, no one needs to know.” Dru was looking into Zol’s grey eyes just like Ket’s and then she heard Zol speak to her mentally.
I’ll organize the rest with some Earth things as well from Frank’s Earth store, so it looks like yours. However, when it comes to name your child, you must give your first daughter an Alliance name. I will suggest it to Ket. Have we come to a compromise?
Dru answered back, Yes, I will give my first daughter an Alliance name of your choice in exchange for your help in furnishing this house.
Zol nodded then and said out loud because the slaves were listening of course, “I’m sure you’ll figure out something yourself. Now, there is one more thing I must show you, I almost forgot. The storage.”
Zol led Drusilla to a large storage area in the back of the house. It was partially filled with long rectangular boxes and then a box that caught her eye, it was labeled,
Drusilla Anne James, care of House Vo, Imperial Ring, Capital City. Human Fleet: Personal Effects.
Dru went to the black wooden box and opened it. Inside were her few personal items that she had in life. She began going through them, a couple of obsolete human fleet uniforms, her sandalwood comb, menstrual cup in its decorated pink cotton pouch which seemed so colorful and busy after not seeing patterns in the Alliance for a year. Her small makeup bag with pineapples on it and her one nice dress that she had just bought with her first salary because she had never owned anything like it before.
She brought out the dress from the box and looked at it longingly. It was a white, silk, short-sleeved dress with bright birds embroidered down the dress as if they were swooping down to the hem of the dress which was floor-length. It had a low V-neck in both the front and back and the sides had beautiful sequin embellishments.
“Can I wear what I want to my wedding?” Dru asked not looking away from the dress. Almost thinking that it was destiny that she had bought this dress to be married in. She remembered the day she bought it. It was strange, she had had no intention on buying anything with her salary except a coffee, but when she saw the dress in the window and then tried it on, she just had to have it. The dress cost more than half of her monthly salary and it was extravagant to own a dress like this, especially since she had little else to her name, but she couldn’t describe her feeling in that moment, she knew the dress had been made just for her and so she bought it. The woman selling it to her had said, ‘You never know when fate strikes, and you need a formal dress.’ She hadn’t thought about the comment at all until now.
“Captain Kara is your guardian now. Do you think she would allow you to wear that?”
Dru looked at Zol and smiled, “Did she paint her whole house red?”
Zol smiled back, “Just don’t wear it out once you belong to this Hous
e. It’s not that it isn’t beautiful, it’s just we don’t like to draw too much attention to ourselves. No one really likes telepaths, but they need us. Or that’s what we tell them.”
“I’ve brought a lot of attention lately, haven’t I?”
“Yes, but this dress won’t make a difference in that now. Wear it for your wedding. You’re human after all and you should wear what you want, as a sign that you are coming into this marriage freely. But afterwards, at least for some time, I’d appreciate it, if you made every effort to assimilate within reason in public.”
Dru nodded, “And at home?”
“Once you are married and have your first child, the cultural ban will be lifted. However, I’d hope that you would keep a nice balance between Alliance culture and your own.”
“That sounds like a decent compromise that I could live with,” Dru said thinking of how wonderful it will be to have more freedom to be herself in her own home.
An Alliance Marriage
Dru carefully applied her makeup, smoky black eyeliner, defined eyebrows and strong rouged lips, before she put on her white silk dress with the embroidered birds and sequins. She was wearing nothing underneath and she knew she would be cold, but she didn’t care. For the first time, since arriving on the Alliance Capital Planet, she felt like herself, nipple jewelry, makeup and all. She left her hair down and only wore the ring that Ket had given to her the first day of medical school and her ID necklace which now had the Imperial Symbol on it, But not the right one, she thought, as she put it over her head.
She then put on her flat Earth shoes she had bought with the dress that matched perfectly and brought up the full-length mirror in her room. Then she said out loud, “Computer, capture image.” Then she said down at her computer and sent a message to Jane who was still in orbit on duty.
