by Maia Starr
"It is just not done," Dalik said to me. I gave him a strange look. He and I had been acquaintances for a long time and I knew his history. Almost twenty years ago, he had made a name for himself in the Stanis Trials as well. He had competed twice, the only warrior to have done it. He won both, and he was married to a human female. He had done many things that were not done by the Kalazaron. Now, he was standing there lecturing me. How could he?
I turned to him and said, "If anyone can understand doing things that are just not done by the Kalazaron, I assume it would be you."
He was silent for a long time. He looked over toward the stands. I did not know what he was looking at, but I assumed it was his human female wife. Then he turned back to me and said, "Best of luck to you, Thaedon."
I smiled and everyone grew quiet as the leader of ceremony entered.
"Day one of the Stanis Trials begins now," he shouted. Everyone cheered.
There were tables in the middle of the large arena. The leader of the ceremony gestured to the ten of us to take our places at the tables. I walked out proudly and heard the gasp of many female Kalazaron. They were probably shocked to see a young, arrogant, rogue of a warrior take his place in the competition.
"The first test is one of problem-solving on a large, planetary scale. You may begin," the leader of ceremony said.
Before us was a holographic screen on the table top. There were dividers between each of us so that we could not see the others work. I looked down at the table top and the projection. Then I closed my eyes. I took a few moments to clear my mind, even though we were being timed. Then I opened my eyes and dove into the test; I found it very easy.
I finished before everyone else. I could hear whispering in the stands about me.
"Time is up," the leader of ceremony shouted. The elders around me stopped working. I wondered if all of them had finished the test.
"Stand, competitors," he continued. We all stood and backed away from the tables.
"Now the test will be evaluated. Results will be shown at the top of the trial tomorrow. You are all dismissed," the leader said. The crowd stood and clapped as we walked in a circle around the arena. This is how it was done. Then we walked out of the arena to side rooms. Following this would be a grand party to kick off the first day of the Stanis Trials. This is where the competitors would go and get all the attention they wanted. People would gloat over them and worship them.
I didn't need such attention. In fact, it was in my interest to go home and rest. Too much celebrating and drinking would cloud the mind; I wanted to remain focused.
I slipped out of the back rooms before the celebrations began. I went back to my living quarters and ate healthy foods to keep my mind sharp. I looked over past trial tests. Then I let my mind wander and it came to the beautiful human female that I had seen in the markets.
I wanted to see her again. I would go to the market the following day to see if I would run into her once more. I wished that I had grabbed her arm and rubbed her tag area to see which owner she belonged to. I wanted her for myself. Her brown hair and olive skin, with startling, green eyes was a combination I had never seen on a human female. It struck me to the core. I could not get that exquisite face out of my mind.
Her body was not long and lean like a Kalazaron female. Instead, it was very ample and curvy. I liked it. It was unlike any body I had ever seen on a human female or a Kalazaron female. I ached to touch it and feel her underneath my own body. I needed to know more about her, or I would lose focus on the Stanis Trial competitions.
The next day, I went to the market. I spent the entire morning searching for her when I should've been preparing for the trials. But I could not get my mind to focus unless I saw her one more time. I searched everywhere. It was only when I went to the clothing section of the market did I finally see her. It was a fleeting moment. I quickly saw her face under a hooded cloak with those green eyes. I noticed that she was with two female Kalazaron.
I knew those females: the Loki sisters. I did not know them personally, but their reputation preceded them as their father tried very hard to marry them into permanent Kalazaron homes of substance. Because of this, almost every Kalazaron in some sort of seat of power knew who the Loki sisters were. I felt relief when I saw them with the human female. Now knowing that the Loki family owned her, I could find out more about her easily.
I left the market and finally shifted my focus back to the Stanis Trials. The next two days were much like the first one. It was a series of intellectual tests, followed by celebrations in the evening. I only took part in the tests. The second tests involved how to prepare for a battle or a siege.
I thought it was strange that these simulations were the way that the masters were chosen. Why not have actual, real-world situations? A master under a real siege may not do the same thing he would on a test because circumstances were different. Being under the threat of real injury and the chaos of battle required a different type of thinking. I did not think these tests reflected that, but who was I to argue with it? It just made the test that much easier for me.
I finished the second round of tests first and found it easy. The third round of test involved infrastructure and market. Since my parents had been merchants, I learned from an early age about the market infrastructure and systems. I too found this test easy, though I was not the first to finish it.
And then on the last day of the Stanis Trials, the tests were calculated and the results were in.
"It is my privilege to announce the new Master of the Kalazaron, on the planet Kaethon!" the leader of the ceremony shouted as I stood with the elders who competed in the trials with me on a stage.
"The candidate that passed all of the tests, without missing a single solution is…." The leader looked down at the card that he held in his hand and then he looked up in shock. Everyone began to whisper about why he had stopped. I smiled. I knew exactly why he was shocked. Then he continued, "The new master is Thaedon Kree!"
Complete silence came over the arena. No one thought I could do it. I knew that I could. They doubted my intellect; I did not. The leader of placed a chain of medallions over my head and onto my shoulders. He led me out to the center of the arena. I lifted my arms in a V; it was only then that the crowd stood and cheered. They had never had a master so young before. It shocked everyone. It delighted me.
Chapter 3
ELLA CAPRICIO
It had been a month since I saw that very attractive, rogue-looking Kalazaron warrior. I could not stop thinking about him since that day. When I finally realized that he was not a cruel joke set upon me by the Loki sisters, I realized that he did in fact have a real interest in me. Since then, I could think of nothing else. It brought joy into my daily routine that was very mundane and filled with frustration. Every time I went to the market, I looked for him, but when I thought I saw him, it would turn out to be someone else. Still, I continued to look. I wondered if he was looking for me as well. Was I just a fleeting moment to him? Just a casual flirtation—one of many?
I carried the tray of morning foods to the Loki sisters. I was lost in thought about the Kalazaron warrior. I opened the door and the sisters were sitting around a table. I set the tray on the table.
"It is about time, human slave. We are starving," Soko said to me.
"I apologize," I said quietly.
"But is he not the most attractive master you have ever seen? I still can't believe he won the Stanis Trials. He is much too young," Maris said.
"And much too attractive," Soko added.
I did not know of what they spoke of other than what I had overheard in the last month. Apparently a new master had been chosen and he was quite the talk of the capital city because he was younger, and according to the Loki sisters, attractive. I paid no attention to it all because what could that really have to do with me? Nothing.
"Daughters, an invitation has arrived," Fraon Loki, the father and male of the household, said.
"An invitation?
!" Soko said as she jumped up and ran to her father. Maris did the same thing.
"The Loki house is invited to the coronation celebration of the new master, Master Thaedon Kree," he read aloud from a hologram he projected.
The sisters screamed and jumped up and down. I was excited too, simply because it meant I would have a night off after they all left. I would have some alone time.
"The new master!" They both shouted.
"Yes, and I have it on good authority that the new master will be seeking a bride soon. It will look good for him to be seen as a family man and not the rogue player that he has been as councilmember," Fraon Loki said.
The sisters screamed again and jumped up and down, "To think, I could be the wife of the new master!" Soko shouted.
"Or I!" Maris shouted.
"Father, we shall need new dresses!" Soko shouted.
"Yes, of course; you go to the dressmakers. Pick something that will make you both stand out. Take Ella with you," Fraon said.
I frowned as soon as I heard his words. I did not want to go dress shopping for an event that I could never attend. I did not want to go dress shopping with the two, awful sisters who would torture me every second. But as a slave, I had no choice.
We entered the dressmaker shop and the sisters began to try on and complain about every, single dress. I began to feel sorry for the dressmaker, but he was just getting a taste of what I lived through daily.
"Perhaps something with a very long train. I don't think you understand that we mean to stand out," Soko shouted at the dressmaker.
"I do not have anything already made with a long train. However, I can make it for you in time for the coronation. I have pieces of a train to pin to any dress style that you may like so that you can try on the train pieces," the dressmaker said as he moved to the shelves and pulled out various, long pieces of material that I assumed were the trains.
"Yes, that is very satisfying. Just think, Maris: if the dressmaker has to create a dress just for us, then no other Kalazaron will have a dress like it," Soko said.
"Yes! I like this idea. I like this dress here if you can attach a train to it," Maris said about the form-fitting dress that she was wearing. It was a bright-gold, halter-top dress that hugged her breasts, tiny waist, and hips, and it flowed all the way to the ground.
"Yes, and I will have the same dress, but in silver," Soko shouted. The dressmaker attached a very long train to the gold dress.
"It is very long and to keep it from getting caught, you will need to have your slave carry it for you," the dressmaker said as he attached the pins to it.
"Slave!" Maris shouted.
"Yes, I did not think of that. The dressmaker is right. If we do not want to make fools of ourselves and get caught in the door or on the stairs, we will have to have this ugly thing help us," Soko said pointing at me.
"Oh, do we have to? She is so ugly and will ruin our looks," Maris pouted.
"I guess we will have to put her in something accommodating. I know! What if we put her in a blue dress, and paint her skin blue?" Soko shouted.
"That is perfect! This way she will be an accessory. She will be a party favor and complete our look."
"What?! You will do no such thing!" I shouted without even thinking about it. Both sisters turned to look at me with their mouths wide open. They had never heard me talk back before, because I never had. This was a first. I did not know that I had done it until it was already done. I only partially regretted my outburst; I was fed up with them.
"What did you say?" Soko said as she got closer to me. She was towering over me and looked down with hate in her eyes.
"Nothing," I said holding my hate in.
"That is better, slave. For that outburst, we will in fact be painting you blue. Dressmaker, do you have a blue dress for this ungrateful human female?" Soko said.
The dressmaker moved to the back and pulled out several blue dresses.
"Strip," Maris said.
"Right here?" I said. They wanted me to strip right in the middle of the dressmakers shop, in front of other patrons—who were mostly female, but it was still humiliating.
"Yes, you heard my sister," Soko said.
I gave them both looks and then I began to slip the muslin dress knotted behind my neck over my head. I swept it down my body until it was on the floor. I crossed one arm over my breasts and my other hand over my center.
"It is even more hideous undressed," Maris said.
"Put this on," Soko said, pointing to a blue dress. I quickly put it on while fighting back tears. I could feel the stares of every Kalazaron in the room. It was very demeaning. I wanted to run away. I wanted to be rescued. I knew that none of that would ever happen.
When I was done trying on dresses for the awful Loki sisters, they finally decided on one. But they were not done with their cruelty.
"Now go into the market and find blue paint for your body. It must match this dress. Do not come back to the living quarters until you have found it. Enough to cover your ugly body, and ugly, brown hair," Soko ordered me.
I put my head down and walked out of the dressmaker’s shop. I walked fast so that they could not call me back in. I ran into the market, but not to any particular table to look for paint. I was just running because I needed to cry. I ran between tables and passed the busy crowds until I was on the edge of the market. I leaned against a wall and tears flowed from my eyes. I hated them. I hated this life that had been thrown at me without any choice of my own. It was very unfair. I had been a bride on a ship that was taking me to find a husband, to find love. Now I was here, and I had no control.
"Why are you crying? Has someone hurt you?" a voice said.
I looked up to see a tall figure in front of me. It was him. It was the attractive Kalazaron warrior that I had spoken to in the market.
My breath caught in my throat at the sight of him. He was still as gorgeous as I remembered. Only this time he was not giving me that attractive grin. This time his eyebrows were furrowed into a worrisome look. I wiped the tears and felt embarrassed that he had found me in such a state. I had daydreamed about running into him again, and none of those dreams where like this. I felt weak, and I knew that I was not a weak female. I was strong, but after so much abuse, I finally had to let it go.
"It's you?" I whispered.
“Yes, it's me," he said as he leaned in closer and put his hand on my face. His thumb swiped away a tear. I felt my heart beating faster at his touch.
"Are you hurt?" he asked.
"No, not really. I am just… sad."
"Why are you sad?"
"I am a slave. Is that not enough to be sad about?" I said in anger.
His look softened. He looked sorry for me. Then he said, "Yes, that is enough. I do not like seeing you this way. Come with me," he said moving away from me and expecting me to follow him.
"What? Where?" I asked confused.
"I am going to make you happy," he said with a smile. I knew that I should not follow him. I did not know what he could have in mind. Yet I was intrigued. After waiting so long to run into him again, I did not want to leave his sight so quickly. I followed him around the corner of the building. But I was not expecting what I saw. He was walking toward a speed racer pod. I had seen many, but I had never been inside one.
"Get in," he said as the doors lifted.
"Where we going?"
"Nowhere; just for a ride and then back here to this very spot. That is, if you would like?"
I stood there trying to make a decision. My heart was saying yes, go. My mind was saying no; I was going to get in a lot of trouble with the Loki family. Then I remembered the awful things that the Loki sisters made me do. I remembered standing there naked in front of a bunch of Kalazaron. Out of anger, I marched to the speed racer and got in.
"This is going to be a lot of fun, I promise," he said.
I strapped in and the doors closed. The pod shot straight up into the air. It caught me off guard and I braced myself, h
olding onto the walls. The Kalazaron warrior laughed. Then I laughed. He was right: I was already feeling better and exhilarated.
"Hold on," he said as he pushed a lever forward and we started fast into the distance and out of the capital city.
"Watch this!" he shouted as he began to do barrel rolls in the pod racer. Around and around it spiraled, and I was laughing and giggling nonstop. It was the most fun I had had since I’d arrived on this planet. I looked over at him, with his dark, blue-black hair and stubble beard. It was exhilarating to be this close to him and alone. He was a stranger to me; I didn't even know his name, yet I still felt safe with him. I watched him as he thoroughly enjoyed driving the big contraption. He was like a youngling, full of excitement and joy for the thrill of the ride.
