Alien's Bride: Lisette (5 page)

“
We get the point,” Jorenkis
said. “Did you really have to order so much?”

Lisette pursed her lips.

“
Be nice, Joren,” the eldest
said. “She’s obviously excited to try our cuisine. Isn’t that so,
my dear?”

Lisette nodded. Jorenkis
groaned.

“
That’s her way of saying
yes. I can’t believe you just did that.”

Lisette peeked at him. She
was too tired to be embarrassed. Was it really such a big deal? She
felt like she was back in junior high.
But
anyway…food. Food equals strength to work hard in the lab
tomorrow.
She downed the beverage (which
tasted like ordinary still water) then grabbed one of the fish
pastries.

Jorenkis elbowed her. “Not with your
hands—and don’t gulp so loud.”

Lisette put down the morsel. What
little appetite she had was gone now. Why was this asshole putting
her through this? She didn’t want to go to strange places and meet
new people. She was hungry, and tired, and he was such a little
shit.

“
Joren, you need to be nicer
to her,” the eldest said. “She probably doesn’t know how to use
silverware.”

Lisette grabbed the only utensil
provided to her: a crescent shaped spoon. She used it to cut a
pastry in half and put it in her mouth. Then she chewed and
swallowed as quietly as she could.

“
I stand corrected. There’s
a bit of sass there—even if she’s quiet.”

“
Do you have a collar on
her?” Tiltawhirl said.

“
She still has her slave
collar. You know we can’t shock wives anymore though.”

“
How old is she?”

“
None of your
concern.”

“
How old are you?”
Tiltawhirl fixed his snide smile on her.

She cleared her throat.
“Thirty-one.”

“
Don’t answer him when I
tell you not to!”

Lisette glowered at him. He looked
appalled.

“
What’s that in Dak-Hiliah
years?” Tiltawhirl whipped out a tablet and started tapping in
calculations. “Hey—it’s almost the same. She’s got a good ten years
on you, Joren.”

“
Oh? And I suppose your wife
is younger? Oh, I forgot, you haven’t one.”

“
She’s not really a good fit
for you, Jorenkis,” the eldest said.

“
What are you insinuating,
Hotis?”

He shrugged. “It seems you’re
settling.”

Lisette felt her face
darken.

“
I mean, you’ll be entitled
to a bride eventually.”

“
When? When I’m your age?
Where’s your bride?”

“
I’m in line.”

“
Right behind me,” said the
one with sideburns.

“
You may be surprised. After
all, we were told the colony slaves were off-limits, but here you
are, married to one.”

“
We’re not…”

Everyone looked at her. Jorenkis slid
his foot onto hers and pressed. She had to wiggle free.

She looked at Hotis. “How…um…how did
I…I mean…when?”

Tiltawhirl began to shriek with
laughter.

“
My dear,” the one with
sideburns said, “when you had sex with Jorenkis you became his wife
under Dak-Hiliah law.”

Lisette made a face like she’d smelled
rotten fish. She shook her head resolutely.

“
What’s that mean?”
Tiltawhirl said.

“
Never mind!” Jorenkis
said.

“
It means no,” Lisette
said.

Jorenkis sneered at her. “You little
bitch.” He cut into his food with swift stabbing movements. “I said
we were married because I’ve got rights to her. I mean, obviously
she just got here yesterday. I’m not a rapist.”

“
Lisette,” Hotis said, “if
you don’t care for Jorenkis you don’t have to marry him. Our
surrender agreement with Earth says—“

“
Oh will you shut up,”
Jorenkis said. “She knows. She’s not going to marry you, you old
dimwit. She’s in my lab. I’m the one who controls who sees
her.”

“
You don’t have to marry
anyone,” the one with sideburns said. “But—if you wish to get
married we can damn well make sure you get the opportunity to
mingle.”

Jorenkis knocked his plate off the
table. It crashed leftward onto the floor, taking Lisette’s bean
plate with it. He rose and started shoving her.

“
Up! Up!”

She stood.

“
To the mire with all of
you! I was nice! I let you all see a real human woman!”

They exchanged scoffs.

“
I should have known you
wretches would try to steal her. You’re worse than Etikens!” He
clutched her arm and made her speed walk out with him.

“
Why did you have to
humiliate me like that?”

Lisette struggled to keep up. She had
to keep one hand fastened to her chest to hold her bosom in and the
heels of her shoes kept bending sideways. He ushered her into the
hover car.

“
Well? Answer
me.”

She huddled with her arms around her
and kept her head low. There was the numbness of extreme exhaustion
within her.

“
Talk you dumb
beast!”

She shook her head.

Jorenkis clutched his horns, leaned
forward, and growled with exasperation. “Gods, why? This was
supposed to be a good thing. I was supposed to be
happy!”

When they landed before the science
building he sat up and took a deep breath. “It’s fine. You know
what? You’re broken, but you can be fixed. It will take time,
obviously, but we’ll do it.”

Lisette tried to stop
listening.

He pressed a button to open the hatch
door beside her. “Go. I don’t live here. Just you and that idiot
do. You know how to get to your room, right?”

She looked at the glass entrance with a
trace of panic. “Is it…locked?”

“
I don’t know. Just—have a
fucking robot help you if it is. Go. Get out!”

It wasn’t locked, and she found her
quarters after going the wrong way only once. She tore off the
sultry dress, put on one of her old tee-shirts, and collapsed into
bed.

***

Prax-Denay knocked on her door the next
morning. She’d left it partially open. She lifted her face from a
pillow imprinted with make-up. Her mentor stood with his body
sideways to her and spoke into the empty corridor in front of
her.

“
I like to start my work
days at
trector
dawn. That’s an hour from now.”

Lisette inchwormed herself to the edge
of the bed. The tee-shirt she’d put on barely concealed her behind.
She scooped a handful of blanket up to cover her from the waist
down.

“
If you get up now you’ll
have time to bathe and eat breakfast before coming to the lab.
We’ve a great deal to do today. I want you sharp.”

She sat on the side of the bed and
looked at him. None of what he said required an answer. She wished
for an invitation to talk—something forthright enough to let her
clear the air between them.

“
Is there anything you need
to tell me?”

Damn it.
She needed more than that. She grasped at the puny thread he
offered as best she was able.

“
Like…what?”

Prax-Denay glared at her. “Like you
won’t be working in the lab much longer because you’re married to
Jorenkis now.”

“
No,” she said in the
loudest voice she was capable of. Then she stared down at her feet.
“I don’t want…I don’t really...”

Prax-Denay entered the room and sat on
the foot of the bed. His back was to her, so she stared at him
freely.

“
You’re not here as a bride
candidate. If you don’t fancy him then simply refuse his
advances.”

Lisette felt her stomach tighten into a
knot. Pushy people always trampled her. She could fantasize all she
wanted about telling Jorenkis off. In reality the words would stay
stuck deep inside her throat.

“
I’ll report Jorenkis to
Lord Elentinus if he dares to press things against your wishes.” He
turned back to glance at her. “Lord Elentinus is your master, you
know. Not Jorenkis.”

She nodded.

Prax-Denay turned away from her again
and took a breath deep enough to make his shoulders rise and fall.
She wanted to crawl over and hug him from behind. He seemed to need
that, but that action was on par with telling off Jorenkis to her.
She could fantasize about doing it all she wanted, but would never
budge an inch. (Besides, he might grab her and kiss her and make
use of the bed they were on.)

He continued to sit there. She stayed
in place also. The superficial situation was that he’d told her to
get up and get ready for work. If that was all that was going on
she might have fidgeted enough to get him to leave. That wasn’t
what was important, and she knew it with the whole of her heart.
Prax-Denay was aching to say more. Unlike her, she knew he wasn’t
used to holding back his words.

They’d had but a single day together.
If they could just continue as they had yesterday their connection
would evolve naturally. There was no need to rush things with
meaningless words. His silence—his hesitation—was more powerful
than anything he could say.

Prax-Denay sighed again. This time he
verged on a groan. Lisette felt confused.

“
You might as well know,” he
said at last. “Jorenkis is from the highest caste of the
Dak-Hiliah. He’s descended from royalty. There’s the opposite end
of this spectrum. Where I come from. I’m of the lowest caste.
The…foulest.”

Lisette remained confused. He had to
know they were all big blue aliens to her. She could care less
about their ranking system. She was a slave, after all. How much
lower can you get than that?

“
My people, the Etiken, were
considered beasts in our ancient history. The druids have always
ordered us to live separate from the rest of society. Etikens are
supposed to deal with dead bodies, sewage, trash—all these things
are centered in the Etiken district in the Dak-Hiliah capital.
We’re…not allowed to interbreed with anyone outside the Etiken
caste.” He partway turned back toward her, but didn’t meet her
eyes. “I’m not allowed to fraternize with you. We’re forbidden to
be anything more than colleagues. Do you understand
that?”

Lisette’s lips parted. She didn’t
answer despite knowing she was required to.

Prax-Denay turned further and looked at
her. “Well?”

She lowered her head. Her heart raced,
but she still forced out the words. “What happens if we…if we,
um…?”

He became aghast. Then he gave an
exasperated smile. He turned his back to her once again and laughed
with chagrin. “You’re arguing with me…that’s just
stupendous.”

She bit her lower lip.

He shot her a narrow eyed glare. “What?
Is it just curiosity?”

Lisette shook her head with the
slightest of movements.

Prax-Denay gave the acrimonious laugh
again. Then he balled his hands into fists. “Damn it!” It took
moments for him to overcome what Lisette perceived to be
frustration.

“
What will happen?” he said
through a clenched jaw. “Jorenkis will accuse me of being a fiend
who defies the will of the druids—who can’t control himself around
a helpless human slave. He’ll demand I be castrated. And those
bastards, those self-righteous…they’ll actually agree to it. Even
the king of compassion, Lord Elentinus. He made my brother do it,
you know. They’ll give me a choice—if you can call it that. Accept
castration or go back to the slums.”

Lisette squeezed her eyes closed. Tears
dripped out. The grief hit like a sudden ache behind her eyes. Was
it really like that? This was her world now? She buried her face in
her hands. This wasn’t enough to stifle her first hiccupping
sobs.

Prax-Denay stood while keeping his back
to her. “It’s all…all well enough. I’ve done the responsible thing.
Now you know.”

She snuffled and gazed up at him. He
hesitated before her doorway.

“
Your empathy is…touching.”
He raised his nose. “Now get ready for the day.” Then he left
her.

***

Lisette proceeded as ordered despite
struggling with how to find the bathroom (hidden in the molded
wall) and then how to work the shower. Once under the hot stream of
water she wanted to languish. Now was the time to think things
over, to adjust. There wasn’t enough time.

She donned the last clean set of
clothes from her laundry bag. When she went to tell a robot about
this she was informed a new wardrobe was being made for
her.

“
Um…I don’t…I don’t want to
dress like I did last night.”

“
Obviously not,” Prax-Denay
said from the end of the corridor. “That would hardly be
appropriate for your work in the lab.”

She went to him with her hands folded
together and her head lowered. Prax-Denay made a low sound of
approval and led her downstairs.