“There isn’t any protocol for this situation.
Men and women don’t dine together.”
Some of my Peace Corps friends told me this was common with most of the Muslim tribes in
Africa
.
Botswana
had been promulgated by Christian missionaries in the 1800s, so I hadn’t experienced any of that.
“Is it shameful for men and women to dine together?”
(This was how one of my friends had described it being in Muslim Africa).
“No.”
He walked into my cell.
“It was just forbidden by the last druid in the holiest seat.”
He took a little container out of my bag of toiletries.
“Put some color on your lips.”
The stuff in the container looked clear, but when I rubbed it on my mouth it turned into a pretty red.
I was impressed.
“Was this Shindray?”
I kept the conversation going because Whore was getting awful close and it made me uncomfortable.
“What would you know about him?”
He bopped a spot on the small counter attached to the wall below my mirror.
A hidden drawer popped out with a row of glittery round combs inside.
“Nothing much.
The Domestic I was talking to today was just about to get to him.”
Whore moved behind me and…
started doing my hair.
My eyes widened and my whole body tensed up.
“Shindray died two months ago.
The new druid in the holiest seat is Pakpo.
He’s nine years old.”
I blinked a few times.
“Wow.”
Whore was pulling my hair up off my shoulders bit by bit with the combs.
I’m not saying it didn’t feel nice, but I just didn’t like this guy getting so touchy-feely with me.
He was being so gentle I was scared he was going to lean down and kiss my neck.
The thought made me want to puke.
“There,” he said after slipping in the last comb.
He shoved me around by my shoulder to look at me, and then pushed me back toward the mirror.
“Put some color on your eyelids.”
He pointed to the same stuff I’d put on my lips.
I used my finger to obey.
This time the color was a beautiful dark violet.
Now I was amazed.
I wondered what would happen if I smeared the whole jar all over my face.
Whore stood close behind me and examined my reflection.
“Good.
You look very fetching.”
My hair had been put up in a sexy messy way and my painted eyes and lips made me look vampish.
I was working it, all right.
I’d have to make sure Elentinus knew it was all his meddling servant’s doing.
Whore led the way out of my cell.
“I expect you to conduct yourself with charm and grace just as before.
Don’t badger him with questions, and don’t confront him about any of your circumstances.”
“I know.”
Whore stared at me with narrow eyes as we stood in front of Elentinus’ door.
“Lord Elentinus confides in me.
If I learn that you’ve offended him in any way, or that you’ve upset him for any reason—“
“You don’t have to threaten me.”
I stayed focused on the door.
“Lord Elentinus has been a Hell of a lot nicer to me than you have.
I’m not about to get on his bad side.”
“Would you like us to be
friends
, Maritza?”
The evil smirk on his face gave me a chill so strong I got goose bumps.
I wetted my lips inside my mouth and said, “Maybe.”
Whore pressed a button beside Elentinus’ door.
“Then see to it this night ends with you in Lord Elentinus’ bed.”
Oh, for Pete’s sake...
“Enter,” Elentinus said from inside.
Whore got in front of me once the doors slid open.
“I’ve brought the girl, master.”
“Thank you, Hor.
You may leave us.”
He got out of my way with one final threatening asshole glance.
I stepped into the massive room slowly.
I was probably looking at 3,000 square feet of floor space.
The domed ceiling went up at least two stories.
I’d entered on a marble-looking platform area the size of a large patio.
I had to go down six steps with a broad landing in between just to reach the floor.
Most of the room was empty floor space with pretty tiles spread out in a pattern among plain ones.
There looked like a large curtained sleeping area on the far end of the room.
A lot of tall windows with cushioned window-seats lined the rest of the circular wall.
There was a seating area, just like the one in the lobby, and a big rounded desk area with a computer terminal.
Further back was another platform area that looked like it had weapons or sporting equipment stored on it.
In the center of the stuff I saw what I guessed to be an exercise machine.
Elentinus stood in the middle of the room beside a round white table that was molded up from the floor.
There were place settings for dinner.
I headed over to him.
The distance between us was far enough for me to get a good look at him without it being awkward staring.
Elentinus’ stature gave him more of a military general look than that of a lawmaker.
There was a very regal aspect to him, too.
His shoulder adornments reminded me of a king’s robe—and he wore it well.
This was the first time I’d gotten a good look at his svelte, muscular body.
Whore was a big guy, too; I assumed all the Dak-Hiliah men were.
However, Elentinus’ muscles were defined.
His tight outfit revealed chiseled deltoids and a pronounced six-pack.
Then there was his face with that long wispy white hair.
Even the first time I saw him I could see the handsomeness from behind the strange markings.
Yes, he had weird purple curly horns, but they were easy enough to ignore.
Elentinus could have been a novelty rock star back in my time, looking exactly as he did now, and would have had throngs of female fans.
I stood next to him at the table.
That’s when I realized his lips were parted, and he was looking over me as thoroughly as I had him.
He took my hand.
“You look stunning, my dear.”
“Thank you.”
I felt my cheeks go flush, and I lowered my eyes.
This level of demureness was a little high on the goofy scale for me, but whatever.
He really did have my heart going pitter-patter.
I sat in the chair Elentinus indicated.
We were seated kitty-corner from each other, which was close, but would require me to turn my head if I wanted to look at him.
It was an ideal set-up for our first date.
“Hor tells me you’ve been acclimating astoundingly well.
I was very pleased to hear it.”
My brow twitched.
I kept my mouth shut, but Elentinus was looking right at my dubious face.
“Is that not true?”
“Uh, well, I’m a survivor, you know?
I wouldn’t say ‘astoundingly well,’ though.”
Elentinus seemed to mull this for a few moments.
“The wife I had before you, Sasha, had become catatonic by her second day here.
She refused to eat or drink.
She attacked both myself or Hor when we tried to approach her.
She scarred her own face with her fingernails, and wept hysterically until she made herself sick.”
My eyes widened.
“I…see.”
“You can imagine how relieved I am to see you adapting so much better than she had.”
“Was she mentally ill?”
Elentinus laughed.
He placed his hand on mine and gave it a little squeeze.
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter…
“I’m finding you a delight, Maritza.”
He removed his hand and drew a long breath.
“I believe she was addicted to alcohol.”
“Ohhh.”
“Time travel is difficult for our druids.
One large trip was made initially to retrieve thousands of brides at once.
They were all from the same time and within the same area.
The only criteria were for the all the women to be a suitable age for breeding, for them not to have had any children in their lifetimes, and for them not to have created any legacy that would affect the inhabitants of Earth in our time period.
We targeted the 21
st
century since it was the earliest period in your history where extensive records were available on most individuals.”
I nodded.
(Apparently my fastidious Facebook updates had gotten me abducted by aliens).
“The brides were distributed to the highest echelons of our society.
There was no screening for suitability.
Our past experiences with Dak-Haliah women had become so contentious that we presumed any alternative would be an improvement.”
My curiosity was piqued.
“Most of the brides from this first endeavor were…unhappy.
The druid in the holiest seat at the time was misogynistic.”
“That was Shindray?”
A Domestic came and filled our two tall metal glasses with water.
“Ah, I see.
Hor has educated you about our past?”
“No.
I’ve been getting my information from a Domestic, and we haven’t covered Shindray yet.”
Another Domestic set down platters in front of us.
He opened the cloches to reveal some kind of fish covered in a crackly breading.
I leaned close and took a hearty sniff.
“Wow, that’s awesome.”
Elentinus’ eyes glimmered at me.
The way he admired me made me feel like a princess.
I’m not bad looking, but I’m not a super-model.
If we were back in my reality Elentinus would have been out of my league.
Not just because of his looks, but also because the guy is practically a king.
And yet, in this time and place, I was the special one.
I was the one who had to be charmed.
Considering how he’d ripped me out of my previous life, he knew he had an uphill climb to win me over.
It gave me a weird advantage in a situation where I was a prisoner.
All kinds of bubbly emotions were tickling my insides.
I was flattered, and nervous, and a little giddy.
Yeah, I knew in the back of my head I was being a ditz.
The Dak-Hiliah were war-mongering space bullies, and this guy was one of their leaders.
He could have been evil.
He
looked
evil, because, let’s face it, evil was often sexy.
It would be stupid for me to lower my guard with him.