The Melier (Women of Dor Nye Book 1) (11 page)

“I’d like to see what caused that entire ruckus yesterday. I’m not getting any younger!”

“Soren,” Lucia warned. “Do
not
take off your clothes.”

“But I need to measu-”

“You’ll have to measure with his clothes
on
,” Lucia said stiffly, leaving no room for arguments. Her eyebrows rose, waiting for the tailor to catch her meaning.

Soren wasn’t wearing underpants of
any
kind.

He choked. “Yes, yes, this won’t be a problem.” He bustled into action, standing on a step stool as he measured Soren’s broad shoulders.

There was a collective sigh of relief from her family, except Grams. She grumbled.

Soren was looking down at Lucia and she noticed his cheekbones were a black-blue. He was
blushing
. This made Lu grin and she reached up to tickle his chin. He started to sink to his haunches and lean into her hand, which caused the tailor who was still standing on the step stool to bluster. Lu bit the inside of her lips and urged Soren to stand up straight. Once he was, she stepped away, promising the tailor she’d keep her hands to herself.

Yes, keep your hands to yourself.

I’m trying. He’s just so adorable.

Groan.

****

Twenty minutes later, once Soren was measured and the order for his wardrobe was submitted, they were back out into the market and making their way to the eatery. A breeze kicked up and the folds of Lucia’s dress flew around her ankles. It was a welcome relief since the heat was almost stifling. The breeze set free a few wisps of the large bun high atop her head and she did her best to tuck them back. That’s when she looked up and saw Quin’s evil face.

Lucia missed a step and would’ve face-planted if Soren hadn’t caught her arm and steadied her. “Thank you,” she said absentmindedly. When the side of Quin’s mouth kicked up in a mocking smile, she couldn’t stop the curl of her top lip lifting into a sneer. He disappeared around a corner to continue with whatever he’d been doing and Lucia moved along with her family.

The first part of the meal Lu
tried
to calm her nerves and enjoy the light atmosphere. Her family
needed
light and fun. She’d only been back one day and the mess she’d created wasn’t fair to them.

She’d ordered for her and Soren, since he’d never had any of the dishes on the menu. When the food arrived, he sniffed his plate and his pupils did a little dance. It was a dish of
poc’da
, a river fish from the Semlen territory. It was a very cold territory, filled with rivers and lakes. The fish was roasted over coals until its skin was crisp and the inside was tender. It was drizzled in a berry sauce that gave the tongue a
zing
sensation. Soren loved it. He ate all of it; the skin, the bones, the tail. It was entertaining and slightly gross when he started on the tail since it seemed like it was quite chewy.

By the end of the meal, Lucia was in high spirits with the rest of her family. They spoke about the entertainment at the capital happening in a few weeks’ time, and where all they wanted to go while there. Her dad told his
terrible
jokes that only Grams laughed at because she was his mother and it was an
unwritten law
that every mother must laugh at their sons and daughters jokes. And because Grams laughed at the jokes, Lucia laughed; mainly at the absurd unwritten law.

Just before they were all standing to go, Quinton and his parents and siblings walked into the establishment. The fun Lu had been having went crashing down and she wanted to wave a fist at the universe for leading him into her life
at all
. She stood and the rest of her family followed suit. They were preparing to leave when Quin just
couldn’t
resist opening his rancid trap.

“No hard feelings?” Quinton said backhandedly. His family stood around him, looking at her with measured disdain.

“I have nothing to say to you, Quinton,” Lucia said lightly. She would
not
let him get the better of her
again
.

“Come now,” he brushed the back of his hand against her shoulder. “Be reasonable-”

Soren growled. “Do. Not. Touch. Her.”

Quinton’s hand dropped back to his side as he scowled and completely ignored Soren. “So it’s true then.”

“Goodbye Quinton,” she turned to leave and when he began to say something, Soren interrupted.

“Quinton,” he ground out, half turning to look over his shoulder at the blond. “Eat a dick.”

Quin sputtered and his parents gasped. Grams and Fellie choked, and then yowled in merriment as they leaned on each other to keep standing upright. Her dad’s dimples were straining in his face as he tried to remain indifferent, but his eyes danced with delight.

“Soren!” she chastised, smiling.

“What?”

“You weren’t supposed to repeat that,” she twittered, reaching her hands up to rub his jaw. “Now pick me up, ya big lug.”

Soren did just that and as a last insult, Lucia waved a middle finger over his shoulder while they left the eatery.

Chapter 10

Another week went by, and another and slowly, the ridiculousness that Quinton’s appearance on
League One
had caused, was dying down. It didn’t affect
her
much, but it seemed to have an effect on her father’s workload. He was often hidden away in his study or having meetings with fellow seat holders of the Assembly. Lucia wanted to ask why, but she refrained. She wanted to know, but she didn’t want to see the disappointed look in her dads face as he explained it was because of something
she
had caused. Lu wasn’t sure that was the actual reason for it, though she’d rather remain in denial by not confirming one way or the other.

Instead, she spent time answering correspondence and taking calls regarding her job. She still wasn’t sure she wanted to continue bounty hunting, but it was all she’d done for the past five years. Lu enjoyed helping people that had been robbed by pirates and thieves. She wouldn’t deny, she
loved
the credits too. It gave her a sense of accomplishment, earning her own. More so was her satisfaction that a business of a hardworking individual wasn’t demolished because they wouldn’t be able to recover from the theft. That wasn’t always the case, but most that reached out to Raz’s crew really did
need
them.

I thought we discussed this? You don’t enjoy getting shot at.

Ugh, I know.

Lucia battled with her conscience and her desirability to live a full life without any missing limbs or gaping holes. She’d go round and round with her inner voice, arguing over what the
right
thing to do was or who was being more selfish. It never ended.

Soren was hardly around those weeks either, except to sleep. Once Grams and Frellie had discovered his claws made gardening easier and his capability of lifting heavy objects, they didn’t want to let him go. Soren seemed to enjoy digging around in the dirt with Zan and the jaw rubs Grams would give him. When they weren’t abusing him, Gramps was challenging him to
one more
game of
moco
. It was always
one more
. When Gramps wasn’t challenging him to another game, Rafe was discussing technology with him and they were both working to upgrade systems around the residence. Turned out, Soren had a knack for it. It made sense, since when she’d first met him he was fixing the sensors of the stolen merchant ship and he knew the systems inside and out every time a glitch happened during their week of travel.

When Rafe wasn’t enticing him into working on upgrades, her
father
was discussing the Assembly with him. They spoke about many things, including how many members the Assembly had; which was two hundred and forty. There were six representatives from each territory; two members from three households. Both her grandfather and her father were part of the Assembly, though Gramps had announced his desire to pass his seat soon. Rafe was the next logical option, since Frellie didn’t want anything to do with it, but Rafe was torn. He preferred his work in the technological field, which no one could blame him. He was good at what he did. Nova had no interest in the Assembly either and Lucia really felt she was too combative for such things. Gramps would be forced to continue on until someone ascended or pass the seat to another residence. It happened, but not often.

During meals was the only time Lucia really got to be around Soren, and even then it wasn’t a sure thing. By the time he returned to her wing of the residence, he was crawling into his makeshift bed on the couch and grumbling in his sleep. Lucia couldn’t help but chortle to herself and be proud that her family was being so kind and welcoming to him. Even her mother was being nice, in her own way. She taught him how to address people formally, what gifts to take to what kind of events, what kind of robe was acceptable for partnering ceremonies; everything
proper
.

The weeks had given her time to reconnect with her crew, who had stopped by to visit. Mima was almost fully healed and back to being full of piss and vinegar. They’d been best friends since they were children. Once Mima had met Trey, who had been two years her senior, they were introduced to Raz. They’d joined his crew as soon as they’d been legally able to venture off world without a parent at nineteen years old; young and idealistic. Though not much had changed five years later; they were still young and idealistic.

Mima and Trey had announced their intentions to partner before their last job and Nova and Angus had been overjoyed. Mima was like a third daughter to them. The only problem with that was, each time Mima was brought up, Nova would hound Lucia about partnership. This time was no different. After her friends had left, Nova sighed and everyone prepared for what was
bound
to happen.

“Lucia,” Nova began as she gingerly sat down in one of the oversized chairs of the den. It was evening and the constant breeze was helping everyone to remain cool. “You’re twenty-four; it’s time for you to stop gallivanting about space on your planet research with your friends.”

“Is
that
what you think she does?” Frellie looked up from her glass tablet to glance at their mother, disbelieving. Lucia was perched in a chair across from Soren, beside Gramps as they teamed up against him in
moco
. Her head snapped up to glare holes into Frellie’s skull, and if looks could kill…

“What do you mean?” Their mother was highly confused now, looking back and forth between her daughters and then to Angus, as if they’d all been conspiring against her.

“She’s a thief!”

“A bounty hunter!” Lucia bit out.

“A glorified thief!”

“It’s not thievery if what I’m
acquiring
has already been stolen,” Lucia said pointedly. “I’m really doing those pirates a favor and returning the product back to their rightful owners.”

Frellie scoffed.

“
Most
of the product,” Lucia amended.

Frellie cocked her head to the side, folding her arms.

“Okay,
some
of the product. Regardless!” she waved her hands in exasperation. “My crew always turns them into the Coalition when we find them. I simply take a
finder’s fee
and we’re all safer with one less pirate ship on the loose
.
”

“You reported Ta’Ra’Enn to the Coalition?” Soren asked curiously.

“Well, no. We didn’t have a chance, because the ship was exploding. There was no point in leaving a tracker.” Her mother blanched at the mention of an exploding ship that she’d been
on
.

“What?” Nova blustered, her lips opening and closing like a fish as her eyes threatened to fall from their sockets. “This whole
time
? Did everyone know?” She looked betrayed.

“Not everyone,” Lucia hedged. Only Frellie and Grams, but she didn’t oust them.

“I think it is an admirable profession,” Soren looked over at Lucia with doe eyes. He was getting more comfortable in his conversational skills. “She saved me from Commander Ta’Ra’Enn.”

Lucia frowned at the reminder of his enslavement.

“Commander Ta’Ra’Enn?” Nova asked.

“Yes,” Soren said, never breaking his gaze with Lucia. Lucia’s mouth opened as she attempted to stop him, but he spoke before she could. “My master. My former master,” he amended, as the room seemed to stand still. “I was a slave when I met Loo-Sha.”

Lucia’s brows knit together in a frown. Part of her knew Soren
needed
to talk about his enslavement, that maybe he felt he was withholding truths from everyone, but the other part of her didn’t want him to. She didn’t want anyone treating him differently. Lu didn’t think her family would, but once it was out there, it couldn’t be taken back.

“Soren-,” Lucia began but was cut off again.

“I
was
slave 892,” he said evenly. “I did not have a name. I did not
think
. Slaves do not
think
. Slaves do not
feel
. Slaves only
do
.” His pupils were the only sign he was feeling any extreme emotion talking about his enslavement. They widened as they kept staring at Lucia; only at Lucia. “I watched as Commander Ta’Ra’Enn would
torture
and often
eat
those who he stole from. But I did not
feel
. A slave who
felt
was not a good slave. A bad slave would be put to death.”

Lucia bit into her bottom lip as she listened to him talk.

“When I met Loo-Sha in the craft she took from Commander Ta’Ra’Enn,” he gulped. “I
felt
. When she told me she was my new owner, I
felt relief.
When she gave me a name, I
felt honored
. I was conflicted, because I
felt
.”

Lucia’s vision swam and blurred, but she didn’t blink.

“When Commander Ta’Ra’Enn found us, I felt fear for Loo-Sha. I wanted to tell her to run, because Commander Ta’Ra’Enn
lies
and would hurt her. It was not my place as a
slave
to advise, so I said nothing. I prepared myself instead.” Soren continued to stare across at Lucia and paused to let this sink in for her. “Commander Ta’Ra’Enn would make me watch as they
tortured
,
raped
, and
ate
her.” That was the only time Soren visibly tremored with fury. His claws
grew
another inch before he noticed and closed his fists around them. “When we landed on Sanru and Loo-Sha told me she never intended to give me back to Commander Ta’Ra’Enn, I felt confusion and relief that Ta’Ra’Enn would not hurt her.”

“When the
lome
threatened her safety,” he continued slowly. “I felt
need
.
Need
to protect.
Need
to rip flesh from bone.
Need
to keep her safe. And I felt satisfaction when my claws tore through the beasts’ throat, because it could not hurt Loo-Sha.”

Lucia took a much needed breath.

“But I failed. Loo-Sha
was
hurt.” His eyes were completely black now. “The thorns marred her skin and gave her a fever. When she woke, she
thanked
me. She let me touch her, even though I failed.” Soren purposefully didn’t speak about the rest of that night, for good reason. “When we reached Dor Nye, she told me I was
free
. I was no longer a slave. I should have been happy, but I was sad. I would not see Loo-Sha again and this felt painful.”

Someone sniffed.

“When she asked me to go home with her,” Soren smiled then and Lucia felt her frowning lips twitching. “I felt elated. When she called me her
friend
, I felt joy.”

Lucia stood, her chair scraping across the floor as she flew around the table and bashed into Soren’s chest, tumbling into his lap. She was already sobbing in ugly bursts as she clung to his neck. Lu
hated
that she was crying
–again!-
in front of people, but she couldn’t stop the flood once it began. What had gotten into her? And to make things worse, Soren was comforting
her
. After everything he’d gone through and the things he’d felt and worried over and confessed, she felt like she should be the one comforting
him
.

“I’m s-such a beast,” Lucia wailed around sobs and let out a frustrated high growl. “I don’t know
why
I’m crying!” Soren rumbled a laugh into her hair as he stroked her back. “I don’t c-cry!” She gushed as another sob shook her shoulders and she made a choked sound as her family chuckled. “
D-d-don’t
laugh!” she blubbered, which only caused the opposite effect.

“Sweetling,” her Grams said softly, close to her and Lucia looked up, still trying to wipe her face and calm herself. “It’s okay to cry. I’m glad you brought Soren home, and not because we planted the garden in
half
the time it would’ve taken us normally.”

Soren grinned. Lucia sob-laughed and accepted the tissues her Grams gave her.

The night went on as her family asked about the
lome
, the festival, planet Sanru and other things pertaining to their little adventure. Her parents weren’t pleased, of course, but couldn’t express their thanks enough toward Soren who had kept her safe.

In the back of Lucia’s mind, a small trill of humor tickled her senses as she imagined their reactions if she brought up the orgy that had taken place. Instead, she shared a knowing grin with Soren and kept that to herself.

When everyone tucked in for the night, Soren started toward the couch and Lucia toward the bedroom, but then she stopped. “Soren?” He turned around and raised his hairless brow. “Will you sleep in my bed tonight? With me.”