Alien Conquest: (The Warrior's Prize) An Alien SciFi Romance (14 page)

“Domina.” He reached out to Lennai, letting the back of his hand drift down the bare skin of her arm. It was a bold move, but she looked at him and he tried to summon passion into his eyes. If he had to think of Alaina when he did it, well, hopefully all the domina would see was the passion, not who it was truly for. “I need help back to bed.”

He didn’t specifically ask
her
to help him, because that would have been inappropriate. But he knew that she was angry with him for even the idea of wanting another, and she wouldn’t want anyone else helping him into any kind of a bed. He thought if he could get her alone, away from Nyssa and the guards, he could appeal to her sense of fairness. She was not a bad woman, or a stupid one. Just a jealous one.

Lennai looked at him for a long moment before her expression finally softened, and she waved a hand that dismissed both Nyssa and the guards, then slid an arm around Vega’s waist to help him back into the little room, and towards the bed. Vega struggled not to remember the feeling of Alaina’s arm around his waist, or how he’d had to think of her the last time Lennai had taken him to bed. He could not do that forever. Eventually the domina would know that he was not thinking of her as he was fucking her, and that would be his doom.

This time, she eased him gently down onto the edge of the little bed, her hand lingering against the bandage on his side. And she didn’t climb atop him, just set him down and then took a step back, hands clasped in front of her, and looked him over from head to toe.

“I never expected to be so disappointed in you, Vega,” she said quietly.

He nodded, keeping his eyes low. “I never wanted to disappoint you, domina. Please. I want to fix it. Truly, I don’t desire the donara any more than any of the other cursii might.” He dared lifting his eyes to look at her. “I fight for a much greater prize in my heart.”

Lennai looked just satisfied enough that Vega thought she believed him. The line of her shoulders went from tensed up to more relaxed.

“She has misbehaved too many times,” she finally said, shrugging. “I can’t have a slave acting out that way. I told her to stay in the chair, and she didn’t. What else could I do?”

“You’re right to discipline her,” Vega said quietly. “But the cursii in the barracks long for her, domina. She does inspire them to fight even more courageously on your behalf.”

“Does she?” Lennai arched a curious eyebrow, and her eyes met Vega’s. Though he knew he ought to look down he didn’t, but instead held her gaze.

“Of course,” he said. “They know how long it has been since there was a donara. They know what a gracious gift it is to fight for one.”

“My brother doesn’t think we ought to have one,” Lennai said. “He thinks what happened before will happen again. And you are proving him right, Vega.”

“No, domina.” He did look down, then, and tried to look as submissive and plaintive as he could. Which wasn’t that hard in the end, due to the amount of pain he was still in from the wound to his side. “No, that isn’t what’s happening. I would never do such a thing, I swear. I would sooner die on the sand than disappoint you that way.”

Lennai sighed, folding her arms. “This is very difficult for me, Vega. I don’t like being wrong.”

“The donara is an excellent idea, domina. You’re not wrong.”

After a moment, Lennai reached over and brushed her fingertips against Vega’s jaw. He lifted his eyes to hers again, and she smiled a little.

“I’ll keep the donara in the cells until the next games,” she said. “Then I’ll release her for the cursii to fight for. And two nights from now, you will be well enough to stand in attendance at my brother’s birthday party.” She pursed her lips. “Understand?”

“Yes, domina.” Vega did the calculations in his head. The next games were only a week away and he wanted to fight in them as much as he wanted Alaina freed from the cells. He resolved that he would do absolutely anything he had to in order to see both those things fulfilled. But first and foremost, just as Alaina said, he had to rest. Standing attendance at Dominus Atticon’s birthday wasn’t exactly rest, but if Lennai wanted him to do it, he would do it. For Alaina’s sake, as well.

Lennai smiled again. “Good. Now I’ll let you rest so that you feel up to it tomorrow night.”

“Thank you, domina.”

Vega watched Lenna leave the room and then sank back against the pillows, throwing an arm over his face with a wince when it pulled at the stitches in his side. A week wasn’t enough time to heal, he knew. But he had to fight in the next games, and he had to win Alaina. Maybe a week was long enough, at least, to look like he was healed. It was a risk, but one he had to take if he wanted to save Alaina from the cells, or from the grasp of the other cursii of House Chara.

Alaina dreamt of the story Bathari was telling her as she fell asleep. He’d been taken from his home planet five years before when his father had run their family into so much debt they had no hope of paying it off. Bathari had volunteered to be sold to the Arena to clear the debt completely, and now he fought so that he could return home with all of his winnings to restore his family’s legacy. He’d had to leave the girl he loved, though, and he thought of her day after day, of her elegant white antlers and long, beautiful neck. Of her laugh and shy smile. He thought of her when he fought in the games, and hoped she would be proud of him.

Alaina fell asleep somewhere in the middle of it, but she didn’t feel bad about it. Bathari’s voice had a musical quality to it, and she could tell that he was telling her a bedtime story, lulling her out of the panic that landing in the cells had thrown her into. The details of the story didn’t matter. It was one of hope, and it worked on her.

When she awoke, there was a small light on that had not been on before. It illuminated the cell door, and she saw a screen embedded there that she had not realized was there when she’d felt around the cell. Now the screen was lit up, and there was a foldable tray beneath it with food waiting for her. She got up from the pallet and went to the tray, eyeing the food. It was some kind of porridge and fruit. Not disgusting, but not too appealing either. They didn’t want her to starve, she supposed. She picked up the bowl and the tray retracted automatically, and the screen flickered. It came to life, and Gurun, the head slave, glared at her from the other side of the feed.

Alaina took a surprised step back.

Gurun continued to glare.

“I hope you enjoyed your evening in the cells,” he said. His voice, Alaina thought, sounded like he was chewing on gravel while he spoke. “The domina would like you to stand in attendance this evening at her brother’s birthday party. You will remain in the cell until someone is sent to prepare you.”

“Okay.” She stared evenly back at him, willing him to flinch first.

He didn’t. The screen just flickered out, taking the light with it, and she was thrown right back into darkness. People who stayed down here too long must have gone mad, Alaina thought. All this darkness and loneliness. She saw now what a fitting punishment it must have been for the cursii who’d turned on Vega. In their union against him, they’d been tossed into solitude and darkness for however long suited their domina’s anger.

Alaina had thought before this that she could still control her own fate, and she was finding now that she had to be much subtler, much more careful about keeping her autonomy close and letting everyone else around her think she was beaten down. Because she very nearly was, and she couldn’t let it happen again. She couldn’t get that close to giving up.

But now Lennai was bringing her out of the cell, for however long. She didn’t know why, but
standing attendance
sounded a lot like being on display. She had to be perfect, in that case. She had to give Lennai a reason not to put her back in the cells, where she stood no chance at all of gaining her freedom. Whatever it was, whatever Lennai wanted her to do, she had to do it. Without flinching, without questioning, she would do anything and everything the domina asked of her, and hopefully it would get her back to where she needed to be. That hope of escape burned inside her heart like a low-banked flame, but now it came with a very specific pain whenever she thought of it.

Could she bring herself to escape without Vega? Suddenly she didn’t know.

She ate her breakfast and tried not to think about it. Then she whispered at the air vent to Bathari, but he didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure if he was asleep or if he’d already been removed from the cell, but she felt lonelier without being able to hear his voice. She’d wanted to ask him to tell her his story again but to tell her the details, because she genuinely wanted to know how it ended. Did he know what became of that girl he loved? Did he know how close to freedom he’d gotten so far?

She liked Bathari a lot. There was something very good in him. And it stood out in this place that seemed to care only for blood and servitude. So when she was finished with breakfast, she set her bowl aside and just sat in the dark, alone and silent, and waited.

It was hours later, probably, when the screen flickered to life again. Alaina winced from the light, getting to her feet, as a droning voice told her to back against the wall and stay there until she was told otherwise. She did, and had to stand there for several long minutes before the cell door opened and light from the hallway spilled in. That was even more blinding than the little light from the screen. After a few seconds, she could look towards the door without feeling blinded, and by then there were hands on her. Three slaves, pulling her out of the little cell and down that hall to the elevator again. Relief crept all through Alaina just as soon as she’d left the cell. She definitely never wanted to go back into that cell.

Once they were in the elevator, Alaina looked at one of the slaves. Of the three, she was the only one that had dressed Alaina before. The Errai girl with the orange scales who had explained the
clostrata
to her.

“There was a cursu in the cell next to mine,” she said quietly. The slave looked at her, surprise arching her eyebrows right up. But Alaina pressed on. “Is he still in the cells?”

“No, donara,” the girl replied softly. “He was taken back to the barracks early this morning.” She smiled a little. “The domina would have Bathari at tonight’s festivities as well. The same mouth that got him sent to the cell is also very charming. Rare for a cursu.”

Alaina smiled too, relieved to hear that Bathari wasn’t still languishing in the cells because he spoke on her behalf. “Good.”

“You must be very careful tonight, donara,” the girl went on. The other slaves glanced at them but said nothing, their expressions perfectly empty.

“I fully intend to behave,” Alaina assured the slave.

“The dominus is not as kind as his sister,” she explained. “His punishments are far more severe. You must do your best to please him.”

Alaina nodded. Please the dominus. That sounded not at all like a thing she wanted to do, but she’d sworn to herself she’d do whatever she had to.

The slaves escorted her back into the servants quarters from the elevator, down the long hallway, past the gate to the barracks and to her room. She stole a glance further down the hallway towards the room she knew Vega occupied, but the door was closed and she couldn’t risk going to check on him.

In her room, the slaves set about undressing and cleaning her. Not a full bath in the bathhouse, but the ion showers built into every room made her at least feel less filthy. The slaves scrubbed her arms and legs, brushed her hair until it shone, and then started to dress her. To her surprise, the orange-scaled slave removed the
clostrata
, slipping it down off Alaina’s hips in one smooth motion. Alaina stepped free of it, shooting her a questioning look, but the girl just shrugged.

“Domina’s orders,” she explained.

Alaina wondered what that meant but kept that wonder to herself. She was glad to be free of the thing for awhile, anyway. They dressed her in a gown that looked made of gold, shining and lush, and just as sheer as everything else Alaina wore in this place. But it suited her, she thought, complimented her pale hair and skin, and the slaves pinned her hair into complicated braids and curls and then dusted her skin with soft powder. She felt infinitely better than she had only the day before. She felt clean and pretty, and she was getting more and more used to being
attended
to, dressed and cleaned by other people’s hands. Though every time one of the slaves touched her, she was tempted to close her eyes and imagine Vega’s hands instead. She had to stop doing that.

Eventually Gurun appeared in the doorway to her room and the dresser slaves scurried away from Alaina and past him, out the door. The head slave looked her over, grunted his approval, and offered her his arm. Then he escorted her out of the room and towards the staircase leading up to the palace proper from the servants quarters. Alaina could hear the music even as they ascended the stairs to the gate locking the servants away at night. Gurun walked her through the gate, then past the veranda that looked out over the cursii training yard, to a glass elevator. This elevator moved slowly and also overlooked the training yard, the whole of the Chara palace on display as it rose through its glass casing up through the levels.

When the elevator stopped, the glass door slid aside and Gurun walked Alaina out into a thriving rooftop garden. There were stars projected above their heads and string instruments playing music Alaina didn’t know. Flowers and palms and bright, bursting petals made the space seem wild and alive, fresh and not at all like a lie drifting through the vacuum.

There were beautiful people everywhere, mostly Errai, their scales ranging in color from bright purples and rich blues to dull grays and muted greens. They stood sipping strangely colored drinks and smoking odd-smelling cigarillos, whispering to each other and smiling and there, in the corner of the garden, Alaina saw a slave playing a strange musical instrument. That was the sound of strings, but it was not an instrument Alaina had ever seen before. But the sound it made was lovely.