Our transport pulled up to the auction house at midday. Ingendia climbed out of her side and shuffled over to the curb to help me out. I pushed her grasping hands away when the door slid open and climbed to my feet.

"Quit treating me like a baby," I said as I brushed past her. "I told you I'm fine."

"Your color looks off and your spirit is dull. If that is fine, I would hate to see you sick."

I rolled my eyes and grumbled to myself. "Of course, my color looks off to you. It's not blue. Stop fussing over me. We're late as it is."

"We should delay the lesson for today," she said. "Come back tomorrow."

"I'm not going home, Ingendia," I said as I stepped into the auction house. "Come with me quietly or stay behind."

Mirna, the woman I used to call Blue 3, stood in the hallway. Life had been kind to her since I left the auction house, as evidenced by the fine silver and onyx bracelets around her wrists. My hunch about the power struggle that played out backstage during my auction was dead on. When the smoke cleared, Mirna was the head servant in Carzon's auction house, and the human women held inside its walls were better off for it.

She bowed her head to me. "It's good to see you, Ella jan Zarbonov. I worried when I heard you took ill."

I waved a dismissive hand. "Ingendia worries about me too much. I'm perfectly fine."

Ingendia scrunched her lips together, a sure sign that she wanted to argue but was too close to insubordination to press her luck.

After Zarbonov left for his mission, Ingendia finally stopped calling me her mistress. She still behaved like my maid, which came in handy sometimes. Like when I needed her to get off my back before she triggered another headache.

They had been coming more and more each day since Zarbonov left. I didn't have them all the time, but when the blistering pain slammed into me, all I could do was sit down and hope it passed. When the pain was at its worst, Ingendia passed me bowls of warm janlt to soothe the pain.

The heavy exhaustion that came after the headaches was harder to cope with. The day before, a wave of fatigue came over me that was so intense I couldn't get out of bed to dress. Now that I was moving again, I had a standing appointment to keep, and I didn't mean to be late.

It took me two days to convince Ingendia to let me return to Carzon's. Even when she agreed, she insisted that she be at my side at all times. The servants there were too crafty, she said, and couldn't be trusted. But every day, when the time came to get in the transport and cross the sea, Ingendia fought me. If I let her talk me into going home, she'd never let me come back.

She and I walked down the hall behind Mirna as she led us to the Room, Ingendia scowling at the back of the other Xiban woman's head the entire time. The Room wasn't such an awful place under Mirna's reign. She’d added more furniture to the room. Enough beds for each woman to have a place if they doubled up and extra cushions and lounge chairs for anyone still left without a spot to sleep. Thanks to better food and more regular bathing, the women in the room didn't look like they were being starved to death in a dungeon anymore.

But that didn't make them trust the Xiban any more. My arrival hadn't done much to help either.

Most of the women in the Room kept their eyes down toward their hands or the floor. Of the few who did look up as we walked in, most narrowed their eyes at me in suspicion.

In their position, I might have done the same. For all they knew, the bags under my eyes were a side effect of the brainwashing poison Ingendia slipped into my food every night. That would explain why I wore the aliens’ clothes and spoke their language.

Beth, the woman I used to call Red, glanced up at me, then blinked in surprise. She hopped off her bed and ran over to me, throwing her arms around my neck.

"You're back!" She craned her neck to the side. "Hey, guys, Ella's back! When you didn't come by yesterday, we thought something awful had happened to you."

"Pfft, look at her," someone said. "Something awful was a few stops ago."

"You didn't think I'd miss two lessons in a row, did you?" I ruffled her hair. "I'm fine, Beth, and I told you nobody keeps me locked up when I'm not here. I was just feeling a little run-down."

A little run-down was an understatement. I could have curled up on the floor of the Room and shut my eyes, never to wake up. But if Beth and the others thought the Xiba had hurt me, the fragile connection I was working to build between them would be lost.

"Mirna said there will be another sitting tonight," Beth whispered. There was still fear in her voice, but the lack of tears was progress at least.

I put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "It'll be fine. Remember, nobody comes here looking for a kitchen slave. They come here looking for their mate. Their partner."

Beth wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "You keep saying that, but I think you just got lucky."

She moved to the far end of the room, where the handful of women who agreed to be my students had gathered. Since there was a sitting that afternoon, I taught the class phrases to help them get through the dressing process.

When class ended an hour later, Beth didn't move back to the main group with the other women.

"What about if someone . . . you know . . .?" Beth asked, hugging her knees. "What if the one that buys you is an asshole?"

I reached for her hand, patting it gently. "The man who bought me wasn't. The man who buys you might not be."

"Will you come back tomorrow?"

"My 'ja—husband may be home tomorrow, but if not, I'll try." I wanted to say yes, but I could already feel the exhaustion creeping over me.

Ingendia was at my side before I could take more than four steps toward the door. She took my arm, using her height and strength to keep me upright as she led me through the door. "We should have cancelled."

Mirna's brow furrowed as she looked me up and down. "Are you all right, Ella jan Zarbonov?"

I shook my head and tried to steady myself without Ingendia's help, only to list to the side and nearly topple over. No, I wasn't all right. I'd been alone for days while my mate was off doing who knew what and possibly getting himself killed in the process.

I needed Zarbonov home. Badly. But a Xiban warrior’s wife would never admit so much to a stranger.

"I just . . . I think I'm more tired than I thought," I said, leaning against Ingendia again. "Is there somewhere I could lie down? Just for a minute?"

Mirna nodded and gestured toward another hallway. It looked vaguely familiar to me, but it wasn't until Mirna stopped at a door that I realized why.

Blood red carpet and teal cushions. A breathtaking view of the Bay of V'dal. The waters of the bay were teal, not black like they had been that night. The hot Xiba sun beat down on the surface, casting a yellow glow over the teal.

"No one will use this room until tonight," Mirna said. "It will be quiet and peaceful until then."

Ingendia led me over to the cushions and eased me down. She sat down beside me as I stretched out, taking my hand in hers. "I will stay with her."

Her tone didn't leave room for argument. Mirna must have agreed, judging by how she left without comment even though she outranked Ingendia in the auction house.

"He will be home soon," Ingendia whispered when the door shut again.

I closed my eyes to keep the tears at bay. It didn't work. "Not soon enough."