With no sun to tell me how much time has passed, every minute feels like an eternity. Kerr has managed to come and visit me often, but it’s not nearly enough.

Voices come from just outside my door, and I hurry to press my ear to it to see if I can hear who it is.

“I’d rather not go in there, Father. It will be too hard to see her,” I hear Kerr say.

“Nonsense,” his father says. “Now follow me, son. We have to get the truth out of her, and maybe you’ll be able to get more out of her than I’ve been able to.”

I run back to my bed and sit on the edge and grab a book, pretending to read.

The door opens, and the two of them walk in. I lower my head and eyes and wait for one of them to speak to me. “Kataline,” Kerr says.

My eyes float up to his, and I have to fight the urge to go to him. “Husband.”

His eyes run up and down me. He turns to his father. “May I bring her some clothes to change into? It’s been many hours she’s been left in that robe.”

The King nods. “Try your hand, Son.”

Kerr approaches me and runs his large hand through my hair, taking a lock of it and pulling it to his nose. He inhales deeply and gives me a wink.

“Tell me who put you up to becoming my bride to sidetrack us, Wife.”

“I was told I had been awarded to you. That is all I know.” My body is shaking with desire for him.

The man’s mere presence makes me wet, and it’s beyond hard to stop my hands from going over his chest. Only a thin, nearly transparent shirt covers his muscled chest, and his tight abs move beneath it.

The shirt is tucked into the waist of a dark pair of soft and flowing pants. He wears no shoes, and I look down at his feet.

They are beautiful as is everything on the tall, muscular man. His mouth quirks up on only one side. “Was it your father and his colleagues who put you up to this?”

I shake my head. “If it was, I was never told about it. Kerr, I want to help, once we get to Euthenia. I want to help to get the Earthlings to stop their rebellion.” I run my hand across his cheek and graze it with the back of my hand. “Do you not miss your wife, Kerr?”

He gives me a look that says more to me than his words will. He pulls my hand from his face and holds it. “Tell me the truth, and we can see what can be done about keeping you locked away.”

“I am telling you the truth. Do you not want me anymore?” I turn on the tears and find I’m a damn good actress. “Kerr, I thought we had a good start to our marriage. Do you not trust me?”

The deep green in his blue-green eyes begins to glow. Even though I’m only acting, my tears are killing him. I’m secretly happy about it.

He takes in a deep breath. “Give me names, Kataline.”

I sob and fall into him, running my hands around him and sobbing into his wide chest. “I have no names to give you. I swear I know nothing!”

His hands run over my back, soothingly. It sends chills through me.

The King’s voice booms, “This is going nowhere. She’s using her feminine ways to throw you off, Son. Let’s go!”

Heartless, old bastard!

The King takes Kerr by the shoulder and tries to pry me off him. I turn it all the way up and wail and fall to my knees, tears flowing and trying my best to make the man feel some type of pain at keeping us from one another.

“Kerr, you told me you loved me! Please, believe me!”

Kerr’s mouth hangs open a bit, and he looks sad. My performance seems to be working on him at least.

The King, not so much, it seems as he takes Kerr out and the door shuts behind them. It takes me a few seconds to get the sobs under control.

Sitting on the bed, I wipe away the crocodile tears I’ve shed. The door opens again, and the same woman who brings my food brings in a box. Clothes peek out of the top of it.

Her cheeks turn a shade of pink as she places them on the bed. “Hello,” I say as I sniffle. “How are you today?”

I try to speak to her every time she comes in here, but she never says a word back to me. I watch her as she puts the things in the closet and when she picks up a naughty nightgown that’s black and lacey, she giggles.

The older woman giggles like a little girl as I ask, “Did my husband send that?”

She nods, and her cheeks go a deeper shade of red. “He’s a rogue, that one.”

I am about to fall off the bed.

She speaks!

“Your name, mam?” I ask.

She turns to look over her shoulder as if someone might actually be there. The door closed behind her for goodness sake.

“They call me Bet,” she says. “My full name is Bethedesma. It’s a mouthful, that name. So they call me, Bet.”

She pulls a bottle of amber liquid from the box of things. Along with a set of short glasses. She places them on one of the side tables.

“What is that?” I ask as I go to pick it up and open the top to take in the aroma.

It’s sweet smelling, and I pour a little in one of the glasses to taste it. She smiles and watches me drink it. “Do you like it?” she asks.

I nod as its sweet and delicate and has a little twang at the end. “Do not tell me what it’s made from. I don’t wish to know as I like the flavor and if it’s made from some insect, that will ruin it for me. Let me live in ignorance and pretend it’s made from a sweet flower or fruit.”

She giggles again. “It is made from a flower. How perceptive of you, Princess. But drink it sparingly as it delivers a swift punch.”

I smile. “I could use a swift punch. Did you smuggle this in for me?”

She nods. “It was the Queen’s favorite intoxicating beverage. In the end, though she drank too much of it and it left her in a state of mind which led to her demise.”

“She drank herself to death?” I ask in shock.

But if I was married to the ass she was, I may well have done that too!

“I was her personal maiden. And now I am yours, Princess. It was Kerr who gave me this position. I know I’ve been quiet, but the King was pressing me to talk to you and try to get information out of you, and I am loyal to who I work for.” She places a royal blue, long dress on a hanger and puts it away in the closet.

My eyes drag over her as she’s turned away from me. She’s short for a Euthenian. Just under six feet tall. Her drab, brown hair is in a tight bun, and her skin is lightly wrinkled. I think she must be in her early fifties.

“Married, Bet?” I ask as I take another tiny sip of the delicious liquor.

She laughs as if that’s a ridiculous question and then turns back to me. “No! Heaven’s, no!”

“May I ask why?” My finger taps the rim of the glass.

Her hands run over her body. “I’m defective.”

“Defective?” I ask as I shake my head.

She nods and sits on the bed and whispers, “My genetics are not a thing they wish to continue. My growth hormones are inactive. My body doesn’t make the muscles the other Euthenians have, nor do they give me the height they all have. If a person doesn’t have proper genes, then they cannot marry.”

“But you are able to have children, right? I mean, just because you don’t have the height or muscles, that doesn’t make you unfit to have children.” My foot taps nervously on the floor as I’m quite disturbed by this information.

Her head shakes. “When I stopped growing when I was twenty, I was sterilized, so I could not bear any children. If a woman can’t bear children, she will never marry. So my fate was sealed that day.”

“Who made you do that?” I ask, thinking I know the answer.

“It’s a law from a long time ago. I can see you thought it was the King, but it wasn’t him. He isn’t as bad as he seems to be.” She smiles and gets off the bed to continue unpacking the things.

“Oh yes, he is,” I say and take another micro-sip of the tasty liquid.

I can feel it working already, and the sensation is delightful.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, have you never made love?” I watch as her body stiffens as she hangs up another dress, this one deep red and looks to be form-fitting.

She turns back, and her head hangs low. “I have, but I’m not supposed to tell anyone about it. He made me promise.”

“Anyone I know?” I ask, thinking it’s the King.

Her chest heaves and her eyes dart up to mine. Then a smile breaks across her face, and her eyes light up. She pounces on the bed like a young girl.

“His name is Blarto. He’s married, though, and it has to be kept a secret. He’s told me his wife is mean to him. He works at the palace. He’s part of the kitchen staff. And guess what?” She smiles widely at me.

“What?” I ask, thankful she didn’t tell me it was the King. I would’ve had to tell Kerr about that.

“He knows how to make the food the people from Earth like to eat. Meats and things from milk. He makes cheeses. I find them delicious. Even if they can make you fat.” She pinches a bit of fat on her waist.

I laugh. “So, I will not starve once we get there then. That is good news.” My mind wanders to if she feels bad they took away her right to have children. “Bet, do you ever feel like you should’ve been allowed to reproduce?”

A heavy sigh raises her chest. “Of course.”

Such a simple statement for what has to be deep emotions. “That should be changed, don’t you agree?”

Bet gets up and goes back to putting the things away. Another bottle of some dark purple drink is pulled out, and she places it next to the other bottle.

“What’s that one?” I ask as I get up to sample a taste.

She places her hand on her hip. “Don’t try that right now. Mixing the two will make you sick to your stomach.”

I sit back down on the soft bed. “Thank you for telling me.”

She gives me a wink. “Maybe later on when your husband comes for a visit you two can have some.” A fit of giggles erupts from her and I know I’m blushing.

“You know about that?” I ask as heat fills my cheeks.

“Who do you think he gets to run interference for him? Kerr is like my own son. I was there since the day he was born. He had his own nursemaid, but as I was aiding his mother, I was around him a lot.” Her face pulls into a smile, and I can see she truly has love in her heart for Kerr.

“I really don’t know a thing about what’s happening on Euthenia, Bet.” I lie on my stomach and drum my fingers on the bed.

“That’s what Kerr told me. I believe you, Princess. I really do. But it’s the King, and he’s the ruler.” Her eyes go to the floor, and she mutters, “Not that he should be.”

I cock my head and stop drumming my fingers. “Not quite a fan of his, are you? I mean, I know you said he’s not so bad, but you didn’t really mean that, did you?”

“It’s treason to talk about the man. So watch your tongue, or you may not have one.” Her pale blue eyes level on mine.

I give her a nod of understanding. I’ll keep my mouth closed where he’s concerned. “I’m glad you’re talking to me now. I have so much to ask about your planet. If I could be with my husband, he could answer my questions.”

“What would you like to know?” She sits on the edge of the bed and seems ready to tell me anything.

“First, I want to know about Kerr’s mother. Tell me what she was like.” I turn over and lie back on a mound of pillows.

“The Queen was beautiful and graceful, elegant, and wise. Extremely wise. She wanted to change the ways women had been treated the last hundred years.” Her long finger runs over her chin as her eyes glisten with her memory of the woman I think was more a friend to her than an employer.

“It hasn’t always been this way on Euthenia?” I take another sip of the yummy drink and place the glass on the little table beside the bed.

“No,” she says and looks up at me. “Once the planet was ruled by women. It was men who were overruled. They stayed home and tended the children. They did the mundane jobs which are now done by the women.”

“What happened to change it so drastically?” I sit up as my interest is piqued.

“The men revolted. They stopped working, and the whole planet nearly shut down when they did. The food wasn’t manufactured. Businesses stayed closed, and it was chaos. The Queen at that time declared a new law, and all knew the King was behind it. He was a cruel man. Hence the punishments. He said we needed to be taught where our place was. For the good of all people.”

“What a shame. At that time, things could have been evened out. Instead of merely changing the hands of who held the power, things could have been shared equally. What a missed opportunity.” I shake my head at the poor judgment of one man and how it affected a whole planet.

Tears glisten in Bet’s eyes. “Kerr’s mother, the Queen, wanted to change it all. Make things fair. Turn the page to that Chapter in our planet’s history. In private, the King and Queen quarreled over it. Then one day she told him she was going to change the law and he could do nothing to stop her. She was the true heir to the throne, and he was born a commoner. I had overheard the whole conversation as I was in the adjoining room when they began to talk about it.”

“Did either realize you overheard them?” I ask. “Did anyone else know of their discussions about that?”

With a shake of her head, she says, “You are the first person I’ve ever told. You see, it was two days after that that the Queen went missing. She took a walk in the late night, alone. She’d started doing that when she drank too much. No one thought much of it until she went missing and parts of her body were found in the Red Forest.”

“Parts of her body?” I ask in horror. “What killed her?”

“No one knows for sure. Fearsome creatures dwell in that forest. It could’ve been flesh rippers, they’re large and terrible beasts with long claws which can tear a person apart with ease. Then there are small things with sharp teeth and claws that attack in packs, they’re called landers. They’re distant relatives of a fierce fish that roams the oceans and kills in packs. Just to name a couple of the monsters roaming that forest.”

“That forest sounds horrible.” I shudder at the idea of the poor woman being killed by any of the horrible sounding things. “How did they identify the body?”

“Her dress was in tatters on the pieces of her body they found. Of course, no head was recovered. But her dress was proof enough she had gone from our world forever. The saddest time in history. She was mourned by everyone. Most of all, the King. It took much out of him. Along with her death went the idea of any change. I kept silent about it since there was nothing I could do anyway. What was the use?” Her narrow shoulders shrug, and her face sags under the weight of her secret knowledge.

What a perfect timing for the King, though.