Chapter Four

 

 

The bond auction was nerve-wracking. Fiona was being kept for last, and she paced for hours before her turn was up.

Aarak was strong, imposing, but he appeared to be a male of his word. If she was going to end up having sex with one of the species of aliens she was compatible with, it might as well be someone who could keep up a decent conversation. Despite her internal assurances, she was also very sure that he was going to disappoint. No one that had ever come close to offering her freedom had ever not disappointed her.

“Come with me, Fiona.” The Ymilian woman with scarlet skin came into the room for the final time.

Fiona turned from her intense study of the wall, and she followed the handler out of the holding lounge and down the hall toward the bond auction.

“Step onto the stage and move if we ask you to.” The handler smiled slightly, nodding her head as she withdrew from the pool of light.

It was like being in the weirdest high school play she had ever heard of. Fiona walked to the centre of the stage and faced the darkness where she could sense gazes trying to see through her clothing.

The descriptions must have been silent because bids began to course in. The number climbed, and Fiona got nervous. If Aarak was bidding, then someone was bidding against him, and that made her nervous.

She remained calm until the announcement pealed out. “Bidding closed.”

Fiona looked toward the rectangle of light that appeared on the far side of the stage and followed the handler back into the light.

“That was exciting. Two Hmrain are never seen together, but here they were.” The handler was nearly giggling.

Fiona clenched her hands together, and they shook while she followed the handler through the halls and toward the docking bay.

“You are to go with your patron and fulfill your duties until the end of your contract. He is in possession of all the details. Good luck, Fiona.”

She could feel that she was white with panic, but this was what she had agreed to. She whispered, “Thank you.”

The handler handed her off to two crewmembers wearing grey and silver. It didn’t give her any clues as to the identity of her patron.

Protocol demanded that she didn’t ask anything of the crewmen who were escorting her, so she had to wait until she saw the Hmrain who had possession of her bond.

There was one thing that she could be assured of, Earth was going to be a fading memory the moment that she entered that shuttle.

“Very funny, gentlemen.” Four crewmen in green and silver appeared from around a corner, and they approached with fists clenched and their posture tense.

Her two guards halted and put a hand across the path through them. “We have been given instruction to take her.”

“And you bribed the handler. This is not going to be well received. Aarak was the high bidder; he will have her. We have the contract to prove it.”

Fiona backed up and got clear of the crewmen in grey.

The collision of the crewmembers was violent, and the fight was short and brutal. The green representatives stood, and one bowed to Fiona. “Mistress, I have your bond contract, the proof of payment, and the name of your patron, Aarak.”

She smiled. “Please, show me.”

He lifted a tablet, and the projected contract with all the seals of the education station made her sigh with relief. “Please, get me off this station, and get that handler a short, sharp kick.”

“That will be taken care of. Semak is filing a report right now.” He smiled, his light mint features were shades lighter than his rich green tunic, the same colour as Aarak’s skin.

“So, your colours are the same as the Hmrain you serve?”

He grinned. “You would have no way of knowing. Very nice move backing away. They were going to grab you and make a run for it.”

“I guessed that when you showed up. Who were they working for?”

“Another Hmrain. Karus. He is a good sort, but his last companion passed, and he is looking for a new one. He arrived too late to introduce himself, so he decided to snatch you.”

“When did you figure that out?”

“When Lord Aarak shouted in our coms and told us what was going on. He was very specific on outnumbering the guards of Karus. He was not taking a chance on losing you.”

“I will have to ask him when he figured it out.”

The guard chuckled. “That is your prerogative, Mistress.”

As they talked, she was being marched to a shuttle where more green and silver uniforms were waiting to take them in and get them settled. The release from the station was smooth, and Fiona’s skirt flowed up and away from her for a moment before the ship’s gravity kicked on.

“We will be on the ship in twenty minutes. After that, we are heading home.”

She inhaled and exhaled slowly. “Right. Twenty minutes, then a ship, and then a long ride through space.”

“In the utmost comfort. Your wardrobe arrived with the other bondservants this morning, and you are the last passenger scheduled.”

“Wardrobe?”

“Clothing, Mistress. You are coming to us with your skin and the gown you have on. Lord Aarak ordered a wardrobe for you, and it was delivered to his quarters this morning.”

“Oh, I guess that is a good thing. Naked is not an option.”

He gave her a strange look and shook his head. “Yes, Mistress.”

The rest of the twenty minutes were spent with her looking at the view screen and watching the huge shape of the wide and sleek craft that had to be the main ship get closer and much larger.

She fought the urge to hyperventilate as they pulled into the wide entryway that had opened for them. This was it. When the door to the shuttle opened, she was officially a bondservant. Of course, she was one now, but Aarak wasn’t here, so it didn’t count.

When her guard unclasped his harness, she did the same.

“Come along, Mistress. He isn’t to be feared. He is not always kind, but he is fair. You have nothing to fear.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You can smell it?”

“And see it. You have wadded your dress into a ball of creases.”

He eased her out of the shuttle, and her escort of four assembled around her. They began a comfortable pace through the ship and led her through an endless wave of corridors out and up.

When they reached a more formal area of the ship, she noted the security and the gazes that focused on her. She whispered, “Why are they staring?”

“They are looking at you, so you are recognized if they need to come to your assistance. As Aarak’s personal guards, we need to know what you look like, Mistress. We can act as intermediaries with the other members of the population and guides when needed. Anyone wearing his lordship’s livery is trustworthy.”

“It is a nice thing to know. Are you also here to keep me from running?”

The men around her laughed, and her primary escort said, “No. If you want to run from his lordship, he will find you. There is nowhere you can go that he will not sense you and seek you out. We are just an interim measure to keep you safe from others. Your own impulses are your own business.”

That was succinct, but it also made her wonder how many of Aarak’s companions had made a run for it. The guards were aware of the possibility but knew escape was unlikely. That spoke of previous events. At least she knew that Aarak was fair. That was something.

He paused at the end of the corridor and bowed to her. “These are your quarters now. Knock and begin your contract.”

Her guards melted back down the hall, and she turned to the plain metal door. She knocked politely, and the door opened, sliding to her right and leaving her framed in the opening.

“Come in, Fiona. I am very glad you made it. My brother has been chastised, and the handler has been removed from her position before she could leave with her bribe.”

She held her breath as she crossed the threshold. The door closed behind her.

Aarak was standing near a desk and reading a complex visual display. He glanced over at her and smiled. “Welcome to the Aura Breaker. I have some business to attend to, and I know they didn’t feed you, so the meal dispenser on the wall has a selection for you.”

Fiona blinked. “Okay. Thank you, patron.”

“Aarak. Don’t make me remind you. You are the only one who gets to call me by my name, so use it.” His tone was no-nonsense.

“You don’t eat?”

He smiled. “We will discuss that later. Now, have a meal. You look positively grey.”

She looked at the space that was twenty times larger than it would normally have been on the ship. “I will be fine. You don’t mind my eating without you?”

His lips twitched. “No, while I can consume food, it is not required on a regular basis.”

She didn’t understand, but she nodded and went to the panel that he had referred to. Being busy seemed a better way to pretend she wasn’t freaking out inside.

The dispenser had a smaller version of all the selections that she had had the night before. He had been paying strict attention. Only the foods that she had enjoyed were on the platter.

She held the platter and looked around, trying to find a safe place to set it down.

She saw Aarak move, and he stroked something on his desk. A table and chair emerged from the wall and slid into place near his desk.

“Have your meal here. This will be your study station.”

“Study?”

“I have nineteen worlds under my care. You are my assistant and constant companion from this day forward. You will need to learn about them.”

She blinked. “I have homework?”

“There is more to being an intimate servant than sex. You are my companion in all aspects of life. That includes my control and guidance of the worlds under my care.”

The tray was warm, and she moved to set it down quickly. “I am not quite sure how this is supposed to work.”

Aarak worked on a handheld tablet while the display fluctuated with weather patterns and topographical details. “It will unfold as we go along. The more duties you take on, the sooner you will be out of bond.”

She snorted and started eating. “I saw what you paid. I am going to be dead by the time I get out of bond.”

“Maybe, maybe not. We will discuss that once we have consummated the intimate part of your bond contract.”

Fiona focused on her meal and didn’t respond to his absent observation. He knew something she didn’t know, and sex was the price to finding it out. That was fine; she could do that.

The worst that could happen was that she would be in the same situation that she was on Earth, but only with one partner to please. How hard could that be?