He chuckled, guided her to the kitchen, and taught her how to use the screen on the wall to order the food.
“I can’t read your language, so how the hell am I going to know what to order?” she grumbled looking at the strange characters displayed on the menu.
“I guess you’ll have to learn,” he replied. “I can teach you.”
“Yes, I guess that has to be on my list of future projects,” she said, scowling. “But right now I just want something to eat.”
He touched a few things and prepared an order, sending it a few moments later. “Food will be her in a few minutes.”
“Good. I would like to call Eleanor and find out how she is doing,” she asked as she took a seat at the kitchen table.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“Let’s give Brynjar a bit more time to get to know her before we start making demands,” he asked her. “He’s a fair man, but he was really furious yesterday with my poor judgment of keeping her existence in secret.”
“We all agreed it was the best thing to do.”
“But it was my duty, my responsibility,” he insisted. “Besides being my king, he’s also my best friend. I should have had a bit more faith in him.”
“You shouldn’t blame yourself like that. I guess a lot was going on at the same time. And you never intended to keep her hidden forever.”
“Of course not.”
Two beeps warned them of the arrival of the food, and soon they were enjoying it. He had ordered pretty much the same thing they had eaten last night: meat and vegetables.
“You always eat like this?” she asked, watching him devour his food.
He looked at his plate. “Yes, I do. We spend a lot of energy, and we need to refuel it as often as possible.”
“And I guess you never get fat,” she sighed, envying his metabolism.
“No, our bodies discard anything useless or harmless to our bodies,” he explained, with a smile.
“Isn’t there a way for me to become one of you?” she asked in a teasing tone, missing the strange expression that crossed his face. “I’m starting to think there are way too many advantages of being a drogon,” she added, picking a piece of meat with the strange fork the used. Unlike earthling forks, their pins weren’t lined up. Instead, they formed two lines of pins, not far from each other, that made eating a complicated process for a person not used to it.
“We are a very unique species,” he agreed, not adding much more to the subject. It wasn’t the right moment, and he even doubted it would ever be.
“So, what are the plans for today? Or do you plan on keeping me prisoner here?” she asked, as she finished the food she had on her plate.
“I could take you on a tour around the city,” he suggested.
“I guess we could, but I have to admit that doesn’t appeal to me that much. Your city is quite boring,” she said, scowling.
“Boring? What do you mean?” he asked, puzzled.
“Well, all your buildings and houses are made of the same material and painted with the same color,” she explained.
“They’re not painted. The greridius, the metal we all use for our constructions, is used in its pure form.”
“Why do you use it?” she asked, curious.
“The greridius absorbs all of the sun’s energy and transfers it for the building’s use. That’s why we use it everywhere. We need heat for a comfortable life.”
“Would adding some paint to it, alter its efficiency?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never paid much importance to that kind of things.”
“I’m sure no one has ever done that,” She stated, with a smirk. “What about a beach, a river, a park? Do you have any of those?”
“Yes, in fact, there’s all of that, but not here in town. We would have to go to the outskirts.”
She frowned. She wasn’t that fond of the wild nature as to drive for hours to enjoy it. “What about a mall, or some kind of market?” she asked. “I could use some clothes. These tunics and suits don’t do much for a girl’s good mood.”
He chuckled. “Yes, we do have a market, but I’m afraid you’ll only find other versions of that.”
She looked at him surprised. “You have to be kidding me. Your women all dress alike? With this kind of clothes?”
“Yes, they do. Clothing has never been our priority,” he tried to explain.
“What has been your priority then?” she asked, amazed.
One thing was to be pragmatic and use only what would be beneficial for you, and the other thing was to forget all about beauty and feel good about yourself.
“To protect our people and make this planet a better home for our people.”
“How long have you been on this planet?”
“Several thousand rotations,” he replied, not following her point.
“Then, I’m sure you’ve done all you can to do that. It’s time to make it a nice place as well, colorful, and cheerful,” she said, in a firm tone. “I refuse to believe people are actually happy with such a monochromatic world, especially when nature has so many shades of color you could add to your own life.”
He shrugged. “I have to admit I’ve never stopped to think of that.”
“Well… we’ll have to do something about that,” she said in a cheerful tone. “For now you can take me to this market. I need some fabric and for you to take me to the palace.”
“I told you it wasn’t a good idea…” he started to say, but she interrupted him.
“I won’t bother Eleanor. I need Gil Ra’s help to get some decent clothes.”
“Very well. Put on one of the suits you have in your dressing room and your cape. It’s too cold outside to wear a tunic,” he asked her.
She nodded and quickly disappeared into her room, to come out a few minutes later wearing one of those formless suits she was starting to hate.
He took her to the market on his vehicle and soon they were walking through the halls of the place. Like he had warned her, there wasn’t much to choose from. Suits, Tunics, and capes were basically the only things on sale.
“Where can I find some fabric?” she asked him.
“I have no idea,” he admitted.
“Can you ask any of the sellers?” She asked him, as she took a closer look to a dark blue tunic in one of the stores.
“You can do it yourself,” he suggested.
She looked around, feeling a bit shy. Speaking with strangers had never been a problem to her, but although she was trying to ignore it, she was quite aware of the curious looks and murmurs her presence seemed to conjure.
She knew Zuvrakians hadn’t had much contact with aliens on the planet so she could understand their curiosity, but it still felt a bit awkward.
“I would prefer if you did it. This kind of fabric would be perfect,” she said, pointing at the tunic she had been admiring.
He nodded, realizing how she was feeling. He turned to one of the sellers standing next to them. “Do you have any idea where we could get some of the fabric this tunic is made of?” he asked the man.
“Yes, Lord Asgar,” Sasha looked surprised with the title but didn’t make any comment. “There’s a factory not far from the market where you can find all kinds of fabrics.” The man explained, having a hard time to keep his eyes off of Sasha.
“Could you give us the address?”
“Yes, surely.” He went to his desk and noted down the address on a piece of paper. “This is the place.”
“Thank you, you have been very helpful. We’ll take the blue tunic,” Asgar added, pressing his thumb into a small square on the seller’s desk.
The man put the tunic on a small bag and handed it to Sasha, before he cleared his throat and asked, in a shaky tone. “Are you one of the human females the king presented in the video, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. I’m Sasha O’Donnell,” she introduced herself, with a friendly smile.
“It’s a pleasure knowing you, Víf Sasha. Allow me to welcome you to our planet and wish you a pleasant life.” The man said, with a smile.
Asgar stepped closer to where she was standing, erasing the man’s smile.
“Thank you for your help,” he said, once more, and taking Sasha by her elbow, he almost dragged her out of the store.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she protested when they were out of the store.
“Taking you to the factory. Isn’t that what you wanted?” he asked in an innocent tone.
“Don’t you pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about? You didn’t have to be so rude to the poor man. After all, he could be my soulmate,” she protested.
“Believe me, he isn’t,” he grumbled, taking her straight to the vehicle.
“How can you know that? You didn’t even give him time to talk to me,” she insisted.
“I didn’t have to. It’s quite obvious for us when someone has found their soulmate,” he assured her.
She snorted but didn’t say anything else on the matter. “How come I haven’t seen a single woman so far?” she asked him.
“Like I told you, all of our women are mated, and most of them prefer to dedicate their lives to their families, so they don’t work. There are exceptions, of course, like my own mother that has always worked as a pediatrician at the main hospital,” he explained.
“Why do you need doctors?” she asked, curious.
“Because, sometimes, even our bodies need some help in the healing process. We’re not completely isolated here, and some visitors carry their diseases into our environment,” he replied. “Our bodies need a bit more time to identify the problem and attack it. That’s where the doctors intervene, keeping us alive until our immune system kicks up.”
“It makes sense, I guess. Your mother must be quite a woman to put up with so many of you,” she said, in a teasing tone.
He chuckled but agreed with her. “She is. I’m sure you two will become great friends.”
She took his comment in silence, not sure what to answer to that. She doubted she would meet his mother, but there was no point bringing that up.
At that moment, they arrived at the factory, and another man helped to choose a few fabrics he bought for her.
She was having a hard time with that part of the shopping, but there wasn’t much she could do since she didn’t even own the clothes she had on. She guessed that was the problem of being abducted and taken to an alien planet.
With the fabrics in her possession, she insisted on going to the palace. She needed Gil Ra’s help for what she had in mind.
Asgar wasn’t very pleased with the whole thing, but he took her there after she promised not going to visit Eleanor.
He knew Brynjar needed time alone with the woman and he didn’t want to be responsible for stopping the king from having it.