Chapter 30
As time passed in her opulent prison, Cass’s anxiety only increased. She feared for Nahash’s safety, though the doctor who visited her daily promised he remained alive and well. They wanted her to stay relaxed and calm. They didn’t want anything to stress the baby. That didn’t stop her from considering escaping from her prison in the early stages of her pregnancy. She’d insisted on daily walks, “for her health,” and Cici and Jia had taken her outside her comfortable room and into the monastery proper.
The building was a beautiful, white stone temple with a golden, domed roof surrounded by four spires that speared the rainbow-tinged sky. It wasn’t just one small rainbow that arched through the sky, but rather a dome made of rainbows over the city.
They walked around the parapet that ringed the central dome of the monastery each day. On every one of those days, Cass spotted the security measures taken to keep her and the other females inhabiting the monastery in their place. According to Jia, the rainbow dome was one of them. It was a shield over the city where nothing could go in or out without an imperial pass. The monastery itself was enclosed by another shield on the ground level, and patrolled by spherical drones that were constantly recording like security cameras, except that they also had A.I. that detected unusual behavior and alerted the guards to it.
In addition to the technology, many guards also patrolled—both on the ground and in the air. Cass had been startled at first to see the guards darting around in the sky, their beautiful dragonfly wings moving so fast they were a blur. The weapons they carried were not a blur. Jia said they were stunners only, but they’d take anyone down before they got far in an escape attempt.
Cass initially found the view beautiful, as the architecture of the city matched the fanciful elegance of the monastery. It looked like a magical kingdom—the kind of place where fairies or elves might live.
Once she acknowledged the reality of her imprisonment, all she could see were the obstacles—insurmountable obstacles. There was no plan she could come up with during her imprisonment that she couldn’t easily shoot down before it fully formed in her mind.
She wanted to escape and find a way to rescue Nahash, but eventually she was forced to accept that she didn’t have the resources or opportunity she needed. More importantly, her Iriduan obstetrician insisted the daily walks stop after noting that Cass returned from them with higher blood pressure and a lower mood than when she’d left. Her doctor feared for the baby, and warned Cass that she could miscarry if she didn’t take better care of herself.
Cass didn’t want anything to harm her growing baby, so she tried to stay calm after that warning, but found it difficult. Without being able to see Nahash, she didn’t trust that he remained alive. She knew the Iriduans wanted his abilities, but feared they were counting on her child to take his place. She wondered if they would even keep him alive if her baby could do what he could.
Cici and Jia spun special silk to make blankets for her to sleep with and wear on her body constantly, until they were collected for Nahash. The silk spun by the Iriduan females retained pheromones and scent better than any other material and was integrated into the cocoons that allowed their juveniles to undergo metamorphosis. Cass thought that Nahash might still be alive if he still needed them—at least until Jia said they could be used to imprint other males on her.
Cici had quickly shushed the younger woman, and Jia had fallen silent after that, focusing instead on drawing the silk from the gland beneath her tongue, which fascinated Cass almost enough to distract her from that comment that only added to her fear.
The Iriduans would never let her child leave, especially if the baby possessed the ability they wanted. That meant Cass couldn’t leave either, because she’d never abandon her baby, even if she could stomach the thought of returning to Earth without Nahash.
********
She didn’t like the feeling of helplessness that assailed her, and her mood wasn’t improved by her own hormonal changes with the pregnancy. As it advanced, she felt horny all the time and had no outlet for that need. Her companions and the robotic servants filled every other need—except those two that concerned her the most: her freedom and Nahash’s company.
She never wanted for whatever taste of food she craved—be it sweet, sour, bitter, or salty—but for her, they could never match the taste of Nahash. He filled her dreams—and her nightmares. In those darker dreams, they tortured him, or killed him right before her eyes, and she couldn’t do anything to save him.
After one too many sleepless nights ended up in her jerking awake, covered in sweat—a scream dying on her lips—Cici insisted she request a bed companion to hold her when she was having nightmares, and to ease the lust caused by her erotic dreams.
That resulted in a her very first argument with the other female that ended with them determinedly not speaking to each other, while Jia tried to play the peacemaker.
Cass just couldn’t get used to their culture and the way the other women saw nothing unusual about taking more than one lover—especially when that lover had no choice about his need for them. She didn’t want the empire using her scent to capture any males at all, especially not just to satisfy her in bed. No other male could satisfy her now that she’d been with Nahash. She needed him—and only him—and it upset her that Cici—after spending months with her—still couldn’t see that. Her heart would never belong to another.
Despite her anger towards Cici, Cass acknowledged Cici’s intent. Cici had come to care about Cass. The other woman was determined to see that Cass found happiness in her new life, despite being separated from her mate. If their heated argument was anything to go by, Cici truly believed Cass would learn to love another male as she loved Nahash—if she would only stop being stubborn and open her mind to it.
Jia and Cici had become her best friends. Though they’d had no say in being stuck with her, neither of them seemed to resent their role—perhaps because they’d grown up with a strong education in caring for and loving their fellow females. They claimed such training offset their natural compulsion to be hyper-competitive to a deadly degree. Apparently, the old-school females had made a hobby of conquering each other, wiping out entire colonies of males and offspring along with rival females, without any sign of remorse.
She’d grown to love Cici and Jia, and it hurt to be at odds with either of them. They also weren’t the only ones urging Cass to accept another male. The doctor very nearly insisted on it during her visit the day prior to Cici and Cass’s argument, for the same reason Cici had given. Cass was stressed out and miserable, and though the other women tried, they couldn’t fulfill her loneliness as she waited to have her baby.
She believed she needed something to do other than the many games and crafting supplies that had been provided to entertain them. She was accustomed to working eighty hours a week and volunteering in any free time she had. During her time with Nahash, she’d been so wrapped up in him that she’d never missed her busy life on Earth, but now, she felt the absence of her once-full schedule.
Now that she had plenty of time to care for something, she thought it would be nice to have a pet to lavish her attention on and had suggested as much to the doctor, who’d gone away with a thoughtful look on her face.