“Oh darlin’, don‘t worry, I’ve got her. Ke’ain should be overseeing the renovations in the council’s chambers. Why don’t y’all go catch up.” Although her voice is dripping with sweetness, I know that it’s not a request but an order for Raf’ere to leave us alone.
He sighs and turns the opposite direction without saying another word.
As soon as he’s out of earshot the queen turns to me, placing her hands on my biceps and giving me the most serious of faces.
“Did Raf’ere hurt you?” she asks completely serious.
“What? No, he would never…” Is his reputation really that terrible?
“Ugh, thank god, I mean don’t get me wrong…I’ve been itching to get into a fight—you know my hormones are wild right now. I’m glad he’s not being a douche.” She nods to herself and then keeps dragging me the direction we were going before.
I try to take it all in. The gaggles of women, the odd fi’len guard, the massive palace. It feels bizarre to be somewhere so big after having my world be so hyperfocused these past few weeks.
“So, where ya from?” she asks as we walk.
“Brooklyn.”
“Oh, jealous. I was saving up to go see New York City right before I got snatched. Is the pizza really that much better there?”
“I don’t know. I’ve lived in the city my whole life so I don’t have anything to compare it to.” Could pizza ever be bad?
“Well, enjoy those memories. Despite Betty’s best efforts there’s nothing we’ve been able to find that’s close to the ingredients for pizza here. Betty is our resident human chef. She’s gotten pretty close to a lot of human foods…but the fi’len really don’t have the palate for cheese, so it doesn’t really exist here yet.” She frowns.
It’s weird what can be the final piece of information that can make you snap—sometimes it has nothing to do with what’s actually wrong.
“There’s no cheese?” I say, a sob catching in my throat dramatically. But what my mind is actually doing, in addition to breaking down over the lack of cheese in outer space, is realizing that Raf’ere is planning on leaving me here.
That this stupid heavy pack isn’t just for one night, it’s for forever. That instead of us working through everything together, he’s dumping me off with the rest of the humans. My home at the Reefs might be gone forever all because he’s scared to fight for me. All that and the fact that I’ll never be able to sprinkle parmesan over pastina again.
If my heart wasn’t breaking, I’d march right over to him to give him a peace of my mind. But I’m frozen with the realization that I’m being abandoned.
“Oh sweetie.” The queen puts an arm around me. “It’s going to be alright. Betty’s trying to figure out how to get the cheese ball rolling here so to speak.” She rubs my back. “You really like cheese, don’t you?”
“I’m Italian,” I sniffle.
Opal nods knowingly before pushing our way through a set of swinging double doors.
Rows and rows of bunk beds fill the expansive space. The lights are off. I hear a few snores in the distance, but for the most part the beds are empty.
I shiver as the air from the room hits me—it must be at least twenty degrees colder in here than in the courtyard.
Opal pulls a data pad out from the pocket of her gown and flips through a spreadsheet.
“I always kind of feel like I’m in Ikea when I do this,” she jokes. “It looks like row nineteen, bunk D is open. Aw, that means Janae moved in with her mate!” She clutches her chest with some fondness over the situation. “Good for her.”
She motions for me to follow her down the hall.
“Opal, why is it so dark and cold in here?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry. I didn’t go to college and I never rushed a sorority, so I didn’t know anything about cold dorms either,” she confides. “There’s a few women here who stepped up to help us get Earth 2 organized. Unsurprisingly, they were often presidents of their sororities back on Earth. I guess cold dorms are like an old school sleeping arrangement for lots of people to sleep better in a smaller space. The lights in here are always off, we keep it cool, and it’s really only for sleeping. We’ve got all kinds of different halls for day-to-day activities, but this was the best solution for everyone’s different sleeping habits. We’re big on compromise here.”
We finally reach my bunk. “This is mine?”
The twin bed is devoid of any of the comforts back in the estate. The blanket looks sad and hospital grade. There’s a small table, but no magic glowing lava lamp. It’s entirely lacking in magically cold bedside water as well.
And, most importantly, there’s no Raf’ere.
I take a deep breath, and Opal gives me a little smile as I set my luggage on the bed.
