“To be honest, I don’t know —” I pause for her name.
As if giving up, she sighs and says, “Yiskku. Come on, let’s clean you up.” She motions at the other women and as if they’re her ladies-in-waiting, everyone follows her command.
Guided by several hands, I am pulled deeper into the jewels’ den. With my arms raised in the air, I frantically attempt to maneuver out of the way, but their movements only grow stronger.
“She is a strange looking female,” I hear a voice whisper behind me.
Wow, okay, weird thing for the tentacle alien to say, but sure.Despite not feeling like the weird one in the room, I subconsciously cover my midsection with my forearm, clutching my fingers into my rough homemade clothing.
“Oh shush Lyonui, just because she’s different doesn’t make her any less of a blessing from the goddess,” Yiskku snaps. “And besides, she’ll probably look ten thousand times better after a bath. She must be compatible if they’ve sent her up here. She deserves as much respect as the rest of you.”
Her annoyed tone continues, but it’s kind of nice that she’s sticking up for me. I take note that she said you, and not us. Something tells me Yissku thinks herself the cream of the crop.
“Excuse me, can we talk about what you mean by compatible?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.
She turns her head, her brows raised.
“For breeding, obviously,” she says with a smirk.
“Oh okay, sure.” I can’t help it when Kitaico’s face flashes in my mind. “So, we can choose our mate, right?”
Kitaico is the only thing I have anymore, that kind, cinnamon roll of an alien. He saved me.
As the entire group chuckles at my question, a sinking feeling settles in my stomach.
“You, just like everyone here, will be a reward for the final challenge of the Great Proving.”
They walk me into another chamber, this one filled with steam.
“But I’m not a reward, and there’s already someone I—hey, I can get that,” I mutter. A pair of sky-blue hands are attempting to take off my toga.
“You can’t bathe in those rags, you’ll get the tub filthy,” someone whines.
“But why even have this Great Proving? Surely you can choose your own mate, you seem like capable ladies!” I plaster a forced smile onto my lips.
I wiggle out of one grasping hand, only to fall into the grips of another. These “jewels” are a force to be reckoned with. If anyone should be scared, it should be the men of this world.
For a moment, the hands are still, and Yissku’s voice cuts through the throng.
“It’s a kindness. There are so few females left that to be a prize is safest. We deserve to be with the male most worthy of protecting us.” Several tentacled heads nod, accepting their fates, before attempting to disrobe me once again.
“I’ve got it, really,” I try to tell the throng of handsy women.
The nearness of the flock of females, the suffocating feeling of the steam, and the realization that I might never see Kitaico again come to a head. The panic truly sets in as they attempt to unravel the wrapping around my palm.
“Back the fuck up,” I snap, pulling my hand against my chest.
“Excuse me?” Yiskku barks, her demeanor changing entirely.
“I’m not a prize,” I say coldly. My fingers stumble, itching to unwrap my hand.
I don’t know how I’m going to get my point across without showing them, though.
“I don’t need any of this, because I already belong to someone.”
“No one has been found worthy of you yet, but they will. It is a blessing, truly.”
I pull the last bit of wrapping off my marked palm and ball it into a fist.
