I scurried off the stage, nearly falling as I tried to balance the tray.It didn’t take a genius to realize she was planning on finding women to breed so she could get more slaves.It would take at least fifteen years for her to have anyone useful, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do a lot of damage in the meantime.
Just the thought of who knew how many women enslaved and forced to produce syto hybrids was horrifying.Someone had to stop her.And as the only woman of childbearing age in her grasp, I had a lot of motivation to figure out how.
***
The next day the Kwindragged me out of the club to watch another fight.But this time she ordered Jiith and Tovis cuffed to each other.A few days of food and water had perked Jiith up a little, but he was clearly meant to handicap Tovis, not help him.
The syto was still shaky on his feet, and the height difference between them made it hard for Tovis to maneuver as he dodged the percer’s charges.He was forced to hurl Jiith around like a ragdoll to keep him from being gored and trampled.
By the time the Kwin called the fight, Tovis was breathing hard and Jiith was on his knees, only held up by his hand cuffed to Tovis’s.
It was clear to me that the Kwin was not satisfied with how her entertainment was going.She snapped orders at the remaining guards and glared at me furiously as I rushed through handing off the two ration bars I’d bargained for.
I had a feeling she wouldn’t let my bartering go on much longer and I didn’t bother picking my way across the glass this time.Sprinting to and from the stakes as fast as I could to avoid irritating her more.
My feet hurt like a bitch, and I left bloody footprints across the parking lot as she dragged me back inside.
“I think I’ll hold another competition tomorrow,” she said as I rubbed her feet a few hours later.Her skin had a strange texture, I’d held my college roommate’s pet boa once, its skin had been smooth and strangely grippy at the same time, it was the closest comparison to the Kwin’s skin, except the Kwin was cold hearted instead of cold blooded.“Something to select my best male.”She kicked my hands away and crossed her legs.
“I grow weary of things as they are.One breeder is not enough, but since I already have one, I would be foolish not to make use of you.”
My skin crawled but I didn’t dare comment on her plans.In the short term, it didn’t really matter that she wanted to breed me to one of the blue males like a fucking Pomeranian.Tovis and I had to escape soon, or she’d kill him for fun.
Her plans just added fuel to the fire under our feet.
The Kwin slid out of her chair and retreated to the huge bed she slept on.Clearly someone had found a mattress store at some point.She was lounging on a California king, complete with silk sheets and a million pillows.
Her guards slept in chairs, when they were permitted to sleep at all.I waited while she tossed and turned, my eyes scanning the dark interior of the strip club.Ten of the sytos were on guard duty, keeping watch outside.The rest stood at attention around the edges of the open room.
When the Kwin’s breathing slowed and I was sure she was asleep, I slipped off the stage and hobbled over to the bar.The guards wouldn’t let me outside to talk to Tovis, but they didn’t stop me from wandering the building.
My feet stung and ached from days of walking over the glass barefoot, and I limped behind the bar looking for the first aid kit I’d been using to patch myself up every night.The small plastic case was running low on supplies.I only had one alcohol wipe, and three packets of gauze left.
Moving as quietly as I could, I carefully set a stool up against the bar and sat down, lifting my feet up one at a time to painstakingly pull out the worst of the glass shards.I was lucky I hadn’t seriously injured myself tonight.Usually, I was more cautious about the glass, but the Kwin was already so pissy, I’d just prayed and ran this time.
I could have easily cut myself to the bone, but thankfully all I’d done was embed a few chips in the meat of my right heel and sliced up my big toe on the other foot.The only light came from the single blue cylinder in the center of the room, and I squinted as I tilted my foot back and forth, looking for the shine of more glass in my skin.
The Kwin’s words played over and over in my head while I disinfected the wounds and taped fresh gauze over the bottoms of my feet.She was so very awful, it would be easy to blindly hate every syto in the building.They did her bidding after all, without them she’d be nothing.She was too lazy to walk anywhere, forcing them to carry her.She didn’t get her own water, reach for her own food or do literally anything for herself.
If the males organized a strike, if every single one of them just...refused to follow orders, what could she do?
Nothing.She had no power but what they gave her and the realization was infuriating.
They were terrified of her, she treated them like shit, she got them killed, forced them to sleep in hard chairs while she lounged on a nice bed, fed them ration bars while they went out risking their lives to get her canned peaches and random treats.
Not a single one of them benefitted from serving her, and yet they did whatever she said.
Tovis said they didn’t know any better, that they were brainwashed.He pitied him.He was a better person than I was, because even as I understood that they didn’t know any other way, I was mad as a wet cat that they didn’t stand up for themselves.
I rinsed my hands off and surveyed the large selection of booze on the shelves.I was tempted to grab a bottle, get drunk and feel bad for myself.Who could blame me?I was a psychotic alien’s pet, I was in constant danger, and being threatened with a terrible fate.
But I hesitated as I reached for the bottle of vodka over my head.I wanted to down the whole thing and just check out for a few hours, but it would be a mistake.I needed my wits about me.
I flipped off the shelf like it was the liquors’ fault I couldn’t afford to indulge and grabbed the jug of margarita mix instead.The plastic was warm and sticky with old residue and when I took a swig it was so thick and sweet I gagged.
Nope, wasn’t doing that again.
Feeling bad for myself and mad about it, I rifled through the bar supplies as quietly as I could.Waking up the Kwin wouldn’t be good for anyone, and I felt eyes on my back as the sytos watched me act like an angry raccoon in a dumpster.
