“What of the aftermath? Who do we answer to should the Rijitera win? Will she and her people rule us?” a female with dark brown wings said. Her white hair was shaved on one side,revealing a mess of glyphs tattooed onto her skull. She had scars criss-crossing over the left side of her face like someone had taken a whip to her. The heavy fur around her shoulders reminded me of Vikings, so did the ax she had laid out on the table within easy reach of her hand.
“Jack won’t enslave you, if that’s what you're worried about,” I assured the battle goddess, staring at her tattoos with longing.
“The Rijijtera have no history of ever enslaving anyone. You would know that, if you’d bothered to read the informational packages that Anu sent ahead of us,” Rema said, smiling thinly.
The battle goddess snorted out a laugh. “Come, Rema. You know I can’t read.”
“Ah, but they are holo files. So even one such as you can understand. I had Anu speak very slowly.”
The battle goddess laughed, the sound deep and boisterous. “I always did like you, Rema. No matter what your mother said.”
“And I you, Nera. No matter that your reputation paled in comparison to the real thing.”
The Queen clapped her hands together, the sound a gunshot. “We will take a vote. For staying with the Unity?”
Fifteen wings spread wide behind the chairs. The Queen's vicious scowl closed three.
“For joining Ohem Pax At’ens and his Rijitera?”
Thirty or so wings spread, including the Queen’s and Lyees’s.
“It is decided. After Rema and Patty are fully mated— with a shortened Mating Ceremony in a special conditions allowance— we will send half our fleet to Paliv, to aid the Rijitera’s ships. The rest will go to Korsal. Our forward guard will remain here, to protect our Sisters and Brothers.”
Chapter 9
Patty
The rest of thedinner went by smoothly, if a little more lively now that the important matter had been settled. Becoming rebels seemed to excite most of the females at the table, with the Queen nearly vibrating with satisfaction.
Rema’s family had left the dining room in a rage of ruffled feathers.
Dessert had been weird. They served these weird little skittering bugs that look like diamonds with a few thousand legs.Apparently they were very sweet. But, while I could eat a raw lizard-camel and a roasted spider, I drew the line at live bugs.
I shuddered at the memory, pulling on the soft sleeping dress that these aliens used for nightgowns. I pulled on pants under it, and fished out some socks. I got cold at night, and one thin nightdress wasn’t going to cut it. A hunky winged elf could help keep me warm, but he was firmly locked behind his bedroom door, chastity intact, with only the memory of a smoldering goodnight kiss to keep me warm tonight.
His firm ass had beat feet into his room like it was on fire, and I’d laughed at him when his door had closed more firmly than it needed too. I’d laughed harder when the lock engaged.
Run, run while you can, Rema. But I’ll catch you in the end.
I grinned at my reflection in the mirror as I brushed out my hair and started braiding it for bed. The scales on my forehead caught the light and shimmered as I tilted my head left and right. I loved the changes my body had made. I felt stronger, faster, and the beauty of the green shimmer of each scale captured my eye every time I caught my reflection. The blue of my eyes had changed to a deep greenish brown, like the moss covered bark of a tree, and I found myself more partial to them now.
My hands were my favorite change though. I touched my bottom lip with the claws of my right hand, admiring the elegant length of my blackened fingers. I growled at my reflection, clawing my hands in the air, and giggled at my antics. My claws were short, but curved like a cats and deadly sharp. I was going to do some cat scratching before this trip was over. That Sira and her daughters were pushing me in a direction I already wanted to go, and they didn’t even know it. All I had to do was take up Rema’s offer of murdering his aunt and cousins— with some assurances that I’d get to help— and we’d be set.
I brushed my teeth in the luxurious bathroom, where I'd soaked in the tub for over an hour before dragging myself out.Though, I will say that the red marble stone the Neldre seemed overly fond of made a really funky bathtub. It turned the water red, like you were bathing in blood.
The new critically important task I had to do each night was moisturize. Not like the normal lotion up and face mask routine of my past. Oh no, now I had to use a special oil that had to be scrubbed into my scales with a soft brush in circles to make sure it got under them. If they dried out, or got soap or grit underneath them it was pure freaking torture. The battle on Korsal that ended on the beach had been my worst nightmare. To my horror, the sand had somehow gotten under the armor and deep under my new scales, especially on my neck and shoulders. It had felt like glass tearing at the sensitive skin underneath.
Aga had pulled me aside after Jack had left for the woods with Ohem, bidding me to follow him once my help in the cleanup of dead bodies was done, and showed me how to care for myself.
“You have to use a firm bristle to get the sand out. Don’t be afraid to scrub hard, in circle motions. It helps to use oil instead of water, as the oil will help collect the sand, then wipe down firmly with a damp cloth. Make sure to oil them every night or they will dry and the pulling is terrible,” Aga had explained to me, handing me a case filled with various brushes of different sizes, and several bottles of dark oil.
I’d kissed his cheek, thanked him, and proceeded to scrub myself raw until I couldn’t feel a single grain of sand left.
The memory made my throat tight. I missed the cranky crocodile. I still owed him a beating in the sparring ring now that I was stronger.Bug. I still haven't forgiven him for that, the asshole. I’d been training with Rema nearly every day, regardless of how tired either of us were, so that I wouldn’t become a liability on the battlefield. Though with a plasma rifle and roots, knowing how to hand to hand combat someone todeath was less of an issue. But the new, still developing skills would come in handy when I handed Aga his ass. That cocky motherfucker was going down and I was going to get rich on the bets.
Maybe I could sweet talk Callie into getting the flight crews to buy into the pot. Maybe murdering her way through a bunch of pirates would take the stick out of her butt. But then again, it might light it on fire and then where would we be? I grimaced at the thought, setting the brush and oil down on the bathroom counter, and moved into the bedroom to start throwing pillows off the bed.
I hoped Aga found Callie before she blew something up in a fit of finally released rage. She suppressed her emotions too much, that one. When she woke up and found herself kidnapped by aliens again, I imagine she was going to blow a fuse, and lord knows how long she’d been keeping a lid on herself.
