I sucked in a breath. How many children had they had that died? How many cycles had they had? I gave Rathal a grim look, my mouth tight.
“Yes. There were many children lost during the Fall. Hella’s mothers lost fifty and only saved their youngest brood by sacrificing one of themselves. I have always wondered how they managed to get Hella and her sisters on the ship, as they were technically fully grown, though not yet adults,” he explained, his voice solemn and quiet.
“No wonder Hella is so keen to come and help. She must hate the Unity and all that it stands for.” I wondered how it went when Jack brought Ohem home to meet the family and they had to come face to face with a direct descendant of A’tens. I know if I brought home some gangster, no matter how reformed, my Mexico born mother would lose her fucking mind.
We lapsed into a comfortable silence now that we were around so many people.
Making it to his room without anyone stopping us. Everyone was busy getting ready for our departure tomorrow.
He sat me down on my feet at the door of the bathroom.
“I’ve planned something special that I think you’ll like.” He paused and licked over his fangs. “I think you should shower alone if we are to make it on time. I’ve left you a dress on the bed.”
I put my hands on my hips. “It’s not some barely there strip of cloth is it? Your tastes aren’t exactly modest.”
Rathal sniffed. “My tastes are immaculate. You are just being a stubborn human with your delicate sensibilities. Too many morals is bad for you, you know.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“It’s a date sort of dinner so the dress will be appropriate,” he said, crossing his arms.
“Your appropriate or everyone else appropriate? Because you have given me some seriously racy shit before, Rathal.”
He threw up his hands in exasperation. “It's a perfectly normal dress that even you, with your need to cover all that lovely skin, should find acceptable.” He lowered his hands and gave me a side eye, his smile turning sly. “Though watching you get angry over an article of clothing has been amusing.”
Ha! I knew it. “You know, having cameras in a woman’s room is considered a creepy thing. You’d earn the title of pervert and probably get arrested.”
Rathal’s tall ears twitched in a way I was beginning to associate with raised eyebrows. “I had to make sure I knew when you were breaking out. Besides, I figured you would only undress inside the sanitation room. Had you gotten undressed in the bedroom, I’d have politely looked away.”
I laughed at him. “Uh huh. Sure you would have.”
“Would you just go get dressed so that I may get to the wooing,” he said with a huff, then winked at me before sashaying out of the room, his thin tail waving at me as he left.
I shook my head at him and entered the bathroom to shower quickly and change into whatever monstrosity he’d left me.
I clutched my towel to my chest with one hand and held up the dress with the other, my teeth biting into my lip as I tried not to laugh.
It was modest, as far as Rathal’s normal choices went anyways, but to human standards? It was about as modest as club wear. The dress was a soft caramel color that shimmered under the light and had long sheer sleeves that tapered to a point with agold ring that was meant to be worn on the middle finger to keep the sleeves in place.
The neck was high and stiff and corded with little boning reminiscent of a corset. It then plunged into a neckline that would end somewhere below my sternum. Little gold chains so delicate they looked to be made of spider silk dangled in the V of the neckline starting just under where my breasts would sit. The fabric over the breast area was a darker tan that was hard and shiny and wrapped around to the back forming the worlds sluttiest breastplate. The skirt looked to be in a mermaid style, made up of the same sheer shimmering fabric as the sleeves and ended in a diaphanous sheer train. A pair of high waisted, high cut tan panties had come with the dress and I already had those on.
“What in the Elvira Lite is this?” I muttered to myself. I was in the bathroom still, having just finished applying a few light touches of the makeup that had been waiting for me. Kohl and a metallic gold powder that I’d used to dust my eyelids and lips. I’d used the kohl to mimic Rathal’s eyeliner he’d had on when I’d first seen him. The heavy, ancient Egyptian style liner worked well with my brown eyes. Now I just had to figure out how to get this damn dress on.
I turned it around and signed in relief upon seeing the delicate clasps on the back of the breastplate and up the collar were what I recognized as the self sealing magnetics that seemed to be so popular among all the aliens. Though, if I thought about it, a lot of them had wings and claws that would make zippers impossible without help and buttons were a frustrating insurmountable task even for my smaller claws. So magnets made sense and saved on shredded clothes.
I let my towel drop and tugged at the top clasp of the dress until it separated and continued pulling until the gap opened wide enough for me to step into it. It whispered over my hipsas I slipped my arms into the soft sleeves and shrugged it over my shoulders. The clasps snicked back together and I turned to look into the new full length mirror that had been in his bathroom when I’d entered earlier. A soft gasp escaped me when I saw myself. The dress hugged my body like a silky second skin, showcasing what curves I had to the greatest effect and softened the muscular build of my frame just enough to make me appear fiercely regal. My lean legs looked long and strong. My tits were lifted to the gods and there was enough cleavage there to stop traffic.
“Holy shit,” I said, turning sideways one way and then the other to get all the angles. “I lookgood.”
With the gold makeup and eyeliner combined with the dress I looked like an Egyptian goddess to match my god.
“Oh I am never going to hear the end of this,” I mumbled with a sigh. With one last look in the mirror, I left the bathroom. On the bed was a jeweled box with a pair of sparkling gold sandals that suspiciously looked like they might have been made out of real gold sitting next to it. I opened the box and my heart fluttered, my hand coming up to touch my neck as I gazed at the jewelry inside.
Sitting on black velvet cloth were rings, bracelets, anklets, armbands, and a twisting gold circlet with a tear shaped ruby in the center. The crown jewel of the box was a striking necklace in the shape of a dangling scorpion made entirely of rubies. I picked it up, marveling at the cool weight and held it up to the lights to get a better look. The tail formed the portion that would rest around my neck, while the body of the scorpion would dangle down my chest and rest between my breasts. It was one hell of a statement piece.
I brought it close to my face searching for the clasp and found it under the stinging barb of the tail. I unclasped it and put it on, stroking my hand down its ruby body to make sure it laidcorrectly. I wanted to go back and admire myself in the mirror but I didn’t think I had enough time so I quickly slid on the rest of the jewelry. Rathal had left me enough rings to go on each finger, each one a different floral design, and a few rings to go on my toes. I wish I’d thought to ask him for some of his nail polish for a quick pedicure.
The armbands slid next, coming to rest over my biceps and then I placed the circlet over my curls until it rested across my forehead comfortably. It felt odd and gave me a chilling reminder of my headband days in my teenage years. Though this was a vastly better look than any of the headbands I’d ever worn.
