Vel looks like she’s contemplating my reasoning before she shrugs and calls for one of the ‘command’ orbs. The floating sphere comes from a little hidden nook in the wall by the doors and stops to hover by Vel’s shoulder. “Project,” she commands, and the orb does as instructed, projecting the info from Vel’s tablet in front of us like a levitating cinema screen. “Ok, so I need you to sign this part for the agreed upon period of active breeding,” she says, reaching out and touching the hologram in front of us, making part of the text glow in green font.
I wait to be offered a pen of some sort, but instead, Vel nods down to my hand. “Just touch the highlighted section of the contract and say, ‘agreed’.
“Oh.” Lifting my hand, I’m surprised to feel an odd sort of resistance when I touch the projection of the contract. “Agreed.”
We carry on like that for a while, with Vel explaining various parts of the contract so I know what I’m signing up to. When we reach the part about my compensation, she shakes her head as she reads that Kiahn has made sure that I’m given a residence in his palace. “Let’s keep the residence,” she says, “and add an estate on the outskirts of the city. You won’t be bothered by people so much there.”
The section that mentioned an allowance had apparently been adjusted from the standard amount to one that apparently is very generous - generous enough to make Vel’s eyebrows rise high on her forehead. Vel was also surprised to read that Kiahn had waived his right to add an end date to said allowance.
The process of going through the whole contract is a long one. These guys have made this documentrobust. There’s parts that mention the female’s involvement with any resultingoffspring. Vel had explained that Xaviann women normally share the parenting, and further contracts are then signed to set out what exactly that will mean. That is, unless the female is what she called ‘a career breeder’ - someone who fulfils a few contracts before retiring with multiple allowances financing their lives but not getting involved with the mothering aspect of it all.
I signed the section that stated I would agree to fifty percent parenting duties to a child that I know won’t ever come into existence and start to feel that horrible churning in my gut again.
The unease gets exacerbated when Vel suggests Ido notsign the section that lays out that I would not take any action that would diminish the likelihood of Kiahn’s ‘seed taking root’.
“Won’t he notice that I didn’t sign that part?”
“I doubt he’ll go over the document once he knows you’ve signed the important sections - mainly the ones where you’re agreeing to let him mount you on the breeding bench.”
She’d said the words so casually as she continued to scroll on her tablet. But I sit there, my mouth hanging open as I gape at her.
“What?” she finally says when she catches the expression on my face. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” I shake myself out of it.This is fine. Maybe I didn’t hear what I thought I heard?“I just…a breeding bench?!”
Vel smirks. “Oh yeah, his Royal Highness was already fretting over sizing and fabric swatches for your bench just this morning.”
“I…”
I stare at the contract hovering in mid-air before me, and reach out to scroll down, clumps of important-looking text whizzing past me as I keep going. It’s starting to feel like I can’tbreathe. There’s a ringing in my ears. There’s still so much to get through and that particular little tidbit has kind of thrown me.
Vel gently touches my arm, making the ringing suddenly stop as I turn to face her. “It’s for your own safety.”
“Huh?”
“The bench. When females are strapped to a bench, it limits their movement, and decreases the chance that the male will get over-stimulated, causing a higher bite risk. It’s standard practice.”
I stare at her, swallowing thickly.Standard practice.
How far away from ‘standard practice’ had we gotten last night when we masturbated in the pool together?
Vel seems to take my silence for hesitation, so she takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. “He won’t hurt you. And if you’re uncomfortable at any time, there will be attendees who will come to you at the push of a button, ready to zap the ever-loving shit out of their prince to get him off you.”
“Oh my God,” I blurt, reaching across her to nab the strange, red-colored not-coffee drink. I take a gulp and holy shit -it’s good. It tastes kind of like a spicy hot chocolate. I down the rest as Vel watches in amusement. “I might need something stronger,” I tell her, wiping the pink froth from my upper lip.
She chuckles beside me. “No hard liquor while signing official documents, I’m afraid. You can get as inebriated as you like once we’re done with this.” She takes a moment to pause and sets her tablet down on the table before covering my hand with her, much larger gray one. “Niska, I know this is all very strange for you, but I need you to know that I have yours and your friends best interests at heart. We know what you are doing for us - for Kiahn, and his principality.”
My eyes prick, and my tongue feels heavy and useless. I know we don’t really know each other properly yet, but, just like with Kiahn, I trust that what she’s telling me is true. I turn away,not really focusing on the projected contract in front of me, but staring, unfixed through the plethora of legal jargon that I’m to agree to. “I know,” I tell her. “It’s just…a lot.”
After that, Vel orders us more of the red drink, and a few snacks. It takes almost two more hours for us to go through the rest of the contract, and by the end of it, my brain has kind of checked out and I end up agreeing to… whatever it is that Kiahn wants.
The main thing as far as I am concerned, is that once this is all over and he’s merrily skipping off to his next contract, me, Jaya and Lois will be safe.
We’ll be able to start a whole new life.
We’ll be free.
18
