“That sounds amazing. At the same time, it doesn’t sound like something Aurus would want. A connection with another being? He’s all about himself.”
“It is amazing,” Emma agrees in her soft, kind voice. “But like I said, not every couple has it.”
“Interesting.” I try to sound nonchalant. There’s no reason for me to feel sad. It’s not like I want to be connected with Aurus that way, either. Right? “I guess we’ll see how things go. Aside from being in bed, we haven’t done anything else together. Nothing to forge any kind of connection. I sleep away from him, in the harem HQ. So maybe he does just see me as a walking womb.”
“It’s so infuriating, isn’t it? To be reduced to that? Like we don’t have thoughts, feelings, desires of our own.” She looks around at her gorgeous studio. “I’m lucky to have all this now. But it was a long road to get here.”
“This palace is stunning, from what I’ve seen,” I tell her, following her gaze to the astounding view of waterfalls and trees. “Have you learned to pilot those zooming platforms?”
“The skimmers? I have! It’s such fun!”
“I still haven’t worked out the doors yet, though. How do they open? Is it some kind of password? Hidden button? I don’t see the servants touching anything.”
“Oh, it’s easy! I’ll show you.” She gets up and moves over to the door. “Come on!”
I follow her. If I know how to open the doors, it will be a lot easier to escape Aurus and his stupid golden palace—if only for a while.
“There’s a hidden tile in front of every door here,” Emma says, indicating it with her foot. “If you look closely, you can see it’s a teeny bit more raised than the rest of them. The tile is always on the left hand side, and all you have to do is step on it. Like this.” She takes a step forward and the door glides open.
“Really? That’s all?”
“To close it, you just tap it again. Or you make sure to walk on the one on the other side as you go through,” she adds.
“Well, that’s a lot easier than I thought. Thank you!”
She turns her gaze to me, her expression suddenly serious. “We have to do something about the women from Earth,” she says. “I can talk to Khan, but we need to work out some kind of game plan first. A list of requests, or questions, even, to start with. I mean, what if they brought over a woman who has young kids back home? Or someone who needs regular medical treatment? Someone who’s caring for elderly parents or, hell, who just has a pet!”
Now that she’s mentioning it, I see how right she is. “On the other hand, I bet there’d be women willing to sign up for this kind of thing voluntarily if they had the chance,” I say. “I mean, regular amazing sex and the chance to be an actual queen… someone who’s miserable on Earth, someone who’s trying to escape her circumstances…”
“I see what you mean. Okay, let’s sit down and try to work something out. It’s easy to lose track of time here but I can’t see Khan and Aurus leaving us alone for much longer.”
As I follow her back to the loveseats, I feel something new and exciting budding in my heart.
Hope.
THIRTEEN
Aurus
Once Kim has leftto go see Emma, Khan leads me to his audience chamber. I follow him, easily matching his fast, confident stride. I look around me as we pass through rooms and walk along hallways, curious about his inner sanctum.
I’ve never been this far inside his palace before. It is far inferior to mine, of course. No gold anywhere. It’s very understated, with muted colors, and sleek lines and architecture. Bright, stunning paintings adorn the walls, the white canvases filled with vibrant, moving shapes.
“Emma did most of them,” Khan says over his shoulder. “She has an affinity for art.”
“It would seem she does,” I reply, not sure what else to say. “Was this something she discovered here, or was it always the case?”
“She was an artist back on Earth too. Here we are.” Khan sinks onto a huge, silver brocade sofa and raises a hand. Immediately, a servant appears. “Refreshments, please,” he says, and the Beta scurries away. “But I hired an artist to show her how to use Ulfarri paints and the magic dust.”
“Very indulgent of you,” I say, taking a seat in a sumptuous armchair opposite him. “I suppose it’s good to keep them occupied.”
Khan regards me with narrowed eyes. “It’s her passion,” he says. “And it gives me joy to support her in that.”
There’s a brief moment of tension in the air. Khan and I always had a stilted relationship, but our last meetings were even less friendly, since he had just claimed his Omega and was insanely protective of her. “That’s nice,” I say dismissively. “I suppose she will be too busy once she gives birth.”
“She will still paint as much as she can,” Khan says, still glowering at me. Really, you’d think I was insulting him somehow from the way he’s acting.
“I’m sure.”
