Page 74 of Condemned

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The priest led herdeeper into the temple, abandoning the guards at one doorway. Once it clicked shut behind them, he continued on. The walls were garishly painted in primary colors.

“That was so unnecessary and messy,” he muttered, half to her. “You understand we must uphold our principles. You were bought by us and that is that. Tomorrow you will be our girl for the Dance of Love and will continue to be until the audience tires of you. Usually girls last a few months with our once-a-month ceremonies before we move them on.”

They’d halted again at a new door, passed through into a small foyer and a woman approached, dressed in the ubiquitous blue robe. Dots of bright blue on her forehead and cheeks matched those on the woman at the desk in the foyer. It must be some sort of ID, Avalon decided. Her bun was secured at the back by large gold hairpins.

Already she was gathering info, because that was how you escaped and evaded—you knew the enemy, back to front, and sideways.

Maybe she should explore inside them too.

“These ceremonies, the Dance of Love, I heard they involve fucking?”

“Shhh.” The priest waved a frantic hand at her. “We use the love word or lovemaking. Or love sacrifice. Our ancient machine performs all those love acts.”

She pinched her lips, wondering what would happen if she... “A machine that is a fucking machine then? Oops!” As if horrified, she clapped her hand over her mouth.

The priest’s eye twitched, his mauleon fangs clenched on his lip, denting it, and he stared down at her. “Yes. A love machine. Praise will instruct you in your duties. As well as disrobing and being sacrificed to the love machine tomorrow, you will be expected to do other menial tasks. Take care of our new sacrifice, Praise.”

He nodded to her and Praise then walked away.

“So,” Avalon said brightly. “You all believe this lovemaking brings down the satellites?”

“Your sacrilegious sarcasm is not lost on me, new girl. Too much of that and a spiked gag will be installed in you for a day.”

She decided not to ask for details on that punishment and merely waited with her hands clasped demurely.

“Good, I see you can learn. Follow me and I’ll show you your bed and then what tasks you will do. No trying to flee, there are guards and the doors are locked.”

She trailed after the woman toward the beginning of a corridor. “What happens to the girls when they cease to be the sacrifice? Are they killed?”

“No. You are sold again, to a man. Don’t fret about such things. Behave yourself and you will be treated well.”

The bedroom was shown to her—an austere but clean room with little in it but for the bed. A blue robe was given to her and she changed into it, cinching it at the waist with a gold cord. Then she was shown where to find cleaning equipment and Praise walked her through the temple rooms, past priests and others, explaining what she was to dust, what to wash. She was to ignore anyone she saw, not to speak unless spoken to first.

“So, how do they afford all this? Those guards and all? The building alone is amazingly big. The food for everyone?”

Praise smiled. “Ever since the satellites began crashing our congregation has grown exponentially. I know, I do the accounting. The donations! My, my. Everyone sees the profits in our planet rejoining the universe. Endless financial gain.”

“Really?” She must have sounded doubtful.

“Have you not read the records of old? Our planet was a major hub of commerce. Providing the others out there, those on planets circling other stars, haven’t exterminated themselves in a galactic war while we were locked down, our planet could regain its previous status easily.”

Providing no galactic war had occurred. She wondered why they were so optimistic. Judging purely by what had happened on this planet, bigger wars were a given.

“You do know that people like killing each other?”

Praise kinked an eyebrow, sniffed, wrinkling her broad and lightly furred nose. “Your attitude needs improvement.”

“Umm. Sorry?”

As an accomplished thief, the idea of having to clean this temple for them while they used her to generate income was especially concerning. Besides which, she was pining for her mauleons.

She’d finally found lovers who did really want her to be with them, forever.

Then there was Takk.

That mauleon had looked so crestfallen as he walked backward to the temple’s front doorway. She’d thought him a mostly emotionless prick but no, how could he be? He valued his brotherhood of soldiers. If she wanted to be truly a part of the lives of his mauleon brothers, of the lives of Zo, Timin, and Kon, she must make him a part of the relationship. Somehow.