One of whom had a lot of explaining to do.
She left Dot-R sleeping and headed out of her room to find Kodran and demand an explanation. However, the ship was huge, and she found herself wandering the hallways. There were glowing panels on the walls that she could touch and ask any question, including how to find her way around the ship – Kodran had pointed them out to her the day before – but instead she began exploring, fascinated.
She travelled to the lower levels, which were dimly lit and hummed with the sounds of alien machinery. Apparently this was where the ship’s engines were housed.
She passed several crew members who bowed their heads respectfully to her.
As if she were already officially mated to their leader.
Shaking her head, she hurried off down a long, narrow corridor. The air smelled faintly of oil and warm metal.
Something shot out of a side corridor and ran right into her, then let out a small squeak of fright.
She looked down.
It was a little Draell girl, maybe five or six years old. She was thin and pale, and she wore a shapeless gray dress that was too big for her. She seemed to be a different kind of Draell from Kodran and his clan, because the delicate scales on her forehead were blue rather than red.
Then again, maybe Draell children started out with different scale colors and changed as they got older?
“Are you here to kill me?” the little girl asked fearfully, shrinking back.
“Of course not!” Rosamund stared at her, mortified. This child was terrified – of her!
“I got lost.” The little girl’s voice wavered as she looked around. “I don’t know where my mother is.”
“I’ll help you find her.” Rosamund held out her hand.
The child took a step back, her eyes wide with fright.
Suddenly a woman rushed around the corner. She also had blue scales. So they were probably a different kind of Draell. Maybe a different clan.
Like the little girl, she was thin and frightened, with circles under her eyes. Her brown hair was tangled, and she had odd shapeless scars scattered across her face and arms. She grabbed up the little girl.
Her eyes were frantic. “Did you come to take us?”
“Take you where? I mean, no. I’m just a guest on this ship.” Rosamund held up her hands placatingly. What were these two so afraid of? And why were they hiding in the bowels of the ship?
The woman stared at her with a burning intensity. “Don’t tell anyone you saw us. Please. Promise me.”
Rosamund looked at her in confusion. “Is everything all right? Who’s making you so scared? My name is Rosamund, and I’m going back to Agora soon. I can send help if you want.”
The woman shook her head wildly. “No. If you want to help us, just forget that you saw us and don’t say anything to anyone.”
“But I can help—”
“Promise!” the woman said desperately. “Promise you won’t tell anyone you saw us!”
“All right,” Rosamund said, feeling uneasy. “Honestly, though—”
She was speaking to the woman’s retreating back. The woman vanished around the corner, leaving Rosamund standing there in confusion.
Thoroughly rattled, she headed back up to the main deck of the ship. As she walked out of the elevator, she saw Kodran.
“There you are,” he said, smiling at her. “We will be landing soon. Did you sleep well?”
She looked at him, narrow-eyed. “Did you come into my room last night?”
“Only in your dreams.”
