Chapter Fourteen
Late that morning, while Kodran was leaving the caverns, Rosamund and Dot-R were strolling through the gardens behind Kodran’s mansion. The serv-bot chaperone was hovering by the edge of grove, watching. If Rosamund left, she’d be by Dot-R’s side in seconds. She apparently took her job as a chaperone very seriously, although all she seemed to be able to say was, “Does not compute.” Dot-R couldn’t stand her.
The garden was a riot of color. It had been laid out formally, with beds dug in maze-like patterns through which visitors could wander, but the flowers and foliage of this world were too exuberant to be contained like that. They spilled over the edges of the borders and tangled together in mad multi-colored chaos. Insects buzzed and whirred and clicked among the flowers. Plants with vivid, trumpet-shaped blossoms turned their heads to follow their body-heat as they passed.
“It is aesthetically pleasing,” Dot-R observed, looking around.
“Yeah, sure,” Rosamund said glumly. “If you say so. I’m not really in the mood to appreciate it right now.”
“I believe your mood is about to get worse,” Dot-R said, peering around a row of hedges.
“Not possible.”
“Human female!” an arrogant voice bellowed from behind the hedges. It was Sekari.
Argh. Dot-R was so annoying when she was right. Why had Mar-ee and Far-ex built a “smirk” function into her programming?
It was incredibly annoying that Sekari and his men were still there, but apparently he’d landed his ship near the Draell’s new city and was staying there for the time being. According to Lina, Kodran had not yet kicked them off the planet because it would cause a diplomatic incident.
“Here to tell more lies?” she snapped as Sekari stalked up to her and blocked her path. As usual, his retinue trailed behind him.
He frowned in displeasure. “No, I am here with a proposal.”
“The answer is no.”
“You haven’t heard my proposal,” he said icily.
“Still no.”
“We are not interested,” Dot-R added.
He gave her a look of scornful dismissal. “My proposal wasn’t directed at you.”
“Don’t insult my robot friend.” Rosamund glared at him.
“Yes, I am quite dangerous when angered,” Dot-R said. “Laser fingers. Don’t make me point them at you.”
He ignored her, focusing his attention on Rosamund. “You are not yet formally wedded to Kodran. I need a mate who can bear my children, and your physical appearance indicates that you are quite fertile.”
Oh joy. Just what every woman wanted to hear – “You’ve got childbearing hips, all right.”
Sekari droned on.
“I am far wealthier than Kodran, and furthermore, Kodran will soon be in prison facing death penalty charges. You do not wish to associate with him.”
She went cold at the thought of anything happening to Kodran.
“Or perhaps, if you leave with me right now and agree to be my mate, I will not pursue charges against Kodran. I have a lot of influence in the Galactic Federation.”
“Charges for what?”
“That is none of your affair.” He reached out to touch her arm.
When his fingers brushed her skin, she felt a wave of revulsion, and jumped back.
“Don’t touch me!” she spat at him.
His eyes blazed with fury at the insult. “You ungrateful cow,” he hissed. “I will make you regret this.”
