AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh,” she says again, and her fork moves in her plate, picking at her food but not eating. “Are you…a violent type by nature?” Kim is very pale.
“Praxiians are brutal as a race, but I did what I had to do in order to survive. I do not regret it, or I would have been the one slain in the arena.” I force myself to sound hard, uncaring, though I secretly worry this will turn her against me. That she will look upon me with fear again. “But I have never turned my hand to a female, and I would never harm you, Kim. This I vow.”
She nods slowly and then gives me a small smile. “Thank you for telling me. That must have been difficult for you.”
“It is strange,” I admit, watching her. “If I was amongst other males—especially those of my kind—I would probably brag about my past glories. It shows that I am strong, that I am not worthless, and that I brought much honor to my family name after all.” I get the wine and refill her glass, noticing with relief that she does not flinch away when I move toward her. “But I know humans are different, and so I worry about sharing such things with you.”
“I’m glad you told me.” She nods, and I am not sure if her nod is for herself or for me. “I would rather know your past than find it out from a stranger.”
I feel a surge of guilt. I have not been completely honest with Kim. Perhaps…
“I know my people are different than yours,” she offers with a small smile. “Thank you for trying to be understanding of how I feel. I really do appreciate your thoughtfulness…and I suppose I should tell you my story.”
I refill my wine. There will be time to tell her more later. “I would like to know, if you are ready to speak.”
22
NASSAKTH
Kim stares at her plate as she speaks. She pushes a bit of greens around with her fork, but makes no attempt at eating. I feel a prickle of shame that she is so uncomfortable. Learning about her can wait for another time, and I open my mouth to say so when she finally speaks.
“I was a kindergarten teacher back on Earth.” She smiles up at me and then quickly explains that she was a tutor to classes of cubs around the age of five, when they are bright-eyed and eager to learn. “I just…really like children, so I thought it would be the perfect job, you know? Get to work with all those little minds, help shape them into being the best people they can be.”
I nod. “You would be excellent at such a thing, I can tell.”
Her cheeks flush with pleasure and she gives me a tiny smile that I treasure. “It was a great job. I was a teacher for…six years, I think. No wait, maybe it was seven.” She grows thoughtful, and then shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. One night I woke up and I thought I was having a bad dream about aliens—little green men probing me and all that. But then I just…never woke up. It just kept going on and on.” She grimaces. “My memories aren’t good of that time. They’re all blurry. I think they pumped a lot of drugs into my system.”
I imagine they did. To them, she would be nothing more than an animal to be kept subdued and sold off as quickly as possible for as many credits as possible.
“I learned from some of the other captive women that there’s apparently a big demand for human females out in the galaxy. We’re moldable and soft and weak.” Her jaw hardens. “I wasn’t kept with the others for long. Maybe a few weeks. Then I was taken to a pleasure satellite and put on the auction block. And…sold.”
Her mouth flattens.
“You do not need to speak of it,” I say gently. I can imagine the Lrulti was not a pleasant master to serve. Most aren’t. “Not every memory deserves to be relived.”
She nods, her expression distant. “I think eventually he got tired of me. I’m getting old for a human, you know? And I didn’t kiss ass. After a while I just got tired of it all and I didn’t care if he killed me or not. I was just done. He put me up for sale, along with a few other slaves he’d grown tired of. Lord va’Rin showed up and bought all of us, and brought us here and freed us.” She gestures at our surroundings. “He gave us farms and set us up to have a life out here, since we’re not allowed to go back to Earth. It’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.” Her smile brightens. “And I’ve been here on Risda for about eight months now, I think.”
