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“A girl. She was a singer on the stage last night.”
“A singer?”
I shrank under the newspaper, sensing the penny was about to drop. “Yes.”
“Have you met her before?”
“No.”
“And you invited her to stay with you?”
“Yes.”
There was a pause, and although I couldn’t see his face, I could see in my mind’s eye the expression that must be dawning on his face.
“Have you lost your mind?” he said.
“Not the last time I checked,” I said carefully, turning the page and not reading a single word.
A fat finger appeared at the top of the newspaper and pulled it down.
“I think we need a little talk,” he said in a grievous voice.
I folded the newspaper up and set it to one side.
“Is there a problem?” I said.
“Uh, yeah. You might say that. You invited someone to the castle who you don’t even know? Do I need to remind you of the way things are right now? Are you crazy?”
I folded my arms.
“I’m not crazy,” I said.
Zes backed down. He’d been with us so long, he was like family. I grew up with him acting more like an uncle than a paid employee. He tended to forget I was the head of the family now and no longer the little boy he used to babysit.
He raised his hands.
“All right,” he said. “That was out of order. I’m just saying I’m not sure it’s wise to invite strangers into our midst. That’s all.”
“She’s a human female, far from home,” I said. “She was abducted and brought here against her will. She doesn’t know anybody. She’s alone. It’s not like she’s dangerous. I doubt she even knows how to be dangerous.”
Zes pursed his lips and leaned back in his chair.
“All right,” he said. “But if something happens, don’t say I didn’t warn you. I can see the next few days are going to be hard work. I won’t want to face this on an empty stomach.”
He raised a finger to the waitress and ordered everything on the menu. He would never learn.
That was the end of the discussion, and it went better than I thought it would. Finally, Zes was beginning to think of me as the new Lord of Taw. Maybe one day I’d think the same way.
I settled into the shuttlecraft chair and peered over at Sirena. She lay back with her eyes closed.
She was so beautiful. I wanted to reach out and touch her, to see if her skin was as soft as it looked, if her hair was as silky. The same thoughts that’d passed through my mind last night on the threshold of her room.
When I looked at her, I saw my wife. The thoughts came unbidden. I couldn’t kiss Sirena. When I reached my palace room and paced up and down, running my hands through my hair, I knew I couldn’t let her slip through my fingers. In a galaxy this big, you never got a second chance.
I came up with a temporary solution. I wanted to see her again. So, I would invite her to my home, introduce her to my family, and the townspeople, and find her somewhere better to live and work. Somewhere nearby. In case she needed my help. It must be better than the life of servitude she currently had, didn’t it?
So I marched back to her room, knocked on the door, and asked her to join me at my home. Thankfully, she agreed. I had begun to stare at her again, at her soft feminine body, and knew I had to leave quickly.
