Page 10 of Selected By the Dragon Alien
Turi hung the nightdress on a hook with great care. “I guess I will never know, since I no longer have a mate to bond with.”
“From what I’ve seen of your would-be mate,” Ara said dryly, “you’re not missing much.”
“You knew him?” Turi asked, surprised.
“I, and a few others of my kind, help observe the settlements for Ellion. He’s pulled away often by Axis business or dealingwith the Hecrons to the west who want to take back the land your people work for their own.”
Turi had no idea the “beasts,” as Sevas had called them, needed to be dealt with. “The overseer fights them himself?”
“He does when they can’t be reasoned with,” Ara replied. “Helps that he can change fully into a dragon. They are terrified of him. Still, he comes back wounded sometimes. Now, let me show you how to use this room. I’d be envious, if I had a form that needed to be washed.”
He fought for them? She had no idea that their safety was so tenuous.
Ara showed her around the bathroom as Turi pondered this new information about the overseer. There was a metal cylinder for taking waterless showers that seemed able to clean the body by some mystical force, an advanced technology she couldn’t comprehend. Ara provided a long and complex explanation for how it worked, but Turi struggled to follow along. It was a stark reminder of how little she knew about the world outside her farm and settlement. She could identify twenty different varieties of leaf shapes, but a device that could clean with a burst of air was beyond her understanding.
The large bathtub made more sense. Ara showed Turi how to add different scents to the water and various additives to soften the skin or heal a rash or even treat an injury.
When the instructions were done and Turi was alone in the room, she sank into the deep tub with the tray of food on the edge, trying to eat slowly while the water enveloped her. This was such a new experience—such profound luxury. She had never been submerged in water before, as she used her allotted amount for bathing sparingly. Water was scarce and needed for the crops. She’d planned to use her bathing water ration to prepare for her bonding ceremony but hadn’t had a chance to do so.
Turi emerged from the bathroom feeling like a different person. Her skin was smooth and soft, and smelled wonderful. It was like nothing she’d ever known before. The new clothes didn’t itch or pull, and they fit like they’d been made for her. The seams didn’t chafe her skin and they hadn’t been mended a dozen times.
“Much better,” Ara said. “You look like you just saw a ghost—a real one.”
“I don’t feel like me,” Turi said with a smile. “I’m comfortable.”
Ara laughed. “Good. That’s the idea. I guessed your size, but those look like they fit well enough.”
“Where did you get them?”
“The fortress has a fabricator—a machine that can make things to inputted parameters. It’s a handy gadget.”
Turi shook her head and looked down at the green and copper-toned clothes Ara had given her to wear. They were loose pants and a shirt, and soft-soled slippers that would last less than a day in the fields of the settlement. “They’re the most beautiful things I’ve ever worn.”
Ara shook her head. “And that’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard,” she quipped. “Let’s go down and get you a proper meal.”
After the luxury she’d experienced so far, Turi was half afraid to see what she’d be given to eat. Would it be some fat-rich meat that would make her sick? Maybe a feast that could fill every empty belly from her settlement.
Ara took her back on the lift where they came down to the main level, but led her through the main hall and to a square room with round lights hanging from the ceiling. In the center was a square table that looked as if it had risen up from the floor, and six scoop-shaped chairs. One of them was occupied.
“Welcome, Turi,” said the overseer, gesturing to the chair beside him. “Won’t you join me for a meal?”
SIX
Turi looked as if she wanted to decline, but she swallowed thickly and stepped forward. Instead of the seat Ellion indicated, however, she sat across the table. “Sure. Thanks.”
He nodded to Ara, who unmolded from her Terian-like shape behind Turi and shifted into the amorphous shadow that was more natural for her. He watched Ara slip through the doorway and into the shadows beyond. Turi, who missed the transformation, turned and looked for her companion, seeming confused as to how the Skrac had left so quickly.
“I hope you feel better after your bath and a fresh set of clothes,” he said.
She gazed at the empty table, her expression distant. “I do, thanks.”
Ellion hadn’t planned on bringing Turi to dine with him. The plan had been to leave her alone, to let her adjust to life in the fortress, and for him to just get used to her presence here. But he’d become more eager to see her, more curious about her as she slept. He’d forgotten how veryalonehe’d been all these years. Since he took over this role from his predecessor, he had been without flesh-and-blood companionship. As much asEllion valued his Skrac friends, he was not one of them. He was very much aware of that.
Turi was interesting, vibrant, and from what he knew of her—having observed everyone in his assigned settlements for all of their lives—she was intelligent, defiant, and resilient.
And beautiful. Without a layer of dirt, the loveliness of her shone through even clearer than it did before. He meant what he said—he had no intention of touching her. The Axis made it very clear that his role was guardian and warden, and that intimate relations with the Terians were forbidden. He had no idea what the consequences were for breaking that rule, but knowing the Axis and their collective vengeance, there would be a punishment.
If he was caught.Those insidious words slithered through him as he watched her brush back a long wave of blue hair. Brilliant gold spots sparkled at the center of her forehead, disappearing into her hairline. The clothing that had been made for her was more than suitable. It hugged her gentle curves, exposed her collarbones and revealed her long, elegant neck.