Page 31 of Devin (Warriors of Etlon #5)
Val
V al needed a plan. It was all well and good to be flustered by a mother-in-law from another solar system who just happens to drop by and pay a surprise visit. But if she continued to be flustered every time she tried to speak, Val was going to have a problem.
It was like suddenly having a famous vid star at your table.
Val could stay cool, calm and collected and not appear to be a fawning idiot for the space of a meal, and hopefully get a really good tip out of the deal, but she couldn’t imagine one of those customers inviting her to sit down at the table to have an in depth conversation about her goals and aspirations in life.
Up until recently, she’d just been trying to get by. And now? Val had no idea what she wanted to do.
She wasn’t the type to want to open a restaurant, and at least so far, there didn’t seem to be anyone else opening one either.
It was hard to fault the food replicators here, although Goru did seem to have a knack for making things, she couldn’t see a Mahdfel working in a kitchen all day and being happy that they weren’t out smacking things over the head and bringing them home to eat.
She’d worked at gardening in prison just to get some outside time, but it wasn’t really a passion either. Besides, they had a full time botanist, and she probably didn’t need any help growing weird alien plants.
Val supposed she could try to take some correspondent courses, but school had never really been her thing either. She’d barely scraped by with her basic education. Hitting the books again had never been high on her agenda.
Of course, with all the pregnant ladies around, it was clear that life was going to change for most of the women around here. The place was going to be literally crawling with tots in a year, possibly her own.
Being a mother had never really crossed her mind.
She didn’t have any experience with children or babies, and never found a guy that lasted long enough to even imagine a future family.
Val was stalling. She couldn’t sit around all day up in the tower Devin had made for them.
She had to confront her fears and face down Grena.
Once she spent some time alone with her, perhaps Val would start feeling more like a daughter-in-law and less like a lady in waiting.
Val called the lift, but didn’t expect it to open with Grena inside. Grena entered the apartment and made herself at home. Perhaps here, alone, would be a better place to face Grena, even if it meant that there would be no rescue if she stuck her foot in her mouth.
“I must admit this view is to die for,” Grena said, admiring the view. “Devin does know how to make a statement with the structural elements, but the rest of the place is… is so white.”
“We just moved in a few days ago,” Val explained, already on the defensive. “I haven’t had a chance to-”
“Yes, yes. Just promise me you won’t buy any of those horrible gold lanterns that Etlon is so fond of. Those are so last decade.”
“I’ve never been to Etlon,” Val stated. But gold lamps did sound tacky. “I was thinking some sort of blue for the walls.” Honestly, it was harder to decorate a household when you were afraid your green husband might clash with the color scheme.
“And the floor,” Grena said as if it were covered with a layer of grime, which it wasn’t, because the cleaner bots came in twice a day to scrub the floor.
“Like I said, Devin has been pouring all his energy into his work, and-”
“If we left it to the Mahdfel, we’d be living in white boxes just big enough to breathe and fuck,” Grena said with a dismissive hand waving. She turned her attention to Val. “This hair of yours. Does it change colors?”
“We can dye it, but over our lifetime it goes gray. It takes a few hours to dye.” Val wasn’t sure she liked where this was going.
“Pity. Fuschia is very in right now, and I think it would go excellently with your skin. Unless we can change the color of your skin?”
“Definitely not, but I don’t think anyone around here is very concerned with fashion, anyway.”
“Yes, but we need to prepare for the future. When this city is full to the brim of Mahdfel and well, as it is out of the way, and a beautiful spot, I’m sure it will be quite the vacation planet.
They will need some workers. Can you imagine seeing a Mahdfel in a factory just pushing a button?
No, they will need real people. And you, my dear will need to look the part.
A warlord must have his wife looking the height of fashion. ”
“Devin doesn’t want to be a warlord,” Val said.
“Of course he doesn’t. None of the smart ones do, at least to start. They have to take their time, learn the system, and identify all of their supervisor’s weaknesses. Then-”
“Devin just wants to build things. I think I need some air.” This whole idea of not having someone to rescue her was backfiring.
“I think the system is working just fine. Are your lungs not taking in enough oxygen? I didn’t read that about Terrans.” Grena had the gall to look concerned.
“No, that means, take a walk. Outside,” Val said.
“I suppose that will give me the chance to take another look at your skin in natural light. It is quite a strange color.”
Said the woman who was the color of a banana.
At least downstairs there was a chance that she’d run into Jane, Meadow, anyone who could help mitigate her mother-in-law.
The idea that Devin wanted to run the place was not too far-fetched.
After all, he’d made no secret of what he thought of Kave and his lax leadership style.
But the thought of him challenging Kave to a duel and one of them possibly not walking away was a horrible thought.
And Val being in charge of all the society around here?
That thought was just plain ridiculous. Anyone who found out that she had come from prison would ruin that right away, and she was pretty sure Jane already knew.
And if Jane knew, Meadow would know. Besides, these women were the closest things to real friends she’d ever had.
To take control would feel like stabbing them in the back.
Not that she had any idea of how to become a socialite in the first place. Any socialites that she’d ever met like the one who had gotten her in this fix in the first place were all more obsessed with their shoes and their shihtzus than with doing anything real with their lives.
The air was warm and wet as they stepped out of the lift, but there was just the right amount of breeze to keep it from being stifling.
“No, natural light does not improve it,” Grena shook her head with a sigh. She reached a finger out to poke Val’s cheek, and it took everything in her not to grab her finger and break it. Val turned and began a brisk walk in the other direction.
Grena had to scramble to catch up. Annoyingly, she wasn’t the slightest bit winded when she passed Val and blocked her path.
“There’s a general on Takalia that has a wife similar in color. She’s not Terran, and I suppose she’s more of a pinky red, but she’s very popular. I can design a few outfits for you.”
“I don’t really need any new outfits.”
That was a lie. She’d been transported to this rock without a single piece of clothing and most of her wardrobe was made of jean shorts and t-shirts. Honestly, she hadn’t found the need to make any more outfits than that. It just felt a bit of a waste.
“You will need them once that grandson begins to grow. Don’t worry, we’ll make a few outfits to start, and then add slowly as needed.”
“I’m sure all the other women have things I can use when, if, that happens. It’s wasteful to make too many clothes.”
“A girl can never have too many clothes,” a voice spoke out from behind Grena. They both turned and stared at the figure that had interrupted them. Charlette stood near the edge of the force fence that marked the edge of the jungle.
“What are you doing here? You should have left orbit over an hour ago,” Grena said.
“So you did know about it?” Charlette asked.
“Know about what?” Val asked.
“You might not believe it, but Jane, and that horrible- I’m a grieving widow, don’t you know. I can’t believe Your Highness would condone that.”
Val had seen more grief from a neighbor who’d lost a cat. Charlette was about to begin the fake sniffles. Grena was having none of it.
“Oh, suck it up, child. You’re going back to the lap of luxury as a rich independent woman not hampered by children or anything else. You are free, and you are back here, whining.”
“I can’t go back to Earth. I’ll be a nobody there. My family and all of my friends turned their backs on me the moment I had to start fucking an alien. I’m a race traitor!”
Val’s jaw dropped. Grena apparently had the poise to remain unfazed.
“Oh, child. Who said anything about Terra? There’s a whole wide universe out there to exploit and the Mahdfel have given you enough currency to live anywhere you like.”
“I want to go home!” Charlette actually stamped her foot. “So you are coming with me, and you are going to tell everyone that I hated every minute of it, and that-”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not Terran. What makes you think they’ll listen to me?”
“Because you’re a princess. Everyone listens to a princess,” Charlette said as she brought a weapon out from behind her. Val didn’t recognize it, but if it looked like a gun, and Charlette was pointing at them like it was a gun, it was probably a gun.
“Now walk!” Charlette shouted. “That way!”
“Now look here,” Grena started.
“I only need you. You want me to shoot your son’s new wife?
Because I can do that.” Grena looped her arm in Val’s and started to walk in the direction Charlette had indicated.
A few steps closer, and Val spotted a device on the ground that must have interrupted the force fence and let Charlette in. She was not working alone.
“You are not thinking clearly, because as she is married to my son, she’s now my daughter. She’s a princess too.”
“She’s a low rent cocktail waitress. And on top of that, she’s a fucking terrorist! You think she’s a proper wife? You haven’t read her record. I have,” Charlette said smugly.
Grena looked from Charlette to Val as if expecting Val to deny it. She wouldn't be caught in a lie. Being transported to Etlon 2 was supposed to be a new fresh start, no matter what she’d done, but apparently almost anybody could read and access the files. Val shrugged.
“None of that will stop Devin from hunting you down to the far corners of the universe if you hurt either one of us,” Val said. “They are very particular about people who kill their women.”
“Stupid. The universe doesn’t have corners,” Charlette said with a huff. “Now move!”
“Oh, darling, you need to learn a lot about royalty,” Grena said, stopping them in their tracks.
“First of all, you don’t order them around.
You make suggestions, and then you change the subject and circle around so that they can present the idea as their own.
Then you tell them what a wonderful idea it is that they thought up.
That is how you manage royalty. You don’t tell them what to do, because when they get it in their stubborn head to-”
“Charlette!” A voice called from the forest beyond.
“It took you long enough!” Charlette called into the bush. “If I had to listen to the bitch say one more word,” she squinted her eyes at Grena.
“Secondly, calling them names directly to their face is no way to garner-”
Charlette aimed her gun directly at Grena and fired.
“Bitch, please.”
Before Val could do much more than lower Grena gingerly to the floor, Charlette pointed it at her and the whole world went black.