Page 99 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)

99

Performance

S ix Months Later…

Sadie

I’m so excited. Tonight’s going to be fabulous. Other than my wedding, it’s going to be the best night of my life. Our mating ceremony, as everyone here calls it, was rushed. I wore a borrowed dress, and Anubis wore a black leather kilt that made him look sexy as sin.

I didn’t want all the pomp and circumstance I probably would have had if I’d married someone back on Earth. I was still half in shock from the game and grieving over the loss of family and friends.

I peak through the thick, scarlet curtains drawn across the apron of the stage. Every single person from outer space who knows and loves me is here tonight. Ryo and Shah have taken a break from their busy lives on Halckon to be here. Shah and I comm each other weekly. She told me Ryo’s reunion with his family was heartwarming. They accepted her with open arms and hearts. She’s beaming with happiness.

Vrini, who is happily settled here on Marentine, is sitting beside them in the front row.

I send loving thoughts to my family on Earth, just like I did on our wedding night. I still miss them terribly, but my parents would be the first to remind me to “bloom where you’re planted.”

I can never return home, certainly not now that I’m mated to Anubis. I’m on planet Marentine for the long haul, and my life is pretty wonderful.

″King Alcantar just entered the hall,” Anubis announces with pride. My mate is my biggest supporter and is thrilled that the most powerful person on the planet has come to watch me perform.

The crowd has hushed itself silent now that their ruler is seated in the largest hall in the palace.

That I used to do this for a living does not settle my nerves. Somehow it’s more anxiety-provoking to do this here. Perhaps because when I performed for the Cirque on Earth, there was an ensemble cast. Tonight, it’s just me.

I glance at my mate, now part of the King’s Royal Bodyguard unit. He’s wearing his regalia—black leather kilt and sash, embellished with scarlet accents. He’s more handsome than I’ve ever seen him, although I think that every time I lay eyes on him. It’s true, though. He’s so proud of me it shows in how he carries his body. Yes, he’s gorgeous.

And the look of love in his eyes? What girl’s heart wouldn’t beat a little faster when their male looks at them with those otherworldly glowing blue eyes?

″Welcome females and males,” Erwann announces as he walks across the stage. Who would have guessed that the male both Anubis and I had pegged as a shy farm boy would turn out to be a gregarious male who took a job newscasting in Marentine’s media?

He’s become something of a celebrity here and had to make time in his busy schedule to be Master of Ceremonies for me tonight.

″It is my honor to introduce Sadie of planet Earth. She’s here to entertain you with her beauty, grace, agility, and strength. Welcome her to the stage.”

I’m glad Blaze warned me that clapping is considered unsophisticated across most of the galaxy. Instead, everyone lightly taps their right foot as a polite show of support.

″You’re going to impress them all,” Anubis says as he leans to kiss the top of my head, then steps back as the scarlet curtain opens.

Everything in the palace is adorned in some form or fashion with that color. My golden costume has red piping, and the silken sheets I’ll be climbing and swinging on are scarlet. The King is the galaxy’s most well-known anti-slavery proponent, and scarlet is the color of the movement. Isn’t it amazing he sent Blaze and Xzavic to rescue us in the nick of time?

As soon as the curtains open, a swing descends, its ropes festooned with beautiful blooms from the planet. After I sit on it, I’m lifted high into the rafters and begin my routine. It’s partly on the scarlet silks, partly on a rope, and partly a floor routine with my best tumbling moves.

I never made it to the Olympics because my breasts grew and no one with boobs my size could win in competition, but I allow myself to feel pride in what I’m doing. This may not be the Olympics, but perhaps in a way it’s better. I can see many young female faces in the audience looking up at me. Perhaps one day they’ll try something difficult and daring because my performance tonight paved their way.

Anubis

My chest is full to bursting. That’s my female up there, entertaining the planetary King and his courtiers. Life certainly has a way of surprising you.

Instead of being reviled because of the genetic stew that is my birthright, I’m a well-respected member of the King’s bodyguard team. He’s one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, as well as one of the most hated males in the galaxy. His voice is the loudest and most prominent in the galaxy as he fights tirelessly to end legalized slavery. Since he met me, he’s added freeing geneslaves to his mission.

Just a few weeks ago, Xzavic, a few other guards, and I discovered and quashed an assassination attempt. To protect my King’s life, I was forced to kill others. I took no pleasure in it, but I did what had to be done in order to further the cause of making every humanoid in the galaxy a free person—even geneslaves.

I correct myself. The King outlawed the term geneslave. We’re to be called “genetically embellished.”

I’m certain that in people’s living rooms we’re still called geneslaves. Hell, I still do it. But that he wants the word stricken from the Intergalactic Database speaks volumes as to King Alcantar’s character.

I’ve watched Sadie practice dozens of times. When she talked about dancing on silken sheets in the rafters, I couldn’t picture it. But now that I see her, she’s the most beautiful thing on all the planet.