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ALEENA

Aleena stood outside the richly carved beezle wood door and tried to compose herself. She had been dreading this visit for months, but it could no longer be put off. The payment for her mother’s medical care was past due and she would be unable to receive any more treatment until the balance was paid.

Aleena hated to come to this vast house—which had been her childhood home—to beg for help, but there was nowhere left to turn and she couldn’t let her mother die. They had already sold or pawned everything of value they owned—her mother had parted with the last piece of jewelry Aleena’s father had given her long ago. Aleena had even sold the beautiful party dress she had worn to her sixteenth nameday celebration, though she had shed bitter tears before taking it to the pawn shop. It represented a happier time in her life—a time of abundance and prosperity she was certain was never going to return.

And it wasn’t just payment for the medical treatment she and her mother needed—their cupboard was bare and the tiny refrigeration unit in the corner of their kitchen held nothing but chilled water. Her mother needed to eat something to keep up her strength—she was already a faint shadow of the smiling, healthy woman she used to be—and Aleena had nothing to give her. Her own stomach growled as well, but she did her best to ignore it. She was young and strong and could go without for a long time—it was her mother she worried about.

In desperation, she had gone out looking for a job. But females weren’t supposed to work outside the home on Karpsian Sigma and the very few jobs that were open to women—mostly serving at a tea house or waiting on female customers as a shop girl—were given to the wives and daughters of the males who owned those businesses. There was no room for an outsider—even one willing to work for less than half of what such jobs usually paid. Aleena knew, because she had been out begging for work for the past two weeks.

The only other job open for a young female was to sell herself as a woman of the night—to let a stranger change the color of her eyes and turn them black as soot. But that was a last resort—Aleena honestly thought her mother would die of shame if she had to procure money in that way.

And so she was reduced to this—begging at the house which had once been her home. She hated it so much she could taste bile at the back of her throat, but she swallowed it down and knocked on the blue beezle wood door, praying a servant would answer.

Her prayers went unheeded by the Goddess of Mercy, however—instead of one of the parlor maids, it was Faleesha, Aleena’s younger half-sister, who answered the door. Her brows drew low over her gorgeous pale blue eyes as she stared down her aristocratic nose at Aleena.

“What are you doing here? I thought my mother made it clear you’re not welcome in this house,” she exclaimed, crossing her arms over her breasts, which were covered in a fine-link silver net, set with semi-precious stones.

Allena’s own breast net was made of a very poor alloy which was rusted and patched in places. It barely covered her too-large breasts, leaving the sides of her curving, creamy mounds bare. To her shame, her nipples stuck out as well through the large, crudely made links, which made her a target for men passing on the street.

The men whistled rudely and called to her, asking the price to change the color of her eyes, making Allena blush helplessly. She wished often that she could cover herself, but only married females on Karpsian Sigma were allowed a modicum of privacy. Unmarried ones must show themselves so that males might appraise them and see if they were worthy to become wives.

Of course, none of the men who whistled and called to her was thinking of marrying her and even if they were, Aleena had no dowry. It had been taken from her when her father had disavowed her mother and they had both been thrown out of the house.

The reason her father had given for the disavowment was the fact that Aleena’s mother had been unable to bear him any sons. And yet, the woman he took as his next wife—Faleesha’s mother—hadn’t born any either. She had only given him Faleesha, who he doted on as he had once used to dote on Aleena.

But once out of a man’s house and far from his eyes, a woman is also far from his heart, as the old saying goes. Aleena’s father had given her mother a generous settlement to start with, and even an allowance she could live on and raise her daughter on. But in the past several years he had seemed to forget all about his cast-off wife and daughter. The credit stopped coming and they had to start selling valuables. For the past three years, he hadn’t even sent Aleena a name-day present.

Aleena had a suspicion that this neglect had much to do with the influence of her stepmother. Grindelia wanted all of her husband’s time, attention, and money directed at herself and her daughter and she did her best to keep Aleena from ever seeing her father. She also let her scorn for Aleena be known and her daughter had picked it up early on—which was probably why she was looking at her half sister as though Aleena was scum she’d scraped off the bottom of her dainty silver slipper.

Well, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, Aleena told herself. She lifted her chin and frowned at her half-sister.

“I must see my father at once—it’s an urgent matter,” she said.

“I don’t think so.” Faleesha sniffed loudly, as though she smelled something bad. “We don’t let commoners like you in our home—mother says not to and the man of the house agrees with her.”

“I don’t care what your mother says, the man of the house is still my father and I will see him.”

Brushing past her half-sister, Aleena stepped across the threshold and went straight up the curving staircase to where her father’s study was located on the second floor. He was almost always there and she hoped to catch him before her stepmother intervened.

Behind her she could hear Faleesha draw in a shocked and aggrieved gasp. Her half-sister had a flair for the dramatic—no doubt she would act as though Aleena had assaulted her and forced her way into the house.

All the more reason to get to Father quickly! she told herself as she raced up the curving staircase.

Her father’s study door was in sight and she was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when an imposing figure came into view, blocking her path.

“And just what do you think you’re doing?” a familiar voice demanded.

It was Grindelia, her stepmother, resplendent in a long crimson split skirt and a breast net made of golden links so fine they didn’t show even a hint of flesh beneath.

The price of that one item of clothing alone could pay her own mother’s entire medical debt, Aleena thought bitterly as she came to a halt, just a few steps from the top landing. Yet her stepmother wore it as part of her everyday outfit, casually flaunting the wealth she demanded from Aleena’s father as her wifely due.

Her stepmother’s brows were drawn down, her normally lovely face twisted into an ugly sneer as she stared contemptuously at Aleena.

“I said, what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded again. “You know you’re not allowed in this house! You and your ragged beggar of a mother have both been disavowed—we can’t be seen letting your kind in here. The man of the house is a Statesman now—he’s been inducted into the Ruling Council.”

This was news to Aleena—but she didn’t really care one way or another. She only knew that she had to speak to her father.

“I need to see—” she began but just then Faleesha came running up the stairs behind her.

“Faleesha—there you are! Whyever did you let this ragged creature into the house?” Grindelia demanded.

“Oh, Mother—I tried not to let her but she pushed me over and shoved her way inside!” Faleesha’s pale blue eyes filled with easy tears—she had always been able to cry at the drop of a hat. “I’m quite certain I shall have bruises where she shoved me!”

“Why, you little beast!” Grindelia exclaimed, glaring down at Aleena. She had always been quick to defend her child and she always took Faleesha’s side, even when she was in the wrong.

“I never shoved her,” Aleena said steadily, lifting her chin. “My sleeve brushed hers as I was coming in the door—that’s all.”

“Liar!” Faleesha’s voice rose to a shrill pitch that seemed to drill into Aleena’s ears. “Liar, you pushed me down! I’m going to have bruises all up and down my side!”

“Here now, here now—what’s all this racket?” a deep voice demanded and the door to the study opened, revealing Aleena’s father at last.

“Oh, Father!” she exclaimed, feeling relieved. “Please—I need to speak to you but these two are trying to stop me.”

Aleena’s father looked distinctly uncomfortable. She was sure he still harbored some affection for her and some guilt over the disavowment of her mother, but he also didn’t like to upset his current wife.

“Well, now…” He sighed deeply, looking conflicted.

“Please, Father—it’s a matter of life or death!” Aleena hoped her words would convince him and it wasn’t like she was lying. If her mother couldn’t continue to get treatment, she would certainly die.

“All right.” He sighed again. “Come up—but only for a moment, child. We’re all busy here.”

“Greggor, I really must protest!” Aleena’s stepmother began. “You disavowed this little beggar along with her mother!”

“You disavow wives, Grindelia—not children,” her father corrected gently. “Come, child,” he added, speaking to Aleena. “I can give you but a moment of my time.”

Feeling marginally relieved, Aleena made her way up the stairs past her stepmother, who gave way with extremely poor grace. She followed her father into his study and got ready to state her case. However, any hope of privacy she might have had was dashed, for Grindelia and Faleesha followed them in. The two of them seated themselves on the plush purra leather couch with its fat brown cushions and gleaming golden buttons, leaving Aleena no choice but to stand.

Well, she hadn’t wanted to sit anyway, she told herself. She was too nervous to sit.

“Now what is it you want, child?” her father asked, going to sit behind his vast tikka wood desk which had been polished until its dark blue wood gleamed. “As I said, we’re all quite busy at the moment.”

Aleena took a deep breath—there was no delicate way to say this.

“I need fifty thousand credits to pay for my mother’s medical treatments,” she said bluntly, not trying to sugar coat it. “She has a rare blood disease, as you know. If she isn’t able to continue treatment, she’ll die.”

Behind her, she could hear her stepmother sucking in a shocked gasp of air.

“Did you say fifty thousand credits!” she exclaimed, before Aleena’s father could say anything at all. “You think we’ll just hand you that kind of money, you little beggar?”

“It would just be a loan—I’ll find a way to pay you back,” Aleena said desperately, still speaking to her father. She knew he had the money—her stepmother’s breast net alone had probably cost in the neighborhood of fifty thousand credits. If he could afford to let her deck herself in such splendor on a daily basis, he must have the money to save the life of his disavowed wife.

But her father frowned and sucked his teeth. Clearly he didn’t want to make his current wife angry—not even to save the life of his disavowed wife.

“Please, Father—she’ll die !” Aleena hated to beg, but this was her last chance. It was either get the money for her mother’s treatment here or sell herself on the streets and let a stranger change the color of her eyes.

“Lies!” her stepmother snarled. “I’m sure she’s not that sick!”

“She is!” Aleena rounded on her. “If she doesn’t get her next treatment, the sickness in her blood will spread to the rest of her body! She’s barely hanging on as it is!”

“Why should we care?” Grindelia demanded, her pale blue eyes flashing. “A disavowed wife is nobody’s concern—especially not the man who disavowed her!”

“My father only disavowed my mother because you lured him away!” Aleena cried, forgetting her plan to be calm and even-tempered. “She’d be safe and well and have as much treatment as she needed if it wasn’t for you!”

“How dare you? Get out of my house at once!” Grindelia pointed at the study door, her arm stiff and her eyes cold.

“No! I came to talk to my father— not you!” Aleena turned to face her father again. “Father, please— I’ll find a way to pay you back—I swear it!”

“And how do you plan to do that?” Faleesha sniffed. “Are you going to parade up and down the street and sell yourself to strangers?”

“Faleesha!” Grindelia sounded shocked. “You’re not supposed to know about such things!”

“No—it’s a fair question. Would you prefer that I sell myself?” Aleena demanded, still looking steadily at her father. “Would you like it if I went down to the Public Square and let some stranger change the color of my eyes to earn the money for mother’s treatment? I could always tell them I’m your daughter—perhaps I’d make more if they knew my father is a Statesman in the Ruling Council.”

“That will be just about enough of that!” Grindelia rose from the couch and grabbed Aleena by the upper arm, her cold fingers pinching through the ragged linen sleeve. “How dare you try to blackmail us in such a shameless fashion, you filthy girl?”

“I’m not filthy—I’m still pure and you know it. The color of my eyes attests to that.” Aleena looked at her stepmother challengingly. Her eyes were still the pure, pale purple of a polished amethyst—a rare color that she’d inherited from her mother. Some said her eyes were like jewels and she considered them her best feature. It broke her heart to think of letting strangers use her body and turn them dark as soot but she loved her mother—she would do whatever she had to in order to save her. And her eyes would tell her story.

If she lost her virginity to just one man, they would only go a shade darker. But if many men had the use of her, then her eyes would be coal-black by the time they finished. Disgraced women could always be told by the color of their eyes.

“Please, Father,” she said again. “I know you can afford it! I don’t know why you stopped loving mother and me, but the least you can do after casting us both out on the street is to pay a little money to help save her life.”

“A little money? A ‘little money’ she says?” her stepmother scoffed. “How dare you come here begging when we’ve barely enough to keep body and soul together as it is?”

Aleena’s father cleared his throat.

“Your stepmother is right, child,” he said regretfully. “We’ve little enough as it is—we’re putting every spare credit towards your little sister’s Joining Ceremony.”

“Faleesha’s getting Joined?” Aleena felt stunned. Traditionally on Karpsian Sigma, a younger sister never got married before the older one did. Apparently they were going to just ignore her entire existence and pretend she wasn’t related to her father at all!

“Well, yes…” Her father cleared his throat uncomfortably. “She’s getting married to the Kindred Ambassador—it’s quite an honor, you know. And so I’m afraid I don’t have any credit to spare right now. Between the cost of the flowers and renting the hall, and the dress, not to mention Faleesha’s dowry?—”

“Wait!” Grindelia held up a hand and he stopped at once.

“Yes, my dear one?”

“I’ve just had a thought.”

Grindelia started pacing, her golden slippers swishing through the thick brown burna fur carpet. Aleena’s father waited respectfully as she knit her eyebrows in thought. At last she turned to Aleena.

“All right—we’ll give you the credit,” she said decisively.

Aleena’s heart jumped, but not very high—there must be a catch.

“Why would you do that?” she asked flatly.

“Let me finish.” Grindelia waved a finger at her. “We’ll give you the money if you marry the Kindred Ambassador in Faleesha’s place.”

“ Mummy! You can’t do that!” Faleesha whined. “That’s supposed to be my Joining!”

Grindelia turned to her.

“Faleesha my sweet, you know I don’t want you marrying that alien ambassador,” she began. “The Kindred are enormous males—and I’ve heard they’re very rough with their females. If we let Aleena marry him instead, we can find you a nice Karpsian husband who won’t hurt you when he changes the color of your eyes. And he won’t take you away from me to live in the sky somewhere.”

“I don’t know if it will work, my dear,” Aleena’s father objected, frowning. “You know the reason they inducted me into the Ruling Council was because I had a daughter of marriageable age to Join with the Kindred Ambassador.”

“So? Aleena is your daughter too and she’s of marriageable age, even if she is getting a bit old for Joining.” Aleena’s stepmother sniffed. “And if she marries the Ambassador, we won’t have to pay so much for the hall or the dress. Also, you won’t have to pay nearly as much dowry for the daughter of a disavowed wife! Her worth isn’t even a fourth of what my darling Faleesha’s is.”

Aleena wished she could protest this unfair evaluation but she knew in the eyes of the law it was true—as the daughter of a disavowed wife, she was basically worthless. But not so worthless that she wanted to give herself to a monster!

“The Kindred are so huge!” she protested, thinking of the wild tales she’d heard of the people from beyond the stars that wanted to establish trade with Karpsian Sigma.

“They’re absolute brutes,” Grindelia agreed, her pale eyes sparking maliciously. “But think of it this way—would you rather let one brutal man change the color of your eyes, or let a lot of strangers do the changing?”

Aleena worried her lower lip with her teeth—a habit she had when she was feeling nervous. Her spiteful stepmother had a point, she supposed. Either way she looked at it, she was going to have to sell herself—there was simply no other way to save her mother. And one man—even a really big, mean, rough one—must be better than a parade of strangers.

“If I do this,” she said at last, looking at her stepmother—since she was clearly the one holding the purse strings. “If I do this, you have to swear to pay off all of my mother’s medical debt. I want the fifty thousand credits sent to the House of Healing right away so she can keep up her treatments.”

“Yes, of course. That’s the deal,” Grindelia snapped. “Take it or leave it. Will you Join with the Kindred Ambassador or not?”

Aleena took a deep breath. Oh Goddess of Mercy, she really hoped she wasn’t making a huge mistake!

“All right,” she said at last. “I’ll Join with him.”

She just hoped she wouldn’t regret it.