Page 7 of The Bride Contract (Princes of Xaavia #1)

7

Chapter 7 - Niska

When Mama Z’rykby finally wakes up and comes to the store, she is quick to put us to work, cleaning the premises and laundering our clothes and awful, uncomfortable bed linens. There are roughly a dozen humans that she has ‘in stock’ here at the store, but the number fluctuates daily depending on who has been sold, whether a new shipment has come in from the auctions, and who is working off Mama and her husband’s debts in various establishments. I’ve even heard rumors that she sometimes loans girls out to the nearby prison craft to act as ‘conjugal relief’ as punishment if they displease her.

Which is all the more reason I’m the first to offer to prepare Mama her snacks and pour her drinks. Sometimes, she has favorites, and she doesn’t like to see them go until she’s utterly bored of them. The last favorite she had was a girl named Jessica and she was very reluctant to let her go. If I can become her next favorite, maybe she won’t sell me to Joolyx.

It’s a flimsy plan, but I’m grasping at straws here. Yix still hasn’t returned, so I have no idea how well his plan to sell Lois, Jaya and I as prize pets is going. I’d just finished the disgusting job of hand-feeding Mama these stinky little eel-like creatures she likes to eat alive when I hear the tinkle of the storefront door opening and closing again.

“ Oh! Customers! ” Mama cheerfully claps as she heaves her slug-like body out of her seated position and moves as fast as she’s able to so she can go and greet whoever is out there. I’m left here standing with an almost empty platter, a couple of left over baby eels flapping around in their bed of slime. My Grandma used to take me to church every Sunday, but as the years went by, my faith has faded to a point where I’m really not sure what I believe. But I’m praying now - to any God that will hear me. I pray that it’s not Master Joolyx out there, coming to take me away to a life of trying to please his patrons in any way they see fit.

Unfortunately, it’s not long until I’m called for, the customer apparently asking specifically for me.

Fuck! That’s not good.

My feet are frozen in place, utterly unable to move. It doesn’t take long before Mama sends one of her other husbands to fetch me. My feet walk again now, but it feels like a dream - or more of a nightmare, really, not unlike an outer-body experience as I walk toward the storefront where us humans are paraded to be sold.

When I step out from behind the heavy red drapes that separate the ‘back’ and the customer area, a wave of relief washes over me when I see that it’s not Master Joolyx coming to buy a new worker. It’s not even a male. There are two, very tall and elegant looking females standing with Mama as they watch me enter.

They look-

They look like the Prince from last night. Or his kind, anyway. They look Xaviann.

One of them is slightly taller, and I would hedge a guess that she’s older, too. They both have gray skin, black horns, and pointed elf-ears like the two Xavianns I’d met last night. They’re also wearing what looks like Victorian-inspired floor-length dresses, which only further seems to match them with my Prince.

My Prince?

Get a grip, Niska.

“Here she is,” Mama coos, practically salivating over the possibility of making a sale. “Come, come, stand on the platform so our guests can get a better look at you,child.”

I hate when she calls us that. Like she’s some little, kind, grandmotherly figure.

Nevertheless, I start walking over to the properly lit, elevated stage area. Preparing myself to get poked and prodded.

One of the female Xavianns - the younger one, I think - gasps softly as I step into the light. “ A human ,” she whispers to herself. “A real-life human!”

“ Vel ,” the older woman warns, giving her companion a pointed look.

“Sorry,” ‘Vel’ says, blushing as she shakes her head, multiple little pieces of gold jewelry tinkling as they hang along her pointed ears. “It’s just I’ve never seen one up close before. Isn’t she amazing ?!”

I can’t help but fidget at that. Is her reaction a good thing? What do they want me for? Is this like that species Yix was talking about? Do they want me as a pet?

The older woman tuts at her friend and starts walking toward me, and it’s now that I realize she is using a gold-tipped cane to aid her movements. “I’ll never understand your fascination with them,” she mutters, casting a critical eye over me as she nears. “And you’re sure this is the one from the ‘Pleasure Establishment’ last night?” she asks Mama Z’rykby without taking her eyes off me. “Because my nephew was told this morning that that particular human had been sold.”

“What?!” Mama splutters, her slimy cheeks taking on a ruddy appearance. “No, this cannot be true. If you find out who your nephew spoke to this morning, I-”

The older Xaviann in front of me cuts off Mama’s flustered babble by raising a single hand, gloved in black, embroidered silk. “I will not be doing that. He does not know I am here,” she sniffs, before tilting her head as she examines me more closely. “And he doesn’t know that I am aware of his failed attempt at purchasing her.”

My stomach does a silly little flip and then a stupidly loud growl. The Xaviann lifts a perfect brow and turns to face Mama. “Do you not properly feed your poor, human charges, Ms. Z’rykby?” she asks, butting the base of her cane on the metal floor like a disappointed school mistress.

“I-”

“Lady Zalora would like some time alone with the human if possible,” Vel cuts in, holding a tablet screen close to her chest. “Just to ascertain a few things from her before we consider purchase. I hope you understand.”

Mama Z’rykby’s chin wobbles as she looks from Vel to ‘Lady Zalora’ and back again. “I-…” she straightens and clears her throat. “Time alone with a human is considered a temporary loan, and will incur a-”

“A charge, yes,” Lady Zalora waves Mama off before turning back to me. “Pay her, Vel.”

While Vel is dealing with Mama’s never-failing attempts at making a quick buck over in the corner, Lady Zalora takes her time looking me up and down, her eyes the same shade of green as her nephew’s had been last night. I can’t tell if she’s pleased with what she sees, or pissed.

“My nephew was rather taken with you,” she tells me, walking around the small circular stage I’m standing on so she can get the full 360° of my body. I don’t know what she’s looking for, but I stay absolutely still as she surveys me. I’m honestly not sure if I should be trying to impress this woman so she buys me, or if I should maybe be trying to put her off. I was almost bought once - about a month or so back - this huge, scaled guy wearing high-tech battle armor came in looking to buy a ‘distraction’ to take with him on a long journey to a distant galaxy. I didn’t want to be his distraction, so I peed all over myself and this little stage, too. The lizard-looking guy wrinkled his nose up and left the store empty-handed. Luckily, Mama was still in bed, catching up on her beauty-sleep, and Yix helped me clean up the evidence of my ‘little accident’.

I don’t think I could get away with anything like that right now, though.

Lady Zalora turns her head to see Mama’s slimy tail slowly disappear behind the drapes, apparently content now that she’s been paid some. When the Xaviann looks back to me, she… smiles.

I think it’s a genuine smile, not one of those calculating ones, or one of those smiles that you know hides bad intentions. I hesitate to call it warm, but something about it puts me a little more at ease.

Only a little, mind. I’m not stupid.

“Please, my dear, come sit with me, and tell me your name,” she says, sweeping her way back toward the plush seating area - an area I’m not normally permitted to use.

“My-my name is Niska,” I tell her as I approach. My mind is going a mile-a-minute trying to figure out what kind of trap is currently being laid out for me, but Vel, the younger woman, grins at me excitedly and nods her head while hugging her tablet to her chest.

I sit myself right on the very edge of the plum-colored couch, just in case I need to make a swift exit for any reason.

“ Niskaaah ,” Lady Zalora says, trying out my name. “It is a beautiful name to be sure,” she bows her head gracefully, despite the fact that her neck is buttoned up in silk and lace, right from collarbone to chin. I haven’t seen any other species wear that kind of fashion, and I’m not sure it’s a modesty thing, since upon closer inspection, her Victorian-style dress has a sizable slit up the side, exposing her slender gray leg when the fabric moves just so, revealing her thigh-high leather boots. Honestly, as an older woman, she looks fabulous. Is she now looking for a fashion-accessory pet human? “Are they treating you well here at this trading establishment, Niska?” she asks, taking my focus away from her high-collared dress.

“Uh…” I glance back to where Mama had disappeared behind the drapes and catch a glimpse of Vel encouraging me to answer with an enthusiastic nod and smile. “Well…”

“I thought as much,” Lady Zalora says, leaning forward to place her gloved hand over mine. Her hands are big compared to my human ones, but much more slender than her nephews had been last night when they’d been… well, all over me . I flush at the memory and give Zalora a grateful nod for her understanding and current gentleness. “I’ll be direct,” she starts, pulling away and straightening at her already immaculately laid skirts. “Kiahn has not showed interest in entering a bridal breeding contract with any of the females I’ve presented him with.”

Oh, when she said ‘direct’, she meant it, I guess .

“And as one of the Princes of Xaavia, his father is keen that he start.”

My throat feels very suddenly dry. “Oh?” I manage to croak out.

“But, I hear he was so taken by you last night, that he came here this morning to try and purchase you himself.”

“ Oh ,” I say again, dumbly.

That was him?

“Yes. And after learning this, Vel, my aide-” she pauses to nod her head in the direction of the other woman who gives a shy little wave, as if this was the first time I was noticing her, “-who is avidly obsessed with your kind for some, unfathomable reason, promptly convinced me that perhaps I should come to buy a human for him myself.”

“Oh.”

Zalora blinks at me, and then at Vel. “I thought you said they weren’t dim-witted?”

That forces me to shake myself out of my confused stupor. “Sorry, yes. I-I can say other things besides ‘oh’, it’s just that this is all a little surprising, and confusing.”

“Granted,” Zalora says, looking me up and down again. “Let me start by saying this. Xavianns do not buy slaves. I have no desire to force you into any kind of labor you are horrified by - in or out of the bedchamber.”

“Got it,” I nod my head, trying not to get my hopes up too high… but, so far, so good.

“My intentions are that I buy you, though. As a gift for my bull-headed nephew, that the two of you negotiate a bridal contract so that he can get his head out of his backside and see that not all contracts end in disaster like his mother’s. But I will not make the purchase if you are not in agreement.”

I stare at her, not really following what she means. Zalora huffs and gives a pointed look to Vel who hurries over and sits right beside me.

“What Lady Zalora is trying to say,” Vel starts, smiling at me warmly, “is that we are able to look after you. You will have all the comfort and safety you will ever need. You will be celebrated, and revered as the contract bride of a Prince. But in return, we really need you to let Prince Kiahn breed you-”

My mouth pops open.

“ Not properly! ” she rushes to say, “we don’t need you to actually produce offspring. We’ll covertly administer anti-fertility substances so his seed will not take root. You don’t need to bear his child. We just need him to think he’s breeding you, and, after the agreed upon timescale, Prince Kiahn will hopefully feel more open to moving on. We have dozens and dozens of Xaviann females willing to enter into a bridal contract with him, you see,” she taps on her tablet and starts scrolling too fast for me to really see any of the words on her lists. “And some of these females have amazing bloodlines that will strengthen the Northern Principality if Prince Kiahn would just entertain them.”

They want me to… fuck the Prince, pretending that I’m trying to get pregnant. That’s…that’s outlandish. It’s insane. But, is it the only option I’ve really got at this point? What’s the alternative? There’s no guarantee Yix will be able to sell me off as some kind of prize human pet. And the threat of being sold to Master Joolyx or a species like the Yoxxarii is still very real.

And Prince Kiahn seemed like he wouldn’t hurt me.

I don’t think.

“So I let him… sleep with me … for a time?” I ask, swallowing thickly. “And then what?”

Vel beams at me. “Yes, and then, when the bridal contract is over, you live as a perpetual guest at the palace. You won’t have to worry about anything, I promise. Contract brides are treated with almost as much respect as the royals themselves.”

Do I trust these women? I guess they could have just purchased me without giving me a choice. Most human women get dragged out of here without a single clue what’s in store for them. I guess they’re giving me an explanation at least, and allowing me to choose. That’s got to be a good sign, right?

I square my shoulders and straighten my spine, mildly amused that Vel does the same, mirroring me. Lady Zalora has been straight-backed and regal this whole time, but I notice her brow raise ever so slightly as she awaits my answer.

“I’ll do it,” I tell them. “I’ll enter whatever contract you want me to… as long as you take my two friends off the slavery market as well.”

If I have to fuck a hot alien prince to ensure me and my friends stay safe, I guess I’m ok with that.