Tessi

TESSI

After what happened between us, I had assumed I would see more of Alkard.

A lot more. Instead, the exact opposite occurred.

I had awakened in my bed to find him gone, which set the tone for the next two days. Alkard was away most of the time, and he wouldn't say where he was going other than to ‘attend to business' or ‘seeing an old friend.'

The fact he shut me out made it feel as if I'd been abandoned twice.

And then there was the butler/manservant/steward/pain in the ass known as Nayal. When I'd first met the venerable Vinduthi, I felt some sympathy. His advanced age made him seem ill-suited to be anyone's servant.

Any empathy I once had quickly evaporated before the end of the first day. I had seen him taking each of the knickknacks down from the mantle in the living room and dusting each one. He then moved on to the den and did the same thing. The recreation room would be his obvious next target.

So I went ahead of him and did the dusting, then sat down beside the billiards table and pretended innocence. I expected a pleasant surprise from the old butler.

Instead, Nayal completely ignored me. He walked over to the viewing screen and sighed, running his fingers over the edges and then staring at them in apparent disgust.

He tottered around in that manner, repeatedly examining something I cleaned and then making it apparent—even though he never spoke—just how profoundly disappointed he was.

"I must be slipping," he muttered to himself, but loud enough for me to hear as he adjusted the position of a solar chart. "This is not in its proper alignment. I suppose my age caught up with me at last."

I stood up and glared. "Okay, fine. Whatever. Knock it off, will you?"

Nayal stared at me with restrained surprise.

"Why, Mistress Tessi," he said. Nayal had a way of saying ‘mistress' that somehow robbed the title of all prestige and replaced it with contempt. "Whatever do you mean? I'm just doing my daily dusting."

Then his hand went over his mouth.

"Oh my, did I speak out loud? I'm so sorry, Mistress Tessi. I am disappointed in myself for doing such a poor job of dusting yesterday. I'm sorry if you thought it had anything to do with you."

I flinched, feeling a wash of pins and needles on my skin. Had I screwed up and misjudged him?

No , I thought, reaffirming control of myself. Don't buy into his act. Call him on it.

"Come on, Nayal," I said with a sigh. "You and I both know I dusted this room ahead of you. I was only trying to help, but it's obvious my efforts aren't appreciated."

He looked about in surprise so theatrical that I was sure it had to be feigned.

"Why, you did? Oh, my apologies. Now that I look at it, I'm actually not doing all that much extra work beyond normal. I do appreciate your efforts, Mistress Tessi. Oh, by the way, I intend to cook a Yulgazian souffle later. If you want, you may go and prepare it for me, since you're feeling so very industrious."

My eyes narrowed.

"You and I both know I have no idea what that even is, let alone how to cook it. I wasn't trying to take your place, Nayal. I was just trying to help."

He sniffed.

"And why did you want to assist in my duties? Do you not think I'm capable? Or have my efforts not been up to your…"

He wiped his finger through some alleged dust on the wood edge of the billiards table and tsked.

"Exact standards," he finished at last, wiping his hand with a kerchief.

"I get it, you don't like me."

Nayal considered me for a long moment and then his stoic mask slipped for just a moment.

"You misunderstand me, Mistress Tessi. I neither like nor dislike you. However, I disapprove of your presence in Master Alkard's life."

I flinched as if I had been slapped. Actually, a slap would have been less painful.

"What? Seriously? Because I was a stripper? It's not the most degrading way a human has worked off their indenture, believe me."

"No, Mistress Tessi," he said, his nose twitching a bit. "Not because of your former vocation. I was not always a butler, and I assure you that I have no business judging you or anyone else for that matter for your choices."

"Then why do you disapprove?"

"Simply put, Mistress Tessi, you are not from our world." He said it without cruelty, but without sympathy, either.

"Well, obviously we are not the same species," I began.

"No," he said. "Not what I mean. I am very old, mistress. I was born under stars with a much brighter shine than these, and in that time, I have learned something important."

"What's that? Investing in Alliance bonds is a good idea?"

He smirked.

"Ever the rapier wit. No, mistress, I have learned that the most important distinctions to make about an intelligent being are not which star their people originally orbited around. There are far more important ways to distinguish people. You are not of our world because you have not lived in the darkness as we have. It has not become part of you and dimmed your inner light."

His voice took on a hard edge.

"So when I say that I disapprove, I am of course thinking of my master's best interest. But…"

His face softened. Not much, but enough to catch my attention, making me hang on his next words.

"That does not mean that I cannot take your best interest into account as well, mistress. I would spare you the pain of loneliness and isolation a life as my master's companion would entail. Unless, of course, he…"

The old butler's voice trailed off, and he returned to cleaning.

"Nayal?" I prompted when he didn't speak again. "Nayal, you kind of have a dangling participle there. Unless he what? Unless Alkard does what?"

As if on cue, the door slid open and Alkard strode inside. My chest bloomed, feeling lighter at the sight of him, before it was sucked away by my frustration at being left alone for so long.

"You're back," I said at last, instead of the dozen other things bouncing around in my head.

Good move, Tessi.

"I am," he replied, coming over to embrace me. But I didn't move towards him and he paused, then dropped his arms to his side. "Are you well?"

"No, I'm not well," I snapped. "It's been days and you still haven't found anything out about Mera, or even told me anything that's going on."

"I told you these things take time."

Despite myself, a flash of anger welled up in me. "Why?" Good grief. I sounded like I was five. But I couldn't help it, days of wondering what was going on, of being in a strange place, a strange new world, finally pushed me past the boiling point. "I know. You won't tell me, because then you'd have to stop being cryptic for five seconds and we all know you're utterly incapable of that."

He arched an eyebrow as Nayal made a hasty exit from the room.

"I have people looking for her. Even as we speak."

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked away from him.

"I'm starting to think I would be better off looking on my own."

"That would be a mistake."

I groaned and threw my hands up in the air.

"Are you sure? Mera isn't going to trust your people. If she's trying to hide her presence from someone, then your people asking questions about her will to make her hide even deeper."

His face creased into a frown.

"It pains me to see you so troubled, my pet," he purred, finally taking me in his arms. I wanted to resist, but my body clasped against his as if with desperate relief. I felt my anger abate, but only slightly.

"I just want to try and find her," I said, half-heartedly trying to fend off his affections.

"Shhh, it's all right," he said. "We'll find out what happened to her soon, I promise."

He nuzzled my neck as his hot breath on my skin raised goosebumps, and sent a shiver down my spine.

Alkard's sensual licks on my neck put me into a haze. I clutched at him, my hands seeking the buckle to his belt, when a chime went off on his percomm.

To my disappointment, he answered the call. I had hands on my hips and a glare etched onto my face when he turned back around.

"Tessi," he said, looking at his computer, and then at me. "I must apologize, but I have to leave. It's urgent."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Then let me go out as well. You can't keep me cooped up here all day by myself."

His immediate response wasn't exactly a surprise. "It's not safe."

"Please." Stepping closer to him I ran my fingers down his jaw. "I'm not used to being inside all the time. I need something to do."

I saw the wheels turning in his mind then his expression eased. "Very well."

I squealed with happiness and kissed him hard.

"But," he said, setting me back onto my feet. "There are conditions. Nayal and Razov will go with you, and you will wear a tracking bracelet. Just in case."

"Just in case what?"

He looked at me, a grim light in his eyes.

"Just in case it turns out someone made Mera disappear. And that same someone decides to try and make you disappear next."