19. Picked Apart

The stares arethe only thing that cut through the silence as the guard sneaks out the door behind me. The feeling of being sized up and appraised as less than is universal, I realize as I'm silently picked apart.

"Lena." My name lingers on the lips of a pale chartreuse Andjin female who gracefully rises from her chaise and glides toward me.

My throat tightens, and I quickly gulp. Her commanding presence leaves no doubt that she will be the one to speak up on behalf of the group.

As she puts a hand on her hip, the stack of bangles on her wrist jingles softly.

"Are we supposed to usher you in? Are you to be fought for like the rest of us?" Her voice thankfully seems more annoyed than disgusted.

"To be honest, I don't know —" I pause for her name.

As if giving up, she sighs and says, "Yiskku. Come on, let's clean you up." She motions at the other women and as if they're her ladies-in-waiting, everyone follows her command.

Guided by several hands, I am pulled deeper into the jewels' den. With my arms raised in the air, I frantically attempt to maneuver out of the way, but their movements only grow stronger.

"She is a strange looking female," I hear a voice whisper behind me.

Wow, okay, weird thing for the tentacle alien to say, but sure. Despite not feeling like the weird one in the room, I subconsciously cover my midsection with my forearm, clutching my fingers into my rough homemade clothing.

"Oh shush Lyonui, just because she's different doesn't make her any less of a blessing from the goddess," Yiskku snaps. "And besides, she'll probably look ten thousand times better after a bath. She must be compatible if they've sent her up here. She deserves as much respect as the rest of you."

Her annoyed tone continues, but it's kind of nice that she's sticking up for me. I take note that she said you, and not us. Something tells me Yissku thinks herself the cream of the crop.

"Excuse me, can we talk about what you mean by compatible?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.

She turns her head, her brows raised.

"For breeding, obviously," she says with a smirk.

"Oh okay, sure." I can't help it when Kitaico's face flashes in my mind. "So, we can choose our mate, right?"

Kitaico is the only thing I have anymore, that kind, cinnamon roll of an alien. He saved me.

As the entire group chuckles at my question, a sinking feeling settles in my stomach.

"You, just like everyone here, will be a reward for the final challenge of the Great Proving."

They walk me into another chamber, this one filled with steam.

"But I'm not a reward, and there's already someone I—hey, I can get that," I mutter. A pair of sky-blue hands are attempting to take off my toga.

"You can't bathe in those rags, you'll get the tub filthy," someone whines.

"But why even have this Great Proving? Surely you can choose your own mate, you seem like capable ladies!" I plaster a forced smile onto my lips.

I wiggle out of one grasping hand, only to fall into the grips of another. These "jewels" are a force to be reckoned with. If anyone should be scared, it should be the men of this world.

For a moment, the hands are still, and Yissku's voice cuts through the throng.

"It's a kindness. There are so few females left that to be a prize is safest. We deserve to be with the male most worthy of protecting us." Several tentacled heads nod, accepting their fates, before attempting to disrobe me once again.

"I've got it, really," I try to tell the throng of handsy women.

The nearness of the flock of females, the suffocating feeling of the steam, and the realization that I might never see Kitaico again come to a head. The panic truly sets in as they attempt to unravel the wrapping around my palm.

"Back the fuck up," I snap, pulling my hand against my chest.

"Excuse me?" Yiskku barks, her demeanor changing entirely.

"I'm not a prize," I say coldly. My fingers stumble, itching to unwrap my hand.

I don't know how I'm going to get my point across without showing them, though.

"I don't need any of this, because I already belong to someone."

"No one has been found worthy of you yet, but they will. It is a blessing, truly."

I pull the last bit of wrapping off my marked palm and ball it into a fist.

"I'm already someone else's blessing." Taking a deep breath, I show the group my mating mark.

It's like watching a train crash. The Andjin women flash a myriad of colors as the confusion sets in.

"Kitaico is mine, and I am his."

"Hopeful Kitaico has taken you as his mate…without being found worthy?" Yiskku's eyes go wide with horror.

"No, it was an accident. It was my fault." I shoulder the guilt for the mating sting, even though I don't really think there's any blame to assign.

It just happened.

"He'll be put to death," a voice in the crowd whispers.

"No, they've just taken him to talk to him…it's going to be okay—" I'm rambling, my eyes searching their now forlorn faces.

"He took a mate, without permission…" Yissku mutters.

"We consummated nothing." I blurt out, trying anything to convince them he deserves to live.

That statement gets their attention, and Yissku's brows raise.

"Even through your heats, he never touched you?" She doesn't believe me.

To be fair, I said mated, not touched.

"We never mated, I swear it." I hope that mating means a literal attempt at procreation. I will leave off the several instances of getting each other off if it means it'll save his life. Mating and touching aren't the same.

"No male could resist the urge to rut after taking his mate's mating sting, though. You lie!" A particularly judgy looking Andjin seethes.

"I don't have a stinger, or whatever you all do. I never marked him!" I hold up my wrist frantically to what feels like my jury.

Yissku grabs my arm and jabs a finger into the flesh where my stinger should be.

"She tells the truth. The alien has no mating barb." She narrows her eyes. "But what of your heat? You took his venom, did you not?"

"He tied me up, restrained me so I wouldn't hurt myself or force myself on him. He kept telling me he hadn't been found worthy yet, that?—"

She puts her palm up, silencing me.

"We will tell the elders your tale, although I believe you. Kitaico's fate will lie in their hands."

Just as quickly as I was whisked through to the bathing chamber, I'm brought back up to the main entrance door. Yissku opens it, and the guards bow to the flock of jewels with wide eyes.

They march me through the halls on a mission. The whispers of guards grow the closer we get to our destination. Finally, the bare-chested females demand that the doors in front of us open, and the guards stumble quickly, complying to their command.

The forceful rush of bodies behind me propels me into the room, creating a sensation of being swept away. Despite the scene I'm sure the women have created around me, even the elders lower their gaze.

The only set of eyes I see looking at us, at me, are Kitaico's.

Worry etches his face, his eyes filled with an unmistakable fear.

"Chancellor Hirouz." Yissku clears her throat before grabbing my wrist and forcing my palm up. "She is mated to this one…an unconsummated mating."

The delicate ring-encrusted finger points to my mate.