Chapter 36

Lorelai

I sat in bed for a while, immobilized and numb. I truly think my brain had received so many overwhelming signals and messages at this point that it couldn't keep up anymore. I felt like a computer—processing, processing, processing, until my mind couldn't work any longer and simply gave up. Fried. Black screen of death.

That's it. I'm done. I can't do anymore. He's out the door to make this decision on his own. I still have to have sex with him and get pregnant. I have to raise a baby with him. I have to…

I should call the twins.

I should, shouldn't I? I missed my sons. I hadn't spoken to them in over four days now. On the other hand, I was supposed to be on a space ship, working as a records keeper. They knew that. I wasn't due to talk to them for at least three more days, at our weekly check in. They were busy with their duties in the Unified Forces. I was busy building a new life. Or, at least that's how it had been the last time we spoke.

Ugh. So much to tell them, I thought, bracing my forehead in my palm. I wasn't looking forward to our next conversation—admitting I'd gotten remarried while drunk. To an incredibly powerful alien Overlord. How was I going to explain that to my teenage sons?

A chime sounded, snapping me out of my merry-go-round of thoughts.

What was that? I wondered, my gaze bouncing off every surface of the room.

The chime rang again. This time, it was accompanied by a slightly tinny voice.

"Lady Lorelai, may I enter?"

Oh. I'd forgotten hearing the chime last night when dinner was brought. The bedroom door must have been equipped with a chime that acted as a doorbell for the mechas to keep them from having to knock.

"Come in," I called, drawing the blankets up higher over my chest. Then I sort of rolled my eyes at my own action. It was a robot, for goodness' sake, not a man.

Except that it was a male, and not a mecha male. I felt my eyes widen. He was an alien male of a species I'd never seen, with tentacles instead of feet. I bit the lining of my lower lip to keep from registering shock. Instead of hair, smaller tentacles sprouted from his head, reminding me of ancient legends on Earth of Medusa with her snake hair. His skin was bright red, scaled, and he wore a waistcoat over his middle. He glided into the room on five suckered tentacles, approaching my bed, using one of the tentacles to hand me a folded note.

"I am Vreld, Lord Ellax's personal secretary," he said. "This message arrived today for you. I believed it best to deliver it in person."

"Oh." Delicately, I slipped an arm out from under the blankets, fully aware I was married to his employer now, and I wasn't wearing a bra. Did he care, though, being from such a different species? I had no idea! I'd had more acquaintance than most humans with multiple alien species, thanks to my former husband's line of work, but I'd seen more species in the past few days then I'd met the entirety of my life back on Earth in the colony.

"Thank you," I said, once the message was safely in my hand.

Vreld pressed a tentacle to his heart in an oddly endearing gesture.

"My pleasure."

He spun about on his tentacles and glided from the room, leaving me sitting there blinking, trying to process what I'd just seen. Maybe there wasn't any processing it, and I'd have to learn to live with it. After all, this was my new life.

Lady of the house, I mused, reclining against the cool, smooth pillows, glancing around the lavish quarters as I unfolded the note. Lady of the manor. Lady. Lady Lorelai.

Nope. Not sure I'll ever get used to this, I decided as I flipped the top of the note. My focus fell on the loopy, sprawling Asterion writing, but thankfully I could pick out the writer's meaning.

Greetings,

Allow me to call this morning and welcome you to Asterion. I will arrive at half-past nine.

—Sirena Ogdell, Elder of the Asterion Council

I glanced up at the Asterion version of a clock, which hung on the wall facing me. The Asterions had a different method of telling time, thanks to their twin suns and the fact that their planet had three moons, not one. On Earth, we humans had been allowed to keep our method of telling time, since that made sense for our planet. However, we'd still been forced to become acquainted with the Asterion method. Gazing at the clock, I mentally calculated the time, and realized—

"Oh, crap!"

I sprang from the bed, Ellax's shirt twisting around my hips. Hastily, I shoved it back down, hopping on one foot to free my leg that had gotten tangled in the heavy blanket. I had approximately fifteen minutes until Sirena arrived. Sirena, who'd already made it clear that she disliked me, and who seemed to be spearheading the movement to wipe out Earth's wild humans.

Why the hell is she coming here? I fumed. I know she isn't coming here to welcome me to Asterion. She might be coming here to put a bullet in my head or a laser through my heart. Wonder if I should have a mecha or Vreld standing guard outside the room.

Which room? I didn't know where I was supposed to receive visitors. Hell, I didn't even know where the kitchen was in this mansion. Double hell, I didn't even know where my clothes were!

This is great, I thought, feeling slightly panicky. I turned in a half-circle, smoothing down my hair. Is she trying to show me up? Here I promised Ellax I'd do everything in my power to be a proper wife for his station and make him look good. Instead, I'm a friggin' hot mess when one of his peers shows up, and I don't know what to do about it! Think, Lorelai, think!

My only option seemed to be the dress from last night. Heaving a frustrated sigh, I headed towards it. Sirena seemed like the type who'd take vicious pleasure in seeing me wear the same thing two days in a row, but I had no option besides borrowing my husband's clothes…which seemed even worse.

I was still grumbling over the unfairness of life in general, not to mention this female Asterion's terrible timing—which I believed was on purpose—when that weird chime sounded again. The doorbell chime, I realized.

"Yes, come in," I called, straightening from picking up last night's gown. A female mecha entered my new room. She mostly resembled a female Asterion, except for her mechanical movements, her grey eyes instead of gold, and the fact that her hair was obviously a wig, lacking natural texture.

"I was informed that you are to receive a guest soon," she said, in a slightly mechanical tone common to all mechas. "I am Dorrys. I was personal assistant to the late Lady Druea. I will serve you too. I brought you some of her things."

She'd been wheeling closer as she spoke. My eyes fell on the pile of fabrics laying across her outstretched arms.

Clothes! She'd brought me clothes!

"Thank you, Dorrys. You're a life saver!" I gasped.

The mecha chuckled. "I do not think these clothes will save your life, but they will help you present a better appearance to Elder Sirena."

I took the clothing and laid it out on the chair to sort, unaware that the mecha was sizing me up until she said, "May I suggest the black slacks and the red tunic? Although my former mistress had different dimensions than you, I believe those will fit you will admirably."

I glanced up. A mecha capable of fashion choices? Well, sure. Why wouldn't she be if she'd been the personal assistant to the probably-very-elegant former Mrs. Ellax Pendorgrin?

"I'll be glad to accept any help you can give," I said honestly, pulling the two items she'd suggested from the pile.

I hesitated a moment before stripping off Ellax's borrowed shirt, then remembered this was a mecha, not a conscious being, and I didn't have anything to be ashamed of anyway. So, I pulled the shirt off, tossing it on the chair, pulled on my bra from yesterday, and then started dressing myself in the black pants, which were formfitting yet light and comfortable. It felt a little odd wearing a dead woman's clothing, like I was trying to step into her shoes when marrying her husband and assuming her role had never been part of my life's plans. Still, I knew I was lucky the clothes were here and, even luckier, that they fit.

Dorrys made a funny tssking sound.

"You need prettier underthings," she said. "My mistress always wore the finest."

I glanced up sharply. A mecha judging my bra and panties? Ouch.

"I guess it's been so long since anybody's seen them or anybody cared that I haven't bought anything pretty in a while," I admitted.

"Well, you are married now. I will find you underthings and outer things suitable for your station and for Lord Ellax's pleasure."

"Oh, mercy."

I felt my cheeks get warm, imagining standing in front of my new Asterion husband in some new lacy, frilly panties.

He probably would like that. Goodness knows, Charlie didn't care.

Despite Dorrys not being technically alive, I still felt like I was being compared to her former mistress, stretch marks, cellulite on my thighs, and all. I was happy when I was finally dressed. She directed to me the spacious bathroom, which was all chrome and whites and golds, seating me in front of a massive mirror where she went to work on my hair. Her hands were surprisingly adept, for a robot. At first, I'd wondered if they might tangle in my hair, but before I knew it, she had my hair brushed out, gleaming from the products she worked in, then woven into a stylistic braid that was far more complex than anything I could have done myself.

"I would suggest these," she finished, pulling a pair of earrings from her pocket. They were long, slim gold bars, delicate and arresting all at once.

"Fine by me," I shrugged.

By the time she looked me over and pronounced me fit to receive guests, I felt much better. I stole a glance at myself on the way out. The clothes were foreign. The hairstyle was definitely foreign. The jewelry more ornate than anything I would've worn at home. And yet—somehow this mecha had taken one look at me as a human, used to a simpler style, and meshed it effortlessly with the Asterion love of the ornate. While I'd never blend in, being from a different species, she'd managed to help me appear presentable both as a human and an Elder's wife.

I look good, I thought, pausing for a final glimpse in the mirror before I followed her outside. I ran my hand over the sleek red tunic and down my hips. I felt good. Better than I'd felt in ages.

Theoretically, having that small measure of self-confidence restored could be because I finally had a husband who desired me, but I chose not to read too much into that. Head high, I followed Dorrys down the long corridors of Ellax's mansion and towards my guest.

I didn't pay all that much attention to my new surroundings, but I did notice there were paintings. Lots of them. Not hanging on the walls. Painted directly onto the walls themselves. The colors and décor of the mansion stood in sharp contrast to the sleekness and bareness of the space ship on which we'd traveled to this planet. Flowers and vines spilled out of vases, sometimes trailing greenery to the floor. In more corners than not, real trees or bushes stood aloft in painted pots. I'd never seen indoor plants like this. Earth had lots of greenhouses, where mostly alien scientists worked with human underlings, trying to restore our vegetation, but to have plants inside your home simply as something pretty?

It boggled the mind.

Still, I was too full of doubts over my impending meeting with Elder Sirena, as well as what might be happening off planet in Ellax's meeting with the Interstellar Coalition, to give much thought to my new house. It did occur to me, as we passed yet another huge window allowing the glorious sunlight to pour in, that the mansion was mine now. Even though Ellax's wife hadn't been gone long, they clearly hadn't been close. Would he care if I redecorated? Did I even want to? I didn't know. Such notions spoke of a vague future that seemed so distant it didn't bear bothering about at present.

Not when the future of so many fellow humans hung in the balance.