Chapter Two #2
“You are astonishing. I will verify your guards are here, and you can go and get more food.”
“I do seem to be on a fixed trajectory when it comes to food. I am feeding the new shape. It’s hungry. The thinness of my body will fade once I am balanced.”
The therapist got up and went to check on the guards. Once their uniform icons had been confirmed, Aubrey got up, walked out to be surrounded, and walked back to the food court.
She waited at her table, seeing nothing but a sea of broad backs, and her food arrived. She set one of the plates aside and ate everything else.
When she got to her feet, one of the guards said, “You didn’t like that one?”
“It was poisoned for me. I decided not to test the skills of medical.”
One of her guards took the plate and returned it to the kiosk where they had purchased it. There was shouting, but Aubrey and her entourage were on their way down toward her new quarters.
Her escort cleared the space, and she looked around with a smile. It was the size of an expensive hotel room. Big bed, plenty of room to move, a wardrobe, and a screen and com unit.
She didn’t have anyone to call, but she sat at the screen and started learning as fast as her fingers could move. It was just like being at the largest library she could imagine, but now she actually had a chance to learn about worlds that she would never visit.
She pulled up the etiquette courses and began learning how to greet a grand duke during a spring festival with his wife next to him.
Aubrey grinned and realized that without the disappointing family and threats against her, she could really enjoy herself.
She laughed and kept going.
When her guards knocked, she lifted her head, and her stomach reminded her that it had an agenda without her consent.
After her meal, they brought her to a private dance class, and she learned how her new balance affected her movement. It was humbling, but the instructor was appreciative of her efforts.
A meal after the dance made her laugh. The restaurant that had fed her the first two times was now serving a different cuisine, with different staff.
She sat again and was served interesting food with a fancy spork. She smiled and ate the food as the server pointed to the different dishes and explained them.
Once she consumed her food, she returned to her quarters, where a call was waiting.
“That’s new.” She sat at the desk and answered the call.
A gold statue was staring at her. Aubrey was looking at the woman until she blinked. “Holy shit. You are alive.”
The woman chuckled. “I am. My name is Harwin, and my Hmrain is Ra. He owns Earth. If you talk to any Terrans who are with Hmrain, we tend to talk to them as if they are the collectibles. It annoys them, and we reap the benefit.”
Aubrey was smiling. “Funny. So to what do I owe the honour of this call?”
“Ah. Well, Ra wanted me to call because he tends to freak people out. He looks like he walked off the wall of a pyramid; besides, he’s watching our son.”
“I see. Congratulations.”
Harwin grinned. “Thank you. Now, you are creating a lot of buzz.”
“I aim to cause a fuss.”
“Hah. There are unattached Hmrain heading toward you, and if a decision isn’t made fast, there is going to be a fight.”
“I see. That sounds bad.”
“Star systems going to war? Yes. Now, I have heard that you know which Hmrain is yours?”
“Sure. Silver skin, hair like old blood, and silver feathered wings. This is his icon.” She drew it with her tablet and sent it into the chat.
“That is really helpful. Did you know you don’t have pupils?”
“I had a feeling. Apparently, my eyes have turned a weird pearly colour. I can still see fine.”
“You are good with this?”
“I am eight inches taller, and my ears are pointy. My eyes are the least of my issues.”
Harwin tilted her head. “Well, if we can get a hold of your mystery Hmrain, that will settle a lot of things. You are known as the Oracle, by the way. It’s in Hmrain texts.”
“Oracle?”
“Yup. Oh, here’s the man and my little buddy.” A baby was lowered into her arms, and she tilted her head up for the kiss that was bestowed on her.
When the gold man lifted his head, Harwin said, “Ancient Ra, this is Oracle Aubrey. She’s new, but she gave me the glyph of the Hmrain she has seen for herself.”
He looked at the image, and his brows rose. “I will call him. If he can pry himself away from his books, this will be interesting.”
“He doesn’t get out much?”
“He emerges from his world once every ten years and acts as judge on important matters and appeals on his worlds. His focus is on the law.”
“Nice. I am a fan of the law myself. More interested in justice. If he shows up, he shows up. I am not pinning all my hopes and dreams on him. If he doesn’t show at the appointed time, a new vision of a new Hmrain will appear.”
Ra frowned. “You would give up?”
“I am not surrendering to fate, but there are some things that I can’t nudge into position. I can’t fight for someone who won’t show up.”
Ra grinned. “As written, the oracle is wise.”
“I am biting back a witty remark.”
“Yes, I find that most of the ladies who are consort class have clever minds. It makes for very trying conversations at times, but I can always distract Harwin.”
“By dropping a child on her.”
He smiled. “On her, in her. Either one is distracting.”
A smaller gold fist smacked Ra in the shoulder. “Shut up, Honoured Ra.”
He laughed, wrapped his arms around his mate and son, and lifted them onto his lap. “You have our contact codes. Contact us at any time, but be prepared to wait if I am showing my mate appreciation.”
Harwin grimaced. “Five minutes if I am doing the same.”
Aubrey chuckled. “Fair enough. Thank you for the greeting.”
“You are very welcome. Ra was curious. There hasn’t been an oracle since he was young.”
“I thought they were created fully grown.”
“They are, which means that he was fresh off the assembly line when one of the worlds produced an oracle.”
“Ah.”
Ra said, “I am astonished at how many unusual bloodlines have emerged from Geb.”
“Well, perhaps, if the designers hadn’t been so concerned about you, they wouldn’t have sent assessors who decided an orgy was the best use of their time.”
Ra grinned slowly. “It was a time before mass media. Folks had time on their hands once the harvest was in.”
Harwin snorted.
Aubrey grinned. “Yeah. And traders and travellers probably followed the assessors.”
Understanding hit Ra’s gaze. “Yes, they would have.”
“So you had a party in a box. The box being Geb.” She smiled. “Add a few thousand years and some serious survival trauma, and all of those ancient genetics woke up.”
Ra smiled. “So the Dyturan and the seed of life are out there as well.”
“Probably. They may already be off world. I hope that they are. Things were getting pretty grim.”
Harwin frowned. “How many are left?”
“I don’t know. All I know is I crossed paths with others once every three months, whereas it was daily at the start. Survivors got scarier.”
Harwin nodded. “Do you have family?”
“Yes, but when I last interacted with my sister, she was tying me to a disabled jeep to leave me in the wind and cold to die. She ate the last of the rations and blamed it on me. I hadn’t eaten in days.
” She clarified. “She’s a psychotic cunt who has been using me as a scapegoat all our lives.
I am glad our lives have diverged. If you hear of Avery, do not invite her to come out and play.
She will steal your toys and cry to Ra that you are being mean to her. ”
Harwin and Ra snorted. Harwin grinned. “That wouldn’t work, but I know the type of girl you are talking about. That won’t play with the Hmrain. If they have a consort, they are attached, and a lot of us have been taught to defend ourselves, and we no longer hit like girls.”
“My queen was a bodyguard who could shove a shuttle out of a stone wall.”
Harwin smiled. “I am really proud of that. I also wasn’t born Hmrain-compatible; I was made Hmrain-compatible. So was my buddy Kris. She’s off with her own scaly flyer. She’s growing scales as well. Essan worships each individual scale as it appears.”
Aubrey chuckled. “Looks like Hmrain find hobbies.”
Ra nodded. “It is a nice change of pace.”
Aubrey laughed. “Well, I will keep your contact code with me. Does mine travel with me?”
Harwin nodded. “It does. The station is being really careful with you.”
“Yes, well, someone has tried to poison me once, and I have only been here for five hours. My sibling should be arriving in the next hour.”
Harwin asked, “What will you do?”
“Nothing. She rises or falls on her own assessments. Mine are already done, and I know what I am.”
Harwin grinned. “I like consort-class humans so much. We are all angry and determined.”
“So the Hmrain have a type.”
The couple giggled, and the baby squealed and waved his arms in the air.