Chapter Five
Chloe looked at Margo and her serious expression, followed by her quick grin. “Skylar, are there any ghosts who call to Margo?”
Skylar paused. “There is one.”
Margo looked at her. “Delia.”
“Correct. I don’t feel right to bring her out here.”
Margo looked at Skylar with a slight smile. “Go ahead.”
Margo rose to her feet, and a woman around twenty-two came out of Skylar. “Mom?”
Margo held her hands out. “Hello, Delia. I am so sorry that I didn’t make it to you. I tried.”
“I know, Mom. Holy shit, are those orcs?”
Margo grinned. “Just like your mom.” She made the introductions as the vessel slipped in and out of regular space.
Baket, Arven, and Soven were stunned as they met her adult daughter.
Chloe stared and saw the pure beauty of Delia’s features.
Delia said softly, “I died in a car accident the day after the hit. You couldn’t have made it to me. I died knowing that you were going to try anyway.”
Margo smiled. “I did, baby. I found friends from your class, and I helped them as much as I could. I knew you were gone, and I looked for you in every face, every laugh, and every barrage of curse words. Now, here you are.”
“Here I am. Skylar is doing something she shouldn’t, and she’s getting away with it because Dytura wants Chloe, and keeping her happy is important to Dytura. Skylar does it by being near her.”
Chloe nodded. “She does. Margo, may I repair your face?”
Margo shook her head. “No. This keeps me from being a mandatory mistress.”
Delia looked at her. “Would it really be so bad, Mom?”
“He keeps me in a cage, baby. In a cell that is six by ten, with food slid under the door and the potential to be in there for weeks or months at a time. Brought out once a day to bathe. I can’t be caged again.”
Delia’s eyes were wide, and she hugged her mom.
Chloe blinked away tears. The terror in the voice was unmistakable.
The orcs looked unsettled.
Chloe looked at them. “Does that happen a lot? The confinement?”
Baket shook his head. “It is the first I have ever heard of it, but it is the only way she could have carved herself up like that. She had to have been alone and without public view. That should not have happened. Normally, a recent concubine is pampered, oiled, massaged, and made to feel strong again.”
Margo waved her hand. “It doesn’t matter why it did; it did. I am not going back there. He isn’t worth it.”
Delia paused. “Mom, who is he?”
“He’s in charge of the Zowoth. They are fighters for hire, and so am I. I just used all of my available funds to get pilot training.”
Delia nodded. “I hope you can keep free. You don’t have me, so you need it.”
“I know, baby. One hug and you can go.” Margo wrapped her arms around her daughter, and tears flowed freely.
Delia smiled and said, “I love you, Mom. Even when we fought, I loved you, and now, it is so much more than I could ever have imagined.”
Margo nodded. “Since the moment you were in my arms, I never wanted to let go, but now I have to. Be well, and don’t hang around for me. Go where you need to be. I am on a road trip.”
Delia nodded. “And that is where you are going to be in my mind when I think of you, and I will always think of you.”
They separated, and Delia walked back to Skylar. Skylar was crying, Cori was crying, and Chloe felt the tears running down her cheeks.
Chloe looked at the orcs, and all three of them had blue eyes. Margo looked over at them and flipped them off.
One of them smiled and inclined his head.
Chloe asked, “What is that?”
“Being in charge of the Zowoth lets the person in charge occupy the body of one of his warriors in case his strength is required in case of emergency. Currently, he is using it to spy on me to tell me that life with him wouldn’t be so bad.
He is absorbing that I was trapped alone in my cell for days. ”
Delia was gone.
Margo scrubbed her hands over her face and said, “We are underway. ETA fourteen hours. Gertrude is firmly in charge of the ship, and the food units have a selection of Terran foods as well as compatible options. There is a gym, a rec room with a huge display unit, a food court, two four-man shuttles, some fabricators, and a really nice med centre. Would you care for a tour?”
Chloe nodded. “That would be great.”
“Me or the guys?”
Skylar smiled. “You, please.”
“Baket, you have the com. We are on course and moving through the slip layer easily. Don’t touch anything. Gertrude, if he tries, smack him.”
“Yes, pilot. Chloe, you are bringing me to so many lovely people.” There was a cackle. “Come on, boys, have a seat while the ladies get comfortable.”
Chloe grinned and gestured for Margo to lead the way.
They had seen the gym and the med bay, along with the easy-to-use regen unit. They had grabbed snacks and taken over the rec room, watching vids.
Chloe looked at Margo. “So, you really won’t let me repair you?”
“No. These markings got me out of that cell and out of the women’s quarters. I was back in a uniform in two days. Aken-Var was so pissed. He yelled at me in open court for two hours. I just checked my nails and dripped blood on the floor.”
Skylar asked, “Why was he mad?”
“He’s not allowed to play with a marked warrior. It is an ancient ruling put in place to keep the rulers from distracting their army. With a rating of one or zero, they have the stamina of beasts and the seductive powers of gods.”
Cori said, “Come on, I have to see this guy.”
Margo chuckled, and she brought him up on the screen. His blue eyes were unmistakable.
Skylar looked at him. “Whoa.”
Chloe blinked. “What she said.”
The man was sculpted green muscle, scarred by battles decades ago; he had a very human face with pointed ears and jutting tusks from his lower jaw.
He was shirtless and wearing bands of gold down his biceps and forearms. Dark leather pants were very faithful to everything nature had blessed him with.
His age was hard to define. Somewhere between thirty and sixty.
Cori whistled softly. “So, what does an unmarked female look like?”
Margo snorted, and she brought up an image.
Chloe looked at the huge, jewelled halo radiating from around the woman’s head.
She saw the smooth skin, the whisp that concealed the woman’s breasts, and the gauzy silks that flowed from hip to floor.
There were gems everywhere, and the woman walked to Aken-Var, curtsying until he took her hand and pulled her into the space between his knees.
The kiss was fascinating to behold, and when Aken-Var pulled the woman to him, there was no doubt as to what was about to happen.
Margo ate some fruit. “As a first date, it was pretty good.”
“Wait. That was you?” Chloe stared at the figure as it writhed against the orc.
“That was me. I was dressed all fancy and had to appear in front of the court, looking like that.”
Skylar cleared her throat. “You... whoa... this is more foreplay than I am comfortable with.”
Margo turned the display to pretty landscapes and ancient cities. “Apologies. Zowoth are numb to that kind of thing. The first coupling had to be done in the court, so that gets you used to things pretty fast.”
Chloe said, “And you just did it?”
“Sure. I am fifty-five. No one is really looking anymore.” She shrugged.
“He was looking.”
“I was a novelty.” She chuckled. “First of my kind, and he fit.”
Cori blinked. “Whoa.”
“Yeah, but what wasn’t said is that after I fought my last battle in the arena, they offered all the winners places in the Zowoth.
He took me by the hand and led me to a repair unit, telling me that I would still be a warrior, but I didn’t need to wear the markings.
That was a big, fucking lie. You have to wear the marks, or you lose rank. ”
Chloe said softly, “So, when you put your marks back on, you regained your employable status.”
“Yeah. The funny thing is that my cell was recorded. I have found the files.” Margo sighed. “It was embarrassing. When they first put me in there, I called for him. That lasted a few hours, and then I understood what was happening. I got some sleep and got to work, and no one noticed.”
She shrugged and offered Chloe some fruit.
Chloe took the fruit and felt her skin touch Margo’s.
Margo jolted. “Was that healing?”
“No, I don’t know what it was. If you need it, I will put the marks on you again.”
Margo nodded. “Or I could just apply to you for direct employment. Then the Zowoth rules don’t apply. Also, as long as I don’t make planetfall on Amtha Prime, I am free to be me.”
Chloe grinned. “We could totally do that.”
“I will consider that Plan B.”
Cori cleared her throat. “Can I see Aken-Var one more time? He isn’t my type, but damn, he’s impressive.”
“Yup. Plus, he’s a cuddler, and he doesn’t snore.”
“Wow.”
Chloe sent soft waves of energy toward Margo. She needed shoring up. Dark red hair that was up in a dark braid, and skin that looked like silk until the jagged lines crossed her features.
As she watched, the lines turned into soft silver. Lines of metal moved across her skin. Her skin smoothed, but the markings were there. Silver took the place of red but left the marks.
Skylar chuckled. “Interesting compromise.”
Margo sighed. “What did she do?”
Cori said, “Your scars are silver and flat. Still there and still scars, but they are beautiful.”
Chloe smiled. “Life isn’t done with you yet.”
Skylar chuckled. “Delia is cheering, and there is a lot of cursing going on.”
Margo sighed. “My little girl.”
The others all came around to hug her, even Chloe. She felt the soft silk of Margo’s cheek and saw the proof of her grieving. Margo’s eyes turned a darker silver than her scars.
Margo, in her unmarked finery, had been a dead ringer for Delia. Now, she would no longer see her daughter when she looked in the mirror.
* * * *
Baket finished the call. “Most high, Aken-Var, we have learned things to soothe you about your previous consort.”