Page 31 of The Marriage Bargain

CAIDE

After dressing, I left my home and drove to the Castle to secure an Official to perform the marriage ceremony. It was evening, and inside the quarters housing the Officials’ offices, three stories up from the main floor, a few were still working, trying to catch up on paperwork and forms before signing off for the day and heading to the recreational lounges where drinks were served, food could be obtained, and conversation had amongst Overlords alone. No humans allowed. I tapped on the door of Official Drayke, who I knew would be working late. Drayke always worked late. His idea of recreation was filling out forms and processing paperwork. He had no use for light conversation, Asterion or otherwise.

“Enter,” he invited, and I did, closing the door behind me. Drayke glanced up from the glowing screen in front of him, stylus in hand. “Overlord Caide,” he said, a note of surprise in his voice. “Welcome. What brings you here?”

Officer Drayke and I were not technically friends, but we had traveled to Earth on the same ship. We had known one another for a long time, and he didn’t shun me as he might others. I felt fairly confident laying my case before him.

“I have come to ask a favor,” I said, assuming the chair across from him, his desk between us.

“Oh?” Laying down the stylus, he sat up straighter.

“Yes,” I said, resisting the urge to wipe my palms on my pants. “I need an Official to perform a marriage ceremony for my chosen bride and me.”

Drayke’s brows rose in surprise. “A marriage ceremony? When?”

“Now. Tonight. As soon as possible.”

He didn’t do a commendable job of concealing his surprise. Placing the stylus on the desk, beside the screentop, he clasped his hands in his lap.

“You have found someone you wish to marry. Is she human?”

“Yes, human.”

“Is she on the list?”

“Pardon me?” Now it was my turn to sit up straighter.

“The breeder’s list. Here…” Leaning over the screentop, he swiped his forefinger several times, tapped it a few others, then turned the screentop so I could see it. “The official breeder’s list. Is your female’s name on it?”

I knew that it was—or would be added soon—but I scrolled down anyway, searching until I found it.

Clearing my throat, I showed Officer Drayke Delle’s name. “This is her.”

“I see.”

He clicked on the name. A new tab opened up, displaying several names. Perhaps a dozen.

“Interesting. She is highly sought. There are many Asterions and other races from the Interstellar Coalition who have requested her. Did you know this?”

My throat tight, I shook my head. “No.”

“Why such interest in this one female? Is she particularly beautiful?”

“She…” What to say? Yes, I found her highly desirable? But particularly beautiful? “She is beddable,” I said at last. “But she also has a sister who has produced three daughters.”

The Official’s eyebrows rose again. “Indeed! Had I not a wife in Asterion, I might be tempted to claim her,” he chuckled.

I found no humor in it.

“Well, Overlord Caide,” he said, leaning back in his chair, “the problem is that she’s been officially requested by several other males. Where do you fall in the line that you should circumvent all of them?”

I looked my superior in the eye. “My father in an Elder on our home planet.”

I had never used my father’s rank or connections to get what I wanted. Ever. But I wanted this marriage with Delle. For both our sakes.

Drayke did not flinch. “True,” he agreed, picking up the stylus and rolling it between his fingertips. “But he has never claimed you. Would that connection alone move you to the front of the line?”

“Why don’t you reach out to my father and see?”

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