Page 32 of The Marriage Bargain

I was bluffing, assuming he would not reach out to my father. Hoping he would not. My father would disdain the idea and Delle’s and my plans would fall apart. He would more than disdain it. He would despise it. Actively crush it.

“The problem, my friend, is, yes, your father in an Elder on Asterion. But one of the names on this list is a high-ranking individual from Planet Gorgathel. In fact—and I should not be telling you this—his name is first on the list. Apparently, he has seen or heard of your human female and wishes to have her for himself.”

The entire time the Official was speaking, I’d felt my spine tensing. Jealousy sparked through me. A primal urge rose in my chest. The need to know who this rival for my female was, so I could challenge him, conquer him, best him. That he might best me wasn’t a notion that entered my brain. Delle was mine. No other male, no matter his home planet, his race, or his rank, would take her from me. None.

I said nothing of this to Drayke, though. Instead, I inquired, “Who is it? Whose name is at the forefront of the list?”

The Official shifted uncomfortably. “I am not supposed to release names. The names of the human breeders and the aliens who request them are kept quiet until matches are created.”

“Have the matches been created?”

Drayke sighed. “Not yet. Tomorrow, I believe.”

Tomorrow.

My blood went cold inside my veins. If it was tomorrow, then I only had tonight. Now. This single chance.

“Then, if the matches have not been created, I see no issue,” I stated, attempting to sound calm and reasonable. “The human female, Delle, and I have decided that we wish to marry. She wished to marry before the lists were published. Not after. Is that not her right? She is not a slave, after all. Humans retain some rights and privileges.”

“A few,” the Official conceded carefully. He appeared to be considering my explanation. “A few,” he said again, lying the stylus on his desk and steepling his fingers. “It is true that we have never prevented the humans from marrying who they wished. It is also true that we have never prevented ourselves from marrying who we wished to marry.

“I suppose I could not get in trouble for officiating a marriage between the two of you, since the lists have not been published yet.”

Excitement quickened my blood.

“Then you’ll do it?”

Drayke sighed and pushed back from the desk, rising. “I will help. Only because we have known each other many cycles, and because I need you to make a request from your father or one of his connections.”

I rose as well, even as my guts squished as if from a blow. Make a request from my father or his connections? My father would be furious when he knew what I had done. He would never consider a request from me again.

“I want my wife here with me on Earth,” Drayke went on. “As you know, space on the ships is typically reserved for males, not females. But she wants to join me, and I want to have her here. Could you request your father to have her name added to the transport lists?”

Could I? Inwardly, I wavered. Yes, I supposed I could, so long as I made the request before my father found out about my marriage. Unfortunately, I knew every Asterion marriage, whether with a fellow Asterion or not, was recorded. The records were easily accessible on my home planet. Should my father have a contact in the marriage and vital records department—which he likely did—and should that contact inform my father…

In other news, the odds of my marriage to a human female was unlikely to stay secret for long. However, I had to try.

Making up my mind, I nodded an affirmation.

“I will. In fact, I will contact my father tonight and make the request. We are longtime acquaintances, you and I. I think he will accede to my request.”

Official Drayke smiled, broader than I would have thought. The man must have missed his wife. No wonder he had no interest in the afterhours drinking and flirting with whatever females were present in the Overlord taverns. Unlike many males, he must have a genuine affection for his wife and truly missed her. Wanted her with him.

Perhaps it was foolish, but the knowledge sent a kind of comfort to my core. An affirmation that I was doing the right thing.

Not all males are eager for the next conquest, the next chase, the next female, I reminded myself. Not all of them are like Father, sewing seed wherever it can be sewn. Some are faithful. I am not my father. I can be faithful. I will be faithful.

I am not my father.

The words rang in my mind as the Official and I stood, thumping our right shoulders with our left fists in an Asterion salute—the Asterion version of a handshake, as humans performed.

The deal was sealed. Delle and I had someone to marry us.

Briefly, I considered asking the Official to abstain a few days from entering our marriage into the records. Then, I realized if he delayed past today, it might seem that we had married after the breeder’s list was published, meaning anyone who wished to challenge me for Delle might be able to prove having a prior claim, possibly nullifying our union.

That would not do.

No, I would marry my wife, take her to my house, and contact my father before anything else, including fetching her belongings. Delle would understand if I told her why, I reasoned. Considering the time it would take for the marriage to be entered and an Official on my home planet to actually check the records and report the news to my father, I should have his consent to help Drayke before he discovered what I’d done.

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