Page 3 of Married to the Beast

“And how do you plan to do that?” Faleesha sniffed. “Are you going to parade up and down the street and sell yourself to strangers?”

“Faleesha!” Grindelia sounded shocked. “You’re not supposed to know about such things!”

“No—it’s a fair question.Wouldyou prefer that I sell myself?” Aleena demanded, still looking steadily at her father. “Would you like it if I went down to the Public Square and let some stranger change the color of my eyes to earn the money for mother’s treatment? I could always tell them I’m your daughter—perhaps I’d make more if they knew my father is a Statesman in the Ruling Council.”

“That will be just about enough ofthat!”Grindelia rose from the couch and grabbed Aleena by the upper arm, her cold fingers pinching through the ragged linen sleeve. “How dare you try to blackmail us in such a shameless fashion, you filthy girl?”

“I’m not filthy—I’m still pure and you know it. The color of my eyes attests to that.” Aleena looked at her stepmother challengingly. Her eyes were still the pure, pale purple of a polished amethyst—a rare color that she’d inherited from her mother. Some said her eyes were like jewels and she considered them her best feature. It broke her heart to think of letting strangers use her body and turn them dark as soot but she lovedher mother—she would do whatever she had to in order to save her. And her eyes would tell her story.

If she lost her virginity to just one man, they would only go a shade darker. But if many men had the use of her, then her eyes would be coal-black by the time they finished. Disgraced women could always be told by the color of their eyes.

“Please, Father,” she said again. “I know you can afford it! I don’t know why you stopped loving mother and me, but the least you can do after casting us both out on the street is to pay a little money to help save her life.”

“Alittlemoney? A‘little money’she says?” her stepmother scoffed. “How dare you come here begging when we’ve barely enough to keep body and soul together as it is?”

Aleena’s father cleared his throat.

“Your stepmother is right, child,” he said regretfully. “We’ve little enough as it is—we’re putting every spare credit towards your little sister’s Joining Ceremony.”

“Faleesha’s getting Joined?” Aleena felt stunned. Traditionally on Karpsian Sigma, a younger sister never got married before the older one did. Apparently they were going to just ignore her entire existence and pretend she wasn’t related to her father at all!

“Well, yes…” Her father cleared his throat uncomfortably. “She’s getting married to the Kindred Ambassador—it’s quite an honor, you know. And so I’m afraid I don’t have any credit to spare right now. Between the cost of the flowers and renting the hall, and the dress, not to mention Faleesha’s dowry?—”

“Wait!” Grindelia held up a hand and he stopped at once.

“Yes, my dear one?”

“I’ve just had a thought.”

Grindelia started pacing, her golden slippers swishing through the thick brownburnafur carpet. Aleena’s father waitedrespectfully as she knit her eyebrows in thought. At last she turned to Aleena.

“All right—we’ll give you the credit,” she said decisively.

Aleena’s heart jumped, but not very high—theremustbe a catch.

“Why would you do that?” she asked flatly.

“Let me finish.” Grindelia waved a finger at her. “We’ll give you the moneyifyou marry the Kindred Ambassador in Faleesha’s place.”

“Mummy!You can’t do that!” Faleesha whined. “That’s supposed to bemyJoining!”

Grindelia turned to her.

“Faleesha my sweet, youknowI don’t want you marrying that alien ambassador,” she began. “The Kindred areenormousmales—and I’ve heard they’re very rough with their females. If we let Aleena marry him instead, we can find you a nice Karpsian husband who won’t hurt you when he changes the color of your eyes.Andhe won’t take you away from me to live in the sky somewhere.”

“I don’t know if it will work, my dear,” Aleena’s father objected, frowning. “Youknowthe reason they inducted me into the Ruling Council was because I had a daughter of marriageable age to Join with the Kindred Ambassador.”

“So? Aleena is your daughter too and she’s of marriageable age, even if sheisgetting a bit old for Joining.” Aleena’s stepmother sniffed. “And ifshemarries the Ambassador, we won’t have to pay so much for the hall or the dress. Also, you won’t have to pay nearly as much dowry for the daughter of a disavowed wife! Her worth isn’t even a fourth of what my darling Faleesha’s is.”

Aleena wished she could protest this unfair evaluation but she knew in the eyes of the law it was true—as the daughterof a disavowed wife, she was basically worthless. But not so worthless that she wanted to give herself to a monster!

“The Kindred are so huge!” she protested, thinking of the wild tales she’d heard of the people from beyond the stars that wanted to establish trade with Karpsian Sigma.

“They’re absolutebrutes,”Grindelia agreed, her pale eyes sparking maliciously. “But think of it this way—would you rather letonebrutal man change the color of your eyes, or let a lot of strangers do the changing?”

Aleena worried her lower lip with her teeth—a habit she had when she was feeling nervous. Her spiteful stepmother had a point, she supposed. Either way she looked at it, she was going to have to sell herself—there was simply no other way to save her mother. And one man—even a really big, mean, rough one—must be better than a parade of strangers.

“If I do this,” she said at last, looking at her stepmother—since she was clearly the one holding the purse strings. “If I do this, you have to swear to pay offallof my mother’s medical debt. I want the fifty thousand credits sent to the House of Healing right away so she can keep up her treatments.”

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