Page 26 of Essa

At this point, denying it is more pathetic, but I'm not good with emotions or feelings, so silence is the best I have for anyone about how things have progressed this far.

I pass by the room Seth and I are sharing on my way to Essa's. I doubt my hand will open it, but who knows? Maybe she's so trusting that she leaves it open to anyone. I step up to the door, and it opens automatically. I give it a look of surprise, but I'm not about to tell Essa now that she needs to be more careful.

The room is small. Much smaller than mine, and for some reason, that pisses me off. The more I stare at the space, the more upset I get. A tiny bed tucked against one wall, a dresser with three drawers, a whiteboard on wheels near the wall, and that's it. The attached bathroom is barely big enough for me to turn my body in, and I have to duck as I do, which means she's probably hunched over in here because of her height and her horns.

I grind my teeth, reminding myself I have other things to deal with than how she somehow has the worst room on the whole ship. Especially when I know for a fact there's an unused room somewhere on the ship from their last copilot.

"Why are you in here?" a disembodied voice asks me from the doorway of Essa's room. Phial's scales start to shimmer in what looks like an empty doorway, and they don't stop until his green scales are back in place.

"Essa's doing something stupid, and none of you can go with her," I say, crossing my arms over my chest, not caring that I'm still in only boxers. Phial's completely naked, so I'm not about to be embarrassed about how I look. His eyes narrow on me until they're tiny little slits.

"What's happening?" he asks, obviously not liking that he's the last to know about something.

I give him the briefest rundown of what Seth and I know because as much as I'd love not to have to deal with him, I could use his help in figuring out how to convince Essa to take us with her. I don't like thinking about her being alone on a planet sheran away from, where she's being forced to marry someone she doesn't want to.

"You'll have to be her concubines," Phial says, frowning in an almost cartoonish way as he says the words.

He doesn't wait for me to say anything about that before squeezing past me in the tiny room and pulling out a drawer underneath her bed. There's some shuffling as he moves other things out of the way. He winces as he pulls out a wooden box and sets it on the bed.

The latch snaps as Phial eyes me warily. He lifts the lid, opening it to reveal glittering silver chains attached to black leather straps. I step closer, peering over Phial's shoulder, trying to determine what they are. They're too small to be belts, and the chains don't make much sense. It isn't until Phial lifts one out of the box and I get a good view of it that I understand what it is.

I stumble backward, my hand instinctively going to my throat as I look at the leather collar in Phial's hands. I understand why he looked so worried.

I'm not scared of the collar. I'm not scared of anything. But seeing that collar in his hands, knowing I might have to wear it if I want to help Essa? I scramble over to a waste bin near the door and throw up.

ten

Seth

The leather collars sit in the middle of our bed. The same place they've been since Adam brought them in and threw them there. His eyes were rimmed red, and his emotions were volatile, so I didn't ask him any questions. I let him stalk to the bathroom and turn the water on. There was heaving, but he wanted to pretend it wasn't happening, so I let him.

Now, I'm sitting at the end of the bed, staring at the collars, waiting for Ixor, the space pirate captain, to message us back and checking Adam's emotions every few seconds to make sure he's not about to go nuclear.

The bathroom door slides open after being closed for more than an hour. I want to turn and look at Adam, but he's not okay still, and I'm not trying to make him face things he's not ready for.

I don't even understand why he brought these collars into our room. He doesn't even look at his scars, so I don't know why he thought bringing a collar into this whole thing was a good idea.

"Have you looked up anything about Haventh culture?" Adam asks, swiping the comm tablet off the bed next to me before I can answer.

What does Haventh culture have to do with the collars? Maybe he wants to focus more on helping Essa than the objects taking up space on our bed right now.

"Not very much," I answer. "I looked up a little when I learned that's what Essa was. They have a caste system in place, with the ruling families controlling much of what happens in the different territories. Most of them are nonmonogamous, which is a plus for us if we want to add her to our relationship, but there was talk about upper classes having harems and concubines. I didn't get that much into it because I wasn't sure what caste Essa fell into or if she still practiced things the same since she's been gone for so long."

"Yeah, well, it turns out she's from a ruling family, basically royalty, so here," Adam snarls as he says the words, thrusting the comm tablet back into my hand.

I look at the screen, my brows pulling together as I read. The article is titled 'Concubines in Haventh Society.' I skim over the text, unsure of what this has to do with us until I get a little further in.

'Many Haventh families in the ruling classes reestablish and grow their power by intermingling with other ruling families. It is not uncommon for the children of one ruling family to be promised to another. These pairings might be love matches, but more often than not, they are purely for political, economic, or societal gain. To counteract the negative realities of these pairings, Havenths have been firm supporters of having more than one partner. In ruling-class families, these additional partners are known as concubines. They do not receive the same benefits as the married partner, though these additional partners can come from any class.'

'To become a concubine to a Haventh in a ruling class family, one must offer themselves completely to the Haventh they are seeking out. It is up to the Haventh to decide if they do or do not accept the other as a concubine. If they are accepted, the Haventh will bite them to inject them with their venom, securing their safety in not being intoxicated by anyone else. Then they will collar them so others know the concubine is accepted, cared for, and granted all rights the family has dedicated to concubines.'

I look up at Adam, noting how his nostrils flare when he looks at the collars on our bed. I'm not fond of the idea of putting another collar on, but Adam said we were doing anything to help Essa. We don't back down just because of a little bit of leather. Plus, our collars at the labs were cold and metallic. At least these don't look like they'll cut into us, and there are no needles that'll sink into our skin to keep them embedded in our necks.

"You said we'd do anything."

I wait for Adam to look at me before continuing. His heart is racing, and his breathing is uneven. He's horrified about putting a collar back on, terrified that it means he's failed me.

That's what helps me ask the next question and know I'll be okay no matter the answer. "Are you still okay with doing anything to help her?"

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