Page 32 of Bonded Queen: to the Alien Warlord Triad

“Okay.” I can’t expect her to stay a prisoner, just because I am, but I was hoping we’d work together to come up with our next move. She walks down the hallway towards the transportation tubes of the palace, and I yearn for the same freedom she has.

“Thank you for keeping me safe,” I say, trying to be diplomatic as I address the guardian triads. To my shock, the powerful, grizzled Aurelian with the beard can’t stop a smile coming to his face, showing his healthy white teeth for a split second before he becomes deadly serious again. “It is my honor, my Queen.” They nod again and step back, drawing the huge wooden doors close.

With a sigh, I turn.

It really is a beautiful prison. The long, rectangular pool has water so clear it’s almost like it’s empty. The stone tiles of the floor were placed with precision, each individual pattern forming the greater picture. To the left, just as above in the holo-dome, is the forested area, but here there are a few huge trees with smooth, white bark, their long, sprawling branches splaying out with tiny leaves that look like caressing fingers. The trees circle a restaurant or bar, eerily empty.

The two women are standing straight-backed and awkward, so I walk towards them, raising my hand and smiling. They’re over in the far corner, on the other side of the hot tub, a barrier between them and the triad that barged through.

“Hello! Relax, please, I don’t want servants. Iwasone, just yesterday.” My voice echoes strangely in the concave, high-ceilinged room. This place is meant to be full of people.

My words don’t relax them. Instead, I see a flash of what looks like panic in the younger woman’s eyes. “You don’t need us?”

The older woman clears her throat. “We are pleased to serve you, my Queen. Although you do not wish to have servants, the triad told us to get you ready. I hope we can be useful to you and not…” She clears her throat. “Return to the city.”

“Ready? Ready for what?”

“To address the people,” pipes up the younger one. “My Queen,” she says, quickly blurting out the title.

I shiver in nervousness. The living hall is the perfect temperature, but I get a chill. “Me? Address the people?”

“Yes, my Queen,” she says. I look to see if she’s joking.

She’s not.

“Fuck,” I say, and the two of them are taken aback by my foul tongue, when the younger one giggles nervously, relaxing slightly.

The woman in her forties gives me a small smile. “Well, the big one saidpresentyou. I’m not sure if he knew the right word, my Queen.”

“Alright. Enough of this Queen thing. You can call me that when the three lunks are around, but to you, I’m just Rachel. What can I call you two?”

“I’m Raneeda,” says the younger woman. Up close, I can tell she’s twenty at most, and I wonder if she ever cut her hair. It’s thick and black, done in beautiful, elaborate braids. Strands of hair frame her striking features, with dark, near-black eyes that speak of intelligence and wariness. Gods, but she’s beautiful, the exact kind of woman you would picture with a power Aurelian triad. If anyone’s fit to be a Queen, it’s her, not me.

“I’m Nash,” says the woman in her forties. “Would you like to test the waters?” she says, in a diplomatic tone.

I’m covered in sweat and grime, even after washing my face at the top of the spire, and the waters of the hot tub look inviting…

But I’ve also got handprints on my ass.

Get over it, Rachel.

I was spanked in front of a crowd. Having these two see the aftermath is far less humiliating than people I worked with watching me get disciplined. Plus, if I’m going to be…presenting? Addressing? Whatever it is, it sounds like it’s going to be in public, and I’m going to have to get over any fear I have.

Then I freeze. What if these two have the same handprints?

“Did you come with the Aurelians?” I ask. I thought that after facing down Scorp, nothing could make me nervous, but I’m awaiting their answer with bated breath.

“No, we both worked in the city. We’re lucky to have been chosen to serve you.” Raneeda smiles. “Please, the water is perfect.”

I kick off my shoes and walk barefoot on the cool tiles towards the water. This side of the living hall is laid out like a spa. There are doors that perhaps lead to change rooms to the right, and I glance through one door, where there is a massage table, and I catch another glance of the shelves full of exotic oils and creams, things that even Princess Bitch could have never dreamed of having, probably costing a month’s salary for a drop.

All these riches and luxuries, designed with taste and elegance. The merchant baron Paulus would have killed just to step foot in the royal living quarters. It’s obscene. An entire tower that reaches up above the clouds to a second hidden estate above, with hundreds of levels of entertainment and living quarters in between, hidden in the spire. All this, empty except for me and the two women who nervously serve.

I dip my toe in the water and pull back at the scalding heat.

Come on, Rachel, you fought Scorp, you can handle a little bath.

I slowly put my foot back in. To my surprise, the water has cooled slightly, the exact temperature where it’salmosttoo hot perfect for me as I step onto the first stair. I pull off my robe awkwardly, and Raneeda helps me take it off. I’m laid bare, but if they notice my red bottom, they’re too polite to say anything. If I’m going to be living with Aurelians, I’m going to have to get used to this.

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