“She can.There are many abandoned worlds outside of Hmrain control.There are temples and cities and ancient settlements, all silent.Of course, no way she is going to one of those without an army of guards.”
Zelda chuckled.“You are really taking to having a child.”
“I will practice every day when you and she wake, and when you sleep, I will go over how to do things better the following day.”He smiled.
She looked at him and his thoughtful focus and felt a wave of amusement.Orex was a girl’s dad.This was going to be interesting.
A soft voice said, “Lord Orex, meals are waiting for you and your party.”
Zelda smiled.“Aretta, come on.You have to start eating again.”
Aretta looked like she wanted to dig in, but she nodded and came toward them.“I forgot.”
“I know, but sleepers who don’t start processing food lose all appetite, and they start fading within three days.We are fighters, so let’s fight for a sandwich.”She smiled.
Aretta paused with her eyes wide, and she looked at Orex.“Do sleepers really start fading in three days?”
“For some species, it is less time.”
He opened his wings and shepherded them behind the servant who had called them.
The wide-open space had a buffet at one end with some low couches and tables around.
They washed their hands in the wide bowl at one end, and Zelda made sure to go last, washing up to her elbow, turning the basin pink.
“Weird how you get used to wearing blood.”She shrugged and slipped her sleeves back in place.
Orex laughed and picked a few things for her in a wide wooden bowl, and Aretta grinned and picked a number of items based on colour.Her bowl looked like a rainbow.
Orex walked with Zelda to one of the couches and sat before pulling her onto his lap.
Aretta blinked.“Mom?”
“Traditional seating.If a Hmrain has a consort, they pull him or her onto their lap as a demonstration to everyone around them.”She shrugged.“They may or may not feed them.It’s like taking care of a pet.”
Orex snorted and handed her the bowl so that he could hug her.“It is more like taking care of something that makes you happy.Until I connected with Zelda, I had no idea what having a proper consort could be.Now, I want to make sure that she is taken care of.When we are on a new world, she might not be able to tell what is edible, and to save me from being without her due to discomfort, I supervise what she eats.”
Aretta sighed.“And you like having her on your lap.”
“That, too.”Orex nodded honestly.
Zelda snorted and looked at the selections that she had.She took a piece of something that looked like baklava.
Aretta blinked.“Why is this food so familiar?”
Zelda could answer that.“Ra liked Earth and liked the food, so that is what we have here.Food from the Middle East.I am guessing this is a locust in honey.”
“Ew, like a bug?”
Zelda ate it.“A crunchy, sweet bug.Try it.Lots of protein.”
Aretta took one of the bugs and bit it in half, wincing.To her surprise, her eyes opened wide, and she ate the entire thing.
Orex whispered, “They are also easy to digest.”
Aretta got two more and then started to try the other food.Zelda sighed in relief, then Orex tapped her bowl, and she continued to eat all the small items, one by one.Honey and nuts made up a lot of the sweets, and chicken and pastry made up a lot of the savoury.The spices differed.
She finished her bowl, and Aretta finished hers with a happy sigh.She flopped back on her own couch.