Chapter Two
Zelda woke withoutpain and with a low light over her.She sat up slowly, and Orex was sitting at a desk.He looked up and smiled.“You are awake.”
“Um, yes.How long was I out?”
“Ten hours.The infection was near to killing you.I am glad Queen Harwin contacted you when she did.”
“So, that was at your urging?”
“No, she had an impulse to do so.”
Zelda checked her mind and memories.“Isolde was poking around.”
“Isolde?”
“A friend.A good friend.She and I talked a lot after the asteroid hit.She needed to chat, I needed to chat, and we were both a great distance away.I helped her work on her instinct and senses, and she helped my long-range communications.”
“She was brought up with you?”
“Oh.No.She was three thousand kilometres away.Long-range communication.”
He looked at her with only the slight shine from his eyes giving him away.“You are psychic.”
“Sort of.I was never tested for it.I was so tired by the time I got to the station that they did a health check, and after I threw a fit about my daughter, they sedated me and dumped me in one of the lots heading toward you.”
“But they knew you were consort class.”
“They suspected.They knew I was companion class.That was certain.”
“You let Marta state she was the companion.”
“Sure.My daughter was gone, and I didn’t give a fuck by then.If she wanted to kill herself, that wasn’t my business.She spent her waking time telling us how she was going to have a great life with money and fame.I just shrugged and let her go.”
“You knew.”
“Anyone who read the briefing knew.She thought she was just giving up her body, not everything she felt.”
He sighed.“Our contract did stipulate that she knew what was being asked of her.She will be happier with a new career, I think.”
Zelda snorted.“You think?”
He smiled and got up, bringing over a tablet.“Read this and make changes.”
She looked at the tablet.“Oh.I have come to claim my daughter.”
“Read.”
She frowned, and he moved around what was obviously his room and carried a tray over to her.His voice rumbled.“It is long.Have something to eat and drink.You are hungry.”
She blinked.“Thank you, Overseer Orex.”
“Keep reading.”
She went through the standard boilerplate of the consort-companion contract and then paused.Restrictions and guarantees regarding Aretta, daughter of Zelda.
She looked through schooling, outdoor training, private tutors, a set of nannies, and bodyguards, as she would be a very wealthy young woman.Wardrobe fitting every four months to account for growth.Training on riding beasts, personal vehicles, and a minimum of four uninterrupted hours per day with her mother once the acclimation to Orex had completed.Travel with Orex and Zelda when they went off-world, with Aretta’s entourage accompanying them.