Lila’s green eyes danced with amusement. “It’s unnatural for a human to be so open with one of us. Are you a leader among your people?”
“I have no people,” he said darkly.
“Listen, human, I am amused with your honesty, but being rude to me will gain you nothing.”
“Whatever you say."
"Good." She walked past him and tapped the wallscreen, keeping one eye on him. "Sit." She pointed to the sofa. He sat down, keeping one eye on her the entire time. She brushed the wall several times with the tips of her fingers and then sat on the other sofa.
"Watch this vid." The screen glowed with color.
Lend watched half-heartedly trying to catch all of the information that was flowing into his eye sockets.
"As you can see, we rule this planet. No matter what you did in the wild, you are now in Cathrach. This place is our domain." She turned the volume up. Lend stood to his feet.
"It was ours first," he growled.
Lila walked over to him and glared up into his face.
"If you want it, take it back then."
Anger clouded Lend’s mind for a moment, before turning his head away in shame.
***
The morning sunlight danced off the crystal vase on the mantel as Lend rubbed his eyes. Sleep had eluded him last night. All he could think about was what Lila had said to him. He wanted to take back their planet. Humanity had once ruled this world. Now look at us. Slaves to some blue-skinned freaks of nature. He spotted Gali in the kitchen with a broom in one hand.
He wandered over that way. "When were you caught?"
She cast her blue eyes downward continuing to sweep.
"Four years ago. I was fourteen.” She moved like a willow, dusting and moving from one place to the other. Lend caught her arm and looked into her eyes.
"How did you survive this long in Cathrach?"
"Obeying her," she said in a quiet voice. Lend gritted his teeth.
"Yeah, about that."
"She's not that bad if you are quick to obey. She even lets me stay up and watch the wallscreen at night if I want to. She goes out a lot."
Lend looked at the wallscreen that he'd just fixed. "You have a family, Gali?"
She turned her face from him again, her lower lip trembling.
"I did. I don't know where they are now. They were all sold except my younger brother, he was banished. He was too young to be of any good."
"How old was he?"
"Five." Tears slipped down her cheeks. Lend’s eyes filled with pity. Five.
"Do you have a family?" Gali wiped the tears from her face. Lend ran his fingers through his hair.
"Yeah, I have a brother, a sister, and parents. I was captured, but I don't know what happened to them. They weren't on the speedcar or in the warehouse with me."
"Then they escaped."
I hope so, he thought.
***
"What is that you're wearing?" Lila asked, eying Lend's dirty pants with disgust. "Didn't I give you something else to wear?"
Lend glared at her.
"Put on a clean pala, human."
Lend planted his feet, his arms folded across his bare chest. I am not wearing a dress!
"You're as bad as a child." Lila eyed him with slight amusement. “Girl human!”
A few seconds later Gali appeared, her head bowed low.
"Dress this vermin and if he isn't in a clean pala in a few minutes I will punish you both."
Gali bowed again. "Yes, Ma'am."
"Why don't you dress me yourself?" Lend said.
Lila turned slowly. "Are you challenging me, human?”
Lend’s eyes burned, his fists clenching. “I am a man. A man! I will not wear a dress! I don’t care if it is your culture for men to wear women’s clothing. I will not wear it!” He shook his fist at her. Gali scampered from the room as Lila’s face inflamed.
“You are just a human.” She pointed her webbed finger at him. “Would you rather wear a dress? Or I put the dress on you and then destroy you in it?” They stood across from each other chests rising and falling with frustration.
She’s not that big. Maybe I can take her. Lend scoffed at himself. Take a Citizen? Maybe she was right. It was better to wear a dress than be dead.
“Put it on.” She stressed each word, blue fire crackling on her hand. “Or I will.”
Lend made a grunting sound and then stalked toward the human apartment below. Fine. I will wear the stupid dress.
Chapter 4
Lend balanced about twelve packages in his arms as Lila made her way through downtown. His throat burned with thirst, his body heavy with exhaustion.
Don't these creatures ever quit? he thought.
Lila paused in front of a window with several palas hanging on white manikins. Lend let out an exasperated sigh. How many more of these stupid dresses does she need? He made a face as he looked down at his gray dress. It was humiliating, even though every human that passed by him was wearing a dress too. At least in the wild they'd kept to the traditions of their ancestors. Men wore pants.
He grunted to himself as Lila walked into the next store. Lend set the packages down for a moment and eyed the merchandise with dull interest. It was pretty much the same as the other alien stores. The girl Citizen was looking at jewelry that was hanging from a girl human's fingers. The girl looked dead on her feet. She stood there holding necklaces up for Lila when requested. He strolled over, keeping his eyes level with the slave girl. She never looked at him. Not once. She was tall, had pale skin, and frizzy brown hair. She was extremely plain. His pulse started racing. Do I know her? He was trying to sort out things in his memory when a sharp voice broke his concentration.
"Human! Eye my packages!"
Frustration laced through him, but he went back to the packages and collected them. He brought them over to where the girl stood. I do know her. Her face became clearer in his mind. She was a woman now. Her name was Nala. He used to play with her as a boy in their village. Everyone had thought she'd been killed. Now here she was standing before him holding Citizen jewelry. She finally looked toward him but refused to look into his eyes. What happened to her?
"Step aside!" Lila snapped at him as he came closer.
Lend paused, willing Nala to make eye contact with him. Does she remember me? The girl finally looked right at him. This time he saw recognition in her eyes, but then she looked away.
Lila finally chose a necklace and had Nala clasp it on her. The pendant shone like diamonds on her pale blue throat. She studied the piece of jewelry then turned her attention to Lend, her eyes flickering in amusement.
"What is it you want, human?"
"I know her."
Lila eyed the brown-haired girl and turned back toward him.
"Can I talk to her?" He dropped his voice.
"I will search through the palas. You may have liberty to speak." She walked toward the colored clothes, keeping one eye on him.
Lend crossed the space between himself and Nala.
"Hi."
"Hi." Her eyes flickered nervously to and fro.
"Do you remember me, Nala?"
She nodded quickly a shaky hand going to her throat.
"I cannot speak long," she whispered.
"What happened to you?"
Her expression grew more frightened. "I was wandering through the woods and some Citizens jumped me. I've been the shopkeeper’s slave since I was ten. Have you been a slave long?"
"No, just a few weeks."
"Do not provoke them. I've had many of my friends destroyed for just talking back to their masters." She grasped his hand with desperation. "Please, for my sake, do not speak to me again." She dropped his hand like it was poisonous. "Please, Lend, leave." Her eyes pooled with tears which she quickly wiped away. "If he finds me speaking to a male, he will cut my tongue out."
Lend nodded and backed up. He picked up the packages and walked toward Lila, his heart heavy.
***
br /> Lila walked out the door of the shop. She sensed despair hanging over her human like a dark cloud. Why do I even care? She’d never been involved in a human’s ups and downs before. A wind picked up, making a shiver run through her. She pulled her expensive pala closer to her skin. Her wings flicked out and she curled them around her body protecting herself from the cold. They finally reached her apartment and went inside. The human paused in the entrance.
"Where should I put these?" he asked in a tired voice.
"Follow me, human." She could feel his irritation as they made their way up to her apartment. They stepped inside and he set the packages on the floor and turned to face her.
"Why do you call me 'human'?” His eyes narrowed. Lila turned in surprise, taking a step closer to him. No human has ever asked me that before. It was just the way things were. Citizens never acknowledged humans as equals.
"We have names you know."
His boldness made a smile creep into the corners of her lips.
"You are a fool," she said, standing so close to him that they were nearly touching. His dark eyes danced with boldness, his face filled with something she couldn't quite grasp. Does this human long to die?
"What is your name then, human?"
His mouth pursed tight, his eyes flickered from her face, and his chest rose and fell quickly. Lila could sense his anger, like a beast wanting to break out.
"Lend," he said. She reached out to touch his arm but withdrew her hand at the last second.
"What a strange name."
"It's better than Lendon."
She raised an eyebrow and stepped back. His closeness unnerved her.
"I'm the daughter of Jeol. Do you know who that is, human?" She ran a finger along the counter.
"No."
She walked a few paces from him not liking the feelings he was provoking in her. She'd been raised by a father who despised humans. Her ancestors had been the ones to take over Earth and to destroy almost the entire population of the creatures they now enslaved. Her mother, on the other hand…
She turned back toward Lend. "He is the one who wrote the laws and codes of the land. To ask for a human’s name is forbidden. Which is one law I've broken already." She reached out her webbed hand to touch his stone-set face. "You're not afraid of me." It was more of a statement than a question. "Why is that?"
"Maybe I don't care if I die."
She brushed his skin. Such a strange feeling. His eyes tightened.
"You don't like us to touch you?" she said.
"No."
She pulled her hand away, an amused expression on her face.
"Oh?" She came a little closer, blue flames dancing around her like a close companion. "And of death you think so little?"
He didn't flinch as she held out the blue flames in her hands.
"You wish to speak with death, human? For she is cruel." The flames hovered in front of his face. Still he didn't flinch. Lila laughed. "I find you too amusing to destroy. Besides, a good human is rare to find. Perhaps, I enjoy the company of fools. Be gone with you." She waved a webbed hand at him.
He turned and walked away. What a strange human. I like him. She'd never had a human defy her like that before. She'd had humans with spirit, but none compared to this one.
***
Lila sat on her couch sipping hot coffee, flipping through the wallscreen channels. There was nothing in the world to do. The girl Citizen heard a soft noise and rose to her feet. Her pointed ears perked up. What is that? She strained to hear, her wings fluttering about her like a small canopy of black and blue. She pressed her ear to the wall and frowned. It wasn't her neighbors.
She pressed her ear to the floor and then rose back up in understanding. That happened often, humans made strange noises all the time. Her girl had cried more tears then Lila could count. It was rather frustrating; when the girl was sad she'd work less, she'd eat less, and Lila would find her asleep often. Mating was forbidden, but Lila wondered if humans needed companions to play with. That wasn't why she bought the man, but it made him useful in another way.
For some reason it disturbed her that someone was crying below. She'd never felt that way before. Lila drifted to the hall and down the steps trying to keep quiet. She didn't want to frighten the creatures—just to listen.
She stopped in front of a door. It was cracked open. She could hear muffled sobs coming from inside. She tucked her finger into the door and opened it. The girl human had her face pressed in her pillow and Lend hovered above her. His muscles stiffened as he heard the door open. He turned toward her.
"She's sick."
Lila came into the room and flicked the light on. The girl was strewn across the bed, her face as pale as death, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"What's the matter with her?"
Lend put a hand to the girl's forehead and frowned. "I don't know. Gali, what's the matter?" He brushed a hair from the girl’s face. Gali moaned, her eyes fluttering close.
"Find out what's wrong and fix it." Lila walked from the room.
***
"She's going to destroy me, Lend," Gali whispered through her tears. Lend stroked the girl’s hair from her forehead, his eyes filled with concern.
"Now, why would she do that?"
"I just found out I'm pregnant." She held her hands over her face. Lend sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Why would she kill you because of that?"
She touched her stomach with nimble fingers. "It's forbidden to love. It's forbidden for two humans to..." She let the sentence fall flat. Lend nodded with understanding.
"We'll hide it, Gali. I'll cover for you." Lend patted the girl’s back, feeling awkward.
"I can't have a baby, where would I keep it?" Her eyes locked onto his. Lend grasped her hand for a moment, feeling strange in doing it. He hardly knew the girl.
"We'll think of something, okay? Who’s the father?"
Gali gulped down tears. "He lives in the human apartment next to ours. He said we wouldn't be caught." She gripped Lend's hands tighter. "I don't want to die, Lend." She brushed her tears away with the back of her hand.
"I won't let that happen, Gali."
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Author Bio
Natasha House was born in Michigan, grew up in a town the size of a peanut, and moved to an only slightly bigger town when she was ten-years-old. After writing a book for school at the age of 12, Natasha won an award and was sent to Young Authors. Soon, she was discovering that writing stories and make believing was crazy fun, and it became her hobby. It wasn't until she decided to write a book for her sisters, that she published for the entire world to read. A Doctor Who lover, Natasha loves the weird and the strange and can't seem to stick to one particular genre. She is the author of a Fantasy series, Christian romance, YA Urban Fantasy, Dystopian, as well as a couple Non-fictions. She loves talking to her readers and would love for you to visit her.
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