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“It’s an insult,” Molly roared as I handed her a casual dress that I had made for her. I had to learn the Nerethian numbers in order to use the measuring tape in the sewing basket. But that had taken less than an hour. It had been four days since I began studying the Nerethian language, which was called, Nerth, and I already had a handle on it. I was confident that in a few weeks, I would be as fluent as anyone with a translator chip. I had always had a talent for languages.
“We don’t have gifts,” I argued, not offended that the trainer didn’t call on us. I spent our free time teaching the girls how to sew, which was difficult for everyone except for Nina.
“See if that fits you,” I said. Molly stripped out of her dress and slipped into the finely made day dress that I spent two days sowing. I used the tablet to research Nerethian fashion. Her dress was fit for a lady, and had beautiful lace sewn onto the cuffs. I was excited when the dress fit her like a glove. She smirked as I handed her another dress, in a different color, and squealed when it fit her as well. Nina was the easiest to sew for, since she was shorter than the rest of us. And it also helped that she was able to assist me. I was about to start working on a day dress for me when the door burst open and a furious Amy stormed in, along with a smirking girl that I hadn’t met before. The two of them were followed by a soldier who was pushing a cart that was carrying a trunk.
“What the hell?” Molly glared at the homely looking stranger.
“Lady Valera ordered me to take all but one of the dresses that the seamstress made for you. For now on, you’re to wear only your own creations,” the soldier announced.
“Seriously? Why?” I questioned.
“Why do you care? You’re a master seamstress and can make your own clothes,” the girl with the soldier mocked. Amy sighed and selected a dress for each of us to keep, while Molly struggled to contain her anger. The soldier leaned against the wall and pointed at the closet.
“Put the clothes in the trunk,” he ordered in English. I was about to comply when Molly glared at him.
“If you want our clothes so badly, you take them,” she argued.
“If you disobey, you’re liable to get punished for ten minutes,” the girl threatened.
“I’m sure you’d love that, Karen,” Molly said as she walked into the closet. I eyed Karen, who had long, black hair and a plain face. She seemed to enjoy what was transpiring. I got to my feet and walked over to the closet, and started grabbing clothes to put in the trunk.
***
“Well done, throwaways,” Karen mocked before flipping us off and leaving the room. The soldier nodded his head at us and followed behind the brat.
“Blame Faith and Hope for this. They think that if they make our lives miserable, it will make Lady Valera choose them to be lady’s maids,” Amy revealed. I sighed.
“Where’s Nina?” I inquired.
“She’ll be back soon. She went to get more fabric for us,” Amy said as she eyed me. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Learn the Nerethian language. Trust me when I say that their culture is complex,” I said. Amy groaned and sat at the desk, where I usually spent three hours a day. I spent less time making our meals, since the girls already knew how to make a few edible dishes. I groaned and started working on my day dress.
***
I pushed my cart of food into the room, hoping that the next meal would impress my father. Thus far, he had requested three recipes: the pie, the pancakes, and the apple turnover. Nina’s eyes lit up when I produced a couple of large pizzas. I placed all of them on the table, then sat down. I was wearing one of the dresses that I had sewed. It was nowhere near as fancy as the gowns that the people at the other tables wore, but I figured that I’d focus on making formal gowns last. I now owned a pair of silk slippers that fit me, thanks to the bargain that was struck when father requested the recipe for apple turnover.
“I haven’t had this in months!” Nina said as she selected a slice. I made a veggie pizza, and experimented with two common meats found on Neretha: myr, which tasted like chicken, and sut, which had the texture of steak. Gwen snagged a slice of pizza on the way to her table. I was in the middle of biting my first piece when I heard the sound of silverware tapping on a glass.
“I have an announcement to make,” my father said in Nerth. “We will be arriving on Neretha in two weeks. Then you will prepare for an auction. I will sell my eligible daughters off to the highest bidders. David, Lex, you both are valuable sons. David, you will become a knight. Lex, I have secured a spot at the Academy for you. The rest of you need to prove that you’re worth presenting to our great nation.” I clearly had a lot of research to do. Amy’s gaze connected with mine and I nodded to verify that I understood what my father said. As soon as he stopped speaking, Karen strutted over to our table.
“Cute dresses. But having someone that can do a peasant’s job won’t put you ahead. Poor Molly, you have no idea what Dad said. Well, let me make it clear: I’ll make sure that your husband is ugly and cruel,” Karen sneered before strolling away. Molly scowled, but I gestured to the food. I knew that the girls couldn’t possibly learn Nerth without the translators. But I would do my best to teach them.
“This isn’t half bad,” one of the twins said. I couldn’t tell them apart, which made me feel terrible.
“At least it isn’t bread,” the other one interjected. They were still in their plain clothes, their scowls diminishing their beauty. I felt pity for them, but they would see once and for all that Karen was only using them.
“Spill it, Jade. Why did Karen threaten to arrange a terrible marriage for me?” Molly demanded.
“Father is hosting some kind of auction when we arrive on Neretha,” I began, before explaining what he said. The twins scowled at me the entire time. I ignored their rudeness and decided to fill the brats in. This was the only favor that I would ever do for those no-good women.
“Impressive,” Gwen said as she reached over and snatched another slice of pizza from the platter in front of me. “It took you all of a second to learn Nerth.” I shrugged.
“I’m good with languages,” I responded in Nerth, which made one of the twins glare at me.
“Show-off,” she huffed.
“You know, Faith, Hope, I’d listen to Jade if I were you,” Gwen said, before walking back to her seat.
“Do you think that Gwen can beat Karen?” I wondered. Molly shook her head.
“Gwen is smart, but isn’t talented in the way of combat,” Amy added.
“Karen will wipe the floor with you, Molly. You were stupid for ever getting in the way of your betters,” one of the twins commented.
“I don’t get it,” I said, puzzled. “We’re siblings. Why the hate?”
“Unlike you, the rest of the people here want Dad’s attention,” Nina softly whispered. I was trying to learn as much as I could, not wanting to be dropped in the middle of Neretha without a clue of what was going on. Now I had to worry about keeping Molly alive? How could I protect my sister?
“Karen will protect us,” one of the twins said. “Unlike you, we have made ourselves useful.”
“The only thing that you have done thus far is sell us out,” Molly fired back. “What good will that do when Karen ditches you? You won’t be able to come crawling back to us.”
“Why is she talking, Faith?” Hope asked.
“Because Karen hasn’t beheaded her yet,” Hope said, before spilling Molly’s water glass. She must have used too much force, because the glass rolled off the table and shattered. The entire room went silent. A guard burst into the room and pulled Hope from her seat and dragged her out of the room. I eyed Molly, whose face paled.
“She’s in trouble?” I whispered to Nina.
“She purposefully broke a glass,” Nina explained.
“Why is that important?” I whispered to my timid sister.
“Lady Valera is sensitive about her china being broken,” Nina softly replied, which gave me the chills. I eyed Faith, who was silently crying. Molly, who was mostly dry, shook her head. I figured that it wasn’t time to ask the others what would happen to Hope, so I forced myself to continue eating. Father wasn’t tempted by the pizza, which was disappointing, but at least it tasted good.
***
After my father and his wife left the room, everyone followed suit. Without Hope, Faith seemed defeated. She had stopped crying, but her eyes were red. Karen was up ahead, talking to Lex, the brother that I had never met before. A scream caught me off guard. I winced, but everyone kept on walking. I halted in front of the door where the female was screaming. Amy tried to pull me along, but my sense of rightness couldn’t allow me to ignore it. I opened the door and froze in the doorway. I had opened the door to a lavish suite, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Hope was standing against the wall as a middle-aged man approached her. He scrutinized the teenager as if he were trying to determine if he would purchase a painting. A firm arm wrapped around me and the door suddenly closed in my face, trapping Hope’s screams inside. I struggled against the hold, but couldn’t escape.
“Let me go,” I shrieked, my fear nearly clogging my throat. The guy who tried to prevent me from intervening on Hope’s behalf sighed before lifting me up and tossing me over his shoulder. I wanted to scream, but was fearful of making things worse for myself. He ran down the hallway, his shoulder digging into my stomach. By the time he stopped walking, I felt like I would expel the pizza I had just consumed. He entered a room that smelled of lavender, and when the door slammed shut, he lifted me from his shoulder and tossed me onto the king-size bed. I immediately sat up, taking in deep breaths. The light flooded the room and I glanced up into the scowling face of a stranger.
“Are you stupid?” the man hissed in Nerth, his dark eyes hard. He didn’t look like one of my siblings, though he did have tan skin and dark hair. But his hair was straight and silky, and had gold highlights. He was tall and wore a red uniform of some kind. He had a weapons belt with unfamiliar gadgets hanging from it.
“You aren’t related to me, are you?” I asked, which made his jaw tick before a look of astonishment crossed his face.
“You have a language chip?” the man asked, confused.
“No. I learned Nerth the old-fashioned way,” I responded. “So you aren’t related to me?”
“No. I’m currently one of Lord Shreve’s knights. We boarded this ship an hour ago, so that Lord Shreeves can meet his bride,” he revealed.
“And who would that be?” I asked, confused.
“Your screaming sister. Who else?” the stranger wanted to know, and my mouth popped open. He couldn’t be serious. Hope was a teenager.
“Why would a man so old marry a teenager?” I wondered. The man raked his hands through his hair.
“For one thing, Nerethian women started dying out when the Jantons released a plague on our planet that specifically attacked females. So, any woman Lord Shreve’s age would either be barren or dead. Number two, your father owed him a favor and announced that he had just the perfect bride for him,” the stranger said, disgust on his face. “Had Lord Shreeves gotten a look at you, he would have preferred you. You’re much prettier.” His words were harsh, so it didn’t sound like he was complimenting me.
“Okay. Um... Hope was screaming. I thought that something bad was happening to her,” I defended. The man frowned and gently inspected my hands.
“Your fingers aren’t like the fingers of the lazy noblewomen,” he noted.
“I sew, cook, and do whatever else I have to do for myself,” I said, explaining the condition of the pads of my fingertips. Before I could even say a word, David walked through the wall and approached the bed. He looked relieved when he spotted us.
“Lord Larshak, I was looking for my sister,” David said in Nerth.
“Take her,” the lord ordered. “Keep her out of trouble.” David nodded and I stood, glad to be out of Lord Larshak’s presence. He was making me uncomfortable. I happily took David’s arm and he led me through the door and hustled me past the room that held Hope and her new husband. Then my brother took me to my room. He pulled me into a tight hug, which caught me by surprise. But I returned the embrace, glad that my brother was happy to see me. He pulled away and eyed me with sympathy in his gaze.
“Sorry. We had to grab you, Jade. It was either comply or watch as our mothers were tortured,” David whispered in English. I nodded in understanding before rushing into the room.