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“Thank goodness! Don’t ever do that again,” Molly shouted. I collapsed on the closest bed, which was Nina’s, and let out a breath.
“Guys, I found something else out,” I said, my eyes landing on Faith, who was sitting up in her bed.
“Is my sister dead?” she demanded.
“No. Um, Father married her off to Lord Shreeves,” I blurted out.
“Is he ugly? Well, of course he is. That has to be why my sister screamed,” Faith rambled.
“No. He’s uh...” The door opened and Lady Valera barged in, followed by Gwen. Everyone frowned at her appearance, but Lady Valera didn’t pay our confusion any mind.
“Look, let me make this short. Your father decided to breed with human trash in order to populate our house with females,” she said in Nerth. “Whether you marry an old, disgusting lord or a decent one will depend on how you rank in his eyes.” Lady Valera’s eyes landed on me, and she sighed. “I guess you aren’t so bad, Jade. Nina, you have the perfect disposition for someone who enjoys the quiet life. But I’m unsure of you, Amy. You’re boring, and I suppose that you’re pretty enough. But I still think you need a little work. Molly, you have fire, which can be entertaining and desirable. But you, Faith, are an utter moron. To think that I’d actually let human scum attend to me? Hell, you were so stupid to believe that Karen was your friend. In fact, she chose a wonderful husband for your sister, Hope. Lord Shreeves is old, cruel, and has a voracious appetite between the sheets. You, I’ll give to Bever Hendrik. He’s a jeweler that I enjoy using. He was vacationing off-world and needs to travel to one of his mines, which is on another planet near Neretha, so he’ll take you along with him,” Lady Valera said. But no one understood her but my sister Gwen and me. My face fell, which made Nina frown. The lady waved and led Gwen out of the room.
“Well?” my sister Faith questioned. “What did the lady say?”
“You’re getting married to a jeweler tomorrow,” I announced, before forcing myself to provide every detail of the conversation. Everyone aside from Faith seemed somewhat reassured by the lady’s opinion of them. But Faith scowled at me.
“You’re making it up,” she accused. “She’s marrying me off to a wealthy jeweler because she likes me.” I had the feeling that the jeweler was just as old and desperate as Lord Shreeves. But I didn’t have a chance to say a word because the ever so helpful David waltzed out of our closet.
“Jade’s right, Faith. Lady Valera can’t stand you. You were just too stupid to see it,” David confirmed, and my sister began to bawl. To no one’s surprise, Nina was the one that went to comfort her. I was too focused on the thought that at any moment, I could be married off to some random lord or businessman. I sighed and got to my feet and glanced into the shared closet. I spotted the blue dress that I had been working on. I pulled it out and decided to continue sewing. It was the only thing I could do, since the alternative was dreading my fate. I sewed until my hands begged me to stop. David was long gone by then. I changed into the nightgown that I hid under my pillow. Then I brushed my teeth then covered myself with the blanket. Faith was fast asleep, with Nina sharing a bed with her. Molly was awake, sitting at the desk, working on her Nerth. Amy was working on her sewing, which was steadily improving. I closed my eyes and counted backwards from a thousand. I didn’t fall asleep until I made it to the six hundreds.
***
A knock on the bedroom door caused my eyes to fly open. I sat up and let out a yawn. I spent the night tossing and turning, I walked over to the door, since the other girls had taken longer to wake up. I reluctantly opened the door and found Lex on the other side. I had never spoken to him before, but I had the impression that he didn’t want to be on this ship any more than we did. His face soured when he saw me.
“The jeweler will be ready for his bride in an hour,” he reported in Nerth.
“Understood,” I responded, and surprise flashed across his face. I guessed he really assumed that no one could learn Nerth without the implant. He nodded and walked away from me. I closed the door then walked over to the bed holding my two sleeping sisters. I gently shook Faith, who had drifted back to sleep. She woke up and peered up at me.
“What is it?” she asked.
“We have an hour to help you get ready. Take a shower,” I ordered. Faith grudgingly followed my directions, grabbing some underclothes and heading to the bathroom.
“Who braided my hair while I was sleeping?” I inquired. Nina sat up and raised her hand.
“I combed and braided your hair every day,” she confessed. I quickly found the tablet and swiped through it and found a hairstyle and showed it to Nina.
“Can you do that?” I questioned.
“What are you roping us into?” Amy asked, a note of suspicion in her tone.
“We’re going to make Faith look her very best to spite Lady Valera. And by making her look good, the jeweler won’t ask for anyone else,” I said, feeling horrible at the words. My sisters nodded in agreement as I pulled out the beautiful blue dress that I completed the night before.
“Damn, she gets that?” Molly complained.
“We have to send her off in style,” I said, agreeing with Molly’s temperament.
“There is makeup in the vanity. I can do makeup and nails,” Amy offered.
“Thanks,” I said, eying Molly.
“Do I look like a girly girl to you?” she challenged.
“No,” I responded, shooting her a grin. When Faith exited in her underthings, Amy rushed in and came back with a nail kit. Instead of bottles of nail polish, there was a nail polish gun that would pour out whatever color you chose from a menu. While she worked, Nina combed, brushed, and braided Faith’s hair into the updo. Then I unzipped the dress and helped her step into it. I zipped it up, and Amy did her makeup. An hour later, the door flew open and Gwen stood there, dressed in one of her gowns. Faith stepped forward in a dress that rivaled my sister’s. Gwen frowned upon seeing our sister.
“I made the gown,” I announced, pride filling my chest. She nodded and led Faith away.
“For the record, I want an actual wedding dress,” Molly blurted out.
“I thought that you aren’t a girly girl,” I teased. Molly shrugged.
“It doesn’t mean that I don’t want to look nice,” she reasoned. My sister did have a point.
We dressed and showered and made our way to breakfast. This time, we decided to eat the hard bread that the cook offered. None of us were hungry enough to bother cooking. We plopped down at our usual table, which was kind of empty. We were the last ones to come to breakfast, as usual. Our Father marched over to us, a frown on his face.
“Bever Hendrick’s niece attended their wedding. She loved the gown that Faith wore and wanted one made just like that one,” he said.
“Did you tell him that I made it?” I asked. My father let out a sigh.
“Look, Jade, I tried everything, even saying that you sewed it for your sister as a gift. She wants that dress,” my father said.
“What are her measurements?” I reluctantly inquired.
“So, you’ll make the gown?” my father wanted to know.
“What will happen if I don’t?” I asked, curious.
“He won’t forgive a fourth of my debt,” my father admitted.
“And what will you give me if I make the dress?”
“I could sell Nina to a commoner,” my father threatened.
“Won’t work, since all of us want commoners,” I lied. “You’d be giving us what we want, a life removed from court.”
“You would do well as a seamstress’s apprentice. I could even see Amy surviving as a commoner. But what skills does Molly have?” my father challenged. I sighed, glad that the lord spoke in English.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“What does that have to do with you making the dress?” he demanded.
“Nothing. I just want to know. It’s weird that you’re my father, and I don’t even know your first or last name,” I said.
“My name is Manor Peirc,” he replied.
“Great,” I said, thinking that I didn’t much like the last name Peirc. But I’d let it go.
“So, will you make the dress?” he asked, impatience brewing in his eyes.
“Only if you explain what kind of competition we’ll compete in when we get to Neretha,” I said.
“It’s just a few harmless games. The winners are given the lords, and the losers to a lowly commoner,” my father revealed.
“What if I want a commoner?” I challenged.
“You? Oh no, Jade, you won’t be given to a commoner.” His words gave me a bad feeling in my stomach. “You will join Lord Rema’s harem. Valera and I both agree that you’re the most intelligent and beautiful of my daughters. I can’t send Gwen because of her gift. And the others can be useful.”
“So I don’t get to be auctioned?” I asked, my throat about to close up.
“No, my dear. You go to another harem, where my most trusted ally, Lord Rema, can keep you until he marries you off to some deserving knight,” he explained, coldness filling his eyes.
“Let me stay with my sisters, and I’ll make the dress,” I bargained, my heart racing. I was barely getting used to the harem I had been tossed into. I couldn’t imagine going somewhere new.
“No can do. I already told Lord Rema that you were going to be gifted to him,” he said. “But I could compromise.”
“Compromise?” I asked uncertainly.
“If you don’t make the dress, I send Nina to Lord Rema instead,” he said, a smug expression on his face.
“I’ll make the dress,” I said, accepting that I had no leverage in this matter. As soon as Lord Peirc went back to his seat, Nina spoke.
“Thank you,” she said. “If you want, I can live with Lord Rema instead.”
“No,” I insisted.
“Ladies, I think we’re missing something. Why not auction Jade off?” Molly inquired.
“Because Jade is so much prettier than Karen. Even if she didn’t score well, I’m sure that the wealthier gentlemen would bid for her,” Nina replied. I had the sense that a gift was far more valuable than looks, which meant that Gwen was probably the one to beat. I sighed and continued to eat, not wanting the food to go to waste. Who knew how Lord Rema would treat me. And what if he decided that he wanted to take me to bed? Could I refuse? I had to do more research about harems in Neretha. I needed to see if I could find any information on Lord Rema. I needed to continue sowing dresses for my sisters, in hopes that beautiful dresses would move auctioneers to bid on them. And the last thing that I needed to do was see if we could access the gifts in our crystals. That would ensure that everyone in our group was matched well.