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My aching eyes slowly opened, my fickle sleep being interrupted by a thump. I sat up and glanced around. Nina was folding the purple gown that I had made for myself, while Amy was loading armfuls of my undergarments into the trunk. Molly worked on folding the day dresses that I had sewed. I spotted one meant for Amy and spoke up.
“The violet dress is for you, Amy,” I reminded her. Amy shook her head.
“You’ve spent the last two weeks indulging me in yoga, cooking for us, and making an exorbitant amount of dresses. The least I can do is allow you to keep the violet one.” Amy did have a point. I had managed to sew seven dresses and four gowns for each of my sisters, followed by five more of the jumpsuits. As soon as Lord Peirc announced my fate, I tossed all of the energy I possessed into making dresses. It had been an escape that also added to my sisters’ chances at securing a decent man.
“Why are my things being packed up?” I questioned.
“Apparently, the captain of our ship sped up to avoid a solar storm, and we arrived a day early,” Amy gently said. That meant that my time was up. I was going to be stuck in a harem filled with people that I didn’t know.
“And you let me sleep in?” I cried.
“We just wanted you to get your sleep. Lord Rema is sending a flyer to our ship to pick you up. It will be here in less than an hour,” Amy warned. Of course Father wouldn’t tell me of the news himself. It was part of the psychological torture. I made a vow to myself that I would either return to Earth, or figure out a way to be rid of the harems. Women shouldn’t be collected only to be bartered with whenever the men saw fit. We were people that deserved to get a say in our destinies.
I got to my feet as Molly placed the stack of dresses into the massive trunk, which had to be the size of my dresser back home. Lord Rema must have sent it, since he probably figured that I was coming to him with many possessions. He would be greatly disappointed once he realized that I was entering his harem with what I made with my own two hands.
After taking a quick shower, I combed through my ringlets and plaited my hair into a simple braid. Then I rushed into the room and donned the silver gown that I wore to honor Lord Rema’s house color, along with the silver slippers that I managed to make. I eyed the three women that had been my confidantes throughout this ordeal. I thought about Sheena and how close we once had been. My chest ached from thinking about the people I’d left behind. Hopefully, the Banes weren’t looking for me. Maybe one day, they would be able to move on. Then I thought about how Amy, Molly, and Nina were my family, and I was being forced to leave them behind. A tear trickled from my eye, but I wiped it away.
“Guys, be safe,” I pleaded. “Stick together and practice your Nerethian. I think that Dad is trying to give Karen an advantage. I’m not sure if it’s because of his relationship with Meg. But stay safe,” I pleaded. Nina was the first to toss her arms around me, her grip tight. Amy’s hug was brief but filled with affection. Molly hugged me and ended it with a hard back slap.
“Thanks for making us clothes,” Molly said.
“No problem. I hope I see you guys again. Maybe Lord Rema will allow me to visit,” I said as the door was thrown open and a guard dressed in silver stormed in, followed by a transport bot. The mechanical hands lifted my trunk onto the unit and it raced away.
“Jade, follow me,” the guard briskly ordered. He was obviously disinterested in conversing with me. I followed him out of the room, and up to the highest level of the ship. Lady Valera was leaning against the onyx wall, her green gown accented by gold dust.
“I trust that Lord Rema will forgive our debt?” the lady demanded.
“Yeah,” the guard said, not wanting to dignify her answer with a full response. Lady Valera put her hands on her hips.
“My husband did what he could to repopulate Neretha. You can withhold your judgement, since one of his daughters will probably be your wife,” she scolded.
“We need to head back to Lord Rema’s estate,” the guard said, unmoved by the lady’s words.
“Very well,” the lady said before she stepped aside and the wall that she had been leaning against vanished, revealing a flat, large open area holding mostly green flyers. They were like flying limos, aside for the fact that they didn’t have wheels. I eyed the only silver transport.
“Follow me,” the man urged. I walked over to the silver flyer, and the wall of the flyer vanished. I slid in, finding that the trunk was resting beside me. As soon as I buckled up, the side of the space transport reappeared. It looked like the guard had been sent to retrieve me all by his lonesome. Maybe Lord Rema didn’t value me? I had no idea if this was a positive thing or not.
The outer door opened and our flyer was launched into space. I shut my eyes as the flyer picked up in speed. I heard a beeping sound, and then we rapidly descended. It was fortunate that my stomach was empty, since I swore that I would have upchucked all over myself.
The abrupt halt of the transport caused my eyes to fly open. There were no windows near me. But I could see out the windshield. We were flying over a city with towering skyscrapers. Now that I was no longer in space, the reality crashed into me.
I was heading to an unknown, with no allies. I could no longer plot with my sisters, Amy, Molly and Nina. They were going to have to master Nerth on their own. My father would use the rest of his daughters if he needed another debt forgiven. He was hoarding us for his own gain. I couldn’t help but think that I was better off with the Banes, a family that had been trying to get to know me. I regretted not joining them for New Year’s Eve. I highly doubted that I’d ever feel as safe as I was when I was in their home. I was nothing more than a female, someone to be used and controlled. Someone had to do something about this terrible practice. Why couldn’t the Nerethians just give us a chance to make our own decisions? Were the Nerethians afraid that some women wouldn’t want to have children? That I could understand, since the female population had been attacked by the plague.
“Jade, we’re two minutes out,” the driver said. I didn’t bother taking a look of my new home from the air. What did it matter? I was going to be imprisoned there whether I looked or not.
“What are my orders?” I asked the guard in English, since that had been the language that he used.
“Your orders are to go to your quarters and not to speak until you’re spoken to. Lord Rema believes in the old ways, when women’s tongues were cut out so that he doesn’t hear them speak. But the soft-hearted king has refused to reinstate that practice.” A shot of fear slammed into my heart. This lord was going to cut out my tongue? Why in the hell had Lord Peirc sent me to such a person? But then I had to remind myself of something: to my father, I was a possession, someone to be used. He was in debt, so he traded me. It was obvious that he would do anything to save his own skin. I had to finally accept that Nelly was the only biological parent that ever cared about what happened to me, and she lost her life because of it.