Alphas of Pandora, page 16
A sick feeling settled in the pit of Aura’s stomach, but she still felt compelled to ask. “But why is she here now?”
Dharia cast her a strange look, as if the answer should be obvious.
“For the wedding. She’s his fiancée, of course.”
Twenty
A sick sense of dread had overwhelmed her since the revelation about Castor and the princess from Vigil. Aura recognized that she shouldn’t have been surprised. He had made her no promises and had seemed primarily concerned with keeping her as far away from as possible. It shouldn’t be a shock that he was engaged to another woman.
Anger accompanied the sadness, as she contemplated the fact that he had left her here without so much as a backward glance. It didn’t make sense that he would devote so much time to procuring her a translation unit and a believable history, just to leave her locked up here.
It was hard for her to understand Dharia’s apparent contentment with their situation. And her mention of other men who would eventually come to make use of the women in the harem sent cold chills running down her spine. Aura had no intention of being used and abused by Alphas with no understanding of the concept of consent.
She had to find a way out of this place, with or without Castor’s help.
To her relief, none of the other women appeared interested in speaking with her. Most of them were older than she was and had clearly been here for a significant portion of their lives. Dharia was the only other one similar to Aura in age, which likely accounted for her eagerness to be friendly. If anything, the women here seemed entirely lost to their own little worlds.
Aura walked around the pool in endless circles as her mind whirled. Food had been brought and laid out on a table at the far side of the room, but she had little appetite. When she had approached the large doors, the locked barrier mocked her. She had attempted to push against the doors, testing their strength, and they hadn’t moved so much as a millimeter.
She was trapped.
The guest that Castor had promised her finally arrived a few afternoons later and was more of a surprise than Aura expected.
When the woman entered the pavilion, escorted by burly guards who quickly shut the door behind them, Aura’s gaze was immediately drawn to the baby in her arms. Infants were not a common sight on the Citadel and only a small number survived to later childhood. Aura had never really considered the possibility of a child of her own, but found her gaze drawn to the shifting bundle that made strange sounds.
“You must be Aura.” The stranger’s voice was light and melodic like a breeze whispering across the surface of the heated pool. “I’m Ianthe. Let’s find somewhere to chat.”
Suspicion tightened Aura’s lips. “Did Castor send you?”
“I insisted, thinking you might want the diversion.” Ianthe breezed past on a wave of light perfume. “Is this room here yours?”
“Yes.” Aura had no choice but to follow the other woman into her small bedroom. She sat on the bed, while Ianthe took a seat at a small table across from her. “Who are you to Castor?”
“My mate is responsible for your rescue from the Forbidden Zone.” Ianthe eyed her with a gaze gleaming with intelligence. “Although I don’t expect you to thank him for it.”
“So you know how I came to be here?”
“In broad strokes.” The baby shifted in her arms and Ianthe leaned over to shush it, rocking the bundle gently on her lap. “It’s a little hard to believe, if I’m being honest. I had no idea that other sectors had conquered space travel, or that there are people living out there among the stars.”
She made it sound much more romantic than the reality, Aura thought. “No one up there has any idea that civilization still exists on the planet’s surface. It’s been generations since we’ve had any contact with the outside world. The elders tell stories about it sometimes, but those always sounded more like myths than reality.”
“And now you’re here. It must be quite a shock.”
Fabric from the bedspread bunched under her hands as Aura’s fists clenched in an unconscious movement. “I want to go home. Castor won’t help me get back.”
“He made it sound like the station was falling apart, full of starving people and rot. Why would you want to go back there?”
Aura felt her hackles rise. “The Citadel is my home. My family is there.”
Ianthe’s eyebrows went up, her expression curious. “Your family?”
“Auntie Nona and the twins. I’m the only one who can take care of them.” Inexplicable tears burned in her eyes, even as frustration remained the dominant emotion. “I can’t stay here.”
Standing, Ianthe came to the bed and placed a comforting hand on Aura’s shoulder. The baby squirmed between them, its weight oddly comforting. Aura hated that a baby was enough to distract her from her misery, even for just a moment.
“It may not seem like it, but this is among the best places that you could find yourself. Things could be significantly worse for an Omega.”
“Omega,” Aura spat the word out like it tasted bad in her mouth. “If I never hear that word again it will be too soon. There is no such thing as Omegas or Alphas on the Citadel. No matter how much we struggled, that alone makes it better.”
A brief expression of shock crossed Ianthe’s face. As if sensing its mother’s swift change in mood, the baby let out a sharp cry and took several minutes to finally quiet. “I had no idea,” she finally said after the noise ceased. “How is your society structured without dynamics to guide it?”
“People scavenge and trade. Some have the knowledge to grow food in the hydroponic garden or work the water reclaimers. Nona makes blankets out of scavenged fibers that we sell for rations. There are bad people, but nothing like these Alphas who seem to just take whatever they want without consequences. The Citadel isn’t perfect, but it’s better than this.”
“From what I understand, soldiers from Vigil have taken over your station. Legion told me that ships return from there every day.” Ianthe’s tone was gentle, as if she realized that she delivered very unwelcome news. “I can only assume that many more people like you are being brought down to the planet. You may not have a home to return to.”
“What will happen to them?”
“I’m not sure you want the answer to that question.”
That was enough to overwhelm Aura’s control of her emotions. She burst into tears as the frustration and hopelessness became simply too much to bear. The chances that she would ever be reunited with her family seemed to grow more remote with each passing moment. But she had to hear the truth, even if she wasn’t sure that she could handle it.
Aura looked up as tears streaked down her cheeks, expression suddenly determined. “If the ship that brought me here hadn’t crashed in the Forbidden Zone, what would have happened to me? Where were the Sotiri taking me?”
“Sotiri? You mean the soldiers from Vigil.” Ianthe sighed and hugged her baby closer to herself, as if using it as a barrier between herself and the darkness of the conversation. “I don’t know for sure. But there’s only one reason I can think of that Vigil would deploy a technology that awakens dormant dynamics and then take Omegas from the station.” She hesitated, as if unsure how to phrase the next part. “Omegas are valuable. Many Alphas would kill for the chance to claim one for their own.”
“You mean slavery.” Even to her own ears, Aura’s voice sounded like a harsh whisper. “They want to own us.”
Ianthe shifted closer and put a comforting arm around Aura’s shoulders. “It might not seem like it right now, but Castor is trying to protect you. You have no idea what it means to be an Omega alone in this world.”
“But you do,” Aura guessed, seeing the answer to her question in the other’s woman’s gaze. “Why don’t more Omegas fight? This can’t be what most of them want.”
“Some do. There are resistance fighters who sometimes offer shelter to renegade Omegas, but that’s a dangerous sort of life. I hid my dynamic for years, but every day was a struggle. I’ve never been safer or more loved than I am now.”
“But the choice was taken away from you. How can you stand it?”
“I fell in love. The biological impulses that make Alphas so terrifying cut both ways. By the end of it all, I wanted to be claimed by my mate. I wanted to be his. You’ll understand when it happens to you. It’s hard to fight yourself.”
Aura did not reveal that she had already been claimed by an Alpha who’d overwhelmed her ability to resist. Because he had then abandoned her here because he was already engaged to marry someone else. Any thought of him made the mark on her skin burn as if it had been set aflame. And in the moments when her mind quieted, she could practically feel him like an invisible presence in the room.
“What if I want to fight?”
Ianthe regarded her for a long moment. “You know, I’m convinced that Prince Castor only gave me permission to come see you because he hoped that it would make you more accepting of what’s happened to you. But I think it’s doing the opposite.”
“He saved me in the Forbidden Zone, but now he’s abandoned me here. He doesn’t get a say in what I decide to do now.” Aura noticed the spark of sympathy in Ianthe’s eyes and jumped on it. She had no other allies available. “Could you help me escape this place?”
“Where would you even go? You don’t know anything about Pandora.”
But Aura had already latched on to the idea, eager to have a plan even if it was an ill-advised one. “You told me that there are people out there who might help me. Just tell me how to find them.”
“We shouldn’t even be talking about this.” Ianthe glanced at the partially open door, as if concerned someone might be listening on the other side. “You act as if I could just call them up on the CommNet. Some of them are terrorists. They blow up buildings to force Central Command into changing our laws. They’re dangerous.”
“Would they pimp me out to whoever fancied me, like what’s happening here?”
The shock on Ianthe’s face was genuine. “Pimp you out? What does that mean?”
“Another girl already told me that other men will come to make use of the women in the King’s harem. It’s only a matter of time before the same thing happens to me.”
That revelation seemed to be enough to tip the scales. Ianthe’s lips thinned in displeasure. “Does Castor know about this?”
“It’s impossible to say. I haven’t seen him since he dumped me here three days ago.” Aura leaned closer. “You have to help me find these Omegas who resist. Please.”
Ianthe sighed. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
“Your mate would. His name is Legion, right?” At the other woman’s slight nod, Aura eagerly continued. “I’ve heard Castor talking about him.
“Legion won’t tell me anything, if he thinks that I’m trying to help you escape.”
“Then ask someone else.”
“I haven’t actually agreed to any of this, you know.” Ianthe hugged the sleeping baby closer to her chest and stared off into space for a long moment, as if in deep contemplation. “Are you sure that the women here are being taken advantage of? It’s a punishable offense for any man but the King to touch a harem Omega.”
Aura clasped her hands in supplication, begging with the expressive emotion in her eyes. “I don’t want to be here long enough to find out.”
Ianthe stood, cradling her child close and staring down at Aura. “I need to speak with Legion and Castor. Something needs to be done about the King’s harem if what you’ve said is true.”
Bowing her head, Aura stared down at the gold and cream dress that marked her as part of the harem, bitterness infusing her voice. “Will you tell them that I asked you to help me escape?”
“I understand why you feel this way. But if you see the real Pandora, the one outside the walls of the palace, then you wouldn’t be so eager to get away.”
That was easy for her to say, Aura thought to herself, resisting the urge to voice the caustic words. This woman seemed to be allowed to move freely with no locked doors keeping her as a captive. She couldn’t know what it was like.
“Have you ever been locked away?” Aura asked, assuming she already knew the answer to that question. “Forced into a cage like an animal?”
“Once, yes.”
“Oh,” Aura responded, her anger deflating slightly at the revelation. “Was it your Alpha?”
“They all have a tendency toward heavy-handedness,” Ianthe acknowledged, lips thinning slightly as if acknowledging that fact didn’t trigger a pleasant memory. “But you have to think of the alternative.”
“You say it as if I don’t have any choice but to pick the lesser of two evils.”
“Then I’m not explaining it right. I’d never felt safe for even a moment in my life until Legion claimed me. It took time for me to settle into the idea, but I am truly happy now. The freedom you want is an illusion. None of us is truly free, whether our bonds are mental or physical. And the escape that you’re asking for will only bring you pain.”
For a moment, Aura wished that she had not been given the translation unit, almost preferring the barrier of ignorance that would have prevented this conversation. Ianthe’s words made her question herself and her own assumptions, but she found it difficult to accept that the situation she found herself in was the best available to her. The feelings that had arose when she watched Castor greet the woman whom he apparently intended to marry weren’t ones that she could withstand. Already, visions of him mounting the other woman as he had done to her so many times in the Forbidden Zone assaulted her thoughts.
She didn’t want to acknowledge that primary among her thoughts was a deep-welled jealousy and a sense of betrayal so profound that she practically choked on it. Castor didn’t belong to her, he’d made that abundantly clear. But she couldn’t remain here, suffering the attentions of other Alphas, while he joined himself to another. It didn’t matter how sumptuous the surroundings or decadent the food that was available for her.
Aura would rather starve then be here for another moment.
“Does that mean you won’t ask Legion if he’ll help me?” Aura finally asked, voice resigned.
Ianthe stared down at her for a long moment, the depths of her eyes swirling with whatever thoughts she hadn’t yet voiced. Finally, she sighed and gave a slight shrug. “Perhaps you need to see the truth for yourself. I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll try.”
A surge of triumph ran through Aura as the first genuine smile since she’d arrived at the palace shone on her face. “Thank you.”
“I only hope you don’t regret it.”
Twenty-One
Several days passed in the harem, almost entirely spent lounging around the pool, eating or futile attempts to sleep the hours away. The only difference no were the guards who remained stationed at the entrance who had not been there before. Aura couldn’t tell if they had been tasked with keeping others out or the women in, but she understood their new assignment was Castor’s doing. Ianthe must have spoken to him, after all.
Her life on the Citadel had been one of industry, scavenging for items to trade, gathering water from the cooling ponds that would then have to be fed through reprocesses to make it drinkable, teaching the twins how to navigate the labyrinthine tunnels running through the station so they memorized the safest routes. Despite the austere surroundings, life had not felt like this dull stretch of nothingness into infinity.
Aura was not used to having no purpose.
Her belly now protruded slightly from the rich food that was laid out in a buffet on the side tables and refreshed every few hours. The heaviness of a full stomach made her feel slow and fogged her mind until the passage of time seemed strange and incalculable. She would nap during the day and wander the pavilion at night until any perspective of the hours of the day was lost.
There’d been no word from Castor either, although that came as no surprise.
She hated herself for still wanting him.
Occasionally, she would pass the lattice wall that overlooked the reception hall below and stop to look. But there had been no other interactions for her to spy upon. Perhaps the princess had returned to where she came from. In her sadder moments, Aura convinced herself that Castor and his fiancée had absconded together, laughing over how she had been left here to rot.
The mark throbbed painfully on her shoulder, reminding her that she had been claimed but forgotten.
When Dharia swept into her room, Aura was not asleep but did not bother to look away from her inspection of the engraved ceiling as she lay back on the bed.
“Why aren’t you dressed for dinner yet?” Dharia asked, pretending not to notice the morose look on the younger woman’s face. “I thought you of all people would be eager for a night out of the pavilion.”
Aura’s head snapped up, attention caught, as she regarded Dharia with confusion. “What dinner? We’re fed here.”
“Not tonight, didn’t you hear the bells ringing as an announcement?”
She’d heard the sound but hadn’t recognized what it meant, or cared enough to ask any of the other women. “I guess, what’s going on?”
“The harem is King Rolan’s greatest pride. Whenever there are important visitors in the palace, we’re dressed and trotted out so that he can show off. It’s mostly an annoyance, but at least we get a change of scenery for a bit.”
The first thought that crossed her mind was of escape, that perhaps she could traverse the multiple corridors and halls quickly enough to reach an exit. But that thought was abandoned nearly as soon as it formed. She had no plan and no knowledge of what existed outside of the palace walls. Castor had brought her here via a vehicle that flew through the air, so high that the ground below disappeared into dense clouds of smog. There was little hope of escaping without help.
But perhaps this would be an opportunity to better assess her situation. Getting out of the harem, even if it was just for the night, was certainly a step in the right direction.
