“We clearly see the affection you have for your chosen. We shall endeavor to get the proceedings over with as quickly as possible, so she can be your sheraz.”
“It is appreciated. Take care of her for us; she is our treasure,” Gol, said, giving Tev and his brother a respectful bow.
“We have to leave you now, but shall return in a few days. It will be worse to be parted from you than sending us to the ice plains,” Ric told her.
She nodded, yet still struggled to hold herself still and fight back the tears, as they each bid her goodbye before turning to leave.
She stood there for a moment staring at the door her men left through, wanting desperately to race after them.
Kat almost jumped three feet when a hand touched her shoulder. She spun around.
“I’ll show you to your room. Is there anything you desire?” Yuv asked, picking up her suitcase.
“Um, I am a little hungry and would like to freshen up, if that’s okay.”
The brothers all smiled with obvious pleasure.
“It will be an honor to make a meal for you.” Tev quickly vanished through to another door of the central room.
“You will have to excuse me, my daughter,” Riv said, “I must get back to my duties.”
“Oh, don’t let me keep you, please; um, should I call you Dad, or Father or something?”
The smile on the three, older males broadened.
“Is the word ‘dad’ another term for father?”
“Yes.” She smiled back. How easy it was to make these men happy. “Dad is used as a term of affection.”
Tev paused, his smile quickly replaced with a worried frown.
“We would have you call us whatever you feel comfortable with.”
“I like dad; I never really had a dad of my own. My real father left my mother and I when I was still young.”
Identical expressions of horror crossed their faces. “How could one’s sire leave his child? Such a creature is without honor,” Oul stated.
They were really big on the honor thing, well, for the men at least.
“Oh, don’t fret, it’s not that uncommon on my planet. My mum and I got along fine without him.”
“But Gol told us you were unprotected and were stolen by the Jorval traders.”
“Something I would like to forget about,” she said with a sad sigh. “Gol and Hul rescued me from a worse fate, I'm sure.”
The three remaining brothers glanced at each other, as if not sure what to do or say. They were probably used to handling their rude, demanding sheraz.
“You are officially free. I signed the document myself, so you have no reason to fear. We are more than delighted to have a daughter. In her own way, I know Sarrbeem is also.”
This was yet to be seen. Kat couldn’t help the thought. She didn’t want to worry her new dads.
Dads.
She held in a giggle. She barely had one on Earth and here she was with four. How the tides had turned.
“Yes, thank you, if you have to go, Dad,” she faced Tev, “please go.”
They were handsome when they smiled. Tev nodded and quickly headed out the same door her men left through, leaving her with Yuv and Oul.
“This way, Daughter.” Oul smiled, leading the way to another sliding door. They all looked much the same. It slid open, revealing a long corridor with a few other doors, again all the same shade of yellow. “These are the sleeping quarters. Our sons are down that way.” Oul pointed to the left. “They are out training and will not return until later next week. Our chamber is next to theirs and the third door is Sarrbeem’s. This room, my daughter, is yours.”
She followed him several feet down to the right and watched as he placed his hand on the panel, sliding the door open. Stepping back, Oul allowed her to enter first.
She walked into a huge, opulent room; the center was sunken with a large bed. It was covered in the same red and yellow sheets as in her men’s quarters on their ship. There was also a sitting area with a comfortable looking, black sofa, a large screen on the wall, which she knew was the communications device. There was a little table with a single, smaller chair, and near the other end was a single window, rising from the floor, six feet in height and three feet wide.
“Wow, you could fit my whole house, back on Earth in this single room.”
“You are pleased, then?” Yuv said from behind her, as she wandered through the suite.
“Are the buildings on your planet small also?” Oul was studying her with the same expression of curiosity as Yuv.
She smiled at him. “Not all of them. We like to build big and grand for those who can afford it. And yes, thank you, I’m very pleased.”
She moved to the window to stare out over the lights of the city. “It’s beautiful,” she murmured in awe. She hadn’t seen much of the city when her men drove her here, to her adoptive family in a windowless, airborne transport, which looked like a giant, black jellybean.