My movement alerts Charisma to the fact that I’m no longer asleep. “Greetings, Kricket,” she says in a shy way as she uses the ribbon from the binding to mark the page before she sets the atlas aside on the table. “Are you well after your nap?”
“Where’s Trey?” I ask, trying to stifle a yawn.
“He’s down on the main level. He has been sequestered with the other Cavars and his brother and father for the past few parts.”
“What are they talking about?”
“I don’t know. They won’t let me in the room with them.”
“You didn’t insist upon being in there too?”
“Well . . . no.”
“Why not?”
“Trey asked me to sit with you.”
“Would they have let you in there if you didn’t have to sit with me?”
“No. Probably not.”
“Why not?”
“They like to shelter me.”
“Do you like them to shelter you?”
She’s confused by the question. She shrugs. “I know no other way,” she says simply.
“I don’t believe that. You’re strong and capable. You take care of spixes and know how to train them to move through courses where you shoot the crap outta stuff with your sonic sayzers. You should demand to discuss your future and any plans they make to protect it.”
“How do I get them to listen to me?”
“Make them listen. Know your worth. Show them you’re capable of whatever life throws at you. Don’t expect them to understand you or like it.”
A warm smile curls her lips. “Maybe you can show me how it’s done.”
“If you train me to use your sonic sayzers, I’ll teach you how to earn their confidence.”
“When do we start?” she asks in a conspiratorial way.
“After I shower?”
She rises from her chair and walks to the white-cushioned bench at the foot of the bed. Gathering a robe that was waiting there, she brings it to me. “It’ll have to be after our repast. Mamon has been preparing food all day. She’ll be disappointed if we don’t partake of it.”
As I don the robe, I try not to smirk at her formal way of speaking. I’m used to it, having been forced to speak it at the palace, but I much prefer the causal, humorous way the Cavars communicate. I nod. Charisma leads me to the lavare. It’s a modern interpretation of a mountainous waterfall. The walls are gray stone, probably quarried from the hills in the distance. Enclosed glass hems in the cascade of water that spills out from a reservoir near the ceiling and down a round granite rock. When Charisma leaves, I stand beneath the rock, allowing the steaming water to pound away some of the tension that is my constant companion in this world.
The water shuts itself off the moment I step out of the glassed-in area. I head to the vanity and touch the stone wall, triggering warm air that blows down on me from the ceiling. I no longer marvel at all of the conveniences afforded us in this world. It’s funny how fast I got used to them.
A long, lilac-colored gown is spread on the bed waiting for me when I return to the bedroom. I eye it skeptically.
“Vessey wants us to dress for dinner. It’s in honor of your first meal as part of the family. I think secretly that she’s also worried that it could be our last celebration together as a family.”
I glance over at her. Her hair is stunning, pulled back on one side with a sparkling diamond comb. It allows for the beautiful soft waves to spill over her shoulders. Her dress is a ruby-colored silk and so thin that it looks liquid. It clings to her perfect silhouette.
“I’ll wear it,” I say softly, so that she doesn’t feel the need to explain further. I understand the need for a last meal.
She offers to fix my hair and I agree, sitting with her as she pulls it into shapes that make me look older and more elegant. Braiding it off to the side, it falls over my left shoulder, leaving my back completely bare as the dress intended. She hands me the automatic makeup artist that she brought with her, and I quickly close my eyes after I bring it to my face to apply a thin, subtle layer of cosmetics.
“These shoes may be a little big,” she says as she hands me a pair of silver sandals. They are too big, but since they’re flats, and they wrap around the top of my ankle, they aren’t too bad.
“I can manage with these. Thank you,” I say.
We go down to dinner together. Charisma directs me through a maze of hallways and staircases to the main floor. The house is a large estate. It could have been used for hunting at one time, because it has that sort of manorlike feel to it that my other residence at the palace had. Linking arms with me, Charisma shows me to what must be the grand hall. The ceilings in the room have to be at least three stories high. Everything within the rectangular room is big. Big fireplace on the shorter wall, transparent walls that rise high above our heads. Four grand chandeliers spread soft light over all the occupants beneath them. Large, masculine chairs and divans anchor the room, presiding over sumptuously woven area rugs and a stone floor of the same gray that was in the mountain lavare.