To her surprise, the banquet hall had the same kind of floor the elevators in their hotel had. Once more she had the sensation of walking on a very thick, firm yoga mat.
However, one would never guess the texture just by looking at it—the floor was a shiny silver that looked like some kind of burnished precious metal. It was so shiny, in fact, that Iyanna could see herself in it when she looked down.
This was rather disconcerting, since she could also see the crotch of her crotchless jumpsuit reflected in the mirror-like floor. This kind of setting would be heaven for those horrible people that recorded those nasty up-skirt videos you found on porn sites on the Internet, she reflected. She wondered if that was the point of having such a shiny, reflective floor in the first place—it seemed like something the Lix’dorians would do.
Further into the room, there was a long, high table that looked like it could seat at least fifty people. And in fact, many people were already seated—Lix’dorian males in long, rich robes—each with a female companion beside him. All of the women were pleasure slaves, Iyanna noticed and all of them were dressed as she was, with triangular cut outs over their lady parts.
“Come, come—this way,” Minister Ostensio was beckoning them to the far end of the table, where there were several empty seats. “Almost everyone is already seated,” he explained as they walked down the length of the enormous table, which was laid with all kinds of gold and silver dishes. “But I want you to meet our special guest before we formally begin.”
Iyanna was so busy looking at how the other women were dressed and wondering why no cherished wives were present that she didn’t look at where they were supposed to sit until she heard Dra’vik let out a low curse.
“What? What is it?” she murmured, looking up at him.
But by that time, the big Drake didn’t have to answer because the person at the very head of the table had become visible.
It was the same skull-faced Lix’dorian male with the ashy blue-gray skin they had met when Iyanna had run her scooter into the door of room 2999.
Oh, shit! She could feel her eyes widening as they met and held with the strange, skeletal Lix’dorian.
For his part, the strange male didn’t seem at all upset. To the contrary, his thin lips split wide, revealing those unsettling bright orange teeth in their reverse Jack-o-lantern grin.
“Well, well, my dear—and so we meet again,” he murmured, his beady orange eyes crawling over Iyanna’s bare breasts and crotch.
“Why, Baronet Sin’estor, do you somehow already know our guests from the Monstrum Mother Ship?” Minister Ostensio asked, a look of surprise on his face.
“You may say that we have met—though we have not been formally introduced,” the skeletal Lix’dorian, whose name was apparently Baronet Sin’estor, murmured. Though he spoke to the Minister of Botany, his eyes were still directed exclusively at Iyanna’s body.
Dra’vik must have seen the way the strange male was looking at her because he pushed her behind him suddenly, so that she was peering out from behind his broad shoulder.
“Yes, we met,” he growled. “I’m Dra’vik, a physician and Drake Monstrum of the Monstrum Kindred Mother Ship.”
“And who, may I ask, is the lovely little pleasure slave?” Baronet Sin’estor wanted to know. He was still trying to get a good look at Iyanna as he spoke, never even meeting Dra’vik’s eyes once.
“Iyanna is her name and she belongs exclusively to me,” Dra’vik growled. “I should also make it very clear that I do not share her with anyone.”
“Is that so? What a pity. She has such a tender looking little cunt—it would have been a pleasure to feel it wrapped around my shaft. However, maybe you will change your mind at some point.” Baronet Sin’estor shrugged his bony shoulders.
“Not fucking likely.” Dra’vik’s eyes and the center of his chest were beginning to glow again—a bad sign where it came to the big Drake keeping his temper.
Iyanna squeezed his hand, trying to calm him down, even though she was as angry and disgusted as he was. To hear herself spoken of like she was no more than a piece of meat made her skin crawl. But Minister Ostensio had said that Baronet Sin’estor was a special benefactor of the Botany Society—insulting him would only make everyone angry and lessen their chances of getting the plants they needed to save the Mother Ship.
Just have to put up with it, she told herself uneasily. It’s only for a couple of hours, and then you can go back to the hotel room with Dra’vik and finish what you started and fall asleep in his arms.
Keeping that happy thought firmly in her head, she nodded politely when Minister Ostensio introduced her.