"When I was first taken as the Council's pet, I complied with whatever they wanted thinking that it would make things easier if I just went along with it. But as time passed, I couldn't keep going. I started to fight back, making it so that every interaction was a battle. Although some of the Council members were into that sort of thing, the others didn't think that I was worth it. After all, there are a million women on Veon with the same looks as me. I was sent here as punishment, a gift to the Khonsu by the corrupt Council."
I didn't know what to say. I was shocked. I obviously had hated the Council for my own reasons but knowing the depths of their depravity took my hatred to a whole other level.
I suddenly remembered what she had said, that the Khonsu didn't mate with the Vepar because of the gene domination issues. Plus, the Vepar women were infertile so that wouldn’t work to begin with. I looked at her confused.
“You're wondering why I'm here if I can't have children?" she asked, a resigned look on her face.
I nodded, feeling bad that I was having her answer all of these difficult questions. "I'm here to continue what I was doing for the Council. But there's not a Khonsu male alive that won't enjoy my noncompliance."
I didn't know what was worse. If they thought I was a Vepar, or if they realized I was the evidently amazing alien baby breeding machine that I actually was.
Big ugly tears streamed down my face, garnering stares from the surrounding women. I didn't know how they were all handling this so well. If only they weren't, maybe we could all storm the walls or something and get out of here.
I laughed a little bit hysterically. That obviously wouldn't work. Not with the Khonsu in their beast forms patrolling the area. One swipe with their claws and we would be goners.
Then Bruda did something I would never forget. She gathered me in her arms and began to softly sing a haunting melody. Thanks to Corran’s language chip, I was able to understand it even though it was in Vepar.
I didn't understand all the terms. Even translated some of the Vepar words were too alien for my mind to comprehend.
But it filled me with peace. The fact that someone like Bruda, who had been through a life that was a literal nightmare for who knows how long, could offer comfort to me...Well, the world...or worlds as it was couldn't be that bad of a place.
I stayed in her arms as the sun set. Too scared to go to sleep, we spent the night talking about Earth.
"I would like to visit it one day," she said wistfully. "It sounds beautiful."
I thought of Veon and how beautiful it was, even compared to Earth. I thought of the poverty I had experienced on my planet, the loss of my parents. "Beautiful things sometimes hide the most terrible things,” I told her.
She stared off into the distance as a pack of Khonsu in their beast forms ran by. "I know all about that."
We both somehow drifted off to sleep, but we were awakened savagely by loud horns and laughing and roaring crowds that had gathered outside of the corral.
I sat up in alarm as did Bruda. "It must be time," she said sadly.
I couldn't answer her. I finally saw that the other women in the pen were starting to look nervous. They looked even more nervous when at least a hundred of the Khonsu in their beast forms surrounded the pen and started to chant loud savage sounds that shook the ground. It was terrifying to see so many of them in one place, gnashing their teeth. I noticed that the ground sizzled where their green saliva fell on it.
"Do they hunt us in those forms?" I asked in a horrified voice.
"I don’t know," Bruda said in a worried tone. "I don't know how we would make it to the top of the mountain if they did though, so let's hold off panicking about that."
I had become accustomed to the slight buzzing of the electrical fence, so I noticed right away when it stopped. Suddenly, a section of the fence started to slide by, creating an opening. Several of the Khonsu guards came to the opening and grunted at us to start moving. Apparently, they weren't able to communicate in their beast forms.
One by one we started to file out. I could feel the Khonsu’s leering gazes as we walked by, and it reminded me of that first Khonsu who had looked at me like I was more food than a person.
I couldn't help but look in the crowd for any of the guys. Despite my initial doubts, I was sure that they hadn't betrayed me. If they had wanted to use me for a certain purpose, they would've given me to the Council to begin with. As it was, they had sacrificed everything to try and make me safe. I was pretty positive that they loved me.
Although Bruda had said that the exhibition happened in their arena, there were so many Khonsu both in beast and man forms gathered around us, that it seemed like the exhibition had already started.
I was sure the view of the women as we walked resembled a kaleidoscope of colors. It seemed like almost every female there had to be from a different planet.
A Khonsu near me made strange moans as I walked by. Just like some of the more despicable men on earth, the Khonsu grabbed themselves and started rutting their hips like animals as we walked by.
I was going to be sick.
There were females sprinkled among the crowd, and I assumed they were the Khonsu women. They looked worn down, unhappy, and resigned with their lives. I didn't think that bade well for any of the women marching in this line.
I was still dressed in the hospital gown that I had been put in, and I was sure that my hair was all over the place. It didn't seem to matter though as the Khonsu’s eyes seemed to always find me. And it looked like they liked what they saw.
It became easier to try and ignore their looks, and I concentrated on studying the Khonsu city. It seemed like unlike the Vepar, who preferred to have space between their dwellings, the Khonsu didn't mind living close to one another.