I had noticed, during my stay on Korrigon Four, that none of the other male Korrigons I was near smelled very good to me. Certainly, none of them had Sir’s spicy, masculine, delicious scent. But Shadrack was the only one I had ever met who actuallystunk.
I wrinkled my nose and tried to get away from him.
“Let me go! Let mego!”I gasped, trying to breath through my mouth instead of my nose.
Shadrack laughed at me—more boulders rubbing together.
“And if I do let you go, where do you think you’re goin’ girly?” he rumbled.
“I don’t know—away from here. Away fromyou,”I snapped. “Besides, you can’t touch me by order of Splendara the Third and Thirtieth! In fact, you’re not even supposed to be anywherenearhere! Earth is a Closed planet and the Sovereign has put everyone in this galaxy off-limits to Pet Finders!”
Shadrack’s face darkened at my words.
“Yeah, you don’t have to tell me, girly,” he growled. “Ruined a budding Pet trade, so she did, when she made that Proclamation! But look around you—you ain’t on Earth no more. You ain’t anywherenearit.”
“I…I’m not?”
I had figured that maybe I was in a spaceship orbiting the Earth and had been hoping I could scare him into letting me go. But hearing him say we weren’t even near my home planet made my heart sink.
“No, yernot.” He smirked at me.
“Where…where am I, then?” I demanded, wishing my voice wouldn’t shake so much.
“Gravity chamber attached to a Folding Drive Wormhole,” Shadrack informed me. “Gotta get you all kitted out with a gravity belt and such-like before you can come out and be put in the Pet Auction.”
“The what?” I exclaimed, suddenly feeling cold all over.
“You heard me—you’re goin’ in the Under Road Pet Auction,” Shadrack said, sneering at me. “Just like you were meant to, back when I first saw you at the spaceport. Lady Fate, she takes a hand in our lives sometimes, now don’t she?”
“You…you can’t put me in a Pet Auction!” I snapped. “I’m to be left strictly alone, by order of Splendara the Third and Thirtieth herself.”
“Yeah, well what Her Majesty don’t know won’t hurt her, will it?” Shadrack said, leering at me. “Besides, it ain’t on account of the Sovereign that I’m here—I’m here because Sir Gra’multh sent me.”
“Sir Gra’multh?” I repeated stupidly. “But he’s…he was punished by the Sovereign!”
Shadrack smirked at me.
“Why do you think you’re here? My Lord Gra’multh wants revenge for the humiliation you put him through in the throne room. Chokin’ him like that and then making him apologize to a mere pet! And before you get any ideas about chokin’ me, too…”
He suddenly leaned forward and clipped a heavy collar around my neck. I heard a sizzling sound like hot and cold surfaces meeting and part of the collar got extremely warm.
“What’s this?” I put up my fingers to feel rigid metal encircling my throat. It was nothing like the flexible golden collar Sir had given me to wear. It was cold and heavy—all except for the one spot which was so hot it almost burned me.
“An inhibitor collar,” Shadrack told me, with obvious satisfaction. “It’s going to keep those nasty little Mental Abilities of yours in check, so your new Master don’t have to worry about you cavin’ in his head just by thinkin’ about it. Now let’s get you dressed up for the auction. Strip.”
I shrank away from him.
“Don’t you touch me!”
“Oh, don’t worry—Shadrack don’t sell used merchandise.” He raised both of his big, dirty paws in front of him in a “hands off” gesture. “That don’t pay. Besides, a La-ti-zal Pure One female who was formerly the pet of a HighBorn Overlord and has been untouched by any other male will bring a pretty price at the Under Road.” He rubbed his hands together, making a gritty, sandpapery sound. “Old Shadrack is gonna get a stellar payday out of this one, so he is! Now strip and put these on.” And he pointed at a pile of clothes in the corner of the small, dim room.
Well, I say “clothes” but they weren’t clothes at all. There was a leash to go with the inhibitor collar I had on, a gravity belt, and an anal tail with long, white silky fibers.
I was grateful for the tail, as strange as that sounds. I remembered well what Sir had told me when he had first trained me to wear one—that the white fibers marked me as untouchable to anyone but my Master and owner. So at least I wouldn’t be handled and fondled by a bunch of prospective buyers—I hoped not anyway. While I was wearing the white tail, it should be as good as a “hands off the merchandise” sign.
However, hands off clearly didn’t meaneyesoff. Shadrack watched me strip and get into my outfit, which was humiliating, especially when it came to putting in the tail.
“There’s a little bottle of lube for you, if you need it, girly,” he remarked, leering at me. “Go on and use it if you want to.”