“Uh…how did you find out that you have this, um, kind of pussy?” I asked, frowning.
“I was bred for it,” she said airily. “So IknewI’d be a Sex Pet because it would be a waste to let a girl with asvengllapussy end up as a cook or a maid. And sure enough…” she shrugged, all four of her arms moving with the motion. “Here I am.”
“That’s terrible!” I said indignantly. “Don’t you want to be free?”
“I want mypeopleto be free,” La’le’la told me. “But as for freedom for myself, that would mean getting a job. And to be honest, I’d rather live in the lap of luxury and get fucked every day than go out and grind away at some mindless labor I hate.”
This attitude shocked me, but La’le’la seemed to take it as a matter of course. She told me what she hoped for was a rich, kind Master who would become so attached to her he would never want to sell her and would keep her in luxury.
“EatingGlordiancrème bon-bons and getting my Heat-itch scratched regularly—that’s good enough for me,” she sighed. “A damn sight better than working as a maid or a cook!”
“Well, I think it’s terrible that your people are enslaved to the Korrigons—and so many other people in your galaxy too,” I said, frowning. I wished I still had the Sovereign’s ear. She had seemed young enough and flexible enough to realize how wrong what her people was doing to other sentient species was and maybe even to put an end to it.
But as Gra’multh had said, there would be no more chocolate chip cookie parties with the Sovereign for me. Not now that I was going to be sold to a complete stranger, who might take extreme steps to silence me.
A shiver went through me at the thought and I tried to push it away.
“La’le’la, do you think—” I began, but just then the door opened and Shadrack stepped through. There was another male behind him but not a Korrigon. It was a little green guy, only about five feet tall, who had short black hair and slender, pointed ears. To me, he looked a little like an elf.
“All right, you lot!” Shadrack roared. “It’s time to get ready for the auction—all your future Masters are lining up to see you, so you gotta get into position. This here is Mister Takalook our coordinator and poser—he’s gonna make sure you’re posed just right.”
“Yes, I am. And dear me, there’s quite a lot of raw material to work with!” The little green guy—Mister Takalook—clasped his hands together in obvious excitement. “It’s my job to get all you girls looking justperfectso you can get the best Master possible,” he said, addressing the whole room. “So it’s in your best interest toworkwith me, people! All right?”
Some of the girls gave him sullen glares but many were nodding their heads. I saw La’le’la’s eyes light up when he spoke.
“Oh, I’msoglad we have a coordinator!” she exclaimed.
“You are?” I asked, frowning.
“Oh, yes—all the high-end auctions have them!” She nodded eagerly. “He’ll be certain we’re looking good for the Masters. Remember, Elli—the better you look, the higher your bids. And the higher your bids, the richer your Master.”
“Okay,” I said but I couldn’t share her eager enthusiasm. I didn’t care how rich my new Master was—I didn’t want to be a Sex Pet for anyone but Sir.
But it seemed I was never destined to see him again.
SIXTY-ONE
SIR
“Who sent you?” the guard at the front of the warehouse where little one was being held demanded suspiciously.
Luckily, he wasn’t speaking to me. He was talking to the male in front of me in line—a line which stretched a considerable distance, I might add. This was supposed to be a clandestine pet auction, from what I had gathered by the chatter around me, but a lot of people seemed to know about it.
“Well? Who was it that sent you?” the guard repeated, since the male in front of me still hadn’t answered. “No entry unless you’ve been vetted by a trusted member of The Society.”
The Society?I frowned. I had heard rumors of this organization before—a shadowy cabal of wealthy males who had a taste for the finer things in life. They drank only the oldest and most expensive vintages, vacationed at the most exclusive resorts, and bought only the rarest and most prized Sex Pets. I had sometimes wondered if they were a myth but this was proof that The Society really existed.
You might think that as the Overlord, I would be included automatically in such a group. However, it wasbecauseof my official position that I was excluded. I represented laws and restrictions and—worst of all, to the wealthy citizens of my land—taxes. So there was no way I would be invited into The Society, where the extremely rich did everything they could to keep their wealth intact.
“I was sent here by Lord Te’gum,” the male in front of me said at last. “He vouches for me.”
The guard nodded.
“All right, he’s on our list. You may enter after you sign the agreement.”
He pulled a light-stick out of his sleeve and drew a rectangle in the air. After amern,the rectangle filled itself in with legal script. I frowned as I scanned it over his shoulder. A lot of it seemed to do with swearing him to secrecy though there was something else at the bottom I couldn’t quite read.
The male didn’t even look at the agreement—he just signed it with the light pen the guard handed him and then the guard nodded him through.