Warden Egara was watching me with an intensity I recognized. She was not a woman who missed much. Her kind were dangerous on the inside, as if she’d ever been to prison.
Then again, who knew? I didn’t know much of anything these days.
“Okay. Ninety-nine percent sounds good. Now what?”
Warden Egara turned to Warden Bisset with raised brows and an expectant look. “What now, Warden?”
“Oh! Sorry! Of course.” Warden Bisset hurried to a table and lifted a tablet from the smooth surface. She carried it back to stand next to my bed as she read.
“Miss Gray, are you currently in a legal marriage or mating agreement recognized by any sovereign nation of Planet Earth or any other planet in the Interstellar Coalition of Planets?”
“What? No.” I looked at Warden Egara, who was nodding in approval. “These aren’t the questions I read in the brochure.” I had actually taken the time to read the legal questions and conditions required of potential brides. And this wasn’t it.
“The prime has negotiated new terms for human brides based on requests from various warriors waiting for mates, particularly those on The Colony.”
“What?”
She shook her head at me. “Just listen and answer the questions please.”
Warden Bisset continued, “Upon execution of a bridal contract, do you attest that you are not leaving behind any children who are legally under your protection?”
“I don’t have any children. But what if I did?”
She glanced up, her pale eyes serious. “The children would have been entered into the matching protocols. A legal document recognized by your court system would be required, stating that the bride has the right to relocate the child or children to another planet. But as you have no children, that is not an issue.”
“Then why ask me again?”
“Protocol,” Warden Egara answered. “The prime does not like mistakes that will affect his warriors. Therefore, we confirm your status multiple times.”
“Okay. I do not have children, and I am not legally married to anyone. Anything else?”
“Do you attest that you are over the age of eighteen?”
“I’m twenty-three. You know that. I had to give you my birth certificate.”
“Protocol, Miss Gray.”
Bureaucracy. Rules.
Lies. I’d been through the foster system. The court system. The prison system. And now this. I was well past the age of believing anything these women were promising me.
I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. One of my flaws. I had to challenge authority. “What if I was sixty?”
“Again, Prime Nial negotiated several changes to the usual bride protocols. The Interstellar Coalition of Planets has advanced medical equipment, and many warriors are more interested in a lover and companion than the age or child-bearing potential of a mate. As you stated you prefer to remain child-free, that preference has been entered into the system and you have been matched to a mate with similar preference.”
“This is soooo not a dating app.”
Warden Egara looked seriously offended, her scowl creating deep lines between her brows. “No, Miss Gray, it is not. We are responsible for matching our brides to the most honorable of all Coalition warriors and fighters. We do not make mistakes. They have suffered enough.” Turning on her heel, she nodded to Warden Bisset. “Begin her processing. I have received confirmation that her mate is on The Colony.” She looked at me. “Good luck, Miss Gray. As always, if you do not accept your mate and wish to be matched to another, your choice will be honored and you will be matched to another Prillon male.”
Yeah, right. Like I believed that. But it didn’t really matter. The money I’d received for being a bride was going to pay for my baby brother’s college degree and leave him enough left over to put a down payment on a house. It was the only thing I could give him now. A chance at a normal life that had been stolen from me.
“You will have thirty days with your mates to make your final decision.”
“And it’s totally up to me? They can’t just dump me and go after someone else?”
The warden looked truly shocked that I would even propose such an idea. “Oh no. You are his matched mate, the perfect female for him. Interstellar Brides are a great honor and a gift to the warriors and fighters who served in the war with the Hive. He would never willingly give you up.”
Another thing I didn’t believe, but there was no reason to argue. I was going out into space, to a new planet, regardless. “Okay, but I don’t understand. When do I go? Is there a ship coming to pick me up?”