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Ardol nodded. “I see we’re not the only ones sneaking off.” His chin jutted toward the pretty Canid with rusty red fur. She and the blonde human male were holding hands as they slid into the shadows around the corner.
“Your crew members?”
“Mm. Skyla and Dax. It’s a diverse crew. You’ll fit in. You’ll be the fifth human onboard.”
“Excellent. And on Leopardine-One?”
“Initially, you’ll be the only human Queen, but if Doctor Marcus’ work continues to be successful, I imagine more humans might accept positions on Leopardine-One.”
“Is interspecies marriage tolerated there like it is here?” Jade demanded.
“Hm. Well, hard to say since it’ll be new. It’s not illegal.”
Jade let out a scoffing laugh. “Not illegal and accepted are two different things.”
Ardol suddenly pressed close to her, his chest against her back, paws on her waist. “I will be the District Lord. You will be in one of the safest and most revered households on the planet. What I say is what will be done. If I say my wife is to be worshiped like the jewel she is, then she shall be.”
Power was intoxicating. The words were intoxicating. Someone to defend her. Protect her.
For a second, she sagged back against him, letting his paws travel up her middle and rest under her breasts.
A nice fantasy, but one she’d put away a long, long time ago.
“If I don’t like it there—”
“Then I will rearrange the world until you do like it there.”
“Why?” Don’t ask, idiot. Just let him do it. Isn’t this the kind of security and power you wanted from this arrangement?
“What do you mean, why? This is how Kings treat their Queens.”
An empty laugh escaped her. “Not where I’m from.”
“Then why in Bastet’s name would you care to go back? At least on my planet, people will have manners.”
She supposed she couldn’t argue with that. Jade knew firsthand that people on Sapien-Three were often rude and thoughtless toward her, and they were the exact same species.
“This is it?”
Jade blinked and realized their path had led them down the street to the lodging house. “Oh, yes. Well.” She swallowed and realized that whatever happened next would probably come under the guidelines of her contract. “Come in?”
“Thank you.”
Jade opened the main door and led Ardol down the dimly lit hallway to her room. “I’m the only one who lives here right now—aside from Griselda and Claude.”
“Ah. So we’re alone?”
Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that. What are you afraid of? You are going to fly off alone with him to another planet, right?
Ardol paused, rocking from foot to foot, tail tapping the wooden floor behind him. “In my culture, unmarried Queens and Knights are supervised when they court. I suppose it’s different on Sapien-Three?”
Jade nodded and unlocked her door. “No one courts, for one thing. For another...” How to explain that her virtue was worthless at this point without making him reconsider their arrangement? “Look, I know you accepted my contract when I offered it for your position. Did you read my employment history?” She stepped inside, and he trailed her like a tall, golden shadow.
Ardol’s eyes glowed in the darkness of her room. It was eerie to see the green-gold following her. “Yes. I read it.”
“Do they have Pleasure Parks where you—”
“No.” His voice was sharp and bitter. “Well, not that I’m aware of. If we did, we don’t anymore. Keeping large groups of Queens together proved fatal during the outbreak of Queen Fever. Humans can’t catch the virus, or so I’ve heard.”
