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“Sure thing.”
Was it his imagination, or was there actually a flicker of disappointment in Jade’s eyes when he hurried from their bed and grabbed a fresh uniform on his way?
AFTER THEIR MEAL, WHICH turned out to be a very late supper, Ardol offered to give Jade a tour of the ship. To his surprise, she asked to stay in his quarters. Their quarters.
“Tomorrow we can do all the stuff that’s expected of newlyweds. Blush and giggle and make small talk with people.” Jade put on a plain, sky-blue robe in some simple fabric that made the blue in her eyes stand out.
“Of course. A tour, meeting the ship’s other occupants, and having Claude and Griselda over... That should keep you busy for a little bit.”
“I can start learning about Leopardine culture. And cubs.”
Ardol’s tongue suddenly stuck to the roof of his mouth as if he’d been eating too many sapsweets. “Ah. Yes.”
“Layla’s kids are cute. Do you think I could hold one?” Jade asked softly.
“I believe she’d allow it. If you’d like to research my specific district, I’ll give you the code to my database computer. We are in the Rekiwe District. Rekiwe is translated from ancient Steppe dialects. It means ‘beautiful stone.’ My district is wealthy in terms of hard stone quarries. What? Why are you smiling like that?”
“Sorry.” Jade quickly reached for the cup of fizzy citrine juice Kamau had provided.
“No! Don’t stop. I love it.” Ardol smiled back, realizing with a pleasantly confused pang that he did love her smile. It wasn’t just nice to see, it was rare to see a real, genuine smile from this calm, hardened Queen. He had grown up surrounded by riches that he never had to work for, but Jade... Jade made him work for every ounce of herself, and by Bastet, he was actually enjoying the challenge.
“Well, your homeland’s name means beautiful stone. And I’m Jade. Jade is a beautiful stone.” She tapped her fingers nervously on the table. “That’s silly. There’s no point in making that comparison. I don’t know why I did it.” Her eyes traveled away from his, studying the crumbs left on their dishes.
“I can’t believe I never realized that!” Ardol wanted to reach for her hand in excitement, but he didn’t. “Jade! My beautiful stone! My home.”
“Well, at least I’ll fit in,” she joked, the dead-eyed smile back in place.
Ardol racked his brains. He wanted to bring the real smile back, the lively, beautiful smile. “Well, you will once we ensure you look the part. There are few Queens to begin with, but a Queen who will one day be married to the District Lord of Rekiwe District? You will need some more suitable clothes.”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” Jade bristled.
Ardol rolled his chair to the database computer and motioned for her to join him. “You don’t have nearly enough of them, nor enough jewels. Would you like to help me pick out your new wardrobe, my Queen?”
She practically flew into his lap. “Heck, yes!”
JADE KEPT MENTALLY adding credits as Ardol ordered more and more clothing, accessories, fabric, and jewels from around the Felix Orbus Galaxy.
“As the Fright Coordinator, I know all the tricks. Some will arrive before we leave to see my father, and some will arrive while we’re there.”
“You don’t have to do this. This is too expensive,” Jade said for the fifth time.
Again, he ignored her warning. “Oh, it’s no trouble. My father used my...” Ardol stopped speaking, cleared his throat, and tried again. “I was one of a litter of three cubs. Before Queen Fever, sons were more useful than daughters to noble families like mine. Especially with multiple wives having multiple cubs every few years—”
“Say what? How many siblings do you have?”
Ardol frowned. “Sixteen—surviving.”
Jade worried that she would never regain use of her voice. She fully understood the meaning of the word speechless.
“I was the eldest of twenty-four. My full sisters, the ones I was born with, had large dowries as the eldest female cubs. Now that there are so few surviving Queens of marrying age, dowries of the dead have been given to their surviving brothers to use as bride prices. My father would have had to give much more than that for Cala if she hadn’t already been promised to me before the virus. As it is, the money isn’t in use, and it should be yours if it belongs to anyone. I’ll use it to spoil you.”
She liked spoiling. This bride price shit? Not so much. “Your people pay for women?”
“It’s an archaic custom, but then again, so is a dowry.” Ardol rubbed the crease between his brows. “The more I see of other systems, the stranger my own seems. Have I offended you?”
“Some part of me was offended—but Sapien-Three is no different. People buy people’s ‘services’ all the time. Depending on the service, they might as well own the person.”
The crease deepened, and Ardol made a strangled, scraping sound in the back of his throat. “Like buying your contract and asking you to be my bride?”
