AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Up the steps,” Green suddenly barked, turning her attention back to him and Blue – who had grabbed her suitcase and had it resting on one shoulder instead of rolling it like a normal person. She clenched the strap of her shoulder bag but didn’t move. Gruff and outright impolite, he said, “Get going.”
Okay…
Sandy didn’t argue as she turned to follow directions. Being generous, maybe this was how bodyguards were supposed to behave on this planet. Maybe this was normal for them. And if it was, again, they’d need to discuss boundaries. She didn’t consider it entitled or demanding to expect basic politeness from people.
But she kept that thought to herself – for now – as she followed Green up the steps towards the massive doors. They rumbled as they approached, sliding open on their own into the walls instead of swinging out like she expected.
She wanted to stare in awe – at the doors, at the beautiful, glittering foyer that opened before her – but Green and Blue didn’t give her a chance. They walked her right through and up another sweeping set of stairs, shaped like a smooth ‘S’, to a balcony landing then down a hall, past simple, bright wooden doors that also parted down the middle into another long hall.
The rug under her feet was soft, and it was plain, beige and brown. So was a lot of the furniture, she realized as she looked around. All this wealth, but whoever had chosen the decorations clearly never heard of a color palette that wasn’t neutral.
It was beautiful though, in a plain kind of way, she thought to herself as Green stopped in front of a door and pressed a button on a console beside it. Immediately, it parted down the middle and slid open, and they led her into what was unmistakably an office.
There was a huge white desk in front of a massive, brown leather chair with large, dramatic wings at the top.
And waiting for her in that chair was a small person, giving her a smile that immediately made her uncomfortable.
“Hello,” Sandy greeted, trying to remain calm. Was this her mate?
“Take her things to their room,” the person said, speaking to one of the two guys behind her. “And get Rane. Bring him here; I don’t care what state he’s in.”
Neither ratchi male responded verbally, but when she looked back, they were leaving the room without a word, her suitcase still over Blue’s arm. They still hadn’t given her their names. And now they were just taking her belongings.
But the person in the chair mentioned Rane, so she had to be in the right spot. Right?
She turned forward again, and they were giving her a look.
The pamphlet, besides information about herself, also included some brief information about the species she had mated into. They were called the telfay and they were a feathered, but flightless, species on a planet with very mild temperatures year-round.
She read that the males would have golden skin, but brightly colored crest feathers. The females, by contrast, would be smaller, fully feathered, and brown in coloration. And judging by that, she’d have to assume that this person was a female.
She had no hair or crest feathers. Her head was smooth and softly rounded, while her skin looked blurred, like she had foundation everywhere. But no, that wasn’t blurring makeup, that was just her feathers. A very soft, downy layer covering her all over. Sandy could see where they ended around her sharply angled eyes that had irises of a deep, depthless black. Sandy couldn’t tell how tall she was, but her figure was very slim, with only a slightly exaggerated rounding at her bust. She couldn’t tell if it was fluffy feathers or actual breasts, but the creamy, satiny top she wore was draped delicately over them all the way up to her long, slender neck.
She was not a large female, even if she ended up being six feet tall when she stood. Her body type was just so slender and slim, it was very bird like. However, despite that, she dominated the huge desk and large chair she sat upon like they had been built for her.
As Sandy watched, she put her elbows on the desk and leaned her chin on her carefully folded hands, still smiling at her with an oddly malevolent gleam in her eyes. Her long, loose sleeves were tight at the wrists, keeping them from falling down, covering her very modestly – at least from the top as far as Sandy could see. It was the same kind of clothing that Sandy would wear – though her own was less fancy and silky.
Who was this? The malevolent tension suggested she wasn’t friendly, but the satisfaction in her eyes suggested that she was pleased to see Sandy in some weird way. She also hadn’t bothered to introduce herself. She just looked Sandy up and down like she was an unfeeling art piece in a museum for her to judge.
Sandy didn’t bother to try greeting her again. She met her softly hostile gaze with an unyielding one of her own. Maybe she didn’t inherit her grandmother’s sass, but she had definitely inherited her stubbornness. If this unknown woman wanted to play some kind of battle of wills staring game, then Sandy wasn’t going to be the first to break the silence.
“I was wondering what kind of human we would get,” the stranger finally said. “I didn’t really expect much from such a notoriously vulgar species, but you actually dress rather appropriately. I suppose someone must have coached you in the decorum of a proper telfay lady.”
Sandy had never resented her grandma wardrobe so much as she did in this moment. She had never worn a bikini in her life, but the smugness being directed at her made her wish she owned one. Which was petty and childish, but that absolutely dehumanizing, judging look in this female’s eyes stirred something in her that she knew her grandmother would find hilarious.
“And you’re quiet too,” the female continued. “Lovely. You’ll do fine.”
Sandy’s eye twitched. Why did it sound like she was someone being hired for a job but just barely met the minimum requirements for it?
“My name is Elffa,” the stranger finally said, sitting back in her large chair like a queen on her throne. “You may call my Tilla Elffa, or just tilla. It’s a way of formally addressing your betters. I suppose it would be alright for you to call me monna – which means ‘mother’. Though I’d rather you didn’t. That will only be acceptable if we’re in company.”
Oh, sweet cheese on a cracker, please don’t say that this was her monster-in-law.
Elffa’s brow pinched in annoyance. “Being quiet is a good trait, but you will respond when I’m speaking to you, do you understand?”
She hadn’t even bothered to ask her name. She probably knew it, of course, but it still spoke volumes as to what kind of person she was.
Sandy still said nothing, and Elffa glowered, opening her mouth to say something else, but before she got the chance the door opened again. Sandy turned as the two ratchi males threw – literally tossed, like a sack of garbage – someone inside.
