Captive - Cheryl Brooks Page 0,78
beneath the surface to rinse away the soap.
Just a few minutes more… Then I’ll get out and dry off. I’ll get dressed as soon as the bird ladies bring me some clean clothes. I promise.
She would play her part in the rebellion. She would talk to the Nedwut guard, find out where his sympathies lay and what it might take to convince him to help her.
“Yeah. I’ll do that.”
Right after my nap.
Moe’s first strategy was to try to make friends with his guard—an idea he immediately dismissed the moment a hairy arm appeared through a slit in the blank wall in front of him.
“Stand back from the door.” The voice was unmistakably that of a Nedwut.
Crap. If these people had any idea who he was—or rather, who his mother was—they’d have no desire whatsoever to befriend him, let alone help him to escape.
“No tricks,” the guard warned. “And don’t bother telling me you haven’t got any. If you got away from Klara…” The shrug of his shoulders was enough to prove precisely how well-informed he was. He might’ve even known about the speed.
“How do you know I didn’t win her over with my irresistible charm?”
The Nedwut barked out what might have been a laugh. “Yeah, right. I know Klara too well for that.”
“Yes, but I am Zetithian. Just because she’s never responded to anyone else’s charm doesn’t mean she wouldn’t like me. Zetithian women are notoriously choosy.”
“True, but that doesn’t matter now.” The guard set down a flimsy plate and an even flimsier cup of water. Clearly, they were taking no chances that he might fashion a tool or weapon from the utensils, because there weren’t any. “Pelarus has her.”
The hunger gnawing at Moe’s stomach almost tempted him to make a dash for the food. Only his rising anger at the thought of his mate in the arms of another man, especially a creep like Pelarus, quashed the urge completely. With an effort, he kept his voice even. “I could’ve guessed that.”
As the guard began to retreat through the doorway, his eyes never leaving Moe for a second, Moe said conversationally, “Tell me, does he ever not get his way?”
A frown wrinkled the wolf-like brow. “For that, you’d have to go back to her mother’s refusal of him.”
Moe grimaced. “Doesn’t that piss you off? I mean, why should he get everything while you guys get all the dirty work?”
The Nedwut leaned back against the edge of the wall as though prepared to chat for a bit. “Who says we don’t like the dirty work?”
Moe had seldom engaged a Nedwut in conversation, but he couldn’t believe they didn’t have any dreams or wishes of their own. “Maybe. But you can’t like living on this planet. If I were you, I’d save up my credits and catch the first starship out of here.”
“Working in a palace has its perks.”
“Maybe. But what about women? I’ve traveled a lot in my lifetime, and the one thing I’ve never seen is a female of your species. Or do you keep them hidden in a closet somewhere?”
An expression Moe couldn’t identify crossed the guard’s face. He wasn’t snarling, exactly, but he didn’t seem at all pleased. “Our females are not permitted to leave the homeworld.”
“That’s not very smart. What if someone took a notion to blast your planet to oblivion the way they did mine? If there hadn’t been a few females offworld, we’d soon be extinct.” He left out the obvious argument that he himself was a crossbreed. Somehow, he didn’t think there were many species whose females would mate with a Nedwut. Not willingly, anyway.
“I’m saving my credits.” He pursed his lips, which was a weird move coming from a being with a long snout and teeth like a dog. “You’d think I’d earn more as a prison guard, but hunting Klara was far more lucrative. Most of my credits came from her. Now that she’s out of commission, nobody will be able to save very much.” With a slow wag of his head, he added, “Everything around here is so bloody expensive…”
“Owe your soul to the palace commissary?”
A snort confirmed this suspicion. “You could say that. Since most ships avoid our planet, going back costs a small fortune in bribes—even after we land.”
“It’s a wonder any of you ever go offworld. What’s the motive?”
“The bride price for a mate is very high. For many of us of the lower caste the only way to earn it is to steal or try our luck