Captive - Cheryl Brooks Page 0,84
ultimately saw no point in making such a rash and useless move. Not when the lives of Moe and her friends were hanging in the balance. “I’ll be ready shortly.”
After Jaquet left, Klara took a bite of the fish. Light and flaky with a delicately spiced flavor, the fish was better than anything she’d ever tasted in her life. “This would make an excellent bribe.” Getting to her feet, she heaped the plate with as much food as it would hold and carried it over to the door along with an extra fork. “Hey, Mr. Nedwut Guard! I have something here I think you might enjoy.”
The door swung open so quickly, he might have been expecting her to offer. “You bet I would. I caught a whiff as they brought in the trays.”
“Ever have fish before?”
“Not since I came to this world. Plenty of fish back home on Rusarck. Been mostly eating dwithans since I’ve been here.” He shook his head. “Never have developed a taste for them.”
“I know what you mean. They’re kinda tough and stringy, no matter how you cook them.” She tested the grilled meat with her fork and found it to be surprisingly tender. “Although as dwithan goes, this doesn’t look too bad.”
“That’s because they raise them in cages and feed them constantly so they don’t have to hunt and their muscles stay soft.” He gave the entrée in question an exploratory sniff. “Still don’t taste very good, though.”
Almost anything was better than what Klara and her gang had been living on. “I’ve been hungry enough to eat it anyway. Tell you what: you take the fish, and I’ll have the roast chicken.” She paused, frowning. “Whatever that is.”
“I’ve eaten it before,” he said around a mouthful of fish. “It’s a bird of some kind.”
Klara recoiled in disgust. “A bird? You mean like a kradjet? They taste even worse than dwithans.”
“They’re okay if you cook them properly. Kinda tasteless unless you hit them with lots of spice.”
Never in her life would she have expected to be receiving culinary advice from a Nedwut. “Do much cooking yourself?”
“Some,” he replied. “We mostly eat at the commissary cafeteria, though. Fuel for cooking costs a bundle, and by the time I go off duty, I just want to stuff my face and go home to bed.”
“I hear you. Stealing food usually uses up more energy than it provides. Having some bird-women bring it to me on a tray is much easier.” Unfortunately, eating any of it made her beholden to Pelarus. She took a cautious bite of the chicken. “This isn’t bad. Better than dwithan, anyway.”
He snorted with laughter. “Doesn’t take much to be better than dwithan.”
“Very true, um…” She glanced up at him. “What’s your name?”
“Harlex,” he replied. “At least, that’s what I go by around here.” He wolfed down the remainder of the fish and started on the dwithan. Clearly he was hungry enough to eat it whether he liked it or not.
“So tell me, Harlex. How often do you guys get fed?”
“Once a day,” he replied. “The Master likes to keep us hungry.” With a toothy grin, he added, “Says it makes us meaner.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Guess I should have been bribing you guys with food instead of credits.”
“Maybe. Although credits are easier to transport—and conceal.”
Considering the rules Pelarus had laid down for his Nedwut guards, the need for secrecy was obvious. “So you’re breaking the rules by eating now?”
“Something like that.” He shoveled in a forkful of dwithan meat that would’ve choked a Haedusian. “I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.”
“Deal.” Klara didn’t know exactly how to make use of the guard she’d befriended—they’d already ruled out the escape issue—but an idea was bound to occur to her eventually. If nothing else, he was more fun to talk with than Pelarus or the Zuterans—a fact that was even more amazing than having fish for lunch.
She ate a little more of the chicken—she was actually beginning to enjoy it—until she remembered what was in store for the afternoon. “Know anything about the fight in the arena today?”
“Some offworlders, I think. Not sure. Might be your friends.”
Klara’s heart took a dive toward her belly. “The Zuteran said it was them. I’d hoped she was only taunting me.” She laid her fork on the plate. “You have the rest. I’ve…lost my appetite.”
He glanced at what must have been a timepiece of some kind that was dangling from his vest. “Won’t be long now. You’d better get ready.”
“Yeah.