to eat a faun.
I don’t bother to ask the room for the hour. It informed me when my latest imprisonment first begun that I no longer have access to the holocomm or any of the room’s voice command functions.
Earlier in the night when I fell asleep, I’d thought maybe D’Rek was trying to bore me to death, since there’s absolutely nothing in the way of entertainment in these rooms. But now I wonder if he’s trying to starve me to death.
Just when I’m thinking about going to the front door and banging on it until someone comes back here to tell me what the hell is going on, Amethyst and Citrine come in.
“Hey, you two!” I say, my voice enthusiastic even though our relationship hasn’t warmed up much since I woke up in here over a month ago. They still don’t have translator chips, still haven’t formally introduced themselves with names, and still talk about me in the third person like I’m not even there.
But I can see they have a tray of food with them, so guess what? These two bitches are now my best damn friends.
I attack the tray of golden berries, meats and cheeses before Citrine can set it all the way down on the table.
“Look how she eats,” Citrine says. “It is like watching a d’funi graze.”
So, the d’funi is a bovine-like animal, fat and squat with razor sharp teeth and an aggressive eating style that sends their feed flying in every direction. Citrine’s basically comparing me to the Xalthurian version of a messy cow. But again, she and Amethyst brought me food, so I can’t even be mad. Or stop eating.
Besides I’m pretty sure I have a couple of d’funi to thank for the delicious slices of meat and the creamy rounds of cheese on the tray the two over-critical servants brought me.
I’ve never seen or tasted these golden berries, but they’re yummy, too. Tart and a little aromatic, with a sweet aftertaste that lingers even after the rest of the food is gone.
“Oh good, she is done eating. We will not have to watch this revolting display any longer,” Amethyst says gathering up the tray when I’m done.
I must be feeling like my old self again, because even though I know they can’t understand me, I point out, “If you two bothered to get translation chips, you wouldn’t have to watch me eat. I would’ve happily dismissed you.”
“She is talking to us yet again,” Citrine says to Amethyst. “Do you believe she will ever come to grasp that we cannot comprehend her words?”
“I have heard that hu’mans can be exceedingly stupid,” Amethyst answers. “I am afraid she might never understand.”
“Our poor Kel,” Citrine says. “He seems to have chosen a hu’man female more stupid than most. Not only is she incapable of understanding the most basic of concepts, but now she has made him the subject of gossip planet wide.”
“Wait…what?” I demand.
Amethyst makes a clicking sound, that I can only assume is the Xalthurian version of a tut. “If I were he, I would return her to her planet and pick another hu’man female to bear his child. Surely there must be a decently intelligent one among the lot—oh look, she is yelling now. Essh, what a frustrating dull little thing she is. Let’s away before she attempts to grab us again.”
Okay, well, that’s exactly what I try to do when I hear they’re about to leave. I also yell at them, “No, don’t go yet! What do you mean I humiliated him? How? Will you guys at least gossip about the full details before you run out on me?’
But, of course, they don’t understand a word I’m saying. And did I mention the Xalthurians are super fast? Amethyst and Citrine zip right out of the suite, the door closing behind them before I can even finish my protest. So, so fast. It makes me realize how much L’Than must have been slowing his stride to match mine during our walks.
L’Than…another pang of guilt goes through me, thinking of him. Who was he exactly? And did he get away from those guards? I don’t know what L’Than did to make everyone, including D’Rek so upset with him, and by extension, me. But I can’t believe it was bad enough for him to get run down by soldiers.
Now that I’m no longer weak with hunger, my mind works busily, trying to figure out not only what the hell is going on, but how to get