the dining table that Omni had covered with a sheet of plastic. “Why would Colonel order them?”
“He hasn’t shared the reason.”
“Well, that doesn’t surprise me. He doesn’t explain his actions very often, does he?” Climbing on the table, I lifted a pellet to place it into the cluster of tubular planters that were a part of the chandelier.
One of Omni’s drones hovered over my shoulder. “Make sure you cover the tip of the bottom leaf with dirt, too. It’ll sprout roots and will make for a more sophisticated root system.” The AI was a huge stickler for rules, following the gardening processes from the planet Aldrai to a T.
I did as instructed, carefully tucking the tip of the pale-green leaf into the dirt.
“Interesting,” Omni’s voice sounded from his frame by the table, this time.
I glanced that way. The image of my face, with the freshly planted flower next to it, appeared on the screen. Two circles zoomed in, one on my eye, the other one on the little flower of the plant.
“The color of lilcae flowers is nearly identical to the color of your eyes. I wonder if that was why the Colonel wanted them here.”
I snorted a laugh, gently patting the dirt around the pellet with the seedling I’d just inserted into the planter.
“That’s definitely not the reason why he ordered them. The Colonel doesn’t give a shit about my eyes.”
“Madam Kyradus, such language is unbecoming of a lady,” Omni scolded.
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not a lady, then,” I laughed.
“You are the wife of one of the top officials in the country—”
“The top official also swears like a blacksmith, in case you haven’t noticed. And don’t you tell me it’s fine because he is a male.”
“There certainly is a clear divide between gender expectations for men and women in Voran—”
“Okay, okay.” I waved him. “I’m not going to argue with you about the socially acceptable gender roles around here. I’m not defying Voranian culture. I didn’t come here to start a cultural revolution. But if I let one or two naughty words slip in private, no one is going to be worse off because of it, are they? The Colonel doesn’t mind it anymore.” He’d stopped commenting on my occasional swearing long ago. “And you wouldn’t tell anyone anyway, would you?” I wiggled my eyebrows at the frame.
The image on his screen scrambled, then a beeping sound came.
“What’s that? Omni, are you okay?”
“Incoming aircraft,” he informed me.
“Where?” I hopped off the table. “Why?”
During the weeks I’d spent in the Colonel’s house, we hadn’t had any visitors.
“What do they want?” I brushed dirt off my hands.
“The reason for the visit has not been shared with me.”
“What has been shared? Did the Colonel say anything? Is he expecting someone?”
“There are no visitors on his schedule for today.”
“What should I do?” I took off the frilly bib apron I wore to keep dirt off my yellow dress with a poofy skirt trimmed with white lace. “Do I just let them in? Play hostess?” What if they were high officials to see the Colonel? I’d surely mess up some protocol while receiving them. “I should get the Colonel.”
I dashed toward the side stairs leading down to the exercise room on the lower level.
“Who could they be?” I muttered under my breath on the way to the stairs.
“The cousin of Colonel Kyradus,” Omni suddenly informed me. “Madam Lievoa Kyradus.”
As an unmarried woman, Lievoa still went by her first name and the last name of her father, the brother of the Colonel’s dad.
“Omni!” I stopped in my tracks before reaching the stairs. “Why didn’t you say that right away?”
“You haven’t asked until now.”
I huffed a frustrated breath, turning to go to the parking platform.
“With all the technology you’re packing in that frame of yours, one would think you should be able to announce the visitors by name before I completely lose my mind here.”
“Daisy!” Lievoa jumped out of her small, metallic-pink aircraft and ran to me as I entered the parking platform.
“Hi Lievoa.” I smiled, bracing myself for her greeting and already feeling sorry for my ears.
She grabbed on to them, pulling me in for a smooch.
“So nice to see you again! Ready to go?”
“Go? Where?” I stared at her in confusion.
Letting go of my ears, Levoa straightened her pink dress printed with purple flower garlands. Her horns, hooves, and the tip of her tail were painted with thin, silver spirals.
“To the mall. Grevar said you wanted to go shopping.” She chatted so