and bitter. “I was so naïve. I had no idea what she meant by working but I figured it out when my mom… when she…”
“When she what?” I was starting to feel sick to my stomach but what I was thinking could not be true. No parent would do that to their child.
“She dressed me up in her prettiest dress and she did my makeup and hair and then she and my dad drove me to a hotel. The guy was waiting for us in the lobby and he…”
She swallowed hard and I could hear the click of her throat. “He looked me over and said that my mom had done a good job, that I looked real pretty and… older.”
I reached out and pulled her into my lap, looping my arms and my tail around her waist and kissing her throat. “My sweet sadora, I am so sorry.”
She stared across the room, her throat working and a tear sliding down her cheek. I wiped it away as she said, “We went up to the room and I think I must have been in some kind of denial before this because I suddenly knew for certain what they wanted me to do as we stepped out of the elevator. I was so scared, Galan. I started to cry and I…”
Shame practically radiated from her. “In the hallway outside of the room, I lost my nerve and I tried to run. But my dad caught me before I even made it to the elevator. I begged him not to make me do this and he said… he said that if I didn’t, Esther would die.”
Rage made my tail squeeze around Ellis’s waist, and I forced myself to relax. Being angry and wishing to gut Ellis’s father with my sword would not help my sadora now.
“My mom told me that all I had to do was smile at the Draax and be friendly and just… just close my eyes and try to relax. She said it would hurt less if I didn’t tense up.”
I pulled her even closer, my chest aching as I imagined how afraid and alone my sadora must have felt.
She rested her head on my chest and I stroked her soft hair. “I was scared, but I went into the room with my parents. There were two Draax in the room and they were huge and scary looking, and I was so afraid I thought I might wet my pants. But I didn’t want my sister to die so I tried to smile at them and tried to look pretty and happy. We couldn’t understand the Draax, but the man had translators, so he spoke with them for us.”
She paused and I kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back as my tail thumped against her hip. She took a deep breath. “The Draax looked at me and they – they got really angry. They started arguing with the man, I think, and he just kept saying that I was in perfect health and was willing to spend the night with them.”
“Asshole,” I said. I rarely used Earth’s insults, but my anger couldn’t be contained.
“The Draax kept saying one word over and over… ukana. They argued for only a few minutes and then the Draax walked out of the room. When my dad asked what happened, the guy said that the Draax didn’t want me. My mom asked what ukana meant and the man said it meant ugly. The Draax thought I was too ugly to sleep with.”
“It does not mean ugly,” I said immediately.
“I felt so ashamed,” Ellis said. “But the man said he would find different Draax.”
“Krono, how many times did they try?”
“Three more times,” Ellis said. “Each time there were two Draax, and each time they got really angry as soon as they saw me and started yelling ukana at the guy before they stormed out.”
She took a deep and shuddering breath. “After the fourth set of Draax wouldn’t trade juice for me, the guy got pissed and said it was pointless to keep trying. Said that all the Draax would find me too skinny and ugly. My parents begged him to keep looking for more, but he refused. He said it was a waste of his time.”
Her small body curled into mine and I held her tight, wishing I could take away the pain I could hear in her voice. “My parents were so upset with me. I said I was sorry and