Page 28 of Barbarian Daddies

Her walk is graceful, every step smooth and effortless in stiletto-heeled boots reaching up past her knees. Her red skin shimmers in the candlelight, and her eyes burn crimson. She’s wearing a short, tight, black leather dress with spaghetti straps and laces tightly tied all the way up. The final effect is a shameless push-up that makes her full breasts look like they’re about to explode to freedom. I reckon the Sky Tribe men like admiring her when she walks around in these outfits.

Yet she doesn’t have a mate.

Maur used to joke and say she’s a cock-tease.

“Where are they?” I ask Selina.

“Where’s who?” she replies, half-smiling as she reaches the table and helps herself to a ripe plum. “Oh, you mean your Fire Tribe goons. Gone. You don’t have to worry about them anymore. You’re safe now.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I scoff. “I’m safe? How am I safe when all you bastards want to do is forcibly impregnate me?”

Selina takes a bite from the plum and her sweet time chewing it, analyzing the taste and seemingly deciding she likes it, but not much. She sets the fruit aside and glances around the room. “I made sure you were given the biggest and prettiest room aside from mine,” she says. “I hope you appreciate the gesture. You’ll always have the best food, the cleanest water. Our chefs can make whatever you wish to eat, and our servants will get you tea, as well, if you want any. There’s a tea-leaf plantation south of the city that we managed to grow by ourselves.”

“You’re serious.”

“Obviously. Only the best living conditions for our top womb,” Selina quips. She becomes serious and gives me a hard, merciless look. “Abandon all hope, Cynthia of Earth. It took us a few years, but we got you. I couldn’t believe it when I heard you were coming, though I suspected you’d eventually be stupid enough, given we have the only functional research laboratory in Sunna.”

“You knew we were coming.”

She points at the window. “You can’t jump out. I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

She’s changing the subject on purpose. Keeping me guessing and confused while also maintaining control over the course of the conversation. She’s only giving me what information she deems useful for me to know, but that’s it. Of course. She didn’t become a general by being a blabbermouth or unprepared for the worst-case scenario.

I wonder what she must’ve been like before the civil war. She’s well into her sixties, though Sunnaites live longer and age differently from humans. In Earth years, in human years, I’d put her somewhere in her late thirties, judging by physique and strength alone. How many of the rumors I’ve heard about Selina are actually true, though?

And how do I figure that out?

If I’m hostile, I won’t get anything. If I’m kind and friendly, she’ll know I’m playing an angle. The best I can do is keep calm and pay attention. Sooner or later, I may have an opportunity to escape, and when that happens, I will need to be completely aware of my environment and every factor that may contribute to my success or my failure.

“I don’t intend to jump out the window,” I tell Selina. “I intend to find a cure for the plague. Why don’t you let me do that since you already have me here?”

“Oh, that’s a topic for another day. I’m sure you’d like to rest before we discuss the rest of your life on Sunna,” she replies.

“What about Kai and Maur? What happened to them?” I ask again, my voice trembling with dread.

Part of me fears they’re dead, but this bond of ours is turning out to be realer than anything I ever felt for my ex-husband. It’s primordial, throbbing within me to the point where I’m almost certain I can feel they’re still alive. As if their hearts are echoing within mine, perhaps. It’s hard to describe the sensation, but something tells me they’re still breathing. And if they’re still breathing, it means they’re coming for me.

Sooner or later, Kai and Maur will come for me.

“I’m not sure,” Selina says, crossing her arms as she measures me from head to toe. “It’s a shame you bonded with the Hadana twins, though. It’ll make your reproductive processes a lot more uncomfortable. Emotionless sex would’ve been easier for you, but at least we already know from the Mal clan that human bitches can carry Sunna babies to term.”

“Call me a bitch again,” I say, my hands balled into fists. “You clocked me once, but don’t fucking think I won’t hit back if I get a chance.”

She giggles and heads for the door. “Just sit back and relax, Cynthia. You’ll have guards with you at all times. You can move around the building, and if you’re a good girl, I might even let you go on walks through the city. But you’re never leaving this place, and you will fulfill your duties before the Sky Tribe, whether you like it or not. This is your life, now. Best get used to the idea.”

As soon as she’s out, the door shuts with a loud thud, followed by a clicking sound. I’m locked in. I want to cry. I want to scream and shout and cry my heart out. But what good will that do? I need to get out of here.

13

Cynthia

I’m like a lioness in a cage, constantly moving around and listening to every single sound I can pick up on. Voices outside my room. Voices in the room next door. Voices outside. I’m starting to better understand this place, and it’s not painting a pretty picture of Selina’s governance over the city. The servants are all locals and nowhere near as pleased as Selina claims they should be under the Sky Tribe’s authority. They don’t do anything about it, either.

The handful of girls living in the city are kept isolated from the men. Only one of them works in this palace, and she tends to me specifically since I am immune to the plague. Everywhere else, Mina is compelled to wear face covering garments and to avoid physical contact with absolutely everybody.

She’s understandably miserable, and she doesn’t yet know what to think of me either. It may work to my advantage. She’s also only thirteen years old, so nowhere near ready to be forced into the Sky Tribe’s breeding program. All females aged eighteen and up are forced into a sterile living accommodation and artificially inseminated once a year to give birth to Sunnaite babies.

The poor women are expected to carry the weight of an entire nation in their wombs, while the nation itself is either embroiled in a bloody civil war or desperately trying to fly to Earth to bring more of us over so they can force us into the same situation. It’s bleak and horrible. I certainly get why Mina doesn’t talk much. She can barely look me in the eyes when she comes in with my food—but at least she’s a better sight than Selina and her smug grin.

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