Page 39 of The Alien I Fell in Love with on Walpurgis Night

“Are you really going to let your mother and sister dictate when she leaves?”

“It’s up to Madame Georgiana.”

“Yes, they say that, but you know they’re going to make her want to leave. You have to stop their interference.”

“I don’t think Madame Georgiana would listen. She’s very stubborn. She had to see the doctors to convince her that all this was real. I doubt even my mother could break into her psyche. If she wants to stay with me she will stay.”

“Well,” says the older man, “If it were me, I would go to the Grand City Temple and pay homage to the goddess of home. She may have some sympathy. And don’t worry about what the gossip columns say, you will either marry this human to your mother and sister’s dishonor or you will not and it will be forgotten. But pay your dues to the goddesses so that the High Priestess is on your side no matter what happens.”

“As always, you offer the best advice. Walk in the goddesses’ light,” I say in thanks as the slave leaves me outside of Georgiana’s door.

Thirty minutes pass, then an hour. When it sounds like everyone else in the Main House has gone to sleep, I begin to reluctantly walk away. Outside Georgiana’s door, I can see that she is still awake. The yellow light is lit up, but I decide to go to bed myself. I don’t think she’d be impressed if I slept in the corridor. I smile thinking of when she said, ‘I want my husband to adore me.’ I say out loud to the darkness, “And I do adore you.”

18

Georgiana

In the morning, a woman in green with shoulder length black hair greets me, “Gods be blessed Madame Georgiana. It’s morning.”

“Good morning,” I say a bit unsure of myself.

“What in the in all the known galaxies are you wearing human?”

“I didn’t want to sleep naked. This is Axl’s tunic.”

“That’s unhealthy and that’s well, that’s just not right. How did you get his tunic? Was he in your bedroom?”

“No, he gave it to me.” She doesn’t look like she believes me. So I continue, “He walked me here last night and gave it to me as I refused to walk through the house naked from the infirmary.”

“Well, you need to take it off, shower and go down to the morning meal. I will wait for you to show you where it is.”

Then she crosses her arms and stares at me as if everything is up to me now.

I saunter out of bed and go into the bathroom. There I pee and then take a cold shower. I can’t figure out how to get the water any warmer, but I’m definitely not going to ask the woman in green. I can’t be giving away any of my pride so early in the morning or I’ll never make it through the day.

When I emerge from the bathroom, she has already laid out a dress, stockings, and shoes for me. Once I’m ready she says, “Your ID necklace, you cannot forget to wear it. People must know who you are at all times.”

“Do you think anyone in this house will forget who I am?”

For the first time she smiles, but still puts the necklace around my neck. “It’s not that we don’t know each other, it’s just that we like to know where we stand with everyone around us and see it in writing. It’s an imperial pleasure.”

“Humans like the mystery of talking to people to find out who they are.”

I follow the woman in green down multiple hallways and stairs until we arrive at a formal dining room with no windows but banners hanging from the stone walls. The banners say ‘House Zu’ on them. I assume this must be an old part of the house. I see that it’s assigned seating and I sit in front of my name. I notice that Axl is sitting next to me and I’m grateful for that. However I’m the only one here. “Am I early?”

“Yes. I didn’t know how long you would take to get ready.”

“How early?”

“Thirty minutes.”

“So I’m just going to sit here alone?”

“I’ve alerted Axl that you are already here. He should be here momentarily.”

“That was thoughtful of you.”

“No, it wasn’t. He instructed me to do it. He wants to know your every move.”

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