Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
The mental image was so strong she couldn’t stop herself from shrinking back against Thrax, trying to get as far from the table as she could.
Suddenly, her partner leaned forward and grabbed a sharp knife-like piece of cutlery from her place setting. With a single move, he stabbed the spider, impaling it before it could leap off her plate and cause havoc.
The speedor gave out a dying hiss and its long legs quivered for a moment before it went limp. Thrax returned his hand to the arm of the chair and Andi breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thanks,” she muttered, glancing back at him.
“Not a problem,” he rumbled. “Though we’re going to have a problem if you keep rubbing your ass against my shaft.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Andi murmured. “I’ll, uh, try to sit still.”
“Oh—you killed it!” Shanna exclaimed, sounding disappointed.
Andi turned back to her dinner companion and saw that the other woman was still gripping her own sandwich tightly. Shanna must not have seen exactly what had happened since she was sitting on Andi’s right side and Thrax had killed the giant spider with his left hand. So Andi’s body had blocked her view.
“Sorry, I didn’t know I was supposed to eat it alive,” Andi said blandly.
“Oh, yes! Because the minute you kill them, they release a foul, bitter flavor,” Shanna explained. “Never mind trying to eat it now—you’ve ruined it,” she added. “Servant! My friend here has accidentally killed her speedor,” she called to one of the male servants in the frilly aprons and shorts. “Can you bring her another?”
“No, no—that’s okay,” Andi said quickly as the servant cleared away her plate with the dead spider sandwich. “I, uh, had spiders for lunch. I’ll just wait for the next course.”
“Well, suit yourself.” Shanna shrugged and took a large bite of her own sandwich, which was twitching in her hands. There was an awful crunching sound and a long, hairy leg was suddenly protruding from her mouth.
Andi looked away, telling herself she was absolutely, positively not going to be sick. In the three years she’d been working as a WLA agent, she’d seen a lot of alien cultures and weird customs and foods and she had never even gagged before. A spider sandwich was not going to be the thing that made her lose it. She hoped, anyway…
“Heads up, looks like the second course is here,” Thrax muttered in her ear. “Let’s hope it’s not some kind of fucking snake soup.”
Andi stifled a laugh and was suddenly glad to be so close to him, despite the awkwardness. Thrax was so dour that people often missed his dry sense of humor but Andi loved it. He cracked her up and made her smile no matter what the circumstances were. Also, she felt safe in his arms, which was a good feeling in a strange situation.
As it turned out, the next course was a kind of soup. It was a milky pale blue broth served in a large, white tureen. The smell that wafted from it was enticing and Andi thought that maybe she would get something to eat after all.
But when the servant reached over her shoulder and ladled a generous helping of the soup into her bowl, she noticed little black things floating in it. No, not just floating—swimming, she realized.
Picking up the spoon-like instrument beside her place which looked like a miniature spade, she stirred it through the broth. It was full of what looked like little black tadpoles, about as big as her fingernail.
The sight didn’t fill her with horror like the spider sandwich had, but it was still disgusting. Andi was used to trying alien cuisines but she drew the line at eating something that was still alive.
“Oh, don’t you like your wow-wow stew?” Shanna asked.
“My what?” Andi asked, frowning.
“Wow-wow stew,” her companion answered. “It’s filled with wow-wows—these little creatures are the larval stage of the main meat animal we farm down in the swamps below our cities,” she added, lifting a spoon filled with wiggling black tadpoles to her mouth.
Andi had to look away as she slurped them down.
“That’s fascinating,” she said tightly and swallowed hard. “And it smells delicious.”
“Then why aren’t you eating any?” Shanna asked, frowning. “It’s so tasty! And the wow-wows tickle as they slip down your throat.”
“I…I can’t eat anything that’s still alive,” Andi said quickly. “My, uh, religion forbids it.”
“Oh, really?” Shanna raised her eyebrows. “And what religion is that?”
“Methodist,” Andi said blandly. “Er, when do our male-wives eat?” she asked, hoping to change the subject. “Don’t they get any dinner?”
“Not at a formal dining event like this one!” Shanna sounded shocked by the very idea. “You can feed your male-wife later, after the feast is over. “It would be rude to try and feed him at the table when all the other Queens are eating.”