Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
At last I gave up in defeat and went home. The hour of the Sweepers was long past so I was able to go straight up via my private lift. I frowned as I stepped inside—I could still smell Natalie’s sweet scent in here—faint but lingering. I could smell Azz’lx’s odor as well—the cold, musky odor of a full-blooded Naggian male.
Well, that was probably just a coincidence, I told myself. After all, both of them had ridden on the lift recently—though of course, at different times. It was no wonder I could still smell them both.
When I stepped out, Azz’lx was there to greet me. He was all sympathy when he heard I hadn’t found Natalie or any trace of her, but he didn’t seem very surprised, either. He asked if there was anything else he could do to help, but I shook my head.
“Just go home—I’ll be fine.”
“All right then, if you’re sure, Baron.” He hesitated, then said, “I hate to say it, but I’m sure you’re better off without her.”
“What?” I growled, rounding on him. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, well…” Azz’lx shrugged uneasily. “I mean, she’s a Blood Whore—they have low habits. What would Naggian society think if they saw her on your arm?”
“I don’t give a fuck what they would think,” I growled. “What I care about—cared about—is Natalie!” Hearing myself talk about her in the past tense made me even more miserable. “Go—just leave,” I told Azz’lx. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“Of course. Hopefully you’ll feel better in the morning, Baron.”
He ducked his head obsequiously and left me alone at last.
I was sitting in the drying room adjacent to the bathing chamber, musing unhappily on the last interaction I’d had with Natalie right in that very room, when there was a short, firm knock on the door.
“Come in, Daw’snx,” I called, knowing the knock of my head servant. Daw’snx is a half-blood—half Naggian and half Braxian—just like I am. It doesn’t show as much with him, though. For some reason he only has one small horn, which he covers by combing his hair to one side.
I don’t blame him for hiding his half-blood hsh’frux status. He doesn’t have the wealth that I do, which makes me able to give zero fucks about what anyone thinks about me. But he’s often a sympathetic ear when I need to talk—we understand each other. He has a good head for business too—he runs my household like a well-oiled machine, which I fucking appreciate.
The door opened and Daw’snx was standing there, along with one of the chamber maids. She was a quiet girl who had come begging for employment so she wouldn’t have to become a Blood Whore, which was her only other option after her parents died and her brother threw her out of the family home because he wanted the place to himself. (Females aren’t always treated fairly on O’nagga Nine, in case you haven’t figured that out by now.) I didn’t even remember her name but she did her job well so I wondered what could be the problem.
“Yes, Daw’snx? What is it?” I asked, frowning.
“This is Cla’na, one of our chambermaids, Master,” Daw’snx told me. “She has come to me with a rather disturbing story that I think you should hear. Go on,” he added, nudging the maid gently with one elbow. “Tell the Master what you observed.”
“Master…” Cla’na’s voice was barely above a whisper and she clasped her hands together nervously. “I saw…I saw something that I’m not sure was right. It…it happened right after you left on your important business this afternoon.”
“Really?” I sat up straighter in my chair and leaned towards her. “Would this have to do with Natalie? The off-worlder female I had here earlier?” I refused to refer to her as a Blood Whore—she was so much more than that.
The chambermaid nodded and her eyes darted up to meet mine for a moment. I thought she looked like a frightened pertha when a carnivore is after it.
“It’s all right…Cla’na, is it?” I asked, and she nodded. “It’s all right, Cla’na,” I repeated. “You can tell me. Whatever it is, I need to know. Azz’lx told me that she left in a hurry.”
“That she did, Master,” she said, looking up at me again. “But only because Master Azz’lx made her leave.”
“He what?” I was out of my chair so fast that she stumbled backwards and would have fallen if Daw’snx hadn’t caught her by the arm.
“Easy, Master,” he said, frowning. “You’ll frighten the poor girl to death! It’s all right, Cla’na—the Master isn’t angry with you,” he added, trying to reassure her. “Just tell him what you saw.”
“I saw…I saw Master Azz’lx drag her out of the sleeping chamber you assigned her and pull her down the hall,” the chambermaid whispered, her eyes wide and frightened. “He was saying it was time for her to leave but…but she didn’t want to go.”