The front hall of the Manor was gorgeously impressive, even though Chryssa didn't pay much attention to it as they passed through. She didn't really have the time to, as Zyander and Porluxa were walking at a rather fast pace. Chryssa had discovered that all Lickens tended to walk faster than a normal Terran would. It made her feel a bit rushed, although she'd started getting used to it on the ship.
She could see halls and staircases leading off to other parts of the house. The walls had beautiful decorative paneling, as well as being hung with gorgeous paintings. At some point, she'd probably come back to look at those. There was no telling exactly what the floor was made out of, it looked like stone, but underneath her bare feet it felt nearly as soft as the plushest carpet at House Exotica. That was a relief, just in case Zyander ever put her on her knees - or her hands and knees - on the floor to pleasure him. At least she'd be fairly comfortable.
They walked straight through to the back of the Manor, where Chryssa discovered that it was even bigger than she'd realized. The front of the house was quite wide, but in the back there was a large courtyard which was surrounded by yet MORE house. Wings, she remembered from Terra, they were called wings. At least, they were in Terran. The huge training courtyard was completely enclosed by the house, and it was nearly as big as a football field! This was wealth and privilege far beyond anything Chryssa could have ever imagined.
In the center of the courtyard, a hulking blonde Terran was fighting with two Lickens. They were all bared to the waist, making it easy to discern who was who. The Terran had broad shoulders, muscles upon muscles, and a bald shaved head. A small trickle of blood adorned his shoulder as he spun and cut at one of the Lickens.
Upon seeing the Lord and Lady approaching, a Licken standing off to the side, rang a bell. Immediately the combatants stopped fighting and turned to face the approaching master and mistress of the house.
Looking at the Terran's face, Chryssa was suddenly swamped with disappointment. She hadn't even realized how much she'd hoped, in the back of her mind, that perhaps Lady Porluxa's
prine
would be her brother Jed. After all, he'd been taking to the gladiator rings as a fighter, and she'd discovered from her research on board Zyander's ship that he'd done well there. Unfortunately, the records for the gladiator rings were only updated about once every three Terran months, which meant that she had no idea how he'd fared after that last update. Part of her had been hoping for a miracle.
But the Terran in front of her was definitely not her brother.
She sighed, trying to push back the emotion, knowing that it wasn't entirely rational. Finding Jed, here in the very same manor that she was now to stay in, would have been a coincidence of epic proportions.
The Terran came forward, bowing to Porluxa and giving Zyander an even deeper bow. The expression on his face revealed his own trepidation at meeting the lord of the manor, probably wondering a lot of the same things that Chryssa had before meeting Porluxa. The glowing mark on his shoulder meant that he had his own status, but it was still hard for Chryssa to understand exactly what that status meant. She was feeling much better now, having met Porluxa, and seen for herself that the female wasn't at all jealous.
In fact, Chryssa's main concern now was that Porluxa would want to join her and Zyander more often - and not to touch Zyander. Chryssa wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that.
Stepping forward, Porluxa pressed herself against the sweaty Terran's body as she introduced him. "My I present my
prine,
Marcus. Marcus, this is my child-giver, Lord Zyander Plath, and his
prinessa
Chryssa."
Obviously about to give his greeting to Zyander, Marcus' attention suddenly jerked back to Chryssa, his hazel eyes widening in surprise. "Chryssa? From Terra? Do you have a brother named Jed?"
The second Marcus had said her name, Zyander had let out a low growl, but Chryssa had been too surprised to respond until the
prine
said Jed's name.
"Jed?" Painful, needy hope burst in her chest as she practically lept forward, reaching out to grab onto Marcus' arm. Her fingers dug in as she stared up at his face, imploringly. "You know Jed?"
She shrieked as she was suddenly hauled away from the man, a band of iron pressing against her stomach and holding her tightly against Zyander. Immediately she started to struggle, even though she was aware now of both Lickens growling. Screw them, Marcus knew something about Jed!
Kicking at Zyander's ankles, she leaned forward, looking pleadingly at Marcus, who now had his arm around Porluxa and was stroking her shoulder. A slightly amused smile was on his face as he looked down at the scowling female Licken.
"Tell me about Jed!" Chryssa demanded, digging her nails hard enough into Zyander's arm that he actually winced. He was lucky it was just her nails, if he tried to actually keep her from talking to Marcus she'd do a hell of a lot worse!
"I trained with him," Marcus said, looking back at her, although he still stroked Porluxa's shoulder with a soothing kind of caress, as if to reassure her that he had no sexual interest in Chryssa. Despite the fact that Chryssa's loop dress was now hanging half off of her, despite Zyander's attempts to tuck it back into place. Figured that NOW he wanted her to be covered more modestly. "We were together almost from the beginning, and we went all the way to Galacton 3, where this one found me and picked me to take home with her." The cheeky grin that he gave Porluxa made it clear that he had affection for her and that he appreciated being made her
prine
.
"He's alright?" Tears sparked in Chryssa's eyes, as she felt relief flooding through her. As of a few weeks ago when Porluxa bought Marcus, her brother was still alive?"
"As well as can be," Marcus said, looking at her with sympathy on his face. Somehow that didn't make her feel better. "He's a very good fighter... but no one lasts forever in the rings unless they win the Gauntlet." Which, Chryssa knew from her research, was practically impossible. The odds were in no one's favor when it came to the Gauntlet, which was little more than a series of fights to the death, ending in one champion. Gladiator fights in the ring didn't require the death of the fighters, unless they went through the Gauntlet to try and earn their freedom. It was held only once a year.
