The woman looked up at the alien she'd seen earlier, the one they'd called her "mate." That wasn't a word she knew, but something about the word's sound, and the way the alien looked at her, made her feel warm and safe, like the soft fur of her parent's dog, Anuit, when she'd been little. Even Daddy had hesitated to hit her when she was next to Anuit.
The alien was tall, much taller than any Grey she'd seen, and covered in emerald scales. His hands were tipped with carefully trimmed claws, and his teeth were sharp. He had a snout, but it was short, with two slits for the nostrils. His eyes were yellow shot with orange, and had slitted pupils. A line of spikes, also emerald green, started between his eyes and continued, slowly getting larger, out of sight. All in all, he looked a bit like a large headed bipedal iguana.
An iguana in fancy clothing, she noted, looking at his shirt, which was fuzzy, blue, and loose fitting around the hands. Silvery lace lined his collar and wrists, and his fingers were decorated with several silver rings. A rich man. A rich man who looked at her like she was his only lifeline in a stormy sea.
Gentle fingers trailed down her cheek, and the rich alien spoke. "Can I take her now? She needs food, and medical care, and clothing, and for someone to remove that damned collar."
Feeling slightly dazed, the woman heard the remaining conversation as if it had nothing to do with her. It was hard to even pay attention.
The paler of the bird doctors sighed. "She's still officially a dangerous animal. Unless your man can call in more favors, the collar stays for now, and she will be auctioned off with a collection of stolen property later today."
The iguana alien bared his teeth. "She is my mate. I will not allow her to be treated like property!"
The bird doctor sighed. "Think about this logically, my prince."
That pierced the fog. The woman blinked. Prince?
"For years, it's been taken as a granted that your sister, an alpha, will take the throne,"
the bird doctor said. "Leaders both within and without your empire have prepared their powerbases for her rule, making alliances, and preparing laws to suit a galaxy in which she rules as the head of the Basilisk empire."
"And?" the prince snapped. "She's welcome to the throne. I wouldn't want it even if I could inherit."
The bird doctor let out a nervous low whistle. "The thing is, my prince, the thing is, you're not just an omega anymore. You're the mate of an alpha, and, with her by your side, you have every right to the throne." He whistled nervously again. "And the Basilisk empire has no set procedure for abdication."
The prince's scales paled. "Shit."
He looked down at her, his face the golden green of new leaves. "She'll be a target," he whispered, voice filled with horror. "She may be a silver alpha, but she has no training in magic.
She has nothing..." His gaze turned steely. "Nothing except me."
He turned to the doctors. "I need to ensure you will stay quiet about this."
The doctor sighed, and then said, voice resigned, "What are your plans?"
The prince's tongue flickered out. "How long would it take both of you to gather your personal effects and your families? I would like to leave as soon as the auction is over, but I can wait a bit longer. Also, what would you like the official title of your new job to be?"
The doctor whistled in obvious relief. "So you're taking us with you? You don't want to silence us... Some other way?"
The prince shrugged. "I mean, secrecy spells can be overcome under the right circumstances, and I've never been much good at them anyways."
"You're not going to have us killed to keep your secret?" Two birdlike faces looked up at him, nervous.
The prince blinked. "Of course not! That would be barbaric." Absently, he ran his fingers through his mate's hair. "So what do you want your new titles to be? Personal physician and assistant?"
The woman walked behind the law officer, obediently following the tug of the leash. When she stumbled, or didn't walk fast enough, he pressed the shock button on her remote. It was a relief when she was finally handed over to one of the auctioneer's assistants.
As they waited for the previous auction to finish, the woman watched the officer leave, noting his name, badge number, and distinguishing features. She added him to the running list of those who'd been especially cruel to her. Someday, she promised, they would all pay.
"Next up we have an exotic animal known as a human. Removed from a low magic world by the Greys, it is clever, and highly trainable!" The auctioneer listed off her merits enthusiastically as she was led onstage. "Who is willing to bid 1000 credits for it?"
The woman shifted nervously, hoping the makeup really did cover up the strange purple design the aliens called a mating mark. When she looked the room over, she was careful not to let her eyes linger on Prince Melichior, who was bidding on her, or Captain Steve, who stood beside the prince scanning the crowd for danger.
Eventually only three parties were left bidding. One was a tall, cloaked figure with furry hands. Another was a Grey. The third was, of course, the prince.
"Do I- do I hear a-" the auctioneer stumbled over the number.
Slowly, the cloaked figure lowered its hand, somehow radiating animosity.
The Grey sighed and lowered her hand. "I fear I must admit defeat as well. It looks like Prince Melichior is the winner."
The woman bit her lip nervously as she was led backstage. The bidding had gone up way, way too high for discreteness. She was mildly surprised the Greys wanted her back so badly. Perhaps they thought Prince Melchior suspected them. And who the hell had the cloaked figure been? Why had they bidded so much for her?
Speaking of the cloaked figure, the same person, or one identically dressed, stepped between them and the exit. "Hand over the human," It said in an accent both strange and strangely familiar. "We don't want to hurt anyone, but, if we have to, we will."
The woman blinked. We? Then she saw two more figures slinking out, one armed with a sword, the other with a primitive firearm. Or, at least, it looked a lot more primitive than her Daddy's. She eyed the weapon nervously. It was the first she'd seen since she was abducted.
