This changes things. I have to decide who to trust in a flash, and it's a gamble. I can trust Milly and hope she's not lying to me, or I can trust what Lord Sir says and spy on Milly and buy Crulden more time.
Desperate, I reach out and grab her hand. "You have to help Crulden get out of here. Please."
Her eyes widen. She puts down her delicate eating sticks and clasps my hands. "That's the gladiator? My husband wanted to come here to take a look at him."
I nod, a knot forming in my throat. "He's a clone. An illegal one. Lord Sir's trying to hide it. He's going to shove him into the games whether he's ready or not, and just bet against him if he's not. I can't let him die." My voice cracks. "Please. I'll do anything."
Milly's eyes are full of sympathy. "You care for him?"
"I love him. He's not like the Crulden in the vids. He's different. I swear to you he's different. They're trying to make him into a monster, but he's not. He fights because they make him. He doesn't want to be here. Neither of us do."
The look on Milly's face is one of determination. "Tell me everything."
After I spill my guts with Milly, I'm terrified. I can't stop shaking. I worry I've made a mistake. That I've somehow sold out Crulden—and myself—and Lord Sir will find out. We'll be separated. Torn apart. I'll never see him again. Or worse, he'll be killed. Milly sends me out of her rooms with instructions to find her husband and tell him that she's feeling ill, so she can talk to him in private. I head out to the arenas, sick at heart, and find the two mesakkah lords. They sit in the bleachers in their heavy robes, seemingly unaffected by the heat save for a few beads of perspiration dotting their skin. Lord Sir seems to be dominating the conversation, with Lord va'Rin looking on and listening with interest.
Crulden is nowhere.
I go to Lord Sir and drop to his feet, hoping I look properly submissive enough. He makes no sound, but I can feel his annoyance in the air as he touches my head like a dog. "What is it…my pet?"
Nice save, asshole, I think to myself. I look up and focus on Lord va'Rin, who seems as unapproachable and remote as Lord Sir. Dear god, I hope I didn't make a mistake in trusting Milly. "Lady va'Rin feels ill and is going to take a nap for the afternoon. She wanted me to tell you."
A faint frown mars Lord va'Rin's elegant features. He turns to Lord Sir. "You'll forgive me if I see to my mate? This newest pregnancy of hers has been difficult." He gets to his feet without waiting for an answer, shaking out his robes and nodding to his guards. "We shall have to save the entertainment for tomorrow, perhaps."
"Of course," Lord Sir says. "Will you still dine with me this evening? My slaves have been working very hard to put on an impressive meal."
"Slaves," Lord va'Rin says. "Are all your staff slaves? How droll." His mouth quirks in a polite smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "We should still join you for dinner, yes."
"Did you wish to bring your human, then?" Lord Sir asks.
"My mate?" Lord va'Rin corrects, his voice delicate and yet lethal. "Yes, I imagine she would still like to eat, as much as anyone else would." He gives us a wintry smile, nods his head, and leaves.
Lord Sir keeps smiling until va'Rin is gone, and then grabs me by the arm and marches me away with him. "What did you learn?" he asks in a silky voice.
Shit. Right. "There's no melon on their planet? She likes our melon."
He gives me a scathing look. "Did they say why they're here? Why they're visiting now?"
I shake my head. "I promise, all we talked about was melon and…shoes." That sounds appropriately girly. "She wondered why I didn't have shoes."
"Because it'd be a waste of credits, of course. And if you had shoes, you might get it in your head to run away." The smile he gives me is ugly. "But you won't leave without Crulden, will you? You've grown fond of him. Humans really will put their mouths on anything." He shakes his head. "Revolting."
I clench my jaw. "I'll see what else I can find out," I lie. "But she's kind of…stupid."
"I noticed." He flicks a bit of sand off his sleeve. "I have no idea what Lord va'Rin is thinking, actually marrying that creature. Keeping a human is common, but marrying one? Might as well marry an avian, or a feline."
I say nothing to that.
He quizzes me for a bit longer on Milly—what did she look at, what did she eat, what did she comment on about the room—and then I'm sent off. He wants me “out of his sight” for a few hours until dinner, but I think he's forgotten I don't have anywhere to go. My bed in the slave quarters has been confiscated…not that I want to go back there. I know exactly what I want to do with my “spare” time.