“She’s leading?” Lolum questioned.
Zion shook his head “I'm going to regret this, aren't I?” he asked Lolum seriously.
“Yep. You’re young. One day you’ll learn,” Lolum returned.
“If she lets me live, that is,” he huffed.
Lolum patted Zion’s shoulder and then walked out the door. All along he kept his chuckles deep within his chest.
THREE
In her quarters, Sedom was fast at work sorting through her clothing for something to wear. When she had only one set of clothing, it was far simpler to decide. Now, she had an entire closet to choose from, yet she couldn’t find anything to wear.
Garric sat at her table watching with an amused smirk. “You'd have an easier time if you'd allow me to organize your closet,” he mentioned.
Sedom grumbled as she tossed her shoes on her bed along with an armful of clothing. “Trust me, you organize my closet it will be a mess two days later. It's the only part of my life I can't keep straight. My mother used to yell at me all the time about cleaning my closet. No, what I need is a uniform. Something like the Tasgool used to wear,” she mentioned.
“Tasgool?” Garric questioned.
She tossed a shirt onto the bed. She paused, her hands on her hips as she stared down at the pile of clothes on her bed. “Yeah, Tasgool. It was what the Narkoy called our military.” She took up a flexible pair of black pants. “That is when we had a military.”
“It’s been a while,” Garric mentioned. He stood with a stretch, his lime-skin glistening in the low light. “Sortec, I'm your servant. I'm supposed to do these things for you,” he mentioned. “Besides, with your bed covered, where will you sleep?”
Sedom glanced over to her bed. “On the sofa, as I usually do. That is if I manage to sleep tonight. I always get pumped up before battle. The bed’s here for more of a decoration than anything else.”
He wandered into her bedroom and leaned against the wall, near the open window. “For the sake of all… why would you want to sleep on the sofa?”
She grabbed a black top and a pair of pants from the pile on her bed. “Remember that night when your people destroyed my city?” she asked as she took her clothing into the restroom to change.
Her question instantly aroused old uncertainties in Garric. He uneasily shifted from his right foot to his left. “Yes, yes, I was there,” he spoke with a hoarse voice.
Sedom's shadow danced on her bedroom wall as she changed. “Were you in my parent's house that night?” she asked forthrightly.
Garric's throat tightened. “Unfortunately, it was my responsibility to find you. It was only logical that you would be at your own home. When we didn't find you there it surprised me. I almost staked my life on it.”
Sedom poked her head out of the restroom. “I was there,” she grimaced back. “I saw everything beneath the floorboards of my parents’ bedroom. I heard everything, including my mother's screams while your men raped her, using the mattress to muffle her screams. Then they set the mattress on fire while she lay dying.” She disappeared back into the bathroom. “Since that night I have a fear of mattresses. Well, not so much a fear rather than a loathing. I don’t care much for Marisheio or fire either.”
She returned, now fully dressed in black. The panicked expression on Garric's said everything. She disregarded his fear and handed him a brush and band.
“Do you mind? I'm horrible at tying my hair,” she asked. “I probably should cut it short, but I like it long. It makes me feel like I'm still female.”
Garric happily took the brush and proceeded to tie-up Sedom's hair into a high ponytail. He then twisted the hair around into a braid-bun.
“I should tell you,” he gasped a deep breath to calm his nerves. “I killed no one that night. Nor did I rape your mother. I was with Talenvanc the entire night, attempting to locate you.”
Sedom's eyes grew distant, remembering the horrible night. In her mind, she searched through the horrific memory, her eyes peering up through the floor cracks under her parent's house. It had only been two years ago, though it seemed like an eternity, yet still only yesterday. No, she couldn’t recall seeing Garric near her mother. But she did remember him.
The voices! Yes, that was it! There were voices of Marisheio officers outside the crawl way she hid within. She had to wait for them to pass in order to crawl out from under the house and escape. Garric was the man who reported she left Juvin-que to his superior, Talenvanc.
“You were outside,” she remembered. “Though if you didn't wear that collar I wouldn't believe you,” she admitted.
He pulled at the collar slightly. “I'm glad it's good for something other than giving me a headache,” he smirked.
“A headache?” Sedom turned to Garric, resting her hand on his cheek. “Why didn't you tell me the collar was causing discomfort?”
“What good would it do? They don't make these for the slave's comfort in mind,” he joked back. “I'm fine, Sortec. You need not show me so much compassion.”
“It's in the Narkoy’s nature.” Sedom grinned back. “Go see Noral in the morning. Maybe he can find a solution. If not, I'll have to find a way to reprogram another collar.”
A knock at the door shook both from the horrible memory of that night. “Come in,” Sedom called to the door. Her eyes turned back to her bed, now finding her mess a bit embarrassing. “Maybe you could
