I bit back a grin.
This is going to be fun.
As long as everything turned out the way I wanted it to.
Vos’s new obsession with all things Christmas meant that our first task was to find a Christmas tree and decorate the room we would be having our gift exchange in.
He had arranged for what he called a Holiday Market to be set up in the center of Station 21, between the garden and the food court, and our task was to choose a tree and go “shopping” together—apparently a key component of an Earther’s holiday experience.
Valtin and I met with Lola at the edge of the market. She was undeniably attractive—and, oddly enough, wearing clothing that suited the Earther season.
She saw me eyeing it and said, inscrutably, “I know. It’s an elf costume. I was pulled up from my job in the mall.”
I had no idea what an “elf” was, but Valtin’s smile widened at her explanation. “I like it,” he said.
Lola’s mouth twisted and she gave a shrug.
That’s not good—she needs to appreciate him.
I, on the other hand, needed to convince Lola that I was the furthest thing from a suitable mate possible, so I settled my face into a scowl, allowing Valtin to appear all the more appealing by contrast.
We hit the trees first. Tiny aerial video globes darted around the trees and markets, following us to catch all the vid footage possible.
Valtin dashed to the biggest tree in the impromptu tree lot. “What about this one?” he asked, staring up at the tree that towered over him.
I need to counter everything he says, I decided. “It’s too big for the room.”
Valtin shot a glare in my direction. But I wasn’t wrong. The tree was enormous, and the space we had been allocated for our gift exchange was small. And decorating that monstrosity would take far more time than I wanted to spend with these two.
Lola’s gaze flickered between the two of us, and I saw the moment she decided she preferred Valtin’s attitude to mine. “No,” she said. “I think I like that one.”
That’s better. I rolled my eyes in feigned irritation, but Valtin laughed aloud and clapped his hands together.
“Perfect,” the purple alien announced. “We’ll have it delivered.”
“You two belong together,” I snarled under my breath, too quietly for them to actually hear, but hoping they would assume I was angry with Lola’s response. I whipped around to walk away from them. As I did, my shoulder caught the edge of the tree. It began to topple over, and I jumped out of the way—leaving it headed directly toward Lola.
I had less than a micro-second to decide what to do about it—jump in and keep it from hitting Lola or allow Valtin to save her.
Luckily, Valtin was a quick thinker. He rushed in, catching the tree and holding it away from Lola.
“Are you all right?” he asked Lola.
She swallowed and nodded. “I am. Thank you.”
Several other Khanavai males rushed over to help them set the tree back upright. Valtin gave them a few directions about delivering it to the room we would be using that night.
Then he turned to take Lola’s arm. “Are you sure you’re well?” he asked. “Not too frightened?”
Quietly, I moved away from them.
I couldn’t have planned that any better.
Maybe I can arrange for a few more serendipitous accidents to push them together.
A few moments later, Lola and Valtin caught up with me as I sorted through decorations in the stalls, adding several to the bag I carried over my shoulder.
This should be entertaining.
“I’ve chosen our decorations,” I announced when they joined me.
“Let me see?” Lola asked.
I opened the bag to show a jumble of mismatched ornaments. Any tree decorated with these would look positively hideous. I grimace of horror flashed across Lola’s face, but she quickly suppressed it. It was all I could do to keep from laughing aloud.
“I simply grabbed some things,” I said, working hard to emulate my first commander’s most imperious tones. “We should go decorate our tree now.”
Lola frowned, obviously taking exception to my tone, but not willing to say so aloud.
Guess I will have to push her more.
“I think Lola should choose the decorations,” Valtin said. “After all, I chose the tree.”
Without another word, Lola turned and began perusing the decorations. “I think we should have a theme,” she said, flicking an irritated glance in my direction.
“Perfect,” Valtin said. “What kind of theme?”
Lola grinned. “I think silver and purple would be a lovely color theme for this Christmas.”
There’s my opening.
With a muttered curse, I dropped the bag I was holding. “I see how it is,” I snarled. “You prefer purple.”
She gave me a hard stare. “Right now, I certainly do.”
With a snort of irritation, I took a step back. “Fine. I’m out.”
I strode away from the two of them, pleased with my performance so far.
Still, it wasn’t enough to irritate Lola and Valtin. I needed to make sure there was no way Vos could manipulate the situation and push Lola into accepting me as a mate.
I stopped at the nearest information kiosk to get details on Lola’s Bride Game handlers, the people who prepared her for each of the activities.
Plofnid and Drindl.
I had seen Drindl around—she was one of the few members of the Blordl race aboard the station, and she was hard to miss with her three breasts and silvery skin. I was guessing Plofnid was the Poltien who was often with her. The Poltiens were small, non-gendered reptilian creatures with fan-like rills along their backs and a preference for growing exceptionally long nose-hairs from one nostril and braiding them, apparently as some kind of status symbol.
Rumor had it that Drindl and Plofnid were lovers—but if nothing else, they were true believers in the Bride Lottery.
I hope they believe in the Games enough to help me.
When I found the two handlers, they were in the Green Room, taking a break before heading to Lola’s room to prepare her
