Ellis was quiet for the rest of the ceremony. She was led back to a strange room. She had to admit that she was tired of these strange rooms.
Considering the situation, she went to sleep in a large, circular depression in the room lined with pillows of all sizes and colors. She had to say that it was well decorated and looked cozy. When she opened her eyes, she had to wonder why it was so easy for her to sleep. She stretched her body and rolled over onto her stomach. She peered over the edge of the depression and saw Logan sitting on the floor with his back against the wall on the other side of the room.
Ellis ducked down immediately, not wanting him to see her alone. Without the presence of another person in the room, Ellis wasn't sure how to interact with him. It just seemed so... foreign to her.
"I won't hurt you," he said. His voice was husky and deep, quite pleasing to hear. She wondered if this was the little chip in her brain making his voice sound this way. She really had to figure out if it was the voice actor for the translation or Logan's own voice. "You do not need to fear me."
It wasn't exactly fear she was feeling. She felt a sense of fascination for this creature in front of her but also the fear of offending him and dying.
The sadness in his voice made her poke her head out again.
"You are perfectly safe. Nin is right outside the door. You can go out and check if you wish." Ellis gulped and nodded. She propped herself up and walked out of the door. The door opened on its own, much like in a mall and she peered out to see Nin kneeling by the door, so motionless that Ellis thought she was a statue.
Ellis nodded and came back, taking her place back in the small depression yet again. The room was some polished and carved material of sort, a strange sunset color throughout it. It was beautiful, looking like those exotic landscapes you could see in photographs. The ceiling had indecipherable symbols carved around the top.
Ellis couldn't read it but she knew it was Zothean. There wasn't much furniture in the room, just the depression in the ground and a low table like they had sat on in the dining.
The abundance of cushions really made her curious though. And the lack of windows. She had to ask about that. It felt more suffocating when there were no visible sources of light or way of escape.
"I have a present for you," Logan whispered, his tone soft and approachable.
Ellis felt her heart stutter as she imagined another severed tail being presented to her.
"Uh... is Ronald okay?" she asked. Missing body parts couldn't be good for their health, right?
Logan looked guilty. "He is well. I apologize for shocking you. You are unused to our practices and I didn't take that into consideration. For my people, the tail of a vanquished enemy is considered a sought-after gift."
"I..." she trailed off, unable to say anything else.
"Laurel told me that you may use humor to cope with the changes. I will be frank with you, I don't understand human humor or conversational nuances. But I will learn."
Ellis wanted to frown. She had been introduced as a shrew. Not that she minded, but this man seemed to be okay with this side of her so she could continue with her defense mechanism, she supposed. It was better to let her personality known in the first couple of hours so that no one suffered from it later on.
She covered her face in embarrassment. "Please look at me." She complied, taking his sadness into consideration. He seemed to be a victim of this whole process as well. Unable to choose someone he actually likes and taking a woman from another planet as his wife for the betterment of his people. She wasn't for the monarchy, but she could understand that he was facing hardships, as well. "No one thinks poorly of you." He paused. "I need to see your face to know what you are feeling. Please don't hide from me." He pleaded.
She couldn't protest. It was kind of him to try and accommodate her. She would have to make the best of the situation, that's all.
"Would you like to see a present? I think it will be to your liking."
"Yes," she said politely. She could act like a Gothic queen and faint if she didn't like it. Pretend she didn't remember.
"I've been told humans enjoy being entertained through literature and moving... pictures?" he sounded confused.
"Yes, they do." She wondered what sort of literature and movies there would be in this world.
He held out a flat black tablet much like the one Nadia had. "You will find many books on this. Fiction, non-fiction, and legal books, too. I had Nadia fill this with all sorts of books and moving pictures so that you can feel better here."
Ellis scrambled to the edge and was going to climb out of the depression when she tripped over a stupid pillow. Logan came to her rescue, catching her in time so that she didn't faceplant into the ground. He steadied her on her feet and gave her the tablet. After she took it, he backed away carefully so that he didn't startle her and returned to his spot on the floor.
Ellis felt slightly conflicted. Well, if he was trying so hard to appease her and make her comfortable, she would give him some face respect and show him that she wasn't repulsed by her.
It was grievous that she acted that way in the beginning. It went against her ideals. She had to accept who he was. Escaping didn't look very promising right now, so she would make the best of the situation.
She went over to him and sat down. Though there was some space between them, Logan looked delighted. His tail flicked on the floor where it lay beside him. Ellis realized that it was easy to read his body language. He was just an overgrown cat.
"Thank you for this," she courtesied. She fiddled with the tablet and found a way to power it on. "This is a very nice gift." When the tablet opened, she scrolled through it and found a reserve of books. Hundreds of thousands of books ranging from ancient scripts she couldn't read to books and movies that were from thousands of years from her time on Earth.
She could spend hours browsing through all of this and not get tired. To her delight, a section of the library was dedicated to books on law and governance, with case files and newspapers in them.No, it would be too rude to ignore Logan and read through these. She forced herself to give it back to him and sit silently."I'm glad you like it," he said. "I asked for Laurel's advice. She said you would need a comfortable and fluffy chair on which you can read, so I ordered it. It should be in transit as we speak."Ellis gave a small smile. "Yes, a fluffy chair does help. May I ask why you have so many cushions in the room?" she asked."Dorian had to buy a lot of pillows when Laurel first came. She likes to sleep amongst them. She told me that you would like it too." He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling."And you don't like them?" she teased. Cats do love pillows, especially sleeping on them or tearing them apart.
She distracted herself from the conversation and asked the question that was plaguing her. "Why aren't there any windows?"She just had to ask."The planet is mostly rocky and cold. While Zotheans are immune to the conditions, other species find it hard to survive in such harsh conditions," he explained. "The city is built inside the mountains so that we are insulated from the cold outside."She tried to picture something from Interstellar and failed. "How cold is it outside?" she asked curiously."It averages from minus fourteen degrees Celcius to minus sixty degrees Celcius."Ellis nodded. So the weather conditions were like Antarctica on Earth. She imaged the Zotheans walking around like penguins and let out a giggle."Is it always so cold or is it winter right now?" she asked. She wanted to see the outside world without freezing to death."It's summer. The current weather report shows clear skies but minus
He stayed silent for as long as she played with his tail. In the end, he started to speak softly."I have waited all my life for you. I wish to ask you something..." he trailed off. "Can I court you?"Like in the Victorian era?She was intrigued by the man but fairly disgruntled about the world she had been brought to. Letting a man court her simply because he reminded her of a loved pet didn't mean she could overcome the circumstance that led her to this planet. Moreover, a traumatic one.But Logan was sweet and earnest. She understood why he cut off his cousin's tail and presented it to her. He wanted to woo her with it like cats bring their owners prey. She realized that she would like to get to know him better before judging him.He had done everything within his custom and beyond to make her feel happy and adored. How could she ignore that?"I don't know about courting, but I would like to get to know
"Ellis," she heard someone call her. In her sleepy state, she hummed and pushed her head deeper into the pillow. When her name was called again, she groaned and covered her head with another pillow. Something tickled er nose and she tried to turn her head to get rid of it. Unfortunately, it followed her.She cracked her eye open and saw the tip of Logan's tail had slipped under the pillow and was teasing her nose. She pulled the pillow away and saw Logan sitting up beside her. His eyes twinkled with mischief; he looked so playful that her morning crankiness melted away in an instant. She smiled at him and wanted to pat his head like she would a cat."Time to wake up already?""Yes!" Laurel said from behind her. Ellis turned around and saw her standing at the edge of the depression. She grinned at Ellis, careful not to show her teeth. "You two look very cozy. I'm almost sorry to tear you apart!" she said. Ellis blinked and let out a giggle of amusemen
"I have a feeling Zotheans don't take baths, so this is a privilege only humans have." She chuckled. Laurel nodded in approval."You really are highly intelligent and adaptable." She had wonder in her voice. "It's rather weird. They take dust baths," Laurel giggled.Logan smelled pretty good, so those must have worked."You let Logan court you." The words were said more as a statement. "Good on you.""Well, he said it was like dating. As a teenager, I always thought if I could date a man who had the soul of a cat, so...""Well. You like cats but usually, women aren't able to resist Zotheans. And Logan... he's a wonderful guy. If you take him as your mate, he'll make sure you get everything you want to make you happy.""I could see that he gets upset when he thinks I am dissatisfied," Ellis told her. "I was a little shocked by the whole slave thing.""Be careful about that," Laurel warned in a low voice. "
"Today, the special market will sit, so it's the best day to take you around," Logan said softly.Ellis peered around at the open market. Stalls littered the road, covered by tarps to protect from the weather. It seemed so much like a flea market that Ellis felt right at home. People flocked the stalls and bargained and she even recognized some of the alien species from the dinners.Ellis tried her best not to stare but did peek at the aliens often.No one recognized them and for that Ellis was thankful. When she looked back, she could see that the Koln had accumulated a lot of paper in his hands. She shrugged and kept looking. Logan took her closer to the stalls so that she could look and read the signs aloud to her and explained what they were."What is that?" she asked, pointing towards an item that Logan had skipped.Logan twitched. "A tail extender," he said, filled with embarrassment. "Guaranteed to extend the length a
"You are cold." Logan frowned when he saw her cheeks flush with the chill. He brushed his finger over her cheek."It's fine," Ellis argued, unwilling to leave the market. She was learning so much about their culture from this trip to the market.Logan grabbed her wrist and led her away from the market. "We will get you inside and warm. Don't worry, you will enjoy it."The buildings they passed were tall but the walls were surrounded by decorative plans and grass, making a vertical wall garden on each building. She remembered her home town and how crowded and polluted it was and had to marvel at this well-planned city. The only litter on the floor were the fallen leaves.They finally reached their destination after walking for a few minutes. "It's one of our libraries," Logan informed her as they went into a set of doors.The man behind the desk didn't look up as he instructed them, "Please leave your Koln outside." Logan glanced t
"We have a council meeting after this. I would like for you to join me," Logan told her when they stopped at their apartment. She was made to change into a more formal looking tunic and Logan matched her. Logan even put a matching tiara on her head.Ellis felt very much like a Disney princess. She looked at herself in the mirror and had to appreciate how good she looked.Through the winding hallways they walked, Logan told her about how the Council representing different ministries came to a decision and then presented it to the Emperor for him to sign or discard."The political framework seems easy but the relationships are difficult. Most of these people have been members since my parents were on the throne, so they consider me a youngling. It's hard to earn their respect.""I understand," Ellis replied. She meant to observe and say nothing. She had no power at the moment, so she couldn't voice her opinions.Nin strode forward a