CHAPTER 37

The midday meal was another shared meal with the Livarians. Again they were spaced so that the women sit between at least two males for most of the tables. The only difference was that this time there was no head table, and neither Draven, nor any of his higher command, were present. Mia tried not to think of it as a bad omen. It was only midday, so there were plenty of non-death related reasons the team Draven was on would still be out in the city.

This, of course, led to an imbalance of dinner partners and Mia quickly spotted a lone table, right next to the door, that only hosted women. Unsurprisingly, this is where Leanne and a few of her groupies made camp. She scanned their faces, uninterested in their scowls. Huh. Ashley wasn't there. The question was, was it by choice or was she still assigned to kitchen duty? The idea that the woman might be entranced by Chef almost lifted her spirits. Almost.

“The chosen one has returned.”

God, the woman was grating.

“How's the bitch rebellion going, Leanne?” she asked in as bored a tone as she could muster.

The other women at the table snorted. It was enough to make them sound like a herd of pigs.

“Still preferable to bestiality,” one of them finally responded.

Ugh. Why the hell were the women in this group even selected? It only took a few moments to realize they were the worst representation of womankind.

To Mia's surprise, Leanne spoke up.

“Come on guys, we know what she's gone through. A little compassion is in order, I think.”

Huh. Maybe Leanne had come to her senses.

“If any of us had lived such a pathetic life, we might latch onto this hellhole like a little leach, too. Attention from the Prime probably feels like she's won the lottery.”

Mia didn't have the patience for this crap. “Are you even serious right now?”

Leanne slid something toward her.

“It might have its benefits, but a queen of beasts is still just the whore of an animal.”

One of the guards following her growled, low in his throat. Mia held up a hand, forestalling him.

“Where did you get this?”

On the table, pushed toward her, sat Mia's phone. The last place she had seen it was in Phoebe's hands when she had gone to spy on Draven that fateful night.

“Your choice in friends doesn't seem to have been improved from your experiences,” Leanne told her.

Shock and hurt and not just a little shame slammed into her. Mia sat with the emotions for a moment, letting them flow through. Then she allowed herself a deep breath and tried to step back from them. Long, long ago, when she still took care of her mother and the string of loser boyfriends she brought home, she had learned the technique from her therapist. These were just emotions, and emotions weren't always truth.

No, she refused to believe that Phoebe had betrayed her to Leanne. It made no sense, given that she had just talked to the woman. And the shame and embarrassment that her life might have been pathetic, that wasn't true either. That's what Leanne's words had been designed to make her feel; manipulation at its finest.

Another deep breath and Mia was ready to take away the one thing Leanne was looking for. She gave the woman a genuine smile.

“Thanks, Leanne,” Mia walked away, taking any reaction with her.

Behind her, one of the guards grumbled.

“What?” she turned partly to ask him, watching the shock on the other woman's face before she turned and started working her friends up once more.

“You allow that woman to disrespect you. It is unseemly,” he said. “We could have easily removed her from the hall for her insolence.”

“And what would that solve? Do the Livarians always get along? Always happy friends?”

“Of course not, but such a sign of disrespect from one lower than us would not be tolerated. To do so would allow dissonance in our leadership structure.”

Lower than us. Mia thought about that for a moment, but then let it go. Correcting the man would lead to more questions than she felt like answering. She had bigger goals to achieve.

“I am not threatened by Leanne. She is the type of woman who craves the attention of being set apart and above others. An attitude like hers is generally the result of a deep-seated fear of not being good enough. Maybe she has daddy issues, or maybe no one paid attention to her as a child unless she was being a brat. Either way, her attempts to shame me are pathetic, and given how hard she is trying, it seems like she's the one threatened by me. I feel a little sorry for her, honestly.”

The guard grunted, surprised. Mia took the opportunity and slid onto the bench across from Becky. Her guard backed away several steps, but not before they gave the man she sat next to a pointed glare for smiling at her. He dropped the grin immediately and turned back to the meal partner on his left.

“It doesn't change anything,” Becky told her before she could say anything.

“Huh?”

“I'm not going back.” Becky lifted her head and met Mia's eyes. Hers were red rimmed from crying, but she didn't look defeated. She looked determined. “I worked four years on my horticulture degree. I almost went for my doctorate. Four years, Mia, and I was offered beginning job at a greenhouse. Then I found Shane,” she shook her head. “My life was a wreck. I was anxious all the time and I let myself be treated like less than I was. I think it's time I took myself seriously. I shouldn't depend on anyone else, especially a man, for that anyway.”

Mia blinked at her. This was a great revelation for Becky, but she wasn't sure what the woman's point was.

“I could do something important here. Some of the plant species that Gorth...,” she hesitated. “Some of the plant species I've already acquired for the botanic garden were already exceedingly rare on this continent. Preserving them, and any others I can identify, might make a difference to future generations here.” Becky reached across the table. “I know you're still set on getting back to Earth, and I support you, Mia, but I'm not going back.”

The Livarians didn't look at her, not even her set of guards, but many ears turned her direction.

“Becky...,” Mia didn't get a chance to assure her friend, or make excuses, or any of the things that crossed her mind to reply with. The tension in the table shifted and the man sitting next to her shifted down a seat, making room for a new occupant. Ashley.

Mia studied the woman as she sat warily down and started adding selections of the grains and meaty sauces to her own plate. The silence around them grew awkward. Across the table, Becky picked at a chunk of bread, her eyes glued to the salad leaves on her plate.

“I'm sorry,” Ashley said at last.

Mia turned again. Ashley swallowed something she had been chewing and seemed to gather her strength. Becky looked up at her in surprise.

“Listen, I know I can be a bitch. I have some issues, okay?” she looked to Becky, and then to Mia. “I'm not very proud of what I did.”

“It's ok, Ashley,” Becky whispered, almost automatically. Mia frowned at her. It most certainly wasn't okay, but an apology was a start.

Ashley looked at her. Her eyes had hollowed a little and she was slightly disheveled, as if the situation had caught up with her. Maybe she had lost some sleep over the entire issue. Or maybe a certain Livarian had brought her around.

“That was hard for you, huh?”

Ashley huffed a little, a wry curl to her lips. “Yeah. It was.”

“Alright.”

“Alright?”

“Yep.”

Mia picked at a slice of citrus on her plate. It was shaped like a crescent and she sectioned it into little triangles. She turned a little and slid a glance over her shoulder at the doors. How much time had passed since the lunch chime? She wanted to be long gone from the hall before Phoebe's distraction, or she would no doubt be sequestered in the dorms with all the other women and all her planning would be for nothing.

“Mia?”

Mia pulled her attention back to the table. Ashley and Becky were looking at her expectantly.

“Uh...sorry, what were you saying?”

“I asked what made you ill? The men were pretty serious whenever someone asked about you. We were worried it was Attaphus.”

“You were?” Becky's brows puckered.

“I said I can be a bitch but I'm not heartless. I...I just wanted to go home, not watch people suffer.”

Mia thought while she chewed. Somehow, she had gone from believing in revealing the entire truth to fully understanding what Draven had meant about causing a panic. There was no point in scaring anyone with vague ideas that she couldn't even confirm.

“No, not Attaphus and not contagious, thank God. But brutal. I don't think I've ever felt so awful in my life. I'm glad it's over.”

“Good. I have enough to worry about without being taken out by some disease,” Ashley announced.

Becky frowned at her.

“What?” she asked and then flinched a little. “Ugh, I'm so bad at this... Of course, I'm happy you're feeling better, too,” she told Mia.

Mia smiled weakly and glanced at the door again. Should be just about time...

“What's with you?” Ashley challenged.

“What?”

“You keep looking at the door like you're waiting for something.”

“No,” Mia pushed her plate away. “Just restless, I think. I'm going for a walk.”

“They still aren't really giving us that freedom,” Ashley told her.

“They are to Mia, she's got a personal guard,” Becky pointed to the three Livarians that had tailed Mia all morning.

Ashley frowned at them and then back at Mia.

“I'm sure it's just to be certain I'm actually recovered and not about to collapse somewhere,” she stood. “Talk to you girls later.”

“Wait,” Ashley stood up, as well. “I'll come with you. I'm off kitchen duty as of this afternoon.”

“You know what? Me too,” Becky smiled a little. “Moving around would do me some good.”

Crap. Mia glanced at the door again. There couldn't be a lot of time left. She was just going to have to wing it and hope that she could slip away from her guards and the two women when Phoebe's distraction began.

“Of course,” she forced a smile and stepped away from the table. Her guards dutifully moved forward.

“Ready to return to the dorm?” her guard asked.

“Actually, I thought we'd head back to Phoebe's.”

“She's in an apartment now, right?” Ashley asked, her interest piqued.

The man looked at her. “You should probably rest.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I just spent the better part of a week in the medical ward unconscious. Forgive me if I'd like to be awake for a bit and celebrate life with my friends.”

He looked at the ceiling as if asking for patience.

“Is there somewhere else you need to be?”

“Technically our shift ended when you returned to the dormitory, we're pretty free,” one of the other Livarians supplied helpfully. The man glared at him.

“Really? Then why are you still hanging around here?” That had been early this morning. The three men would be several hours past the end of their duties by now.

“The Prime assumed that after your ordeal you would find lighter activities for the day. We have discovered that is not the case.”

“I looked at Becky's garden and visited Phoebe in her apartment. Those are hardly strenuous things.”

“You seem to attract trouble,” he glanced at the other women.

“I dare you to call Ashley trouble to her face.”

“No,” Ashley tilted her head. “He's got a fair point. Besides, I think he's right, you do tend to get in the middle of things.”

Mia restrained the urge to kick the woman but rubbed her forehead instead. How had she ended up with these self-appointed saviors? They couldn't have picked a worse time to flock to her like school children.

“Am I restricted to the dorm?”

“No,” he answered.

“So I am free to walk the compound?”

“So long as the appropriate protection is with you.”

“And you don't plan on taking your leave of duty any time soon?”

He looked at her stubbornly.

“Great. I'm going for a walk. I guess you've decided to come, too.”

Mia ended the conversation by heading toward the door. Now all she had to do was lose the trail of the well-meaning followers she had gained.