Descended Read online

  As I said the last words, a mighty surge ran between us—a rush of electrifying power—of a vow given and received. It was a sign that the Goddess of Mercy had heard and acknowledged my oath to my new mistress.

  Charlotte must have felt it too because her eyes got wide and she tried to pull her hands out of mine.

  “What was that?” she whispered in an awed voice.

  “That was me tying myself to your service for life,” I said simply.

  Although I still wasn’t certain why I had added the “Unending Love” part, which was not actually supposed to be part of the vow. I had added it when I gave my oath to my old mistress, Sundalla the 999th because I felt very strongly for her.

  I never expected to have such strong feelings for my new mistress—my heart was in the grave with the last Goddess-Empress and though my loyalty was the new Empress’s to command, my love was dead. Yet somehow the words had come to my lips and I had uttered them anyway. Why?

  Before I could answer the question, Charlotte was yanking her hands out of mine and edging away from me.

  “This can’t be right—I mean, you don’t think you’re going to stay here, do you?”

  “Of course not,” I said. “We will be going to Femme One as soon as I can get my armor back and call my ship to come to us.”

  “What? I’m not going anywhere with you!” she exclaimed. She got up and started pacing back and forth. “I never met you before last night! I have a life here—an internship! Do you know how hard it is to get into one of these programs? And…and I have sick people depending on me. I can’t just leave them!”

  I considered rising to go to her but I could feel her fear and trepidation—though I was careful not to let my skin display those emotions. Instead I stayed on my knees, motionless, to avoid causing her more distress.

  “You want to devote yourself to the service of others,” I said calmly. “That is the defining characteristic of the Goddess-Empress. But if you stay here you can help what—hundreds? Perhaps thousands? If you come with me, you will be able to help trillions. My Lady-Goddess, so many will be touched by your divine hand—”

  “Stop calling me that! I’m not a goddess!” she exclaimed. “And…and get up off the floor. Stop kneeling to me like that—it’s crazy!”

  “It is a sign of respect,” I said gravely, staying where I was.

  “Well, it’s freaking me out.” She ran a hand through her hair distractedly. “This whole conversation is insane. I can’t believe I’m even talking to you instead of just telling you to leave. None of what you’re saying can possibly be true.”

  “Are you calling me a liar, my Lady?” I asked, my voice deepening towards a growl. “After what you have seen?” I nodded at the sleek, silver form of the assassin-droid, jumbled in a heap on her floor.

  “I…I can’t…It’s just, this is the first I’m hearing about any of this.” She put a hand on her hip and glared at me. “You can’t blame me for saying it sounds crazy!”

  This time, I did rise to stand before her.

  “I know you come from a closed planet which has no knowledge of the outside universe,” I said. “But did the Commercians tell you nothing when they gave you the message from your friend, the Lady Leah?”

  “What message? She shook her head. “What are you talking about? Leah called me a couple of times but I was too busy to talk.”

  “No, the message should have come through the Commercians,” I said, frowning. “Char’noth the head of the Alien Mate Index took payment in exchange for reaching you to tell you the details of your friend’s disappearance and ask you to relay the information to her family.”

  “Who is Char’noth?” she demanded. “And Leah hasn’t disappeared—she just moved to Virginia with that asshole fiancé of hers.”

  I felt a surge of anger.

  “So you never heard from the Commercians? Those little blue bastards! Gravex told me they took payment from him in full. They’re avaricious but it’s not like them to defraud a paying customer.”

  “Wait…” Her face had gone pale. “Did you say…blue?”

  “Yes, blue. They are long and thin with eyes on stalks. They stand about so high…” I showed a measurement with my hand not too far from the ground. “They make contact through shiny objects such as viewers or…”

  I trailed off because Charlotte had sunk back down to the padded seating area with her head in her hands.

  “Oh my God,” she was murmuring. “Oh my God…Oh my God!”

  “Mistress?” I knelt before her, feeling her distress so clearly it roused my protective instincts. But there was no outside foe to fight for her—the source of her suffering was internal.

  “The worm,” she said at last, looking up at me, her eyes filled with a strange mixture of relief and regret. “That damn blue worm! He’s been trying to talk to me for weeks. Every time I looked in the mirror or the side of the toaster or even a metal spoon…I mean, I couldn’t even use the bathroom without him yelling at me from the reflective water in the toilet!”

  So the Commercians had tried to contact her.

  “You never listened to what he had to say?” I asked, frowning.

  “You don’t understand—I’m a practical person. I don’t believe in things like ghost stories or fairy tales or aliens. I…” She put her face in her hands, her voice coming out muffled. “I thought I was going crazy.”

  At last I understood the source of her tangled emotions—she had feared for her sanity.

  “Mistress,” I said as gently as I could. “You’re not insane and neither am I. There is another world outside your own small planet—a vast one that needs you. Needs you desperately.”

  “I can’t.” She sat up, shaking her head, her lovely face set. “I can’t just pick up and go. I told you—I have a life here. I, uh, appreciate that you came all this way and that you saved my life…” She looked at the remains of the droid and shivered. “But you’ll have to go back to that…that other world without me. I’m staying here.”

  “Then I am staying with you,” I said, though my heart was heavy. “I have pledged myself to you for life, my Lady. I will never leave your side.”

  Charlotte

  “What?” I stared at him blankly. “What are you talking about? You can’t just move in.” I thought about how I had promised my landlady not to have strange men over. And a seven-foot tall, muscular alien with rainbow eyes and skin that could change colors was about as strange as it got.

  But Kristoff had a stubborn look on his chiseled features.

  “My Lady, I have pledged my life to you,” he said, frowning. “My place is at your side. I will not abandon you.”

  “Well then you’ll have to rent your own apartment,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “Because there’s no room for you here. I only have, uh, one bed.” I could feel my cheeks heating as I said it but I went on anyway. “And I’m not letting some strange man sleep with me. Also, you won’t fit on the couch.” I indicated my little loveseat which was barely big enough for one normal sized person to stretch out on—there was no way a seven-foot tall alien would fit.

  He frowned. “I will sleep on the floor at the foot of your bed, if necessary, but I will not leave you alone. That would not be safe.”

  “Why not?” I demanded. “You killed the, uh, assassin-bot thing.” I gestured at the shiny silver jumble on my carpet.

  Kristoff’s strange eyes narrowed.

  “Assassin-droid. And do you really think that is the only attempt your enemies will make on your life? As long as you live, you’re a threat to those who want power—power which should rightfully be yours.”

  “I don’t want that much power!” I exclaimed. “I just want to be left alone!”

  He shook his head. “That is one thing you will never be again. The Goddess-Empress must be warded at all times for her own safety and protection.”

  “Look here,” I said, glaring at him. “You can’t just decide to move into my home and never leav