Chapter Seventy-Eight: "Holding Onto What We Can…"

Back at the royal castle, with the Ginyu Force, who had FINALLY arrived a day ago…

"GUIDO!"

"JEICE!"

"BAATA!"

"RECCOOM!

"CAPTAIN GINYU!"

"WE ARE THE GINYU FORCE!" they cried out happily, after doing their elaborate poses. Their (fearless?) and (wise?) leader twirled around on one toe happily and clapped like a little boy. "This is great!" Captain Ginyu gushed, as he watched the hostages staring at him and his men. "We literally have a captive audience! Super! Now we can have some of them try out the ten new poses that I whipped up! Okay, men, let's do the Dance of Victory!"

"But Cap'n," Baata protested, "the war isn't over yet."

"And the Astorians still live," Guido added.

"Ah, we've got them beat!" Ginyu boasted.

"Um, Cap'n," Jeice began. "The Saiyans themselves couldn't even beat them; didn't Zarbon say earlier that little Astorie princess that we're supposed to capture beat up Vegeta?"

Baata couldn't help, but laugh. "Hey, Vegeta had it coming to him! If we weren't supposed to take her captive, I'd go find her and shake her hand for whipping his monkey tail! I get so tired of that little monkey prince thinking that he's so much better than all of us! It served him and the other monkeys right!"

Jeice moaned, "Aw, I hope that sister of Vegeta's is still alive; she is cute, even if she does look too much like her brother!"

Reccoom gagged. "You want to date a monkey girl; what's up with you, Jeicey? Even you can't be that desperate."

"Hey, I like women with spunk!" Jeice protested.

"Yeah, but was it worth risking your pretty neck when you and Raditz fought over her just before we left for Calmag?" Baata wanted to know.

"I still kicked his butt," Jeice told him, "once I grabbed his tail anyway!"

"Yeah, but we all heard you boohooing later when Journa punched you in the face for beating up her mate, and then you lost her anyway, not that you had her to begin with," Ginyu pointed out.

"Yeah," Reccoom told him. "You ticked off Raditz when you made a pass at his woman, and even though you won, she still chose him over you anyway."

"Women sure are funny creatures," Guido said. "Though it still puzzles me as to why Jeice would want to waste his time on a monkey girl. Go figure."

"Hey, Jeicey, you have a thing for humanoid women now?" Ginyu asked him.

Jeice looked down and smiled shyly. "Something like that, Cap'n."

Ginyu laughed. "Don't come crying to us though, if some Calmagie or Astorie girl electrocutes or paralyzes you!"

"Um, Cap'n," Baata pointed out. "We're all immune to the Calmagian paralysis attack, remember?"

"Ah, yeah, that's right. Has our pretty boy Head Commander left yet?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago."

"Good, that green-haired fop was getting on my nerves."

"Are you still mad at him about that little spat that you two had earlier?"

Ginyu said sarcastically, "Gee, how did you ever guess, Baata?"

Before Zarbon had left, he had scolded them thoroughly when they had finally showed up, wondering where in Kami's name they had been. Frieza's Head Commander had not been happy to hear that the Ginyu Force, supposedly among the strongest of Frieza's Elite fighters, had been alternating between hiding in the labyrinths from the Oozarus and practicing more pre-battle poses in the wilderness away from the fighting between the Astorians and the Saiyans. Zarbon and Ginyu had jumped into a nasty verbal argument that had almost become physical when Zarbon told Ginyu that if he spent half of his posing time training, he might actually be a true warrior instead of a true clown. Ginyu had sharply retorted to his superior officer that he was a true warrior, a true warrior with style, and if Zarbon had spent more time training than grooming his hair or showering (which ranged from three to five times a day), he might actually surpass Ginyu. Of course, since almost none of the Top Elite Officers liked to acknowledge that someone was stronger than them besides Frieza, Zarbon had not been thrilled, and he had almost thrown Ginyu through a window.

Now Ginyu, happy that Zarbon left, was joyously leading his men into poses to "entertain" the hostages, among whom some of them were silently praying that they would either be rescued or be killed before Ginyu and his men did another dance or pose. The children thought that the poses were funny, but many of the adults wondered if Frieza had been drunk when he had hired the Ginyu members to work for him.








Jeice left the group, and he had now taken a break from posing, flitting about the room like a red and white butterfly, flirting with all the females, Astorian and Calmagian, that he thought attractive. He finally approached three Astorian handmaids who were sitting on a divan. The oldest one was ancient with some wrinkles, faded ash-blond hair and pale green eyes with a pointed nose; she had to be over a hundred years old. Jeice dismissed her immediately; she was older than his grandmother.

He looked at the other two younger maids, one a plain-looking deeply tanned girl with dark-brown hair that was almost black with black eyes and reddish-brown freckles dotting her face and large aquiline nose, and the second one an older, lovely young woman with platinum-blond hair and gigantic emerald-green eyes that sparkled like real gems. The silvery blonde was delicate in appearance with a tiny snub nose and pouty rosebud lips resting on clear, flawless ivory skin that stood out against a simple, pale mauve smock with a saffron scarf. Jeice couldn't help but gawk at the third maid; he didn't pay much attention to the plain brown-haired girl in a burgundy smock or the old maid in severe navy-blue smock and silver scarf. He decided to make his move on the prettiest of the trio.

He smoothed his white hair back with his muscled hand and flashed the loveliest maid his best charming grin. "So, gorgeous," he crooned, looking right at her, "who should I thank for kidnapping you from heaven? 'Cause some as sweet-looking as you doesn't belong in this dimension. Enma Daiou sure was generous in giving us the gift of you for a while. I am Jeice, a member of the Ginyu Force. What's your name?"

"Ebrona," the platinum blonde told him politely in a voice as silvery as her hair.

Jeice squeezed himself next to her on the divan, and it was now a tight fit for the Casanova and the three Astorian maids. Ebrona winced, but she did not want to do anything to endanger her life or the lives of the other two maids. Jeice said cheerfully, "It's not often that I get to meet a Princess of Chloe!"

"I am not a princess," Ebrona told him evenly. "I serve a Princess of Chloe, but I am not one myself."

"You're too beautiful to be anyone's servant," Jeice told her easily. "So whose this Princess of Chloe that you serve anyway?"

"Princess Gracina Chloe. I have been her maid since I was fourteen years old; she is a very good mistress."

"How old are you now?"

"Twenty-four."

"Just the right age," Jeice said smoothly. "So, do you believe in interspecies relationships?"

"I am not interested," Ebrona told him sweetly. "I have a fiancé, and we're supposed to be married when we return to Astoria. I am marrying a little later than most Astorian women would have; many women on my planet are married before they turn twenty-one, but I didn't find the right mate until last year. It works out very well for us; he is the manservant of Princess Gracina's husband, and so we will not be apart too often."

"Lucky man," Jeice replied. "Are you sure that you're not…umm… interested in sampling other men before your marriage? I'd be more than happy to help you practice for your wedding night."

Ebrona's sweet, cool tone hardened instantly. She abruptly pushed herself away from him and stood up, indignant. "You are vile! I am not betraying my betrothed, especially with someone who works for a monster like Frieza!"

Jeice held out his hands and moved towards her. "Hey, hey, take it easy! I just wanted to get to know you better! So what if I work for Frieza?" He stood up and moved towards her, inching towards her like a cat headed towards a mouse. "Okay, so we're on opposite sides, but that doesn't mean that we can't have a little fun. It's not like you can go anywhere anyway."

Jeice placed his hand on her slender waist and pulled her towards him for a kiss. His lips were coming closer to hers by the minute.

The oldest maid stood up to prevent Jeice from harassing Ebrona, but before she could reach them, Ebrona sharply slapped Jeice across his handsome face, and the slap could be heard halfway across the room. The slap sounded like a belt slapping against a bare bottom, and it was just as hard.

Jeice reeled back away from Princess Gracina's maid, holding his cheek tenderly. He stared at the woman in shock. So did the other two maids.

"Ebrona!" the oldest maid cried out. "I understand that he was bothering you, but do you realize how dangerous he and the other men holding us hostage are?"

"I don't care, Dalantra!" Ebrona cried indignantly. "I am not allowing one of Frieza's little cretins to lay a hand or a lip upon me!"

The plain-looking maid asked softly, "Ebrona, are you all right?"

"Yes, Mykia, I am now," Ebrona said in a calmer tone.

"All right, Ebrona, come sit with us," Dalantra told her. "I think that you gave 'Jeice' what he deserved, so come sit with us and calm yourself before any more trouble occurs."

"Yes, miss," Ebrona said, deferring to the oldest servant among the servants attending the royal Astorian family that had come to Calmag.

But the trouble was not over yet; Ebrona's fiancé, Varrcan, Lektron's personal manservant who was ten years older than his intended, stormed over to where Ebrona and the others were. The tall, stocky black haired, black-bearded, blue-eyed Varrcan was a good man, but his temper could be as dangerous as his master's, and he was a tad bit overprotective and possessive of his future bride. He stomped over to Jeice to give him a piece of his mind. Jeice blinked for a moment when Ebrona's large future mate confronted him.

"How dare you touch my woman?" Varrcan demanded to know angrily.

Jeice looked Varrcan over carefully; he didn't think that Varrcan was that great looking. Jeice, who had no small opinion about his own good looks, wondered what did the lovely Ebrona see in this huge man.

Jeice said smartly, "Maybe your lady here would prefer a real man, a warrior instead of a mere servant boy!"

"Servant boy, eh? Now see here-" Varrcan thundered.

"Varrcan, please," Ebrona begged, taking his huge, muscled arm.

"Varrcan, that's enough," Dalantra scolded him sharply. "Do you wish to get yourself killed?"

"The only one who's going to get killed here is lover boy, if he ever lays a hand on my fiancée again!" Varrcan roared, indicating Jeice.

Dalantra sighed, "I understand now why you and your master, Prince Lektron, are good friends, Varrcan; you both are equally hardheaded, rash, and impulsive. But you are no warrior, Varrcan, so go sit down before you do anything that you'll regret. This man works for Frieza, and he did not make Frieza's Elite for nothing; now go sit on the divan and calm down!"

"I'd rather go sit on lover boy's head-" Varrcan began, but it was Ebrona's pleading look and not Dalantra's orders that finally made Varrcan go sit down on the divan, taking his fiancée with him. Dalantra and Mykia stood near each other and watched Jeice warily, hoping that he would leave.

But it wouldn't be Jeice that they would have to worry about, for now the deadly Sistrai warrior known as Balair had shown up, accompanied by Bhodie and Hazel, who was still Bhodie's captive.

Balair was smirking. "Well, well, Jeicey, so you once again failed to get an Astorie woman! Ha, some of your pals told me how an Astorie lady warrior jilted you earlier!"

"She didn't jilt me," Jeice said defensively. "She just stalled me."

"Right!" Bhodie sneered, holding Hazel's arm tightly.

Balair was now looking at Ebrona with interest; he had spotted her while watching Jeice make a fool out of himself. The Sistrai warrior figured that he save Natala for later and try some new prey, so he decided to meet Jeice's "conquest" for himself.

"I don't blame you though, Jeice, even though you made an idiot out of yourself. She is a sweet-looking little thing. They don't make Princesses of Chloe like that too often," Balair purred. Ebrona paled and huddled near to her future husband. Varrcan shot Balair a deadly look; both of them despised the Sistrai warrior already, but even Varrcan was hesitant to challenge Balair before he touched Ebrona.

"I wouldn't mind getting to know her better myself," Bhodie added.

"Don't you already have your little Human girl there to play with?" Jeice asked.
"Although I'll be happy to take her off your hands as well."

"Forget it, Jeice," Bhodie told him. "This one's for me personally."

"You got over your Princess of Chloe fast, didn't you, Jeicey?" Balair asked. "Long as you don't hit on Natala, I don't care though."

"He's interested in Princess Natala?" Mykia whispered to Dalantra.

"Poor woman," Dalantra said sympathetically.

"I wish the others would come back," Mykia said worriedly. "And I hope that my mistress is okay."

"I wish that my mistress would return soon; she'd be able to get rid of these three," Dalantra hissed. The old maid sighed under her breath, "Oh, if only Her Highness would return; oh, Your Highness, where are you? Where are you right now, my Superior Gran, my mistress? I know that when you and the others left that you told us to hold onto to what we can, until we believe, until we can survive, but I don't know how much longer we can do that."

Dalantra did not speak low enough for Balair not to hear her. Balair regarded the oldest maid with new interest. He looked deep into Dalantra's green eyes and said deliberately, "Did you say that you are Shalila Chloe's servant?"

Dalantra paled. She didn't dare to respond. Balair ordered her sharply, "Repeat what you said! Answer my question!"

"We are all servants of Superior Gran Shalila Chloe and her family," Mykia spoke up quickly. "We all serve the Superior Gran."

Bhodie ignored her. "I heard that old witch say it myself, Bali. She's the Superior Gran's servant alright." Balair smiled evilly at Dalantra.

He said slowly, "Hmm…Shalila Chloe's servant woman, eh? Am I correct, old woman?"

"Fine, you are correct," Dalantra snapped. "Yes, I am her maidservant, her personal maidservant and former nurse. But other than that, I am no one."

"You could be used as a bargaining chip," Balair said thoughtfully. "A faithful servant is very valuable; I am sure that Shalila Chloe would be willing to do anything to get you back safe and sound. Perhaps give Princess Tayla for you, perhaps?"

"Don't be foolish!" Dalantra shouted. "I am a mere servant woman; Princess Tayla is one of my mistress's most favored grandchildren. Who is going to trade her beloved granddaughter for a mere servant that can be easily replaced?"

Balair shrugged. "I'll have to mention that idea to Zarbon, but enough of that for now. I need some relaxation, so maybe one of the younger ladies here would like to help me obtain it." He looked over at lovely Ebrona, who was now in the safety of Varrcan's arms and plain Mykia, who watched him worriedly. With an evil grin, he sauntered over to Ebrona confidently, as Princess Gracina's maid paled and huddled closer to Varrcan, who was bracing himself to protect his intended. Varrcan was not a warrior, but he knew a few fighting techniques that he had picked up from his master, Prince Lektron.

Balair reached out his hand towards Ebrona, intending to snatch her out of Varrcan's arms. Ebrona fell back away from her hunter, fearing him. Ebrona, a fairly intelligent young woman and Gracina's most trusted servant, had easily surmised that Jeice wouldn't retaliate against her for refusing him, but Balair was a different story. The delicate beauty had seen Balair vaporize himself earlier and kill a few Calmagian guards, and she sensed that he was one of the most dangerous out of Frieza's Elite fighters here. Ebrona had also seen Balair take away Princess Natala, her mistress's sister-in-law, earlier upstairs, and the Astorian maidservant did not even want to imagine the horrors that Princess Natala must have endured with that red beast. Ebrona began to tremble, not wanting Balair to touch her.

But Ebrona would be saved, not by Varrcan or her friends, but her own natural body functions. She felt herself, much to her embarrassment, grow wet between her legs, and she knew what it was immediately, for it was her normal time for that to happen.

Balair smelled it; his sense of smell was equal or better to the olfactory abilities of the Saiyans, who also had a superb sense of smell. He wrinkled his nose and backed away from Ebrona and Varrcan, instantly turned off from his potential conquest. Balair's desire for Ebrona faded away quickly.

"You picked a fine time to start bleeding, woman," he grumbled. "Why you humanoid women have to bleed once or twice a month just when a man is ready for you?"

Ebrona wholeheartedly agreed with his first sentence, and she and Varrcan were visibly relieved. Ebrona closed her legs as tightly as she could, wishing that there were a way that she could run to the castle lavatories.

"Aw, Bali, just 'cause she's on the rag doesn't mean that you can't fun with her," Bhodie told him. "It's still possible."

"Bhodie, you are sick," Balair growled. "Even I wouldn't want to mate with a woman who's doing that business. You Human men must be some desperate creatures; aren't there enough Human women on Earth to satisfy you men when some of your women have their crimson tides?' He sighed, and then he looked at Mykia thoughtfully. She wasn't his type, but he planned to save Natala as a special treat for tonight and Caline was not in his thoughts at the moment, and that pretty maidservant just had to go and have her period, so maybe this plain girl could give him some satisfaction until later. Balair briefly wondered if a plain woman could be as good in bed as a beautiful woman, and he held a standing bet with Ginyu (who like Balair had only bedded beauties in the past) that a homely female could provide as much sexual satisfaction as a lovely one. He decided now that it was time to find out. The brown-haired girl was no Natala or Caline, but she wasn't that unattractive. In fact, he found a certain charm in her plainness and freckles, her hair appeared to be soft, and she did have a nice figure with small, supple breasts.

Ah, he'd give her a try.

He pointed at Mykia, and Mykia shrank back. "You, sweetness, will come with me. I bet that no other man has ever had you, has he?"

Mykia felt her black eyes widen in fear. "Leave me alone!" she suddenly cried.

"Leave her be," Ebrona ordered, regaining some of her courage after realizing that Balair was no longer interested in her.

Balair ignored both of them, as he grabbed Mykia's dark arm and pulled the frightened girl to her feet. Mykia tried to pull away, but Balair yanked her closer to him. Ebrona wanted to cry at this scene, for she realized her salvation had become Mykia's doom.

"Let her go!" Dalantra ordered sharply. "You can take me instead!"

Balair was so shocked and amused by this declaration that he released Mykia without realizing it. Mykia abruptly ran away before anyone could stop her. Ebrona eased herself out of Varrcan's arms, and she ran after Mykia, who was her closest friend where they worked at in the Palace of Chloe. The two young ladies were like sisters, and they frequently spent their spare time together when Ebrona was not with Varrcan or attending Gracina and when Mykia was not attending Tayla.

Balair laughed loud and hard. "Me take you? You have got to be kidding, you old bag of wrinkles! Maybe if you two hundred years younger perhaps! Me take an old woman to bed with me! Did you hear that, Bhode and Jeice? Can you imagine me screwing this old hag? She'd fall asleep before I could get it up! What a joke! She's probably forgotten what a man's tongue feels inside of her mouth! I haven't had a woman in a while, but I'm not that desperate! Ha, ha, ha, very funny!" He fell down to the ground and started laughing harder than ever. Jeice chuckled softly, and Bhodie joined Balair in his mocking.

"I wouldn't want to have sex with an old woman either! It'd be like going to bed with my grandmother! Ugh! What do you think, Hazelnut?"

"I think that both you and your perverted friend are sick and disgusting and cruel," Hazel told Bhodie sharply. "Now, let me go, Bhodie! I don't want you!"

"Ah, of course, you do, Hazelnut, and I'm not releasing you, baby, at least not until you give me some," Bhodie responded.

Suddenly, Aurora, Hazel's daughter, ran up to her mother and clung to her. Aurora didn't look at Bhodie, for she didn't like the "mean man" who had taken her mother captive. Aurora looked sick, and her healthy coffee-colored skin color was paler and ashy. "Mommy, I just threw up, and I made the big pink, spiky monster mad. I don't feel good."

Hazel felt her daughter's forehead with her free hand. Aurora's forehead was scorching to the touch, and her hot skin nearly burned Hazel's slim, long fingers.

"BLECK!"

Before Hazel could say a word, Aurora vomited again-right onto Bhodie's legs.

"Yuck, nasty!" Bhodie yelled. "Hazelnut's kid barfed on me! Yuck!"

Bhodie abruptly freed Hazel to dig for a handkerchief to wipe himself off with. Hazel grinned before she could prevent herself from doing so; she thought that Bhodie had received what he deserved. She pulled Aurora to her, picked her up, and cuddled her, and then she hurried away with her daughter before Bhodie could grab her again.

Jeice was now the one who was laughing on the floor. He and Bhodie had never been the best of friends because they somehow usually wound up pursuing the same women. He was happy to see Bhodie embarrassed and covered in vomit.

"Hey, Bhode, how did you like meeting your future stepdaughter? She was even nice enough to share her dinner with you!" Jeice joked.

"I smell like barf!" Bhodie whined like a baby. "Gross! I need a shower!"

"Make it a cold one!" Jeice quipped with a grin. "'Cause you won't have a woman anytime soon, now that your lady has fled!"

"Bhode, you just had one this morning," Balair told him. "Don't start following in Zarbon's footsteps, please!"

"Well, I'm at least changing my pants," Bhodie replied.

Dalantra and Varrcan used this time to quietly slip away, and neither one of the three Elite officers cared; the old woman was not a potential conquest for them, and the big manservant was of no importance. Bhodie continued to whine, as he tried his best to wipe off the partially digested contents of little Princess Aurora Chloe's last meal. The Human Elite officer started to wonder, if hooking back up with Hazel was such a good idea after all; it would mean putting up with two little brats who cried easily and threw up on anyone they saw. Well, he could always make her leave the rugrats behind, if he forced her to come back with him to Frieza.

"That just went great," Balair grumbled. "We all tried to get some, and now look where we're at; Jeice gets jilted, I get hit on by an old lady, and Bhode here gets what's left of some half-Human, half-Astorie brat's dinner. And on top of that the woman that I did want to screw had to go and have her period, and the other one ran off. That's all right; I'll find her later; she still would be nice for a quick lay."

"She's nothing to boast about, that little ugly girl," Jeice told Balair. "I'm surprised that you tried to hit on her; she's hardly your type. Don't tell me that you still have that bet with Ginyu going about plain looking women being as good in bed or better than the pretty ones."

"I do," Balair told Jeice. "And I will win it. I always win my bets."

Jeice laughed. "Right! Like you won that bet with Cap'n on who would get Chestra into bed first and be her first man! And neither one of you got to deflower her 'cause our fearless leader, Zarbon, beat you both to it! I'll never forget that time! You both had to carry out your ends of the bet, and I'll never forget that day!"

Bhodie grinned, forgetting for now that he was wearing Aurora's dinner on his pants.
"What did Bali and Ginyu have to do? I never knew that they both had wanted Chestra."

Jeice chuckled. "Bali and Ginyu both had to dress in drag and dance and sing in front of King Cold and Lord Frieza-"

"Jeice, don't you tell that story!" Balair commanded furiously.

"Oh, I want to hear this story, Bali! I never knew that you dressed in drag!" Bhodie chortled. "Go on, Jeice!"

Jeice continued, ignoring Balair's fatal glare, "Heh, heh, the deal with that one was that whoever didn't get to bed Chestra had to dress in drag and dance and sing in front of King Cold and Lord Frieza at one of our biannual fairs. And both of them lost! You should have seen Bali's dress, Bhode, he wound up wearing a silver and pink glittery dress with bright neon blue hose that he swiped from one of King Cold's concubines! He should have stuck with Eclipse's gold fishnet stockings; that pair of blue hose looked awful on him! And then when he had to entertain King Cold during one of King Cold's marathon speeches about universal dominance…"

Balair clenched his fists, vowing silently to pull out Jeice's snowy hair one strand at a time when he had an extra hour or two to spare.









Thirty minutes later…

Marya and Arlina were holding up a tablecloth in a corner to give Ebrona some privacy so that Gracina's maid could clean herself and use some rags to absorb her woman's flow that Natala had some procured for her. Mykia, who was still somewhat upset by what Balair had tried on her, was assisting her friend in cleaning herself up. Kekron was snoring loudly while sleeping with his back against the wall, with Tila, Tayka, and Rina gathered around him, snuggling close and sleeping. Nikon was sleeping besides Kekron, drooling on the rose damask-covered wall where his chubby face was pressed. Nikon's drool left a large wet spot on the wall, as it dribbled down to the floor.

Caline and Natala was helping Hazel with Aurora, trying to keep the child cool and calm; the resourceful Astorian princess had managed to sneak out of the ballroom briefly into an adjoining kitchenette, where there was a refrigerator full of cold drinks and a tin full of first aid supplies. Natala had smuggled both back into the ballroom, where she put a cool cloth on Aurora's head and a bowl in front of her face, so that she could vomit when necessary. Caline sang softly to Aurora a couple of Calmagian lullabies to distract the child and soothe her (Caline had a lovely voice for singing, even though she had never had music lessons; she had wanted them, but Amitar had not considered it a necessity for her.) Aurora smiled when Caline sang, and the sickly little girl insisted on her singing the same lullaby three times in a row.

Natala checked Aurora's temperature now and then, and she suspected that Hazel's daughter had either a case of influenza (extremely rare on Astoria, but common on Calmag) or that the child had eaten something that disagreed with her. Natala, a proficient healer, didn't think that there was anything much to worry about yet; Aurora's body temperature was at one hundred and thirty-three degrees (a temperature that Natala had assured a panicked Hazel was only slightly feverish for an Astorian child, mixed blood or not). A normal body temperature for an Astorian ranged between one hundred and twenty and one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit.
Hazel was still not convinced, despite her confidence in Natala's medical abilities. "I'm still worried though; Aurora is only half-Astorian. For a pureblooded Human, anything above one hundred and four degrees is serious!"

"It's a slight fever still," Natala told her aunt-by-marriage calmly. "If it was close to one hundred and forty degrees, I would start to worry, but for now she just needs to stay cool and rest."

Hazel held Aurora close to her body. "Natala, she feels hotter than before."

"Mommy…" Aurora groaned. The little girl saw black spots dancing before her eyes, as her mother continued to dab her forehead with a damp cloth.

"It's all right, precious, Mommy's here; you're going to be okay."

"Where's Pappa?" Aurora asked.

Hazel sighed. "I wish I knew, sweetie."

"I miss Pappa; can't you go find him?"

"We're not allowed to leave right now, angel."

"Natala left and came back."

"Shhh!" Hazel admonished her. "No one's supposed to know except for us. It's a secret. Lips sealed."

"Aurora, open your mouth, sweetheart, so I can take your temperature again," Natala instructed the child.

"I don't like that thing in my mouth; it makes me gag."

"I know, but it will only take a few minutes."

"No…" Aurora moaned in protest, and then she threw up into the stoneware bowl that Natala had provided.

After about fifteen minutes, Natala had Aurora wash her mouth out and spit into the bowl, and then she took the little princess's temperature. Natala cried out when she saw the reading on the digital thermometer that had been in the "borrowed" first aid kit.

"No, not now," she whispered worriedly.

"What's wrong?" Hazel cried.

Natala said shakily, "Her fever's gone up to one hundred and forty-two degrees."

"Mommy…" Aurora cried. "I feel hot! Make me cold, please!" And before the child could break out into terrified tears, she fainted dead away.

"Aurora!" Hazel cried.

"Aurora?" Natala prompted.

"Aurora?" Hazel asked anxiously.

"Aurora?" Caline inquired.

"AURORA!" Hazel screamed.

"What's wrong? What's wrong with the child?"

"Steak," Natala moaned weakly. "Aurora's passed out, and we can't rouse her."

Steak put an arm around Natala's waist before he thought about it. He had originally come over to see if Natala was okay; he was angry at himself for not being able to help her when Balair had taken her upstairs.

Steak took the damp cloth from a shaken Hazel, and he brought Aurora close to him, pulling the child into his lap. He shook her gently, as he reached into the little girl's dress and dabbed her with the cold cloth, rubbing it around her heart area.

"Hold her, please," Natala told him. "We have to get her into the kitchenette; there is a small vat of icy water there; it is normally used for wines, I believe, but it may help her cool down."

"How will we get her out of here?" Hazel asked fearfully.

"You stay here," Steak ordered her. "I will accept the consequences and the full responsibility, if Natala and I are caught."

"I'm coming with you," Hazel insisted. "She is my child."

"We have to be careful," Natala said. "If Balair or Bhodie discover that you and I are missing…"

"I know, I know!" Hazel exclaimed. "Let's go."

Caline asked, "May I come with you, please? I'm scared that Balair is going to come over here any second." She quickly scurried to her feet.

Natala nodded, and she pushed Caline ahead of her gently. "Stay with me," she instructed the Calmagian princess.

Hazel and Steak, who was carrying Aurora, followed Natala and Caline surreptitiously out of the ballroom. They crept past the dais where musical groups would entertain during balls and past Guido (who was sleeping heavily with his head facedown in a potted plant). Hazel kept casting anxious looks behind her to see if Balair or Bhodie, the officers that she was most worried about, had spotted them. Caline couldn't help but repeatedly look back herself; she was more terrified of Balair than she had been of Alberm.

Finally, to their everlasting relief, the five of them made it safely into the adjoining kitchenette, trembling with thankfulness. The kitchenette with wood-paneled walls and a plain gray floor was small and cramped; a person could almost turn around and be out the doo8r again. Caline quietly closed the door behind them, as Natala and Hazel hurriedly removed the burgundy crystal bottles of fine Calmagian rose wine that had been floating in the metal vat of icy water. Caline helped Steak remove Aurora's nightgown, and Steak slowly laid Aurora into the vat of icy water and held her, so that she wouldn't drown. The chilly water went up to Aurora's neck; the vat was that deep.

"We can't leave her in there for too long," Natala told them. "Otherwise, she could go into shock."

After a tense twenty minutes, Aurora started to waken, and she shivered. "It's cold!" she wailed.

"I know it is, honey, but it was for your own good," Hazel told her softly. She kissed Aurora on her forehead, as Natala took her temperature again. Natala breathed a sigh of relief.

"One hundred and twenty-seven," she said with great relief. "Thank Kami!"

"Thank you all, thank you, and thank you," Hazel said, as she held a naked, shivering Aurora close to her.

Caline rooted through the peige cabinets in the kitchenette, searching for a tablecloth or something to wrap Aurora up in. Finally, she found a shelf in a cabinet where there was a stack of red and white dotted sateen-like tablecloths. She brought one of the larger ones over to the others, and Steak lifted the child out of the vat and into the tablecloth, where he and Caline dried Aurora off and wrapped her up into the material. Caline then went back and brought another tablecloth to dry off Aurora's hair. Aurora huddled into herself, as the Calmagian child princess and the Meatian warrior attended to her. Caline sat down on the floor, resting her slender back against the cabinet, and Steak settled Aurora into Caline's lap. Caline pulled Aurora against her, and Aurora rested her small head on Caline's shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Feel better?" Caline asked her softly.

Aurora nodded. She said softly, "Tell me that story, Caline. I want to know the rest of it."

"What story?" Caline asked her.

"That one that you told before those mean monsters and that mean man who grabbed Mommy showed up, that one you told before you fell asleep and had that bad dream about a monster named Alberm."

Caline slowly remembered what story Aurora was referring to. She pulled Aurora closer to her and said softly, "I'll start at the beginning again, it will make it easier to remember."

"Okay; I just want to know how it ends."

"There's no ending yet," Caline told her. "I don't even know how it will end."

"Tell it anyway."

Hazel and Natala settled themselves on the floor around the two little girls, not wanting to go back into the ballroom just yet. Steak leaned against the wall and tuned up his excellent hearing to listen out for Balair and Bhodie. Caline began in her soft, modulated voice:

"This is a story about pain and suffering, but it's a also a story of hope, of holding onto to what you can until you can believe, until you can survive. Now once, not too long ago, lived a little girl princess named Shydine on a planet named Magan. Shydine was a shy, quiet little girl who feared her cruel father, but loved her oldest brother, Kar, very much. Shydine and Kar's father, Itar, was good to Kar, but for some reason that Shydine couldn't understand to this day, he was cruel to Shydine, but Kar managed to protect her from some of their father's cruelty. Kar was good to Shydine; he played with her every day and hugged her and kissed her, telling her how pretty she was, and if she wasn't his sister, he would marry her himself. They were happy together, and Kar took good care of his little sister and looked after her, thanks to a deathbed promise he made to their mother."

"Shydine and Kar's mother had been good to them, but Itar was only good to Kar and Kar's two brothers, Kiar and Ulien. Itar treated Shydine and her two other sisters badly because they were born girls, and on planet Magan, girls were considered to be almost worthless. Shydine's sisters' Line and Osyn, didn't pay much attention to Shydine either, and Shydine's other brothers weren't nice to Shydine either. Itar was never happy with anything that his daughter did; she loved him and did everything that she could to make him happy, but it was never good enough. The harder she tried to please her cruel father, the harder he was to her. Itar would either yell at Shydine, or when Shydine really made him angry, he would whip her with his belt."

"Shydine endured it patiently most of the time because Kar loved her and did what he could to protect her and make her happy. As long as she had her brother's love, Shydine felt safe, even when her father would go into one of his rages. Kar and Shydine were as close as brothers and sisters could be until one day when Itar took Kar on a birthday trip when he turned fifteen. After that birthday trip, Kar had changed; he had now become like Itar."

"How come?" Aurora asked. "Did Itar put Kar under an evil spell?"

"No, it was no spell, although Shydine wished that it had been. Itar wanted Kar to become exactly like him, and Kar did so to please his father. Kar was at first kind and decent, but then Kar started to think like his father, started to think that girls were worthless and inferior. Kar started to treat Shydine as badly as their father did, and Shydine couldn't understand why Kar had suddenly become so cold and nasty towards her. Kar talked down to Shydine now the same way that Itar did, and he no longer wanted to play with Shydine or spend any time with her."

"How come?"

"Itar said that it made Kar less of a man to be spending so much time with a mere sister, and a useless one at that."

"Itar's a meanie! Poor Shydine. Why did Kar have to become so mean like Itar?"

"Shydine doesn't know to this day; all she knows is that Kar had turned against her. And things would get worse when Itar arranged a marriage for Shydine when Shydine was only ten years old-"

"What in Kami Orchida's name-"

Caline's story was interrupted when Steak fell against a wooden panel, and the panel turned around, taking Steak into the other side of the wall. Natala and Hazel gasped aloud when they saw that Steak had fallen through a trap door.

Finally, after a minute or two, Steak managed to turn the panel around and bring himself back into the kitchenette behind the vat. "It's another entrance to the labyrinths!" he exclaimed.

"A way out," Hazel breathed.

"I wonder if Balair and the others know about it," Caline wondered.

"Couldn't we try to smuggle the children out of here?" Hazel wanted to know. "Those monsters aren't going to miss the kids."

"They may be guarding all ways in and out of the labyrinths," Natala told her.

"Not this one," Steak said, using his above-average hearing to listen into the labyrinths. "No one is near this section of the labyrinths. We could smuggle the children and older people out of here; even Balair and his bunch can't watch everyone at once."

"We have to be careful," Natala advised. "Remember their warning: ten deaths for every one person who escapes. However, Steak, I doubt that they would notice that you had gone; you probably could explore the labyrinths."

"I could," Steak agreed. "But what about my sons? And Crystalis? I don't want to leave them alone for too long."

"We can get a message to them," Natala told him. "Steak, I think that you should go ahead of us, and see if there's any chance of getting the others out. We need to see where it leads before we try to send others into it; we don't want anyone getting lost."

"I will go then," Steak told her. "I wish that you could come with me."

"I can't," Natala told him gently. "Balair may try to look for me, and I can't be gone for too long, or he'll get suspicious."

"Wait!" Caline cried. "I can lead him around in the labyrinths; I know almost all of the corridors and ways in it. When Ridikar and I were younger, Ridikar would take me to explore the labyrinths, and sometimes I would go hide in them when Father was angry. Father is claustrophobic, and he doesn't like dark, hidden, or closed-in places; he would never go into the labyrinths himself, so it was a good place for me to hide. I remember this entrance, and I can help Steak. Please let me come."

"It sounds like a good idea," Steak agreed.

"Caline, you go with him then," Natala told her.

"Won't Balair wonder where Caline is?" Hazel asked Natala.

"I won't allow him to wonder; I will keep him occupied with me. He is not going to touch Caline, ever," Natala said strongly to reassure herself as well as the others.

"I hate the thought of that monster touching you," Steak told her. "I wish I was strong enough to kill him myself."

"Natala, are you going to be okay?" Caline asked her worriedly.

"I can take care of myself," Natala told her bravely. "Now go with Steak and show him around, show him and us a way out."

Caline nodded, and she gave Aurora to Hazel, who picked her up. Caline went over to Steak and the trap door, and she slowly pushed it open, taking her and Steak with her into the labyrinth entrance on the other side of the wall. Within seconds, Caline and Steak had disappeared, and Natala and Hazel were left alone with Aurora.

"What do we do now?" Hazel asked Natala, as Hazel held Aurora to her.

"We have to go back soon," Natala told her quietly. "I know that neither one of us want to, but Balair and Bhodie will definitely notice us missing. I just hope and pray that Caline's absence won't matter much to Balair."

"She can't be that important to them, even if Balair is a perverted bastard who wants to force his sick self on a helpless little girl," Hazel replied.

Natala sighed, and then she began to tremble, as she felt the nearness of Balair's ki. "Hazel, we have to go back now before Balair and Bhodie start to look for us."

Hazel and Natala were both scared, but they knew they had no real choice unless they wanted Balair and Bhodie to start torturing the others to force them to tell where the two princesses had disappeared. Natala prayed to Kami Orchida and the East Kai that Caline and Steak wouldn't be caught, and that Balair wouldn't miss Caline.

Hazel held her daughter in her arms. "Think there's still hope for us?"

"There must be, and we must make it," Natala told her bravely again. "We're holding onto to what we can, until we believe, until we survive. Those were Nama-lan's (grandmother-in-law) last words before she left."

"We're holding onto a thread, but it's better than nothing," Hazel said, trying to be as brave as Natala.

And then they reluctantly left the kitchenette together.