The Galactic Bride
Chapter 26: The Minister's Daughter

Aki thought his Kal'mar ceremony with the Minister's Daughter would be filled with pomp and flooded with noble dignitaries. But the actual event surprised him. He learned from one of the chamber-maids that only four people would be present: Him, the Minister's Daughter, His Olma, and the Minister herself. This both put him at ease (as bathing in front of many people seemed embarrassing, even if he had already done worse on the feeds), but the people involved in this put him on edge. The two people he liked the least would be their witnesses, and he wouldn't have either Lani or Hana to rely on.

It seemed that through out his journey during this whole thing he relied on someone. First it was Lani, then it was Anura, then Hana. But ever since they arrived on Sheplam, both Lani and Hana had reverted to hiding behind him until the coast was clear. Now they clearly were relying on him. But he felt even more out of his depth than he did in the coliseum. He didn't like this shady political business, and certainly didn't like being a tool for it.

But to go to the kal'mar alone was a prospect he really didn't like. He'd have no allies, no one he knew at all. So it was with great apprehension that he changed into the kal'mar silks. As before the gowns were more like lingerie. Very light and seductive, yet simple at the same time. It made him feel awkward.

"I hate this. Why can't I come with you like last time?" Hana complained.

"I don't know." Aki really didn't. "I guess they want to make this an official political engagement. The daughter isn't allowed to bring her concubine either."

"I wonder what she's like." Lani looked at him. "There are whisperers and rumors about the Minister's daughter, but as is Mari tradition, noble girls are sort of kept locked up until marrying age. No one really knows a thing about her."

"She probably has big puffy hair and long ugly horns like her Mom." Hana speculated, then corrected. "Olma, I mean."

"Thanks Hana-chan." Aki didn't want the daughter to look like that woman.

Hana narrowed her eyes at him. "You don't actually want her to be pretty do you? Wouldn't that be sweet. You can fall head over heels in love with her, and ditch us."

"Don't say that!" Aki nearly yelled at her. He was nervous and took it out on her.

Hana saw what she had done and regretted it. "Sorry. I'm just scared. For me… for you… I'm just… I feel like I'm naked and surrounded by wolves. Like I can't do anything but just wait to be killed."

"I know." Aki closed his eyes trying to calm down himself. "Don't you think I feel the same way?"

"Yeah, but you're different. They need you. They don't need us."

Hana had a point. But he didn't have time to think about that, he was called away by a servant and told it was time to head over to the ceremony. So with dread in his heart he turned to say goodbye. Both Hana and Lani gave him a kiss goodbye. Both of the kisses were a bit too passionate for a simple goodbye. It was like they wanted to leave an impression on him. It was like they were saying: "You're getting engaged to that girl, you really belong to us."

So Aki placed on an silk over-robe and followed a new servant to the ceremony. It was a long journey, and had be not been so conditioned from running in a jungle environment to working out on the ship, he might have gotten winded. In fact his own servant guide was starting to perspire. He reckoned that it wasn't often that anyone had to travel from one end of the building to the other in one go.

When they arrived at a huge elaborate door, the servant was out of breath. He patted her lightly on the shoulder and thanked her for her effort. She was surprised at the kind gesturer and grinned that fanged smile he had gotten used to from space-aliens. She opened the door and he entered. When he fully stepped inside she whispered "May the Goddess grant good fortunes to you" at him then shut it behind him.

The room looked like his guest room in the way it was constructed, only twice the size. The other difference was that the place, while spotless, clearly was lived in. He correctly guessed this had to be the Minister's Daughters own bed chambers.

And there she was. She was standing behind the figures of Minister Were and Jadkes, who both were dressed as if they were going out for an expensive ball outing. Only he and the daughter were wearing the robes. As for the daughter herself, he really couldn't get a good idea what she looked like. Not only was she covered in the robe, but her lower face was covered with a semi-sheer veil, and her hair was fashioned up, so it wouldn't get wet during the kal'mar bath. But he could see the faint nubs of her horns. They peaked out from her hair like small cat-ears. Really the only feature on her that stood out was her near yellow eyes. Technically they were like brown, but because of her tan skin and dark chocolate hair, they looked somewhat yellow.

"Ah, you're here. I must apologize, I quite forgot you were housed on the other side of the palace." Minister Were spoke in her fake sweet voice again.

He knew for a fact she didn't forget. She wanted him to walk the distance of the building to further emphasize her power, and maybe to wear him out, should he be in a argumentative mood.

"I'm fine, please don't worry about me." Aki said, making sure voice gave no indication that the balls of his feet were humming.

"Isn't this lovely. The first meeting of the happy couple. I feel almost jealous." Jadkes spoke in an equally fake cheerful voice. "It brings be back to my youth, when I met my wife."

"Those were simpler times, weren't they?" Minister Were looked reminiscent. Meanwhile her daughter's eyes were looking extremely nervous.

"Ah, look at us gabbing like a couple of old crones, this is about these girls!"

"Yes, yes. We apologize." The Minister gave a fake laugh.

"No problem." Aki played their game. "I feel in good hands knowing that the two of your have been through the same experience. I can only hope that I can be a good wife some day."

The Minister seemed to be taken aback by his change in character for a few moments. Jankes noticed nothing. But she was quick to regroup herself. "Well then, if there are no objects, shaw we begin?"

The two of them were led into the bathroom were a pool sized bath a waited them. Aki's first kal'mar had been in a spaceship, so the bath big enough for two, but only just. They had to sit on their knees to get waist deep, and it made it extremely difficult with Hana also in the mix. But there were be no issues here.

"Before you begin, shouldn't my daughter introduce herself?" The Minister prodded. Obviously the girl was supposed before hand, but either forgot or was to scared to say anything.

"Yes." The girl turned to him and bowed in a very japanese like way. "I apologize. My name is Kahwool of House Rola. I'm pleased to meet you and I hope that we… that we get along."

It was the little stammer that made him realize she wasn't going to be a player in the Minister's game. She was just a girl. "I guess you already know me, but I'm Kezri of House Grajin. But it would please me if you called me Aki."

"Aki?" Kahwool broke the script. "Isn't that the name General Anura called you during the contest.

"Yes." Aki liked that the break in procedure was causing the adults in the room to feel out of place. "My concubine from Earth… erm, I mean Terra-3… gave me that nickname. My name there was Akihiko, but she shortened it to Aki. I don't really know who this Kezri is, so I like my friends to call me that."

"And you want me to call you that?"

But before this could get too out of control, there was a clearing of the throat from the Minster. Kahwool immediately went silent. Without missing a beat Jadkes beamed. "It's so sweet that they're already getting along, don't you think Minister?"

"Splendid." Minister Were said through a fake smile. "But perhaps we should begin the ceremony? Tell me, who is supposed to disrobe first, or does it matter. You see, I don't understand Nimbonian customs all that well."

"It shouldn't matter. Just as long as the partner undresses the other." Jadkes spoke casually. "Kezri, dear. Please remember not to remove her face veil just yet. It's a Mari tradition to keep that on in public, until the day of marriage."

He nodded, but kept his eyes on Kahwool. She was shaking. "Do you want to undress me or-"

"P-Please. Allow me."

And so the awkward dance began. It somehow felt more embarrassing with two women watching them undress than it did hidden cameras. Kahwool's body was incredible, but she was shy and used her arms to hide herself, even when they were in the bath. He couldn't blame her. He just wanted this over with as well. After they had both washed each other's backs, the bath part of the ceremony technically was over, though enjoyment of the bath usually was permitted. This also meant the witnesses time was over.

"Well… I suppose we should leave the two love birds to it." Jadkes smiled brightly.

"Yes. It's so hard for me, to watch my daughter grow up before my very eyes. Only yesterday she seemed to be a baby."

"Why don't we have dinner? I'd like to invite you out. We can keep our minds off of our children growing up and think of other things."

The two left, both trying to out pomp each other. Aki and Kahwool stood in the bath and watched them go. it was only until the faint sound of Kahwool's bedroom door close did they move. She sunk to her knees so that her shoulders peaked out from the water, her face mortified. Aki sat down as well, but kept a respectful distance from her.

"I'm sorry you had to preform the kal'mar. It's embarrassing, isn't it?" Aki tried to make her feel better.

Kahwool nodded. "I wouldn't mind it so much if… if I knew you a bit better… and if my Olma wasn't watching. It's creepy."

"Yeah. Same here." Aki laughed a little.

"So.. So now what?"

Aki didn't know what she was talking about at first, then he realized she wanted to bath to be over. "Well, all that's left is to sleep in the same bed. Don't worry, it's just sleeping."

"Okay." She started to stand up, but stopped herself. "I know you already saw me, but… is it allowed to ask you to turn around while I get out and get dressed?"

Aki felt bad for her. No doubt she was forced to go along with this whole marriage as well. He wanted to ease her tension a bit. "I'm tempted to lie and say no, but I can turn around."

As he did so, she give a small nervous laugh. He didn't know if it was genuine or not, but at least she knew he was trying to make her feel better. When she had finished, she gave him the go-ahead, and he did the same. They didn't bother putting on the robes, they just placed on the night-gowns and left the bathroom for the bed.

She sat down on it and looked at him over her veil, inviting him to sit next to her. He could see her goose-bumps on her arm. He knew she wasn't cold. She was wondering what he expected of her. In truth he didn't know what to say to make her feel better.

"Kahwool, I want you to know something." Aki spoke after a while. "You might have seen me in the contest and think I'm sort of savage. I'm not really like that. I had to do those things to survive. And I want you to know that I will never intentionally hurt you. As far as I'm concerned you're forced into this like I was. I don't hate you, and I don't expect anything from you. I'll do the best I can to take care of you… which isn't saying much as I'm an alien and all. I just want you to know… well, I guess that's all."

Kahwool was silent for a moment, thinking about it. Then she reach up for her veil and slowly took it off. The rest of her face was gorgeous. She peered at him, not blushing, as she raised her arms and undid her hair next. It was long and sleek, not the shaggy mess her moms was. Then she placed her hands on her lap, still looking into his eyes.

"This is what they made me look like." She whispered.

"Huh?"

"I didn't used to look like this. I wasn't homely or anything, but I wasn't this pretty either. My Olma and my Mother took me to a beauty-changer to fixed the imperfections on my body. I had a wider nose, for one thing, and a crocked tooth." Kahwool continued to whisper. "Then they put me on a diet and an exercise program to keep my body looking like this. They made me grow out my hair and used some chemicals to permanently keep my hair from looking like my Olmas. They even filed my horns to the ideal short-nubs. All this they did for the winner of the contest. My own Olma wanted me to be the most beautiful prize imaginable. I'm not a person to them… I'm just…"

Instantly he reached for her hand. She allowed him to hold it.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking like that." Kahwool reached for her veil again. "I'm not even supposed to take that off."

"I like you better when your honest." Aki told her.

"Well… it seemed only right." Kahwool was blushing slightly. "After all, I know more about you because of the feeds than you do about me. I guess in a way we're the same. Only I think you had it worse than me. I'm sorry that you had to do all that just to get me in the end."

"And I'm sorry you had to go through all you did just to get ME in the end." Aki said with a small laugh. "Some weirdo hidden-seed can't be your ideal wife."

"No." Kahwool admitted. "But you're not as bad as I thought you'd be. And it doesn't hurt that you're very beautiful." She must of saw Aki blush at that because her eyes widened and she tightened her fingers around his hand. "Sorry. I read somewhere that you don't like being called beautiful. I forgot."

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