Ellie was relieved, “I’m being childish. I’ve just spent the last year being told what to wear.”
Valentin nodded, “I understand. That’s why I got you the necklace too. Did you see it in the wardrobe?” He did buy that specifically for her, so this wasn’t a lie.
Ellie shook her head, “No.” She was still wearing her Alliance ID necklace because frankly she still felt as if she couldn’t take it off. Ellie had mixed emotions about all of this. She didn’t hold any grudges against House Rega, not even Jei, and of course, she wasn’t shirking in her duty to Magnolia if she married Valentin, however her half-sister would have the best Alliance life, whether Ellie was in Alba or a few hundred lightyears away. Another concession Jei had added to appease Ellie was that both she and Magnolia retained their citizenship on Earth. It was unpresented and so only a few knew, but this meant that they could always return to Earth and that some Imperial laws didn’t apply to them.
“May I?” Valentin asked before stepping over the threshold to her temporary quarters.
“Of course,” Ellie let him past her and then followed him to the wardrobe in the bedroom. Once there he opened it and took out a small lonely bright red box from a shelf. She had thought it was just something part of the wardrobe.
“This,” Valentin opened the red box and presented it to her. Inside was an ornate bird on a thick silver band necklace with its wings outstretched, “was the necklace that I purchased with you in mind.”
“It’s gorgeous,” said Ellie in awe of the craftmanship. The necklace was a pleasing length, shorter than her ID necklace, with the bird resting just below her collarbone. The two necklaces went well together. She reached out to touch the bird. Then looked up at Valentin, “Thank you. I love it.” Ellie couldn’t help the swell of emotions at her first piece of jewelry from a male suitor. She wasn’t an Alliance woman, she was human, but she knew what this meant in this area of the galaxy and what it meant to Valentin too.
He bristled a little at her using the word ‘love’, his parents respected the unspoken rules of this side of the galaxy and no one spoke of love publicly. “Let me put it on you. You are free Elloisa. I’m setting you free and now everyone can see that.” He had specifically chosen the bird rather than some of the more traditional Alliance symbols of freedom because she was human, but he felt he needed to tell her too just so that there were not misunderstandings. He didn’t want her to be with him only because he was an alternative to Admiral Jei, the Empire and an Imperial husband.
Ellie shivered with pleasure as his cool hands touched the nape of her neck as he clasped the necklace. She could smell his strong scent intermixed with a kind of cologne she didn’t recognize. The scent was not the familiar Imperial petrichor smell, but something more deeply floral, like the lowest note a flower could have if it sang as a rich baritone. Ellie commanded the mirror to open. She looked at her reflection and their eyes met in the mirror. “Thank you.” Then she turned around and kissed him.
After a sensual kiss, he pulled away slightly, “Come on, we can’t keep the chef waiting and there’s much to discuss.” Then he took her hand and led her out into the corridor.
“Did you learn about me or Reima Two or simply sleep?” It was late in the night after all if they were going by the time on Alliance Planet Two.
Ellie smiled, “I was able to read about your planet. I had a headache at first, but your doctor came made it go away with Alliance style medicine.” She was tempted to ask if he really did know her menstrual cycle but decided she would probably need a glass of wine or two before she wanted to hear that answer.
Valentin’s doctor had reported back to him immediately after visiting Ellie. He had lifted all the Empire’s influences. There hadn’t been many, but enough to guide her thoughts away from him, however, most of the influential blocks pertained her mother, Earth, and Admiral Jei. His doctor had told him that he could reinstate them. What Valentin wanted was for Ellie to be herself completely and not be guided into a decision because of doctors’ influences corralling her one way or another. He knew that this also meant that he was taking the chance that she wouldn’t want him as they had initially met when these influences were guiding her emotions, but as was his nature, he wanted it all or nothing. “I’m glad my doctor could help you and you’re feeling better now.”
Ellie smiled in thanks then continued her thoughts, “I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t want to live on Reima Two?” She also wanted to ask, ‘Why, with you all being Alliance, do you not also have a demographics issue?’ or ‘Why the Empire didn’t come to Reima Two before taking human women?’ But she felt those questions would have to wait. She had learned enough about the galaxy, especially the Empire, from living in House Rega, to know that there were a lot of politics in the galaxy and that nothing was straightforward and questions asked at the wrong time could be answered in ways that would only add to the confusion.
Valentin smiled, “For starters, Reima Two is not in the Empire. Secondly, there are extremely strict guidelines about who exactly is allowed to live there. We don’t just let in everyone these days.”
“I noticed. You know, I’m as poor as a church mouse as they say on Earth. I have no UCs of my own,” Ellie wanted to get that out there just in case he thought she might have something from Admiral Jei or House Rega as part of a marriage stipend. She didn’t want to mention anything because she didn’t know yet what Admiral Jei would do if she decided to marry Valentin, so it was best to assume she would get nothing.
“I know,” Valentin said. He led her into his private dining room where his staff was waiting and offered her a seat so that she would also have a view of the stars outside. “Please sit here and have some wine.”
“You’ve not poisoned it?”
Valentin gave her a look of displeasure.
“I have to ask to learn,” she explained. “You were the one that said I was ignorant a few hours ago.”
“I did,” he admitted, “But no one would ever admit to poisoning something. And I wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble to bring you here just to poison you. I could have killed you anytime on the planet. I don’t want to kill you. I want to marry you or at the very least allow you to return to Earth. To be free to make your own mistakes and successes.”
“I was with those other women on the Diablo. Maybe you made a pact to kill us all, I don’t know. As you said, I don’t know how the galaxy works.”
Valentin took her wine glass and took a large sip then looked her in the eyes, “It’s good. A sauvignon blanc from Earth.” He handed her the wine glass. “I don’t want to bring up something painful, but if you did believe in destiny then maybe it was the gods that guided your mother to try and save you so that we could be together? If she had returned to the Kzi and not gone after you, I would’ve inadvertently poisoned you with the other human women and you would have drifted off to sleep in an Octopod holding on to the next world or into the long sleep. Whatever you believe happens when we die.”
“If my mother had not come after me, those women would have never been sold by your captain to the Octopods to begin with and might be living good lives in the Empire now,” Ellie retorted.