Chapter 24

Connie

The old man’s eyes went wide as he looked at the men around him, ready to hurt him if he moved.

“Please, Lord Raylon, forgive me. I was only—”

“Return what you stole and leave this market. If I see you here again, I will have you lashed!”

As Raylon’s harsh words echoed through the market, I felt sorry for this frail old man.

But then, right before my very eyes, he stood up straight, his skin tightened on his bones, and his features grew much younger.

~What the hell!~

The now young-looking, tall, pale-skinned man turned to me with an angry look, before he held out the screen to me again.

I looked at Raylon, not sure what to do.

He came over to me, and gently took my wrist and ran it over the scan again.

I heard another beep before the vendor scurried off to the entrance of the market, leaving his food cart behind.

“What was that all about?” I asked.

“You are too exposed,” Raylon said in a deep voice that made me take his comment in a naughty way.

“I am?” I asked, raising one eyebrow at him.

I heard his laugh under the mask before he turned my wrist over to show the gold markings.

“Look around you,” he said, gesturing to everyone at the market. “Notice what they all have on their wrist.”

I looked at everyone then and saw that they all had either a black or metal strap around their wrists.

I watched a young boy buy something from a stall. As the vendor held out the glass screen, the boy tapped on his wristband.

A holographic screen popped up in front of his fingers. He selected a few buttons then scanned the wristband over the glass screen.

~Aha!~

“Here,” Raylon said as he placed a shining metal wristband over my gold markings.

“This device allows you to control the amount of credit taken from your scan, so that scammers like that man do not steal it all from you again.”

I smiled my thanks at him as I looked at the very fancy and presumably expensive band now around my arm.

Raylon touched the small symbol on the top and a phone-sized holograph appeared in front of my fingers from the bottom of my palm.

As I stared at the strange little symbols on the projection, something hot dripped onto my other hand.

“Ouch!” I cried out as I dropped the two treats into the dirt.

I looked at them as my shoulders sagged. “Shit. I was really looking forward to trying those.”

“I know a much better place to find food. Will you join me?”

~Hell yeah!~

“Lead the way,” I said and linked my arm with his.

He led us to a pristine-looking mirrored glass cube that seemed to have been dropped into the center of this somewhat dirty and disorganized market.

As we approached, the glass parted like curtains. I saw numerous tables, with a few people enjoying the mysterious food that filled the space with a mouthwatering smell.

We were very quickly greeted by an eager-looking woman who stood only four feet tall.

“Good day, Lord Raylon,” she said with a bow. “Oh, it is such an honor to have you here. Please let me give you our finest table.”

“Thank you,” I said as she gave me a wide smile.

She led us up a flight of glass steps to a more private area in the back. We sat down at a table that overlooked the market.

Without looking at a menu, Raylon said, “We will have a Jix tea and a breakfast platter, please.”

“Yes, of course, My Lord. Excellent choice,” the woman said as she beamed at Raylon.

He gave her a slight nod and I spotted his eyes smiling at her under the mask.

“My Lady, may I offer you Kalikal?”

~What is that? Who cares!~

“Yes, please,” I said with a polite smile. She nodded to me and ran off.

I heard Raylon chuckle again.

“What?” I asked him with a smile.

“Do you know what Kalikal is?”

“I have no idea, but it sounds interesting,” I said as I reached for my phone.

I swiped it open and snapped a few pictures of the market.

“What is that device?” Raylon asked as he watched me get a little too camera happy.

“It’s my phone. I’m taking pictures,” I spun the phone around to show him.

I swiped to the next picture and, as we went through the list, I smiled at the photo of me and Bob on their ship before the ball.

I swiped again and when I saw the picture of me posing with a horrendously silly face next to an indifferent-looking Samson, I couldn’t put my phone away quick enough.

“Where was that last one taken?” Raylon asked with a smile in his voice.

I felt my cheeks grow hot as I fumbled with my phone, not wanting to look at him. “That was at home, with my cat.”

“What is a cat?”

“Umm…it’s an animal on Earth. People keep them as pets.”

“I see,” he said as he leaned his elbows on the table in front of him. “Do you have more pictures of your world?”

“I think so,” I said as I returned to my gallery.

I scrolled past the ten or so photos of me and Samson I took one night when I was bored and found a few of a weekend trip to London, to visit my mother.

I showed him Tower Bridge and the London Eye, the parliament building and Buckingham Palace.

“Your world is fascinating,” he said, and just then I noticed how close his mask was to my face. I looked up and met his eyes.

I wished he would take that mask off, so I could see him.

“Yeah, it has its beauties. It’s got a lot of bullshit too.”

“I do enjoy your way with words,” he said with a smile in his voice again as the short woman approached our table.

Behind her were two men, carrying what looked like a luxury chaise longue. They set it down next to me and the woman stood there, waiting.

I looked at Raylon for what to do, but he just gestured with his hand for me to continue.

“I’m sorry,” I said to the woman. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

She smiled. “First you need to make a selection.”

“A selection?” I asked, feeling as if I had made a big mistake.

“Yes. Our options are not as vast as some of the other places, I know, but I chose the finest for Lord Raylon’s guest.”

I looked at Raylon again, panic in my eyes. He didn’t say anything. He leaned back against the glass, crossed his arms, and watched me.

No doubt he was amused by this. I could just imagine the smile on his face.

“What am I meant to select?” I asked the woman with what I hoped was a polite tone.

She gestured to the two men behind her and asked, “Which one of these fine men will feed you during your Kalikal?”

“Umm,” I said, and blushed as I looked at the two young men, who in their own way, were rather attractive. “I think I’ve made a mistake here.”

Raylon chuckled again.

“I see,” the woman said as her smile fell. “If they are not good enough for you, my lady, I can go find more for you to choose from.”

“No, no, that’s okay. I just didn’t realize what the Kali-something was. But thank you,” I said and watched the two men haul the sofa out of the room again.

I turned back to Raylon; “What the hell was that?” I asked as he laughed.

“Kalikal is a practice from the old times. Woman of means select a man to feed her as she lays on a Kalikal. It is a silly tradition, but some women still enjoy the experience.”

“That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard,” I said as my laugh bubbled to the surface.