The Blood Order

XXVIII

The doctor seemed nice. He offered a blanket to me when I sat on the cold metallic chair, Vale sitting across from me on one of her own. Her new friend stands next to her demonstrating how to act in the situation. All I want is to drag her into a room and see how she feels, demand her to yell at me, but she seems content to listen to the woman whisper in her ear, and I can't blame her. 

"J'kani this is Victor, he is our personal doctor. He attends to my selected staff and me, therefore now you. He will be looking you over and getting your body ready for adjustment to this parallel." He lays a hand on my upper thigh, the doctor grabbing a circular stone like item. I try to shake his hand off, but his grip tightens into my leg, not in a painful way but definite warning. 

"Hello, welcome. I am pleased to hear that the king has found his j'kani and it will be a pleasure to serve you now and until you have children," Children? Who? "As he mentioned, I am called Victor, please refer to me in whatever way makes you comfortable." 

He steps over pressing me back against the see the cool metal biting into my back, "I am going to lay this seer stone on your lower abdomen, it will give me your health readings. Then, you are going to take a series of medicine that will adjust your body and metabolism to our parallel. Understood?" 

I nod, the King nods as well, the doctor waiting to continue until Raphael agrees. The stone that he rolled through his hand is placed on my stomach. It warms the base of my belly taking on a light blue glow at different engravings that cover the surrounding edge of the stone. The doctor watches patiently, his frown becoming deeper as more engraving light up into a solid blue hue. 

"My King, may I speak with you outside?" 

Outside? Am I about to have a cancer talk or something worse, "Yes," The king turns to me, "Stay." 

The two leave, Vale turning to watch them close the door behind them. The rock stays on my belly giving me a nice warm comfort like a heating pad. Vale waits a few moments before speaking, "What is going on?" 

I shove my eyebrows together leaning up on the table. The other attendant is alarmed waving at Vale when she moves up to on the seat, "I have no idea how to start." 

"Better start somewhere because I need answers on how I went from abused lesbian to indentured servant." She shoves her hand through her hair trying to keep her voice level. 

"Around the time you saran wrapped my car, Jamal followed me onto the bus and gave me messenger paper. The King wrote to me and I wrote back. Myrina my neighbor informed me of this multiple universe and world theory and the Tazi order. Now after I had three days to prepare, I challenged the King and just... well I fucked up and now we are here. The only way to guarantee your life was to make you a servant." 

"That was the most jumbled group of bullshit I have ever heard, but as I sit here and witness this man snap necks with a flick of his wrist... The way that crap wraps around you and can just..." She holds her hand up to her throat, her eyes glazing over at the memory, "You can't forget that." 

"I am so sorry Vale." I whisper to her, my palms face up in my lap in apology. If I could bear my soul to her I would, but she doesn't seem to mind too much. 

"You did what you had to, and it's not like we are going to stick around okay?" 

I look up to her, a smile on my face and hers, "Okay." 

We shift back into our seats as the men re-enter the room. The other girls eyes are wide, but I see Vale run her hand over her shoulder, the woman relaxing at her touch. How close did they get when they walked away? What was that? Fifteen minutes? 

Raphael immediately comes to my side, his jaw is set eyes angry when he rakes over my body seeming to count every imperfection. Victor lifts the rock off my stomach setting it to the side before going through his list of notes that he wrote down, "From my readings, you are anemic, malnourished, dehydrated, have many imperfections on the skin that come from abuse or mistreatment, and conditionally infertile. This means that until you bring your body back to its normal weight and health with other supplements, you will be unable to bear children. I am sorry to tell you this." 

This seems to bother the King more than me, his eyes staring intently at my uncovered belly. While it's unfortunate to hear, I don't believe that my luck would have it any other way. Why would the world rip everything from me and not take that as well? It was an unexpected consequence of having hope. 

"Okay." 

The doctor didn't know how to respond to my blank-ness about it. He look at the King who waved him on, the doctor flipping frantically through his book, "I will be prescribing four different things for you to take three times a day with food and water. One is a high potency iron pill, one a supplement, the other two being shifting drugs. They will change your body make up by a minor amount. This is due to the introduction of a new element that your planet does not have, and as your body gets larger and larger doses through the medication and food, you will slowly be able to handle the heat we have as we do. While you will never be us, we can try to get you as close as possible for reproductive reasoning." 

Is everything about children? Are we going to ignore that he snapped a man's neck and drug two girls from another planet. 

"How soon can we get up to health? You know our traditions and I don't wish to stray from them." 

"If she is determined and doesn't fight the process, we could do three months." 

"Wait. Tradition?" I break into conversation, Vale leaning forward to listen as well. 

The King grimaces when he looks at me, his mind seeming to roll through a collection of thoughts he isn't ready to share. The doctor looks at him and then at me breaking the silence, "Now that you are under the blood order, and the j'kani of the King it is expected that you will bear him a child in the first year, however it is rare for a pregnancy and most start trying for child as soon as they find one another. With your health, that won't be possible and will make it more difficult for you two to complete the process." 

"Children? I haven't even graduated college." My voice finds itself scratchy from lack of use, then to over use to ask all the questions that seem to present themselves. 

Raphael gives me the angriest look I have ever seen, "College is obsolete. The moment I found you, your new purpose was the crown. It is my job to take care of you and provide for you, and in return we must continue the blood line. This has been done for generations, even before my new order." 

"What-" 

"No more questions, anything else doctor?" 

Victor shuffles back uncomfortable, "No, my King. She is free to return with you." 

"Good, let's go. We will be heading to my office for a couple hours. Your attendant will be taken care of and continuing her training." He grabs my arm leading me from the table. I reach my hand out the Vale to which she does the same, our fingers run against each other her mouth moving with no sound coming out. 

We will be free.