From the minute Tempest agreed to go along with the backward marriage scheme, everything moved faster than she thought possible.
They moved Tempest from room to room in the impressive metallic space. Tempest barely had enough time to really take in all the details of the alien space that she was in.
Tempest hoped that there would be time. After all, she would be stuck here for at least a good six months. She was sure that there would be time for her to take in all the details.
"Tempest, do you remember what I told you about the royals?" Mexyn questioned as she walked side by side with her down a long corridor.
"Somewhat." Tempest shrugged and waited for Mexyn to continue.
"I can give you the basics. It's very important that you never disrespect or show any malice toward the royals. Everyone is already on edge with this entire experiment. If they think that you aren't going to go against our way of life, they'll banish you."
Tempest gulped hard. Banishment. That was the one punishment Tempest knew she really wanted to avoid. It's one thing to have to share a space with another alien for a space of six months. Being left to her own devices on an alien planet was just something she knew she wasn't going to be able to do.
"Okay, be respectful. I understand." Tempest nodded her head. "What about the actual marriage itself."
"Oh, it's a fairly simple process; you will join the promenade. Praised and exalted. Then you will be taken into the drafted quarters, and all the available suitors will be presented for questions and inspection."
"Inspection?" Tempest's eyebrows inched up higher on her face.
"Of course, it would be quite unfortunate if your husband was chosen without your preferences considered. After all, the desired result was for you to want to carry a child." Mexyn nodded her head. She had gotten better at the human custom, but she still wasn't able to tell a lie from the truth.
Sure, Tempest agreed that she would consider having a child, but with the guarantee that she wouldn't have to do anything against her will. Tempest already made up her mind that not only would she not be having any kids, but she wouldn't even be having sex with anyone.
For all Tempest knew, there's a possibility that she wouldn't even be compatible. Here on Ustea there were so many different genders there was no guarantee that she'd be a good match for any of them.
"Okay, are you going to be with me?" Tempest asked.
"Oh, no. I'll be there in the crowd for the promenade, but since I'm mated, I'm not allowed in the drafted quarters." Mexyn grimaced.
"So I'm expected to go through all this on my own." Just the thought was enough to set Tempest on edge. She didn't know all the customs. Didn't know what was expected of her.
"No, of course not. You'll have a sponsor. Gerax has volunteered. He's well aware that you won't know our customs, and he'll do his very best to make sure that you are well advised."
Tempest released a deep breath. She hadn't seen Gerax since the first time when she was in the medical bay, but from what she could remember, Gerax wasn't particularly a fan of Tempest.
"That's my only option?" Tempest cringed and looked away.
"Of course you are free to go at it on your own, but the drafted have been known to over exaggerate or do whatever they have to in order to ensure a wife. Omega women are really this planet's most prized possessions."
"Except I'm not an omega, and I'm not from this planet."
Mexyn narrowed her eyes. "Semantics. If you were born here, you'd be considered an Omega."
Tempest wasn't about to argue with the woman. She already knew there was no changing her mind on this subject. The mere fact that Tempest was a biological human female was enough to put her in the Omega category.
"Fine, I'll go with Garex." Tempest relented. "Is there anything that I should be on the lookout for? Will they even be able to understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes, all the draftees have had their translators updated with your language." Mexyn nodded again.
"You said that Omegas were prized possessions; can I assume that none of them will be cruel to me?" Mexyn asked. Though she wasn't really sold on the idea of being forced to marry, she was more worried about what the actual relationship would look like.
The last relationship that she was in was with Sam. It all started good with him, but shortly he became cruel and controlling. Possessive and abusive. She'd never fully be over that.
"Absolutely. In fact, if there's even a suspicion of cruelty, the offending male will be thrown into the black cells to live out the duration of their sentencing." Mexyn stopped at a door and waved her hand over the control panel to grant access.
Black cells? That sounded ominous.
"What are the black cells? I'm not sure if I understand. Is that your version of prison?"
Mexyn tilted her head as if she were trying to translate what she was hearing. "Yes, prison. Worse than the prisons I've read about on your planet. The black cells are located deep within the earth. There are no openings, no water or food, just darkness. The average sentence for cruelty to an omega is ten thousand double moon cycles."
Tempest's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "Ten thousand—that has to be longer than a whole lifetime."
"Not necessarily. Though I've yet to meet anyone who has survived any length of time in the black cells more than ten double moon cycles."
"Why?"
"That darkness, the solitude, it plays with the mind."
Tempest nodded her head. She understood what was being said. It wasn't so much that the people in the black cells would just die; they'd go insane first, and then they'd perish.
Tempest finally looked up at the room that they were standing in front of and gasped.
It looked like one of the swankiest spas she'd never been to back on Earth. There were deep tubs. Rooms that billowed steam. Sweet-smelling flowers.
"Is this… is this all for me?" Tempest walked in, completely forgetting the previous line of questions.
"Yes. We need to make sure that you are at your very best. And we'll want to make sure that the transition process has been completed."
Tempest turned her head to Mexyn. "What will happen to me once the transition process has been completed?"
"Your body composition will become compatible with the flora and atmosphere of this planet. Your body will become receptive to the pheromones of the alpha, and it will ease the process during the act of procreation should you so choose. And finally, it will erase any illnesses you may have or may be susceptible to getting at a later age."
Tempest gasped; she had to make sure she was hearing Mexyn correctly. "Any illnesses? What about old age?"
"There is no old age here, simply despair. That is how we die here on this planet. Once the fires of hope have all burnt out, so does the will to live."
Tempest shook her head from side to side as she attempted to process what Mexyn had said.
"Are you saying I will be immortal?"
Mexyn tilted her head before she focused back on Tempest's face. "Yes, as one of the few Omegas, you will be able to use the life nectar as you please. The result will be immortality."
Rainbows and sparkles exploded behind Tempest's eyelids. Never in all of her years had she ever thought the possibility of becoming immortal to be attainable. Yet here Mexyn was telling her that all she needed to do was get through this farce of a wedding and six months of being treated like a princess.
Then she'd get the greatest reward of it all.
She'd only need to survive a little longer.
Then she'd live forever.