He already told them.

Why else would Aiko knock now, when she’d always entered unbidden before? And she was calling me my lady...

I’d have to nip that right in the bud.

“Come in!” I called shakily. I smoothed my hair, a panicky, half-asleep gesture, as if my bedhead would somehow detract from the image that I was truly Wylfrael’s mate. I swallowed hard, telling myself that the bargain began right now. I had to succeed at this. I had to.

Aiko entered with a tray full of food. She smiled, something she’d done before, but then flattened her ears, something she hadn’t. At least, not to me. I’d noticed her do it in front of Wylfrael, though.

“Good morning, my lady,” she said, bringing in the tray and setting it down.

“Oh, please, don’t call me, ‘my lady,’” I said. I didn’t care if that was supposed to be part of the illusion of our marriage – I couldn’t stand it. And I was from a whole other planet, after all. Wanting to be on equal footing with the Sionnachans could just be considered one of my human quirks.

“Oh! If my lady wishes! Ah, I apologize, miss, ma’am, my...”

“Just call me Torrance, please,” I said. “Thank you so much for the food!”

I slid out of the bed, still an incredibly awkward task because of the height of the furniture. Aiko observed my movements, then delicately said, “I’ll be sure that the lord’s chamber – I mean, your chamber – will have a stool beside the bed.”

“The lord’s chamber?” I froze, halfway between the bed and the table where Aiko stood.

Aiko’s fur, tinted pink in the room’s light, shifted as she cocked her head at me quizzically.

Oh, no. Had I already messed up?

“Ah, yes! Wylfrael’s chamber. My chamber. Yes. Of course.” I grinned widely, babbling and nodding. “Yes, thank you. A stool. That would be fine. Thanks. Yes.”

Aiko smiled, and I breathed an internal sigh of relief. She’d only just started to understand me last night, no doubt due to more of that webbing, and she didn’t know my human speech patterns well enough to know that I sounded like a fucking idiot right now.

The bastard could have warned me, I thought, my smile turning hard. I assumed he’d be in here first thing this morning, ready to coach me and hammer out all the details of this new arrangement. But instead, he’d already gone ahead and made all these changes and decisions – including moving me into his room! – without even telling me.

We are going to have a talk when he gets back, I vowed as I seated myself in one of the huge chairs at the table. The Sionnachans may call him lord, but I won’t. I will have my say in how this all plays out.

Although he’d already set the expectation with Aiko and the others that we’d be sharing a chamber, and I’d just confirmed it, so I didn’t think I’d have much say on that particular matter now. Well, he can sleep on the fucking floor, then.

I must have been scowling, because Aiko’s voice turned tremulous with something that sounded like distress.

“Is the breakfast not to your liking, my – Torrance? I can make you something else right away!”

OK, first I need to have a talk with Aiko.

“The breakfast is great, thank you,” I said, relaxing my face. “Would you sit down with me for a moment?”

Aiko hesitated, then did so. It was much easier for her tall frame to fold itself into the chair than it had been for me.

“Aiko, I want to make something clear right now. I may be about to-” Oh God, oh my fucking God, “-marry Wylfrael, and he may be a lord of some kind, but that’s not me. That’s not how I grew up. You don’t have to worry about pleasing me or anything like that. In fact, if you wanted, we could be something more like friends.”

Aiko’s tail fluffed behind her, and her eyes got big.

“Sorry,” I said quickly. “Not if that’s weird for you.” Shit. Maybe that was inappropriate. Was I her boss now? But then again, she’d helped Wylfrael when I was a prisoner, so who the hell was to say what was appropriate now?

“No, that would... that would be lovely, thank you,” Aiko said, smiling. It got bigger, turning into a grin with sharp little teeth. “You don’t know how dreadful it’s been around here with only my father and brother for company for so long! We haven’t had another woman here since Osha left, and that was back when I was a child.”

“What about your mother?” I asked.

“She died when I was very young. Shoshen barely remembers her. But I do.”

My throat got hot.

“Me too,” I said thickly. “Mine died when I was just a baby. It was just my dad and me until... well, until very recently. Did you say your father is here?”

“Yes,” she said. “You have not met him. His name is Ashken.”

“Well, I look forward to meeting him then.” I pursed my lips, studying her, wondering how long the three of them had been alone here. “So, how does this work, exactly? You’re employed by Wylfrael? Are the Sionnachans tenants on his land?” His title of lord made me think of historical British lords who had vast lands and earned income from renting the farmland.

“Oh, no. Nothing like that. Wylfrael owns this castle, and the surrounding forests, because they belonged to his mother’s family. But no Sionnachans live on his land. Well, besides the three of us now. And yes, we are employed here. We are paid by the estate’s coffers.”

“OK... But how does Wylfrael have so much money then? Where did it come from?” If he wasn’t a lord in the sense I was used to, then how did he pay these three? I certainly hadn’t seen him doing anything that looked remotely like work, unless you considered bossing me around to be work. Which he probably did.

Aiko gave me an odd look.

“You... Forgive me, Torrance, but you really know very little of the stone sky gods.”

“Please! Enlighten me! I feel like I have no idea what’s going on half the time!”

“I... I should not. That should be something your husband tells you. It’s his history.”

I felt my expression sour. Wylfrael hadn’t even told me that he was putting me in his room, who knew how forthcoming he’d be about all this?

“Just tell me about Sionnachan history, then. Tell me about the things that have happened on this estate. That should be OK, right? You’re not telling me anything secret.”

“I suppose that would be alright. You do live here now, too.” She looked so happy at those last words that I felt a pang of guilt about the fact that if I had my way, and our plan worked out, I wouldn’t be here for long.

“Many generations ago, a stone sky god appeared in our sky,” Aiko began.

“Hold on. Sorry to interrupt, but what do you mean, appeared?” I leaned forward, my elbows on the table, as I gazed intently at her.

“He opened a sky door to Sionnach. We knew nothing of the stone sky gods before then.”

Holy fucking shit.

“Are you telling me,” I said slowly, “that he came here, flew here, from another planet?”

“Yes, exactly. That’s one of the stone sky gods’ many powers.”

I kept my mouth shut, but barely. I’d seen Wylfrael emerge from the sky myself, but I assumed he’d come from somewhere nearby. Not another fucking planet!

But then again, how would he have visited Rúnwebbe? She was on a different planet, too...

“What’s a sky door? How do they create them? They don’t even wear suits or helmets or anything?!”

“Ah, I’m sorry, I don’t know the answers to these things. Would they not be better explained by Lord Wylfrael?”

Impatience made me want to press her, but I didn’t. But my dear future husband better be ready for some very serious questions from this astrophysicist. Starting with, what the actual fuck?

“OK. Sorry. Please go on,” I said.

Aiko closed and opened her fists in a gesture I was starting to realize was something akin to a human nodding “Yes.”