Chapter 36
The last week had come and gone for Wes in the blink of an eye. Most of it was spent sleeping and eating. He savored the food that Dozel insisted on personally preparing for him. Phony used her time to talk her father's ear off.
Argyros had stuck around after their reunion. When Wes brought up the fact that he couldn’t be in his private area without his permission, Argyros countered with the Patriarch being exempt from such rules.
After finding himself unable to get rid of Argyros, he chose to spend most of his time in his room. The girls would sometimes come and spend time with him. Both individually and together. Argyros, for whatever reason, chose not to enter his personal bedroom.
One thing was on his mind as the week progressed. The two women he was now engaged to had become increasingly more alluring after their time on the training planet. Their appearance didn’t change much aside from Phony wearing light make-up on a couple of the days she came to visit. Dozel’s attire had changed as well. She was no longer in customary servant’s attire like she had been prior to them leaving. She chose instead to alternate between a flowing dress and the green battle guard she had been on the training planet. Similar to what she wore while they were in the Ruined forest.
Now that they were out of the forest, they had to make a point of being together. The girls had made him a priority, but he, for all his ulterior wants. Couldn’t push his resentment for Argyros down enough to venture out and spend time with them on his own. No doubt there was a lot more to his abilities than he knew.
So as he settled into a routine of asking for books about the wider universe. Now that he was in Nia’s compound, he wanted to take advantage of it. He still was not allowed to know where he was exactly, but Wes had a feeling that sooner or later, he would be given the boot.
It wasn’t until the last day of the second week back that a knock came on his door. Knowing it wasn’t either of the girls, who had long since stopped knocking, Wes sighed and said, “Come in.”
When nothing happened, Wes yelled, “Come in!”
Still nothing happened, so Wes got up and walked over to the door and opened it. Argyros was outside, looking past Wes as he opened the door. Wes followed Argyros' eyes over his shoulders and looked behind. Finding nothing, he turned back and asked, “What are you looking at?”
Argyros asked, “You alone?”
“Ugh, yeah? You know I am.” Wes questioned.
“May I come in?”
Wes stepped to the side and gestured for Argyros to enter. Argyros gestured back no. “I’d rather not. Best not to fill my head with the thought of you soiling my daughter's honor.”
Perplexed for a moment, the realization slammed into Wes like one of his sister's fists. Wes lost it; his laughter made Argyros' face become serious.
“I hate that I have to say this, but don’t worry. Your daughter is still quite honorable.” Wes chuckled.
Gathering himself, “If you don’t mind, could we have a word out here?”
Wes looked behind him again and said, “No, you want to talk, you’ll have to come inside.”
Wes left the door open and walked toward the bed. “Close the door behind you.”
Taking advantage of the situation, Wes sat on the bed. He propped himself up on the pillows. He gestured for Argyros to take a seat in the chair in the corner.
Argyros stood in the doorway for a moment before walking in without closing the door. “Fine boy, make this hard on an old man.”
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“No fun, if I didn’t,” Wes answered before adding. “I have some things I want to say to you as well. So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t influence me over the next couple of minutes.”
Argyros nodded as he took the seat furthest from the bed near the entrance to the bathroom. “Me first, I want to inform you that I will oversee your days from here.”
“Are you sure? I keep getting told that this person or that person will be in charge of me, only for that to change.” Wes pointed out.
“That was only because I was detained; had I been around, none of that would have happened. You would not be engaged to my dear daughter, and you would not have been sent to the training planet. And I would have never allowed you to take a ChiShiKi as your second wife.”
“She is not my second wife.” Wes corrected.
“You expect my daughter to be the second wife?” Argyros asked.
“There will be no first wife, second wife with me,” Wes answered.
“You may say that, but your status will register one over the other depending on who you marry first.” Argyros followed.
“Huh, I didn’t know that. Still, that will not be for me to decide. They are perfectly capable of figuring that out for themselves.” Wes added.
Argyros countered, “If you are not going to cut the ChiShiKi loose, I really must stress that you make my daughter your first wife. Simply for the fact that others may accept it more. As it is, next to no one will, but if there is a chance of anyone accepting. It is a path I recommend you take.”
“I can appreciate your warning, but as I said, that's not for me to decide,” Wes argued.
Shaking his head, Argyros continued, “If that is how you want it, I’m not going to fight you. Moving on, you will be leaving here within the week. I am still making preparations for you three. But as soon as those are all decided, I will boot you out of this manor.”
Wes shrugged, “Figured as much. Had a feeling that you guys would want to insulate me from getting to know people. Having had a lot of time to think, I can see that when people start to find out about me, I will not be able to rest. Mind telling me where you are sending me?”
“My first inclination is home, but Pyrronia is trying to convince me of another path,” Argyros answered.
“My home?” Wes asked.
Nodding yes, Argyros explained, “The Path is for you to discover; sending you to a random planet is never a good idea. So I will put you where you are familiar, and you will have to find where you are supposed to be. Struggle, fight, and rise to the position you are supposed to be. You have been given a huge advantage by already visiting the training planet, but it will also be quite a curse. Regular life in the universe is not so exciting. It is mundane; you will have to not only worry about your growth but also that of my daughter and the ChiShiKi. They will depend on you making the right decisions.”
“Speaking of responsibility, any idea when we are going to get married?” Wes asked.
“That will be the day before you leave.”
“So soon?” Wes groaned.
Argyros nodded, “It has taken quite a significant amount of time gathering our family and making notice to the ChiShiKi. Their envoy shall be here soon.”
“Envoy?” Wes asked.
“When a cross-species marriage is agreed upon, an envoy from the support race is customary. The ChiShiKi will be making sure that she is not being taken advantage of. But do not expect any niceties from them; they will view marriage between you and Dozel as most of us humans do. With disgust.” Argryos finished.
“I can’t tell you how to think. But don’t ever say that shit out loud to me again. If you find disgust in me and her being together, you don’t have to be here at all.” Wes demanded.
Argyros held up his hand, “You are taking my resentment for disgust. I can’t say I am the biggest fan of the ChiShiKi, but I always treat others with a minimum of courtesy. You have not lived long enough to understand that our wars with the ChiShiKi are brutal. I lost many friends and family members to them. I can accept that it was a part of war, of course. But I will never forget that it was a ChiShiKi that took them from me.”
Slightly embarrassed, Wes said, “Well, as long as we have an understanding. For what it's worth, I’m sorry for your loss, and sorry for this. Consider it payback.”
Argyros scanned the compound, “You didn’t.”
The door to Wes’s room slammed open. “Honey, you called.”
Argyros pulled himself through the space around him. Allowing his right hand to be the last thing to be seen, the one-finger salute was gestured directly at Wes.
Wes chuckled, “Poor sport.”
