Free Bride Games: (Alien's Bride) by Yamila Abraham Page A

It was uncomfortable in the beginning.   Your body adjusts.   Don’t be a coward.   There are worse things in this new world for you to worry about.   Getting shocked was the most terrible thing.   Now they can’t shock us?   Good.   Who gives a fuck about a sore vlagalishche ?”
    Lenora let out a deep breath.   The women at the colony had exaggerated with such enthusiasm.   It was as if they were trying to scare her.   She should have been suspicious.   “What a relief.”
    A robot rolled into the room.   “Lenora Winquist, you are the next contestant.”
    She rose.   “Wish me luck.”
    “Pah.   Just lose and get married.   Stupid fucking games.”
    Lenora ignored her and went with her two robot guides.
    “Can you tell me how Vivian did?”
    “Vivian Thurski lost.”
    Lenora gasped.   She felt as if her heart had dropped from her chest.
    “Games Organizer Danfet is considering an accusation of cheating which may change the outcome.”
    “What?”   Lenora could barely get words past the lump in her throat.   “What difference does it make if she cheated?   She lost.”   Tears were forming behind her eyes.  
    As the silver curtain came into view Lenora realized nothing the robot said made sense.   Danfet knew Vivian cheated.   He colluded with Lysanter.   Her brow knit and the anguish inside her abated.   It seemed like a trick.   What if the robot was trying to distract her so she would lose?
    Her eyes narrowed.   This was no time to get clouded by emotion.
    The robots halted by the curtain.   When she opened it there was nothing but darkness.   As her eyes adjusted the faint light spilling in from behind her showed the outline of the pyramid.  
    “Come in!   Come in!” Danfet said over the speaker.
    Lenora tried to rip down the curtain.   The robot nudged her.   She held her ground to squeeze her eyes closed tight.   Once she adjusted fully to the darkness she stared inside with the curtain held as wide as she could manage.   The pyramid had a chain ladder hanging down each tier in staggered places.   Left, left, right, left, right.   The robot pushed her in and closed the curtain.
    “Welcome, Lenora!   As you can see, or rather can’t see, your objective is the same.”
    The area fell into abject darkness once the curtain was closed.   Lenora took off in the direction of the first tier.   She banged into the wall and then went left to find the ladder.
    “Well of course she’s not going to listen to my introduction.   Lenora dear, you should know we all have glasses that let us see in the dark.   We’re watching you!   Do your best!”
    The alarm chirped for the robot.   When it came out its cylinder head illuminated the ladder.   Lenora scampered up it.   The next tier was just as easily taken.   For the third she had to bolt past the door the robot would come out of before his alarm sounded.   The same technique was required for the fourth.   The alarms chirped one after the other in rapid succession.   Lenora felt the extended arm of a robot gush past her foot, but then she was on the fifth floor.   She felt her way to the statue in the middle.   The lights came on once her hand touched the smooth surface.  
    She heard cheers and the thumping of scepters.
    “Magnificent!” Danfet said over the speakers.   “Our Lenora has won again!   What style this human has!   She makes it look easy!”
    Lysanter came out of the door behind the fifth tier.   The cheering continued around them, but her assigned groom looked dour.   She clutched his arm.
    “What happened with Vivian?”
    “We can’t talk here.   Come into my craft.”
    They sat side by side in his flying limousine.   Lenora lowered near enough to him for their legs to touch.   She didn’t care.   Her face once again verged on tears.
    “She made it to the top tier without any trouble.   I’d given her contacts that let her see in the dark, and she ran the course twice