Barbarian Brides. Cecily Royce

impression that her client didn't know much herself.

      But considering the amount of money her client was paying, Casi had decided to let the question of truth slide for a time. Afterward might be another story, but right now it was time to investigate, so Casi took in the details of what was around her. She would make her own conclusions and then gather further information from her client.

      The large registration lobby had couches and chairs scattered around, some of which were being used. She and Linira sat on a couch to the right of the registration counter, and about twenty feet away, half a dozen other women had taken different couches and chairs to wait until the group of young women at the counter was registered and gone. A few women had passed through the lobby, probably on their way to the dining room, and three older men sat in chairs near the back of the lobby while they talked. Odd, though, that with so many women there weren't more—and younger—men around. Where were they?

      "The guide on the ground shuttle said this was the newest section of the resort," Linira commented in her soft and quiet way. "But he also said that although we're on the outskirts of the established sections, there's nothing in the other sections that we won't find here as well. We're just not supposed to go wandering around too far from the main building, but I don't understand why that is."

      "I heard someone mutter something about barbarians," Casi answered, since she'd been on the same ground shuttle. "This is a relatively new planet that was opened only a short while ago, so I can't help wondering where barbarians are supposed to be coming from. If they're natives, it isn't very likely they'd be human."

      "Maybe they're the descendants of people who were stranded on this world centuries ago," Linira suggested after a moment. "Then they would be human, only not a part of our society of worlds. I wonder if we're in any real danger from them." She chewed her bottom lip, looking anxious as her hands trembled in her lap.

      "If something happened to one or more of us the resort would drown in lawsuits, so I wouldn't worry," Casi assured the woman, seeing how suddenly nervous she'd gotten. "If there's any real danger out there, the resort will go out of its way to protect us."

      "That's a relief," Linira said, looking only faintly relieved. "My mother said this meeting is important, and I don't think she'd accept any excuse but my death if I missed it. For some reason I'd rather not use that particular excuse."

      "Can't understand why you'd feel like that," Casi said with a small laugh. "Is your mother the one you work for?" She wasn't trying to pry, only make small talk. She was going to be at the resort for a while, and she wanted to at least have an adult to speak with who wasn't drowning herself in alcohol and running down the halls screaming like an idiot. Linira seemed to be the perfect person to converse with.

      "Yes, and usually I have very little to complain about," Linira confirmed. "She treats me just like the rest of the people who work for her, and she's kind of hard on everyone. The only difference between me and the others is the way she reverts to being a mother when we aren't at work. It would be nice if she got to the point of understanding that I'm not a child anymore."

      Casi nodded, reflecting that Linira seemed the type to need mothering even though she was a grown woman. There was something bothering Linira, something that put a forlorn look in her eyes at times, but Casi wasn't about to ask what it was all about. As short a time as they'd known each other, a question like that would be much too intrusive.

      They went back to sipping their coffee and then accepted refills, just as the other women waiting in the lobby did. The horde at the registration counter took its own sweet time getting through what should have been a quick and easy procedure, but finally they were done and walking away. Casi finished the last of the coffee in her cup, seeing out of the corner of her eye that Linira had drunk hers, and then they both stood up and went to the counter. The other women who had been waiting did the same, but Casi and Linira got there first.

      Casi had reserved a mini-suite just as Linira had, so they ended up being neighbors. Instead of building high, the resort was spread out at ground level, the mini-suites on one side of the resort building and the rooms on the other. There were also motorized carts available for anyone who didn't care to walk the short distance to the resort building, each cart able to hold four people. Casi and Linira chose to walk, and a few minutes later they were entering their respective mini-suites.

      When Casi opened the door with the help of the ring key she'd been given and walked into the small house, the mini-suite was just as advertised. The front third of the mostly blue room held chairs and a couple of couches as well as one large table and a few small ones, and the back two-thirds was the bedroom area. A large closet with sliding doors could be seen on the right, and to the left was a door that probably led to the bathroom. Since Linira's mini-suite was to Casi's left, it was most probable that the layout of her room was the opposite of Casi's.

      The sound of a motor made Casi turn to look out of the door. What she saw was a small vehicle piled high with luggage, which stopped first at Linira's room. A man left the vehicle and knocked on Linira's door, and when the door was opened he went to the vehicle and took down two large bags. He then carried the bags into Linira's room, reappearing a minute later to go back. Moving the vehicle a few feet to Casi's room, he smiled and nodded to Casi before pulling out her luggage. The three bags were carried inside when Casi stepped aside, and then the man left after refusing a tip.

      "Well, at least they're efficient," Casi muttered to herself after closing the door behind the man. Her luggage had been keyed to her liner ticket, of course, to make sure it went where she did. The resort had obviously used that keying to get the bags to where they belonged, but she didn't understand why the delivery man had refused a tip. The people who offered that kind of menial job usually used tipping to make workers accept the low pay of the position, but it didn't seem to be the case this time around. Maybe they were paid better on Verena. It couldn't be easy, leaving your family behind while you worked at a luxurious resort on another planet.

      Shaking her head, Casi filed away the observation and then forgot about it as she went to see to unpacking her clothes and things. Once she had more data, she'd be able to tell if refusing a tip meant something or not. The unpacking didn't take long, and just as she was finishing up there was a knock on her door. Going to the door and opening it showed her Linira standing just outside.

      "I hope you don't mind, but I thought I'd ask if you were as ready for lunch as I am," Linira said in her shy, mild way. "If you aren't finished unpacking yet, I'll be glad to wait."

      Smiling, Casi opened the door further, grateful it wasn't one of those twats outside her room, knocking and running away like an insolent child. "It so happens your timing is perfect, and I'm just as ready for a meal," Casi said, stepping aside to let Linira walk in. "As soon as I get my shoulder bag we can go, but it isn't lunch I want. I still haven't had breakfast, so we'll see how flexible the kitchen is in this place." Her stomach grumbled the moment the words left her lips. She hoped the resort catered to her desires. It was supposed to be paradise. Thus far she wasn't convinced, what with the annoying girls running amok. They needed a heavy dose of discipline from a parent, though it was probably many years too late for that.

      "I've never tried to ask for a special meal in any restaurant or hotel," Linira mused as Casi went to get her shoulder bag from the table she'd left it on. "I wonder if I'd have the nerve to do something like that."

      She couldn't help but feel puzzled by Linira's words. "Why wouldn't you?" Casi returned, slinging the bag strap over her shoulder before walking back to Linira. "You aren't demanding that they make something they've never heard of, after all, and if they aren't set up to offer breakfast at lunchtime they just have to say so. As long as you don't throw a fit if they refuse, there shouldn't be a problem." She'd always been taught that if you didn't ask, you didn't get. Clearly they'd had a different upbringing.

      "I'll bet one of that group of girls would throw a fit," Linira said, smiling as she followed Casi out of the room. "In fact, I'm willing to bet that the rest of us can even be slightly obnoxious and no one will notice with them around. My mother says there's usually a bright side even to bad things if you look hard enough."

      "That's probably because your mother hasn't run into that horde," Casi countered,