Taken by the Galaxy's Villain

Chapter 3

"Ophelia you are heading home. And happy birthday." Firefly said. It had been six years. She was twenty one and her parents were finally letting her come home. She never tried to be proper. She never made friends either. She was herself and was used to all the whipping she would get. They never broke the flesh on her because then she would be considered damaged to a potential husband. She did learn how to fake being proper when she needed to, but always fell back into what she felt was right.

Ophelia walked onto the craft that would take her back to her parents. The way back she wondered about Adrik. She never heard from him as much as she had written to him every day, but never a message back. She thought about how he must have found someone to marry already and be who his parents wanted him to be. That's what her mother had written once. That he was becoming a great man, but not someone who would ever marry.

The few hours felt long and she fell asleep on the way.

"Miss Verbeck we are here." Firefly said right before they landed. Ophelia moved and straightened her clothes. They landed and Ophelia walked off the craft. No one was there to greet her outside of the house. The craft left and she headed inside.

"Ophelia, you are home." Her mother hugged her.

"Hello, mother." She gave a small smile. It was a fake one. She was not happy anything her mother had done to her.

"We are throwing you a big party, you should go up to your room and get ready."

"Thank you." She headed to her room and locked the door. She wanted to be alone like she had been. She looked out her window towards Adrik's house, but there was a large tree in the way.

A few hours before the party there was a knock on her bedroom door. She opened the door and her mother was standing there with a large grin.

"I have the people here to get you ready. I also have the dress for you to wear." Ophelia moved out of the way as a ton of people came into the room. They all started to set up while her mother pulled her off to the side to show her what she had in the bag. She put it on a hook and opened the bag. She pulled out a dress that was loose fitting that would pull over her head. "Is it not just the most loveliest thing you have ever seen?" Her mother said with a huge smile.

"Yes, it is lovely." She had to fake herself. She wasn't ready to lose her new freedom of being whipped.

"I cannot wait to see you in this. I will let them work on you." She stepped out quickly.

Ophelia turned to everyone and gave a weak smile. She sat in the chair and sat there still. They poked and prodded as the fixed her up.

They finished before the party. Ophelia waited for them to leave to look at herself. She didn't like the way they changed her so much. She moved to sit on her bed.

A knock on the door again. "Ophelia." Her mother came in. "Let's get you into your dress now the guests are arriving." She grabbed the dress and waited for Ophelia to undress in front of her.

"May I be able to put it on myself. Please." Ophelia didn't want to have her mother see her in nothing. She wasn't a child and didn't feel a comfort in her mother's eyes on her.

"If you must. I'll be down stairs waiting for you." Her mother left and Ophelia locked the door. She took off her clothes and carefully put on the dress. She pressed her hands on the fabric to smooth it out.

She took a deep breath and opened the door to head down to a party to pretend to be a proper lady afraid of blowing her cover and being sent back to Direlili.

She walked down the stairs and everyone there looked at her. She couldn't see anyone who might look like Adrik. She moved through the crowd slowly. No one talking or looking at her now.

"Mr. Myrmidon," Ophelia heard her mother. She turned trying to find the area where the voice came from, "it is so nice of you to be here tonight. We did not expect you to be here." Ophelia moved through the crowd following the voice of her mother.

"I would not have missed it for the galaxy." He spoke. His back was to her.

"Adrik." She said with excitement. He turned to her and smiled.

"Ophelia." Her mother scolded.

"Sorry. Mr. Myrmidon." She curtsied. "It is nice to see you."

"Mrs. Verbeck, I am going to take the lovely Miss Verbeck out to dance." He placed his hand on the center of her back and moved her towards the dance floor.

They moved in line with all the others.

"I'm really happy to see you Adrik." She blushed slightly. He was so handsome. If it hadn't been talking to her mother she would have never recognized him.

"It's nice that you are finally back. I do have to say Ophelia that you look-. Ouch." Ophelia had stepped on his foot.

"Sorry, I never really could dance."

"They never taught you how to dance on Direlili?"

"They did, but I fought it the whole time. I never wanted to be the lady they wanted. But you were going to say I look nice."

"No, I was going to say beautiful." He smiled at her.

"Adrik, baby there you are." A high pitched voice said and grabbed his arm. "Let's go." She pulled at him and he followed her. Ophelia stood there unsure what just happened.

"Miss Verbeck, may I dance with you?" A male voice asked. Ophelia turned and smiled at the man who asked her to dance. He took her to dance with him.

The hours went on and Ophelia was tired. Adrik had left and Ophelia felt alone the test of the time she had, even if it was dancing with almost every man who showed up to the party.

The last hour struck for the party. Ophelia went up to her room. She wanted to wash herself before heading to sleep.

The water felt warm and comforting. She got out because she had to. She dressed herself in the bathroom then stepped out into her bedroom. A click sound made her look for where the noise was coming from. She walked over to the window and looked down.

By the base of the tree stood Adrik. She smiled at him then opened her window to the cold night air.

"Come down here." He smiled at her.

"What if I get caught?" She couldn't shake the feeling that she could be sent away again.

"We will stay in the shadows." Ophelia laughed. He was never the one to get into trouble or at least start it.

"Okay." She closed her window and carefully walked out of her room. She tried to stay as quiet as possible. She headed down to the kitchen.

"Miss Verbeck, what are you doing in here?" The one chief asked.

"Shh, don't tell my parents." She headed for the back door. "When they aren't around you can call me Ophelia. They never broke me." She winked at them. And they all smiled at her. They were the ones to give her food even after her parents said she could not eat. She closed the door behind her and head towards Adrik.

She got to the tree but didn't see him. She was pulled into a shadow.

"Don't be out there." He laughed a little.

She wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. "Adrik I've missed you so much." She didn't want to let him go. The way his arms wrapped around her made her feel like he never wanted to let her go, but then she had a moment of the girl on his arm that he left with. She pulled back and stepped away. "Sorry. I'm being rude to your girlfriend or wife." She went to go side on a small fence with her arms wrapped around herself.

"I only left with her because she crashed your party. I'm not married and don't have a girlfriend." Ophelia looked at him in shock.

"You don't have anyone. I thought you would because of how handsome you are." She turned her head away from him blushing.

"And like I said before you are very beautiful. Who knew I'd have a hot best friend." The words best friend hit Ophelia in a spot that made her hurt. She was attracted to him and he was her best friend, but she started to think that is the only thing he saw her as. "Ophelia." He pulled her out of her thoughts. "I have something for you." He pulled out a box from his inside jacket pocket.

He handed the box to her. She opened it. It was a beautiful choker necklace covered in diamonds, but it wasn't that expensive anymore after they found a planet that all it had was diamonds they lost their value, it did have a large teardrop shaped of the most valued gem in the Galaxy with it's dark greens.

"Is that serpentine?"

"It is."

Ophelia closed the box and pushed it towards Adrik. "I can't take this. It's too much."

Adrik pushed it back towards her. "No, I got it for you for your eighteenth birthday. You can't not take a gift from me."

"Adrik, it's not me you know that."

"Doesn't mean you don't deserve it." He pushed it close to her. "When I am able to throw my next party. I want you to be my date and wear that okay." Ophelia looked at him as he said date. She couldn't say a word just nodded her head. "Okay. So uh." He said unsure of his next words. "I'll be gone for a while. I'm not sure when I'll be back."

"Is it business? My mother wrote me and told me that you do a lot of business and are gone for long periods."

"It's business but I don't like to discuss it with anyone."

Ophelia nodded her head again. "Now that I'm here you have a reason to come back more often. We can hang out."

"We can try." He said then looked around. "It's getting a little late. I'll let you get some sleep. I'm leaving in a short time for business." He took her in his arms and hugged her tightly. He put the box into her hands and left her there.

Ophelia tucked the necklace away. She went back into the kitchen and grabbed something to eat.

"Ophelia?" Her mother said as she turned on the light. "What are you doing in the dark?"

"Sorry, mother, I did not want to bother anyone while my stomach was asking for food."

"Go to bed please. It is late and you should not be up." Ophelia moved past her mother and quickly went upstairs. She pulled out the necklace and looked for a spot to hide it from her mother.