by Tracy Lauren
Her frown deepens. “They’d like to hear that I’m happy on Tevera and that I’m coming back to them, but that’s never happening.”
“Then perhaps you should think about what you need to say.”
“It’s hard,” she admits, and the expression on her face is so helpless that I want to tell her to forget the message. But I can’t, not when the lack of one might incite war for my people.
“What could be so hard about honesty?”
“Are we talking honesty or brutal honesty?”
I laugh. “What is the difference?”
“Brutal honesty is all the stuff I want to say. I’m mad at them, Kethian. My mom was abducted when I was a kid, Vazrium brought her back to me. But the more I’ve thought about it over the years, the more I can’t help but feel like they just turned around and abducted me. My mom chose to live her life out here. It was right for her. But it wasn’t right for a twelve-year-old girl. I belonged on Earth. I still belong on Earth. And yet look at me, I’m a grown woman now and still I have to run away from my parents just so I can be free to live my own life, the way I want to live it.”
“Why not say that?” I suggest.
“Because it makes me feel like a monster. I’ve heard the stories about what my mom endured to get back to me. I’ve heard them a thousand times. She was physically ill at the thought of being without me. She had to kill people. Vazrium broke treaties, severed ties with more than one government, a war nearly broke out. They’re so proud of the lengths they went to so they could recover me. And it’s like, I don’t know, they expect me to…”
‘Be grateful?” I offer.
“You think I’m an ingrate too,” she accuses, her tone sorrowful.
“I don’t, but I can easily imagine the pressure they hang over your head.” A ruler knows the burden of pressure all too well.
“Pressure is exactly right. It’s like every second since they brought me here, they watch me—hyper aware of every move I make, every emotion I choke on. It’s like they’re still just waiting for that gratitude to kick in and as time goes on it gets harder and harder for me to fake it for them.” There’s such despair in the princess’s eyes, a melancholy that’s been etched into her soul over many, many years. All those times my brothers and I used to watch from across the ballroom, I never knew her depth. I never knew how alone she was.
“There’s no fixing this, is there?” I realize suddenly. Part of me assumed the princess and I would run off, go on a little adventure, and when she got all of this out of her system I would return her home. Maybe I could even still hold her to that date she promised me. But the more I hear her talk, the more I can see that this life isn’t for her.
“I’m dying on Tevera, Kethian. Slowly but surely, that place is sucking the life out of me.”
“And what if Earth is not what you remember it to be?” I ask, taking this all the more seriously.
“Impossible. Earth is amazing,” the princess extolls, and I see her smile for the first time. It lights up, bright and genuine. “There’s no planet like it in all the galaxy, Kethian. You aren’t going to want to leave.”
I give her a sad smile at that, worrying she’s looking back on her home world with romanticized longing. She was, after all, only a child when she left.
“I recommend you tell your parents what’s in your heart. If they think you’re unsure or unhappy they’ll come for you, thinking of it as another rescue.”
She nods. “Okay. I guess we better do this before a war breaks out.”
“Tell me when you’re ready, Princess.”
She sits taller in her seat and runs her fingers through her hair, straightening it for the recording. Her expression is grim, but determined. “Kethian?” She tilts her face up towards me.
“Yes, Princess?”
“You can call me Madison, you know. I’ve never really been much for formality and I guess we’re kind of friends now, right? Or partners in crime at least.”
“You honor me,” I tell her, and the smile she gives me in return is soft and sincere, yet it shoots through my heart like an arrow.
I watch as she records her message to her family, giving them her goodbyes. But I’m lost in thought and I find myself wondering how many princesses would allow a guardsman to be so familiar. She wishes for me to call her by her name. Madison. She even ventured to call us friends. All this while knowing nothing of my true station. Yet still, she extends her friendship to me. And somehow, I get the feeling it’s not an offer she extends to many.
Chapter 10
Madison
Kethian shuts off the recording and silence falls between us. It’s done. I probably just broke my mom’s heart, but it was time to make a choice. The way things have been going I suspect I’ve been making us both miserable. It’s like she just keeps waiting for me to finally be happy and I know that won’t happen as long as I’m on Tevera. I cast my gaze to Kethian and he looks at me with sympathy in his eyes. And surprisingly, I’m grateful he’s at my side.
I can’t remember the last time I allowed myself to be so vulnerable in front of another person. Maybe it’s the fact that Kethian isn’t royalty. Because honestly, I don’t identify with the whole princess title. I’m just regular old Madison. Skechers shoes and Hot Pockets. And it feels so damn good to finally be around someone who gets what a normal life is supposed to be like. Alien or not, when I talk to Kethian, I feel like he understands me.
“What now?” I ask.
“It’s time for you to get some rest,” he says before wrinkling his nose at me. “And a change of clothes.”
“Yeah, I am pretty gross, huh? Definitely looking forward to a hot shower.”
Kethian holds out his hand to help me up. “Need someone to wash your back?” he teases.
“Only if you’re hiding Justin somewhere on board,” I bounce back.
“Ah yes, how could I forget? The man of your dreams awaits your return to Earth.”
I don’t bother to tell him that Justin is a pop star who I have zero chance of ever meeting. I’ll just let Kethian keep on thinking Justin’s out there somewhere waiting for my return. It’s a fun thought and I sort of like pretending it’s real.
Kethian eyes my tattered attire with a frown. “I don’t have any women’s clothing in the guest quarters. And certainly nothing meant for a princess,” he says, sounding apologetic.
“Oh I don’t care about that stuff. I’ll synth something comfortable later. Do you have a night shirt I can borrow until then?”
“Of course.”
Together we head to Kethian’s room so he can grab me a worn-in old tunic before we make our way to my temporary quarters. The ship is small and built for speed, so it isn’t long until we’re standing outside my door and saying our good nights. Suddenly, I feel oddly shy.
“It’s been a long day,” I tell him, toeing the ground.
“Are you alright?” Gone is the teasing from this tone, instead it’s laced with true concern. And I sit with that question for a moment before I let out a long breath of air.
“I’m going to be.”
Kethian’s gaze is earnest and penetrating, as if he’s trying to discern if I speak the truth. Eventually, he must decide to take me for my word, because he issues his farewell for the evening. “Good night, Princess.”
“Madison,” I correct, and his features grow warmer.
“Madison,” he agrees, then he punches a few buttons on the access panel. The door to my room glides open, but still, we linger there for a moment before I finally say good night and duck inside.
As soon as the door closes the weight of the day catches up with me. I try not to think about my time in the cage or the despair I felt before Kethian found me. I am loathe to imagine what might have happened if he hadn’t been there to rescue me. Would this Prett have killed me? Planted my body somewhere to start an interplanetary conflict? Or would I have been held captive for countless years as a war raged on outside? Maybe the Chancellor would ha
ve faked a rescue and played the hero. Who knows?
I squeeze into the small bathroom housed in my quarters and activate the shower. I don’t want to think about any of that dark business. I have a future now, one that I’m actually excited about. And I don’t care that Prett took me. In the long run it was a good thing, because otherwise I’d have never met Kethian, and he would have never promised to take me back to Earth.
The small bathroom fills with steam and I slip out of my tattered ball gown. My feet are scratched and dirty from racing through the gardens and my skin stinks from the nasty pond water. Eagerly, I step under the stream of hot water and let it wash over me. I refuse to allow my mind to travel to anything sad. I won’t think of my mom or how she’s going to cry over me. I won’t think of Prett and what my fate could have been if not for Kethian. I won’t think about all the years of unhappiness and despair behind me. No. I’ll think of Earth and the life waiting for me there instead. And I smile as I scrub myself clean.
Once I’ve washed the pond smell from my hair, I dry off and pull my borrowed sleep shirt over my head. It’s long on me, hanging down to my thighs, and it makes me realize just how big a man Kethian is. Again, my mind mentally compares him to the pop star posters in my bedroom. Stark differences to say the least.
I eye the bed, hungry for its comfort, and I scramble to get my chilly legs under the covers. Pulling the puffy blankets up around my head, I burrow into them. Tired as I am, I’m still giddy. Rasarit be damned, this is when my life starts.
Lingering in the back of my mind is the realization that my cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. I can’t remember another time when I was this happy. But the day truly has been such a long one and I shut my eyes, ready to drift off to sleep. Only a moment later though, I blink them open again. Something smells…amazing. I sniff the bedding, but that isn’t it. Then, it dawns on me. That smell? It’s me. Or rather, it’s the shirt I borrowed from Kethian.
I pull the neckline up to my nose and breathe it in. My eyes practically roll back in my head. Damn. Kethian sure does smell good. For an alien, that is.
Chapter 11
Kethian
I was only able to take a short rest cycle last night. There were over a dozen comms from my brothers waiting for me to sort through after Madison went to bed. Though I found I was not yet ready to respond to any of them.
I venture to guess that Vazrium got his daughter’s message however. The interesting thing—he’s not declared war on Atana. Not yet at least. Instead, he had one of his diplomats send in a formal request for the transfer of Prett to the Teveran courts, but beyond that, there has been nothing but silence from his end. It is a fact that makes me uneasy. The Warrior King is ruthless and calculating. He’s certainly not one to give up easily or to sit idly by and watch something unfold. Undoubtedly, the man has a plan. But there’s nothing I can do about it from here.
Instead I must focus on keeping Madison safe. Eventually I’ll have to pay for this adventure and if I am to say anything at all, I want it to be that I protected the princess to the best of my ability. So, in the early morning hours, I head back to the bridge to keep an eye on our course. I’m still rubbing the sleep from my eyes and sipping at a strong cup of tea when I spot Madison. I’m shocked to see her sitting at the conn, idly poking at the controls.
“Mornin’,” she calls over her shoulder when she spots me.
“What are you doing up?”
“Running manual scans. Just want to make sure we aren’t being tailed.”
“I had the computer set to automatic.”
“I know.” She shrugs. “But it gives me something to do.”
I take a seat next to the young woman and appraise her new attire. Early as it is, she’s already been to the synth station this morning. While she still wears my favorite sleep tunic, she’s now also donned some foreign-looking garb.
“What’s this?” I ask, motioning to her clothing.
She eyes me. “Yoga pants and a hoodie.”
“Strange…” I say, studying it.
“Not really.” She chuckles, keeping her eyes on the readings.
“You know the ship’s operating systems?” I question, feeling more than a little surprised. For all that Madison is a grown woman, she seems so sheltered…and at times quite naïve. I’m honestly shocked to see that she knows her way around a ship.
“Oh yeah,” she confirms. “Fully trained. In that and everything else. Have you got a Taloch’nck around here? Because I can play one with either the traditional or modern technique.”
“Even with only two hands?” I gape at the information.
“Even with only two hands,” she assures me, the look about her sly.
And I have to laugh at that. Training for a young royal can be rigorous business, which is why I skipped out on much of mine. It never mattered to my parents though, they had more than enough sons ready and willing to share the throne. They were content with me being the free-spirited one of the bunch.
“You went to one of those fancy academies for the royals?” I ask, even though I know she didn’t. If she had, we might have shared some of the same classes even though there are a few years of age difference between us.
“No. I had tutors. Vazrium and mom are overprotective, so I did a homeschool type of thing.”
“Sounds lonely.”
“I never wanted to be around a bunch of aliens anyway,” she mutters.
“I’m sorry to be such poor company.”
“Huh?” Madison nearly startles in her seat, realizing her unintentional slight. “Oh, I didn’t mean you, Kethian.”
“Am I no longer one of the aliens you find so terrible?”
“Of course not.”
“You change your mind quickly. Was it not just yesterday that you compared me to a frog…and found me lacking?”
“That was before I got to know you. And to be fair, you were kind of being a dick.”
“Because I wanted to be your date to your Rasarit?” I chuckle. “What a terrible crime.”
“More so because you were blackmailing me,” she points out with her eyes narrowed in my direction. Still, I see a distinct smile teasing at her lips.
“Blackmail is such an ugly word. I would call it being resourceful.”
“That’s certainly a creative way of looking at it.”
“How else would I get a date with a woman like you, who saves all her kisses for frogs and Justin Bieber?”
Madison snorts at that and leans back in her chair to study me. “This is fun,” she says.
“Flirting?”
Her eyes go wide with amusement. “Talking,” she corrects. “Just being normal with another person. You can’t imagine what it’s like to be royalty, Kethian. Everyone treats you like you’re made of glass. My servants never relax when I’m around and no one will joke or smile with me. All my tutors are stuffy and dull.”
“I can’t imagine such a boring existence,” I tell her ,and damned if it isn’t the truth. I don’t know if I could endure a near decade of being that…alone.
Madison sighs. “Boring isn’t exactly the word I’d use. No, I’d say it’s isolating.”
“Perhaps if you didn’t hate us aliens so much you’d have more friends.”
Madison frowns and looks away. There’s a lot going on just beneath the surface, but she isn’t letting me in on any of it. She does venture to make an apology however. “Sorry if I offended you. I didn’t mean to.”
I spin her chair so she has to face me. “I’m not so easily offended.” And with that the smile returns to her eyes, even if it is a bit tentative.
“I have three brothers,” I tell her suddenly.
“Are they all as charming as you?” she asks sarcastically. This woman doesn’t miss a beat.
“Depends on who you ask. They’d probably tell you they’re much more charming.”
“And if I ask you?”
“I’d tell you to stay away from my brothers. I don’t want them try
ing to poach you. I got here first, damn it.”
Madison laughs. I like the sound of it.
“It’s nice growing up with siblings. You’re never alone when you have brothers or sisters,” I tell her.
Madison harrumphs. “It’s always just been me.”
“Vazrium and your mother never had any more children?” This is yet another question I already know the answer to, but I want to hear how Madison makes sense of it.
“No. To be honest, once they got together it never seemed like they wanted any. I bet Vazrium was pretty bummed out when he found out my mom already had a kid.”
“I can’t imagine that to be true. Children are blessings, the Atana and Teveran think alike on that matter. Besides, why would they come for you if they didn’t want you?”
“Well, why didn’t they ever have any more then?” Madison asks, sounding bitter. “I wish they would have. Maybe then I wouldn’t have felt so much like a third wheel.”
“A third wheel?”
“The odd man out. But it’s Vazrium who should have been the odd man out.” She pauses and looks to me as if trying to decide if she should continue. I’m glad when she does. I’m curious about this woman and her motivations. “My whole life, it was just me and my mom. Then Vazrium came along and stole the freaking show. Just when I thought I was getting my mom back, I lost her all over again.”
“You’re jealous of their bond?”
Madison rolls her eyes. “When you say it like that it sounds weird. It’s just different for a single parent and her kid. We were a team before Vazrium, we were partners. Then she traded me in.”
“Madison, we all need partners in life, but they’re meant to be our peers and spouses, not our children.”
“And where’s my freaking partner in life?” she huffs.
“Justin is on Earth, waiting to celebrate your return, no doubt.”
Madison’s eyes go wide and her seriousness falls away as she breaks into peals of laughter. As a matter of fact, she’s laughing so hard she has to wipe tears from her eyes. It makes me wonder who this Justin is. I think it is not a real person, but perhaps some kind of joke amongst humans. I notice she finds it quite comical every time I bring him up.
