by Zara Zenia
“Oh?” she said. “How so?”
“There's a . . . I would call her a neighboring princess whom I’ve known for my whole life. And we thought we were the perfect match. She's a princess, my parents would approve, everything.”
“So what went wrong?” she asked.
“We had known each other too long,” he answered. “Everything felt . . . gross.”
“Like your sister?” she said.
“Yeah.” He wrinkled his nose thinking about it. “We tried a few times, but it really didn't work. It just felt . . . ugh.”
“Yeah,” Margot said. “I know what you mean. I had a neighbor in my mom’s neighborhood, and I just . . . couldn't. Even if everyone wanted us to.”
“That was the only time I ever came close to marriage,” he said. “Other than that, there was nothing.”
“Surely, there was someone who caught your eye?” she asked. “I mean, David caught my eye once upon a time.”
“No,” he said. “I never liked Tamaraxian girls.”
“What did you like?”
“I thought I was doomed to be alone, if I’m honest,” he replied.
That seemed to catch her attention, and she met his eyes, looking half sad and half happy.
“You aren't,” she assured him. “Even if we don't work out, you aren't.”
“I would say things have at least improved,” he replied. “From when we first met.”
“That's true,” she said. “And providing we don't die on this shuttle, we may have a chance of them improving even more.”
“We're not going to die on the shuttle,” he said, although he didn't want to tell her that he wasn't entirely sure that was true. Anything was possible, and they were without communication, which wasn’t the best situation to be in. “Tell me more about your life on Earth.”
“I don't know what more there is to know,” she said.
“How did you get into painting?” he asked.
She blushed. “Oh, that's . . .”
“I want to know,” he said.
“It's just embarrassing,” she said. “And something that I wouldn't consider doing now.”
“Oh. Well,” he said, leaning back with a grin. “Now you have to tell me.”
She blushed even more and then covered her face.
“Margot,” he said gently. “If we are going to spend the rest of our lives together, I think I need to know everything about you.”
“All right, all right,” she said. “Do you have higher education up here? College? University?”
He thought for a moment, translating the words over in his head.
“Yes, I think a university would be the closest thing. It's mandatory, but you can choose what you want to study.”
“It's not mandatory at home,” she said. “But I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, so I decided to attend.”
“What did you study if you didn't know what to do?” he asked.
“I took a little bit of everything,” she replied. “I didn't have to decide, so I took literally a course from every major. I thought I was being creative, but all I was doing was racking up a big bill. So I had to find a way to pay for it.”
“Wait,” he said. “Education cost money?”
“Well . . . yeah.” She looked at him as if he was crazy. “Of course it does.”
“But what about all the people who can't afford it?”
“A lot of people can't,” she said. “And many people don't qualify to go there at all, based on their grades at secondary school.”
“That's not right,” he said. “Education should be for all. That's the only way to have a . . . well, an educated society.”
“There are lot of jobs on Earth that you don’t have to go to university for, and some people go to things like a trade school to learn skills,” she said. “But anyway . . . I was running up a bill.”
“Yes,” he said. “And you needed to way to pay for it.”
“Yes,” she said. “And I tried all sorts of things. Waitressing, operator at a call center, lots of different things, and nothing was working out. So one afternoon, I saw an ad in the student center, looking for life models.”
“Life models?” he asked. “What is that?”
“Life models pose for artists,” she said. “To draw or to paint.”
“Oh,” he said and then something crossed his mind. “With your clothes on?”
“No,” she commented, her cheeks turning pink.
He blushed too. He couldn't help it as he pictured her naked and immediately felt feelings stir within him. “So . . . then what happened?” he asked awkwardly.
“Well, it paid really well,” she said with a laugh.
“So you paid all of your bills?” he asked.
She grinned and shook her head. “No,” she said. “It didn't even come close. But the entire time I was there, I kept watching the painters and what they were doing. It made the time fly by, and I was far more interested in the lines, the arches, and the techniques. The more I talked to them, the more I realized I was interested in painting rather than posing. And then I took my hand to it . . . and it was easy.”
“And then you became a successful painter?”
“Not quite that easy,” she said. “But that was the beginning.”
“Did you finish school?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “I dropped out after two semesters. I couldn't find what I wanted to do, and I started to make some money from painting, for small things, and . . . yeah.”
“And when you left Earth, you were a full-time working painter?”
“Yes,” she said. “I had a studio that I shared with several other artists.”
“Are they still working?”
“Yes,” she said. “I think so, anyway. When I left, I tried to not leave any clues in case David asked any of them. Didn’t matter, though. He found me anyway and was nearly able to get to me.”
“You were really scared of him,” Draklan said.
Margot took a deep breath. “I—” she said, and the shuttle sputtered.
To Draklan's horror, there was suddenly silence.
He swore and stood up, grabbing the controls. They had no power and they were going to land. How hard they landed depend completely on what he did in the next few moments.
“Margot, brace yourself,” he cried.
She threw herself into a chair.
Draklan could barely see out the window, as they were descending quickly. He tried to pull the controls, but it didn't seem to matter.
“Draklan!” Margot screamed, and then there was a giant jolt. She hit her head on the ceiling and went limp.
He wanted to rush to her, but he knew that he couldn't leave the control panel. If there was any chance of both of them surviving, he needed to guide the ship toward the shore and not the lake.
“Argh!” he grunted as they brushed into some trees and then slammed into a field. Draklan felt his body crash into the wall and felt blood flowing down his face. He couldn't breathe, the pain was so bad. He had no idea what exactly was bleeding, but he knew that it stung. The ship sparked and then every available light shut off. There was nothing left. Everything on the ship was broken. He didn't know where they were, he could barely breathe, and they were about to go down in flames.
He eventually managed to struggle up and crawl to Margot. She was knocked out, but she was breathing. It took every ounce of strength that he had left to reach down and pick her up. She was dead weight in his arms, but he managed to carry her out of the ship, glancing at the sparks nervously.
It was like a well-timed movie. The second they were far enough away, he heard a spark, and then a bigger one. And then, there was a giant explosion that knocked both of them to the ground.
Chapter 15
Margot
Margot was dreaming, and she was happy. She knew she was dreaming, but it was a good dream and she didn't want to wake up. She was on Earth, and Draklan was at her side. He was dressed in
Tamaraxian clothes, and they were in a mall on Earth. He was so handsome, and they were holding hands as they walked down the hallway. She could see other girls watching and whispering, and she knew it was because they were jealous. Draklan was gorgeous and she felt inadequate. But then he would turn and look at her, and she felt like the most beautiful woman in the world.
They went into an art supply store, and Margot felt sticker shock at the prices. They were so high, and she knew that she could never afford it. But then Draklan kissed her on the cheek and told her that everything was within their reach. He encouraged her to pick up whatever she wanted, and they filled a cart, laughing.
As they went toward the checkout, Margot looked down at her stomach. She noticed, for the first time in the dream, that she was pregnant, and she was due any moment, judging from the size of it.
Draklan kissed her on the neck as they got to the checkout, and then he put a hand on her belly. He was attentive and loving, and they were both wearing solid gold wedding rings.
Margot had never felt so happy in her life.
“Margot!”
She turned to dream Draklan, confused. “What?” she asked, but she found that she could only mouth the words. Nothing came out in terms of sound.
“Margot!” he said again and shook her.
“Draklan!” she said, confused. Again, it was only silence. She put her hands to her throat, panicking. She felt pain in her head and reached up to it. Her hand came away with blood and she turned to him, confused. “What's happening?”
In her dream, she felt her knees buckle, and she slowly sank to the floor. Blood poured down her face and she wanted to scream, but it was only wordless.
She had never been more scared in her entire life. This had been the perfect day and now it was the worst. She wanted to yell, to have Draklan wrap his arms around her and tell her that he would take care of her. She felt safe with him.
She needed him to help her. But he couldn't stop shaking her and screaming in her face, and she couldn't answer him.
Her vision went black and she reached out for him one last time.
Suddenly, Margot sat up with a gasp. Her head pain was back, and Draklan was in front of her, shaking her. However, she wasn't in the mall and she certainly wasn't on Earth. They were in a field somewhere on Tamarax. She was covered in blood, but it was coming from Draklan.
“Margot!”
“What?” she asked and then immediately felt a giant sense of relief that she could make noise. “What?”
“Oh, thank God,” he said and wrapped his arms around her. “Thank God.”
“What . . . happened?” she asked him, confused. “We were flying and now we’re . . . here? Are you all right?”
“I'm fine,” he said. “I'm fine. I'm just so glad that you’re all right.”
“You're bleeding everywhere,” she managed. “You're not fine.”
Her hand went down to her stomach as the last of the dream had faded away. She felt disappointment that she wasn’t pregnant, which surprised her. She told herself that it was just the dream feelings, but part of her knew that it wasn't.
“What happened?” she demanded again.
“We crashed,” he admitted. “We crash landed, and you got knocked out.”
“Oh,” she said. “Well . . . my mother always said that I had a hard head.”
Draklan actually chuckled at that, shaking his head, and then he winced. “Wish I could say the same,” he said.
“Where do you hurt? Where is that blood coming from?”
“The ship exploded,” he said. “I got you out before it blew, but I was facing it.”
“Oh, my God,” she said, trying to sit up.
“Wait,” he said, but she was stubborn. He carefully helped her sit up, which seemed to cause him just as much pain as she was in.
Carefully, she leaned against the tree stump and then encouraged him to gently turn around. As soon as he did, she hissed in sympathy. The shirt he was wearing was completely torn up, and his back was bloody. From what she could see, there were shrapnel bits in it. They weren't exactly tiny, but they didn't look deep.
“Oh, my God,” she said, and then tears started to flow down her face.
“Hey, hey,” he said, alarmed. “What's the matter?”
“I just wanted a nice trip,” she said. “I just wanted a nice trip and I didn't want any of this to happen. What happened? I thought everyone checked that the ship was fine? I thought . . . you said . . .”
“I know, I know,” he said. “I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. I'm really sorry.”
“It's not your fault,” she managed. She hated herself for crying. She didn't want to seem weak, and she knew that the two of them needed to work together. This was the scariest thing that she had ever done. Coming to Tamarax to marry Draklan was easy compared to this. “It's not like I didn't see you trying.”
“I'm so sorry,” he said and then winced. “Ow.”
“Is the shuttle completely unusable?” she asked, and he shifted so she could see the remains. There was barely the skeleton of the shuttle left, and there were pieces every which way. Among the remains, she could see pieces of their luggage. The grass was charred and there were still a few small flames burning.
“I . . . see,” she said. “Unless Tamaraxian shuttles are much better than Earth cars?”
“No,” he said. “That thing is done.”
“Right,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I'm all right now. We have to take care of you.”
“I think it's just a scratch,” he said.
“Uh . . .” Margot looked at him as if he was crazy. “I don't think it's just a scratch. I'd take a picture, but . . . wait, my phone.” She reached into her pocket. Her phone was still there, but it was dead. She wasn't sure whether it was the damage or whether it was just out of battery. “How long was I out?”
“About three hours,” he said. “I was starting to panic.”
“Oh . . . well, it's probably just dead,” she said and then turned back to Draklan. “It's not a scratch. We need to take out some of those pieces. And you're bleeding quite a lot.”
“I've had worse,” he said.
She raised an eyebrow. “When?”
“I'll tell you sometime,” he said. “Right now, I think we should deal with both of our injuries.”
“I'll go along with just about any plan you have right now,” Margot said, wincing at the pain in her head.
He turned around at that moment, very carefully, to survey to wreckage. “I can see some of the pieces of our luggage,” he said. “And if those survived, then it's possible the first aid kit survived. We just have to look for it.”
“All right, help me up,” she said.
He looked at her as if she was mad. “No,” he said. “You stay here.”
“Draklan,” she said. “Either I fall over or you bleed to death. I think we should both try, at the very least.”
“I don't like that,” he said, but he clearly knew she was right.
She knew that he was in quite a bit of pain, and he had to know he couldn’t scour the wreckage by himself.
“All right, give me your arm.”
It was like the blind helping the blind, but both of them eventually got up. They were limping and groaning, but they eventually made it to their feet.
“All right,” Margot said as the darkness faded from her vision. She was sure that she had a concussion, but she wasn't sure that it mattered right now. There was no doctor to help them, no emergency service to call. They only had each other.
They held hands as they moved toward the wreckage. Draklan warned her to be careful as they walked because of the shards everywhere.
“Well,” Margot said. “On the bright side . . . it's an adventure.”
Draklan looked at her as if she was crazy, but then he squeezed her hand and grinned. “The first aid kit was yellow,” he said. “So it should be easy to find. And most things in it would be yellow or red.”
“Got it,” Margot said, as they started picking through the wreckage.
Most of the pieces they picked up were things that she didn't recognize. They were black or burnt, and she thought they were pieces of the ship rather than pieces of something useful.
“Do you think that we could . . . fix anything?” she said. “Even if it was just the communication device?”
“It blew first,” Draklan said. “If you remember. So whatever went wrong, it went wrong there first.”
“Any ideas?” she asked.
“No,” he replied. “God, I wish I paid more attention in school. To be honest, I thought I was never going to need it. I thought, I'm a prince. I'll be sitting on a throne. I’ll never need to know how to fix anything like that. I'm an idiot.”
“No,” Margot said. “All of us have the ability to learn a certain number of things. You chose a different path. There was no way for you to know that something like this would happen.”
He looked at her with tenderness. “Don't suppose you've learned anything while painting that could help you figure this out?”
“Um . . .” she said and then shrugged. “I can put a jigsaw puzzle together easily. So it's possible I could put this whole thing back together . . . if I had my whole life.”
“Well, hopefully, we won't be here that long,” he said and smiled, but it almost seemed like a wince. Moving had to be becoming more difficult for him, and it looked like those pieces were getting deeper into his back.
“I think this is . . . oh, no,” Margot crouched down to pick something up. “I think this is a piece of one of my shirts that I brought. Which means that my bag must be completely destroyed.”
“Don't lose hope,” he said.
Despite his words, she knew she would probably never recover her things.
They developed a systematic approach, walking very slowly from one edge of the wreckage to the other. They scrutinized everything, trying to see if it would be useful for them. A few times, Draklan found something that he thought they might be able to put back together, such as part of the control panel, or the wiring for the door opener, but it wouldn't do them any good. They eventually decided that anything useful should be put to the left, just in case they could figure something out with it.
