by Lara LaRue
“Why did you come?” I asked her just as I felt the sting from the needle as the guard jabbed it into my shoulder. It was likely sleep serum, and I was already beginning to feel woozy.
“I had to,” was all she said as Styx grabbed her arm.
My eyes grew cloudy, and she disappeared behind the veil that grew thicker the more I blinked, until she ceased to exist, and there was only the dark.
Chapter 21 / Keira
I was panting as I raced up the steps that led to The Great Pike. Gideon escorted me past the guards; it would have been unnatural for a human to go there alone. When I reached the wide doors, my heart flip-flopped in my chest. I knew what was going on inside. Sekkol was being tried in what was similar to Earth’s court of law. Tried like a criminal because he had fallen in love with someone the inhabitants of this planet did not approve of: me.
I shoved open the door, oblivious at the moment of all the spectators in the room, except for the robed men who would decide Sekkol’s fate. I was not suicidal, but I’d be damned if he was going to suffer alone. Sekkol had left the desert to return here, to defend my honor. I had to come, even if it meant my death.
“It wasn’t his fault,” I yelled while gasping for breath, with hair wild and face drenched with perspiration. My eyes widened when I saw Sekkol standing with a guard’s neck locked under his arm. What the hell?
“Take her!” a man’s voice bellowed.
“No!” Sekkol roared, releasing the man he had in his clutch. The man stumbled away, and Sekkol lunged toward me. A guard pounced on him, and Sekkol doubled over as if in pain. Shocked, I stared at him, frozen to my spot.
“Why did you come?” Sekkol asked me before the guard injected him with something in the shoulder. My breath raggedly moved in and out of my mouth at regular, gasping intervals as I watched Sekkol’s body sway.
“I had to,” I countered as Styx grabbed my arm.
I felt my pulse beating in my ears when Sekkol fell to the ground. Guards converged onto me, pulling my arms back before I felt the sting as my hands locked behind me.
“Let me go!” I screamed and thrashed about, and my feet slipped as I did. “Sekkol!” I cried as I tried to move. I’m too late. That was all I could think about when I saw his motionless body lying crumpled on the floor. I couldn’t take my eyes away from him. Nothing else mattered. The connection had to be held; if it broke, he would die. I’d never felt so certain of anything else in my life.
“Let me go!” I shouted again, and this time, I kicked the ankle of one of the men.
He dipped, and when he did, his hand loosened on mine. I wriggled out of the other’s grasp and skittered across the floor, straight toward Sekkol, before I could be caught again.
“Sekkol,” I called frantically. When I got to him, I fell to the ground next to him. Grabbing his arm, I turned him over. Relief washed over me when I saw the steady rise and fall of his chest.
Thank God, he’s not dead.
I draped my arm over him as tears sprang from my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. I could hardly believe I was risking my life for him when, not so long ago, I wanted nothing more than to be free of him. He had claimed me as his from the very beginning, even before I knew who he was or what he would mean to me.
The men got to me then, and one of them yanked me to my feet.
“You are spritely for a human,” he snapped as he brought me to stand.
They spun me, and I faced the door and was now able to see the other witnesses to Sekkol’s apparent crime. The Lord Commander and his insane sister were seated close to the back of the room, and my eyes narrowed with rage when I became aware of them. They had been my ultimate demise. I’d been living with Sekkol for weeks, and had it not been for the two, neither he nor I would have been here. The commander was envious of Sekkol’s station and his sister jealous of the human he’d fallen for and chosen above her. They had kidnapped me from my home and had made everyone aware of what I meant to Sekkol. He had returned just in time to save me from their clutches, but he was far too noble to run. He had returned to face his “crime,” even though it meant he could die.
But none of it would have happened except for Commander Styx. Rage coursed through my veins as I watched the evil smirk on their faces as they waited for what they hoped would be our end.
“You fucking bastard!” I screeched, lunging toward them. The hold the alien guard had on me had tightened, and I felt the pressure in my shoulders when I tried to move. He yanked me back, but my eyes remained fixed on the commander, who was now walking toward me.
“What did you think would happen, human? That you would show up here and we would just let you go?” he asked, the smirk spreading across his face the closer he got.
When he was close enough, I spit in his face. His eyes narrowed before he slid his thumb down his face, removing all traces of my DNA. He raised his hand like he meant to strike, but the other alien guard held his hand in midair.
“That will not be necessary.” The guard warned the commander.
Nala, the commander’s sister, came up behind him like she meant to defend his honor. I remembered how vicious she had been when the two had taken me prisoner. She had planned to use me as a ransom for Sekkol’s hand in marriage, and when it had backfired, it had left her a bitter woman. She walked around me and observed me like I was a lab rat.
“Stay the fuck away from me, you vindictive bitch!” I shouted at her.
“I fail to see what the fuss is all about,” Nala crooned.
“That’s enough,” I heard a voice say then. The alien guards relaxed their hold on me, and I turned and saw a man I didn’t recognize. He was the one wearing the white robe, while the other three wore black, and he had a grim expression when he looked at me.
I looked him over, observing the long white garb and the braided silver hair that fell down his back. I glanced behind him and saw three men, like the angels of death, dressed in black and standing like they were in accordance with him. I looked at him again, and then it made sense.
“You’re Lord Magnus,” I whispered, and then I grew nervous.
I was dumbstruck for a few seconds, thinking I might not have given him a very good first impression. But I also found it hard to believe he would just be sitting there, watching as his son was tried for something he had no control over. I wanted to say something, but then my eyes caught Sekkol and the guards who were just now lifting him from the floor, and I stilled my wagging tongue.
“So you are the human.” His eyes searched mine, but for all the confusion I was feeling, I doubted he found much there.
“And you are Sekkol’s father,” I countered. He didn’t answer, but there was no need to. “He is your son, and you would sit by and watch this?”
I felt the sting even before I knew what had happened. What the hell? I winced when I felt a burning sensation at the back of my leg, and I wobbled before falling to my knees. I looked back and saw the blue light from the conical device the alien guard wielded.
“You will not speak to Lord Magnus in that manner, human!” the guard yelled.
“Lord Magnus may be your king, but he hasn’t earned my respect just yet,” I spat as I gazed at him.
The alien guard’s face twisted into anger, and before I could move, he slapped the device against my hand. I could smell my flesh burn under its touch, and I pulled my hand back sharply and covered the spot with my other palm.
“Ouch. Son of a bitch,” I wailed and sucked in a deep breath as I tried to ignore the pain. “Would you stop burning me with that fucking thing?”
“You will speak to our king with respect,” the guard said as he held out the device, ready to give me another jolt.
Lord Magnus held up his hand then, and the guards backed off. “Stand down. I wish to speak with the human.”
I was still gripping my arm as I stood and then glanced over at Sekkol, who was now propped up on a machine resembling a gurney. “Are you just going to leave him there? He’s your son,
for Christ’s sake.”
“Interesting. The human seems to care for my son,” he said without looking at me.
What the fuck have we been trying to say this entire time? What does he mean by “the human seems,” like we don’t feel, too?
“More than you do, apparently,” I shot back defensively. His head whipped around to glare at me, and then he strode to where I stood.
“What do you know of the ways of Jupiter?” he asked. “You come from a world that is far different from our own.”
“But it is a home that your people kidnapped me from,” I stated. “If you mix the two, what did you think would happen?”
“We expected you to be our helpers,” he replied. “You were not brought here to lie with our men. And especially not my son.” He seemed offended that Sekkol had chosen me, almost regretful he was being tried on my account.
My fists clenched and unclenched themselves like they had a mind of their own. “And you think I actually came here to sleep with him? Do you think I wanted to come here at all? You snatch people from their homes and families every day.”
I remembered the cruel way in which I had been kidnapped. Granted, I didn’t have a family to go back to, being the only child to parents who had died five years ago in a car accident. But I had a life and a home, and I damn sure didn’t need this shit.
“No matter, human,” he said as he walked back to the seating he had shared with the other robed men. “Our laws forbid any resident of Jupiter to consort with any human, and to transgress that law is punishable by death.”
“Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you started kidnapping humans!” I screamed as I walked after him.
He turned and arrested me with his eyes, and I froze in my steps.
“Human. You will hold your tongue,” he commanded.
“I will not,” I replied.
I had nothing to lose at this point, besides Sekkol, of course, who I might very well lose to death if I didn’t at least try to save us. I was extremely cognizant of the hushed whispers in the room and how the guards seemed ready to fry me just for speaking to Lord Magnus. I had always been told when in Rome, do as the Romans do. But not when the Romans wanted to kill me. I would at least be heard before judgment was cast against my favor.
“Look at him,” I demanded, pointing at Sekkol, who was now lying on the gurney. “Your fucking flesh and blood.” I stared at him until his eyes moved and he too observed his son. “He will be killed for something he did not do. What kind of a law is that?”
“He did do what he’s accused of,” Lord Magnus said.
“He had no control over this.”
I felt flushed, like I was pushing water uphill. I could feel the weight of it in my arms, but to stop would mean a sure drowning. I could see it in his eyes when he looked at Sekkol; he was afraid, too. And I felt a glimmer of hope he might rethink his decision. I was being crushed between the rock and that hard place I often-heard talk of.
“Please, don’t do this,” I now begged as I stopped inches from him. Maybe it would serve me better to appeal to his sensitive side; they didn’t receive force well in this place, so it hadn’t won me any favors thus far.
He shook his head. “There is nothing I can do. The laws already exist, and he was found in breach of them.”
“Then your laws are ridiculous and unfair,” I said with disdain. “Where I come from, a man can only be held accountable for something he chooses to do that is against the common laws or practices. Sekkol imprinted on me, and that was pure instinct. Are you telling me it is a crime to act on instinct? To deny the very thing that makes you who you are?”
There was suddenly a chorus of murmurs in the room, and I looked around and noticed there were more people in the room than there had been before. Apparently, some others had stolen inside, anxious to view history in the making. Who wouldn’t want to tell this story to their grandchildren?
“It is not, but it is a crime to lie with a human. Our ancestors made these laws with the intention that our bloodline would not get corrupted with that of other cultures,” Lord Magnus explained.
“Laws can only be broken if a choice is present. Did your ancestors frequently kidnap people from another planet?” I challenged him.
“It was not a common practice at the time,” he responded.
I could feel him beginning to fold, and he looked around the room anxiously. I had the feeling he’d never been challenged before, especially not by a human. Maybe that was the only reason I was still alive. The law enforcement on Jupiter was whimsical in its killings; people had been vaporized, disintegrated, or fried for far less than what I was exhibiting. But sentencing me to death for disrespecting or defying the king would be a far more just punishment than killing me for love.
“Then maybe you should either change the laws or stop co-mingling,” I informed him.
A movement caught the corner of my eye, and I turned my head and saw it was Sekkol. My heart fluttered in my chest, and I looked back at Lord Magnus before rushing over to him. This time, no one moved to stop me. I leaned over him and brushed the loose hair that covered my face when I did.
“Hey, you,” I whispered.
His eyes fluttered, but he still seemed heavily sedated.
“Keira?” he whispered. Then his head slumped to the side, and he fell back into his unconscious state once more.
I glanced back at Lord Magnus and the other alien guards who stood there looking on. A sweep of the room showed the commander and his sister sneering at us. Disgust festered within me like an old sore.
“Maybe you’re right,” I said to Lord Magnus as I rose. “Maybe you should kill him.”
The murmurs in the room rang even louder.
“What?” he asked.
“You heard me,” I told him. “Sekkol is willing to fight for something he believes in. He has lived by Jupiter’s laws all his life, and what did it get him? He is lying there unconscious and waiting to die because he fell in love.” I laughed then, and that seemed to take them by surprise. “Heck, just kill me, too, because if this is what it means to be a resident of Jupiter, then I’d rather die.” I was addressing the room of confused and angry faces now, but I no longer cared. “For all your fancy technological devices and talking houses, you still don’t know anything about love. No wonder you started coming to Earth.”
“Earth is but a savage land of primordial beings,” the commander said as he came forward.
“Maybe, but at least we don’t kill someone for loving someone else,” I replied. “Sekkol is better than all of you here. He is strong and compassionate and is exactly what Jupiter needs in a king.” I was challenging Lord Magnus now, and I could see he was no longer pleased or welcoming of my debate. “Maybe he is better off dead than alive here and living with you dumbasses.”
“Get her out of here.” Lord Magnus’s voice boomed now, his face a deep shade of blue.
It seemed the guards had been on their toes, waiting for the command. As soon as it came, I felt their hands on me. I knew it was over for me, and I could more readily accept my fate over that which would be meted out to Sekkol by his own people. Still, I struggled against them, fighting to catch one last glimpse of Sekkol before I was pulled from the room. My stomach twisted with agony when I thought that might be the last time I’d be seeing him.
Chapter 22 / Sekkol
There was a blinding light as I opened my eyes and blinked. I gripped my head as a sharp pain cut across my forehead.
“Don’t move too suddenly,” a voice instructed me from behind.
I turned sharply and spotted my father leaning against the wall.
“What are you doing here?” I asked while trying to sit up. The pain in my head was increasing in intensity, and the ground began to move as I glanced down. Feeling groggy, I touched the spot on my shoulder where I had been injected with what I believed to be a sleep serum. Now I was struggling to regain control of my senses.
“I had to
see you,” Father said as he came over to me.
“You’ve had enough chances out there,” I told him, reminding him of the trial that had ended. “What time is it?” I had no idea how long I had been unconscious.
“It’s a few minutes before five,” he told me.
So I had been asleep for five hours. I planted my feet firmly on the ground, then tried to stand. I wobbled and almost collapsed. My feet, it seemed, were not awake as yet.
Father rushed over and grabbed me by the arm as he tried to help me to the bed once more. I shrugged him off, and the act caused him to stumble backward just as I landed on the bed with a thud.
“Just go,” I instructed him, the thunder in my head sounding louder after each word.
My father was the one person on Jupiter who could overturn a ruling by the Tribunal, but he had insisted I be punished for my act. It was almost treasonous to lie with a human and even worse to imprint on one. And I had done both. But none of those decisions were my own. I had found myself incapable of resisting Keira ever since I had first laid eyes on her.
She had appeared frightened, and I had felt an overwhelming sense to protect her without understanding why. But that was before I had realized I had imprinted on her. I tried to escape the feelings and the thoughts that came with it, an insatiable desire to be with her. They had come on fast and strong and had winded me before I could fully grasp them. Now I was facing punishment for what my people believed to be an insult to the future of Jupiter.
Father regained his footing and stood before me, his arms hidden behind him. “I met your human.”
Fury built inside me, and I remembered then that she had been in the room. I blinked rapidly as I tried to clear the mist in my mind, to capture the memories that had temporarily left me.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing,” he said and walked to the bars of the gate.
I checked my surroundings and realized I was in a different holding area than the one I had been in earlier. This was an unfamiliar place to me, with its gray walls and steel bars.
