The Warrior's Proposal (Celestial Mates Book 7)

by Marla Therron

  "Lily." Lily replied, "Another flower name, I know. They were popular when I was born. Flowers and gemstones. We thought we were getting close to reversing the damage we had done to our planet. Might generation was supposed to be the first to see the plants we were named for again."

  "I'm guessing it didn't work out that way," Dahlia raised a pistil like an eyebrow, "considering that you're here."

  Lily shook her head.

  "Why are you in a cage?" she asked, changing the subject, looking around at the other women, "Did Turlabon put you in there?"

  "Who else?" Dahlia scoffed, opening her data pad and stroking it to turn the page of whatever she was reading, "This is where he keeps his less cooperative concubines. Rose does a decent job of keeping the others under her thumb, but for those that try to fight or run away..."

  She looked up to gesture broadly at the cages.

  "This is where we end up."

  "You tried to escape?" Lily asked, frowning. Would she end up in one of these cages if she refused to renew her contract after three years?

  Dahlia laughed, bitter and brief.

  "No," she said, "I tried to fight. And I've been planted in this cage longer than Rose has been wed to our dear king."

  Lily's eyes widened in horror. So this was not some temporary punishment but a permanent imprisonment? He really was cruel...

  "The others arrived one at a time over the decades," Dahlia went on, looking wistfully at the women around her, "Some held on longer than others. But in the end they all put down roots and surrender to dormancy. It's easier to sleep than to go on fighting a battle that's been long since lost."

  Lily looked at the other women, the pale or woody threads that ran out from under their skirts and webbed the bottoms of their cages.

  "Why haven't you gone dormant?" Lily asked, "If you've been here longer than any of them?"

  "I refuse," Dahlia said, her voice icy and determined, "The roots appear and I rip them out. I won't give him the satisfaction of seeing me give up. I will fight that monster Turlabon until the day I wither."

  Lily felt dizzy again and put her head in her hands, trembling and overwhelmed. After a moment, she felt a gentle touch stroking her hair. Looking up, she saw Dahlia had leaned closer, slipping a delicate limb through the bars of the cage to reassure her.

  "I'm certain you wouldn't be here if you didn't have a choice," Dahlia said, her voice as soft as her petals, "But if you have the chance, any chance, run. No price is worth what he will take from you."

  "Here you are!"

  Lily straightened up as Rose appeared through the branches, hiking her petals up as she glided towards them with the grace and ferocity of an approaching battleship. A fleet of other wives rode her wake, all of them looking harried and distraught.

  "Filling her head with seditious nonsense, were you?" Rose's thorns bristled as she looked at Dahlia in the cage, who stared back with haughty poise.

  "Good morning Rose," Dahlia said, her voice full of chilly politeness, "Have you brought me any new books? I've finished these."

  She waved the datapad and Rose sniffed derisively.

  "Come along, Lily," Rose said sharp as her thorns, "You'll hear nothing of value from this weed. And it's almost time for the ceremony. We have just enough time for another rehearsal."

  Lily stood, trying not to sigh.

  "Stay awake, little Lily," Dahlia called after her as Rose led her away, "Don't let yourself go dormant. That's what he wants. Stay awake!"

  Chapter Five

  Rose changed Lily's dress yet again, to an off the shoulder gown of iridescent cerulean, fading into lilac and warm pink that felt like a spring dawn. It was beautiful, but they'd all been beautiful. And Rose couldn't seem to stop piling accessories on to Lily, trying to hide her embarrassing lack of petals.

  The dramatic flowered veil, the elaborate and heavy golden headpiece, the neck ruff of gold and opal and voluminous silk petals, it all piled up until Lily felt like she was lost entirely under it. Which she supposed was the point.

  They rehearsed the ceremony yet again and then, finally, the heavy shining doors of the garden opened and Lily's green eyed escort stood waiting for her.

  "Finally," Rose said in exasperation, urging Lily forward, "The ceremony was meant to start an hour ago! What is that man doing? Quickly, quickly, get her to the cathedral!"

  Rose pushed Lily into the man's arms, leaving Lily a little confused. Turlabon said nothing, merely nodded to Rose and, taking Lily's arm, led her out of the Garden and locked the door again behind her.

  "This way," he said, steering her down the hall. A little belatedly he added, "You look lovely."

  "Thank you." Lily replied, hesitating for a moment. She still couldn't reconcile the man beside her with the one the wives and Dahlia had described. Perhaps her opinion would change with time. After all it didn't do to judge on appearances.

  But she just couldn't see the cruel and greedy person they'd described in the eyes of the man beside her. Although that did raise other questions, she realized. The groom shouldn't be escorting her to the ceremony, not according to the ceremony she'd been rehearsing with Rose. He should already be there waiting for her. So then why...?

  "Don't be nervous," he said, and she realized she was squeezing his arm, "You will do fine."

  She hummed in agreement, hugging his arm tighter, knowing she couldn't confess her insecurities at this late date. She was about to walk down the aisle. It was too late to turn back.

  She kept telling herself that as they approached the cathedral doors, trying to make herself believe it. Dahlia's words haunted her, prickling on her skin like electricity, compelling her to run. He pulled his arm from hers gently and stepped away.

  "You must enter alone." he explained, "You know the ceremony?"

  She nodded, her mouth too dry to speak, and he smiled, soft as his eyes.

  "I will see you inside," he said and started to turn away. Before she realized what she was doing, she caught his arm, stopping him. He looked back at her, tilting his head in curiosity.

  "I'm glad it's you," she said, smiling, "I don't think I could go through with this if it wasn't. But if it's you, I can make this work."

  To her surprise, his expression folded into a confused frown. He started to speak, but the doors were opening ahead of them and Lily stepped forward, her heart jumping in her chest.

  "I have to go." Lily said, smiling nervously, "See you at the altar!"

  She took a deep breath and stepped forward, passing through the bright light of the doors into the cathedral.

  It was a huge room, crowded with aliens of more species than Lily could readily count. They lined either side of the cathedral on long benches suspended like swings from the high, vaulted ceilings, which crawled with elaborate frescos of Sahrian mythology.

  Stained glass windows glittered in colors Lily couldn't readily describe made from mixes of pigments she'd never seen on Earth. Music, high and strange and slightly grating, filled the air until it was difficult to breathe. The path before her was strewn with flowers which bruised under her heels as the crowd parted, murmuring soft awe at her appearance, pulling back veil like curtains on the inner sanctum of the cathedral, where stood the altar and her future husband.

  Lily froze instantly, staring as ice water rushed through her veins. She'd gone over the full ceremony at least ten times with Rose. She knew every word and the placement of every player. And the man standing the place of the groom was not the green-eyed man who'd brought her here.

  Her betrothed turned, strange porous jowls shaking, and fixed his beady black eyes on her. It was the fungaloid from the photo. He'd been standing in the center, but her focus had been entirely on the green-eyed man next to him.

  She'd assumed... but now the green-eyed man was entering by a side door to stand in the best man's place. A sense of her own stupidity crashed over her. She should have realized. How had she been so stupid?

  She wasn't moving and the crowd
was becoming restless. King Turlabon, the white mucusy shoots on his shoulders quivering, turned and outstretched his fleshy, webbed hand. Lily felt dizzy again, overwhelmed by revulsion and shame and sudden fear. Dahlia's words rang in her ears. Run, the woman in the cage was begging her. Run!

  Behind Turlabon, the green-eyed man, hands folded behind his back, was looking at her with a frown of concern. Why couldn't it have been him? She knew no more about him than she did about the king, but there was kindness in his eyes and he'd shown more concern for her feelings than anyone else she'd met here.

  She still hadn't moved and Turlabon withdrew his hand, muttering something to the green eyed man, whose frown deepened as he stepped past the king, followed by two other men, guards, coming to drag her to the altar.

  "No!" she shouted, the words bursting out of her and catching her by surprise. She turned to run back down the aisle, but all her heavy finery slowed her too much. She wailed as the green-eyed man, quick as lightning, caught her around the waist and pulled her back.

  "No!" she cried again, struggling, "I won't do it! I was tricked! I refuse!"

  She caught the green-eyed man in the nose with her elbow and he dropped her. She fell to her knees in the center of the cathedral, dragged down by her dress and her jewelry, and stared up at him, anger and fear making her want to lash out.

  "How could you?" she demanded through her tears, "How could you let me think it was you?"

  He stared back at her mutely, as confused as she was.

  King Turlabon bellowed an order, his pale fungal belly shaking, and the guests scrambled to leave the room while the guards circled Lily, pulling her to her feet.

  She was dragged past the altar to an adjoining room, struggling but too weak to escape. She was going to end up in a cage next to Dahlia. But she didn't have the ability to put down roots. She would just wither up and die.

  The guards threw her into the room and she tore at her jewelry, wrenching the heavy headdress and veil free and throwing them aside. She started ripping at the collar next and was just tearing it free when she heard the door slam and turned to see Turlabon enter. It was difficult to read the emotion on his strange, soft features, but he didn't look happy.

  "You have embarrassed me before the entire court," he said, his voice a low rumble like something from deep in the earth, "Had I not paid so much for you, I would have you destroyed for that. What do you have to say for yourself?"

  "I was lied to," Lily replied, throwing the collar aside, "Your proposal was a sham! You have enough wives to fill a parade! You keep them in cages and collect them like trophies!"

  "Having more than one spouse is common in this culture," Turlabon blustered, "I was under no obligation to inform you of other relationships. This is a business arrangement-"

  "You sent me a photo of someone else!"

  Lily heard the door click as the best man entered, shutting it behind him, but she ignored the green eyed man, focused on Turlabon right now.

  "Slander!" Turlabon howled, looming over her, "I chose that photo myself!"

  "You sent me a photo of him!" Lily shouted back, pointing an accusatory finger at the green-eyed man. His eyes widened, but he didn't move.

  "I was in the center of that photo!" the vacuoles in the fleshy surface of Turlabon's mushroom-gill cheeks dilated with rage, "That you mistook my royal presence for that weed is a sign of your own lack of proper cultivation, not a lie!"

  "I don't care!" Lily's heart raced, fear as intense as her anger, "I won't marry you! I have the right to cancel our contract before the bonding ceremony is complete!"

  "You made a deal with me you little toad stood!" Turlabon caught Lily by the front of her dress, shaking her hard enough to leave her dizzy, "I will have my heir!"

  "Never!" Lily clawed at the strange rubbery flesh of his thick fingers, but her nails couldn't cut through it. The massive fungaloid hardly seemed to notice her vicious struggles as he pressed her against a wall, free hand tearing at the front of her dress.

  "Sir-" the green-eyed man was still in the room, his eyes narrowed in concern as he stepped closer, "Your majesty, we can purchase another-"

  Lily's heart leapt into her throat, tears stinging her eyes as Turlabon tore the front of her dress away, baring her breasts to the air. Her face burned with shame.

  "Leave," Turlabon snapped, cutting off the other man's protests, "That's an order. I'm going to have my heir, one way or another. These humans aren't like us. She can't refuse me. Her body won't let her. You'll see how quickly she accepts me."

  Lily's horror grew as the king, holding her effortlessly with one hand, began dragging her heavy skirts up to her hips.

  "This is exactly what you wanted to happen, wasn't it?" Turlabon muttered his voice like acid, "What else could you have expected signing a contract like that. You wanted this all along."

  The green-eyed man had taken a step back, preparing to leave as he'd been ordered, but hesitating. His eyes met Lily's over Turlabon's shoulder.

  "Please," Lily sobbed without shame, knowing she had seen kindness in his eyes, "Please!"

  He turned away and she squeezed her eyes shut in despair, longing for some way to fight, anything she could do to stop this—

  She heard a crash and Turlabon's hand slackened around her throat. Opening her eyes, she watched the huge man slide to the ground unconscious. The green eyed man stood behind him, holding a sword like weapon, still sheathed, having just used it to bash his king over the back of the head.

  For a moment, they stood in stunned silence, staring at each other. Then, the green eyed man turned to drag a tapestry off the wall and throw it around Lily's shoulders. Remembering that she was exposed, Lily blushed and pulled the fabric closer.

  "Hurry," he said, moving towards the door, "He won't be out for long. We have to get you out of here, now."

  Lily, agreeing that staying here seemed like a very bad idea, nodded and ran after him as he hurried away through the now empty cathedral, their footsteps echoing against the marble. He took her not back through the main passages she'd come here by, but through side halls and servants passages she could tell were more rarely used.

  "We should get to the port," Lily suggested, struggling to run in her heavy clothes, "The ship that brought me here might not have left yet."

  "King Turlabon controls every port in Sahria," the man replied, "Not a single ship leaves them without his approval. You'll run right back into his branches."

  "Then what am I going to do?" Lily did her best to squash the panic trying to strangle her, "I have to get back to Earth!"

  They were running down a hall lined with doors on one side and windows on the other and the man was busily looking through the windows, searching for something.

  "You leave on a ship he doesn't control," he replied, and suddenly stopped short, throwing open a window and climbing out. He turned back, offering her a hand, but Lily hesitated, looking at the size of the window and the width of her skirts.

  "Help me take off my dress," she said, turning away from him and dropping the tapestry, "It's slowing me down. It'll get us both killed."

  She sensed his hesitation, but a moment later, she felt his hands at her back, tugging quickly at the zipper. She was untying the laces at the front with shaking hands, and as soon as the dress was loose enough, she shoved it down over her hips and stepped out, leaving her in her underwear and a shift length white camisole, its front torn by Turlabon's lascivious grasp.

  Snatching a lace from the dress, she did her best to tie the torn sheer material back together while the green-eyed man hid her discarded dress and petticoats in another room. She tried hard not to think about how much of her he must have seen or how carefully he was now averting his eyes from her. He climbed through the window again and took her hand to pull her through. As she stood on the sill, Lily heard shouting from somewhere down the hall.

  "They're after us," she warned the other man.

  "They won't catch us," he promised, and kept
a hold on her hand as they scrambled across the roof, the hot tiles scorching Lily's bare feet. Together, they dropped down several gables into an interior courtyard where a sleek silver ship was parked, not much larger than a van.

  "It's unregistered," he explained, voice hushed as they snuck towards the vehicle, "Untraceable. It has never been through a port. The king gave it to me for missions where he would need to be able to deny responsibility."

  "Hey!"

  They froze, looking back to the window they'd climbed out of, where a guard was leaning out, shouting for them to stop.

  "Hurry!" Lily urged, and the man quickly opened the hatch of the ship, lifting Lily in before climbing in after her.

  It was clearly built for one, with only one seat in the cockpit and a narrow space behind it about the size of car interior. He secured the door behind them and then threw himself into the pilot's seat.

  "There's a pull down seat on that wall," he said, "Strap in, quickly."

  Guards were spilling out into the courtyard as the ship powered up and Lily struggled to strap herself into the folding seat. She could hear them hammering at the door, trying to get it open.

  A moment later, they scrambled out of the way as the ship's engines roared to life and it rose into the air, scattering them like leaves. Lily laughed with relief as they took to the wind, leaving the palace below them, only to shriek as something roared past them, leaving the ship shaking in its wake.

  "It's the turrets," the man adjusted the controls of the ship with sure and steady hands, "They're trying to shoot us down."

  "Go!" Lily clung to the straps of her seat, shaking, "Let's get out of here!"

  The ship rolled and pitched, dodging the laser fire from the turrets mounted in all of the palace's absurd little cupolas. Lily cried out in fear as she felt one hit, jarring the ship and her all the way to her bones and filling the cabin with tremendous noise as wind screamed through the open hole in the floor.

  "Lily!" the man shouted, tearing open an orange case on the wall beside him and throwing her a canister from inside, "Sealant!"