by Zara Zenia
Chera was not sure where she was. Her eyes were heavy, and her body ached all over. It took just a few seconds for her to remember everything that had happened. The explosions that shook the very foundation of the palace and brought down walls and even floor levels. The screams and cries of the young princess Pari. That evil Terud who injected her with some unknown substance and took off with her over his shoulder. The secret passage and the ensuing brawl that had broken out.
"My leg," she uttered, cringing at the memory of it snapping from a mighty sword blow. She looked around her and was suddenly aware there was a man standing over her. Her vision had been blurry and her mind racing, so she hadn't looked over to see him at the foot of the bed she lay on. "Where am I?" she asked him.
The Hjott warrior, with a copper headband and royal insignia on his shoulder, answered gruffly. "You are on my ship, the Vada Shadow. You are safe now. This is the med-bay."
"What? How? Wait, where are my friends, the other servants? Hold on—are you King Thras?" Her jaw dropped and she found herself unable to get any more words to come out of her mouth. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion now, only it was so much more intense than usual. The med-bay was made from a type of pearly shells. Rich furnishings made the room appear striking and just very royal, appropriately. It was similar to the palace. That was working to make this even more confusing. For a moment she wondered if she had really left the palace at all. But of course, that place had been bombarded with explosives from the attack. This room was still in immaculate condition.
Chera had never been anywhere near this close to the king before. He was always impressive, even from a distance. There was never anyone around him who could measure up to his impressive height. He would have towered over any Terran man. He had at least a good two feet on her too. Her heart was racing now, and the drowsiness from having been unconscious seemed to have gone away completely. Her pulse rate must have been through the roof and she wondered if she might faint.
The king didn't like Terran slaves, as far as Chera knew. He never spoke to them, and barely even looked at them. The times when he had gazed over in her direction, he had always looked away immediately. Like he thought he was too good to even make eye contact with her. What other conclusion could she draw?
Chapter 5
Thras
Before the injured Terran woman woke up, she was in a terrible state. That strike by the Aulius warrior had torn right through the flesh of her upper leg. The mighty swords he was brandishing was heavy enough that it snicked the bone like it had been a twig. Such a cowardly thing to do. These aliens truly had no honor or sense of what was right and wrong.
What else was he to do? Thras had cared for the woman himself, tearing a piece of his own clothing to make a tourniquet that managed to stem the gushing blood flow. He and his men made their way quickly to the ship, where Kenor had readied it for them as instructed.
The ship's medic told Thras that the human woman was lucky to still be alive. Just the time it had taken to get to the ship should have been too long. She nearly bled out from her injury. The medic also informed him that it would be for the best if the Terran slave remained unconscious for a while until she had been healed. "The extremity of the wound would only cause her great pain otherwise," said the medic in his business-like tone. It was hard to stomach such an indifferent attitude to a battle wound on a woman. Thras pushed those emotions aside, since the man was only doing his job.
As he lowered her into the healing chamber, Thras felt something bizarre come over him. He hadn't noticed it earlier because of the frantic running and everything that was happening around them. Once he was inside the cold, calm surroundings of the med-bay though ... he felt a strange energy over his heart. He knew full well that this was where his uxormea should be.
When a male Hjott found their mate, their uxormea would burst forth and they would know they were within the presence of their intended life partner. Well, life was a short time for any Hjott woman who mated. They commonly died at child birth and the fathers were left to raise the children. This was said to account for the warrior-like culture of the Hjott.
He had to brood on this for days, unable to talk to this strange Terran woman. How could she really be the one who made his uxormea burst forth? She wasn't even the same species as he was. Consorting with her kind was strictly forbidden. Not only was she not royalty, but she wasn't even a member of the Hjott race. On top of that, she was a lowly slave who he wasn't even meant to make eye contact with.
He watched over her with great care for the three days that she was required to remain unconscious and heal. He did everything in his power to put aside his emotions. Thras told himself that he was simply being protective over his property. She is one of your servants. If an enemy could come into your palace and kill a slave woman so easily, it would greatly injure your honor.
Try as he might, there was no avoiding the fact that he wasn't just watching over a piece of property. How could his own heart lie to him about his true feelings for the stranger from a strange world who lay in wait to meet him when she awoke?
He was more than relieved when she finally woke up. He waited patiently while the medic revived her. The process was not instantaneous, and the waiting was excruciating to the king. He began to sweat from the anxiety it caused him. His heart pounded in his barrel-like chest.
When the woman did finally open her eyes, the medic needed to have access to her to check her vitals. Thras had to stand back in the corner of the room. He watched her from the shadows that were made by the bright lights of the medical equipment. She couldn't see him yet, but he was intently staring at her. The alien woman truly was beautiful. He remembered the times when he'd been caught by her while staring. As custom dictated, he looked away quickly and acted as though he was disgusted by her mere presence.
"Her vitals are all perfectly fine," said the medic finally. The young male Hjott gave a little smile that quickly faded back to a professional expression, then left the room. "You can finally see her now," he said in a knowing tone.
Does he somehow know that my uxormea has been awoken by her? Is that possible? Perhaps there was some kind of scanner that could pick up on it in the med-bay. Or, more likely, Thras was just being paranoid because of his embarrassment and shame. To think that the king of Jatra might in fact be fated to mate with someone like this.
"My leg," was the first thing the woman said. She hadn't even noticed that he was standing at the foot of the healing chamber. The top of the chamber had been withdrawn, making the thing look much more like a normal medical bed. She then started to ask a series of stuttering questions. Panic was clearly taking over her thoughts and making her irrational. It was not how he wanted their first conversation to go at all.
"We don't know what happened to the other servants. There was no trace of them in the palace after they were carried away."
"They're the only people who are like family to me..." said the woman sadly.
King Thras remained silent, solemn. He wasn't ignoring her statement; just not willing to speak more on the subject. It was a typically diplomatic way to respond to conflict but one that worked.
"Oh, my—I'm naked!" she suddenly exclaimed, looking down and realizing her thigh, part of her midsection, and almost one entire breast were exposed. Pulling the thin cover up over herself, she said, "Please tell me the king of Jatra did not just see my nipple."
"I did not look, so I do not know if it was exposed. I was under orders not to disturb you for three days while you healed." He wondered how she would react knowing he'd licked her wound while waiting to enter the ship. There was nothing sexual to the act, particularly with all the blood and violence. Hjotts had a rare ability to give healing through their saliva. It was traditional for family members to do it to injured loved ones. Since this poor girl didn't have any family that he knew of, it only seemed right that someone provide the service.
"You are only naked because your clothing was dirty
and torn. I would have redressed you in something else, but clothing is not permitted inside the healing chamber."
"Of course..." she replied suspiciously, pulling up the cover to her chin now.
"We were able to rescue one other servant," he told her. "Her name is Jaia. Currently she is onboard and being of great help to the flight crew."
"Oh, that's wonderful! She was on duty when the attack happened. I had no idea where she'd gotten to. I was so worried about helping the princess that I didn't think to look for her."
"You tried to help my sister, Pari?" he asked.
"Oh, sure. I couldn't allow her to be hurt. Only, I wasn't much use after all," said Chera with a morose expression coming over her face.
"It is not your fault. Thank you from myself, and from the people of Jatra, for trying to rescue the princess." He had underestimated the bravery of these Terrans perhaps. "And you are probably wondering why we're on my ship at all."
"That question had crossed my mind."
"The Veda Shadow, my ship, is in pursuit of Princess Pari's abductors. They were seen by my star pilot commander entering a small ship with her."
"I remember it all now. She was taken from her room after they blew apart the wall. That ugly Terud warrior injected her with something. I wanted to chase him. I really did. It was too late by the time I got a chance." Her eyes started to well up with tears. This was a common thing for Terran women, he had been told. They were so emotional that he wondered how they ever made such good workers.
"I respected the young princess a great deal. She was always so kind and mature for someone her age," said Chera.
Thras was beginning to see that these emotional creatures had their advantages. This woman seemed earnest and honorable: two things he admired greatly. He had a great urge to comfort her. She had been through a great ordeal, and now finding out that the princess had been spirited away on an enemy ship made it even more so. He felt empathy for her plight, for being taken from her home. But that was the way of the galaxy, and nothing could be done about that.
"It will be alright," he said. Those were words he remembered his father telling women who were close to him. Not his own mother, no. She had died at childbirth after all. Thras had never had a chance to know her.
"Thank you for saying that. I know there's a good chance things are not going to be alright. I really hope we find your sister though. I do." This human, Chera, was much shorter than he was. He could tell that from seeing her stretched out on the comfortable healing chamber's bed. Compared to a Hjott, she was small, but not smaller than other Terran women. Her thin body turned into curves in places that he was sure even the best artist on Jatra could not imitate. Such subtle slopes to her body as it rest beneath the thin bed cover. How could they make his mind go crazy like this?
His uxormea was going out of control now, but he worked to restrain his feelings. Even if she was really his fated mate—none of that mattered. He was a Hjott king, and she was a Terran slave.
But those deep blue eyes, peering out from behind the pulled up sheet and looking at him with a hint of fright and wonder. It was as though they were pleading with him to make everything be okay. And he wanted to be able to do just that. He wanted to protect her, to serve her instead of having her be the servant. Her dark hair was long but had been tied up to avoid it getting in the way of the medic. With it up like that instead of down how it usually was, her striking cheekbones and delicately shaped face stood out more.
This woman is exquisite, he told himself. He wondered how she would react to hearing those words spoken out loud. Maybe she was the slave, but Thras almost cringed to know that his heart might be enslaved to her—no matter what he did to tell himself otherwise.
And Chera treated him with complete indifference, as though he was just another one of her captors. Well, that's what his people were really. She had love for the princess, no doubt. But a child had no blame in the way things were. An adult male like himself? The woman must have been afraid of him, possibly even hateful of him.
Chapter 6
Chera
Chera was aboard the Vada Shadow, going through space again. It was the first time she'd been off planet since being taken from her home and brought to Jatra as a slave. The thought was not a pleasant one, but at least this time she wasn't expecting to be sold off like a farm animal to a strange alien race.
"Are you sure there's nothing you can tell me about the other servant women who were with me? Someone didn't bring them aboard during all the commotion and not tell you?" It was a slim hope, but one that she had to ask anyway.
"Please, I assure you. There is no chance that could have happened. We think the other Terrans were taken aboard the enemy ship with Princess Pari. If so, they were most likely perfectly safe. And we are going to track them down and make them pay, do not worry about that."
The idea of making those alien scumbags pay was appealing to her inner rage. Chera was tired of being pushed around now. She wanted to be able to stand up and fight. "Are we on their trail?" she suddenly demanded to know.
Thras gave a drawn out sigh like he was embarrassed to tell her. "No. The ship has seemingly vanished. However, we will find them. I give you my word on that."
"How can you promise something that's up to fate?" she asked.
The question seemed to make him uncomfortable. Maybe it was her use of the word fate. She didn't believe in it, of course. It was just an expression. These Hjotts did believe in things like destiny, she knew. They even had fated mates, which was just completely insane as far as she was concerned. Why she felt comfortable casually discussing things with the king, she had no idea. Maybe it because he had clearly gone to great lengths to protect her.
"I didn't even thank you for saving my life!" she burst out. "I'm sorry. Thank you for rescuing me."
"It was my duty to care for you, as a member of my palace servants."
That was an insulting response. It was as though he only did it because he had to. Or because she was his property and it would be wasteful to let her die.
"Oh..." was all she could say in response.
The medic thankfully returned to break the awkward silence. "Good news, Sire," he said to the king without addressing Chera herself. Even though she was the patient here, it seemed like the Hjotts were going to just discuss her like she was a child. "Your servant here is now healed and strong enough to leave the med-bay. There is space in the same room as the other servant you recovered.”
The way the medic talked about the humans was far from caring. He was just going about his business, she supposed.
"I get to stay with Jaia? Please, can I go right now?" asked Chera. She was getting tired of feeling like a lesser species among these Hjott men.
The medic unhooked some tubes and wires from her. She had been so out of it that she didn't even notice those were inside her. The medic didn't even look away as she put on her new clothes though. It didn't seem like he was interested in her in a sexual way at all anyway. Perhaps their species just didn't find humans appealing. That made sense, since they weren't even from the same part of the universe and everything.
Then why did Chera find herself uncontrollably attracted to the gigantic, powerful Hjott man? She hated to let herself admit it, but the Hjott were really something to look at with their golden skin and tattoo-like patterns. Of course she wondered if they were packing anything equally as impressive in their pants.
King Thras did look away while she got dressed, and she caught him turning a slightly different shade of gold in the cheeks. Is he blushing? she wondered once she had finished getting dressed and looked over to him. If so, it was maybe a little cute. The outfit that was available to Chera was plain, dark gray, and boring. A pair of pants and a long sleeved shirt was all, plus some simple boots and socks of the same color.
Being a royal servant to the princess, Chera got to enjoy some elegant and honestly beautiful clothing. It was fitting that they looked the part if they were going to be wo
rking in the palace. Plus, the princess loved to give them new things to wear. The outfit she had on when the explosions happened had been torn to shreds nearly. Oh well, this is better than being naked under a thin med-bay cover.
"Chera! I didn't think I was ever going to see any of you again," shouted Jaia when she walked through the door. Jaia was dressed in the same drab gray attire but looked healthy given all that had happened. "Your leg's healed? I thought you might never walk again after seeing what they did to you."
With a rush of mixed emotions, Chera moved quickly forward into the room and opened her arms wide to embrace Jaia. "I'm so glad to see you too. Were you injured in the attack?"
"No, I wasn't in the same part of the palace as the rest of you were. I felt the heavy vibrations of the explosions, but nothing was directly damaged where I was."
"What were you doing when it happened?"
"I was feeding the royal pets," she said, "Toward the other side of the palace. I guess the Teruds and Aulius had no reason to even go there. Soon after that, a group of palace guards came and found me. They told me it wasn't safe there anymore and ordered me to go to this ship."
"I'm glad you were busy doing chores so you're nice and safe," said Chera. The two women took a seat on one of the comfortable single beds in the small room.
"On another topic. Did you know that the king himself refused to leave your side for the whole time you were unconscious? What's the story there?" said Jaia.
"What? I have no idea." Chera laughed at the absurdity of the notion. "That can't be true. Who told you that?"
"No one. I've been serving on this ship for three days now since we left Jatra. Every time I went by the med-bay door, he was there. I never stopped and spoke to him though or made eye contact if I could help it. Don't you find him intimidating?"
