by Maia Starr
"Well, you wanted to know why I had been such a hermit, but it was a very hard thing to deal with, especially because it is way more complicated now than it was when I was in New York,” I said looking at her.
"What do you mean?” she asked me.
"I'm pregnant, Maria,” I said to her. Her eyes grew wide and she said nothing. She just stared at me. She was so panicked that all I could do was start laughing.
"Are you being serious, Kelly, or are you joking?” she asked me.
"I am being very serious. I am pregnant with a Drackon baby and I have no idea which brother is the father. I have no idea what I can do. There is nothing that I can do. I am completely screwed,” I said to her.
"Kelly, you cannot keep this a secret. A secret pregnancy is really hard to go through on your own. You have to find Kasian and tell him,” she said to me.
"What if it's his brothers? It very well could be. I had sex with both of them only days apart; there is no way of knowing until the baby is born,” I said to her as tears began to fill my eyes. Saying it out loud made it so much more real. I had kept it to myself for so long and I didn't know what to do. I guess that's why I was telling a friend at this point: I needed some help and I needed to release the information.
"Do you want me to go with you to the registration office? That is the best way to do it. I am sure you are not the first human female to be sent to be a bride, participate in premarital sex, only to be rejected after. I am sure that you are not the first pregnancy in situations like these. It is the best way,” she said.
"You have a point. Forcing the registration office to find Kasian and tell him is better than having to track him down and tell him myself. It is just too much to deal with," I agreed.
"And in your condition, it is much safer. You shouldn't be traveling around and putting yourself under this type of stress.”
"Yes, you're right.”
"Should we go tomorrow then? I am free, and the sooner the better,” she said to me.
"Are you sure? You want to go with me?” I asked her.
"Of course, anything you need,” she said as she gave me a hug. It was the first moment of tenderness that I’d had since being with Kasian and it made me feel a little sad. In that moment, I missed those 48 hours that we were together and he hugged me and comforted me. That was the Drackon warrior that I missed and wanted in my life. That was the Drackon warrior that I wanted to be the father of my baby. But now it was just a fantasy; it had become only sweet distant memories to me. It was almost unbearable to think about, and yet my mind always went there. Even a simple tender hug from a friend could trigger my feelings for him.
The next day, Maria and I went down to the registration office and explained the pre-marital affairs. It was a mess of paperwork, but Maria was right.
"See, they even have a paperwork procedure for dealing with this type of thing," she whispered to me after we saw the counselor that took my case.
"Yes, I guess it is more common than I thought,” I said to her as we walked out of the registration building.
"I sure am glad I never registered. Now that I see that it is not all blissful sweeping you off your feet, as so many women have spoken of,” she said.
But as we walked, I knew that it was exactly that. I was swept off my feet and fell in love at first sight. I had the best sex of my life with the Drackon that was supposed to be my husband. But it was his brother that had messed it all up for us. If I had not indulged myself that night, I would be in wedded bliss at this very moment, awaiting our first child together, living in a beautiful cabin in the woods. I tried to hold back the tears, but I could not.
To distract myself, I started apartment hunting. I would need more room for the baby and I and it was time that I stopped sponging off of my friend Maria. I looked everywhere, but nothing was good enough for me. I longed for the cabin and the wilderness.
I never thought I would be living in Los Angeles again, and it seemed so boring to me. But I found a place and moved in.
Then the waiting game began. It was so much worse than before I went to the registration office. Before I went to the office, I was waiting on a miracle, that Kasian would miraculously appear at my door and confess his undying love for me. But I knew it was a fantasy. Now the registration office was going to contact him and tell him of my condition. It made the waiting unbearable, because now I knew that either he was avoiding me on purpose, or they could not find him. It was a lot to take in. I waited day after day and three weeks passed. I couldn't wait around any longer. I was taking matters into my own hands.
I packed a light bag and booked a flight to New York. My nerves were shot the entire time. I was practically shaking from being full of anxiety. It only made me feel more sick to my stomach then being pregnant already made me feel. But I had to do this. I had to know once and for all. Waiting around was going to kill me. If I knew, then at least I could get on with my life and take the proper steps toward raising this offspring on my own. I could finally cut the ties that I had emotionally to Kasian if I knew that even knowing that I carried his child he still did not want me. That he still hated me for what I had done.
I arrived at the cabin feeling very nervous. I did not get my bag out of the car and I asked the driver to wait for me. I didn't know if I would be welcomed, or if he was even at home. He could have been back on Mooreah for all I knew. Luckily one of the guards at the door recognized me.
"Ms. Perkins? What are you doing here?” he asked me.
"I have come to speak with Commander Kasian Jade. Is he around?” I asked him.
"Do you not know?” he asked me.
"Know what?" I asked him, feeling the anxiety build up in my stomach even more.
"Perhaps you should come inside,” he said to me. I didn't like the way that sounded. I just wish that he would blurt it out whatever it was.
He led me inside to the sitting area. As soon as I saw the surroundings, a flood of emotions came to me. I felt full of regret. I wanted to be here in happier times, with Kasian. I sat down and the guard looked at me with sorrow in his eyes.
"I am sorry to be the one to tell you this. We believe that Commander Kasian Jade is dead.”
I was stunned. I was shocked. I was silent.
"Ms. Perkins, are you all right? Can I get you a glass of water?” he asked.
I nodded my head yes. Not because I needed water, but because I needed a moment alone without someone asking me questions or staring at me. I needed to be alone to process what the guard had told me. It was impossible. It couldn't be. He could not to be dead. I wouldn't allow it.
"Here you are,” the guard said to me as he returned with a glass of water.
I took a small sip and then said, “How?” It was all that I could say as tears began to flow out of my eyes.
"Three weeks ago there was a major battle in a field up north. We have not been able to find him since and it has been assumed that he is no longer with us. That he has passed injured on the battlefield," he said to me. I looked at him startled.
"You mean he has not been found? He could still be alive?” I said, filled with hope.
"We have searched for him for over two weeks now. We have found nothing, no trace of him. The search was called off."
"No. He is still out there. You must keep searching for him. I know it. I can just feel it,” I said to him.
"I will contact the lead guard to let him know that you are here. He is in charge since Commander Kasian Jade has gone missing,” he said to me, sensing that I did not want to hear that Kasian was dead. He used the word gone missing instead, and it gave me hope.
"I will wait right here,” I said to him.
Chapter 10
COMMANDER KASIAN JADE
We had been tracking the outlaws all over the country. The taskforce from Mooreah had taken up most of the work, but I insisted on going along with them; this was my fight on more than one level. He had stolen the power receptors from me and had destroyed a marriage.
I had to hunt him down.
When the battle started, none of us were prepared for the oncoming attack. We had made a camp in a field thinking that the outlaws were miles away. They caught us off guard, but we were quick to engage in battle.
"They're attacking!” I shouted. “Seek out the power receptors; they must be nearby or they wouldn't be engaging!” I shouted out orders. I saw Agent Teqin hear my direct order and grab two Drackon warriors and flew off in the direction that the outlaws had come from. I quickly looked at the faces of all of our enemies, and I did not see my brother. I knew this meant that he must be guarding his bounty.
I shouted orders, directing the small army on how to defeat this enemy in battle before launching myself into the air to head after Teqin. I punched a few Drackon warriors as I flew as the battle grew heated. But I made it out of the swarm. I could see my agents in the distance flying toward a cliff. It was the perfect hideout. Massive caves would be the perfect place to hide Drackon technology until it was sold. I landed on the ledge of a cliff. I could not see my agents anywhere. I walked toward an open cave.
“Orik! Come out and face me, you bastard!”
Bam! I was hit from the side. It was my brother and we were now tumbling across the ledge. Boom! I punched his face with enormous rage; I thought he would black out.
“You traitor!” I shouted at him. “Why did you do it?! Why did you have to go after her! You knew her photo was from the registration, that she was going to be my wife,” I shouted at him as we circled each other fighting.
"You know exactly why! Kira!"
His response shocked me. “What do you mean?!
Kira was a Drackonian female that we were friends with when we were only fifteen. She was part of our group that we spent time with when we were not in warrior training. I had messed around with her a few summers. She always initiated it. She always wanted me.
"You took her from me, so I took something from you. She was the only female that I have ever truly loved, and you stole her. Then you didn't bother to marry her; you just threw her away like all the other females from our youth!” he growled at me.
"I did not steal her. She came to me. She came to me willingly. At the time I had no idea that you felt anything for her. You were not a couple. You never said anything. She never said anything of you!"
"That does not matter. I was taking my time and making it special with her. Then you swooped in after being gone for months and stole her away.”
"I did not know, brother. That's what this is about? You have held this grudge for over fifteen years from our youth? That is the reason for your behavior?”
"It is my reason for payback with Kelly. Everything else is my own doing because it is the right way to do things. You are a slave for a king that does not give you the riches that my job does!" He grinned.
"It is wrong and dangerous! You are selling to criminals! They can do anything with the Drackon technology and kill millions of Drackon or humans,” I said to him.
"What they do with that is their business. They are going get it one way or another; I might as well be the one to profit off of it. Your trusting nature just makes it too easy. Isn't that right, Teqin?" he said as he looked at my top agent, who landed beside my brother. He had a wicked grin on his face.
"Yes, he is very trusting. Makes my job very easy,” Agent Teqin said.
"Teqin? You were in on this? How could you? The King has great trust in you,” I said in shock.
"Yes, trust, but he does not pay me. Not the way your brother does,” he said to me.
"Put him in the cave,” my brother said to the agent.
"No," I said realizing that I had blamed Kelly for somehow leaking information to my brother. I knew in my heart that it wasn't true, and now I knew the real traitor. It was my own security. I had been blinded by my trust in them.
My brother and the agent grabbed me by the arms and I struggled and was loose in the mere seconds. Bam! I punched Teqin on the jaw. Bam! Then I punched my brother. I was in such a rage. But they both piled on top of me. I felt one of my wings become injured and crack underneath their weight. I screamed out in anger. They pushed me into the cave. They threw me down a shaft. I immediately spread my wings and flew up toward the light, but I was slow with my injured wing.
Boom!
The entire cave rattled. The light in front of me grew dark. They had closed the entrance; I was trapped.
I flew up to the caved-in rocks and pushed all my weight against them. I could hear nothing. I shouted for help, hoping that my warriors had won the battle and had found these caves. But no sound was ever heard. I only had one other option.
I flew slowly down the shaft of the cave. To my surprise, the shaft opened up into a massive underground cave with many tunnels. I searched every one of them, walking in the darkness. But then after a day or two of searching, I found my way out. But I could not return to the cabin. My security had been compromised and I did not know who I could trust.
So with the struggle of having an injured wing, I hiked through the forest until I came to the Hudson River. There, I boarded a boat and made my way to New York City, to the Earth Council.
“Council, thank you for meeting with me on this most urgent news,” I said as I stood in front of them.
“Commander, you are injured. Will you not let one of our doctors treat you?” one of the councilmembers asked.
“Yes, thank you, but first I must relay this information to you and to my king on Mooreah.”
The councilmembers looked at each other and then nodded their heads in agreement. A few minutes later, the king was on screen in front of me.
“My King,” I said.
“Commander, you look like hell. What news? I have been told that you were lost in battle,” he said.
“And if the king would oblige, I would like to keep that my status for now. I have discovered that there are betrayers amongst my team and I don’t know how deep it goes. There is a series of caves miles north of the air filter project. It is there that the team you sent and a few of my agents engaged in battle in a nearby field below those caves. But when I found and confronted my brother, he revealed to me that my most trusted agent, Agent Teqin, has been working with him. This is how he was able to get around my security. Teqin is my lead security agent and he has been working for the outlaws of Riobl all along, as well as with my brother.”
Bam! The king hit his fist on the table in anger. “This is unacceptable! Traitors amongst the Drackon are not tolerated.”
“Yes, my King. I stand by for your orders,” I said.
“I must apologize for this fiasco, Earth Council. It is our mess and we will clean it up,” the king said.
“We understand,” a councilmember said to him in response.
“Commander, stay at the Earth Council for now. I am making plans to have your security purged and caught off guard. Then we will know who is working with your brother. My last report from my team that I sent said the battle on the field was successful in capturing many outlaws, but not your brother or the power receptors. They have reason to believe that he plans to board a ship and take them to Riobl for sale. If he planned to sell it to Earth criminals, he would have done so already.”
“Yes, that makes sense. It would take him a while to commandeer a ship to fly to Riobl under the radar, and to pay them off to not speak of its passengers or cargo,” I added.
“Yes, exactly. For now, wait for further instruction. We will capture him. Every single ship signal is going to be watched closely with the help of the Earth Council,” the king said.
“Thank you, King,” I said.
“No, thank you, Commander, for your loyalty. Earth Council, thank you for your time. I will be in touch by end of your Earth day.”
Then he was gone.
“Now, about seeking treatment,” a lovely woman came up to me.
“Yes, thank you,” I said as I followed her. As I did, her brown hair and soft skin reminded me of none other than Kelly
Perkins. I longed to be in the cave again in that moment. At least being trapped kept my mind off of the longing I felt for her. It gave me a task, trying to escape and live. But in the darkness of the cave, I knew that I was really fighting for the chance to see her again. I knew in that moment that I could get past what my brother had done to her. After his confession about Kira, I knew that Kelly was only caught in the middle of his grudge that he had held for so long. I felt bad after his confession. Was I the cause of how he turned out? Was that summer with Kira the turning point for him? I would never truly know. But the guilt would always be with me.
