by Maia Starr
“I understand that you are upset,” Aloitus said. “I should not have been so angry. I am under a lot of pressure because tensions are high. I am working hard to ensure the survival of my people, and you are playing a key role in that. I hope that someday you will understand my position.”
“Well maybe I can understand right now,” I said. “What is the good in keeping me in the dark when we’re both affected right now? Don’t you need to talk to somebody about this?”
Aloitus looked at me, his worn, purple eyes flashing with a pained emotion I couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“I’m not going to burden you with this, human. It is not your issue. It is mine. However, I want you to know that no matter what happens, you and the other humans on Jenal’k will be safe.”
“Please, just tell me—”
“No!” Aloitus barked, slamming his fist on the table. “This is my job, and you are interfering with it. Every day you interfere with it! This is more important than you and me, or our fleeting little feelings ever could be. Now please, leave me. I have much work to do.”
I frowned, a lump forming in my throat. Why was it that Aloitus was so unbelievably harsh with me? I did everything I could open myself up to him and work against all of the reasons telling me I shouldn’t trust this man. Something was eating away at him. Something big. And if he didn’t trust anybody with it, he was just going to destroy himself.
But if he didn’t want me there, then who was I to keep trying? I had a perfectly kind, loving man hiding in my closet that had stowed away across the universe to be with me. So why was I getting hung up on what this horrible man thought of me? Our relationship wasn’t real. All we had shared was a one-time thing. That was it. And apparently, that was all he saw it as.
I stood from my seat and left before Aloitus could see the tears falling down my cheeks. The last thing I wanted was to trouble him with any more meaningless emotions. If the Thressl’n were cold-hearted machines, there was no way my feelings would ever amount to anything. I would just have to swallow them and do my best to be happy. Kirk would do anything for me. Why couldn’t I just love him?
***
I didn’t expect Aloitus to be in the dining room when the fifth and final meal of the day was served. I was hoping just to take the whole plate of food to Kirk, who had been complaining more and more that he wasn’t getting enough to eat.
But to my surprise, Aloitus was quietly chewing his food by the time I arrived at the dining room, and I sat down quietly. I had nothing left to say to him. Every time we spoke lately, he had been dismissing me and belittling whatever I was feeling. I didn’t deserve that. I should focus my affections on someone who truly cared about me. Someone like Kirk, who, apparently, I had been neglecting to feed properly.
“Human, make sure you are awake early tomorrow. We are going on a trip. You will need to pack a few things. Do you understand?”
I looked up at Aloitus, surprised.
“A trip? Where?”
“Do not ask questions of me, human. Just do as you are asked and confirm whether or not you understand your instructions.”
“I understand what you want me to do. I don’t understand why.”
Aloitus sighed deeply and rose from his seat.
“Be ready before first meal. We will dine out tomorrow.”
I frowned as Aloitus left the room, leaving me in a shroud of mystery.
I looked around the room for Peko, but she was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, everybody had figured out that the tension between Aloitus and I was high. Nobody wanted to be caught in the middle of that.
As a result, the staff had grown cold toward me, and even Peko was reluctant to engage in civil conversation. They didn’t want to get on the Supreme Leader’s bad side. I had seen similar things happen when my father and I were fighting. It was better not to anger the beast.
“All right, then,” I mumbled to myself with a deep sigh.
Why did he hide so much from me? It was infuriating. He didn’t trust me, he didn’t respect my emotions, and he wanted me to obey him like some kind of mindless slave. It was unreasonable, and I was some kind of idiot for thinking that I would ever be able to reason with a man like him. As much as I wanted to like him, and to think that my feelings for Aloitus were justified, the fact was that they weren’t and he didn’t deserve any of my attention.
I prickled with anger and agitation and rose from my seat, holding the plate of food. And now he was taking me on some weird, mysterious trip, after telling me to leave him alone twice now. What kind of a man was he?!
I made my way from the dining room to my bedroom, looking forward to the seclusion of the comfortable bed. Even if everything was hell with Aloitus, at least Kirk wouldn’t complain to me about being hungry.
Chapter 8
Aloitus Cloch’h (Supreme Leader of the Thressl’n)
To say I awoke at dawn would be a lie, as I had hardly had enough time to sleep by the time it was the hour of leaving. Melinda had no idea what was going on, but there was to be no safe place to explain the reality to her. I was taking her to meet the Old Ones, who had been excited to meet the human of the highest nobility on Jenal’k.
In truth, I had been putting it off. I hadn’t wanted to spend any time alone with the human after all of the angst we had been sharing lately, but after speaking to Peko, I realized how dishonorable my procrastination truly was. If anybody was going to help me defend Jenal’k with their all, it would be them. Only they would be able to relate to my sacrifice. And frankly, I needed that.
“Human! Greet the morning! It is time to leave!”
I waited outside the female’s door, anxious to get moving. The Old Ones were notoriously impatient people, and it seemed difficult to fathom their patience for lateness, especially after waiting so long to finally be introduced to the female that had been stolen from the hands of the Vellreq. In a sense, she was the catalyst; the beginning of the end, or the beginning of the beginning. She had no idea how much was riding on her shoulders. If anything happened to me, she would be sent to stay with the Old Ones until somebody was able to take her to Kalron for safe-keeping.
“Human!”
“My name…is…Melinda!” she growled from inside the room. She was putting forth an obvious effort to dress herself in the gown that Peko had chosen for her meeting with the Old Ones, and I sighed, wondering where the Peko had gotten off to. It was cruel to leave a human alone to put on ceremonial attire. It was difficult enough to put on with the help of a native Thressl’n. I knew from many experiences.
“I’m coming in,” I stated, punching in the code to the door and ducking inside.
Melinda’s face turned red, and I gaped at the beauty of her half-naked body, barely concealed by the thin gossamer fabrics of the ceremonial clothing.
“I am going to help you. We cannot be late to this meeting.”
“Where are we going?” Melinda asked, squirming as I lifted the robes and began draping them gently over her body. She refused to meet my eyes, which was a mercy for both of us. The situation was excruciatingly awkward enough.
“We are going to meet some very important natives of Jenal’k.”
“Why are they important?”
Although most of the time, Melinda’s constant questioning could seem incessant and annoying, for once I was actually relieved to have something to focus on other than the alluring curves of her body and my nearness to it.
“The Thressl’n are descended from them. We are a separate evolutionary strain. We evolved to thrive under the sunlight, while they dwell in the darkness of caves and receive a large majority of their sustenance from the soil.”
“They eat dirt?” Melinda asked, wrinkling her nose.
I chuckled despite myself, draping on of the sleeves over her delicate shoulders. She shivered at my touch, and I swallowed involuntarily.
“No, they do not eat dirt. The minerals are absorbed into their skin, and they thrive that way. They do not have to eat m
uch of anything, truth be told.”
“They’re really self-sustainable then,” Melinda said thoughtfully. “Unlike the Thressl’n. You guys have to eat all the time!”
“Yes,” I said with a sigh. “We are less water-based creatures than you humans. I’m sure you find it quite a flaw.”
Melinda smiled at me, and my hearts thudded hard in my chest. She was so beautiful.
“Not any more than eating dirt,” she said.
“Actually the Thressl’n body does its own magic with the sunlight. We receive much nourishment that way. We only eat to maintain our muscle mass.”
“I assumed,” Melinda said, looking down at the floor. Her cheeks turned pink, and I studied her, remembering the way her face had flushed much the same color during our tryst at the rivers of Mount Zennith.
We fell quiet until I finished wrapping the ceremonial robes around Melinda’s body. She stood back and admired herself in the mirror.
“Wow,” she said quietly. “I was way off.”
“I’ll say,” I said, laughing despite myself. “You had the arm where the rear should be.”
She grinned, and another tremor shook my hearts. Why couldn’t things with her always be easy like this? She consumed my thoughts so much of the time, but whenever we were alone for too long, things turned hostile. Couldn’t we get along for one whole day?
“I’m ready,” Melinda said decidedly, primping her hair briefly. “How do I look? Very official?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but no sound came out. The truth was that she looked completely stunning. The ceremonial robes had always been meant to represent purity of heart and soul, and often looked clunky and cumbersome. But on Melinda’s slight body, the robes wrapped around her were astonishingly beautiful.
“Yes,” I managed to stammer. “Let us go before we are late for the meeting.”
Melinda nodded and followed me out of the room.
I breathed deeply when we were back in the spacious halls of the palace, and led Melinda through the corridors and to my hovercraft.
“Are we going to go back to Mount Zennith?” she asked.
“No,” I answered, putting the craft into drive and lifting off into the air. “They live in an area you have never seen. A spot the suns rarely hit. It will take the better part of a day to reach the caves of the Old Ones. We will stop for a meal on the road and then have our final meal with them.”
“Not dirt, I hope,” Melinda said, her face deadpan.
I did my best not to smile and kept my eyes straight ahead. “Not dirt.”
We fell into a comfortable silence, both of us just seeming to enjoy the company of the other. How did we manage to fall into such a pleasant coexistence? I couldn’t tell, but I was grateful for it. If I had to spend all day fighting with Melinda after having so little sleep, I was afraid of what might happen. It was better to say nothing than to risk saying the wrong thing.
And so we drove all afternoon, Melinda staring out her window at the small Thressl’n world below and me secretly staring at her. It was probably the closest we would ever be again, and I was determined to relish it.
Because once the war began, there was no guarantee what would happen to either of us from that point forward. It was better to try to live in harmony. I wanted to die honorably, with no guilt in my heart. And the only way to do that was to be patient with the woman who knew better than anybody just how to push my buttons.
***
“Melinda,” I said softly, touching her shoulder and rocking it gently. “We’ve arrived.”
Melinda had fallen asleep during the late afternoon, after we had stopped at a diner out in the middle of nowhere run by a couple of Thressl’n who had taken to treating tourists with a visit to one of the more scenic areas of the sunsets of Jenal’k. I was still chuckling at Melinda’s excitement upon finding a life-sized model of the suns, where you could stick your face and have a postcard printed with a message in your native tongue stating that you were the center of the universe. She was still clinging to hers when she had fallen asleep.
“What?” Melinda asked sleepily, sitting up in a daze. “Are you all right? You look so tired.”
Melinda touched my face without seeming to think twice about it as she roused herself. She seemed confused by the piece of paper she was gripping and squinted at it before a beautiful peal of laughter escaped her lips.
“Look at your face,” she said quietly, pointing at me in the background of the photo. I was looking at her, a mixture of amusement and disapproval on my face as she stuck her head gleefully in the hole.
“You know how many types of germs there could be in there?” I asked. “People all over the universe take pictures in there. And children! They’re the worst.”
“I like kids,” Melinda said, smiling shyly at me. “I wanted to have one or two one day.”
I opened and closed my mouth, unsure of what to say, and she laughed softly. “Aren’t they expecting us in there?”
I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, please, let us go.”
I got out of the hovercraft and walked around to help Melinda down.
“The Old Ones may not look just the same as we Thressl’n do, but they are revered on our planet. They handed us ancient texts that have formed our ceremonies and celebrations, and they are owed the utmost respect. Please, bow your head to them deeply and do not rise until they say it is all right. I will be right alongside you. And please, do not be afraid.”
“Afraid?”
“I was…the first time I met them. Most Thressl’n never do. Just those chosen to serve them, such as the Supreme Leaders and the Second in Command. They send messengers out if there is a need for something. They rarely, if ever, leave the comfort of their underground world.”
“So we will be meeting underground then,” Melinda said, taking a deep breath.
“Yes,” I said, closing my eyes. The first time I had met the Old Ones had been one of the scariest experiences of my life. I had grown up with crippling claustrophobia that had rendered it difficult for me to be in hovercrafts or spaceships very long. And so going into the dark black tunnels to meet the Old Ones, who seemed more reptilian than anything, had been quite difficult for me.
“Is there anything else I should do?” Melinda asked. “Like…to honor them? I don’t want to do anything wrong and make you look bad.”
“No, just follow my lead and be yourself. These are the Old Ones. We do not have to pretend in front of them. They are wise; tapped into a stream of consciousness that our kind evolved out of. But they have never steered us wrong before.”
“All right,” Melinda said. I could feel her relax beside me and cast her a comforting smile.
“It’s going to be fine.”
We continued walking quietly until finally, I saw the large tree that marked the tunnel that would lead to the city below the surface of Jenal’k.
“All right,” I said, inhaling deeply. It was still difficult for me to go into these caves, but I had been putting it off long enough. “It is time.”
***
“Greetings to you, Leader of the Thressl’n. Greetings to you, human.”
I bowed and nudged Melinda, pleased to find she was already bowing. It was still taking some time for our eyes to adjust to the dark. It would probably take my eyes much longer, as the Thressl’n had terrible night vision. I probably should have mentioned the darkness to Melinda, but she seemed to be taking everything in stride.
“You may rise.”
We stood into the cave, and I was shocked when a small blue lantern was lit in the vast tunnel where we were standing.
“For the human’s benefit,” one of the Old Ones explained.
“Thanks to you,” Melinda said with another deep bow.
“It is our pleasure. Quite an honor to meet a human at last!”
I was both thankful for the light and bitter that the human was shown special favor. What good a light would have done for me that first time visiting!
“It is an honor to meet you as well,” Melinda said.
I had never seen an Old One in the light, and studied them curiously now in the blue glow of the lantern. They had distinct Thressl’n features, broad and muscular, but their eyes were much smaller, and the cool, metallic colors were difficult to make out in the dark. But their eyes glittered in the light, giving them an eerie appearance that I hoped wouldn’t startle Melinda.
There were Old Ones of all ages, all crowded around the small tunnel to view Melinda.
“Now tell me, Aloitus, how are things progressing?”
“As expected,” I said, reluctant to speak too freely in front of Melinda. She still didn’t know just how extreme the situation was, and I couldn’t bear to take a moment of peace from her mind.
“That is good news, is it not?”
“Yes. I am hoping to have our head engineer work on a project that will turn tides in our favor.”
“Jora Lollo?” the leader of the Old Ones asked, his withered nose wrinkled in distaste.
“No. The man Jora’s family stole the title from. Laike Ostra’ki.”
The Old One smiled, a toothless but delightful sight.
“Ah, so you’ve figured it out at last.”
“Not entirely,” I admitted. “But I do know enough. If I…if all goes well, I am demoting Jora. His family will be shamed for their dishonor.”
“They have been dishonorable for generations,” the Old One said dismissively. “It wouldn’t be the first time they were forced to take accountability for their actions. Somehow, they always manage to come out looking like the victims though. It is their fate to tempt vengeance.”
“I see,” I said. If it was vengeance they wanted, then pay they would.
