“I know.” She looked at him harshly, and then she understood what he was saying. “Oh, I didn’t mean we shouldn’t go because of being back by nightfall, I meant we should not go so that I can go and tell the Emissars to revoke the curfew, and find out what other laws are being passed that I don’t know about.”
“Not now. Let’s go out first, and when you have calmed down, we will go and see them.”
“We?” she asked. “You have no say in this.”
“I don’t want a say in it. What I do want is to protect you.”
She sat back down, looking almost horrified, as if she did not know how to process the words he had just said. Beside them the gardener giggled and walked off muttering something about hope and the jobo.
Chapter Nine – Tallia
Was he playing with her? Or simply playing her, just as he had played the man in the inn. To him this was a gamble; to her it was her life, and the lives of her people. Yet she could not work out his angle, unless it was to keep her alive so he could get the rest of his coin. He also needed to keep his own head attached to his shoulders. So that must be why he would help her, things would be a lot easier if she were alive and free to transfer the currency to his account.
Another part of her wanted to believe he cared for her. Yet her logic told her that was impossible, they had only met a few hours ago. No one fell in love that fast, did they?
She ignored her own feelings in this; they didn’t count. It was easy to believe you were in love with someone when you were lonely and marginalized, and your only true friend was your slave.
“So these jobo?” he asked, grinning.
“What about them?” she asked coolly. Her thoughts had switched to more important things, such as the curfew.
“I take it they breed a lot,” he said, leaving his meaning hanging.
“I only require you to make me pregnant once. Hopefully.”
“And then what? You are going to throw me out?”
“Johar T’Omil, I can’t afford to pay you more than we agreed. So yes. One child. Then you leave.”
“Ouch,” he said, clasping his hands to his heart was, and her eyes were drawn to the silver tattoos that seemed to shimmer where his hands touched his skin.
“Tell me about those.” She indicated his silver tattoos.
“These.” His voice became serious. “They were a gift on my fifth birthday.”
“A gift. That does not tell me what they are for. They have meaning, I presume. They are part of your power.”
“My power? I don’t think I have power. Only through these. They were given by the Elusive Monks; they are a combination of magical wards and glamours.”
“Which is what you used on the guards?” she asked.
“Yes, they come in useful sometimes, but I use them as little as possible.”
“Why?”
“Because I like to be seen for who I really am.”
She laughed. “You are over seven feet tall, and built as big as a tirimir. How can people not see you for what you really are. Especially with that sense of humor you have.”
“Sarcasm. Right?”
“I wasn’t being sarcastic. Not really,” she said truthfully, as she guided the cruiser out of the gate the gardeners used. It was not guarded, but required a code, which she had been given. Once the code was inputted, the gates opened and she drove slowly through them. Then they were free.
“So you like my sense of humor?” he asked, leaning back and looking around them as they drove.
“I didn’t say that either.” They were traveling through a field of corn which was only up to knee height. She used to love coming out here as a child and getting lost in the stalks of gold when it was the shoulder height of an adult and hid her almost completely. Those memories were some of her best. A time when she had no real idea of what the world was like. No expectations, no fears.
“Tell me what you are thinking?” he asked.
“Private thoughts.”
“Serious thoughts, by the look of your face.”
“Now you can read my expressions?” she asked, flattening her expression to keep her thoughts veiled from him.
“Don’t,” he said softly.
“Don’t what?”
“Shut me out.”
“That is the best place for you … on the outside.”
“Are you so scared of letting anyone in?”
“Only those I don’t know.”
“Which is everyone. Except Rian. Tell me what is the connection between you two?”
“I am her princess, she is my slave.” She closed her eyes to shut him out, then she heard him sigh. Would it be so bad to let him in? To let anyone in?
“Good, neutral answer,” he said blandly.
“What’s it like on your world? Limera, isn’t it?” She wanted to know that other places existed where peace reigned. “And why did you leave?”
“I’m a trader. That’s why I left.”
“Now who is hiding from who they really are?”
He sat up, and turned to look at her. “Why do you care? I thought I was only here to fuck you.”
“Now who is defensive?” She studied him for a moment. “I suppose I want to know who the father of my child is.”
“Or maybe you don’t.” He looked out of the window as the corn field gave way to a field of grass, where in the distance they could see the rows upon rows of solar panels, which powered the palace and the surrounding town. “You think your planet is screwed up.”
“Tell me about yours,” she said. “I would truly like to know. It’s been a long time since anyone has spoken to me about politics. My father kept me out of it all, but my mother, when she was coherent, used to tell me about the different planets and their leaders. I think she began to realize that I was the only hope for the monarchy to continue its rule. Which is probably why she went crazy in the end.”
“Don’t say that. I think they would be proud of you. Both of your parents.”
“My mother, yes; my dad could never feel anything but disappointment towards me. He would never betray my mother by taking another wife or mistress, but when she died, he planned to remarry and produce an heir. A boy.”
“But he died soon after?”
“Within a year.”
“What happened?”
“An accident. He traveled to the outer lands; that is where the spiritual center of Carinia is. The Emissars persuaded him that the gods would bless him if he went through the trials of the Nine.”
“He failed the trials?”
“No. He passed them. But on the way home his cruiser blew up.” A surge of sorrow swept over her. Tallia had always hoped that one day her father would recognize that she was capable of ruling, that he did not need a son to carry on his bloodline. Yet it was not to be. At least she had been spared the heartache of him finding a woman to replace her mother. She knew that was unfair and selfish, but she could not bear the thought of someone else in her mother’s chamber, or in her father’s arms. It would have been like a betrayal.
“I’m sorry.” He sounded sincere.
“Thank you. I should miss him, but he hardly spoke to me. After my mother died, he would avoid me; it was as if he blamed me for everything. But particularly blamed me for not being a boy.”
Ahead of them the fields gave way to woodland, and that was where she steered the cruiser towards. It was good to enter the coolness of the forest, for the green leaves to filter the sunlight; it soothed her, and she would have loved to have lived here, in a treehouse somewhere, rather than the palace with all its rules and traditions.
“My mother came from a planet where two-thirds of the land was covered in ancient forests. She would tell me about them when I went to sleep.”
“You were close to her?” he asked.
“When I was young, before her obsession over an heir for my father overtook her.” She slowed to enjoy being under the forest canopy. “And you? Are your parents both from Limera?”
>
“Yes, it’s frowned upon to marry an alien.” He laughed and shook his head. “So my popularity is going to skyrocket after we’re married.”
“Because your family is important.” She studied him as they passed under dappled shade and into patches of sunlight, his body going from a sliver shimmer to a cool glow, making him look more magical than ever.
“Why would you say that?” He sounded suspicious; she knew she had hit a nerve.
“The tattoos. You were given them when you were five. Are all children given them when they are five by your Elusive Monks?”
“No.”
“So you were singled out. Maybe because your parents, or your clan, helped them. Or maybe because you are part of a ruling family. Don’t look at me as if I’m mad. You are no ordinary male. Even next to your friend Krigan, there is a difference that is obvious. And it stands to reason.”
“What stands to reason?”
She paused, not sure how he was going to take the news that she had visited a fortune teller who told her he was fated to be her husband. “Do you think it’s chance that I met you when I did?”
“Yes.” He shook his head. “Please don’t tell me you think it was something else.”
She smiled, but didn’t answer. This was going to make her sound deluded. But then why shouldn’t he believe her, he was the one with shiny tattoos all over his body.
“I went to see a fortune teller. She told me to look for the moon in the stars. And I found you.”
He laughed, a deep belly laugh, which she liked. “A fortune teller. I hope you didn’t give her much coin.”
“Two bags of silver coins.”
He tilted his head back and roared with laughter. “I would send your guards to go get it back. No one can tell the future.”
Now she did feel stupid. He reminded her of her father and how angry he was when her mom went to see Misha’Ha. “We’re here,” she said suddenly, and guided the cruiser off the main path and into a clearing where a small cottage stood.
Cottage might have been a little generous. It was a mud hut, but outside of it were two children playing. They were very grubby, but obviously happy. When they saw the cruiser, they jumped up and ran into the house calling for their mother.
A middle-aged woman with silver hair and fair skin appeared, and stood still for one moment, her hand wrapped around a long pole that might have been a walking staff to the untrained eye, but Tallia knew it was for self-defense. However, her expression shifted, and then she smiled a smile that lit up her face and she ran to Tallia, pulling her to her and holding her close.
Tallia froze. She had not been held like this for so long. Even Rian did not hug her. Slowly her stiffness faded and she put her arms tentatively around the woman. “Yassa.”
“My Princess. Oh Tallia, I have wondered how you were. My sister sent word that things were not good at the palace, she told us to keep away.”
“I wouldn’t say they were that bad.” Tallia pulled back and looked at Yassa. “But you are probably right to avoid it. The Emissars are not fond of anything with a connection to my parents.”
“Including you?”
“Especially me.” She tried to laugh it off, but those words were true.
“And who is this you have brought to see me? The children said you had brought a moon giant with you.”
“This is Johar.” Tallia held her hand out, and Johar stepped closer.
“Johar, it is good to meet you.” Yassa looked from Tallia to Johar and smiled.
“Hello. May I call you Yassa?” Johar bowed his head slightly in welcome and respect.
“Of course. So tell me why are you so special that not only has Tallia decided to visit me, but to bring you too.”
“Johar is to be my husband.”
“Husband! I didn’t know.”
“Neither did I until earlier today.”
“So sudden.” The words are you sure, hung between them. “You went to see Misha’Ha?” Yassa looked at Johar again.
“Yes.”
“Oh, Tallia.” Yassa’s brow furrowed, making her look old beyond her years, and Tallia realized how much she meant to the woman who had helped raise her as a child.
“I had no choice.”
“Do not let the Emissars know this.”
“No one else knows. Only you, me and Rian.”
“And me,” Johar said.
“You won’t tell anyone; if you do, they will chop your head off,” Tallia reminded him.
Chapter Ten – Johar
“Nice,” he said. What the hell had she got him into? Which was rich coming from a man who had got himself into so many scrapes he was lucky to be alive and breathing free air. Although he was feeling less free and more penned in by the minute. What had started out as an easy and enjoyable way to make a large amount of money was suddenly looking like a dangerous mission.
“Come, I will make you some tea. It looks as if your Johar needs a little sustenance, he has gone pale.”
“I am always pale,” he said, not without humor. Helping Tallia, he lifted the baskets from the cruiser. “All of them?” he asked.
“Yes.” They carried the baskets inside the hut, Tallia helping him, even though he could have managed them all alone.
“Where shall we set these down?” Tallia asked.
Johar looked around. There wasn’t too many places to set them. The hut was no bigger than one large room with beds made of soft straw along one side. The thatch on the roof needed redoing, and the floor was dusty, covered with thresh to keep it from drifting up as they walked over it. He wondered why anyone would live out here. That was when the threat from the Emissars became more real to him. Yassa was hiding from them. Maybe she should have gone further away, but the pull of her old life at the palace, Tallia, and her sister Mabel, was too much for her to cut her ties entirely.
“Here.” Yassa cleared some space on a small table. Tallia opened the first basket and began emptying the contents. “I cannot accept it all.”
“Yes you can. I would come more often if I could.” Tallia’s face became blank, but he had grown to know that that was her defense mechanism taking over. When her emotions were at their strongest, that was when she hid them.
“So things are that bad?” Yassa asked.
“I always thought my father held the control over the planet, but I think he let the Emissars take it back. Especially when my mother died. I hadn’t realized. But when he died, they were poised.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “They were ready.”
Yassa lifted her eyes to look at Johar. “Is this why you went to see Misha’Ha?”
“So she could tell me where to find a husband. I need an heir.”
Yassa looked at Tallia sternly. “And she sent you to a big tattooed alien? And you’re sure you are supposed to marry him, or did she mean for him to give you protection?”
“I asked her to tell me…” The blank expression covered her face again. “I asked her to tell me how to beat the Emissars.”
“You should not have to marry for that reason alone.” Yassa told her.
He listened to the conversation, saw the look that passed between Yassa and Tallia, and wondered if the marriage was off. However, this was not the time for that conversation. But damn him if he was going to let her use him like a hired hand.
He chuckled to himself. Of course, that was exactly what he was, no, not a hired hand, a hired cock. Maybe he should make love to her here today outside of her palace walls and show her what she would be inviting into her life, into her bed if she took him as a husband. Then her words came back to him. She only ever planned to keep him by her side to make a child.
To her, this had never been a permanent relationship; she wanted an heir, she wanted his seed, she did not want him, or need him.
“Johar? Yassa asked if you wanted tea?” As Tallia spoke, he looked at her for the first time, seeing not a rich princess, but a woman he desired, a woman who was worthy of him, and of whom his fat
her would most likely approve of, even if she was not of their race.
She was everything he would have run from before today, because she was everything he had run from his whole life. Power and the pressure to be what you were not, who you were not.
The reason he hated these tattoos was that they were a constant reminder of his fate and his duty to his father and his people, a fate he didn’t want. Yet here, Tallia was fighting to keep everything he had convinced himself he wanted to give up. Through her eyes he could see why a man wanted to rule, why a woman wanted to rule. To make things better for the people, not to hand over power so hard won by her ancestors so the Emissars could rule by pain and terror.
“Johar,” she prompted again. “Please do not be rude.”
“I’m sorry. Yes. Tea please, Yassa.” He looked at Yassa, their eyes meeting, and a smile spread across her face.
“Maybe he is the marrying kind.” Yassa turned away and poured the tea, but Tallia was staring at him, and her expression said otherwise.
“Food?” Tallia asked.
The hut seemed too small with him in there, too claustrophobic. “Shall we eat outside?” he asked, and then ducked back out into the fresh air, needing to clear his head and compose his thoughts. He needed to figure out what he wanted, and how he was going to achieve it. It was time for Johar T’Omil to stop running and start fighting for what he wanted.
And what he wanted was a princess. His father would most likely laugh until he wept tears of silver when he heard that news.
Chapter Eleven – Tallia
Going to see Misha’Ha had been with one purpose in mind, how to keep the Emissars from taking power. Her mother always said that the witch psychic knew what a person needed, and sometimes the answer she gave was not the answer to the question asked, but the answer to someone’s deepest need, so deep that person might not even know it needed an answer.
Was that what has happened here? She had asked about a husband, and Misha’Ha had seen deep inside her head and realized that what Tallia really needed was a protector, a champion, someone big enough and strong enough to stand up to the Emissars. Could this one man, her big silver-tattooed alien, be a one-man army and defeat the Emissars?
The Princess and her Alien Rogue: Alien Romance Page 5
