by Alyssa Ezra
The first time Juliet moved away, and in his sleep, he’d rolled over. But she was starting to like the warmth he gave her, finding comfort in it during the darkest part of the night, when the fire already burned out in the fireplace and night truly settled on them, and on one of the mornings, Juliet woke up to find herself pressing her ass more firmly against his groin.
But she remembered his words, Good luck with that, and she didn’t want him thinking that he’d won some sort of challenge, the fact that she couldn’t follow the one weak rule she’d made.
Zalgar was stricter with his rules. If he knew about her growing weakness for him in bed, he didn’t mention or show it. For the first week, he took her outside on his hunts. He showed her the different berries and plants that they could eat, then the others that she was to never pick, unless she wanted to get sick and possibly die.
Juliet, always an eager student with a love for biology, surprised the both of them with her interest. She only wished that she had something to take notes on, but Zalgar didn’t have paper, nor did he seem to be experienced in making it. So, she took as many mental notes as possible.
When it came to the actual hunting, Juliet stayed back. She was silent in the bushes, watching Zalgar stalk his prey. He started to use the arrows that he got from the Dwynlin that attacked her, since they were more silent and could be used from a distance. Juliet saw that he carried a blade with him and wondered if he normally went around and fought the beasts hand-to-hand. When he offered to help her learn, Juliet declined.
“I’ll stick to the plants and berries,” she grimaced, watching him tie together a dead animal that looked like a wild boar, but with green scales, blood trickling out from Zalgar’s arrow.
“You should try fishing, at least,” he insisted, “You’re quiet enough. I expected you’d have scared off all my game by now, but it hasn’t happened yet… Fishing requires quiet. And patience. Think you’re up for it?”
Juliet looked up into his lilac eyes, lit up by the sunlight. He looked hopeful for her, even excited. She couldn’t help but smile. He’s either a show-off or really likes teaching, she thought, He must have been lonely out here on his own.
Getting to know him so far, Juliet didn’t understand why he was alone, and surmised that that was something he’d chosen for himself. Zalgar was attractive, young. He probably was only a few years older than herself. He was smart, capable, even kind when he wanted to be. And the best thing? He didn’t expect anything out of Juliet except to keep herself fed and clean.
It wasn’t like back home, where everyone wanted her to act young, to party and make mistakes and laugh all the time. Juliet was never part of that crowd. She was the bookworm of her friends, found in the libraries instead of the bars.
It was something that Simon expected of her too. He wanted her to be head-over-heels in love with him, fawning over him like some fangirl with her favorite actor. Because that was young love, and that’s what he wanted them to be.
In the woods, in the quiet with Zalgar, Juliet could just be.
“Okay, fine. Let’s go fishing.”
And out of the different lessons he’d taught her, she found that fishing was the actual simple one. Juliet caught on quickly to tying on lures, though she’d stabbed her fingertips the first few times on Zalgar’s homemade hooks. No one on Earth really fished anymore, besides those purposefully living off the grid and on their own.
The people on Earth left it up to large companies and supermarkets to catch fish in large amounts, or even raise their own in separate tanks at the stores. Even her own dad didn’t know how to fish, depriving his kids of ever having that childhood lesson. Still, Juliet had seen lures before and knew this one was different.
“It’s because the fish on my planet don’t have two heads,” she explained to Zalgar, fingers tapping lightly on the double hooks spaced evenly, perfect for hooking both mouths, or even just double-hooking one mouth for extra grip and leverage.
“Yeah, I’ve seen a few of them,” Zalgar nodded, “Meager fish. You’d have to catch twice the amount to match up to mine.”
Juliet frowned. “I thought you couldn’t see images from the outside worlds.”
In the past month, he’d told her little bits and pieces of his planet. Rolq’thos was very much a hostile planet when it came to the Alliance, though the way that Zalgar explained it, they had good reason.
Rolq’thos had long been a planet that was invaded and stolen from, not just by planets from the Alliance, but from planets outside of it as well. After being burned so many times, Rolq’thos began to build up their armies in secret. They targeted the weak to gain more resources, and soon, they became a legitimate stronghold. But instead of seeking out battles, they stuck to themselves, only attacking when other ships came by at a certain distance.
Juliet knew now that that was what happened to her ship. The captain must have gone too close to the planet, not seeing it on his map and not registering it as there. The only person you can trust is yourself, Zalgar had said at the time, explaining further why his planet thought the way they thought.
Zalgar smirked, casting his line and watching the water. “Rule four: no questions about my time in the city.” Her frown deepened, but she didn’t inquire further, casting her own line as well.
The two sat in complete silence for a while. Juliet was always a city girl, but she found comfort in the sounds of the birds calling to one another in the trees, the bugs buzzing and chirping all around her, and the water bubbling against the bright, orange rocks. She sighed, keeping an eye on her line so that didn’t cross with Zalgar’s.
“What do you think they did with the other people on my shuttle?” she asked suddenly, thinking of all the old people, the newlyweds, and the children. At the time, they annoyed her with their happy chatter and arguing, all the noise. But thinking about them, imagining everyone dead… Juliet would have gone back in time to save them all if she could. “They’re all dead, aren’t they?”
He didn’t respond at first, letting out a sigh of his own. “Most likely,” Zalgar replied honestly, “But there’s a chance that they’re alive still. Made into slaves or servants, maybe even sold off to a nearby planet, though the economy was doing fine enough without outside financial help, last time I was there.”
She wanted to ask how long ago that was, but that would be in violation of one of his rules, so Juliet didn’t. Silence fell again until it was Zalgar that broke it. “I won’t let any of that happen to you.”
Surprised, Juliet looked away from the water and to his face. He still wasn’t looking at her, but there was an intensity that she could see in his eyes, even just from looking at his profile. “We’re not going to the city until we know for sure I can get you out of here safely. You won’t end up like them, I promise.”
“Don’t make a promise you can’t keep,” Juliet said uneasily. She appreciated it, she did. But she didn’t need false hope, and that was something that she appreciated about Zalgar, as well. He was honest with her. There were secrets he kept, yes, but with the information he gave her, when he really talked to her, he never lied to her.
This time, he turned his head to look at her, subjecting her to the full intensity. Juliet realized he wasn’t lying to her this time either. “I’m not,” he told her.
The urge to kiss him came to the front of Juliet’s mind, and she wondered how long it had even been on the back of her mind. But then there were flashes of her admiring the way the sun hit the contours of his muscles, and how butterflies filled her stomach when he got excited about teaching her how to fish.
She thought about the past few mornings of her pressing herself against him, how even that morning she’d gotten a small sigh from his lips. Still, he hadn’t mentioned a single thing, and Juliet had to remember that they were not anything. He was just the alien keeping her alive.
And she was…
Well, she didn’t know what she was to him. Just company, she mused, Someone to talk to. And ma
ybe that’s all you’re wanting, too.
But she could swear that Zalgar was starting to lean closer to her, putting down his fishing rod. Juliet’s heartbeat sped up. Was she imagining this? Slowly and carefully, she started to lean in as well, until she could feel his breath warm on her lips. He raised a hand, hovering over her cheek.
“Zalgar!”
The two jerked away at the unexpected voice calling out the male’s name. Looking at each other, Juliet blushed deeply, and he pressed his lips firmly together. “I’ll be right back,” he said, grabbing the bow and arrows and sticking his fishing rod firmly between two orange rocks. Juliet watched as he left, biting her lip.
Stupid. She couldn’t believe she’d tried kissing him and was happy for the fact that they’d been interrupted. As long as it wasn’t a threat, anyways. But she trusted Zalgar to take care of it, if it was. Juliet was too busy trying to sort out the mess that her mind had become. She never acted on impulse, always thinking things out, and yet that was the opposite of what she had almost done.
“That would have been… That would have been a mess,” she whispered to herself. What would she have done if they’d kissed? Would she have slept with him? And then what? Just become his sex slave and stay on this planet forever, living in a cave? Juliet thought about her friends, her school, and her career. All of those raced through her mind, things she’d been wanting since she was a little girl.
And it was so risky. His kind hated hers, and if his kind didn’t want to be a part of the Alliance, then her kind hated him as well. There was no room for them to do that, and after a few minutes, Juliet explained it away as the fact that they only saw each other for a month, not to mention her being on the rebound from her break-up with Simon.
By the time Zalgar came back, she was happy with herself, her emotions and thoughts all tucked away neatly. With no chance of her trying to kiss him again.
As happy as she was, though, it didn’t prepare her for the surprise of him bringing company.
“Juliet,” he called from behind her. She turned in his direction, eyes widening when she noticed that there were two other people with him, a man and a woman. They weren’t humans, though. They were much like Zalgar in that they seemed human, but there were strong differences.
The woman had long, wavy, black hair that fell down to her hips and fierce, green eyes. Her skin had the same kind of olive-y tint, her cheekbones sharp, and a frown on her thin lips. The man was also tan and green-tinted, and just like the other two, had thick muscles. His hair was a lighter brown, and his eyes larger, almost innocent-like, yet the way they looked at Juliet seemed menacing enough that she still felt chilled to the bone.
“Who…”
“This is my friend, Jahan,” he said, motioning to the man, “And this is Samara.”
Samara looked at the human female. “My fiancé has a way with introductions, doesn’t he?” she asked, “It seems he’s lost his touch for killing vermin in the past three months he’s spent hiding in the woods.”
Juliet took a moment to process what Samara said, mostly because she didn’t know how to react to the insult. And then there was one word that started to burn brighter than the rest: fiancé.
Zalgar was engaged?
Juliet sat up quickly. Even though she’d just told herself that she didn’t have plans on being anything romantic with Zalgar, she couldn’t help but compare herself to Samara, who was dressed in perfect, tightly fitted leathers.
Juliet only had the outfit that she’d worn on the shuttle, plus a few things that Zalgar was able to get from the remnants of the crash for her. Still, it wasn’t much, and all of it was starting to look dingy and well worn. Her blonde hair was probably greasy and dirty, always tied up in a bun or braided up to prevent any knots.
She looked like a homeless person while Samara looked like some badass warrior princess.
“How could you be so stupid, letting it live this long?” Samara asked, motioning to Juliet. It was like the blonde wasn’t even there. Zalgar’s fiancée, along with his friend, looked absolutely furious.
Was this going to change things? Would he help her anymore, or was she on her own? Even worse, would he actually act on their words, or let them do something to her? Juliet hated to imagine it, thinking that they had formed some kind of friendship in the past few weeks, enough of one that he wouldn’t outright murder her. “They’ll kill you if they find out, and then torture and kill it.”
“You should just put it out of its misery,” his friend, Jahan, said.
“’It’ is a ‘she,’ thank you,” Juliet interrupted. She was afraid for her life, yes, but that didn’t mean she was going to be talked about like she was some pest or vermin, even though Juliet knew that was exactly what the other two saw her as.
Samara looked at Juliet for the first time since first being introduced. “You think we care?” she snarled, then stared angrily back at her fiancé, “Jahan is right. Just put your pet out of its misery before someone else does.” Juliet didn’t miss the evil smirk on the woman’s face when she began to turn and walk away, directed completely at Juliet.
That woman would skin me alive and feed me my own fingers, if she could, she thought to herself. But she put on a brave face, glaring right back. Juliet normally didn’t confront people, but it was a matter of pride now, some part of her competitive spirit that was coming out around Samara.
As the female alien disappeared into the trees, Jahan nodded his own agreement. There was concern in his eyes, though. “What are you doing? This isn’t like you. Zalgar Torgu doesn’t run away from his friends and defend what should be his enemy.”
Juliet hadn’t ever seen Zalgar. She’d seen him annoyed, frustrated, happy, even lonely, though she didn’t dare to tell him she could see through his façade sometimes. But in that moment, she saw his anger. “You think I’m an idiot?” he asked Jahan, “I don’t need to be berated like a child by you and Samara. I know what I’m doing.”
“We’re just-”
“Sticking your nose where you shouldn’t,” Zalgar interrupted firmly. He stepped closer to Jahan, using his size to intimidate him. They seemed like friends before, but the way they talked now… It was like a superior berating a young cadet. “I left that city, not my friends, and my friends should know why. After defending you people, doing what I’ve had to do to keep that city alive, I deserve the respect and ability to come and go as I please.”
Jahan shook his head. “That’s a vain way of thinking.”
Zalgar laughed, though there was no humor. “If they say so, ask them how it feels to get a taste of their own medicine.”
A beat passed as the two stared at one another, as if in a staring contest. Juliet wondered what would happen if Zalgar would lose. She didn’t find out, what with Jahan being the first one to look away. “We’ll be back in three days. They’ll be with us.”
“That supposed to scare me?”
Jahan glanced over at Juliet and then back at his friend. “Yes. In this current predicament, it is.” He then turned away in the direction Samara had gone, disappearing between the trees.
Silence fell over the two that remained. Juliet had so many questions burning inside of her. It was less than an hour ago that she’d almost kissed Zalgar, when she’d felt like she knew where they stood, at least as far as friendship went. But now she had no clue what they were going to do, what he was going to do. It was the first time that Juliet really realized just how dangerous it was for her to be with him, dangerous for him.
“You never told me you were getting married,” she said suddenly, and immediately she regretted it. Was that really the most important thing to take away from what just happened? “I mean, it’s just weird that you’re out here by yourself instead of… Y’know, with her.”
Zalgar clenched his hands into fists. “Samara misspoke,” he replied quietly, “We were engaged.”
Juliet raised her eyebrows. “Oh… What happened?”
“Does it matter?”
He was tense that much was clear, and that scared Juliet, though she tried not to show it. If Zalgar was worried, that must mean that it was bad, whatever it was that they were dealing with. “We have three days to get you out of here. If that.”
“So, what do we do?” she asked, “You said you were coming up with a plan.” But he’d never once told her about any progress he’d made, how close he was to fixing that problem.
He shook his head, quiet for another moment while his brain worked. “There’s no other way besides sneaking you in. And they’ll see you’re not one of us. I have an idea for that though.”
Juliet waited, expecting Zalgar to continue. When he didn’t, she sighed. “Are you going to share with the class?”
“Yes. Catch your fish first.”
Suddenly remembering what they’d first come here for, she ran to her fishing rod, seeing it start to bend and jerk, the line tight from something pulling on it. Juliet took the rod out from where she’d planted it between the rocks, just like Zalgar had and began to struggle with the line, reeling it in.
