by Celeste Raye
With the water pouring down on them relentlessly, he finally tore himself away, feeling that he had left a piece of himself with her. “I just had to know one time what that would feel like,” he told her breathlessly, water dripping from his eyelids down her succulent chest.
“You really think we can keep from doing that again?” Alexis asked, looking like she might be in some kind of pain. He could understand that because he felt just the same way about it. The thought of never having her made him sick.
“We have to. It would be wrong for me to mate with you and then with another later on. It could also get the both of us in more trouble than we could handle, Alexis. The punishment for treason is worse than death; at least it would be for you. I would be killed in the most painful way possible, and you would be tortured as a prisoner the rest of your life.” Nabvan had little conviction in what he said because he felt he was already burning alive.
“We could keep it a secret until we find a way to get out of here,” she suggested, looking up at him with those eyes that made his heart beat fast. In an ideal world, he would take her up on that offer. But he was a Milisarian. There was nowhere else for him to exist. He was not employable enough on another planet.
“Why would I ever leave here, Alexis?” he asked, sadly. “Where would we go?”
“It doesn’t matter. We would find a way. Plenty of places would accept us. And as far as why would we leave, do you not care about the way these women are being treated? You aren’t like them.”
Nabvan glared at her, feeling hurt by what she had said. He was a strong Milisarian knight, and he should be proud of it. Not all of them were horrible men, and even some of the ones who were knew nothing else. He stepped out of the shower angrily and walked away. He was not going to be leaving Milisaria with her. It was where he belonged. And if he took her away with him to the villages, they would be captured. No, they would never be together. He would have to let it go, and so would she.
Chapter 10
Alexis felt the distance between her and Nabvan growing day by day, and she felt something else stirring as well. The other knights had been on the move, preparing for something unknown. She had not received much information from Nabvan about what was going on outside of her room for a while, but then again, she had quit asking.
Her heart had shattered the moment Nabvan had told her he would not be leaving Milisaria with her, even if they had the chance. It made her regret every longing glance she gave to him and every dream she had about him pulling her into his arms like he finally had in the shower. The racing of her heart every time she thought about his lips and his body up against hers kept her up at nights, even though she hated to still feel that when she thought about him.
Alexis sat up as she heard a commotion coming from outside but looked back down the moment Nabvan turned to look at her. There was something in his eyes that hurt when she saw it. Even after all the hurtful words he said, she still often caught him looking over her form with a burning desire to make the shower scene happen once again.
But the door opened, and in walked the one man that meant it would never happen again. King Shene came in wearing some fancy robes that she had not seen him in before, but he looked elegant. He looked like a king should. The anger on his face was slightly less than the last time she saw him, but it still brought back memories of the severe pain in her back. He offered his hand to her, staying near the doorway. Alexis did not think she had a choice but to take it and go wherever he was taking her.
“You look like you feel well. I am pleased that you have healed so well. You are a strong woman.” It must have been the best he could give for a compliment as she did what he wanted and grabbed his hand, following him out the door. She had no idea where they were going, but she could feel that Nabvan was following behind them. She looked down the hall and saw a sight that made her heart skip a beat, and not in a good way.
Down the hallway, many of the women had been chained together in a line. Some of them had their heads down, and many looked unclean or in the same clothes they arrived in. She wanted to cry as she walked past them, and she hoped that Nabvan would see them and finally get what she meant. As much as she was angry with him right now, she knew he would never subject a woman, no matter her race or behavior, to the sight in front of them right now. Sure, he was strong and handsome like most Milisarians. He was probably an excellent commander and warrior, but so were a lot of people. He did not have to stay a Milisarian. After all, the Milisarians had taken in humans; humans would certainly do the same, as would others.
As they passed the women, she looked for Destiney and was relieved to see that she wasn’t there. Alexis counted that eleven of them were there in chains, and they looked to her with desperate eyes, at least the ones who dared to look up at all. They did not look to be incredibly injured, at least not in the places that were not clothed. So, she guessed Destiney had been right about their punishments being less harsh than hers. But that wasn’t the point. They should not have been shackled and dirty like slaves or prisoners. These women were meant to be wives. Even if wives had duties on Milisaria, they needed a certain level of freedom. If things continued to be friendly between herself and King Shene, she would be sure to mention it to him, even if it got her a hard slap on the face. She could not stand to see them that way.
“Where are we going?” she whispered to King Shene as they took the head of the pack heading towards a hatch that would open to their ship hangar of sorts. She did not understand why the women needed to come with them.
King Shene did not immediately respond as he swung them around to face the crowd that was now forming in the hallway. Alexis could make out Siefer, and she watched as Nabvan fell back with him instead of standing next to the king. She did not exactly understand what was happening. She had not been allowed in front of so many until now, and King Shene was not explaining himself. Not that she thought he would be good at it with his communication challenges.
She tried to get Nabvan to look at her, but he seemed to be dead focused on what was beyond them so that he would not give in and do just that. It infuriated her. Why had he been so offended by the mention of leaving together? He was the one who pinned her in that shower and kissed her. That had to count for something: some sort of feeling and responsibility. Now, it just felt like she had forced the whole thing and it meant nothing to him. And she knew deep down that it wasn’t the truth, but that did not mean it didn’t sting, especially as she stood here apart from him, next to a man that she had sworn to loath and never give into. She had the feeling, though, that before this was all over, that promise to herself would be broken.
King Shene began to give a speech to his men, the knights that had gathered awaiting their ship. Alexis tuned out, knowing she wouldn’t be able to understand it anyway. One day, if she would be stuck with them, she would have to learn the language, but not right now. Right now, she let her eyes gaze over at the poor, broken women she had gotten into this situation. She hoped that they saw she was not a monster. She had been hurt too and would do anything once given the chance to get them out of the situation they were in.
The men were revved up for whatever they were doing, so Alexis got the feeling it would be yet another conquer by the Milisarian knights. What would they do when they ran out of planets to conquer? They would be so bored, sitting there with their stolen technology and small brains. The sad part was she knew she could actually do something with this race, with this planet, but King Shene and most of the rest of them would never even give her a chance.
Feeling both upset and quite bold, Alexis turned to King Shene once he began leading her onto the ship and began asking questions. She knew one of them would get her in trouble eventually, but Shene suddenly seemed to be obliging like he had never been before.
“So, why do all these women need to come with us? Why do I even need to come?” Alexis asked, raising an eyebrow at him. She was challenging him to put her down in front of everyone. Then, what
would he look like as their king? There had to be talk about his non-traditional ways with women. He didn’t need any more of it.
“You are coming with me because you are meant to be my queen regardless of any other women I have for pleasure. The rest are coming because these are the women who have not yet mated with their partner yet. The knights were afraid that if they left the women behind, another Milisarian man would come along and snatch them up. Surely, much of the inner city and beyond knows of our luck in acquiring a ship full of human women. They will be in the ship so they won’t be stolen,” he explained as if it was the most logical thing in the universe.
Alexis shook her head as he surprisingly led her right into the command center for the ship. Only a few guards and the ship’s crew were with them now. She was the only female, and she couldn’t help but notice it. She wondered where all the women had been taken. Probably to some holding cell on the ship for prisoners. It was going too far.
“You are being horrible to these women, myself included,” she told him through gritted teeth. She made sure to whisper it in his ear so no one around would suspect a thing. He gave the directional orders and left Nabvan in charge, probably making his day, before pulling her out of the room as politely as possible. His hand was against her back to propel her forward in a deceptive show of affection. She knew she had stepped in it, but she was sick and tired of it all, especially with Nabvan’s wishy-washy behavior.
King Shene pinned her up against the wall just outside of the command room. His mouth was so close she could smell his lunch still lingering on his hot breath. For a moment, she feared he would try and kiss her or worse, but he did nothing of the sort. Now that he had brought her out and showed her off, it was a whole new ball game. “I want you to know that while I was away from you, I thought about everything you said. I am angry that a woman can affect me so, but this is the reason we wanted humans. I am trying my best to impress you, to win you, to court you, but you have to start to cooperate.” It sounded both sensual and threatening coming from his lips. Alexis was a bit confused when it came to his change of heart, but it was all she could hope for in this world full of soldiers. It was better than she ever thought she would get.
“I will try to start cooperating,” she told him as he backed off a bit. Alexis crossed her arms over her chest in a show of defiance. He still had not solved the problem of the women.
“I know what that look is about. You are so damn determined, woman,” King Shene told her, sounding the most authentic he ever had. “I will make sure they are allowed to be clean and have nicer clothes, but beyond that, there is little I can do. It is up to each Milisarian how he treats his mate.” Alexis nodded stiffly, knowing he could make an order they couldn’t refuse but figured she better not press her luck. “Now, can we get on with this voyage? I would love to say I conquered another territory on Teleburgda.” Alexis scoffed at that and walked back into the command room as if she owned it. She knew they were headed for another conquest.
Shaking her head, she felt Nabvan’s eyes on her for the first time in what felt like ages. She didn’t shrug off the king’s arm as it wrapped possessively around her waist. Maybe if Nabvan saw, he would admit to her what he felt and that neither of them were meant to be there.
Chapter 11
The ship took off, and it soared through the clusters of stars and passed other planets. Alexis was silent as she watched all of it go by from the expansive windows in the command room. She felt so lucky that she got to see what was happening outside of that ship again that she didn’t dare speak a word. She was too afraid the privilege would be taken away from her. She half expected to be put in chains herself and shipped off to whatever dark space the other women were sitting in right now, probably wondering where they were headed.
Alexis felt the stroke of a hand up against the back of head, running through her silken, golden hair. For just a moment, she sat very still, imagining that the hand belonged to Nabvan, even though she knew it didn’t. Even if he were to ever touch her again after the fight they had, he wouldn’t dare do it in front of all the others: in front of the king. “I have never seen hair such as yours. It is one of the many reasons I chose you. I can only imagine what this would look like on a young Milisarian knight.” King Shene’s voice broke her out of her happy place, and she spun around to look at him. He might have been feigning it, but there was a look of tenderness on his face that she had not seen before. At least he was trying to do more of what she wanted, and it made her wonder what exactly happened in all that time since she had seen him last. Changes of heart did not happen so easily. He must have had an epiphany of some kind, or he was up to something that she needed to be suspicious of.
“There are lots of humans with hair like this,” she commented, feeling foolish after she said it. It made her sound like some depressed nobody, when in reality, she was just trying to play down his obsession with her. She wanted to prove that there was no reason to covet such a thing so much.
“Yes, but there is something different about you, though I cannot figure it out yet. I have seen humans before; I’ve had many dealings with them for political purposes. They just don’t look like you. Not even most of the other women on board are like you. It is why I decided to set you free.” Alexis wanted to choke on that word. She was not free. She was not free to choose whom she wanted to be with and where she wanted to go. She was only free in the sense that she did not visibly have any chains or shackles: just threats and limitations that felt the same.
“I’m flattered,” she told him sarcastically, standing up and walking away from the window, though it tried its hardest to pull her back. The universe passing her by had a calming effect like nothing else, and she craved to feel that at peace again. Every moment with the Milisarians had her on edge, and it was exhausting her.
She felt foolish, though, as she sort of walked around in a circle with nowhere to go. She was trapped in the command center until the king took her out of there or ordered someone else to do it. Things were all new to her now that she was out in the open, and she doubted she would need much of a keeper anymore, though she could have been wrong.
“It would be nice to have some sort of support from you. I am going off to battle,” King Shene mentioned, coming up to where she was. He was going to follow her no matter where she moved and paced; she could see that.
Alexis openly laughed at that, getting King Shene to look her over strangely. She could feel other eyes on her as well. The other men probably thought she was insane. Maybe she was, just a little. “You go off to battle all the time,” she reminded him with the first genuine smile on her face around the king. He was easy to joke about if he wasn’t good for much else. “It doesn’t seem to me that you’ve died yet. Why should this time be any different?” she asked, daring him to give an answer worth hearing.
“It is good to know that my chosen mate has so much confidence in my ability to conquer a civilization. It makes me feel like I am a strong king that can be counted on.” Alexis could not believe it, but King Shene was actually making a joke. She didn’t think such a man would even be capable of those things. She had to laugh once, being stunned was over with. It was just so damn funny.
“Did King Shene just make a joke?” Alexis held back a snort. “Where did that come from?”
King Shene leaned down into her, a little closer than she was prepared for. It sent chills running up her spine, and she was not sure yet if she liked it or hated it. “Have you ever considered that I have been studying?” It came out in a snake-like whisper that some women would find sexually appealing. In the past, Alexis might have as well, if she had let herself have the time to be with a man. That didn’t happen very often. But it was strange to let herself surrender to that knowing the way he treated her before and knowing that the man she truly wanted to be with was in the same room. On the other hand, who was to say that she couldn’t find a way to enjoy the life she was stuck in? Anything she could do to make it better and
livable, she should do.
Before she could respond to him, the ship began to descend, and she looked out to see that they had arrived at their destination. It was not a planet she had studied much about before, mostly because it was mineral rich and often being taken over by other races. It had little of its own identity, but it was beautiful from what she could tell at that angle.
Alexis ran to the window to sit and watch as they passed below the line of the faraway sun and moon and into the gap that separated it from another planet that was closer than she had ever seen one planet to another. The fact that they passed across each other but never crashed or knocked each other out of orbit was baffling. Human history had been so certain that planets could never survive being so close.
The ship came down gently onto what looked like sand. There seemed to be sand as far as the eye could see, and she doubted she would get a chance to find out if there was any more to the planet. All the men lined up, ready for battle, and King Shene led them off the ship without saying much else to her. She did not know how long she would be alone this time, but she dreaded it. Nabvan was left to guard her again. All that time would be spent in painful silence.
The sounds in the days that followed were the sounds of war, and Alexis had felt a pang of guilt in her gut for whoever was lost in the process. She was, after all, a Milisarian now. She was known as the mate of the king, though they had not actually mated. She doubted anyone beyond herself, the king, and Nabvan knew that, however. She was part of a culture that was happy to destroy and enslave other planets, other races, but when she thought about it, Earth was not much different.
The sounds had stopped that day when the ship opened up its mouth to reveal the returning triumphant knights, including King Shene. Most of them did not even look worse for the wear besides a little sweat on their pale skin. If there was an argument at all for survival of the fittest, the Milisarian knights fit the bill.
