by Bertina Mars
Exasperated, Maya went after him. It didn’t look like he was going to answer her questions properly, and she wasn’t exactly sure she could trust him, but right now he was her only friend on this planet.
Vron sharked through the caverns coming to another opening into a passage that climbed upwards. Signalling Maya to stay quiet, they headed up the passage for what seemed like forever, until they came to another cavern mouth at the other end.
The musty air and claustrophobia of the subterranean world abruptly gave way to cool fresh air and the vast expanse of star studded darkness. Vron stopped and his large hand took her smaller one. She found it a warm, comforting presence.
“This way,” he whispered, pointing to the dark swell of the jungle rising up before them. “Stay silent and we might just survive.”
Maya didn’t like the words ‘might just’, but it was better than nothing and being with Vron was better than being alone. In fact, being with him was the best feeling in the world right now, if she ignored the abject fear she was experiencing.
At least, she couldn’t say life was boring since she’d met him. Squeezing his hand tightly, they slipped into the undergrowth together and went to meet their fate.
Chapter 5: A Secret Shrine
The celestial rays of the morning sun reached out across the sky and bathed the rainforest in fresh new light and blazing glory. Maya gazed out onto grandiose, green clad mountains, breathing in the myriad scents of multi-coloured jungle flowers. Birdsong drifted lazily into the hazy air and a cool morning breeze lapped over her skin and through her hair.
Maya smiled to herself, enjoying this moment of exquisite respite from the frantic escape of the night before. After wading through the undergrowth in the dark for several hours, with her feet aching and her body pushed past the point of exhaustion, they finally climbed up a steep ridge overlooking a wide valley and rested in a dilapidated wooden building that had once been a hunter’s cabin.
Maya had snatched a couple of hours fitful sleep until Vron woke her up and brusquely announced he was going down to a nearby village to get some more supplies to see them through for the next part of the journey.
He emphatically ordered her to stay inside the stinking hovel he’d brought her to and then left. Maya waited until he was gone and went outside to watch the sun go up.
She knew it was a risk as the Prince Consort’s men could have found her, but she’d had enough of being ordered around and tossed about in this maelstrom of chaos. She was a pawn in a much bigger game and she hated it.
She heard someone tramping through the long grass and turned round in alarm, only relaxing when she saw it was Vron, returning with the supplies he’d gone to fetch. After they had reached the cabin a few hours earlier, he had changed out of his uniform and now wore a kind of toga outfit of olive green.
The short, sleeveless outfit gave her a perfect view of the muscles of his broad arms and his strong nice looking legs. Rope sandals showed off his sleek, narrow feet and long toes. His smooth tanned skin glistened with sweat.
“I told you to stay in the cabin,” he said without much enthusiasm when he reached her. His silver eyes flicked over her and she was painfully aware that she was still wearing the horrid robe he’d given her and looked like a sack of potatoes.
“I’m sorry,” she said, giving him a weak smile. “I know what you said, but it was really disgusting in there. I didn’t mean to be difficult.”
“It doesn’t really matter,” he said sitting down next to her. His closeness sent a tingle through her. “We will be gone soon, and few people know this place.”
“It’s very beautiful here,” Maya remarked, looking out at the valley again.
“You sound surprised. Raja-kell might have ugly people, but its scenery is breathtaking, or so I’m told.”
“You’re not ugly,” Maya said without thinking. She suddenly remembered what had happened to her when Vron had tended to her wound and blushed furiously. “I mean, you’re no worse or better than how Earthlings look,” she added, not sure whether that sounded any better.
“That’s very charitable of you Maya,” Vron said sardonically, and Maya swore she saw him smirk a little. Since leaving the palace something had changed about him. He was still all business-like and serious, but there was a lighter side to him she hadn’t picked up on when they’d first met. It appeared to her to be relief.
“I wasn’t referring to our physical appearances, I meant inside. We have ugly souls, if we do have souls. We are cold and empty inside.”
“You’re not like that,” Maya retorted hotly.
Vron raised his eyebrows. “You seem extremely certain about that,” he said in an amused voice, “considering we barely know each other.”
Maya couldn’t deny the truth of that, but for some real reason, she felt like she’d known Vron all her life. “Um, well you can’t be all bad,” she replied, now put on the spot.
“If you were, you wouldn’t have let me be sacrificed. You have run away from your life at the palace because of me after we’d only known each other a few hours. That takes real courage and it’s damned decent, though still baffling.”
“Don’t be eager to heap accolades on me just yet,” he replied. “I’ve been planning to escape for years. Your arrival was just the catalyst that finally made me act. I hated my life in the service of the Prince Consort.”
“That explains why you were all ready to go,” Maya said musingly, “and your pragmatism is refreshing. I was starting to think men might not be as lousy as I know they truly are.”
Vron barked a laugh and she saw a real smile on his face. It was strange but rather nice. “I’m glad I have lived up to your expectations.”
“Still, it took guts,” Maya replied, gazing at the curve of his neck, “especially for someone like you.”
Vron raised his eyebrows. “Someone like me? What do you mean by that?”
“Decent,” Maya said flatly.
He didn’t answer straight away, and kept his gaze on his feet. “What makes you think I’m decent?”
“Because you’re like my dad,” Maya found herself saying, though she hadn’t meant to reveal something that private she felt like her words were coming straight from her heart.
“He was a decent man, and you’re a lot like him. It must be so painful for you to have to serve a creep like the Prince Consort.”
“My duty is to the royal household and the Blood Sharks,” Vron said stiffly, the muscles round his jaw bunched and Maya realised she was entering dangerous territory.
“I took an oath to serve and uphold the security of my planet’s chosen leader. You cannot understand the significance of that or my transgression by saving you.”
“I understand,” replied Maya. “My dad was a soldier.”
Vron cocked his head and his beautiful, dangerous eyes looked at her face for the first time. “That makes sense now.”
“It does?”
“You have that sense of discipline and presence about you,” Vron explained.
“Also, the way you took down that filthy hog of a slave trader at the auction yesterday. That took real skill. Did your dad teach you martial arts?”
Maya nodded. “When I was five years old. It was a pretty useful deterrent for keeping pimply boys from reaching down my top when I was in high school.”
Vron chuckled softly. “I can well imagine, and judging by what I know of you, your father is a decent man too.”
“Was,” Maya corrected, and the old familiar of grief spiked in her chest. “He died when I was fourteen years old.”
Vron knitted his brows together. “I am sorry to hear that,” he said in a tone of genuine sympathy.
“Thanks,” she said, sighing heavily. “He was killed in action, during the Third Martian War. He saved his platoon from an enemy ambush and posthumously got the Crusading Star of Honour. It’s Earth’s highest military honour.”
“He is worthy of such an accolade,” Vron said, nodding his
head slowly.
“I’d rather have him alive than stuck in a cemetery asteroid with nothing but a chunk of metal for his trouble,” Maya replied unable to contain her bitterness. “He missed me growing up, and every single day I wish he was still with me.”
Her words fell like iron weights on the air, silencing the conversation. Vron looked out at the valley, seemingly deep in thought. “Did you become a warrior like him?” he asked at length. “Did you join Earth’s military?”
“I tried, but they didn’t want me,” Maya replied miserably.
“I find that hard to imagine,” Vron said. “What happened?”
“Well, it’s kind of the reason I ended up on this planet in the first place,” Maya said, not sure if she wanted him knowing this part of her past but at the same time feeling the need to show him the real her.
“After he died, I made a vow that I’d uphold the legacy he’d left behind and carry on the good fight as it were. As soon as I was eighteen I volunteered for the Space Marine Corp, like he’d done and because I was his daughter I got accepted into the induction programme straight away.
Mom wasn’t happy though and we fought like cat and dog about it. She was scared of losing me the same way she lost dad, but I was too pigheaded to see that. I wanted to be a soldier and nothing else mattered. Now I wish I’d listened to her.”
“What went wrong?” Vron asked, engrossed by her story.
“My commanding officer at the training facility took a liking to me, and the feeling definitely wasn’t mutual. Apparently, it was a requirement that any woman he wanted had to sleep with him if they were to have any chance of passing the selection process. I made it clear I wasn’t interested, and one night when I was alone in the shower block he tried to force me to have sex with him.”
Vron made a growling sound at the back of his throat. “He had . . . his pleasure?” he asked with great difficulty.
Maya gave him a sardonic smile. “My dad’s training came to the rescue. All he got that night was a black eye and a sprained wrist.”
“Good,” Vron said with obvious relish.
“Perhaps,” Maya said. “But it screwed my career over. He reported me for assaulting him and when I said he’d tried to assault me first the top brass drummed me out of the service. This jerk was well connected you see, and the High Command didn’t want a scandal, so they hushed it all up. I was the scapegoat and that was that.”
“Despicable,” Vron thundered. “Was there no way you could appeal against their decision?”
“I was mad as hell at first,” Maya said. “I threatened to go to the holo-news about it, but the top brass said something like this would tarnish my dad’s reputation, and I couldn’t bring myself to do anything that could harm him, even from beyond the grave. So, I decided to go quietly.”
“A grave injustice,” grumbled Vron. “But how did that bring you here?”
“In the months after that I just fell to pieces,” Maya said grimly. “I gave up on life completely. Started drinking and binging and became a total mess. I got into debt and my landlord was threatening to evict me from my housing pod. Everything was going to hell, and then I saw the ad for the clinical trial and the money it offered. I had nothing else to lose and just couldn’t resist.”
“A typical Yojaridan ploy,” said Vron. “I am sorry this misfortune befell you. Couldn’t you have gone to your mother for help?”
“We hadn’t parted on good terms, and I couldn’t bear to face her after what had happened at the training facility. I was too ashamed to go to her for help. In our last conversation I’d said some pretty unpleasant things to her. Now I wished I’d swallowed my pride. I guess I’ll never see her again.”
“Not necessarily,” Vron said cryptically.
Maya looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“Why do you think I got you out of the palace if I didn’t intend to get out back to Earth?”
Maya opened her mouth but couldn’t say anything. A waterfall of hope cascaded over her. Back to Earth! Thank God, she finally had a chance to escape this hellhole! Her euphoria evaporated as quickly as it had come.
If she were going back to Earth that meant she wouldn’t be spending any more time with Vron. The thought lowered her spirits. “You can really get me back to Earth?” she asked.
“It won’t be easy,” Vron warned. “Officially the only space port on Raja-kell is at the palace and travel on and off world is strictly monitored, but there are reports of a smuggling operation active in the north. My plan is to get you there in one piece and arrange for your transport back to Earth.”
Maya nodded. “What about you, though?”
“What about me?”
“If and when I do make it off Raja-kell, what will happen to you?”
Vron looked nonplussed. “Doesn’t matter,” he said bluntly. “I will just live in the rainforest for as long as the Blood God wills it.”
“But you’ll be all alone!” Maya retorted now exasperated by his Martyr-like attitude. “You’ll be homeless and a fugitive, and all because you helped me. That isn’t right! You deserve better!”
“It is not up to us what we think we deserve. We receive our allotted fate and must deal with it as best we can. My life in the palace had ended a long time before you came along. I’m finally free.”
“Doesn’t sound much like freedom to me,” Maya said sullenly, “and what about the other captured women and my friend Tia? Am I supposed to go back to Earth without them?”
“Don’t be difficult!” Vron snapped, raising his voice by a fraction of an octave. Maya stiffened as she realised she’d stir up that deep anger of his. “I can’t save everyone!” he said getting abruptly to his feet and she glimpsed the war of emotions on his face before his cold mask descended again.
“We best get moving,” he added in a much calmer tone. “We have a long journey ahead of us.”
With that, he picked up the bag of supplies he’d bought from the village and went back into the cabin to retrieve his rucksack.
Maya got to her feet and said nothing. He was right of course, but she didn’t relish the idea of leaving Tia and the others behind, or Vron for that matter, if and when the time came. But that was fate for you.
* * *
When Vron said it was going to be a long journey, he wasn’t kidding. They plunged deep into the jungle, moving on foot across miles of uneven terrain. Living off fruit and bathing in pools and springs, Vron also taught her bush craft and showed her what bark to chew to keep her teeth clean.
It was extremely gruelling and Maya hadn’t undergone such an enduring process since her training for the Space Marine Corp. At night when they stopped to rest she fell instantly asleep in the special netted sleeping bags that kept out the night insects, and was awake at first light.
The exhausting regime meant that she and Vron barely spoke to each other, but her feelings for him were growing stronger. His silent, brooding power consumed her soul and she ached for him to take her in his powerful arms and to taste his lips.
She wanted him to touch her body, caress her until she was driven to the point of no return. She wanted him between her thighs, ploughing her hard until she was driven into a frenzy of wild passion. She was as hot and as wet as the deep jungle they travelled through.
Vron, however, stayed silent and distant, remaining respectful and moving away when it was her turn to bathe, though she was sure he felt the same about her as she did about him.
Every so often, she caught him looking at her when he thought she hadn’t noticed and her heart thrilled at his gaze. She wanted him to make a move, but nothing happened and this was hardly the time and place to explore any potential relationship.
The journey was mostly uneventful, except for a couple of times when a patrol almost stumbled across them. In those instants, they had to hide away and those were the only times he got close to her leaning in protectively as the soldiers tramped by. Those were the most intense times, being so near him a
nd though danger was so close they were so wonderfully stimulating.
Finally though, they reached their destination. Vron took her to a rocky outcropping overlooking a mountainside. A majestic waterfall rushed down into a vast lake thousands of kilometres below their feet. After weeks of unbroken vegetation, it was a wonderful contrast for her eyes.
“Here we are,” Vron said abruptly standing by the rock wall.
Maya stared at him perplexed and her eyes widened as he pressed a camouflaged switch on the rock and a circular doorway appeared as if by magic. Vron saw her amazement and a smile spread across his face. It made him look even more gorgeous. “Care to go in?” he asked, clearly pleased that he’d impressed her.
She nodded and stepped through the opening. As soon as she did, a soft yellow light came on showing her a flight of steps that led down to a huge chamber of white marble.
She moved down the steps, staring at the huge white statue that stood in the centre of the chamber overlooking a large pool of pristine water. The statue was of a naked woman with voluptuous curves and large breasts, smiling down serenely at Maya. She stared up at it in wonder before turning to Vron. He closed the secret doorway with another unseen switch and padded down to join her.
“What is this place?” she asked, completely wonderstruck.
“My people did not always worship the Blood God,” Vron said, “and we were not the savage people we are now. Once we possessed a vastly superior civilisation where technology and spiritual enlightenment were the great pillars of our society. That was the time when we followed the divine teachings of the Moon Lady.” He pointed to the statue.
“That was a thousand years ago, and that mighty civilisation collapsed through war and natural disasters until all that remained were these small shrines dotted about the deep jungle.”
He stepped further into the room and gestured to Maya to sit down on the nearby horseshoe shaped couch. It felt luxuriously soft on her aching joints. He sat at the other end from her at a respectful distance.
