Alien General's Chosen: SciFi Alien Romance (Brion Brides)

by Vi Voxley

  “Can you at least tell me who you’re presumably protecting me from?” she asked.

  Now Faren hesitated. Leiya’s father was Senator Tawren, and he was friends with the cursed Senator Primen. Until he was sure who he could trust and where Leiya’s father stood with everything, it was probably better she didn’t know any specifics.

  “I have many enemies,” he chose to say.

  It wasn’t even a lie. Judging from the look in Leiya’ eyes, she didn’t think it was either.

  Faren wished he could somehow distinguish the eyes from the look. As the bond between them became more and more solid despite themselves, drawing them closer, it did nothing to mend what was already broken. The little starlet was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, with deep green eyes he had come to like.

  Only the look in them was fearful at best and hateful at worst. She couldn’t stand him, couldn’t stand to be with him and in all likelihood, couldn’t bear the thought of being his. It was what Diego had warned him about. Isolde had relented, but for some reason Faren didn't see Leiya doing the same.

  Faren was not surprised. He was a monster and it made sense for his fated to share that opinion along with everyone else.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Leiya

  Oh well, that went great.

  Leiya was wondering if all geshas went through the phase of feeling everything at once. She desperately wanted to talk to someone about it. For some strange reason, the person whose advice she would have taken most gladly was Isolde. The human gesha, but Leiya felt like she would understand her best. Because even if all geshas felt overwhelmed, Leiya sensed her emotions were different. Even being the Leiya-type girl that she was, Leiya wasn’t used to feeling so, so much. She was exhausted from her escape, angry, afraid, sad, and overall despairing all at once.

  Am I not forgetting something?

  Oh, yes. And horribly, unbelievably attracted to her gerion. Leiya didn’t even know where to begin with that. It would have been easy to say that her body had finally chosen to take a real interest in the opposite sex. And had of course chosen the worst possible moment to do so.

  Oh look at me, she thought miserably. I’m the girl that thinks her gerion is hot. Poor, poor me. Somehow I don’t think they’ll sing sad songs of my fate for that.

  In truth, she was madder at herself than she was at Faren. He was so far pretty much everything she had expected. From a gerion, and from him specifically.

  No, it was with herself that Leiya had a problem with. She was acting all wrong. There were two easy solutions, but she dangled in between. She could have either accepted it like a proper Brion, or hated him like a spiteful gesha. Leiya... wanted to do both and it was infuriating.

  That damn stupid bond, but those stormy eyes were doing things to her. She found herself desperately longing to see a fire burn in them, a fire just for her. Longed to see them flash for her and be held in those arms again. A part of her wanted to try fleeing once more, just to get to be caught. That thought alone was more humiliating for her than the entire conduct of the day had been.

  What was wrong with her? She still hated warriors. Still feared Faren so much it made her head dizzy. She’d literally crawled into a corner from him, by gods. Was she a child running from a monster?

  Well, that wasn’t too bad of a comparison, actually. Faren was a monster, and parents did scare their children with him.

  And Leiya was to be bound for life to that man.

  She hated herself for not entirely disliking the idea. Per-fect. She had always joked about Iloya and her love of warriors, saying that girls weren’t supposed to forgive guys everything just because they were ripped. And there she was. If the situation wasn’t so tragic, Leiya didn’t doubt Iloya would have had a good laugh at her expense.

  It had been almost tolerable up until a minute ago. She’d been scared for Miren and then for her reputation as someone who opposed warriors, but not for herself. A gerion, even a warrior, would never hurt his gesha. Right? At least she didn’t know of any such cases. But if anyone, surely the Monster of Briolina?

  It was only when Faren’s voice had suddenly taken on a dangerous edge that Leiya had noticed she was yelling at him and calling him names. At Faren.

  She didn’t know how she was supposed to think of him. On the one hand, he was Faren, her gerion. Which meant – or was supposed to mean – that she was the last person he’d ever hurt. On the other hand, he was still Faren, the terrible, bloody Brion general. And he would continue to be both of those things.

  All she knew was she didn’t want his eyes to look like they had a minute ago. Ever, ever again. Faren didn’t get mad, they’d always told her. He got cold. Leiya now knew that to be true. And somehow it was even worse. It was wholly, mind-numbingly eerie to see all emotion disappear from behind the general’s eyes. Like he was no longer a man, but truly… a monster.

  Leiya looked at the screen on the wall, where the image of the Unbroken was growing larger. It was the simulation of the image she would have seen if there were real windows in the shuttle, but it was still terrifying. The ship looked as ruthless and cold as its master.

  Beside her, the general stood in icy silence, saying nothing. Leiya shivered.

  Into the lair of the beast, she thought.

  She had to wonder if it was just her or if the Unbroken was the most inhospitable place she’d ever been to. So, fine, Leiya was used to bright places and bubbly personalities like her, and to people actually talking. This felt like one of the Brion tombs. Those were great, endlessly extending catacombs built for the Elders whose time had ran out even with all the technology they possessed. It was the proper Brion way to end one’s life.

  They all did their service in the public part of their lives, and then they became Elders. It was their reward to rest in stasis-sleep most of the time and get to decide the fate of all Brions. And then, at the end of their lifespan, when their pods signaled their death, Brions were cremated and put to rest underground. There, everyone could read about their lives and see the remains of their selves. If they were feeling sentimental or just interested.

  That was fine. Those Brions were already dead. Walking through the silent, cold, and terribly dark corridors of the Unbroken, Leiya couldn’t deny she was scared out of her mind. It definitely wasn’t just her, used to the light and noise. The Unbroken just really, truly was creepy. The darkness she’d expected, at least.

  All Brion battle ships were kept dark so the valor squares could be seen better. It was a much faster and more practical means of communication than simply talking. Leiya was not a warrior and her eyes hadn’t developed to embrace darkness, so she was pretty much stumbling in complete darkness.

  But the silence, the horrible feeling of everyone around her so quiet as to barely breathe… She had never thought she could fear anything so much. Every step felt like she could fall into a trap, which was ridiculous, but fears didn’t have to be rational. Once or twice she nearly ran into a crew member she had taken for a statue or a shadow. They all saluted Faren without any verbal greeting and went on with their duties.

  This is the way my gerion likes to run things, Leiya thought. I won’t let him turn me into one of his mute statues.

  The next warrior they met actually made Leiya scream out loud. The corridors in the warriors’ parts of the ship were even darker, almost completely without any light. She supposed Faren might have considered that to be another, continued form of constant training.

  Leiya had never actually been on any of the Brion battle ships before. In fact, she had never left the surface of Briolina at all – but she’d heard they weren’t all like that. For example, Isolde, Diego Grothan’s gesha, was human. All Brions had a naturally good eyesight, but surely they made some changes for her. Still, it was almost impossible for Leiya to see anything until she practically walked into it.

  The excitement of actually being in space coupled with terror of the same thing made her almost miss the warrior. Only
in the light of Faren’s valor squares, pulsing quietly, did she finally make him out in the shadows. He was the most frightening being she’d ever seen. Faren was a towering giant, and his cold eyes made him seem even more terrible, but he still looked like a Brion. What stood before her then, carefully out of the general’s way, was an actual monster. No metaphors, no symbols, just a monster.

  His face was crisscrossed with scars so badly Leiya thought at once they couldn’t be accidental. Someone, possibly the beast himself, had done that on purpose. His body seemed distorted, like a twisted version of the martial glory of the Brion warrior. All that didn’t diminish from the fact he was still huge, almost at eye-level with Faren. His breathing seemed like growling.

  Leiya screamed.

  It was the only noise on the otherwise quiet deck, and she heard shuffling in response, probably from people looking to see who was going to upset their master. Instincts took over, and she inched closer to Faren without thinking. Even he had to be better than the monstrosity she couldn’t even be sure was really a Brion.

  The general’s solid, sure form beside her was oddly comforting. Leiya didn’t want to think like that, but she felt safer when she was near him. For all of the horrible things he was, Faren still remained one of the most feared men in the galaxy. This was his ship. Nothing would get to her if he didn’t allow it.

  Like in answer to her thoughts, Faren said quietly,

  “You have no cause to fear.”

  Official, straight to the point, but something in his voice made Leiya believe him without question. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the twisted creature shrink further into the shadows.

  Still shaking, Leiya followed Faren to wherever her cage was going to be. The meeting with the terrible warrior had shaken her, so she stumbled. Faren’s hands caught her at once and didn’t let go when she had straightened herself. Almost clumsily, if anything about the general could be called that, he took her hand.

  She winced at his touch, but it was a welcome guideline in the dark. To her surprise, he didn’t push forward in any way. Didn’t reach out to touch more of her than was strictly necessary to help her through the looming darkness. Leiya was so surprised she nearly forgot her fear. The general’s hand was huge and rough around hers, but firm and strong.

  With the smallest touches he guided her through complete darkness. She only realized they’d arrived somewhere when the doors slid open with a whoosh. And then she could make out a room just slightly less dark than the corridors.

  Just as she’d thought that, Faren did something, and Leiya found herself standing in a large, arena-like room. There were doorways leading to others. Like the light had cleared out her mind as well, her thoughts tumbled over each other in a hurry. The first was the panicked idea of Faren still being psychic after all. She discarded that with an annoyed frown. It was no magic trick to see she was uncomfortable in the dark. So, he’d turned on the lights. No mind-reading there.

  The second shut her mind off completely. There was no doubt she was in the general’s personal quarters.

  In Faren’s rooms.

  Oh gods, she thought, forcing her legs not to give out on her now. Not his rooms anymore. Our rooms.

  It seemed she never got to feel the same emotion for more than a few minutes. Just as she’d almost been fine with his presence in the face of that abomination in the dark, this happened. Being alone with Faren made her very sharply aware of how much she still mistrusted him. Standing beside her expectantly, Faren once again seemed cold and unreachable.

  This is what my life will be like, she thought. Dark ship, mute people, and the one person I least wanted for my gerion.

  She looked around her hesitantly. In Leiya’s mind, the rumors about Faren paraded before her eyes. Would he really drink blood? If she had to kiss him, would she feel the taste of it on his tongue? She shivered. Tears rose up to her eyes, but she’d be damned if she cried in front of him.

  Peeking into one of the rooms, another scream nearly made it to her lips. Of course the first room she’d look into would be the trophy room. Huge beasts and alien creatures stood in dark, grim silence. She half-expected them to move, just like the shadow statues had in the hallways. Only she knew with morbid certainty that Faren would make damn sure everything in his trophy collection was properly dead.

  Between the trophies, rows upon rows of weapons lined the room. The smell of blood was clear there, even if all the weapons were pristine and clean. They had all been used, there was no doubt of that. She stood frozen in the doorway, staring upon the evidence of who her gerion really was. All her life she’d fought against violence, and wars, and murder, and now she was going to live in a museum of horrors.

  She turned to see him looking at the room too. If any emotion showed in his eyes at all, it was pride. Of course it would, wouldn’t it? He was a Brion general and he took pride in killing as many living creatures in the name of all Brions as he could.

  Leiya wondered what she had done wrong to be punished so by the gods.

  “This is where you’ll live,” Faren said. “You are free to go anywhere on the ship if you like, but be careful in the dark. This is a war ship.”

  Leiya nodded mutely. The tears wanted to come again, but she swallowed them down. If the general would leave her alone for just a moment, she could let them fall.

  “I will leave the lights on for you,” Faren said and with that, Leiya was left alone in her new cage.

  Small mercies. Or not, now she could clearly see the trophies and the weapons that were used to kill. She almost wished for the darkness back.

  She walked around the quarters, finding them much like she’d expected. They were bereft of all things that weren’t used for something very specific. No colors, no decorations. Not even anything lying around to show someone really lived there. It was a dark, gloomy place and it made her insides tighten up.

  Usually, when she was sad, she sang. The thought of that made her lips curl in a humorless smile. Sing? In a place like that? Who sang on the Unbroken?

  She finally dared to enter the bedroom. A huge bed stood in the middle of the room, dark and cold like everything else in Faren’s rooms. At least it had pillows. Leiya threw herself on it, burying her face into the pillows. A hollow laugh escaped her lips at finding the pillows soft. She’d almost expected them to be hard as rocks.

  Oh well, she thought. Better get the self-pitying out of the way.

  Then the tears finally came.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Faren

  Faren found Roven dutifully waiting outside his rooms, as was his place. The deformed warrior saluted him, fist over heart. His bodyguard fell into step behind him as he made his way to the command bridge.

  It wasn’t like Roven to speak out of turn, but after a minute, he said,

  “Did I scare your gesha, Commander?”

  “Yes,” Faren said.

  That much should have been obvious.

  “I will try to keep out of her way,” Roven said.

  “That is not necessary,” he replied. “I want you to protect her in my absence. Make sure no harm comes to her. I don't know how she came to Briolina, but she's human. She can barely see in the dark.”

  If Roven was surprised, he didn't show it. Whenever Faren needed someone for an out of the ordinary task, he chose the warrior. One of the reasons was that he rarely asked questions, only did his duty.

  It wasn’t like Roven to object to his commands either, but Faren supposed the next question was justified.

  “What if she refuses?”

  “I will talk to her,” he said. “It is your duty to see that no harm befalls her.”

  Roven nodded, accepting that as he did everything.

  “Yes, Commander.”

  “To your duties, then.”

  He heard Roven turn around and walk back to his quarters. With him gone, Faren could focus on what was doubtlessly waiting for him. He didn’t relish the possibility of the conversation one bit
.

  When he arrived on the bridge, the holo-image was already shining brightly in its center. Senator Tawren turned to him, his eyes burning with loathing.

  “What have you done to my daughter?” he demanded.

  Brave words from someone far, far on Briolina’s surface. Faren did not find much humor in life, but he shared Diego’s amusement at the senators. And how their tones changed depending on how many miles were between them when they spoke.

  “I have brought Leiya to the Unbroken, Senator,” he said simply, letting the first outburst of the concerned father pass.

  It was merciful of him.

  “I demand that you…” the senator began, but Faren cut him through.

  His hatred for the senators had always been strong, but after the events concerning Rhea, it bordered on loathing. He was still trying to make up his mind about Senator Tawren, so it was in the man’s best interest not to push his patience.

  “You don’t demand anything,” he said calmly. “She is my gesha, and her place is with me. And I know she's not your daughter. She's not even a Brion.”

  Senator Tawren’s face twisted in fury, but it seemed to make him think.

  "How do you know that?" he asked, not even bothering to deny it.

  "I noticed."

  "That's impossible. The differences can't be seen so easily, it takes a healer to-"

  "They can," Faren stated. "Explain to me how it's possible."

  "I don't have to explain myself."

  Faren gave the man a look that made the senator reconsider very quickly.

  "I think you will find that it's in your best interest," was all the general said.

  Senator Tawren sighed.

  "It was a theory we set out to test many years ago. Long before Diego Grothan and his human gesha, some healers started thinking whether it was possible. For a Brion to bind to someone who wasn't of our species. Terran government agreed to let us adopt a child in absolute secrecy and raise her as a Brion, to see if it would happen. We promised them she'd be safe either way. That child is Leiya and now you've made me break that promise."