Once again, Lottie and Zach each took an arm of James’, helping him through the open door. This time, the room was slightly less contrasting than the exterior, with its grey walls a shade darker than the white walls of the reception room. Once again, the room had a red rug, only this time, it was square, matching the shape of the room. James’ eyes immediately darted to the velvety red throne which was sat on top of an area of square flooring raised two steps up from the rest of the floor. The young space warrior could see three people. James could only assume that the king was the one who was sat down on the throne. He had two people stood on either side of him. The first to catch James’ attention was the woman stood to the king’s left. Why had she been the first to catch James’ attention? Well, to put it as simply as possible, the woman was stunning! The tight black costume paying the most perfect compliment to her healthy curvaceous figure. The woman’s skin was white, pale, and her hair was long, dark, reaching just below her shoulders. Then there was her face; James had never seen a face quite like it. Normally a face had a fault of some kind. But this young woman’s, her face was literally perfect. Her nose: the perfect size. Her lips: tastily rouge and sweet looking. Her eyes, those irises, they were golden, and easily the most beautiful eyes James had ever seen. This woman had a familiarity about her that James couldn’t quite pinpoint. Perhaps it was because she looked like his ‘dream woman?’ Or maybe it was the way that her subtle golden collar and golden jewels appeared to embellish her dark costume. James shook his head, it was wrong to compare this stunning woman to the palace door and its golden knob.
James prised his eyes away from the woman, moving onto the man stood to the king’s right this time. Like the woman, this man was kinda flawless in appearance. He was tall, with his muscles ripping through his tight black costume. Naturally, the young man’s costume didn’t reveal as much flesh as the woman’s, for he had no bust to pull such a look off. Nonetheless, and although perfectly straight, James could tell that the young man was very attractive. His short dark hair was combed right back, shining beautifully with his golden irises. The man had a somewhat moody expression. Unlike the king. The king was sat on his throne with a very conceited look about him. Compared to the other two, the king was rather frail looking. As opposed to having a healthy complexion, the man seemed thin, bony, and perhaps even a little unhealthily pale. In all fairness, maybe he looked a little ill because he was sandwiched between two younger adults who appeared to ooze heath and fitness. Unlike the younger male, the king’s hair was longer, chin length, and combed back to make a longer version of the young man’s hair. His golden collar was far more pronounced than the two’s stood next to him, and at last, the king raised from his throne, standing on his feet.
“Humans!” He began in that same English accent, “Welcome to planet Urasha! I am King Cryston. And these two fine young specimens here are my son and my daughter.” He pointed first to the young man. “This young man to my right is my son, Crystos.” The king pointed next to his daughter, grinning proudly. “And this gorgeous woman to my left, is my beautiful daughter, Crystaline.”
Once again, James found his eyes wondering over to the princess. To his surprise, her eyes immediately met with his, twinkling with what James could only describe as a mischievous little sparkle. The moment of eye contact didn’t last very long, with James’ eyes too shy to keep hold of the gaze, and Crystaline’s, her eyes lost interest, returning to the empty air in front of her as she continued to listen to her father’s words.
“So, now that the introductions are out of the way, let’s get down to business, shall we?” The king held his hands together, as if excited by the very prospect of discussing the human’s misfortunes. “It appears that you have gotten yourselves into a little spot of bother?” The king looked to the captain, expecting a response from the man.
“Yes, King Cryston. We were attacked, though we don’t know who by.”
“Ah, a sneaky assault then. Vile isn’t it? It really gets to me how some creatures in our Universe can be so...so cowardly and sneaky like that. I mean really, it’s such a disgrace.” The king paused, again waiting for a response from the captain. He looked a little disappointed when Phil remained silent. “So,” the king went on, “If I may ask, Captain...how did you end up here? What were you doing so far away from home? planet Earth I believe?”
“We were on a rescue mission, and we found ourselves passing your planet. I’m sure you know the rest.”
“Well, I know you were assaulted, and that my men had you land here. May I ask, which species were you rescuing? Your own? Have you humans gotten yourselves into little a spot of bother?”
The captain sighed,
“No, not our own. Have you heard about the problems over in Nebowska, King Cryston?”
“Ah! Now that you come to mention it, yes, I may have heard a little something about that, yes. How very noble of you to travel all that way to help them.”
“They’re one of our greatest allies. Why wouldn’t we?”
“No reason,” was all the king responded with. “It does however seem, that in embarking on a rescue mission, you have endangered yourselves, and well, perhaps for nothing if you have no ship to fly with.”
Phil could only respond with a grim nod. He knew that the situation was looking hopeless.
Appearing a little boosted by the captain’s feelings of defeat, the king continued,
“Dear oh dear! I must admit, it is quite the predicament you humans have gotten yourselves into, isn’t it? If you have no operational ship, then how will you return home...to your precious loved ones?”
The captain shrugged,
“I don’t know. Perhaps we’ll be stranded here.”
The king shook his head
“No, no, no! Nonsense! We couldn’t really have that happening, could we? You know as well as I do, that if worst came to worst, we could lend you our ships so that you could all get back to your precious planet.” The king paused for a bit, rubbing his hands together as he continued on with his words. “We both know, however, that us flying out all that way would be less than ideal, wouldn’t it? I hate to admit it, but our ships aren’t quite up to your space traveling standards just yet, are they?”
The captain swallowed nervously,
“No, your honour, but they’ll do. If we could just get back home...we would be forever grateful to you and your people.”
The king clapped his hands together excitedly.
“Oh, Captain, I’m very sorry, but your lack of hope does bring a little smile to my face. Why settle for the second best solution to a problem when you can have the best? I think we could work out some sort of arrangement, don’t you think?”
Phil’s face lit up with hope,
“Oh yeah? What sort of arrangement?”
“Oh, lets not be so impatient, Captain. What’s the rush? We can discuss this little arrangement of ours later, over dinner perhaps?” The king paused, and looked towards James for the very first time. “And besides, I think we have far more urgent matters to be dealing with right now, don’t you think, Captain? The boy is injured, is he not?”
James felt a strong sense of uneasiness at having his name being mentioned. Phil reluctantly confirmed the injury, and the king continued with his articulately spoken words.
“Well luckily, we have just the right method to heal the boy. My beautiful daughter, Crystaline, can work wonders, just you wait and see. Crystaline, my dear, you will take the injured boy into the medical room, and see to it that his injuries are healed.”
Phil took a protective step in front of James.
“I think it would be best if I went with him.”
The Urashan king looked smug as he took in Phil’s words of distrust.
“Why the need? Crystaline is more than capable of looking after the boy? Don’t you think? And besides, We have that all important arrangement of ours to discuss, don’t we?”
Phil looked right into James’ tired blue eyes. He neede
d to know that James was okay to do this.
“James, are you gonna be alright? Because I can come with you if you want me to?”
“I’ll be fine.” James promised, feeling Lottie’s anxious grip tightening around his arms. “Really, I’ll be fine.” He added, promising his best friend this time.
Phil reluctantly agreed to the king’s offer, thanking him and Crystaline at the same time. Phil’s response seemed to please the king.
“That’s better. We’re a bit less hesitant now, aren’t we? A little appreciation goes a long way, Captain. We are only too pleased to help. Crystaline, my dear, when you’re done with the boy, meet us in the palace restaurant, that’s where we all will be.” Cryston looked towards the captain, “discussing our little agreement of course. And not to mention the very fact that I’m looking forward to becoming acquainted with the rest of your human team. ”
The captain merely nodded, still seeming a little unsure about everything.
James looked up to the princess, feeling intimidated at the very thought of being alone with this woman. After gaining some rest on the seats earlier, James felt a little stronger, strong enough to walk without the aid of his two friends at least. As he freed himself from Lottie’s grasp, he promised her once again that everything would be fine, that he would see her soon. Then he turned to look at the beautiful princess. Her face was somewhat smug, as she watched him. Then at last, the woman spoke her first word: “Come,” was all she said, turning her back on everyone to enter through the door behind the king’s throne, clearly expecting James to just follow her. James did follow her. Before he closed the door behind him, he took one last glance at Lottie and the rest of his team, as they all watched him with concerned expressions on each of their faces.
Chapter 5
After a tense and rather challenging walk through the palace’s clean white corridors, James and Crystaline finally entered the small little medical room. The room reminded James of a simplified doctor’s surgery; small, but deeply cleansed. Plain, but filled with an assortment of chemicals and utensils.
Upon entering the room, Crystaline had rather coldly instructed James to sit on the green chair located at the very centre of the room. The chair reminded James of the red seats in the reception room. Both seats were made from some kind of material that forced the body sitting on it to mould right into it - kinda like memory foam.
James felt nervous. He felt intimidated to be here, alone in this room, with this extremely attractive princess. Trying to rid his body of some of the tension within him, James pushed his knuckles down onto the seat, placing all his body’s weight onto them.
As Crystaline began to rummage through the medical cupboards, James desperately scraped the bottom of his brain for some kind of conversation starter with this beautiful princess. This silence was just starting to feel too awkward. His lips trembled as they eventually parted.
“So er…Crystaline, huh? That’s a er, it’s a nice name. My name’s James, James Joyce.”
Crystaline did not respond.
“It’s a nice palace you guys have here. I’ve never er, I’ve never seen...”
“Take off your shirt,” Crystaline interrupted, taking James aback.
“Er, a what sorry?”
Crystaline turned around, walking towards James with a bunch of medical supplies in her hands.
“I said, take off your shirt.” She pointed down to James’ chest, “you’re bleeding.”
James shook his head, trying to shake the sense back into his brain. Of course he was bleeding! His chest was in fricking agony for goodness sake! It was just, this woman, that soft voice of hers, it had caught him by surprise. Not wanting to waste anymore of the princess’ time, James whipped off his shirt. His upper body still managed to look impressive, despite the blood all over his chest. As Crystaline took his shirt from him, James could only conclude that the little grin she gave him was one of either smugness or seduction. It was hard to tell which. The princess held a water soaked cloth to his head, and began to rub his wound. James winced in agony. He felt Crystaline walking behind him, he felt her lowering her lips to his ears as she continued to clean his head wound. Her soft lips pressed right against his ears, whispering out their sound.
“If you thought that was bad, wait till we get to your chest.”
James felt breathless as he felt Crystaline’s hands, slowly working the cloth right down to his chest. Pain replaced pleasure as soon as the cloth made contact with his broken wounded skin. James felt relieved once Crystaline had finished cleaning his injuries.
As he sat waiting for Crystaline’s next move, James watched as the princess disposed of the cleaning cloth. He watched as she took hold of a small, florescent blue bottle. This, James could only assume, was what Crystaline was going to heal him with. He was not wrong. His head was the first to feel that wave of euphoria as soon as Crystaline’s soft hands made contact with it. Gently, she began to rub the blue substance down to his chest, massaging the blue oil right across the wound, and then working it through every single groove in his muscular abdomen. James let out a pleasurable sigh. This feeling, it was so surreal, so euphoric! His entire body felt warm, tingly, as sparkles of pleasure abolished the pain. James watched as his chest wound cleared away, disappearing completely.
“Wow, what is that stuff?” He asked, awe stricken.
Crystaline disposed of the blood soaked cloth, returning the blue bottle of fluid to its appropriate home.
“Healing fluid,” she eventually answered.
“So let me get this straight, you guys, you never have to worry about getting terrible injuries? You never die from them?”
To James’ surprise, Crystaline’s expression darkened. Instead of appearing proud of her planet’s ability to heal, the princess appeared troubled, deeply troubled, her heart completely surrounded by a vicious pain. Still trapped by her own thoughts, the princess slowly answered James’ question.
“The healing fluid can only heal surface wounds. Wounds of the skin and flesh. What you’re suggesting is a miracle, and miracles, they do not exist.”
Not wanting to be a pessimist, James decided to object. Despite the fact that he already regretted raising the issue which appeared to bring so much emotional turmoil to the princess.
“How do you know? I like to think...” James could not continue on, for a knock on the door distracted him and Crystaline. James watched as the princess answered the door, leaving the room for a moment to talk to whoever was stood outside. James decided that it was best to not leave his chair, he didn’t want to upset the princess even further. A few more minutes of waiting had passed, and finally, Crystaline returned to the room, throwing James something grey, something fabric.
“Here, you’ll need this,” she said, grabbing hold of James’ old blood ridden t-shirt. She threw it into a machine of some sort. The machine illuminated purple as James’ old t-shirt was burnt away. The princess had passed him a spare, but how?
“How did you get this?” He asked, gingerly sniffing the t-shirt, as an awful thought hit him, “hey er, this isn’t Phil’s is it? My captain’s?” It would be too typical of Phil to donate his t-shirt. The last thing James wanted was to be stuck in Phil’s sweaty clothing.
“That was one of our guards. We have guards tending to your ship as we speak. Apparently my father thought that you might all feel a little more comfortable in your own clothes. If you thought you were leaving this planet anytime soon, then you’d be wrong, unfortunately.”
James felt fully satisfied that the light grey top was his. It smelt clean, unworn, and he put the t-shirt on over his tingling body.
“How did your guards know whose stuff was whose?”
Crystaline shrugged uncaringly, seemingly none the wiser than James.
“That’s not important right now. I need to take you to my father and the rest of your humans.” Without uttering out another word, the princess opened up the door and was gone from the medical room. This left Jame
s no other option, he had to follow the aloof princess.
***
Whilst James had been away with Crystaline getting healed up, Lottie and the rest of the human team had been led to the palace restaurant by Cryston and his son, Crystos.
As she entered the crowded venue, Lottie couldn’t help but notice how different this restaurant looked and felt compared to the rest of the palace. For a start, the noisy place was colourful, filled with an assortment of swanky lights. The walls were bright red and purple. The room was large, with its exits and its entrances hidden between the many round silver tables and stages. Lottie looked up towards the long silver poles scattered across the room. Most of the poles were surrounded by crowds of people, perverts taking a good look at the half naked women dancing around them. This place was disgusting, and Lottie was already beginning to dislike this planet. Or to be more precise, the people in it.
With the loud thumping music pulsating its way through the entire room, it was quite a surprise to Lottie that she was still able to hear the king as he continued to drivel on about meaningless nonsense to an unfortunate Phil. Lottie almost wanted to laugh sympathetically in Phil’s favour. Sadly though, the vast crowds of people passing her, and accidentally bumping into the young woman made it impossible for her to laugh. She felt too uncomfortable to laugh.
The king eventually led everyone to a large, round silver table. Adding further to Lottie’s feelings of uneasiness, the table was not empty either. Another golden eyed Urashan was sat at it, staring icily into the space in front of her. This woman was no surprisingly beautiful for her age. Her long dark hair reminded Lottie of the princess. What was her name? Crystaline, that was it. Maybe the woman was the Queen of Urasha? No, wait. That wouldn’t work. The queen was dead, Lottie was sure of it. She could remember reading about it. Maybe this Urashan family had a reason to be so icily cold after all?
Before instructing the group to take a seat, the king firstly acknowledged his female relative.
Diversion To Urasha (Space Era Book 1) Page 5
