by Maia Starr
But on the other hand, I could not tell Truo either. I no longer trusted him. I still did not know if my husband was alive or not, and if he was, that meant that Truo had lied to me and had used me. Because of this, I could not tell him that I was carrying his offspring; he could be dangerous, even more dangerous than Cyro. Cyro put everything out in the open, but Truo was deceitful about it. So this meant that I was pregnant and I had to keep this baby a secret from everyone. I was the only one that could know, and it would be a burden: my burden.
I was completely astonished by this realization. I was going to give birth to an alien-human hybrid. I had never thought about it in that way until that very moment. I suddenly felt excited! A child, a special child, was inside of me. I wasn't expecting to be joyful about it, but that was exactly what I was feeling; this was my baby. This was my baby! A surge of hope filled me. I suddenly had a purpose greater than myself. It was surreal; it was moving.
Knock, knock.
"Vera, it is I, Cyro,” I heard him shout through the door.
"Yes, I am here," I said trying to rub my eyes to make them look bloodshot and pinch my nose to make it look red and stuffy.
"Can you come to the door? Don't open it. I just want you to listen through the door,” he said to me. I looked at the door in confusion.
"Yes, I'm coming to the door,” I said, wondering what he was up to. He sounded strange, almost kind. “I am here,” I said a little softer. I could hear the door creak as he leaned against it.
"Vera, I've come to apologize. I have not been myself lately. It is the pressure. I am the leader of this tribe, and there is great pressure with that. Not only do I have to rule, but I also must produce the offspring that will become the leader. It is part of my responsibilities, and sometimes it gives me rage and I take it out on you. I apologize for this. I have realized that I am madly in love with you. These past two weeks and days of being apart from you have been very hard. It has made me angry, all because I have not been able to talk to you again. I miss being with you…” he said.
I stood on the other side of the door completely stunned. It was like speaking to a completely different Corillion, and if I had not already memorized the sound of his voice, I would think it was someone else, but I knew that it was him. I didn't know what to say to this. I had no sympathy for him. He had possibly murdered my husband and lied to me about it in order to take advantage of me, and if my husband was still alive, then Cyro was still the one that was holding him for leverage to take advantage of me. So I simply responded, “I understand, Cyro.”
"I thought you might if I was honest with you about why I act this way. You are the first human female, or any female, that I have been a companion to and I do not know how it's done. I realize that I have been doing it wrong, very wrong. I hope in a few days, when you are no longer ill, you will let me prove it to you.”
"I would like that. I am feeling better and better every day. Soon I will be myself again,” I said in return.
"I am glad to hear it. I will have hot liquids and food brought to your door now. Thank you for listening, Vera. Goodbye,” he said as I heard him walk away.
My mouth fell open at the confusion of what had just happened. Why did he come to my door and say those things? What had changed for him? Was he being truthful, or was this some sort of trick? Did he discover that I was pregnant before I knew? My mind swarmed with questions, confusion, and fear. Cyro suddenly changing face only made me more suspicious about what he had planned. It was another burden. I needed to know what was going on. I needed to see Truo to find out what he knew, even though I knew his answers could be lies. I needed to know more.
I waited two days. It was hard to wait that long to find answers from Truo, but I was scared that Cyro would be coming to my room again to confess his feelings for me and explain his emotions. But on the second night, I could no longer wait. I needed to know if my husband was truly alive. I needed to know what Truo knew about why Cyro has suddenly changed.
But worst of all, I just wanted to see him. I hated feeling that way. Was it possible to have feelings for two males at the same time? I still loved my husband and wanted nothing more than to be with him if he was still alive. But at the same time, I had developed emotions for Truo, and I really hoped that he was not using me and lying to me.
I moved quietly down the stairs, but it was not midnight. It was an hour until midnight, and I hoped that perhaps Truo would be in the underground passage. So I went early, but I was not expecting to find what I found.
"We will have to leave for the High Council soon, very soon. I am ready to go to Cyro and tell him that your plans for the fortress are true and that you and I should leave to the High Council the very next day for permissions,” I heard a familiar voice say as I walked quietly down the hall to the secret room. I slowed down listening.
"Yes, I agree with that plan. He does not know yet of your plans to overthrow him. I believe the High Council will make you the leader, Truo,” another voice said.
I gasped. I was in shock that Truo was planning to overthrow Cyro.
"What was that?” Truo said.
My eyes grew wide. Had they heard me? I begin to backtrack my steps, but it was too late. Truo and another alien warrior came out of the room.
"What is she doing down here? She will tell Cyro,” the other alien warrior said as he came towards me in anger.
"No. No, she won't. Do not touch her. She is down here to see me,” Truo said as he stood between me and the other alien warrior.
"Why? Why bring her into this secret? She cannot be trusted. She will tell Cyro your plan to overtake him,” the other alien warrior said.
"What? You plan to do what?” I asked, looking at Truo in confusion.
"Vera, this does not concern you. You should go back to your chambers and remain there. Say nothing of what you saw down here,” he said to me.
"So this is why you were kind to me? This is why you were using me! You are using me so that you can become the leader!” I shouted at him in anger.
I was so pissed off that I could not control my rage. I was right about him. He had lied to me. He had been deceiving me in order to get something from me. He had planned to impregnate me so that the leadership seat could be his on this godforsaken asteroid.
"You lied to me! Cyro told me that my husband is still alive! You lied to me simply so that you could console me in my grief. You knew that I would go into your arms if you treated me with kindness, if you treated me as though I was your friend and I could trust you. You knew that eventually you would mate with me!"
"No! That is not what happened. You're not part of this plan at all; I have not lied to you!” Truo shouted.
"Truo! You mated with her?!” the other alien warrior shouted.
"I should never have trusted you! You are horrible!” I shouted as I turned to run back toward my chambers. I had all the answers that I needed. Truo had been using this underground room for his secret meetings for a revolution. It wasn't a special place just for he and me. I had been a complete fool and he had taken advantage of me in my state of grief and stress. I felt his hand wrap around my arm and stop me.
"Vera, don't go like this. This is not what you think,” he said to me.
"Let me go! Let me go!” I shouted.
"Who is down there?!” a voice shouted from on top of the stairs.
Truo, his companion, and I grew silent. We all looked at each other with wide eyes.
"There's someone down there!” More alien warriors shouted from the top of the stairs.
"We will be caught,” his companion whispered.
"Follow me. There's only one way out of here. There's no turning back now,” Truo said as he grabbed my arm and ran. I moved my legs as fast as I could to try to keep up with the large stride of the 8-foot tall aliens. I was out of breath, and I was terrified. If I were caught below the fortress with Truo and his companion who were plotting a revolution, I would be put to death.
"This wa
y," Truo whispered as the sound of boots filled the underground passage, echoing off the walls as alien warriors shouted directions to each other. It was frightening. It sounded like there were many that suddenly flooded the underground passages hunting us.
"We are almost there," Truo whispered.
I was scared. I was confused. But I was not prepared for what Truo had in mind, where he was leading us.
Chapter 10
TRUO SEEDUON, SECOND COMMAND
It was now or never. We had been caught. All was at stake now. We had to make a run for it. I led Sitione and Vera through the maze of underground passages as the warriors from the fortress chased us. I could hear their boots getting louder and louder. Finally, we came to the end of the passage that led out onto the surface, to my escape pod.
"You can't be serious? I'm not getting in that!” Vera shouted at me as she saw what I intended to do: get us off the asteroid.
"Here is your chance! This is your chance for escape!" I shouted at her, confused by her reluctance to leave. This is what she had been wanting since she arrived;it's what anyone that was being held against their will would want. “Sitione, get in the ship and start the engines!"
"I'm on it!” he responded. He climbed into the ship and Vera was pulling away from me. I held her arm.
"But Marcus! My husband! He is still here!" she shouted. “We must get him too!”
"Vera I have told you before! Marcus is not here, he has never been here. He has passed away,” I told her, confused as to why she was suddenly thinking that he was alive.
"You lie! You lied to me about everything! Cyro is going to let me see him. He is alive, and he is here!” she shouted as tears came to her eyes.
"He lied to you! I do not lie to you! Your husband is dead! Now get in the ship before it is too late. We must get away from here,” I said to her, trying to pull her towards the ship. Out of my haste, I was rougher with her than I should have been.
“Be careful! My baby!” she shouted.
I turned to her stunned. Was she saying what I thought she was saying?
“Vera, you are with offspring?!” I shouted at her.
Her eyes were full of fear as she said, “Yes, I am pregnant. Do not touch me.”
"Get away from her,” Cyro said as he came out of the end of the passage. There was one other warrior with him.
"Traitor! You are trying to steal my wife from me! She is with offspring! My offspring, and now you try to steal her?!” he shouted in anger. “Seize him!”
The warrior came toward me.
"Vera, get on the ship!” I shouted as I got in front of her, guarding her from Cyro, and braced myself for the warrior to charge me. He hit me hard in the gut. I punched him on the side, the left side without scales, very hard. It was just the right spot to make him double over. I grabbed his head and smashed it down into my knee. Bam! He fell onto the ground, unconscious.
"She is mine!” Cyro shouted as he charged me with a knife drawn. Bam! He knocked me off my feet. We rolled across the ground as his knife came down, stabbing at me, nearly missing me. I grabbed his hand that held the knife, pushing it away from me. He was very strong, and it took all of my strength to keep the knife from stabbing me. I could hear more warriors shouting down the passageway; they were close. I would not be able to fend off all of them.
The engines roared to life on the pod. I had to make a move. We had to leave right that second. I kneed Cyro in the ribs. Bam! He tumbled over onto his side, but as he did so, the knife slipped and gouged deep into my left arm.
"Ahhh!" I shouted as it pierced my flesh. With my right fist, I punched Cyro in the face. I pulled out the knife stuck in my arm. Blood oozed out of the wound as I did so. Then I hit Cyro on the back of the head with the handle, very hard. He fell forward in a daze, unable to stand up. I made my way to the door of the ship.
"Vera, you must come with me! You cannot stay here!” I shouted at her holding my hand out to her while my left arm bled.
"I don't know! But my husband!” she shouted crying.
"I cannot force you to go with me. But do you really want to stay here? You want to stay here with Cyro? Your husband is dead. I know you do not believe it, but it is the truth. He is not here. If you stay now, you will be here forever with Cyro,” I said, climbing into the doorway.
"I don't know… I don't know…” she repeated over and over in tears.
I held my hand out to her from the doorway. She looked at Cyro on the floor getting up slowly. The sound of warriors in the passageway was getting louder.
"Truo! We must go now if we are to get away!” Sitione shouted.
"You have made your decision. You are staying,” I said to Vera as I pulled my arm back in the spaceship, ready to close the door.
"Wait!" she shouted as she began to climb into the doorway. I held my hand out to her and pulled her in. I closed the door behind her.
"Now! Launch now!" I shouted at Sitione.
I pushed Vera back into a seat, “Buckle up now!” I shouted as I sat down in the seat and buckled in and then I held pressure on my bleeding left arm.
The space pod shot forward into the air, zooming along the surface of the asteroid and then flew off the edge into the blackness of space.
"They will be launching spaceships in less than five minutes to come after us. Launch into hyperspeed as soon as you can!” I shouted at Sitione.
"Where will we go?! We can't go to the High Council like this!”
"No! We can't! Make a course for Altid. There is a small asteroid nearby without a tribe that will give us temporary cover until I can figure something out!” I shouted at him.
"Plotting course for Altid! Hold on; jumping into hyperspeed!” Sitione shouted.
I looked at my bleeding arm. I looked over at Vera. She was crying with her head in her hands. She truly believed that she had left her husband behind.
Then she looked up at me, “You're bleeding,” she said as she unbuckled her belt and moved over to my arm.
"Yeah, he stabbed me,” I said to her. “I'll be fine,” I sai, looking at her delicate face.
"No, you are bleeding a lot,” she said as she moved around the spaceship.
"In the back. There are containers with emergency supplies,” I said to her.
She moved to the back and I could hear her shuffling through different containers. She returned with some antiseptic and bandages. She got on her knees beside me and began to clean my wounded arm.
"Thank you,” I said to her.
"Don't thank me. I should just let you bleed to death,” she said angrily.
"Don't say that, Vera; you don't mean it,” I said, pushing her brown hair back from her face with my right hand. She stopped and looked up at me.
"I will have to tie this around tightly to stop the bleeding,” she said beginning to tightly wrap bandage around my arm.
Just then Sitione entered the back. “We are en route to Altid. There are no ships following us, as far as I could tell on radar. For now,” he said with his face red and obviously anxious and nervous.
"Thank you, Sitione,” I said to him.
"It doesn't make sense. We have had our meetings in the underground passage for a month now. Why now? Why did they find us now?” he asked.
"Perhaps Jin betrayed us,” I said, looking at Vera. I didn't want to admit to myself that she had carelessly been yelling at me in the underground passage. Even if we were not having a secret meeting, the fact that she was yelling where someone could hear a human female yelling would cause many to come look at the source. Then to find her with me alone was very careless. She knew this, but she had lost all control of her emotions at that moment, so I blamed it on Jin instead.
"Yes, that is possible. Now our plans are ruined. We cannot go to the High Council and plead your case to take Cyro’s seat now. He will get to them first. We will be exiled, and we are fugitives. We came so close; all of it is now destroyed,” he said to me.
"You have plans to do what exact
ly?” Vera asked as she tied the last bandage tightly around my arm and anger.
"Does she know?” Sitione asked looking at me.
"No, she does not.”
"What is going on here?!” she shouted as she got up from her knees and stared at me. “Tell me the truth this time."
"I have never lied to you, Vera,” I said to her. “I have kept a secret from you, but it was my secret to keep. I kept it from you to keep you out of danger. Meeting with me the way we had been was already very dangerous for both of us, and I did not want to add to that danger by telling you what we had been up to,” I said to her.
