The ship descended vertically and then Amranth flew it a while further, going at a snail's pace as he carefully wove through the trees, vines tearing over the hood, until the cover was denser and they felt safely hidden.
The ship hissed and groaned as it set down, settling into the soft, rich earth as though relieved to be allowed to stop. The two stepped out into an ocean of greenery. An alien wilderness, an old growth forest that was nearly jungle, stretched out around them more than a days walk in any direction. Lily hesitated in the hatchway as Amranth began pulling up loose branches to hide the ship.
She looked down at the grass, the moss and leaf litter and emerging roots, the tiny green shoots of new life, and soil so rich it was nearly black beneath them. She lowered herself slowly, feeling the mud between her toes for the very first time.
A shiver of delight ran up her spine to a tight lump in her throat. She'd spent all her life surrounded by ice. Her only in person experience with trees had been the long dead petrified things that grew near the village, black and stiff, dangerous after a storm when the branches froze and sometimes fell.
These trees were alive. Their bark was warm and brown, their branches strong and alive and thick with leaves, hung with vines as thick as her arm like garlands.
Lily ran her hands over a trunk wider than two of her hands, awed. Slowly, she put her arms around it, laughing as she realized she couldn't reach all the way around it. She laughed harder as, pulling her hand back, she found a beetle, its shell iridescent as an oil slick with mouthparts like glittering gems, crawling across her hand.
The birds, disturbed by the ship's landing, returned with musical cries, flying over her head. A brightly colored lizard scurried past on a vine in pursuit of a butterfly and Lily's laughter grew as tears welled in her eyes. Sobbing, she sank down between the roots of the huge tree, scrubbing at her cheeks as she watched the beetle crawl over her hand.
She looked up as Amranth touched her shoulder, his expression concerned, and she sniffled, chuckling as she wiped her still crying eyes.
"Sorry," she said, voice thick with tears, "It's been a really long day."
"Take your time," he said gently, "I'm going to start on the ship."
She sat where she was for a while, relishing the sights and sounds of the untouched wilderness around her. The smell of dirt and growing things, the texture of bark and leaf under her fingers. Every strange animal cry and rustle of life moving past them, unconcerned with them except for a passing curiosity.
Earth had been like this once, she thought, awed. Not exactly like this maybe. They didn't have trees quite the same as this. The birds were not birds but little winged reptiles in a starling range of shapes and colors. Even the insects were different. But it had once been this lush and teeming with life. People like her had once sat under branches like this and dug their toes into the soil this way.
In that moment, she wanted to be back on her planet more than anything else she'd ever felt. It could be like this again. She could make this a reality there. She hung her head as she remembered it could have happened a lot faster if she'd accepted Turlabon.
Her selfishness would set them back a generation. Maybe end their efforts entirely. It would have been worth her suffering through three years with that monster to bring this back to Earth. Wouldn't it? Even now she couldn't make herself commit to it. There had to be another way.
"This is going to take a few days," Amranth said, coming to sit beside her, "We can use the ship for shelter, but we're going to need to find food."
"I thought floraform could photosynthesize?" Lily asked, curious, but he shook his head.
"Photosynthesis is very inefficient for locomotive beings. We can subsist on it if we're dormant, but if we're moving and working, we need other sources of nutrition. We're primarily insectivorous."
"Ah, that's funny," Lily laughed, "Most humans are primary insectivores now. They're about the only thing we can farm well underground. That and a few staple vegetables. I actually had some chapaulines in my bag. Fried grasshoppers."
"Unfortunately, your bags are back in the Garden," Amranth sighed, "No doubt the estimable Rose is enjoying them now."
"She really shouldn't," Lily frowned, "She'll probably be allergic."
"May she swell up like a gourd and all her thorns fall off." Amranth replied without a trace of humor.
Lily stared at him, trying to figure out how serious he was being, until he broke, smiling. She laughed, shaking her head.
"Anyway, you're right," she said, "We should look for food for you. But it's pretty unlikely there will be anything on this planet I can eat completley unprocessed. Human beings are allergic to half the things that used to grow on the planet we were born on. Imagine how well our systems would respond to something from another planet. It's a miracle I'm not breaking out in hives just breathing the air."
"That must be part of humanity's legendary hardiness," Amranth said, standing up and offering her a hand, "But you're right. I think there might be a day’s worth of hypoallergenic emergency rations in the ship. They're made to be palatable to any carbon-based species. If we divide them up, it should keep you going long enough to get the ship repaired."
"Actually, I think it's more to do with the pill regimen I was on during the flight over here," she said, following him, "In addition to the pills I took to adjust my reproductive system to your species, I was on supplements to begin slowly adjusting my body to your ecosystem. I was supposed to finish the process under the supervision of a doctor in your palace. I'm really hoping I did enough to handle just being out in nature so long as I don't push it."
Amranth looked worried, but he nodded.
"I'm sure you'll be fine."
They searched the jungle around the ship in a slowly widening circle so that they wouldn't get lost, staying close to one another.
"So," Amranth spoke as he peered through the branches, looking for fruit or an insect hive, "You really thought you were marrying me?"
Lily blushed, examining a mossy stone like it might hold a four-course meal.
"I did," she confessed, "I don't know if Turlabon did it on purpose or if human perception is just different than yours but..."
"And you were okay with it?" Amranth paused to look at her, gaze intense, "You would have gone through with it, if it was me?"
Lily couldn't look at him, too embarrassed.
"I think so," she admitted, her voice almost too quiet to hear, "It's not just how you look, although that did help me make up my mind to try this. You were kind. You seemed to... understand the stress I was under. I was on the edge of calling it off right up till the last minute.
Especially when I met the other wives. But I still thought you could be a good person. I thought I could make it work, as long as it was you. Realizing it wasn't whom I'd expected at the altar, on top of everything else, was too much of a shock. I panicked. If I had just held it together..."
She looked away, guilt twisting at her heart.
"You know exactly what would have happened," Amranth said, his voice firm, and he turned to take her by the shoulder, steadying her, "It wouldn't have been worth it."
"Not even to save my entire planet?" she asked. He pulled her closer and she let him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
He didn't answer. There was nothing he could have said. But he held her until she stopped shaking, his presence solid, reassuring and unthreatening. After a moment, once she felt more stable, she started to pull away.
Something moved in the bushes near them, something big enough to make Lily jump away from Amranth quickly as he reached for his sword.
But as the bushes parted, Lily realized quickly that the unexpected interruption was not one of Turlabon's guards. An old man dressed in a ragged brown habit stood before them, leaning on a walking stick, carrying a basket full of foraged supplies. He was a succulent of some variety, his leaves a bit brown and wrinkled with age, his face at the center of the clusters wide eyed w
ith surprise.
"What are you doing out here?" Amranth asked suspiciously.
"I could ask you the same thing," the old man puffed, leaves bristling, "I live here. Just up the mountain. There used to be a monastery up there you know. Order of the Divine Lotus. I'm all that's left these days."
Amranth relaxed a little, taking his hand from his weapon, though he still kept a wary eye on the stranger.
"Now, what brings two youngsters like you out into the forest?" the old man asked, peering at Lily, "At least, I think you're a youngster. What happened to your petals, sapling?"
"I'm not a floraform," Lily tried to explain, "I'm a mammal."
"Like those little furry things?" the old man wrinkled his nose in confusion.
"Probably." Lily shrugged, laughing a little.
"Our ship crashed," Amranth explained, "It's going to take us a few days to repair it, but then we'll be gone. We won't be any trouble."
"I'm sure you won't," the old man agreed, "I take it your radio broke in the crash?"
"Unfortunately," Amranth confirmed, "But we'll be fine. Thank you for your concern."
"Actually, I have a radio if you need one," the old man pushed, "It's not far. You could have help out here before evening. It gets powerfully cold here at night. Your little mammal friend will freeze in nothing but that slip."
Lily shot Amranth a worried look and he hesitated, looking for the right lie. The old man chuckled.
"I thought so," he said, shaking his head, "You can stop panicking now. I lied. I don't have a radio, or anything else of the sort. Makes it too easy for the king's men to track what I'm up to. You're not the first runaways I've found out here you know.
What's your story? Local business owners who refused his offers too many time? Naturists who got too noisy about Turlabon's campaign to decommission the nature preserves? Political dissidents? I get a lot of those through here."
"I was supposed to marry him," Lily confessed, "The king."
"Ahh, that's a new one," the old man nodded, "The old fungus doesn't let go of his rare blossoms easily. And you're the lover she rejected him for I take it?"
Amranth looked away, shaking his head.
"No. It just wasn't right, what he was doing to her."
"You're a better man than many," the old man said, "To take such a risk with nothing to gain."
Amranth didn't answer, but Lily saw the disagreement in the stiff set of his shoulders.
"My name is Suri'keeler," the old man said, "You may call me Elder Keeler."
"I'm Lily," Lily replied, shaking his hand, "This is Amranth."
"Well, come along then," Keeler turned, limping away, "My home is this way."
Lily looked at Amranth, not sure they should leave the ship, but Keeler answered before her companion could.
"He doesn't trust me yet, so he isn't going to let me just go off unattended. And I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't get you some food and better clothes."
"He's right." Amranth confirmed, already heading after the old man. Lily, still unsure, followed.
Chapter Seven
It was perhaps a thirty-minute walk to the old man's home, which made Lily certain he must have heard their landing and come looking for them.
"I've been living out here since before that old toadstool took the throne," Elder Keeler told them as they walked, occasionally pausing to collect this or that plant or insect, "I remember the days of the old king, before the cities swallowed everything and drove nature into the reservations. Days when we respected where we came from and took care of it as we always should have.
During Turlabon's coup, many flora fled to the reserves. I helped them get off planet or find a new place to settle. And I still help what refugees I can, though far fewer make it to me these days.
Too many get caught by the pitcher plants- flora who claim to smuggle refugees out of the system. Some of them actually do at it, but charge prices that leave the survivors penniless on the other side. More often the victims never even make it off planet. A terrible situation. You two are lucky to have made it this far."
Lily shivered, thinking about being trapped in such a situation.
"Has his rule truly been so terrible?" Amranth asked, "I was only a bud when it happened. But what I remember of those days was not so utopian."
"Turlabon started poisoning this world long before he actually took power," Keeler explained, "The old king was spending more and more time dormant, preparing to pass the crown to his daughter. In the meanwhile, almost everything was being handled by parliament.
Turlabon was the figurehead of a powerful nationalist party that began pushing their agendas through parliament, including the caste system. The seeds of that inequality had already been there, but Turlabon's policies codified it and made it law.
Before long, the nationalist party had taken control of the parliament entirely. From there, they staged a coup, murdered the old king, and instated Turlabon in his. Parliament was dissolved, as were most of the systems and organizations of the previous king.
The planet was thrown into anarchy overnight, and Turlabon let it run like wildfire while he used its cover to destroy centuries of our planet's history and culture, along with anyone who might challenge him, the better the create a narrative where he was the true king and anything he said was law. You're probably too young to remember the 'habitat crisis?'
Once Turlabon began exerting control again, mainly through military force, he claimed the chaos was the result of overpopulation and diminishing resources.
Which was of course, absurd, but flora wanted a reason, something they could point to and blame for what they'd suffered. He began expanding the cities, excising non-intelligent plant life. Turlabon is desperately vain, you see. He doesn't like the reminder that he was ever anything else but perfect.
Before long, he began rounding up the old and the sick, saying they were taking up valuable space that healthy plants could have been using. He claimed to send them to off world colonies, but I don't think they ever left the planet. Either way, they were never heard from again.
Within a few decades, there was no one who'd been much older than you were when he took the throne. No one who could remember things ever having been any different. And Turlabon's control became absolute. Then he began expanding his control beyond the planet. You'll know all about that, I assume."
He gave Amranth a look that Lily didn't quite understand, but Amranth only pursed his lips and said nothing.
"Here we are," Keeler said as they approached a low stonewall with a rusted, moss covered gate, "Welcome to my home. It's a humble little flower bed, but it's taken good care of me."
It was a charming little place, even by human standards. A picturesque cottage of stone and wood with an old bubbled glass ceiling for letting in plenty of light. There was an extensive garden out from, run a little wild, and to Lily's shock, the flowers were singing. They chimed and hummed with every brush of wind, every voice different. Some were clear as bells, others soft as velvet.
"It's beautiful," she said, awed, "How are they doing it?"
"All Sahrian flowers sing," Keeler looked confused by her wonder, pausing to lean on his stick as she went to examine his garden, "Is this the first time you've heard it?"
"The flowers Turlabon sent to my room on the ship didn't sing," Lily replied, confused, "Or the ones in the Garden."
Keeler, equally confused, looked at Amranth, whose expression was guilty.
"Cultivated blossoms," he explained, "The growers were focusing on perfect blooms and gradually bred out the singing."
"Something like that happened on Earth too," Lily said, surprised, "Back in Early Decline. Cultivated flowers didn't have any scent. But they could never sing! Why would anyone allow that to fade?"
"Some people find it annoying," Amranth responded, "And some people..."
He looked away, trailing off.
"I would wager King Turlabon gives silent flowers to his wives for a re
ason," Keeler finished for him, "As a reminder. Beautiful blossoms with no voice. Passive and perfect."
Lily ran her fingers over the petals of a flower, listening to it ring like crystal at her touch, and imagined what it would be live surrounded by such a reminder. She remembered Dahlia in her cage, tearing out her own roots, and wished there was any way she could fix things.
The inside of the cabin was cozy, at once familiar and unsettlingly alien. The one room cottage featured a little kitchen, its utensils and tools puzzling, a central fireplace built wide for cooking and heating. There was no floor, just soft earth and springy moss.
A shelf rimmed the ceiling just above head height, and most things seemed to be stored there or hanging from the ceiling. Amranth, taller than Keeler, had to duck the tools and necessities of life as they followed Keeler inside.
"Lucky for you," the old hermit said, "The last pair of runaways I had through here left some things behind. The ship they chartered to get them off planet didn't have room for the entire luggage. Unfortunate for them, but their misfortune is to your benefit."
He reached up to that high shelf and pulled a slightly dusty canvas suitcase down while Lily squished her toes in the moss.
She knelt by him as he opened it, unpacking a variety of strange clothing.
"Here, I think this will fit you," he said, lifting out a kind of layered sundress of soft white and lilac, "That should be a little better. I think I have a sweater in here that will work as well... Ah, here we go. That should keep you nice and warm."
He pressed them into her arms and Lily smiled gratefully.
"Thank you so much for this," she said, "I think you've saved us."
"Nonsense," Keeler waved a hand, "You would have been fine. That's a very competent escort you've found little sapling. I don't imagine there's anything he couldn't do if he decided to."
Amranth was nearby, peering at some set of tools hanging from the room, which he'd knocked his head on, and Keeler cast him that strange look again, somewhere between disappointment and suspicion.
Alien Romance: ESCAPE: Bride Of The Beast: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Romance, Alien Invasion Romance, BBW) (Celestial Mates Book 5) Page 5
