Ro’sa glanced around, her lips pursed. She saw no signs of food or a place to relieve herself. Her bladder ached from the pressure.
She wandered from one piece of furniture to the next, searching for something to use as a substitute before she made a mess on the floor. Discovering a chair with a hollowed-out section, she used that and hoped she hadn’t made an inappropriate assumption. She washed her hands in the basin nearby then sprawled on her temporary bed. How long she’d have to stay there, she had no idea, but she clung to the knowledge it wasn’t permanent.
. She rolled onto her back and clutched her grumbling belly. If she wandered the halls for a bit, with any luck she’d find somewhere to grab a meal.
Wrapping her robe a little tighter around herself, she headed for the door. It opened with fewer groans and creaks, and Ro’sa hurried out into the corridor. She stopped to smell the air for nourishment. Nothing, though would she recognize the scent of food from Earth?
Water dripped down the rusted walls as she passed through them. There were many doors, but all remained closed to her. If she turned around to return to her quarters, she doubted she’d find her way back. Increasing her pace, she carried on, her stomach encouraging her all the way.
A cacophony of voices caught her attention, and she broke into a run. Where there was a group of people, there had to be food, or they could at least tell her where to locate some.
But all chatter ceased when she burst into the room full of people. They all stared. Some backed away, whispering to the person beside them. Others drew closer, reaching out to her.
“Hi. I’m looking for food.” She froze on the spot, glancing around for someone who could be part of the royal family, someone dressed in the same bright colors as the Queen. “Would any of you be kind enough to show me where I can get something to eat?”
A short, hunched woman hobbled toward Ro’sa, long silver hair flowing down her back. “You’re her? You’re the Star Princess, come to save Earth?”
Save the planet? Was that what they all thought? What they expected? She stepped back. “I am Princess Ro’sa of Minjet. I guess you could say I’ve come to help your people recover. Save your planet? I’m not sure I’m qualified to do that.”
“No, not when she can’t even locate her own food,” a man said.
“She couldn’t even save her own planet,” shouted another. “That’s why we’re stuck down here.”
“Yeah!” The voices of the crowd echoed all around the room as the people closed in on her. “It’s your fault we’re stuck underground. Why don’t you go back to your own planet?”
“I didn’t want....” She spun around and gasped at all the raised fists and angry faces. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
A man with drawings covering both arms lumbered so close she could smell his putrid breath. “Well, whatcha gonna do about it, Princess?”
Ro’sa backed away from him, fearing he would attack. “I...I....”
“Our bellies are hungry, too. We don’t need any extra mouths to feed.”
“Especially green ones.”
She continued to shuffle backward, away from the sneers, suppressing a scream. The crowd behind her parted, allowing her passage, but she cringed from their grasping at her skin, yanking on her hair.
“My baby is so cold,” a woman whispered beside her.
Ro’sa turned to see a tiny baby shivering against its mother, big eyes watching her in a pale face. Its breath condensed into a tiny white cloud.
No matter what they thought of her, she couldn’t stand to see an innocent child suffer. She unwrapped from the length of material given to her and offered it to the mother. “Here. It’s all I have.” Nothing left but her aba, the undergarments fashioned to resemble those she’d worn when she fled Minjet, no doubt in an attempt to make her comfortable.
“Thank you,” the mother said.
Ro’sa tried to help her wrap the baby, but the crowd pressed in on her, shoving her farther away from the entrance. More people touched her, staring at their hands with surprise afterward, as if they expected to contract some deadly disease from her. Others became more personal, groping and fondling with no care for her comfort. Her heart raced, nearly exploding out of her chest.
Thick fingers closed around her wrist, yanking her back. She yelped, losing her balance. For star’s sake, what were they going to do to her?
“Please, don’t hurt me.” She stared into the eyes of the giant who gripped her, a man bigger and broader than any man she’d ever met, including her father. No way could she escape from his tight hold. “I’ll leave, go back to my quarters.” Anything to get him to let go, though she had no idea how to get back anywhere in the tunnels.
“No, in here.” He lifted her then shoved her into a dirt hole in the wall, barricading her in with his body. Her muscles cramped in the small space. No chance of escape. Ever. Did they plan to starve her to death? Or were they discussing ways to torture her?
She kicked at the body blocking her in. No reaction. Not even a grunt. Darkness and panic consumed her. She was trapped and at the mercy of people who didn’t want her on their planet. She leaned back, struggling to catch her breath, and fell backwards in a heap. She wasn’t in a hole, but another tunnel—this one unlit.
Had the man who’d shoved her inside helped her escape?
Ro’sa rose to a crouch and smacked her head on the ceiling. Falling to hands and knees, she crawled through the darkness, preferring the unknown to the people from Earth she’d left behind.
When the shouts and taunts of the crowd faded away, she paused to consider her next move. Her knees and wrists ached. Nothing but more darkness loomed ahead. Was there even a way out? Or was she exerting her energy for nothing?
She breathed deep. In and out, waiting for the pounding in her ears to subside.
After a few minutes, a new sound penetrated her frightened consciousness. Bzzz. Nothing mechanical like the machines used to power her home, but something more organic.
Ro’sa tensed, waiting to see what danger approached, but the sound remained at a distance…making her next move difficult. Nothing good lay behind her, and remaining where she sat wouldn’t find her food or a way out. However, what lay beyond could be anything, maybe something worse than her frantic imagination could conjure. Maybe the guy who’d shoved her inside meant to feed her to his carnivorous pet.
With a sigh, she crept forward. Taking action of any kind was better than starving to death, or being subjected to the torture of those she’d already met on Earth.
As she crawled on, the buzz increased in intensity, and the walls around her opened up, her surroundings lit by the moonlight. She’d discovered a way out.
The sound seemed to come from high in the trees that resembled those back home with their long trunks and big, green foliage. Lying in the dirt, she glanced straight up, able to see the stars beyond Earth’s solar system. Was Minjet still out there somewhere? Or had the Mindues destroyed it?
A flash of yellow light swept through the sky. Then another. Hundreds of them, zipping high over her head and above the trees, urging her to follow them. On her planet, it was believed that the souls of the dead became orbs of light. When needed, they departed from the heavens to guide the lost and comfort the lonely. Were the lights she saw her parents and others from Minjet coming to guide her?
Ro’sa jumped to her feet, anxious to find out. She jogged through the trees, battling with branches in her face and logs trying to trip her. Every now and then, she peeked through the treetops, catching a brief streak of light through the foliage. The trees thinned out, and Ro’sa had a better view of the sky above, but the streaks she’d been following disappeared at a point just ahead. Was her destination a few feet away?
She stopped to listen, hoping to hear the voices of her parents. Maybe they hadn’t died but escaped ahead of her. After all, she’d never seen proof of their demise, only been told by Rog. But what she heard was not her parents, though definitely
familiar....
Chapter Seven
“She’s awake! Princess Ro’sa is awake!”
Deion cringed at the shout. Those surrounding him never spoke any louder than a whisper, their words nearly drowned out by the buzz of the tissue regenerator on his chest. But he heard their worry about Princess Ro’sa, the fate of both planets, and whether he would survive.
He had to. For the recovery of Earth and to marry his princess. So long as she forgave his deception and agreed to marry him, but first, he had to go to her. And that meant waking up, admitting to those around him that he wasn’t as close to the afterlife as they believed.
His mother had remained by his side, morning and night, stepping away only when the doctor ran tests. Other staff and members of his family came and went but never the woman he longed for.
Gripping the edges of his bed, he sucked in a deep breath and opened his eyes.
A collective gasp echoed around him.
“It’s a miracle!” Alexandra shot her hands up in the air. “The princess is awake, and the prince lives.”
“Yes, and I would like to see her.” His voice cracked at the end. He smacked his tongue to the roof of his mouth, trying to get rid of the feel of cotton.
Deion’s brother, Aron, burst into the room. “I need help. The princess. She’s gone.”
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Alexandra bustled over to Aron, appearing abnormally small in comparison. “I left her in her room.”
Aron glared at their nanny, the woman who’d helped raise them. “The key words being left her. I found her room empty, and by the time I caught up with her, she’d stumbled upon the vagrants.”
One hand on her hip, Alexandra pushed her finger into Aron’s chest. “They shouldn’t be here. I told you that all along.”
“Enough.” Deion’s mother moved in between her son and her children’s nanny. “Those people deserve our protection, too, whether or not they choose to live in our kingdom.” She turned her focus to Aron. “Where is Princess Ro’sa now?”
Aron shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Deion sat up, knocking the machine to the ground. His heart drummed with panic. “What do you mean you don’t know?” He hadn’t traveled all the way to Minjet and back for his betrothed to disappear. Even if she was mad at him for deceiving her, someone should have followed Ro’sa, ensured her safety.
All color drained from Aron’s face. “I put her in the escape tunnel. I wanted to keep her safe until I calmed them down. They kept touching her, yanking on her hair. I could tell they were making her uncomfortable.” He glanced at the floor. “But when I went to let her out, she was gone. She’d actually used the tunnel to escape.”
“Well, go find her.” Their mother shoved Aron back out into the hall, flinging a backpack at him.
“No, wait.” Deion yanked the tubes from his nose and arms before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. “I’ll go. I think I know where she may be.” If she was healthy enough to get through the tunnel, he knew exactly where she’d end up.
His mother bustled to his side. “ Please lie down. I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’ve just regained consciousness. You need to remain under observation for at least a few hours.”
“I’m going.” He slipped off the bed but grabbed the edge to steady himself. If his muscles gave out in front of the queen, she’d have him restrained before he made it past her. “Aron can come, too.”
With a heavy breath, his mother crossed her arms. “Fine, but I want Princess Ro’sa located. Aron, if your brother slows you down, go on without him. Chal can look after Deion.”
Slow him down? No way would he let that happen. Deion rushed out of the room, using the spinning in his head to propel him forward. He gripped the railing at the bottom of the stairs leading out of the underground complex, though with Aron bounding close behind, he didn’t have time to stop.
“You sure you’re okay, Dei?” His brother clasped his shoulder, putting pressure on the spot where the Mindu had shot him. “I can retrieve her on my own. Just tell me where you think she is.”
Deion shrugged off Aron’s touch. “No. She’s my responsibility. You’re the reason she is missing anyway.”
“Asshole.” His brother shoved past him. “I was trying to help her, which is more than anyone else around here tried to do. They were all worried about their precious prince.”
Deion squeezed the railing tighter. “I’m sorry. I’m just very worried about her.”
Aron paused on the top step and turned to face him. “You must like this Princess Ro’sa. I know you weren’t sure at first, but it looks like you’ve changed your mind.”
“I do like her, and I know I will someday love her. I truly wish it had been you on Minjet with me. You would have loved it there. I imagine it somewhat resembles what Earth used to be like.”
“I’m sure it’s beautiful. Or was, but you forget, Cyrus is dead. If I had taken his place, that would have been my fate.”
They both bowed their heads for a moment of remembrance.
“And, anyway, you can’t have both princes flying into space. You do know if you hadn’t recovered, I’d be marrying Ro’sa, right?”
“Not a chance in the void. She’s all mine, and unlike any woman I’ve ever met. Independent, strong-willed.... But, she doesn’t know this planet. If she walks around Earth as she did Minjet, she’ll end up sick. Or worse.” He had to find her right away.
Chal, a guard no older than his brother, caught up with them. “Um, are you planning on finding the princess today?”
Aron grunted and hefted his pack onto his shoulder before shoving the heavy metal door open. “Yes, let’s get going.”
“Head toward the waterfall.” Deion’s own pride no longer mattered. He couldn’t let Ro’sa drink the water, or even touch it. “Hurry!”
Deion sprinted behind his brother, jumping over fallen trees and ducking under low-hanging branches a second after Aron, Chal breathing heavily behind him. At the faint sound of crashing water, Deion quickened his pace. Ro’sa had to be nearby. His heart thumped harder and harder the closer he raced to the edge.
As they neared the cliff, Aron leaped to the left. He disappeared behind a clump of bushes. Foliage flew into the air, and someone screamed. A woman. Had Aron located his betrothed?
Deion switched directions, spotting his brother lying in the dirt. Ro’sa was sprawled across him, her arm across his throat.
“A little help here,” his brother choked out.
While he found it funny to see Aron pinned to the ground by someone so much smaller, he couldn’t forget his brother had tried to save her. “Um, Ro’sa…could you please get off him?”
She stood with a gasp and spun to face him. Her eyes grew so wide, he thought they might fall out of their sockets. “Cyrus? You’re alive?”
Deion shook his head. “I...I truthfully am Prince Deion. I tried to tell you that.”
Her chin trembled. “You....” She bit her bottom lip and squeezed her eyes shut for a long moment. “Why did you make me think you were the prince’s aide? You had plenty of opportunity to tell me the truth.”
Aron flung the pack at Deion’s feet. “Looks like you have some explaining to do, Dei. I’ll leave you two alone and go back and tell Mom we found the princess.” He slapped Chal on the back, and the two disappeared into the woods.
Ro’sa cocked her head, staring at Aron as he walked away. “Mom? You two are brothers?”
“Half.” Deion dug his toe into the dirt. “My father was killed by a group of vagrants before I was born. Three years later, Mom learned she was expecting Aron, and she married the guard who’d gotten her pregnant.”
“The woman who took me to my quarters. Queen Alexandra.”
He chuckled. “No, gosh no. Alexandra could never be queen.”
“Then why was she wearing a crown?”
Deion shuffled his feet. Hmm, how to explain how his kingdom worked. “My mother doesn’t feel the need to
wear such frivolous things. She is not above digging in the dirt alongside her people. Alexandra, on the other hand, wants to wear the crown, feels it places her above the people, though she’s simply our nanny. Or was, when Aron and I were younger. She’s Cyrus’s mother, too. We all grew up together.”
Ro’sa pursed her lips. “Okay, but that still doesn’t explain why you lied to me.”
He cringed, holding up his hands. Would she ever forgive him? “I tried to tell you that first night. Remember? But you ran away from me.”
She dropped her chin to her chest. “Oh.”
“Doesn’t matter. Right now, I need to know whether you drank the water.”
“No.” She wrinkled her nose. “While the plant-colored water is interesting, the smell kept me away.”
“Good. Okay....” Some of his tension melted away. “We have filtered water inside the bunker from a clean source.”
The princess squeezed his elbow. “I can’t go back down there.” All color drained from her face. “Your people made it clear they don’t want me here.”
“No, my people sent me to Minjet to bring you back. Those you met are transients. We were trying to protect them from the possibility of a Mindu attack. We didn’t mean for them to accost you.”
“And your brother shoved me into a dark hole. Why?”
With her hands on her waist and the way she leaned to one side with her hip thrust out, Ro’sa had lost all her vulnerability. A surge of lust headed straight to Deion’s groin. He groaned at the image of the woman no longer in need of saving but one he wanted to ravage and finish what they’d started on Minjet. “He....” Deion swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. “He was trying to protect you.”
“Just as you did my father.”
“Kind of.” He winced, remembering the pain of the blast when it hit his shoulder. “Though I don’t think the transients were intent on killing you the way the Mindues were your father.”
The Star Princess (Beyond Fairytales) Page 5
