by Sara Nebula
Wow. That is the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me. I’m fairly sure Meki is a horrible man with a lot of blood on his hands, but he’s also some kind of a hopeless romantic poet or something. What an odd combination.
“Thank you,” I reply simply. I don’t want to give him the impression that I like him or anything.
“We must go, my Queen,” he says. “It is time for our reunion to be complete.”
Well, I’m glad he’s taken to calling me his Queen. That makes me feel good...
Meki’s hand moves from the back of my neck to cupping my cheek.
“Absolutely beautiful,” he says.
“You’re ok too,” I reply. “Some of the time.”
This actually gets a laugh out of him. Maybe he’s capable of softening up after all...
THE ALIEN CALLED JANKI is waiting for us when we arrive at the gates of the temple. The temple is made from the same building materials as everything else around here. The main difference is that it’s much larger and looks like an ancient Roman temple. This planet sure is a weird place. It seems all the technology goes into their ships and weapons, while everything else is left as primitive as possible.
“My Yalar, please go inside. I will take your Nura to her room.”
“Thank you, Janki. Yalani’s blessings be upon you.”
“You as well, my Yalar.”
Janki takes my hand and leads me into the temple. I can hear Meki’s heavy footsteps as he follows close behind. But soon Janki leads me down a different path. The temple is dark, and Janki pulls me into a stairwell with what looks like an endless set of stairs leading down.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask.
“Silence, girl. I am taking you to the Goddess.”
I thought for sure that Meki must have been joking when he said the Goddess herself would be waiting for us. Don’t Goddesses have palaces in the heavens or something? I guess here they actually live on the planet with their creations.
Janki walks quickly in front of me and pulls me along behind him. I almost trip a few times, but that doesn’t seem to bother him. I manage to match his pace, but I’m starting to get out of breath the further we descend.
Finally, we arrive at the bottom of the stairs. Janki brings me through a large golden door, and into a room flooded with torchlight. The walls of this room are a light blue color and painted with images of couples making love in every position imaginable. It’s like the temple walls are some sort of Kama Sutra or something. Watching each couple in every painting is a naked young woman with long black hair, a curvy body, and golden eyes. Her skin is red like most of Meki’s people. I seem to instinctively know that this is the Goddess they’ve all been talking about.
Janki lets go of my hand. I am too entranced by the paintings to notice when he leaves the room completely, but the door slams shut behind me.
“Hello?” I call out as I wander about the room. It’s cold down here, and I shiver as I imagine that Janki left me down here to die. Maybe this isn’t a wedding after all. Maybe I’m going to be a sacrifice for their bloodthirsty Goddess.
I try to pull the door open, but it’s no use. I push on every wall in hopes of finding a secret passage, but there are none. Just as I’m ready to give up and slide to the floor to wait for my fate, a woman begins to take shape in the center of the room.
“Hannah, you are safe here,” she says in a soothing voice.
I get back up and go towards the center. The woman is translucent, and I put my hand through her. This must be...
“I am Yalani, the Goddess of this planet. And you are the Nura of Meki Lin’ka.”
“I think you all have that wrong. I’m not marrying that guy.”
“You do not have to,” she says. She finishes materializing and places a hand on my shoulder.
“Are you saying that I don’t have to marry him then? Does that mean I can go home?”
“No. Not yet,” she replies. “But I will help you escape if that is what you truly desire.”
“Yes! Get me out of here now!” I scream. My voice echoes through the chamber.
The Goddess places a hand on my forehead.
“You were made for Meki. You are the only one who can be his Queen.”
“I’m happy just being me — a normal girl from Earth.”
“He must prove his love to you. That is Meki’s test. If he were to show you that he loves you more than anything in this universe would you reunite with him?”
“He’s too — violent — for me.”
“Yes, he is a warrior. But you can show him another way, Hannah. You are the only one.”
I lock eyes with the Goddess. This is probably the only time in my life that I’ll have a chance to do that with a divine being, so I take it. I’m not going to stand here and listen to her tell me that I belong to Meki. I will defy even her.
“You show him. I’m done with all of you. You’re a Goddess, so send me home now.”
“Your Nura must be given a chance to prove himself to you. But I will send you into the city. You can do what you wish while you are there and wait for Meki to come to you.”
“Fine. I’ll find my own way home,” I reply.
“Look into your heart, Hannah, and you’ll see that you should at least try.”
She waves her hand, and suddenly, I am outside. The streets are bustling with activity, but I feel more alone than I ever have in my life. But I’m stronger than I think I am, and it’s time to prove it to myself. I duck into a quiet alley to collect my thoughts, and then I’m hit by something that makes me fall over and cover my eyes.
“Who is it?” I shout.
“You belong in the circada mines, human. Or better yet — the Pleasure House. I’ll make some nice money off you, after I’ve had my own fun with you first, of course,” says a deep and foreboding voice. Where Meki’s voice is smooth and pleasant to listen to, this one fills me with true fear.
Meki
*
I can’t believe the Goddess would test me in this way. Is my faith not strong enough? My Nura is gone, and without her, I can think of nothing else. Even war has slipped from my mind.
“Find the girl now, Janki. She can’t have gone far.”
“Are you truly sure she’s the one, my Yalar? The Goddess would not have brought your Nura to you and then taken her away like this. It has never happened in the history of Yalania!”
I grab Janki by the neck of his robe and pull him closer.
“I am absolutely sure, and you have no idea how it feels to be separated from her. It feels like being stabbed in the heart a thousand times per minute. So, if you value your life, Priest, you will find the girl and bring her back to me.”
“Yes, my Yalar. As you wish. But perhaps—”
I toss Janki across my room. He hits the wall with a thud.
“Find the girl, Janki.”
The weak Lunarian gets up, bows, and scurries out of the room. I do not believe he will find Hannah. The Goddess herself told me that if I ever wanted to see Hannah again, I would have to find her. Then I would have to prove my love to her.
Hannah’s screams reverberate through my ears. Some harm must be coming to her. I can’t delay any longer, so I grab my circadian sword from the wall and head out of the palace to find her.
Hannah’s screams are amplified in my mind now as I wander the streets of Incare in search of her. Despite being apart, it seems that my ability to hear her has only grown stronger.
I make my way through a crowd of people in the marketplace and search every stall for signs of Hannah. I find no humans anywhere, and it causes a rage to build up inside of me. My loyal subjects step aside and allow me to manifest that rage in the form of tearing their market stalls apart or smashing pottery against a wall. It’s only when I shove a child out of my way that I suspect I’ve gone too far. I apologize to the young one and find an alley to collect my thoughts in.
But every time I try to calm myself down, I hear Hannah’s sc
reams. Wherever she is, it sounds like she’s being tortured.
“Curses, Yalani!” I shout at the sky in hopes that the Goddess will come before me and bring Hannah with her. Have I not always been loyal in my devotion to the Goddess? Am I not deserving of my one true mate? I cannot accept this as my destiny — to wander the streets of Incare alone without my Hannah at my side. I have become something I never believed I could be. I have become a desperate man.
The three suns finally set, and I am left to wander through the now dark and cold streets in search of my love. I howl as I wander, perhaps hoping my Hannah will hear my pain and realize what she did to me by running away.
Her screams continue, and as I wander down yet another alley, they become clearer as if they are no longer just in my head. I lean on my sword and look up at the building before me. It looks like all the rest, but I know this one well, because I outlawed its very existence. But the exaltations coming from within prove to me that I was not taken seriously. Loud human female moaning and the grunting of Incarian warriors hungry for satisfaction floods my ears. I did not want to believe that Hannah could be at the Pleasure House, but I should have known the girl could not last long out here without getting herself captured and brought to this place.
I pick up my sword and knock on the door. I can feel the presence of my Nura here, and if someone here is hurting her, they will soon meet the winds of death.
Hannah
*
This place is bursting with color. Ornate tapestries with scenes of battle and sex adorn the walls. Outside of the Pleasure House, everything is red. But inside there is unspeakable beauty all around me.
My captor shoves me to the ground, and we’re greeted by a beautiful red woman in violet robes. She wears a crown with a blue gemstone fixed to the front. I immediately understand where I’ve been taken. This is obviously the brothel, and I’m about to be sold into sex slavery. As I look around the room, I see aliens having sex with human women, and the women really seem to be enjoying it, surprising enough...
Since I got here have been passed from one captor to another. Perhaps that is my existence now, and there is no escape. But I refuse to believe it. My arms may be chained behind my back, and my ankles bound together, but I will be free. There has to be a way.
“What is your name girl?” the tall and beautiful woman asks me. I’m certain she’s the madam of this place.
“I don’t have one,” I lie.
“You can get her name later,” growls the man who took me captive. He is around Meki’s height, which I reason to be about seven feet tall. Unlike the other aliens, he does not wear a robe. He wears nothing but a loin cloth. His chest is covered in scars and I suppose he leaves them uncovered to show them off. I remember that Meki has no such chest scars, though I’m certain he’s seen just as many battles as this man.
“I have no chest scars, because I know how to dodge an attack,” says Meki inside my head.
I shake my head. Can I really be hearing his voice like this? Are we really that connected to each other?
“This one seems quite confused, Gorai,” the woman says as she looks me over.
“You know these humans, Koia. They are all confused until they’ve got a big dick inside of them.” Gorai spits on the floor in my direction. Thankfully, it doesn’t hit me. He bursts into laughter.
“I’ll give you a thousand Eck,” says Koia. “Nothing more.”
“Awww, come on,” Gorai growls. “She’s a pretty one, if you ask me. How about you give me two thousand for her and I’ll give you five hundred back so I can have a go at her.”
I shudder at the thought of Gorai “having a go at me”.
“Let me go!” I finally find the courage to shout.
“Hush, girl,” says Koia. “You will be grateful to be under my care once this nasty man leaves our presence.”
Gorai thumps his chest. “Nasty? Oh, Koia, perhaps it’s you I should feast on tonight instead of this pathetic human. I’ll show you just how nasty I can be.”
Koia opens her belt pouch and removes several silver coins. She hands them to Gorai. “There’s fifteen hundred. Now get out of my sight, Gorai, or I’ll bite your dick off.”
Gorai takes the money and stuffs it into his own belt pouch. He bows to Koia, and then to me.
“Enjoy your stay, little human slut,” he hisses.
I spit at him and manage to hit his leg.
“You pathetic little beast!” He cries out.
“Leave now, Gorai!” Koia shouts.
Just as Gorai prepares to leave, Meki bursts through the door whirling a sword over his head.
“My Yalar!” Koia exclaims.
Meki grabs Gorai and shoves him up against a wall. I guess it’s quite obvious who the stronger warrior is.
“You sold my Nura to a brothel!” Meki shouts in Gorai’s face.
“Pleasure girls are in short supply these days, my Yalar. Ever since you sent them all to work in the circada mine. I’m just a simple businessman making an honest living off the situation you created. I bring Koia all her girls now.”
“No more,” Meki says as he sets Gorai down. As Gorai tries to run out of the brothel, Meki swings his sword and separates Gorai’s head from his body. Koia shrieks, and the sounds of pleasure that provided the backdrop for this place all seem to stop at once except for a few hushed moans.
“Everyone out now!” shouts Meki as he picks me up from the floor. He holds my hand tight as we watch the patrons and prostitutes flee the Pleasure House.
Koia drops to her knees before Meki.
“My Yalar, please spare my life. I beg you.”
“You have broken the law, Koia, but I will show you mercy tonight. I am reunited with my Nura and that is all that matters.”
Koia’s golden eyes meet mine. “What a beautiful Nura she is, my Yalar. I am sure Yalani will bless you with many children.”
Meki doesn’t strike me as the kind who normally shows mercy, so seeing him spare Koia’s life is another sign to me that perhaps there is a sweeter and gentler Meki underneath the hard exterior. I wonder for a moment if I might be the one who could bring that side out of him. Could I possibly be the only woman who can tame this monstrous man?
I’ve always loved puzzles, and Meki certainly seems like a complicated one...
Meki sheathes his sword and scoops me up into his arms as if I weigh nothing. For some reason, I now feel very safe with him. Maybe it’s just the trauma of having been captured by Gorai and nearly sold to the Pleasure House.
“You could have been killed or forced to do unspeakable things with the men who visit that place. You should not have run from our Nurani ceremony, Hannah. I am not even sure how you escaped. Did you not see the Goddess?”
“I saw her,” I whisper. “She teleported me outside, and I wandered into an alley where Gorai captured me. I guess she didn’t see that one coming...”
“Yalani sees everything. She must have had her reason for setting you free, though I cannot fathom what it is. You’re safe now though, and I will bring you back to the palace now where you will remain in my rooms and rest.”
“I don’t think you understand, Meki. I don’t want to marry you. I need to go back to Earth.”
“Your family and friends are all dead. There is nothing there for you now.”
“I love how you expect me to just take your word for it.”
“I am your closest connection in the entire universe. Other than yourself, you should trust me more than anyone else.”
I say nothing more as he carries me into the palace and back to his chambers. He sets me down on the bed, which as it turns out is indescribably comfortable. It literally feels “out of this world”.
“We will remain here together for three days,” he says. “By the end of that time we will be married, as you say in your language.”
I sigh heavily. I watch as Meki strips and climbs into the pool. Watching his muscular figure stirs something within me. I can’t deny t
hat I find him strangely attractive. I don’t know if this means I’m his soulmate or I just find the view to be pleasant.
“You should thank me for saving you tonight,” he says.
I laugh. “You saved me so you could take me prisoner again.”
“You are not my prisoner. You will be my Queen, Hannah. I do not understand why you cannot see the difference. Come to me. Let me show you something.”
I slide off the bed and stand at the edge of the pool.
“Remove your robe and join me in the pool,” he commands.
“If I’m your Queen then you should treat me like it. Stop bossing me around so much. I’m not one of your servants, Meki, and I won’t be made into one.”
“Please join me in the pool, sweet Hannah,” he says.
“That’s much better,” I reply as I remove my robes and enter the pool. I don’t bother to hide myself from him, but I keep to the opposite end of the pool.
“Come closer, please.”
He seems to have adopted a softer tone with me, perhaps in order to make my stay on Yalania more pleasant, I don’t think it would hurt if I cooperate with him just a little. I walk towards the center of the pool where Meki meets me.
“I will show you my love,” he says as he places a hand on each of my temples.
My eyes involuntarily close, and a parade of colors dances across my eyelids. It’s pleasurable enough, but I’m not sure I understand what he’s showing me. Then it hits all at once. I feel as if my spirit is rushing out of my body and then immediately being pulled right back in. It doesn’t hurt though. No, it’s the exact opposite. It’s the most powerful feeling of pleasure I’ve ever had.
“Wow,” I hear myself whisper.
“This is only the beginning,” he replies.
I feel myself solidly back in my body, and a pair of warm lips meet mine. I do not shy away from them. I push my own lips against his and as we stand there, I can feel a powerful energy working through every atom of my body and then moving into his. We pass the energy back and forth between us.
