Alien Prince: (Bride of Qetesh) An Alien SciFi Romance (42 page)

I hadn
’
t realized how all of that emotion was just below the surface, or how quickly and forcefully it would come pouring out. In fact, I couldn
’
t recall a time in my life where I
’
d felt this strongly about anyone or anything. How could I possibly leave him?

“
It
’
s all right, Nova, sweet Nova,
”
he hummed.
“
It
’
s all right.
”

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
I said, pulling away at last and looking up into his face. I had never seen him weep, but I could tell that his eyes were glassy with unshed tears of his own.

“
It
’
s fine.
”
He pressed a lingering kiss to my forehead before turning away from me to sling the pack over his shoulder.
“
Don
’
t fret, sweet lady,
”
he said and made himself smile.
“
Nothing will happen to me, and we
’
ll get you safely off planet and home again. All right?
”
But somehow that didn
’
t stem the flow of my tears, so all I could do was silently nod.
“
All right,
”
he continued, crouching down low.
“
Climb on.
”

“
It
’
s okay,
”
I stammered.
“
I can walk for a while.
”

“
No,
”
he said, his voice low.
“
I
’
d rather have you close.
”

I grinned a lopsided sort of grin, though my cheeks were covered in saltwater, and climbed onto his back. He hoisted me high, and I wrapped one arm loosely about his neck, grateful to be once again so close to him.

“
It should only be another hour
’
s walk,
”
he said, and we started off again in the direction of his village.

So, she would leave me. Despite how I had unmanned myself, thrown myself upon her mercy and begged her to take me with her, still, she would leave me. I would have been embarrassed had she not betrayed her true feelings for me when she expressed concern over my continued survival, and I could draw some sliver of comfort from that.

Still, every step I took that drew us nearer to my village filled me with dread. Dread that our journey would be successful, that I would take her to the heart of the spacecraft that was at the center of our town and that she would successfully employ the communicators to hail a passing ship; and dread that we would not reach our goal, that we would be apprehended by Fegar. I knew he would kill me if given half a chance. I did not know if Novalyn would be granted that same courtesy. He was a brute, and I knew that I could not let her fall into his hands.

We reached the crest of another peak, and I pointed to the valley below.
“
There, do you see?
”
I asked, pointing. The spire that was the nose of the ship could be seen from this distance, as well as the buildings around it, expanding outward like a spiral.

“
Is that it?
”
she asked, squinting her eyes against the glare of the waning starlight.

“
Yes,
”
I confirmed and set off toward it.
“
That is it.
”

“
Does it have a name?
”

“
Qular, the capital city of Qetesh,
”
I answered, perhaps with more than a hint of pride.
“
We are the Qet, the men of Qetesh. Our priests are named for our capital city, for they not only oversee our rituals and spiritual guidance, but also city planning, and government.
”

“
So much for the separation of church and state,
”
she mumbled.

“
What?
”

“
Nothing.
”
She paused, peering over my shoulder at the city as we moved.
“
But this Fegar guy
—
he is not a Qulari priest.
”

“
No,
”
I confirmed.
“
He
’
s the leader and war chief. His second in command, however,
is
a Qulari priest. We have always needed our leaders
not
to be priests.
”

“
And why is that?
”

“
Balance. If the priests run everything else, it is vital that the Qet who wields the most power did not come up in the priesthood. There is rather a bit of indoctrination, as you might imagine.
”

“
Mm. And what about the women? Before, I mean. What was their role in your society?
”

I furrowed my brow, trying to consider what she might have meant.
“
I do not understand
—
our women held positions, the same as the men. We have had female war chiefs, female priests. Our women were strong and tall, much larger than the likes of you Earth women. And they were spectacularly beautiful.
”

“
Were they, now?
”
she asked, and I wondered if I did not hear a slight twinge of jealousy. I could not help but grin.

“
Oh, yes. Powerful limbs, long, lustrous hair, with skin that glimmered in the starlight and scales over their breasts. Beautiful creatures.
”
I lifted a hand to brush my fingertips over the arm that she had about my neck.
“
But not as beautiful as my lady Novalyn.
”

I heard her audibly scoff, and chuckled quietly.
“
Right,
”
she said.
“
Sure.
”

I was groggy from the restless night before, where I had wanted nothing more than to press my body up against hers; I was agitated from the revelations of our hearts, where I had begged to stay with her and had been rebuked; I was dejected, pained by the very notion of her impending departure. And yet, even still, as we grew nearer and nearer to the village, my heart swelled. It was good to be home.

Qular wasn
’
t much to look at, though it was a cheerful little village. Festooned with colorful prayer flags that linked each stand of the marketplace, it had once been a bustling metropolis. But ever since our women had died out, a sort of gloom had descended over the place. Sure, the Qet took male lovers, but our women had brought life to the planet, and the village seemed sadly desolate now that they were gone. Maybe, I thought, just maybe, some of these Earth women would stay and imbue the place with some life again. The notion warmed me, even though I was certain Fegar would not let me stick around to see it.

I set my lady on the ground when we reached the outskirts of town.
“
Stay close, stay hidden,
”
I whispered to her.
“
I do not know if my former friends will turn on me and give me to Fegar, and we cannot expect that he will let us simply walk into the center of town.
”
She nodded her head in confirmation, and we began to creep through the small city that was the place of my birth.

When I was small, we had been building, hoping that our population would grow. But because all of our breeders had died off, the homes on the outskirts of town were abandoned, locked up, waiting, empty, for a family to occupy them. It was easy to move through these abandoned buildings, these vacant side streets. The layout of the city was supposed to be a simple one: the homes of warriors were to be on the outer reaches of the town, with priests and merchants, midwives and healers living in the more insular rings. Then, the marketplace with open-air stalls, and finally the spire, which was really just the ship that had brought my people here, in the center of all of it.

I wondered, as we moved silently around the small homes, then the marketplace stalls, if it looked anything like the city where Novalyn was from.

I hated that I had to sneak through my own hometown, ducking down behind a crate, pressing my back against a building whenever I saw any other members of the Qet. But it heartened me to see a few Earth women roaming the village with them, looking happy enough to be where they were.

“
I should go to them,
”
Novalyn said, seeing a pair of women examining fruit on display in the marketplace.

“
No,
”
I said.
“
Hail your ship. When
—
or
if
—
it arrives, then you can give them the option to leave with you.
”

She nodded, and we proceeded forward, moving on tiptoe, darting from spot to spot like bandits in the night.

Finally, we reached the spire and took a moment to marvel at it. The chrome shined in the last vestiges of starlight, coming to an elegant point, around which curled wisps of decorative metal. It was a beautiful vessel, though it was doubtful, given how it was embedded low in the dirt, that it would ever take to the sky again.

The hatch was open, so Novalyn and I slipped inside. They had turned what was the cargo bay into a place of worship and meditation: the floor was covered with all manner of plush velveteen pillows and woven rugs; candles lit everything in a warm orange glow.
“
This way,
”
I whispered and led her toward large porthole-like passageway, into a corridor, and up a narrow flight of stairs.

“
You know your way around this place pretty well?
”
she asked in low tones, following close at my heels.

I gave a nod in response.
“
Yes,
”
I murmured.
“
Like the back of my hand. I ran these halls as a child when my father was Chieftain.
”

It even smelled the same, though I could not remember the last time I had seen it. The day of my exile, perhaps, when Fegar
’
s men had set upon me and sliced off my horn so that I would never forget the shame of the day I had lost my position at the head of my clan.

Once on the second tier of the spire, I crossed past a ladder that would have taken a ship
’
s mechanic to the engine room, and moved toward the bridge. It was not a gargantuan ship, but it had brought a thousand people across the vast expanse of the galaxy, so it did take us a significant amount of time to get where we were going. We ducked into darkened halls when we heard voices, tried to quiet our breathing, but I could almost hear my heartbeat, it was beating so loud.

Finally, we reached our destination and moved to a dark communications panel.

“
Do you know how to work this thing?
”
Novalyn asked in hushed tones.

“
Not a clue,
”
came my reply. Novalyn ran her fingers carefully over the panel.

“
I recognize these markings,
”
she said, leaning in to examine them more closely.
“
I saw them in the pod that took me here, and also on the Echelon ship I woke up on.
”
She explored it, allowing her eyes to come to a close as though she were attempting to access a deeply embedded memory. After a few attempts to turn the machine on, she found the right button and the panel hummed to life. Novalyn lit up as it sputtered and glowed.

“
Welcome
,
”
said the machine, just as it had in the pod when we discovered our translators. It was a woman
’
s voice, just as before.
“
I am Federation Ship 45813, the
Arclight
. I am an internal AI. Please identify yourself.
”

Novalyn and I glanced between one another; I shrugged.

“
Novalyn Bryce,
”
she said, loudly and firmly.

“
Thank you. Processing.
”
The air was quiet between us for the span of a few breaths.
“
Thank you
…
Novalyn Bryce, Transfer Subject E29-2114. Please choose from the menu items.
”