Kidnapping Keela (11 page)

Well, I definitely won’t ever get to hear those words from your father.

Keela sighed.

“Let’s pack our things away,” she said in the end. “I’m tired and I’d like to rest before dinner. I didn’t sleep well last night. I think I’ll go to bed early tonight.”

“OK. I’ll go and see Trommy.”

Keela was sitting on her bed trying to read one of Solima’s old children’s books. It was a beautiful picture book with simple sentences that she could partly guess at, thanks to the pictures. Yet she still had difficulty. The Carthian alphabet consisted of thirty two letters which had no similarity whatsoever with her own alphabet. She sighed and put the book down on her lap. With her eyes closed she was enjoying the gentle breeze coming into the room through the open window. Suddenly there was a cry from outside and she leapt out of bed, her heart pounding. It had definitely been Solima.

She slipped on her shoes quickly and rushed out of the room, along the corridor and down the stairs. Without stopping at all she pulled open the door and ran outside. She could see Solima in the distance, lying on the ground, her pergamo standing next to her, holding its head down to the girl. Two guards were already with Solima and two more were running towards her.
 

Keela’s pulse was racing. What could have happened to Solima and where was Marruk? She sprinted across the yard and over the bordering lawn to the small sandy area that Solima used for riding when her father was not riding with her. As she got closer she could see that tears were pouring down Solima’s cheeks and her face was contorted with pain. The girl was groaning and crying quietly.

“What happened?” cried Keela breathlessly.

“She was thrown off by Trommy,” one of the guards reported. “Her shoulder is dislocated. We have to fly her to the palace. Our medical unit is not as good as the one at the palace.”

Keela knelt down next to Solima. It really did look bad and the girl was in a lot of pain. The poor little thing was already as white as chalk.

“I can fix it before we fly. It’ll take us too long to get to the palace. She won’t be able to bear this pain for that long. “

“What’s going on here?” Marruk’s worried voice could be heard.

He strode swiftly towards them. With an expression of grave concern he fell onto his knees next to his daughter and gently put his hand to her pale cheek. He swore quietly when he saw the dislocated shoulder.
 

“Lady Keela just said that she could sort out the joint,” said Malaka, one of the guards.

Marruk’s eyes fell upon Keela, as he appraised the situation.

“Have you ever done this before?” he asked.

“Yes, twice. It shouldn’t be too difficult with such a little girl. If we put her into the glider like this she’s sure to faint. The pain is too much.”

Marruk looked at his daughter, anxious. It was not difficult to see how much pain she was in. She was as white as chalk and her forehead was drenched in sweat. Her eyes were glassy and Keela was afraid she could be in trauma. In the end Marruk nodded.

“OK, fine. Do what you can. Malaka, organise the glider. Hurry!”

Malaka nodded and ran off. Keela showed Marruk how he should hold his daughter, then she set about performing the difficult task. As she had hoped, it was simpler with a child than with grown men. She had sorted out her father’s shoulder when he had fallen out of a tree, and two years later for her older brother’s when he had fallen from a roof. That had been hard work and in comparison this was child’s play.

“You’ve done it,” said Marruk in amazement. “Th… thank you.”

“That’s OK,” Keela dismissed it, embarrassed. She stroked a damp strand of hair off Solima’s face. “How are you doing, little one?”

“Better,” replied Solima weakly. “It’s not hurting any more but I don’t feel well.”

“I know darling. We’re taking you to the palace now. Bear up, OK?”

Solima nodded bravely. Marruk took his daughter carefully in his arms. Over the top of Solima’s head he looked at Keela. Her heart began to pound. There it was again. This connection. Could he feel it, too?

The glider stopped near them and the magic moment was gone. They stood up in silence. The men put Solima down carefully onto the middle seat. Keela sat on the back row to keep an eye on the girl.

Keela felt that Marruk was flying even faster this time than he had the last time. They landed at the palace sooner than she expected. Marruk had already informed the palace of their impending arrival and four men, dressed in white, were already waiting with a stretcher, so that they could take Solima to the palace clinic as quickly as possible. Keela followed the procession with mixed emotions: she was concerned about the girl. She was not happy that she was still feeling so unwell despite the arm being sorted out. On the other hand she was pleased to be here again. She had missed Moreena and even though she loved Solima like a daughter, she was only a child. She missed the company of adults. Marruk did not count as he was avoiding her and because the tension between them was almost unbearable.
 

The royal couple was coming towards them from inside the palace. Both of them were concerned above all about Solima and were now walking alongside the stretcher until they all reached the clinic at last. Solima was put onto a bed in a small room that was so small that only the healer could go in with her.

“Keela, my love,” the queen now turned to Keela and embraced her briefly but warmly. “It’s a shame that we’re meeting in such unhappy circumstances.”

“Yes, I’m so worried. She fell from her pergamo and dislocated her shoulder. I was able to sort the shoulder out but she still seems to be in a bad way. I hope she has no internal injuries. I …”

Moreena took her hands and squeezed them.

“Don’t worry. The medical unit can work out exactly what’s wrong and heal her. Depending on how bad it is it can take a few hours or a few days but she will be well again. Trust me.”

After a while, that felt like ages to Keela, the healer came out of the medical unit and gave them all an encouraging smile.

“Your Highness, Princess Solima has severe concussion and slight internal injuries. Her condition is now stable but I think it’ll take two or three days for her to get on her feet again.”

“Can I go to her?” asked Marruk.

“Of course. Someone should be with her the whole time anyway. Perhaps you’d like to take the first shift, my Prince.”

Princess? My Prince?

Keela looked first at Marruk, then at the king and queen. There was indeed an undeniable similarity. Above all Marruk looked similar to the king, although neither the king nor the queen had Marruk’s extraordinary eye colour.

Of course, you donkey. That should have occurred to you sooner,
her inner voice mocked her.
For goodness’ sake, Keela, you really are slow. It’s unbelievable that you managed to finish your studies.

“Come on, love. How about one or two glasses of tajaka?”

“That … yes, please,” answered Keela absently whilst watching Marruk walk to his daughter’s bedside and sit down on a chair that the healer had put in the small space between the bed and the wall.

She had never been in the queen’s chambers before and she was surprised that it was neither bigger nor more luxurious than the chamber that she had occupied when she arrived.

“Take a seat over there, won’t you?” Moreena offered aimiably. “Ceyla? Please have a jug of tajaka and a little something to eat brought to us.”

“Already dealt with, Your Highness,” answered the gentle voice of the computer. “I’ve also seen to it that Lady Keela’s chamber is made up.”

“Thank you, Ceyla. Very considerate of you. Oh and Ceyla, a status report on Princess Solima’s condition, please?”

“Body temperature slightly raised, pulse slow but regular, breathing calm. She’s asleep and healing, Your Highness.”

The queen visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Ceyla.”

Moreena sat down on the couch next to Keela.

“I have good news for you,” she declared, beaming.

Keela looked at the queen expectantly, but did not say a word. She was too confused by all of the events of the last few hours. First Solima’s accident, and now finding out that Marruk was the son of the royal couple. She still needed to digest all of this.
 

“General Kordan and Captain Amano have found your two friends. They’re on their way here and are due to arrive in four days.”

Keela’s heart jumped with joy. With a slightly bad conscience she had to admit that she had hardly thought about the two of them during the last week and had only been occupied with her own problems.

“That’s great!” she burst out excitedly. “And they’re well?”

“As far as I know your friend Lory was injured and had to be treated for a few hours in the medical unit on board the
Cordelia
, but it appears that she’s now fully recovered.”

“Oh!” was all that Keela could say. She hoped that Lory really was better now.

The refreshments arrived and the two women chatted a little about this and that. It distracted Keela for a while from her emotional turmoil, but later, when she was alone in her chamber, she became agitated again. Simply too much had happened in the last few weeks: her abduction by monstrous aliens; the slave market; her rescue; Marruk’s confusing emotions; and now these most recent events and discoveries. All of this was a great deal to compute.

***

Keela could not sleep. She had been with Solima for two hours after dinner and felt somewhat relieved by the fact that the girl looked visibly better, but still there was so much going on in her head. She could not stop thinking about Marruk. She felt that he had gone behind her in not telling her who he really was. After all she was living under his roof so she ought to know who she is dealing with. It was not that his title made any difference to her but she felt hurt that she clearly meant so little to him that he did not consider that she should have this information. Perhaps he did not trust her or she was quite simply not important to him.
 

She swung out of bed and pulled a thin dressing gown on, over her naked body, then she went to the big window. She loved looking out into the night. It was a cloudless night. The stars were twinkling like diamonds in the sky and the crescent moon seemed to pulsate. She opened one of the windows and breathed in the fresh night air. It was still pleasantly warm but not as close as a few days earlier.

A knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts. It was sure to be Moreena coming to wish her a good night. Keela closed the window and turned around.
 

“Come in,” she called and the door opened.

Her heartbeat sped up as not Moreena but Marruk entered the room and closed the door behind him. His eyes moving over her body felt like a caress to her. These eyes grew dark with desire. Keela suddenly felt naked in the thin, almost transarent dressing gown and she folded her arms protectively over her breasts.

Without taking his eyes off her he came closer. A tingling sensation spread over her skin and her breathing grew heavier. She suppressed the urge to scream and run away.

This is silly, Keela. He’s hardly going to force himself upon you. You just need to stay calm and not let him take any liberties with you!

But that was precisely the problem: she could not trust herself where this arousing alien was concerned. His hungry look alone made her nipples grow hard so that they showed clearly through the thin material. Her pussy was aching and felt empty and unfulfilled. She no longer recognised herself. Never before had she lost her head so much over a man.

Please pull yourself together!
she scolded herself.

“Good evening, Marruk. What brings you here so late? Is Solima feeling better?” Keela said more calmly than she felt inside.

“Yes, she’s fine,” he said, stopping just in front of her.

He was much too close. His scent of warm skin, leather and masculinity teased her senses and she caught herself wondering what his skin would taste like if she were to run the tip of her tongue over it. With difficulty she suppressed a groan at the thought of getting to know every centimetre of his muscular body with her mouth. She remembered his kiss only too well and the blazing passion that he had ignited within her.

“I’ve come to thank you. You reacted very quickly and your help spared Solima a great deal of pain.”

“It was nothing. I happened to be there and could fortunately help her because of my previous experiences. There’s nothing heroic about it. I’m glad that she’s feeling better.”

“Your friends have been found,” Marruk changed the subject.

“I know, the queen … your
mother -
has already told me.”

And whilst we’re on that subject, my dear!

Keela was glad that he had raised this subject and had therefore reminded her of her anger. It was much easier to deal with anger than with these confusing emotions of desire and longing.

“Did she? Well …”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were the queen’s son?” she interrupted him abruptly.

“Would it have made a difference?“ he snapped, suddenly grabbing her and pulling her against his body. “Would you have let me in between your soft thighs if you’d have known that royal blood runs through my veins?”

“No!” she hissed at him. “It makes no difference to me, I’m just disappointed that you think that I’m not worthy of knowing your true background. That … that’s as if you’ve betrayed me.”

“I’m the man who rescued you and who’s giving you a roof over your head. Everything else is unimportant!”

“I didn’t ask you to rescue me and bring me here. If you know a way of getting me back home, then out with it. I’ll be glad when I can finally get away from here.”

Keela tried to release herself from his embrace but he was holding her tightly. She had to put her head right back to look up at him. Her heart was beating wildly and she became aware that a tell-tale wetness was running from between her legs. She could feel his quick heart beat under her hand. His heat radiated through the material of his shirt and she could very clearly feel his erection on her belly.