by Maia Starr
Chapter 8
KUVO BANE
The rescue mission was long, and it was hard. It started out in Cix, and then we tracked Rubla Von to Mzech. It was there that we, my squadron and I, engaged in a battle with Rubla Von and his men. We had found Simon and Winfrey. The mission was to rescue them at all costs, and the cost ended up being heavy. I lost two Drackon warriors in the battle. They died rescuing humans, all because Andrene had decided to take her destiny into her own hands and pull this ridiculous abduction act.
Seeing warriors die in front of me was the reason I had left the squadron battalion and my home planet in the first place. Now here I was, seeing it again, and it was all her fault. When she told me that she was the one behind all of it, I didn't think I could hate her more, but I was wrong. Seeing two of my warriors fall in battle because of her stupidity made my hate grow. But deep down inside of me, I knew that hate was anger for myself; the more that I was apart from her, the more I yearned for her. As the days went on and I thought death might be near, my thoughts turned to her. I would imagine her long hair in my fingers and her beautiful eyes looking at me. I could not shake it. I was obsessed with her. In battle, all I could think about was getting back to her. It was all that seemed to matter to me, and yet thinking about what she had done gave me great anger. It was a constant conflict inside of me and I didn't know which would win: my love for her, or my hate for her.
So when we were finally victorious and made our way back to Mooreah, the moment I saw her, I knew that I loved her. But I could never tell her that. I would have to get over it. I could never be with her after what she had done. She was not to be trusted.
She ran up to me and threw her arms around me with tears in her eyes. I believed that she was being genuine, that she really did fear that I had died. I believed that she really did miss me and her enthusiasm for seeing me was real. But I did not want to encourage her, so I was cold to her in return. I did not want her to think that things would go back to being the way they were before she told me that she was behind the capture. It would never go back to that; I needed to cut her off.
So as she threw her arms around me while telling me how glad she was that I was there, I was motionless. I said nothing other than that I needed to speak to the king. I did not touch her in return. I could tell that it hurt her, but I did not have a choice.
Now that we were en route back to Earth, I felt a sense of relief. It was almost over. My mission was almost over. It seemed like it was years ago that we had set out from Africa, and it had been only a few weeks. But soon I would have her safely back with her father, and my mission would be complete. I would leave his employ and go back to Mooreah, far away from her. Just a few more days. All I had to do was stay in my sleep capsule as much as possible, avoiding her on the ship.
"You can't keep avoiding me like this," I heard her say as she opened the door to my sleep capsule and let herself in.
"I do not want to see you. Get out of here," I said to her.
"Fine, I will after I say what I need to say," she said closing the door behind her. Now it was just the two of us in the private space of my sleep capsule. I didn't trust myself. But if I didn't let her say what she wanted to say, then she would never leave me alone. I just sat on the bed and stared at her.
"I have lived my entire life underneath my oppressive father. He does not let me have my own life. He treats me with disrespect. He takes my money from me that I have earned. I have traveled with him from embassy to embassy since I was a child, and he decided that I would become an ambassador representative and work under him when I begged to create my own life and work with animals, as I always wanted to. He has threatened me. He has not loved me.
“Yet he refuses to allow me to leave, always hunting me down and destroying any life I have created so that I come crawling back to him. I am his prisoner. I could not live that way any longer. I had planned an escape from him, one that would make him think I was dead so that he would not look for me. But when the mission to Mooreah came about, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to put a plan into action. It was a hasty plan and I did not think it through or do the proper research. I did not hire Rubla Von directly. It was through another contact, and I was assured it would go as arranged. I admit I was naïve and I can apologize millions of times to you, but at the time I would have done whatever it took to get away from my father. You will never understand it because you are a male and you have all the freedom in the worlds and galaxies. Do you know what it is like to not be in control of your own life? I cannot live that way. That is why I did what I did. Thank you for not telling King Caspin Rykor about my mistakes. That is all,” she said as she turned and walked out of my sleep capsule.
I felt the sting of guilt hitting me. She was shaking with emotion when she was telling me, and I had to restrain myself from hugging her and comforting her. I understood what she was saying. I could make some sense of why she would do anything possible to get out from under her father, mostly because I had met him. I had seen the way he treated her. But her plan was very dumb, very dangerous, and very selfish. But when you are faced with so much emotion and little time, you make brash decisions; I knew that best of all.
But it wasn't enough for me; I still had to stay away from her. We would both be better off without each other. “Just finish the mission Kuvo,” I told myself.
Finally we arrived on Earth at the embassy in Africa. As the ship opened and Andrene walked down the ramp, she was met with loud applause. Everyone was seeing her as a hero; I was seeing her as a naïve girl. I could tell that she was restraining tears and faked a smile as she waved. She looked at me. I looked away from her.
An hour later, I was in her father's office. It was a private meeting between her, her father, and I.
"I am glad you have returned, Andrene. You have proved yourself on this mission as ambassador. This will look good for both of us,” her father said to her. I noticed that he had not hugged her, or said any word of concern. He didn't say things like, I'm so happy that you are alive, or, I was worried I would never see you again, like a parent should. Instead, he was treating her like a colleague.
"Thank you, father,” she said coldly.
"Thank you, Kuvo Bane, for rescuing her from the outlaws. I never give in to ransoms. If they had asked for one, I would've denied it. Give a ransom to someone like that and they will only ask for more and more,” her father said. I looked at him with disgust over what he was saying. I could not hold my tongue any longer.
"Are you saying that you would not pay a ransom for your daughter’s life?” I asked him.
"No, I would not. As I just said, I would pay it and then they would ask for more. So I would never pay it at all.”
"But you have millions; even if the ransom was a failure, at least you would be trying to get your daughter back and you wouldn't miss any of the wealth,” I said moving closer to him. I was trying not to be so dominant, but I was going to quit anyway and he was pissing me off.
"Kuvo..." I heard Andrene say.
"No, it is fine. Let the Drackon speak,” her father said.
"Your daughter is priceless. Any amount of money should be paid to get her back. She is the strongest woman I have ever met, and maybe if you showed her some respect and love, you would see it too.”
"I don't think I need fatherly advice from you, Drackon,” he said.
"No, I'm not offering you advice, but I am threatening you. You will let Andrene live her own life. You will release her accounts to her and let her live anywhere that she wants, doing any profession that she wants. If you do not, I will let this entire embassy know exactly the type of father that you are. I will say that a ransom was asked for and that you refused to pay it. They will see that you have treated the woman they now consider a hero like a worthless piece of trash. You will lose your career. I'm not going to repeat this again,” I said as I stormed out of his office.
I did not wait for a response from him. I did not need a response.
I said what I needed to say; it was what Andrene had needed to say to him long ago. She feared standing up to him and I understood why. But I could not stand there and let him talk down to the woman that I loved. I could not stand there and let him tell her that she was worth nothing and that he would not pay a ransom to get her back, that his money was more important than her life. No, I was not going to let her stand there and take that abuse. It was then that I realize that I had been abusing her as well. I had been punishing her for her mistakes. I was no better than her father, and I hated myself even more for putting her through it. She was so fragile, even though she was strong. I had to make it right.
Chapter 9
ANDRENE NOVAN
I could not believe the words that were coming out of Kuvo's mouth. I never expected anyone to stand up to my father, especially not him. Not only was he standing up to my father, but he was doing it for me. He was standing up for me, telling my father the things that I should have told him long ago. Things that I had tried over and over again to tell him, but he would not listen. No matter what I said or what I did. Hearing him say that he would not give up a ransom for me stung more than anything. He was saying that I was worthless, and that money was more important to him. Even though there was no ransom, because that was not the case, my father did not know that. But here he was admitting that he would not take any action toward getting me back if there was an abduction with a ransom. It hurt.
But when Kuvo began to stick up to my father, my heart began to mend. Perhaps there was hope for us after all. Maybe I would be able to tell him that I was caring his offspring, my secret baby that I had kept to myself.
After he had stormed out of my father’s office, I said nothing to my father. There was nothing left to say. I walked out of the building hoping to catch up with Kuvo. But I could not find him anywhere in the embassy. I was scared that he had left. I went to my apartment and felt comfortable in my home surroundings. I took a deep breath of air and sunk into the couch. Then in the distance, I heard a familiar sound. It made my heart beat faster and put a smile on my face. I went out into the hallway and climbed the stairs all the way up to the roof. There I saw them, I saw the beautiful elephants that I thought I would never see again. It brought tears to my eyes and I could not control the crying. The floodgates opened and happiness of seeing the elephants mixed with the sadness of being pregnant was overwhelming.
"And you thought you would never see them again,” I heard Kuvo say behind me.
"Kuvo,” I said as I turned around and saw him standing there in dragon form.
"Andrene, I have to apologize to you,” he said as he came and sat next to me.
"Apologized to me? I am the one that needs to apologize over and over," I said to him.
"No, I have been cold and distant. It is not my real feelings. I had so much anger and I did not know how to deal with it.”
"No, Kuvo it is—”
"Let me finish. I have much to say,” he said to me.
"Okay,” I said.
"You asked me once why I left Mooreah if it was such a beautiful, stunning place. I did not tell you why then. But I will tell you now. I left because I could no longer handle life as a squadron leader. After many years, I had watched many of my brother warriors die in front of me. I did not want to see that any longer. When I went to rescue Winfrey and Simon, all I could think about was seeing you again. We were in fierce battles and I thought I was going to die. All I wanted to do was touch you again before that happened. I knew then that I loved you. I loved you dearly. Yet I was in deep conflict knowing that I could not trust you after what you had done.
“It was a very hard place to be in. You have made it very difficult for me, but I knew on the battlefield when a blaster shot me and I thought I was going to die that I loved you. Of course I realized I was only shot in the arm, but it was still a wake-up call. But then I lost two warriors in the battlefield and I blamed you for it. That I was going through it all over again, the entire reason I have left Mooreah in the first place. I blamed you because we would not have to rescue the crew had you not made those brash decisions to deal with a criminal like Rubla Von. That is why when we returned to Cerista, I was so cold to you. I was blaming you. But I was wrong. You are not to blame. I hope that you will forgive me. I should never have spoken to you in such a way or been so distant and cold,” he said to me.
Tears were rolling down my face and everything he said was what I wanted to hear, but it was also hard, because I was to blame. I would always blame myself for what happened; I was the one at fault and nothing could ever change that.
"Kuvo, I understand. Nothing can ever change what I did. I hope that one day you can trust me. I hope that we can move forward from this, because I have news."
"What is it, Andrene?” he said to me.
I put my hands over my belly and said, “Remember that night in the cave?”
His eyes moved to my hands and his eyes grew wide.
"I am pregnant,” I said to him.
He was silent for a long time and then he smiled. "That is unbelievable,” he said.
"Are you happy?” I asked him.
"I am very happy. I love you, Andrene,” he said.
"I love you too, Kuvo," I said to him as I threw my arms around his neck. He pressed his lips against mine in a deep and passionate kiss. I could feel his silver scales pressed against my body. I was going to have the baby of an alien weredragon Drackon. A Drackon that loved me and that had stood up to my father for me. He had rescued me in more ways than one. It was more than I could ever ask for.
"So what shall we do now, Andrene?” he asked me.
I laughed and said, “I guess after what you told my father, I can do anything,”
"Yes, perhaps I went a little overboard, but he really pissed me off. No one talks to my wife that way,” Kuvo said.
I smiled wide. His words did not escape my attention. “Do you mean it? Do you really want to marry me?” I asked him.
"Yes, I would not say it if I didn't. I have loved you from the moment I saw you, but it wasn't until now that I truly understood those feelings, your scent. It was all there letting me know that you were the one for me and I ignored it. But now you will be my wife and we will be a family and we can live anywhere in the world or the galaxy that you want to live,” he said to me.
"I am so happy. I am more happy than I have ever been,” I said to him as we watched the elephants in the fields of Africa.
“I am too,” he said.
After we watched for a little while longer, we moved downstairs to my apartment. Kuvo carried me inside. “Let me get you off your feet. You are carrying my child, after all,” he said.
I laughed at him and said, “It is still very early. I think I am fine to walk.”
“Oh, then let me carry you simply because I want you in my arms. It has been too long. I will not deny myself the pleasure of holding you anymore.”
His words made me feel good. I felt safe. I believed him. I felt like everything was finally going to good for me, for us. Kuvo laid me down on my bed and said, “Hold on right there. Don’t move.”
Then he moved to my washroom. I heard the water running and I knew that he was fixing a bath. I laughed to myself. Moments later he walked in and said, “I fixed us a hot bath. We deserve it. It has been a long journey.”
“I would love a bath with you, Kuvo,” I said to him.
“Good, because I was not going to take no for an answer,” he said. “Now what are we going to do about these pesky clothes.” He untied my suit and peeled it off of me. I was naked on the bed. He groaned as he looked at me. He took of his space suit and even in his normal form, he was still exciting and beautiful to me. He picked me up off the bed, scooping me into his arms, and carried me to the bath. I sunk in deep. I didn’t realize just how much I needed it until I felt the hot water hit my skin. Kuvo sat behind me and we relaxed together. When we were done with our bath, we made love in my apartment for two days straight.
A month later, everything had changed. I had stayed at the embassy before finishing and leaving my position as an ambassador. I had one last thing to do and that was to get to the bottom of the Partaba attack. It turned out that my father was behind some illegal and unfair negotiations concerning the lands that no one knew about. That was the reason for the attack. I sided with the Partaba and now that I was seen as a hero to my colleagues, they also sided with me. I was able to give the Partaba back their lands, which they only wanted to preserve for the wildlife and the traditional Partaba way of life. My father was not happy about this and he was transferred to New, New York by the Earth Council.
Kuvo and I got married in the savannah amongst the elephants. It was the best wedding I could ask for. It was private and Simon and Winfrey were there as our witnesses. We did not want a big affair; private was better. Private was romantic. But I knew that I did not want to live at the embassy and I did not want to be ambassador. It was what my father had chosen for me. I wanted to work with animals. But for now Kuvo and I were focusing on the birth of our child. We made our permanent home in the countryside of northern California amongst the giant redwoods were Kuvo could fly and be unseen. Where he could train our child to fly in private.