Tania

by Daniela Jackson

  Tania

  I put my feet on the ledge that has ornamentation—leaves and flowers like my father’s vines. My heart hammers in my chest. I’m outside the castle after all, about thirty feet above the ground—my hands are clutching the window frame and my feet can barely find support against the ledge. I’ve seen such castles in Yasen’s books. My father has never allowed me to attend any party in the emperor’s castle. He said well-mannered girls didn’t attend parties which is bullshit because I know all the high born girls do. Isabella and I don’t. My mother once called the attendants of the parties sluts. I suspect it’s a very nasty word, but I don’t know what it means exactly. My language skills are not as good as Vosgi’s for example because I’m a half-breed.

  So here I am, plastered to the wall of Wuylir’s castle. If I fall down, I’ll sure as fuck die today.

  I extend my arm and grip a pipe that stretches from the roof down to the grassy, wavy ground. It feels solid so I swing my body and cling to it. Now what? The pipe is rough against my skin.

  I suck in a breath and let my body slide down. I wish I hadn’t. My hands burn. My tummy burns. My thighs burn. I brake with my knees and hands, hung half-way down. A cold sweat pricks my back. My palms feel like I have peeled my skin off. Panic races through my chest. I huff out. My mind detaches, and I loosen the grip. My body speeds down. I’m weightless. I’m in a void. I hit the ground. The impact knocks the air out of my lungs. Pain claws at my ass and back.

  Everything is bright grey for a moment like I’m dead. Everything freezes. Maybe I am dead?

  No, I’m alive. The searing pain in my back tells me this.

  My brain cells tell me I haven’t sustained any serious fractures. It’s like an electric blue flow of information has coursed through my brain. Three of my fingers are broken, but that’s nothing.

  Good. I need to run. Sprint as fast as I can manage.

  Wuylir can kiss. He can be sweet. He’s so handsome.

  No fucking way, you idiot.

  I scramble to my feet. My eyes roam over the grassy ground that lowers towards a grey river. The smell of rot drifts from the water to me. I start running down the hill until I see a path that meanders among enormous oak trees. The smell of resins and mechica settles in my nostrils. It’s a bit different to that in Zaria’s woods—more intense, colder, eerier. The colours are darker, eerier.

  I run as fast as my naked feet can carry me. Thank Gods of the Continent, I have a tunic with a pair of trousers on. The woods end abruptly, and I see chaos. The noise coming to me hits my ears like a whiplash as my eyes absorb the view in front of me. I can see the sea of four-wheeled vehicles. The odour drifting from them makes me retch.

  I turn my head and see a strange building. Four pillars hold a roof that accommodates the kind of stables for the vehicles. I see people there. I pull forward. The sign near the building says ‘petrol station’. I can read in English, but I don’t understand the meaning of the sign.

  I step under the roof and grab a woman’s hand. She looks at me like I’m a spectre.

  “Help me,” I demand. “Lead me to the gods residing here so they can bring me back to Zaria.”

  The woman’s eyes widen as though she’s morbidly scared and she tries to yank her arm away from my hand. A man approaches us and he stops a step away from me, watching me with dread in his eyes as though I’m a punnica.

  “You,” I growl, jutting my chin out. “You know where the gods are?”

  The man winces then takes a tiny item out of the pocket in his trousers and starts talking to it. I hear the words ‘ambulance’ and ‘wounded’ and then ‘crazy’.

  “Who the fuck is crazy in here?” I growl, my mind hazy from the odour and noise.

  The woman squeaks and tries to tear her arm away from my grip, but she’s helpless. The people on Earth are kind of small and she’s no match for me.

  A smile crosses my face.

  I’m as tiny as my mom, but here I’m a tall woman.

  A sharp sound hits my ears, and I bend forward, covering my ears with my palms. I feel like I will pass out at any moment. More people surround me. Words bang against my brain. It’s too much. Too much. The odours are nauseating. The noise hurts my brain. I can’t bear it any longer. I can’t breathe. I can’t move.

  I catch a shaky breath and start crying. Then something pricks my arm, and I feel like I’m falling into a dark nauseating chasm.

  Chapter 3

  Wuylir

  I wait until the medics throw her into the ambulance and then I follow the vehicle on my bike. I’ll fucking ground her. She’s irresponsible.

  The Earth people are unaware of the three gods, including me, residing here. At the end of the Middle Ages, we hid into the shadows in order to just watch them. They’ve been advancing at a good pace. In a millennium or two, they’ll figure out what’s really going on in the Universe 367.

  The ambulance takes Tania to the hospital as I expect.

  I park my bike in front of the roofed glass entrance that leads to the Emergency Department. I jump off and climb the stairs. To my left, are two medics that are smoking cigarettes. Right. I’m not setting a good example either. I like cigarettes. They don’t do me any harm—a god’s privilege. I also like vodka. I love Vahan’s wine.

  The smell of tobacco teases me.

  It’s the year 2001 here. E-cigs will be popular in twelve years if the trend is the same as on the planet Ualaria, which is in the Universe 435. Ualaria is supervised by my uncle, Torrhin. He’s stiff as fuck. He’s never broken any rule. He wants to be like the high born of our race. It’s just that my kin is nothing like the high born. We’re rebellious at heart. As rebellious as the humans we supervise.

  I approach reception. A young receptionist smiles at me. I’m regarded as a handsome man here. Women love me here.

  My wife hates me.

  “Can I help you?” the receptionist asks in a sweet voice.

  “My wife has been brought here a few minutes ago. Tania Smith. She suffers from severe anxiety and had a mental breakdown in the early morning.”

  The receptionist nods, her eyes full of willingness to help. In every way. I can sense her dirty thoughts about me. She wants to go down on me.

  She looks at the screen of her computer and nods again. “Yes, Tania. She thinks she’s an alien.” She tilts her head. “I’m really sorry. But don’t worry. The doctors will help her, sir. Don’t worry. Bed no 7 in the ED.”

  I rush towards the white door that separates the ED from the reception desks. As I walk in, I see four doctors and three nurses bustling around ten beds. Tania is sleeping on one of them.

  I move closer to her as the artificial light from the long strips blinds me for a split second—this is because of my perfect sight. It’s too perfect, and I can see the oscillations of light. The smell of blood, sweat and urine wafts through the air and my perfect sense of smell catches the particles of antiseptics, antibiotics and other pills. I disconnect myself from all the sensations bombarding me, and I drop into a red chair. I hold Tania’s hand in mine. Her eyes flutter and slide over my face.

  “Get me out of here,” she gasps.

  “Are you going to be a good girl?”

  “They want to kill me. Wuylir, please, get me out of here.”

  “I asked you a question.”

  “I will be a very good girl, I promise. Just get me out of here. They’re crazy. Crazy short people.”

  “Wait here.” I kiss her knuckles. “I’ll sort it out.”

  I go to the round desk of a dark green colour and ask the female doctor sitting behind it about Tania.

  The doctor opens a burgundy folder and looks through the papers. “We need all her details. She doesn’t know her surname, insurance number or even address.” She looks at me. “We need to arrange for a psychiatrist to see her.”

  I lean forward as my eyes catch hers. “You don’t need to arrange for a psychiatrist.”

  “We don’t need to arrange for a psych
iatrist,” the doctor says in a dull voice.

  I hate using my compulsion ability on humans, but I have no other choice at the moment. Tania shouldn’t be in such places until she learns more about Earth. Until she can behave as an Earth woman would.

  “You’re going to discharge my wife in an hour,” I say.

  The doctor repeats after me like an echo. She starts writing a discharge letter, and I go to the lab to destroy all the blood samples they must have taken from Tania. Her blood cells have a slightly different shape to those of Earth humans and that could evoke unnecessary panic in the hospital. That could cause the lab assistants to inform the department of health. The Council could learn about Tania and me, and my whole plan could crumble into pieces.

  No fucking way.

  I persuade two lab assistants that they should destroy Tania’s blood samples, and I join my naughty wife.

  “They said they’d let me go in twenty minutes,” Tania says. She sits on the bed and flashes me a smile. “I’m really sorry for my unacceptable behaviour, God.”

  “My name is Wuylir,” I growl.

  She shudders and moves to the side, almost falling off the bed. Two nurses shoot me stern glances.

  “Wuylir,” she says in a sweet breathy voice. “Don’t be mad with me.”

  “I’m only mad about you.” I wink at her.

  Her thick black eyebrows raise a notch. “Like you are in love with me or something?” Curiosity flicks in her eyes as her cheeks flush.

  “Like I love you, Tania. Like I want you to be happy and safe.”

  Her jaw drops open, and my dick pulses at the thought of having her sweet mouth wrapped around it.

  The doctor comes with the discharge letter in her hand and passes it to Tania along with the prescription. Then a nurse checks Tania’s blood pressure, and we are ready to go. I lean over Tania and pull her into my arms. I carry her bridal style out of the ED.

  She frowns at me as I sit her on my bike.

  “Don’t pretend there’s something wrong with you,” I say. “You heal faster than the humans here. You can ride on my bike.”

  “It doesn’t look safe. Our horses have four legs, you know. Our wagons have four wheels. They can’t build vehicles on Earth.”

  “The bike is safe.”

  “What do you want me to do?” There’s a pinch of fear in her voice, fear that she clearly wants to hide, but the redness of her cheeks tells me everything.

  “You just hold on to me, sweetheart.”

  She nods, and I can’t stop myself from latching my mouth on hers. She tastes delicious—like strawberries and cream sprinkled with magic and sin.

  She can’t kiss for shit, but that makes her even more mine. I know that my brother, Vahan, has been a very strict father—he has to be like this—Zaria is not a safe place for women—strong women learn to fight or gather money, weak women are slaves. My brother’s girls have to study and help Vosgi and Kohar. They’ve never been to the Scarlet City’s castle; they’ve never attended any party, they’ve never been touched by a man.

  Vahan once asked me about Earth. He mentioned he’d like to take his whole family and settle on Earth where he thinks he’d find peace and safety.

  I said nothing. I need him on Zaria. But one day he’ll retire. Then I’ll bring his whole family to Earth. My castle is big enough to accommodate at least thirty people.

  I want to change the fate of one family. I’m tired of watching death, struggle, and disease as a spectator. I’m going to save one family and stop being a god. I want to retire and go off the radar of the Council. That’s my long-term plan.

  I jump on my bike and rev up the engine. We speed along the motorway as Tania clings to me like her life depends on it. I slow down to enjoy her chest pressed against my back for longer. Yes, that’s our present and future.

  As I park my bike by the tower in the courtyard, Tania is so stunned she can’t move. She flashes me a smile like everything is fine though. I love her attitude. She is a fighter. Humans are fighters. That’s why I love them so much. I shove her off and she staggers beside me. I throw my arm over her back and support her. We climb the stairs and she almost breaks her nose. Almost, because I manage to catch her into my arms. A few nasty swear words leave her mouth.

  Tania

  He shoves me into the bathroom and slams the door shut. I’m very aware of the fact that he’s a safer option to the crazy humans that reside on Earth. They jabbed me with needles. They almost poisoned me. They said they would hold me captive in that smelly building called a hospital. There are no hospitals on Zaria. There are a few doctors who can treat serious injuries, that’s all. People die of old age, or of bad accidents. Of someone’s knife for example. We don’t get sick easily and we regenerate very fast. My mother is very sickly.

  My eyes roam over the interior, and I sigh. I have no idea of how to use the bathtub or the other appliances.

  Nassara has a big pool and the water comes up from the hot spring that formed naturally below it. The aqueducts that stretch across the vineyards conduct the water from the mountains. Our toilets look like thrones and they are holes in the rock.

  The door creaks open, and I see Wuylir step inside the bathroom. His grin makes me burn with embarrassment.

  “I live on Zaria,” I say.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “I’m very educated. I know a lot of things. I can cook and sew. I read a lot. I know what taxes are, what elements are, what… I don’t need to know how to use the appliances on Earth.”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  He steps towards me and wraps his arm around me from behind. My back rests against his chest.

  “You want a bath or a shower?” he asks.

  “A shower. I’ve never had a shower. My mom says they are fun.”

  I feel like a stupid insect. I should have listened to my mother’s stories. I should have paid more attention to her words.

  Wuylir chuckles then moves me towards a shed made of glass. He steps in and raises his hand, touching the metal parts that protrude from the wall. Water starts streaming down from the roof as he moves back, bouncing off me.

  Excitement surges through me.

  “I told you you’d love it here, Tania.”

  I smack his arm lightly. “Don’t sneak into my head.”

  He raises his hands in a warding gesture. “Alright. No more sneaking into your head.”

  Our glances collide.

  I see fire in his eyes that gives his irises a deep violet colour. My father looks at my mother like this when he thinks nobody can see him.

  Wuylir raises his dark eyebrows. “What is it?” He flashes me a genuine boyish smile.

  It hits me hard. Makes my heart race and my blood boil.

  I am looking at a man who’s madly in love and who is not even trying to hide it.

  I pull back and forth.

  I raise my hands.

  I need something but I can’t name that need.

  I feel like the tiled black floor is burning my feet. I feel like I need to move forward. Like I need to catch something. Or someone. Like I’ve been possessed by some dark force.

  I leap at Wuylir and throw my arms around his neck.

  He chuckles then presses his lips against mine. It’s hot and wet and so so… wonderful—his mouth moulded to mine like I was born for him, his tongue dancing with mine like we’ve kissed each other for eternity.

  My hands start living a separate life—they dive under his t-shirt and slide up and down his muscular back.

  Wuylir growls into my mouth. “I told you, Tania.” There’s elemental hunger in his voice.

  “No,” I gasp. “You haven’t told me anything. You’d better start talking now. What the fuck is going on?”

  “Have a shower and we’ll talk over dinner.”

  “You want to have a shower with me?”

  I didn’t just say that. It’s like I’m insane. Like something has been awaken inside me, something that
yearns for Wuylir. My body doesn’t belong to me. It craves for Wuylir to own it.

  “I want to,” Wuylir rasps. “But I also want to do things the human way. You deserve it, Tania.”

  I don’t know whether I feel respected or humiliated. Humiliated I’d say. “Alright.” I pull away from him. “You’ll come to me on your knees to beg for me to have a shower with you.”

  He winks at me. “You will beg me.” He glides his palm over his shaved head. “For a lot of things, Tania.”

  “Get out.” I put my hands on my hips.

  He flashes me a grin and leaves the bathroom.

  I strip and step into the shed. The heat of the water envelops me and brings a sense of relaxation to my body. I realise that I love having a shower. The scratches on my palms and legs sting as the water around my feet tints with a delicate redness. They’ll have healed by tomorrow. I’m not as delicate as my mother. She’d heal such injuries for seven lunar triads. I need only one lunar triad.

  My sisters and I are always very worried about our mother. She is a strong person, but her body isn’t. She’s sick every six moon cycles and my father is mad from worry about her then.

  A thought sprouts in my head. It’s very convenient that I’m a god’s wife.

  Chapter 4

  Wuylir

  My stomach flutters as I wait for her. I fucking feel nauseous. My dick is so hard it’s painful. Slowly. You need to be slow with humans. You need to be gentle with them. The problem is that I fucking want to fuck her so rough she’d be bruised for a month.

  Finally, she walks out, wrapped in a black towel.

  She saunters towards me, a mysterious smile playing on her full lips. She stops in front of me and raises her arms. Her hands rest against my chest, and she strokes me up and down.

  “I’ll stay here with you,” she says and rises on her tiptoes.

  Her lips touch the base of my neck, and blood pumps in my ears.

  “What’s the catch, Tania?”

  She clenches her hands on the back of my neck and brings my mouth down to hers. Her little tongue swirls around mine, and I feel like I’m drunk. Drunk with happiness.