The Complete Alien's Bride

by Yamila Abraham

  Selena found her way to her chair. Her anxiety had grown strong enough to make her dizzy. In fact—wasn’t the room spinning a little?

  “Xaroth…he was wounded by that loss. I know it. He hid his weakness by becoming crueler—angrier. It’s all to mask his pain. I think if he had another chance he might recover.”

  The room still spun around her. “But why did she kill herself?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “He must be a monster!”

  Hern turned from her to consider. “I have to believe he’s not. There’s no hope for us if he can’t adapt to this new era of compassion.”

  Selena’s face crumbled. She wept into her hand with tangible pain in her chest. Not even the desire to please Hern could stop the hiccupping sobs from barreling forth.

  Hern pulled her hand away from her face. “Selena.”

  She made her bleary eyes focus on him.

  “I can’t imagine Xaroth would be anything but enchanted by you.”

  “What happens…when I’m alone with him?” She snuffled. “You can’t protect me then.”

  Hern’s eyes lowered. “You’re right. I can only be good to you, and implore him to do the same.”

  She shook her head. “All your kindness won’t be able to fix his cruelty. Not if he’s so terrible that I’ll want to kill myself.”

  Hern took a deep breath through his nostrils. “There’s something more I wish to tell you. Something I can’t tell anyone.”

  She turned both her palms up in exasperation. “You’re going to hold back when you’re asking for so much from me? You—you want me to agree to be the bride of someone who’s going to abuse me.”

  He avoided her eyes. “I wouldn’t abide that. The goal is to make him accept the new druid’s rules—not give him someone to practice Shidray’s old laws on.”

  “So what are you going to do if I’m suffering? You can’t just expect me to deal with it. I’m not involved in all of this Dak-Hiliah political stuff. I’m just a vulnerable human woman who’s hoping for a better life. I’m not one of these robots, you know? If he rapes me I’ll be destroyed all over again—and there’s no undoing that once you let it happen. I don’t deserve to be tortured. You have to take responsibility for my wellbeing. No matter what your agenda is—I’m important too.”

  She heard Hern swallow.

  “You are.” His voice became low. “I should have known that from the start. I shouldn’t have needed you to convince me. No human woman deserves such little consideration. I thought of things strategically—but this is a personal matter.” His chest rose and fell with a sigh. “I’m saying I want Xaroth to come into the compassionate era—but I’m dealing with you like an object.”

  Selena kept her gaze fixed on him. The conversation was with himself, not her. All that mattered to her was his resolution.

  “Selena—you’re my final attempt to work with him. Things can’t continue this way. We can’t remain divided. Xaroth must not prevent our ranks from embracing the new era.”

  She waited.

  “I already know that if he doesn’t come around once you’re with him, then I’ll have no choice. I plan to kill him.”

  The words settled in her stomach like ash raining from a volcano. It was a milder physical response than what she would have expected—but it still burned.

  “I speak of treason. No one can know what I plan, not even my manservant.”

  “I wouldn’t tell anyone. This is for my own self-preservation.”

  He turned sideways in his seat to look away from her. “I shouldn’t have told you. Somehow you lower my defenses. You make me feel safe to reveal my secrets.”

  She rubbed her nose with a knuckle. “You won’t regret trusting me. You can’t see that now, because we’re too new. But you’ll learn.”

  Hern reached for her hand again. She offered it across the table.

  “I have no doubt of that. Now that you know how far I’ll go to protect you, will you be my bride, Selena? And then Xaroth’s?

  She knew the answer, but hesitated with painful emotion still compacted in her chest. She’d gone this far to escape a miserable life at the colony. Was another risk really that difficult?

  Hern might be the prince her heart was looking for—or he could just be on his best behavior to cajole her into accepting his harrowing proposal. She would be taking a gamble on him most of all.

  “I’ll do it,” she said.

  The next morning Selena boarded a round pod with Hern and drifted to a black battleship that would have been invisible if not for the way it blotted out the stars. She saw this through a window before boarding the transfer pod. The pod itself was windowless—which was a blessing for her. She became weightless shortly after the flight began, held down only by a seatbelt, and then felt her body and stomach thump down when they reached the battleship.

  They exited into a large noisy bay where smaller ships were being worked on by robots. The starkness struck her at once. While Elentinus celestial yacht was elegant and bright, Hern’s battleship was arcane and dark. All the smooth rounded edges were replaced with hard lines formed by walls and floors that looked to be made out of cast iron. Tubes and wires she hadn’t seen on Elentinus’ ship were all exposed in the walls and sides of the floors.

  Hern told her they were three causeways away from the front lines, where the military was stationed. It would be a long ride. Selena was grateful for this. If her marriage to Xaroth was going to be Hell, then she wished to enjoy the Heaven she perceived with Hern for as long as possible.

  He used a moving pathway on the floor to bring her speedily to her new quarters. The chamber appeared reasonably comfortable, though smaller and less adorned than what she’d had before. Hern then apologized because he had several matters to attend to. His manservant Shol-Ignar would check in on her later.

  Selena unpacked her meager belongings. After that she ran out of things to do. She was still in a state of discomfiture, but no longer had an urge to hide. She wanted Hern with her, reassuring her, and also helping her prepare for the challenges ahead.

  She felt desperate to learn all she could. Sitting there alone was getting her nowhere. Even Maritza would have been welcome company. The traitor obviously knew plenty about their alien conquerors.

  The same kind of robot she’d seen on Elentinus’ ship rolled into her room on casters to bring her a meal. Selena bolted up when she saw it.

  “Can you talk?” she said in the Dak-Hiliah language.

  It turned its boxy body toward her. “Of course, mistress. How may I assist you?”

  She felt at a loss. All the nervous energy within her was propelling her to action, but she had no idea what to do. She reached a hand up to massage her forehead.

  “I don’t know. I can’t keep sitting here all by myself.”

  “I would be pleased to keep you company if you’re lonely, mistress.”

  Selena dropped back into her chair. “What is my life going to be like? You know, as the wife of Hern and Xaroth?”

  “Mistress, it is a most grievous offense for you to address them so informally. Please refer to them as General Hern and General Xaroth.”

  She eyed him.

  “After you are wed to them you should refer to them as husband.”

  “What else?”

  “I don’t understand your inquiry, mistress.”

  “What other rules do I have to follow?”

  “That is difficult to say, mistress, as we are in a transition period between the druids on the highest seat. The druids provide all the rules the Dak-Hiliah must adhere to in private, while our high council governs the Dak-Hiliah’s public lives. The prior druid, Shindray, had many rules for couples to follow. The new druid, Pakpo, decreed that those rules no longer apply.”

  Selena thought carefully. “Let’s say Shindray were still in power. How would a wife under his rules make her husband happy?”

  “Shindray proclaimed that a meek, obedient, adoring wife is ideal.
She should exist only for the purpose of pleasing her husband. Her husband should be the god of their home. She should be worshipful before him.”

  Selena listened without any trace of reaction. It was exactly as she’d thought. But then…she had to be certain.

  “Can I try being this ideal wife with you, and you tell me if I’m doing it right?”

  “It would please me very greatly to play this game with you, mistress. However, since this is a subjective matter there would be some degree of inaccuracy in my guidance.”

  Selena wet her lips in her mouth. “Understood.”

  Some stage fright knotted up inside her. She wondered if the whole idea was stupid. What else could she do to prepare? After a deep sigh she lowered onto the floor, crawled to the robot’s caster feet, and made herself prostrate before him.

  “How…how can I please you, husband?”

  Her face became hot with embarrassment.

  “Groveling is most appropriate, mistress,” the robot said. She looked up. “However, an ideal wife should anticipate the needs of her husband, rather than pester him with questions.”

  “Oh my God.” She began to feel nauseated.

  The door opened and someone entered before she could think of standing. A short alien with wild black hair and a silver patch over one eye came around the robot to look at her. His expression was cruel.

  “What are you doing?”

  Selena braced herself to stand while the robot answered.

  “Mistress was practicing how to be an ideal wife under high druid Shindray’s rules.”

  “Is that right?” His thick-soled shoe stepped on her shoulder. Selena was forced back onto her bent knees. “Stay down.”

  She gaped up at him while seized by panic.

  “You may go, Domestic.”

  The robot began to roll in reverse toward the door.

  “No, stay!” Selena said. The robot halted. “Who are you?”

  “Shol-Ignar.” He darted an angry look back at the robot. “I said go.” It exited through the sliding door.

  Selena’s heart thumped a rapid beat. This was Hern’s manservant?

  He lifted his shoe off her. She was certain she’d have a bruise shaped like a footprint. The small man crossed his arms. He was probably Hern’s same age—perhaps a few years older.

  “You can practice with me.”

  Selena’s saliva turned cold.

  “Go on,” he said, with a sneer and a tipping of his nose. “Show me what you were doing.”

  Her lips trembled. She had to swallow down some apprehension to answer him. “I don’t want to.”

  He examined her a few moments. Only one eye was visible, but it shone with enough cruelty to covey his full countenance.

  “I know General Xaroth,” he said, slowly enunciating his words. “I used to serve him.”

  “You…you did?”

  “I know what he wants.”

  The way he said this embarrassed her. She was unsure why, but she had to turn away.

  “Were you with him when he had his first wife?”

  “Yes.”

  She started to get up again. This time Shol-Ignar pushed her down sideways with his foot.

  “I said don’t get up.”

  She was incredulous. Fear kept her from moving off the floor.

  “I like you down there. You have to get used to groveling, you know? If you want to make him happy.”

  He stepped over her. Selena’s whole body now trembled with a mixture of fear and rage. She watched him go to the other side of her bed. Shol-Ignar tapped the wall to make the hidden drawer open. He gathered up her clothes from the slave colony. Selena sat up, but made no effort to stand.

  “I’m incinerating this junk. You’re only allowed to wear the black dresses.” He tossed the bundle behind him onto the bed, then he picked up one of her notebooks. “What’s this?”

  Selena scrambled to her feet causing him to sneer back at her.

  “My dream journal.”

  His disgusted look flickered with confusion. He dropped it back into the drawer and then sifted through the rest of her things. Selena stood watching too far away for him to kick her again. After a minute he shoved the drawer closed.

  He plopped onto her bed and reclined against the cushioned backboard. He crossed his big shoes over at the ankles.

  “You’re off to a good start, I guess. Practicing your groveling.” He folded his arms behind his head. “You’re prettier than his last wife, too. General Xaroth’s that is. General Hern’s never been married.”

  Selena stood while holding herself. She had questions, of course, but couldn’t force herself to speak.

  “You’re really just for General Xaroth. Don’t get too attached to my master. He’s not going to let himself get attached to you, after all. You’re just a tool. See, an ideal wife under Shindray’s rules is supposed to exist only for her husband. By giving you two husbands General Hern is making sure it’s impossible for General Xaroth to get a wife that’s devoted just to him. He has to give up his ideals right from the start. It’s not like he can mold you into his perfect Shindray wife. General Hern has just as much control over you. He’ll have to start compromising from the beginning or he may as well not even take you.”

  Selena considered this logic with a furrowed brow. It only made things more confusing for her.

  Shol-Ignar sat up. “Can you even talk? Are you just going to stand there like some dull idiot staring at me?”

  Selena felt as if she’d been slapped on both sides of her face. “You stepped on me and you kicked me.”

  He scoffed and leaned back again. “I’m not dumb enough to injure you. Stop trying to be dramatic. You’re a slave.”

  Her face continued to burn. “I know what I am.”

  “Really? Because you’re acting more like a princess.” He lifted himself from the bed. “General Hern told me to check on you. I’ve done that.” He scooped up her old clothes with both arms. “I don’t have time to sit here babysitting you all day.”

  He stomped toward her to reach the door. Panic seized her again, but this time she propelled that energy toward action.

  “Wait. Please.”

  He paused in front of her, looking angry. They were the same height.

  Selena forced herself to continue. “Why did Xaroth’s wife kill herself?”

  “You dumb bitch.”

  Selena’s stomach seized.

  “You’re lucky my arms are full or I’d slap you off your feet. He’s General Xaroth to you—you got that? Don’t you dare forget his title again. You’re nobody. You don’t even have a caste in our society. Learn some respect before someone decides to burn it into your neck with a collar.”

  He shouldered past her more brutally than was necessary and left.

  Selena stayed exactly where he’d left her. She covered her face with both hands, and tried—tried as best as she was able—to find the positive side to her decision.

  “Xaroth traded Shol-Ignar in exchange for my previous manservant, Let-Shurit,” Hern said.

  He walked hand in hand with Selena on a metal grate bridge that went over a massive hangar containing fighter ships of various sizes and capabilities. It was several hours since her exchange with Shol-Ignar. Selena had managed to stop shaking. Hern’s gentle demeanor put her more at ease than she probably should have allowed.

  “Let was an exceptional servant, kind and doting. He always had a smile on his face. I miss him.”

  Selena could hear the regret in his voice. She regretted it too.

  “Why did you trade him?”

  “Xaroth asked me. I was struck by that. It was the first time he’d come to me without any ire. I agreed because I wanted him to know that I would do anything to get him to come to my side.” He met Selena’s eyes. “Xaroth has to yield eventually. Our soldiers are too devout to commit outright blasphemy. He knows he must accept the new druid’s rules. I’m trying to bring him and his followers into the new era smoothly. We
can’t have another eruption of infighting. We’re too weak to be divided.”

  They paused to stand in front of the guardrail. Selena hadn’t been able to fathom the size of the vessels they stood above. Now she saw tiny specks that were robots working on each behemoth.

  “I’ve only had Shol-Ignar a short while. He’s not in his rightful place. He’s been discarded. Things like this—they do affect us. But he can’t let his anguish show. He’ll hide it with anger and bluster. Especially with someone he perceives as being even weaker than him.”

  “That’s not fair, Hern,” she said with the threat of new tears. “I’m taking on a lot for you. Your manservant shouldn’t be allowed to treat me like dirt while I’m going through this.”

  “I didn’t mean to sound as if I were excusing him.” He cleared his throat. “I intend on punishing him severely.”

  Her eyes grew larger. “Punishing?”

  “He’ll learn you’re special to me. You’re not a slave to be squashed below his boot.”

  She pursed her lips. “But…how are you going to punish him?”

  “With a force field whip. The same thing the collars are made from.”

  Selena winced. She balled both her hands together. “Couldn’t you just talk to him?”

  Hern looked at her in confusion. Then he seemed to understand. “You won’t suffer any backlash, Selena.”

  “I’m not worried about that. I mean—he didn’t hurt me that badly. I don’t want him tortured.”

  “Oh, Selena.”

  She peeked up at him. His aqua blue eyes shimmered.

  “You’re afraid for him? After how he treated you?”

  She pouted.

  Hern reached up to run a hand through her hair. “What a wonderful creature you are. Of course we’ll be entering the age of compassion with women like you at our sides. If you were anyone else I wouldn’t believe it, but of course—this comes naturally to you.”

  She focused her gaze downward. Inside her a tiny fear was brewing. What kind of race was she marrying into if compassion amazed them?