by Abella Ward
“Arana, is something bothering you?” Iorrae had asked her one day.
“Nothing, mom,” she said and got back to work. Iorrae wasn’t convinced. So, she went up to her and hugged her, and she saw it...
Arana just couldn’t stop thinking about him. It had been a year now and she was still dreaming about him. She was withering away, and she wasn’t even trying to heal her broken heart... Iorrae could see that she missed him, and with every passing day, grief gnawed at her soul.
It was terrible, and Iorrae could not stand it. Iorrae placed a hand on Arana’s heart and whispered an incantation. The stone at her neck turned a bright green as runes flowed from it and crept like a shadow all over her body. After a while, they disappeared leaving a small circle of runes on her chest as if branded there.
And it was then that Iorrae teleported to Trorth and requested him to come back with her. And she brought him back...
A lot had happened on Trorth since Arathor got back. The old king had suddenly died, leaving no heir behind. The Council chose Arathor as their King since he was the last surviving male of the Darthoridan clan and the true heir to the throne.
Arana was sitting in the library when her servant girl came in.
“My lady, you have a visitor,” she said.
“Send them in,” she said without looking up from her volume.
Arathor walked in and his heart skipped a beat... She was there... right there... and she looked so beautiful in her dark blue robes. The afternoon sun streamed in through the glass windows and lit up her fiery red hair he so loved.
“Arana...” he said in that low voice of his, and her heart stopped.
No, she must be imagining it. He was lightyears away. She looked up and gasped. He stood there, tall and handsome, with his silver-white hair and gray eyes. He wore a dark gray fur coat and dark pants. He seemed different... Almost regal...
She stood up from her desk and walked up to him. He gazed at her for a while, and then he scooped her up in his arms and kissed her, his mouth moving against hers, urgent, demanding and filled with raw longing. He deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into her mouth, setting her blood on fire as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She shoved her fingers into his hair. Her heart thudding in her chest, she kissed him back fiercely, with a longing that was born out of sheer loneliness. Yes, he was her mate...
He saw the runes branded on her chest. “I see Iorrae branded you with the mark of Huzosh,” he said running a finger lightly over the runes branded on her skin. “She gave you this to extend your human lifespan and stop the aging process,” he elaborated when she gave him a blank look.
“Why would she do that?” Arana wondered.
“She brought me here so I could claim you,” he said anxiously.
“Claim me? Really?” she laughed and he heard bitterness there. “I wonder what made her change her mind.”
“You, Arana... She’s worried about you. You are not healing yourself.”
“I don’t care. All this time, you never came for me. You gave up on me so easily and moved on – as if I didn’t matter to you...” she said as tears welled in her eyes and a lump formed in her throat.
“Oh, Arana... I have wanted to claim you as my bride for so long, but I didn’t want to force you to give up your magic for me.”
“I don’t care about magic, Arathor,” she said, gazing at him, and he saw fire in those blue eyes.
“Why are you doing this?” he said quietly.
“Because you are my mate and I love you...”
“Arana, you may be my mate, but you have a choice. If we do this, you will never get your magic back. And I don’t want you to regret later in life. So, choose wisely,” he said, gazing at her.
“I want to be with you Arathor, and I will choose an ordinary life if that’s what it takes. I can live without magic, but not without you...” she said, and he saw she had made up her mind. He was silent as he gazed at her... It was a sacrifice she was willing to make for him. And it was in that moment that he decided he would do all he can to make it up to her.
“Come home with me, then,” he said gazing at her, with an intensity that pierced her soul.
“I would, but you will have to give up your wings for me?” she asked him softly, searching his gray eyes.
“I am now king of the Kingdom of Trorth. I can bend the rules and keep my wings,” he said, pulling her close and gazing deep into her eyes. “And you’ll be my queen. I’ll make sure you don’t regret a single day of your life. I’ll claim you as my own and you will rule by my side so my people will know who you are. And I promise to love you, and heal you, and fill your life with magic. It will be far from ordinary, I promise you this, Princess,” he said fiercely gazing at her.
A smile tugged at her lips. “I think I wouldn’t mind being your queen then,” she said smiling as he tilted his head and kissed her deeply.
And that night, he claimed her while making love to her, branding her neck with his mark. It was the mark of the Slayzaryn, and it looked like a tattoo of a dragon in ink. It was his mark for the world to see that she was his, forever.
Epilogue
Planet Trorth – the year 2405, Kingdom of Trorth
The morning sunlight lit up the fiery red in her long hair. She stood near the balcony of the wide terrace. The ivory walls and columns of the palace behind her were lit up by the morning sun. She placed her hand on the cool marble balustrade overlooking the lush valley below. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The cool morning air was soothing. She no longer needed to wear the breathing clip as she had adjusted well to the atmosphere.
It had been five years since she lost her powers, and there wasn’t a single day she regretted it. And he had remained true to his word. Arana was his true queen and in her heart, she had wanted nothing more... A swoosh of wings brought her back from her reverie. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned around and saw Arathor walk toward her, naked. He had shifted back to his half-dragon form with his wings and horns still there. He grabbed his pants and pulled them on from the chair nearby. Every morning he would fly over the mountains for almost an hour. “Stretching his wings,” he would say.
He came up behind her and slid his arms around her, his hands sliding over her swollen belly. She turned and looked up. His gray eyes had softened over the years. He kissed her then.
“Mommy, Daddy, can I go play in the garden?” the voice of a little girl came from behind them.
They pulled apart and turned. A four-year-old girl with long silver-white hair and clear blue eyes stood barefoot in her nightgown.
“Yes, you may go, but don’t go wandering into the woods,” Arathor said gently.
“Irena, don’t go alone. Lissa, you go with her,” she told the nanny who stepped out onto the terrace looking for the girl.
King Arathor and Queen Arana watched their daughter run off inside. There never could be a more heartwarming sight. The bond she shared with her husband and daughter was magical. It made her feel more powerful than ever. And she would have given up her powers a thousand times over for this bond.
He pulled her close as she rested her head on his shoulder, her hand over her belly. Arathor couldn’t thank her enough for the gift she had given him. She was the savior of his bloodline, and his love for her had grown over the years and was still growing.
*****
THE END
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading “Barbarian's Prisoner” as much as I liked writing it. Please consider leaving an honest review here; it means a lot to me to hear from you.
Abella Ward
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Description
A curvy girl held prisoner on planet X29 PLUS a hot alien who is commander at her camp PLUS a secret human-alien baby!
A generation ago, an alien force named The Gosebs invaded earth and imprisoned the entire human population. Mereen Silver has never known a life different to the one she has. She was born on a Goseb garrison and spent her entire life in their servitude. She has never known hope or happiness, only hard work and despair.
When Mereen is transferred to a different ship, she meets the revolutionary Goseb Commander Detro Mirol. He is not cruel or malicious, he is kind and gentle and, even more, he wants to help the human prisoners under his control.
As time passes Mereen and Detro grow closer and he shares his vision of a peaceful future for humans and Gosebs alike. Mereen is happy to help him in any way she can. But the rest of the Goseb commanders do not agree. They like having power over the humans, using them and discarding them as they will.
But then Detro suddenly disappears in the midst of a fight with a fellow commander over Mereen...
Just then, Mereen learns that she’s pregnant with Detro’s child. Will Detro come back for Mereen, and can she survive until he does? Will their love win out, or will the horrors of war crush them both?
Chapter One
Happiness was in short supply on X29. The planet should have had a better name, but we humans trapped on it felt no love for the strange, dusty place. It didn’t deserve a nickname. We called it Ex sometimes, but that’s all. It wasn’t home and it was never going to be. It was Ex, a place where we had to live because we had no other choice.
The klaxons rang loudly from speakers spread through the camp, signaling the start of another day. It was a horrible, loud, shrieking noise designed to wake even the drunkest man. The klaxons meant that it was time to get up and go to work. They were a call to the men of the camp, telling them to descend into the mines for another day of hard labor. The days were endless, filled with work followed by more days filled with more work, each one leading to the next with no break or rest.
With a loud sigh, I pulled myself out of bed and stretched. It was a struggle to keep my eyes open. I felt tired all of the time. It was an endless exhaustion. All I wanted to do was stay in bed. Nausea hit me when I moved and I put my hands to my lips, struggling to contain it. I couldn't afford to be sick. I needed to keep every bite of food I ate in my body.
I rubbed my soft belly. I could feel the start of a swell there. Or maybe there was nothing. Maybe it was all still in my imagination. But the symptoms were clear enough. I was pregnant. It was good I wasn’t showing yet. Hopefully, I could hide it for a while, wear baggy clothes, wrap myself in rags. I had always been curvy and I was thankful for that now. It would help hide the pregnancy for a little longer.
“Knock knock,” I heard a low voice say. I looked over to see a man with a red face and yellow eyes leaning into my tent. He was tall and thin, with that sunken-cheeked look that all the miners had after enough time spent here. He had dirt permanently trapped under his fingernails and his clothes were thin rags, though he managed a wan smile.
“Good morning, Rob,” I said, as I stood and stretched my already aching back.
“Ready to do some business, Mereen?” he asked me. Behind him, I could see the glaring morning sunlight of the planet. Morning and night were words that had no meaning here. The planet sat between two suns. There was no night. The temperature ran from hot to hotter.
“Always,” I replied. Rob was my salesman. He sold my wares to men in the mines for fifty percent of the profit. It was a high markup, but it kept me safe and away from the more dangerous side of the business. It was too risky for me to deal with the miners. Rob was better at it, and he knew them. He knew their schedules and personalities; he knew who could be trusted. I handled the supply, Rob handled the demand.
Rob and I had done this countless times. He didn’t need to be told to close the flap and wait on the other side. Once the flap was closed all the way and I knew he couldn’t see, I reached into my rucksack at the foot of my thin mattress. Inside, sewn into the lining, was a secret compartment. Reaching in, I took out a handful of small bags filled with a clear liquid. Alcohol, concentrated and deadly, but easy to smuggle around the camp.
“Enter,” I called to Rob, and he opened the flap and came inside. He handed me a heavy clump of copper ore and I placed it on the scale. It was three pounds, exactly. “How do you always get the number so perfect?” I asked.
“A magician never reveals his secrets,” Rob said, grabbing the small capsules of alcohol and slipping them into the many hidden pockets of his vest. “Same time tomorrow?”
“I’ll be here,” I answered, and with a tip of a nonexistent cap, Rob left. I let out a deep breath and sat down on my bed again. Just that small act had taken the strength out of me.
There were no comforts in my Spartan quarters. This was a work camp; it wasn’t meant to be pleasant. My tent had a thin mattress on the floor, a bucket for waste and a jug for water. I kept the few personal items I owned in my rucksack, and carried it with me wherever I went.
Our settlement was in the northern half of the planet. Anything further south would have been too hot and inhospitable, though I knew the southern pole had a small tropical island. It was the one place on the planet that wasn’t a miserable desert.
We lived on a huge, wide, flat plane. Thousands of tents lined up in neat rows, each one with human men and women working and struggling to survive another day. There were children as well, though only those boys that would one day be suitable for work were allowed to live.
The klaxons outside changed their tone. Tent check. I stood up, my body crying out from exhaustion. I grabbed my shawl and brought it over my head to shield my skin from the bright sun.
Standing next to my tent, I nodded to my neighbors. To my left was the wife of a miner who had already left for work. Women were considered too weak and small to be functional in the mines, but there was still plenty of work for us to do. There was washing to be done, food to prepare and Goseb commanders to care for.
According to the ID chip implanted in my neck, I worked in the washing facility. I should be spending my days elbow deep in suds. But a bribe every week to the woman in charge of the laundry ensured that I got credit for work without ever actually washing a single thing. The laundry was where I made alcohol and I used to surplus income to stay alive.
The Goseb guards walked between the tents. They held a sensor in one hand and every time it passed over a human there was a quiet beep that meant the human was exactly where they were supposed to be.
The guard loomed over me. He was wearing armor that both protected and cooled him. His face was covered with an expressionless black mask, but I knew what was underneath. Goseb’s were oddly human-like in stature and size. The guard in front of me was only a few inches taller than I was. Underneath the armor his skin was green and his eyes a bright violet color. He would most likely have short hair and a body decorated with tattoos. Not that I would ever see him. The Gosebs only took their armor off when they were at home among family.
I kept my eyes downcast as the sensor moved over me. I heard the beep, and then the Goseb moved past me and onto the next human. On and on down the line he went. It would take them about half an hour to scan every human, and we had to wait outside of our tents until they were finished.
I glanced at the faces of the tired and broken down men and women around me. They all looked aged and stooped, though there was no human on the planet over the age of sixty. No one made eye contact with me. It was too dangerous to make friends. At any time, the Gosebs could kill any one of us. They could wipe the whole planet clear if they wanted to, set their bombs down on us and torch the entire planet. We only lived as long as we were useful to them.
The klaxons stopped and I went back inside of my tent. I pulled a small working table out from underneath my bed and began to chisel away at the copper. I chipped and cut it into small
portions and measured them out. Some of it would be used to bribe the guards, some to buy additional food and vitamins. The rest I would add to my stash. I had managed to save quite a bit of my copper, but I would need all of it and then some once the baby was here.
Nausea came roaring through me again and I closed my eyes and waited for it to pass before continuing to separate the copper. Once my work was done I set the alarms on my tent: tin cans and spoons hanging on a line. If anyone tried to get in, the noise from the rattling metal would wake me up. I crawled back into bed and closed my eyes. The heat of Ex wafted over me. I closed my eyes and began to doze, slipping in and out of a light sleep.
Outside, I could hear people moving up and down the lanes between the tents. There were boys selling water and homemade sweets, and women selling themselves to men. What was going to happen to me here? It had been two months since Detro and I had been separated. I’d had no word from him at all. He could be anywhere. Maybe he was dead. Maybe he’d been re-educated by the Gosebs. What if he had found some other woman to keep him warm at night? What if he had forgotten about me? He didn’t know about the child. I hadn’t known about the child when we were separated. There was no way to get a message to him.
Think happy thoughts, my mother used to tell me that. Think about happy things and better times. She spent her days cooking and cleaning and doing other things for the Goseb army. Whenever I cried, she would tell me to think of something happy. That was her trick for getting through long days. So, remembering my sweet mother who had been taken so long ago, I thought back to happier times.