And that moment was now.
The door opened.
Dragan walked in.
He was wrapped in his winter clothing, little bits of frost stuck against it, and he looked…excited?
“Dragan—”
“You need to come with me, William,” he said.
“What’s going on?” William demanded. “Things are…”
“Coming to a climax,” Dragan said. “And you will see soon exactly what I mean. But for now I need you to put on your furs and come with me.”
“Come where?” William asked. “What’s happening here?”
“Do you trust me?” Dragan asked.
William frowned. Why was Dragan asking him this? What was coming to a climax? The thoughts raced through his mind and he tried to get a grip on it all. But, and this thought rang true and clear, he did trust Dragan. There was no doubt in his mind about that. Over the last weeks spent on this island. Over all the time he had spent with this male, it was clear. “I trust you.”
“Then come, my king,” Dragan said. “And ready yourself for the making of history.”
William grabbed his furs from the chair that he had left them on, pulled them on quickly, and followed Dragan out of the door. A land craft was waiting for them. It was the same craft that had taken them on their island tour.
“Where are we going?” William asked as Dragan set the craft in motion.
“To the east coast,” Dragan said.
“Lei is there?”
Dragan nodded. “Lei and a few others. The rest have all been evacuated.”
“Why?”
“Because,” Dragan said. “We are about to have some guests, and we thought it best not to allow them some easy targets.”
“Guests…” William gasped as Dragan’s meaning became clear. Did the lord possibly mean what the king thought he did? “You don’t mean…”
“I do,” Dragan said. “And now is the time for truth.”
He pressed his palm against the crystal interface again, setting it in auto-motion then turned to William. The look stamped on his features made William shiver. It was a combination of excitement and resolve.
“It is important that you know,” he began. “That I have been uncomfortable with what Maylor has been doing for some time. On that basis I knew that there would have to be a plan in mind should it be needed. I held back though, convinced myself that it was not my place to interfere with the events of the mainland.” He paused. “You came at just the right time. A year past and I would not have agreed to help.”
“You wouldn’t?”
“No,” Dragan said. “Despite my intense, overwhelming attraction for you, I would have refused. My people come first. Their safety comes first. But I have come to realize that my people include those who are in the north. It is my duty to help them too.” He paused again and the next words he spoke made William gasp. “I decided to help them some weeks past. Before you even arrived on the islands.”
“But…” William shook his head, his eyes wide as understanding finally dawned. “The bargain? Why did you suggest it? If you were always going to help, why demand that from me?”
“Because I wanted you and because you wanted me. A bargain was the only way you were ever going to bring yourself to the point where you were willing to admit that fact. I knew the plan was already in motion. Knew that I was going to help regardless. In that room, with you so close, with my heart racing, I saw a way to get what I wanted.”
“Then you tricked me?” William breathed.
“Yes,” Dragan said. “And it was wrong, but I cannot, will never, be able to bring myself to regret it.”
William’s head was spinning, his heart thudding as he tried to comprehend what Dragan was telling him.
A trick.
A lie.
A bargain that was never needed.
He swallowed unsteadily, his mind racing. He wanted to rally at the lord for this, to fume with anger over it, and yet…yet…part of him knew that Dragan was right. Had William known that Dragan was already committed to helping he would never have allowed what had happened between them to even get started.
But that doesn’t make what he did right.
No, William thought, it did not. But how intense must Dragan’s attraction have been for him to lie like that? It was not part of his character at all. William had learned a lot about the male next to him over these past weeks, and one thing he was sure of was that Dragan was always honest to the point of bluntness. This action, this trick, it didn’t fit at all.
“Why?” William whispered. “Why?”
“I did not know it then,” Dragan said, and he was looking straight at William now. “But it must already have been there. Almost like it simply took you arriving to wake it up. I love you, William. Deeply. Completely. From the start it seems, I was willing to do whatever it took to have you.”
The words were not a surprise to William. He had heard them before after all. But this was the first time he believed them unquestionably. And it was odd, but he was sure he should have been angrier, sure that he should have been berating Dragan for his lie, but he wasn’t. All that William could think was how lucky he was to have a male like Dragan love him. And in that moment William realized that was the only thing that mattered. The reaction of the court, of his people, of all of them, didn’t mean anything. Dragan had been right. They would follow where he led, and if he returned to the capital, triumphant, hand in hand with his alien lord, who could dare to say anything against him?
No one.
And so he spoke, and the words simply came, and there was no denying it anymore.
“I love you also.”
Dragan let out a deep sigh. “At last.”
“And I can forgive your lie,” William added. “Else I would never have realized the fact.”
“Then you are mine?” Dragan asked.
William couldn’t help but nod. Acceptance. “Yes.”
“And I am yours?”
Happiness. “Yes.”
“And then all is as it should be,” Dragan said, and he was smiling now, because the coastal town was upon them.
“And Maylor?” William asked. “What of him?”
And Dragan’s next words were more shocking than all the others that had come before. “You can ask him yourself,” he said. “He is docking even as we speak.”
Chapter Sixteen
Dragan looked around the dock with narrowed eyes. Over fifty ships were there against the shoreline, and they all bore the mark of Maylor.
He had expected slightly more if he was honest, and it occurred to him then that Maylor had left perhaps a quarter of his army back on the mainland. That might have been a problem, but Dragan had made sure that there was someone else who would deal with that…someone who had been crucial in this entire endeavor.
“How many?” William asked as they stepped forward.
“Several thousand,” Dragan replied. “He is planning to kill almost all of us. Not the children I suspect, but certainly the adults.”
“And take the islands?”
“Precisely.”
“Your spies have told you this?”
“Not just spies,” Dragan replied. “We have had a traitor in their midst for some time. Her name is Chauce.”
William sucked in a sharp breath. “Chauce is Maylor’s most trusted advisor.”
“Yes,” Dragan agreed. “But she has worked for us from almost the beginning and she, along with your remaining generals, will deal with whoever is left on the mainland.”
“And she brought them here?” William asked. “Tricked them. My God…”
“Exactly.”
“But…not to suggest your plan is lacking in any way, but where are all of our people?”
Our people…Dragan grinned at that. “They are where they are supposed to be,” he said. “Don’t worry, my love, I have this in hand.”
“And we’re going down there?” William asked.
“No
need,” Dragan replied. “Maylor will come to us. He simply will not be able to help himself.”
And he was right, because just then a dozen or so people stepped off one of the ships and began to make their way towards them.
“He’s not worried we’ll try and kill him?” William asked.
“He knows my thoughts on murder,” Dragan replied. “He believes I will do nothing until he shows himself to be the aggressor.”
“I’m hoping that is not the case,” William sighed.
“It’s not. Now, here, put this on.”
William looked down to what Dragan held in his gloved hand. His eyes widened when he saw it. “One of the bracelets?”
Dragan nodded. “They are part of the plan.”
“I don’t understand…”
Maylor’s group was fast approaching and so Dragan spoke quickly. “You remember me telling you how all of our tech works in the same way? That it all works by interfacing with only our DNA?”
William clocked the bracelet around his wrist. “Yes.”
“These bracelets stop that from happening,” Dragan said. “What we’re about to do will only work on those who are not wearing them.”
“Maylor’s people.”
“Precisely.”
William frowned. “But…I’m not one of you.”
“No,” Dragan agreed, and he couldn’t help the slight smile that spread across his face. “But you have plenty of my DNA inside of you. I don’t want to take any chances.”
“Oh…”
Maylor’s group was almost upon them now. Dragan’s smile slipped. He allowed his face to go blank. Because any moment…
“Dragan!”
The words were practically spat at him, and there, in the midst of the group, was Maylor. He was just as Dragan had remembered him to be. His features were tight, almost feral, and there was an unpleasant look in his eyes.
Dragan shivered, but not from fear, he had never been frightened of this male, it was more from a combination of disgust and disappointment. The pain that Maylor had caused…
“I am surprised you dare to come here, Maylor,” Dragan said, but he said it slowly, softly, because his bracelet was not quite glowing yet.
“I had no choice, Dragan,” Maylor snapped. “You left me none!”
“I left you many choices,” Dragan replied. “You picked the wrong ones.”
“I picked what is right,” Maylor hissed, and then, as Dragan knew they would, his eyes skipped to William. “Well, look at this. The king is hiding here now is he? Hiding behind the great and noble Dragan!”
“Our king—”
“He is not our king!” Maylor snapped and he took a step forward, his fingers flexing, as if he was desperate to get them around William’s neck.
Dragan tensed and looked towards the hills where Lei and some of the other leaders were waiting, weapons drawn. He wasn’t entirely sure one of them wouldn’t pull the trigger, there was no question that they would protect the king if need be, they had come to care for him these past weeks. But a moment later and Dragan realized that they would not need to. His bracelet was glowing now, which meant theirs would be too, and the time was upon them.
“He is our king,” Dragan said softly. “This is his world. You are here by his leave.”
Maylor laughed at that, a great roaring laugh that made those around him, his generals, those as guilty as him, laugh too.
“I rule here now. I will rule everywhere,” he said. “Look at him, your king, hiding behind you like a coward! He does not deserve this world. It’s mine! My home!” He grinned unpleasantly. “At least it will be once I have taken care of you.”
“Taken care of me?” Dragan shook his head. “I never thought you would be foolish enough to come here. Foolish enough to fall into my trap. But, of course, I hoped, and then I planned for such an eventuality.”
Maylor’s eyes narrowed. “Trap? Planned? What nonsense are you talking?”
“I mean that people like you, Maylor,” Dragan said. “Those who have lost touch with their values, with the things that make them a person, will never win in the end. Because those who care, those who understand what life is all about, will always stand up to you.” He turned to William. “How does your wrist feel?”
“Hot,” William said.
“As it should be.”
Maylor flexed his fingers again. “What—”
And then a great boom filled the air, and it was a boom that Dragan had only ever heard once before. The last time was when he had entered the atmosphere of this world, when he had come home. This time though, this was the reverse, because the ship was not coming now, it was leaving.
“Your ship!” Maylor demanded, because he too recognized the sound. “What is it doing?”
“What it was meant to,” Dragan said. “Taking you away from here.”
Maylor shook his head, his eyes widening, and then to Dragan’s surprise he took a step back. “Chauce…”
“Lied,” Dragan said. “Just like she has been doing for many, many years. The stasis units are working perfectly, and they are waiting for you and for your army. By the time you awake, Maylor. You will be far from here, far from this world, and you will never be able to return.”
“Impossible!” Maylor spat. “Impossible! She would never.”
“She did,” Dragan said. “Because she had to. She knew what you were doing was wrong.” He paused. “We all did and so this is your punishment.”
“Impossible!” Maylor roared. “You have no way to get us up there.”
Dragan sighed. “And here you are wrong again, because my people came here in peace,” Dragan said. “And so we have had time to build new things, to understand the value of what is around us.” He held up his hand where the bracelet was now glowing fully. “The ship is locking on to you even as we speak, Maylor. Locking on to your DNA.”
Maylor let out something that was half-roar, half-terror. He didn’t ask what the bracelets were because he knew, it was obvious to him then, Dragan saw it in his eyes. It was just a flash, just a moment, but he knew…and then that was all, because the ship activated, and the bracelets reached full power, and the next thing Dragan knew a great light filled the sky.
Dragan lifted a hand to shield his eyes, turned his face away from the source, but a heartbeat later and it ceased. When Dragan blinked, when he opened his eyes fully, everything was different.
He stood alone on the eastern coast with William.
The ship had taken Maylor and his people aboard and was setting off, away from here, its sleeping occupants held tight in their stasis units, never to return. The plan had reached climax.
“It’s over,” William whispered.
“Yes,” Dragan replied. “It’s over.”
William let out a cry then, pulled Dragan into his arms, placed a kiss on his half-open lips and cheered in a way that Dragan had never heard him do so before. And the king didn’t even seem to notice the cheers coming from the hills, or care about the fact that their people could see them embracing and kissing.
He was happy.
Relieved.
He was glowing.
And at that point Dragan knew, no matter what was to come, no matter what would happen from here on in, that whilst the war might be over, he and William were only just beginning.
Epilogue
The capital had been waiting anxiously for their king to return for weeks. The majority of them had not even known at first that he’d travelled to the islands. Such was the secrecy around that mission. But after the fall of Maylor and his armies, after the liberation of the north, word had somehow spread that it was all down to their king and his new general, Dragan, the alien lord and leader of the islands.
From that moment the people in the capital, and those above and below it, awaited his return with baited breath. They had all known they insisted, that the king would free them from the alien rebels in the end. They had never doubted it. And if they were surprised that the Drag
an, one of the peaceful aliens, had been part of that, none admitted so.
Dragan was a hero.
Niahm had made sure that everyone was aware of that fact.
And so, none would dare to say a word against him.
It was to this mood that Dragan and William arrived in the capital. The two beleaguered guards, those that had stayed with the king during his time on the islands, did not return. Their time on those icy plains had been as eventful as William’s. They had both fallen in love with females and would be remaining on the islands for the foreseeable future, and William was happy to let them.
Happiness was somehow everywhere in this new time, and he was both excited and nervous to return to his home. More so when he actually arrived at the city gates.
Dragan was sat right next to him in the craft that had taken them from the capital docks. His solid form comforting to William in a way that he could never have imagined just a short time ago. Their time travelling to the capital had been a time of discovery for William. Now that he had admitted his feelings. Now that he felt comfortable with them. Their passion, their love, took on a whole new dimension.
William could not imagine being without his blue-skinned alien now. The very thought was horrific.
And his people? William grinned slightly as they came to a stop at the city gates. The people, including Bertram, who had greeted them at the docks had been all stares and open mouths when they had looked upon Dragan’s blue skin and solid physique. They would get used to it though, William told himself.
Because they would have to.
That was the decision that he had made.
“Are you worried?” Dragan asked as the gates opened and the waiting crowd surged forwards.
“Worried?” William asked. “No.”
“Then what?” Dragan prompted.
“Nervous,” William said. “This is a new time and there is much that will happen now. What of you?” he asked. “Is it strange being away from the islands?”
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