Princess For Them

by Kelsey Blaine

  “That is ridiculous. I am willing to negotiate anything else that will result in you all letting the Ve’drans free. I truly wish to strike an alliance with Earth as well as barter for a seat on the UAP…” Kohl said.

  “Prince Kohl you are in no position to negotiate or barter. Either you leave for good or we will not release your prized Ve’drans,” Alora said dispassionately.

  “This is tyranny,” Kohl muttered.

  “No Prince Kohl, you were a tyrant while here trying to negotiate an alliance. The humans are done with being bullied by you and your people. It is as I’ve said. Go or not only will your people remain in custody, but you too will be held in the facility until your inevitable deportation,” she said. “The choice is entirely up to you. There is no need for you to prolong the detainment of your people. You can have them right now if you wish.”

  “If I take them from you then you will force us off the planet,” Kohl stated. Alora simply nodded.

  “Agree to leave and we can go about releasing them and arranging for all Ve’drans return to your planet,” she said blithely.

  “No I will not. An alliance is what I came here for and I will find a way to get it,” Kohl said. With that he turned on his heel and gestured for Erine and their guards to follow him out. As soon as the doors shut behind him he could hear the room’s confusion and upset.

  Chapter 10

  Kohl

  “My prince, what shall we do?” Erine asked nervously as they quickly returned to their vehicle.

  “First we must free our people and send them back to Ve’dras. That way, the humans won’t have any bargaining chip over us. Then I will forgo Earth and deal directly with the UAP to acquire a seat for Ve’dras. After I’ll simply negotiate peace with Earth and that will be that,” Kohl said resolutely.

  “I will arrange to have our guards convene at the safe house,” Erine said. Kohl watched as he began making calls. Meanwhile he established a plan for freeing his Ve’drans from whatever facility they were being held in.

  “Call Tor as well, I’ll need my remaining diplomats to—”

  “My lord, Tor is being detained with the others,” he said nervously.

  “What?” Kohl could hardly veil his rage. He took a deep breath and reworked his plan. “Fine, I will need you to make a public statement on my behalf while I lead a team to rescue the others.”

  “Anything you need my prince,” Erine said dutifully. He continued making his calls. Kohl urged the vehicle to return to the safe house, and his Maya, quicker.

  * * *

  “Kohl…will you promise to be careful?” Maya asked him after he finished explaining the plan. Everyone he needed was assembled. Erine would make a long winded statement about Kohl’s recent visit to Ve’dras. How he will change his ways in interplanetary affairs and such. Meanwhile Kohl would lead the dozen or so guards gathered to free his people from the facility they were being held.

  Kohl marveled at Maya. He expected her to demand that he stay behind, to beg him not to put himself in harm’s way. But she understood. He saw in her gaze that she understood he had to do this. He had to lead his men and free his people himself. It was a duty he had as a ruler. In that moment Kohl felt his love for her tenfold.

  “Of course I will be careful. I fully intend to come back to you, my child, and my people in one piece.” He said resolutely. Those who did not know of Maya’s pregnancy gasped with the news. It took only a moment for everyone to move on, Kohl could see his guards’ expressions steeling for the upcoming mission.

  “Erine, you should leave for the Union of Earth Nations building now,” Kelhan told him. Erine gestured to one of the guards who stood to follow after him. “We’ll have roughly twenty minutes before we head out….” Kelhan said.

  Kohl went to help Maya up from her chair and walked her upstairs into their bedroom.

  “I’m already a nervous wreck Kohl, and being pregnant is not making me any less emotional…I don’t want anything to happen to you. But I know this is something you have to do,” she sighed. “This whole situation is messed up,” she added on a murmur.

  “It will be rectified. Though I do not view your planet’s leaders at all favorably. The situation will smooth out once my people are freed,” he said. Kohl took Maya in his arms.

  “You no longer want an alliance?” she asked curiously.

  “More like a truce…” Kohl told her honestly.

  “What will that mean for…visiting and so on?” Maya asked softly. Her expression confused and concerned.

  “Well when I am in the position to negotiate a truce we will see how things develop from there,” he said.

  “Prince Kohl, we should be going now,” Kelhan called up. Kohl glanced at the door and sighed.

  “I will come back to you,” he said and kissed her long and hard. He hugged her tight and pressed his nose to the top of her head, inhaling her scent. After a short moment of quiet Kohl pulled away from Maya and left the room.

  Kohl joined Kelhan and the rest of his fourteen guards, no longer simply guards, but warriors for their Ve’dran people. Kelhan gave Kohl some light body armor and a stun rifle. They all had such a weapon, a gun which was unique to Ve’dras. The shots hurt, but they did not cost lasting damage. They simply paralyzed the victim long enough for a Ve’dran soldier to move on in his mission.

  Once Kohl was ready they all filed into a few black vehicles to head off to the facility where their Ve’drans were being held. The ride was quiet, the air thick with focus. Kelhan showed him a layout of the building earlier and he went over the plan of attack over and over. After a while their caravan pulled up to the wooded area surrounding the building.

  “The surveillance starts within a mile of the building. As soon as we near the perimeter we’ll disrupt their surveillance systems. Then we have ten minutes to get everything done.” Kelhan went over the plan as they got out onto the ground. They split into teams of seven and made a wide approach to the building. They stuck to the cover of trees. Once they were close enough to the building Kelhan used the small tablet to send the signal that would disrupt any of the humans’ in and outgoing signals. Their surveillance wouldn’t be able to connect with receivers or monitors on the facility.

  Once that was done they continued on towards the building, running at top speed. They reached the rear of the building and quickly blew through the one service door that wasn’t reinforced like the others. Kohl led his men filing in and they hurried down a narrow hall. It emptied into a monitor room which was riddled with human soldiers and peacekeepers. Kohl and his men acted without pause. They stunned all ten in the room and continued on to the holding cells. Kohl made sure all of his men got through before he followed the line. Soon they came upon several wide glassed-in rooms. His people were gathered, watching with eager eyes and relief. Kelhan swiftly got the reinforced glass panels open, and everyone rushed out.

  “Prince Kohl, you came for us!” one woman, renowned for her medical research on Ve’dras, exclaimed happily. Kohl grew angry all over again at the fact that even women were held hostage in holding cells.

  “Of course I came for my people. I would not let this stand. But we have little time. Those of you guards, find a comrade, and reclaim your gear. We must surround the civilians as we move out,” Kohl gave the orders and they were carried out quickly. Once everyone was set, Kohl led the group back down the path they came. Only, waiting for them in the monitor room was many more UAP peacekeepers. Kohl shouted at his people to get down as the keepers made to shoot. Kelhan gave the order to the warriors who began shooting to stun the keepers. Only the weapons had by the peacekeepers weren’t as harmless. Kohl saw two of his warriors go down. He paused in shock, and it took only that moment of shock for a keeper to capitalize on it and send a round directly for Kohl. He felt the force of the shot before the piercing pain of it. He lost his footing and fell back against Kelhan who caught him deftly and shot the very keeper who was so bold. He felt pain. A stinging fire crept up an
d down his arm, then spread towards his chest. The world around him tunneled and greyed.

  “The round was laced with poison! Help me carry him!” Kelhan shouted. It was the last thing Kohl heard before the world faded to nothingness.

  Book 4: Hearts Aligned

  After the ordeal of freeing his people from Earth, Kohl is faced with the aftermath. He hopes at least to strike a peace accord with the people of Earth. Not to mention he must still pursue the goal of his planet joining the United Alliance of Planets. Meanwhile Maya has to decide whether or not she’ll truly commit to living on Ve’dras with Kohl or remain on Earth. Kohl’s love for Maya and her feelings for him will be what define their futures in the end.

  Chapter 1

  Maya

  She couldn’t stop pacing. No matter how many times those two guards Kohl left glanced at her, regardless of the reassurances they gave her, she just couldn’t sit still. That and her hand was glued to her belly. She held it there, as though their unborn child was some sort of link to Kohl and his wellbeing. She knew stress wasn’t good for pregnant women. But she just wanted Kohl back already. Safe. They’d said the entire mission shouldn’t last more than an hour and a half at most. Well by now it had been an hour and forty-five minutes.

  “Look, my lady. The news reports…” Jaye, one of the guards, called her attention to the TV. The other guard, Rowe, was turning up the volume. The screen was showing an aerial view of where the Ve’drans were being held.

  “To restate for those who are just joining us. We’re covering live, an attack on the I.P. Holding Center. It appears as though Prince Kohl of Ve’dras has broken into the center with an entire squadron of his guards. We’re getting live reports from an inside source…” Maya couldn’t take her eyes off of the grey building surrounded by trees. Meanwhile the white-haired anchorman was giving a play by play.

  “So Kohl’s team has gotten into the surveillance room and from what we’re getting, he’s made his way past though there were at least a half dozen human officers and peacekeepers inside. We aren’t sure whether the weapons Kohl’s team is using are lethal, nor do we know whether he’s given his men the order to shoot to kill…” Maya wanted to roll her eyes. Of course, ratchet up the tension and drama by saying the very things that would cause nothing but negativity. Maya was with Kohl when he made sure each of his warriors’ weapons were for stun only. She had half a mind to call into that news station and tell them what was what. Kohl wasn’t the monster everyone was so hell bent on making him out to be.

  A month or so ago, Maya would have been hated Kohl just as much as everyone else. Since then, she’d gotten to know him and had seen his true colors first hand.

  “It seems now that Prince Kohl’s intention for breaking into the facility was to forcefully break the other Ve’drans out. We’re getting a report now that more peacekeepers have finally been dispatched to the facility. They’ve made a stop in the surveillance room…. It seems now that a fire fight has broken out…” Maya held her breath as she waited for the anchorman to go on. Even Jaye and Rowe were standing next to her, tensely and anxiously watching.

  “Prince Kohl has been shot! It’s being reported live that Prince Kohl of Ve’dras has gone down in his attempt to escape the center.” Maya gasped with shock and terror. Her heart felt as if it stopped in her chest as her veins filled with ice.

  “Do not think the worst my lady. Kelhan will bring Kohl here and then we can see what to make of his condition. Either way, Prince Kohl heals very quickly. He may walk right in all on his own,” Rowe said reassuringly.

  “How do you know he heals quickly?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

  “The royal line are direct descendants of the original Ve’drans. They have certain natural attributes such as the ability to heal quickly. And certain heightened instincts and intuitions. It is what makes them so fit to rule the planet generation after generation.” Jaye explained. Maya didn’t know what to think of that. She was too worried about Kohl. What did ‘gone down’ mean? Did it mean he was just tripped up by a harmless shot? Did it mean he was killed as soon as the bullet pierced his skin and he was really down? Was he dead?

  Maya started her pacing all over again. All she could think of, apart from her fear of Kohl’s wellbeing was what he smelled like when they were last together: warmth, clean skin, and a hint of her perfume. She wanted him back alive and well more than anything.

  “It isn’t clear whether or not Prince Kohl has survived the shot. But it we are getting an aerial view now of some activity at the rear of the center. It appears as if the Ve’drans have broken free. They’re scattering through the woods there. It seems that the armed Ve’drans are covering them as they make their escape. It is unclear whether or not Prince Kohl has made it out with them. We will try to get a better camera view as well as try to re-establish our connection with our informant inside…” the anchor went on to basically say stay tuned after a commercial break.

  “I can’t believe they’re going to commercial right now!” Maya exclaimed. She should have put a go pro on one of those warriors and live streamed everything that went on. She wished she was tech savvy enough to think to do so.

  “My lady, we have word that Prince Kohl should be arriving soon with some of the others,” Rowe told her, his expression hopeful.

  “He’s coming? Who did you speak to? Kelhan?” she asked anxiously.

  “Yes I can call him again if you’d like,” he offered. Maya nodded vigorously and watched as Rowe pulled out a Ve’dran personal communicator. He tapped on the screen for a few seconds and then waited. His brows furrowed and he slowly put the phone down.

  “He is not answering…” Rowe said sullenly, he looked a bit sheepish too. Maya took a deep breath and sighed.

  “That’s fine…we just have to wait. As long as he told you they were on the way…that they’re coming with Kohl,” Maya stared Rowe down. He nodded, his expression almost like a little kid who didn’t want to get into trouble.

  “That is what Kelhan told me, my lady.”

  Maya sighed again, her hand reaching to her swollen womb. If she waited nearly two hours without self-destructing, she could wait a little more.

  Chapter 2

  Kohl

  “Did you get everyone on a space craft?” Kohl asked. He forced the words out through his teeth. One Ve’dran doctor they’d just rescued had risked her life going back into that facility for an antidote she knew was there. She’d swore that it would combat the poison entering Kohl’s system. After administering it to him, he could tell the painful effects were receding. Even though it was happening quite slowly.

  “I did my prince. Your father sent sufficient transportation and protection to get everyone back,” Kelhan said. Kohl had Erine arrange for several spacecraft to land in a secret location nearby to pick up the rescued Ve’drans.

  “I am remaining here Kelhan, if you wish to go. You may return to Ve’dras,” Kohl said hoarsely. He felt the feeling in his right arm slowly returning. The pain of the shot he took in his shoulder began to recede.

  “If you are staying my lord, then I shall as well,” Kelhan said. Several of the guards who’d overheard their conversation opted to remain as well. Soon after Kohl watched the last of the Ve’dran spacecraft disappear into the atmosphere, they drove away for the safe house. Kohl was eager to get back to Maya. He knew she must have been worrying about him. He wanted nothing more than to rest in her arms for a good long while.

  Kelhan nudged him awake and Kohl shook his head slightly. Kelhan said, “Prince Kohl, remember you must remain conscious for the antidote to work completely.” Kohl straightened in his seat and focused on Maya to keep him awake.

  “If you don’t mind my asking Prince Kohl, but why do you wish to remain on this planet? They do not want us here any longer,” asked one guard seated somewhere behind Kohl. He barely had the energy to turn and see who it was.

  “Because I have to try…I won’t let them beat me back like some whipped dog. I
will settle things peacefully with the humans and peacekeepers. Then I will get what I want, which is a seat for us on the UAP,” Kohl said adamantly.

  “Of course Prince Kohl. Honor is you,” said the guard. The praise was a high one for Ve’drans even of royalty to receive. Kohl did look back then to thank the guard. Before long they were pulling up to the safe house. Kohl was revived with a bit of energy as he got out. He was eager to see his Maya.

  As soon as he stepped through the door he heard a loud male voice. It sounded as if it were coming from one of the televisions. Kohl stepped into the living room and found Maya pacing around with both Rowe and Jaye’s eyes on her. They all stopped to look his way when he took a deep breath.

  “Kohl!” Maya exclaimed, relief all over her face. She bolted right to him and he caught her in a hug even though it hurt his shoulder. “I was so worried!” she cried. “Are you okay? They said you went down?” she asked anxiously. Maya pulled back to pat him down and check for his injury. She found the angry red scar on his shoulder and gasped.

  “Do not worry so much. It will be healed by dawn tomorrow,” Kohl assured her. He smiled as she continued to fuss over him. She began taking off his armor after she led him to take a seat.

  “So what is next my lord?” Kelhan asked.

  “Where is Erine? Has he returned to Ve’dras?” Kohl asked.

  “No, Erine is on his way back here,” he said.

  “Good…good, we should remain hidden until some of this excitement settles down,” Kohl said with a wince. Maya twinged his shoulder to get the vest off.

  “I say we let two days pass. Then I will make myself known to the public once more. I’ll see about speaking to that Alora and Earth’s leaders then. Perhaps everyone would have calmed by then,” Kohl murmured.