by Zara Zenia
Tiptoeing out of the palace, I stepped outside and slinked out through the back gates. It was the middle of the night and the city was silent with the heavy, purple mist from the skies setting across the skyline. It made the buildings loom up on the horizon like ships in the night. I shivered, pulled my cloak around me tight and pulled the hood up over my head.
The streets were deserted with no sound apart from my footsteps as they punctuated the stillness in the air. Samantha was on my mind the entire journey, the way her body felt against mine, the feeling of being deep inside her as she cried out in ecstasy.
She made me feel like a new person, made my body experience things it had never known before, not with any woman on Ura-Than anyway. When I came inside her it flared within me the power of a thousand suns, made feel as though I could kill a hundred men with my bare hands. Then afterward, as I lay in her arms, I felt tender and cared for, like nothing could ever worry me again. If only I was back in bed with her now.
Looking into the distance, with the air a muted red as the mist descended, I saw a figure, cloaked like me but half my size. It leaned against a street lamp, its electric blue glow washing over his pale face. He took a step forward when he saw me, blinked and rubbed at his eyes.
“I almost couldn’t believe it was you,” he said.
I grabbed his hand and shook it.
“And why would you say such a thing?” I asked.
“The great Ura-Than leader, wanting to meet someone like me. I thought it was a joke when they told me.”
“This is no joke.”
I still held his hand, squeezed it tight until I could feel the bones move beneath my strong fingers.
“So you are a relative of Oban?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “He is my great uncle.”
I regarded the small boy in front of me. There was some family resemblance but not much; the same diamond shaped jaw and aquiline nose but the look in the youngster’s eyes, it would never meet the intensity that lay within old Oban.
“How does a relative of Oban come to have such an insidious occupation?” I laughed.
“Don’t all families have secrets?”
“They certainly do.”
There was an awkward silence between us. The lamp above flickered, sending us into darkness for a few seconds. I shivered, felt as though we were being watched.
“This place creeps me out,” said the boy.
“Same here.”
“Anyway… it’s intelligence you’re after, isn’t it?” he got down to business.
“That’s right. I need someone with a sharp mind and a strong stomach.”
The boy chewed on the inside of his cheek as he thought, a peculiar habit.
“Ok… This is where you need to go.”
He pulled a notebook out from the inside of his robe and began scribbling wildly. When he finished, he took a deep breath and ripped out the page, handing it to me with a smug look on his baby face.
“Here. She knows everything and she will give you someone that meets your needs but she is not cheap. She expects top money for a top product.”
I looked at the paper in my hand. The address seemed familiar to me... then I looked at the name scrawled across the top of the page. Reli.
Somehow, it was even darker now. I rarely left the palace walls and when I did I was never alone and it was certainly never at night. But here I was, like a big boy out on my own like a civilian, vulnerable and scuttling through the streets with nothing but the black skies above me and the towering buildings crowding around my shrouded body, like stone monsters with a thousand square, glass eyes.
I stood on the corner as I thought about what to say to the slave mistress. Marrow dust stained my fingers and clung under my nails as I rolled it up. Lighting the end, I breathed it in deeply and blew out a tendril of red smoke. It drifted up and joined the mist, the remnants of my secret joy disappearing up into the sky.
Reli’s company, Celestial Mates, had its headquarters situated in the large warehouse beside me. I imagine she thought it was inconspicuous and plain looking with its sealed doors and windows. But to me, it looked suspicious with its multitude of cameras that moved around in the night obviously guarding something unspeakable. Behind me, a light flickered on in one of the upstairs windows. I was being watched.
The boy told me to enter through a side door that was marked with a red x. As I approached it seemed to crack open on its own, creaking and groaning as though it sensed me by magic.
“I’ve been expecting you,” Reli grumbled as she poked her head out the door. “Although I don’t know what time you call this. Do you always do business in the middle of the night?”
“Business of this kind can only be done in the middle of the night,” I said. “And Reli, I would watch your tone. Remember who you’re talking to.”
She nodded solemnly.
“I am sorry, I’m just tired,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful for your business or company.”
I shrugged.
“So,” she continued. “How are you getting on with your earth woman, the feisty bitch with a temper?”
I smiled thinking about her, my lips twisting up into a wicked smile.
“She is perfect,” I smirked. “You were right.”
“I’m always right. Sex and woman are my business.”
“And so is intelligence, I gather. That’s why I’m here.”
She paused then nodded.
“That is correct. Come this way.”
She waved me over to her office, a strange and opulent room in the center of the warehouse. It was a mess inside with papers strewn all over the place. Broken computers lay in the corner, broken husks of machinery, mechanical corpses. Large amounts of Rigel Units were stacked up on her table carelessly, tumbling out of bags and boxes. She saw me notice them.
“I’m waiting to go to the bank,” she said.
“Waiting for what?”
She didn’t answer.
“Intelligence,” she finally said as she slumped into her seat.
She leaned across her desk, her fingers touching in a pyramid below her chin.
“Intelligence,” I repeated. “I need to know things. I am in great danger. This whole planet is.”
I could see she was afraid although she tried to hide it. Her pupils dilated, the veins on the back of her hands protruding with a rush of blood.
“Danger,” she whispered. “What kind of danger can someone as mighty as you be in?” she pondered.
“At this point I am unsure, but I know it involves the X’Sorians.”
“The bastards,” she clenched her fists.
“They are…”
For a moment I wondered if I should even tell her about the mysterious intruder, the one who almost killed my beautiful, human slave.
“There was an assassination attempt,” I said.
“On who?”
She leaned further forward.
“And where? In the palace?”
I nodded.
“It was on that beautiful human, Samantha, that you so kindly sourced for me.”
“Someone tried to kill her! But why?”
“I think they were looking for me and found her instead.”
“Is she hurt?”
“Not badly…”
“Good. Wouldn’t want her losing her perfect looks,” Reli gave me a sympathetic smile.
“It must be the X’Sorians who sent him, although of course, I am not without other rivals at the moment. It seems the universe is in great turmoil. If only we could return to the good old days.”
“The days when people could travel between planets without fear, the days when the nights were just as alive with music and banter as the day.”
“Those were better times.”
I thought about the X’Sorians. No matter how many other scenarios ran through my head, they were always at the front of my mind. It must have been them that sent the assassin, it had to be. Although there
were countless people who would benefit from my death, especially as there was no heir to the throne… If I were to die the planet would be plunged into chaos.
“Mighty, Urie?” she asked. “May I speak freely?”
“Of course.”
“I have a good gut instinct. My profession has taken me to the darkest corners of the galaxy where crime and pain flourish and it’s easy for me to get into the mindset of an assassin, in a way…”
“Is that so?”
“Or at least I have a cunning streak within me.”
“Go on.”
“I don’t think this was just an arbitrary assassination attempt.”
“Is there even such a thing,” I chuckled.
“I think the X’Sorians sent him and it was strictly political. I also think there’s something else going on.”
“Really?”
“How did they get into the palace? The most guarded complex on the planet. How did they know where to find your human?”
The servants came to mind as I remembered their scarcity, how I couldn’t find them anywhere.
“You have a traitor, young Urie and I think they are very close to home.”
She was right. I needed to find out who they were and fast.
Chapter 12
Samantha
I think it has been a month since I arrived here but I am not sure what time even means anymore. It is different here, everything is. A day feels like a lifetime, a week spans out far into the future, a minute passes in a flash. Yet, despite this, I have settled in my new home. Of course, there are times when I think of Earth. Where would everyone think I went? Would they all still be looking for me? Would my Mom think I was dead? Would I be featured on Dateline? Those worries always passed through me in waves, then I’d be back in the moment again, living the high life in the palace and making love to Urie. I was no longer a mere sex slave, a servant or a piece of meat. In a way, I was an official concubine and member of the court.
On this day, however, I didn’t feel like living the high life. I felt like crawling up and dying. Nausea had been overwhelming me for hours and after rushing to the bathroom to throw up for the fourth time, I was now back in bed, with the covers up over my head.
“What is the matter, my little Sammy?”
Urie was grabbing at my foot, tickling my toes as he reached beneath the covers. I squealed and kicked him away. He laughed and sat closer to me, his arms reaching over my body, cradling me tight.
“Are you not well?”
I shook my head even though I knew he couldn’t see. There were tears in the corners of my eyes from being sick and my brow was damp with sweat.
“I’m so ill, Urie. This is the second day I’ve woken up and been ill.”
“There, there.”
He rubbed at my back and leaned over to kiss the top of my head.
“I will send for a doctor.”
Back on Earth, I was used to a stethoscope being pressed into my chest, cold but calming at the same time. I always enjoyed having to see the doctor when I was a child. There was something about the act of being cared for that made me so relaxed I would be on the brink of falling asleep. My favorite thing of all was getting lice checks by the school nurse. It was like getting a head massage by an old aunt. I remember once I fell asleep as she worked her magic on my scalp and the next thing I remember was falling off the stool as my eyes closed. This, on the other hand, was nothing like that.
The medical profession here was far more advanced than anything on Earth. There were no men in white coats with hands covered in rubber gloves and there were no friendly nurses ready to give you a drink of water if you needed it. Here, a giant metal hand came out of the wall and touched my stomach with sensors attached to the fingertips. On this planet, this was what calling for a doctor meant. I mean, sure, it was practical and easy, and completely superior in every way, but it lacked the personal touch of having a soft-spoken doctor sticking things in your ear.
The metal hand beeped and retracted back into the wall. A moment later something was printed out from a gap in its wrist.
“It’s your results,” Urie explained. “Take them.”
It all felt so surreal, so utterly ridiculous. I pulled the piece of paper and saw the results. My eyes blurred for a second. I must have been imagining things.
“Pr-pre-pregnant,” I stuttered. “It says I’m pregnant.”
We looked at each other. I was in shock but Urie seemed ecstatic. He hugged me tight and grinned.
“We’re having a baby! A royal offspring, an heir… This is the happiest day of my life!”
“I don’t believe it!”
“Are you not happy?” he said as he narrowed his eyes.
“I’ve never been happier,” I reached up and kissed him. “And I've never been more terrified.”
“There is nothing to fear,” he soothed me. “Everything you need, you will have. You and the child will have everything you could ever desire. That I can promise you.”
There was cheering coming from outside the palace. The people were as thrilled as we were in knowing a baby was going to be born in the palace. Still, it would be nice to have some peace and quiet. They had been yelling their best wishes at us for days and it didn’t help that I was still getting morning sickness.
“I love them, I really do but do you think they can be quiet?”
Urie laughed as he pulled on his robe. I was standing in front of the mirror inspecting my body. I had been waiting for the first signs of a baby bump but my stomach was still flat. I pouted and moved from side to side, trying to get the best angle but there was nothing, not even a little lump.
“Are you still trying to see whether you are fat or not?”
“Yeah! I can’t wait to get a bump.”
“Be patient, my sweet little human. There will come a time when you are so enlarged with my child that you’ll barely be able to walk. Until then, revel in the freedom you have with your body. It will not stay this lithe and thin for long.”
He held me from behind, his hands on my stomach. Holding me tight, he kissed my cheek, my neck, my back. I grew wet fast, then pushed him away.
“Don’t do these things to me! Not now before we have to leave!”
“I can’t help it,” he groaned. “Still, whenever I see you it as though it’s the first time I laid my eyes on you.”
He gripped my jaw and planted a hard kiss on me.
“Are you ready for your first day in court?”
I nodded.
“Good. You will be amongst princes there, you'll be in the company of noblemen and women. You will make a good impression, though, I know it and the court is eager to meet the Earth woman who is about to produce an heir to the throne.”
An heir to the throne… My love life had certainly become more glamorous. My last boyfriend was a jerk, spent most of his time playing video games and drinking beer, but this guy… He ruled an entire planet and loved me more than anything. I felt my chest swell with pride as we stepped out of the palace and readied ourselves to be taken to our wedding at the courthouse.
“She’s a human you know… Our blood line will be poisoned with her otherworldly DNA. She will taint the offspring.”
I could hear her snooty voice from where I stood behind a pillar. Although Urie had assured me people would be welcoming, they were all perfectly pleasant to my face and downright monsters as soon as my back had turned. They were whispering amongst themselves, talking about me as though I had no feelings, as if I was garbage.
A group of noble women was gathered in a corner gossiping with drinks in their hands and frowns on their faces.
“A human… What was young Urie thinking?” One of them said.
“She’s not good enough for him and she’s certainly not good enough for this planet.”
“It’s true. Our future leader will be half human! Humans are notorious imbeciles and can barely manage their own planet!”
“Really?” a portly lady dresse
d in pink turned up her nose.
“Yes!” the girl beside her leaned in close. “It has been rumored that they can’t even produce fuel for their vehicles without destroying half the Earth. The place is practically under water these days from all the storms they caused.”
There was an eruption of giggling. Meanwhile, I remained behind the pillar, listening to every word they were saying with a heavy heart.
“What are you doing behind here?” Urie appeared behind me.
“Shh!”
I turned around and placed a finger to his lips.
“Careful…”
“What is this all about Samantha?” he whispered angrily.
“I’ve heard them talking. They hate me!”
Tears sprang from my eyes. I’d been trying to hold them in all night but it was useless. They tumbled down my cheeks and fell to the floor.
“Hey,” he rubbed at my arms.
Kissing the tears from my face, he stroked my hair and pulled me to him.
“Don’t listen to them. They’re just jealous.”
“Is that all it is?” I looked up at him. “After all it’s true, isn’t it… your royal bloodline will be polluted with my inferior human genetics.”
He shook his head and laughed.
“It’s not true and those people don’t know what they’re talking about.”
He slid his hands up my thighs and under my dress.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m showing you how gorgeous you are.”
He kissed me hard, his tongue pushing up against mine.
“Stop it. People will see us.”
“No one is looking back here. No one will find us.”
Only a few feet away noblemen were discussing politics and war strategies. Little did they know behind the pillar my panties were being pulled to the side.