by J. M. Page
“Like what?” he asked, his hand instinctively going to the small of her back as he steered her toward another room.
She laughed and shook her head again. “It’s like a fairy tale. Like magic or something. You have a palace made of rainbows and crystals with a real honest-to-goodness waterfall inside of it. Do you realize how crazy and amazing that is?”
He smiled. “Yes. But as we’ve established, I’m biased.”
“You have every reason to be,” she said, making his heart swell with pride. His One approved of the palace. She seemed enamored with his planet the moment she laid eyes on it.
Perhaps there was hope for them after all. Maybe she could learn to look at this place as home. Maybe she would want to leave her planet to be with him.
He could hope.
It was all he could do, really.
“There are still many things to show you, and there will be a welcome home feast I’m sure you’ll enjoy,” he said.
Her eyes lit up from within, full of excitement and astonishment. “You’re going to make me feel like a princess,” she joked with a grin.
He smiled but said nothing. That was the plan. He wanted to show her the best he had to offer. To make it so she didn’t think twice when he offered to bring her here, into his life.
Her joy was infectious and enthralling and Zak wanted to Kiss her right then and there. But the moment still wasn’t right. Not yet. He needed to stack the odds in his favor if he didn’t want to risk ruining it.
Then the light faded as some realization took hold inside of her again and she plastered on a look of pure business.
“And after the feast, you’ll sign the treaty?”
He stopped mid-stride, frozen by her words. “Sign the…” His throat closed up, the happiness he’d felt only a moment before turning bitter and sour on his tongue.
Zak realized that no matter how many wonders he showed her, no matter how much he treated her like the princess he wanted her to become — Jen still viewed this as a work trip. Here he was, trying to introduce her to the world he wanted to make her home, and she could only think about the treaty and going back to Earth.
He’d been naive to think that it could be any different. To think that Granota and the Crystal Palace could change her mind.
The fact still remained that he was a hideous creature and she was pure and beautiful, not of this world.
“Is that what you want?” he asked, anger and indignation flaring up inside of him. “For me to sign the treaty so you can be on your way back to your planet? Is that the only reason you came here?” He knew he was acting crazy. He knew it was rash and accusatory, but he couldn’t stop himself. He felt like an idiot. He felt rejected and beaten down. All his hopes dashed again.
It was too much to bear.
Jen’s mouth fell open and she stuttered. “I— I mean, yes, that’s why I’m here, isn’t it?” She sounded unsure of it herself, taken aback by his sudden outburst.
But she wasn’t wrong and he knew it. He’d gotten her here under false pretenses, didn’t tell her the whole truth about their connection, and expected her to somehow look past all that and want to be with him anyway?
Of course it was ridiculous. She was just here to do a job, nothing more. Anything else he imagined happening was just that — imagination. Fantasy. Not reality.
“Yes, it is. You don’t have to come to the feast,” he said. “I’ll sign your treaty and you can leave right away. I’ll get a shuttle ready for you.”
Chapter Eleven
Jen
“I— Wait, you’ll—” It was too late though, Zak had already stalked off. He basically took her treaty, scribbled on it, threw it back at her and told her to get off his planet.
What in the world was that about?
Jen frowned, watching his form get smaller and smaller as he receded. She thought they were getting along. She was excited to see more of the palace, of Granota in general, but now it seemed she was no longer welcome.
Her heart sank, tears pricking at the back of her throat. She’d thought there was something growing between them. A fondness, an understanding… a connection of some kind. She thought he felt it too, but it was so hard to tell with him.
She stood in the atrium by the waterfall for what felt like a long time, just staring into the mist and white rushing water as it was whisked away under her feet. The roar of falling water was no match for the never-ending stream of doubts and uncertainties in her mind.
“Miss?” said a soft voice at her side. She turned and found the blue man who’d accompanied them on their trip — Golbath, she’d heard the Prince call him.
“I’m supposed to take you back to the shuttle,” he said, his hands clasped behind his back, his mouth drawn into a grim line. It was a little bit of comfort that he looked as upset about this as she felt.
“Oh… Okay,” she said, the reality hitting her.
It was stupid, she knew that, but she couldn’t help but think all his talk of kissing and soul mates was about her. She’d brushed off those thoughts before, but they kept creeping in, and the more time she’d spent with Zak, the more she was tempted to test the theory. When he told her about a feast, she thought maybe he was biding his time. Or maybe that would be her opportunity, but now it would never come.
What changed? Why did he flip out so dramatically?
Jen looked down at the treaty in her grasp. Her hand trembled with barely contained emotion. If she kept thinking about it, she was going to lose it any minute in a puddle of tears.
How could she already be so attached to this man? This morning she didn’t even know he existed, and now she couldn’t bear the thought of continuing life without him. He made her feel so much more alive, so much more comfortable in her own skin. He made her feel like it was okay to be herself, even if herself was prone to forgetfulness and sticking her foot in her mouth.
But now, all of that was gone.
Golbath led her out of the Crystal Palace to a waiting vehicle. Jen took a deep breath, eyeing the ledge of the driveway that dropped to a sheer mountain face. From this vantage point, she saw the charming town unfurling down the mountain road toward the coast. She saw glimmering glittering aqua waters on every side. And behind her, the great tropical mountain with the palace as the jewel, nestled in the foliage.
“Can I just have a moment?” she asked, not waiting for his answer. She walked to the ledge and leaned her elbows on it with a sigh. She wasn’t ready to leave. She didn’t want to go yet — not without knowing if she was crazy for thinking there was something with the Prince.
She should have just done it when he first told her about the Kiss. When he’d first mentioned it. She had the chance then, but didn’t know what to do, so instead she’d started jotting down notes for the office. Real romantic.
But really. It wasn’t like she could just go around kissing Princes because they told romantic stories. Because they made her heart flutter and her skin itch with the need to be near them.
Okay, so maybe that was just this one Prince, but she hadn’t met any others. Maybe all Princes were as suave and kind as Zak.
Jen’s breath hitched in her throat. Who was she kidding? There wasn’t anyone else like him. On this planet or any other. And now she had to leave. Never to see him again.
She took one last look back at the palace. If she looked in just the right place, she could see where the waterfall came from the mountain and disappeared into the crystal. Her heart ached, knowing she had to leave this beautiful fairy tale world behind. Her chest physically hurt as the tears pushed up into her eyes.
So much for holding it in.
Before she could make an absolute fool of herself by blubbering in the palace driveway, Jen got into the back seat of the vehicle.
Chapter Twelve
Zak
He still couldn’t believe his own naivete. How he could have ever thought that someone like Jen would want someone like him? An ugly, hideous frog.
I
n a fit of self-pitying rage, he’d told his parents he wouldn’t be attending the feast and they were free to cancel it. They’d looked at him with twin expressions of confusion, but seemed to accept that the Earth trip had done nothing to improve his mood.
They didn’t have any idea. If anything, it only made things worse. Now he knew without a doubt that his One was out there and he just couldn’t have her.
There was a knock on his door while Zak sat in his bedroom, staring out at the sea, far in the distance.
“Come in,” he said on instinct. He didn’t really want to see anyone, but he’d spoken before his brain caught up.
It was Doran. He stepped into the room and closed the door softly behind him, taking a couple of long strides into the center of the space.
“I’ve heard word that you sent the Earth girl home,” he said, his lips pursed, his eyes judgmental.
Zak looked away from him.
“Yes,” he said.
Doran took another step forward, his heel clicking against the stone floor. “Why?”
“Why?” Zak repeated, incredulous. “Isn’t it obvious?” he turned to his life-long friend, anger and disappointment warring within him. He didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to dwell on it.
But then he pictured her wide blue eyes and remembered the beautiful flush on her face and his chest ached anew.
This was so much worse than thinking he didn’t have a One. So much more devastating.
Doran frowned and took up the seat next to him. “No, it’s not. Enlighten me.”
Zakrom sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face in anguish. “She was only here for work. She only cared about having the treaty signed and leaving as soon as possible.”
Doran ‘hmm’d, but stayed silent for a moment, letting Zak’s words echo in the room.
“And she said that? She told you she wanted to leave?”
Zak faltered. “Well… no. But it was obvious that—”
“It’s obvious,” Doran said, interrupting Zak, shutting him up on the spot. No one interrupted the Prince without good cause. “That you got ahead of yourself and let your One go because of a simple misunderstanding. Did you ever even tell her of your connection? Does she even know you belong to one another?”
Zak hesitated again, his anger dissipating into pure regret. “...No,” he admitted finally, his throat closing up. What had he done? “But I thought I made it clear when I told her about the Kiss.”
Doran steepled his fingers and gave Zakrom a long, appraising look. A look that made Zak feel like an idiot. One that told him he’d handled the whole thing incorrectly.
“She’s not of our kind. It’s new to her and she probably doesn’t recognize the pull for what it is. I had to spell things out for Alinya in no uncertain terms. She thought I was telling her a nice story until I explicitly told her it was a story about us. You never gave Jen that chance,” he said, the truth of his words ringing in Zakrom’s ears. Doran was right. He’d botched the whole thing and then gotten upset when she didn’t know what she did wrong.
“Having your One and Kissing them is amazing, it’s unlike anything else, but it’s not an entitlement. It doesn’t fall into your lap neat and perfect. You of all people should know that. You’ve searched for her this long, now’s not the time to give up,” Doran said sternly. Zak looked up at him, still surprised to hear all this from his friend and advisor. But that’s what advisors were there for, right? “Your Highness,” he finished with a smirk and a nod, standing from his seat.
But he was slower than Zak. Zak who had a new fire in his blood. A new purpose.
He didn’t deserve Jen if he couldn’t take a chance on her. He didn’t deserve happiness if he couldn’t lay himself on the line and expose himself to rejection and ridicule.
He had to try. He had to hope. And he had to get down to the shuttle launch — fast.
“Thank you, my friend,” he said, clapping Doran on the shoulder. “I have a shuttle to catch before it’s too late.”
He ran from the room, his heart racing, his mind whirling. How could he have missed something so obvious? Of course she wasn’t from their world. She wouldn’t make the connections as readily as he did. It wasn’t her rejecting him if he’d never even offered himself.
Without waiting for staff to appear and assist him, Zak grabbed his own vehicle and sped down the mountain, toward the city, hoping he could catch the shuttle before it took off.
He imagined catching her as she buckled her harness, professing his love and devotion, and kissing her right then and there.
He couldn’t miss it. That couldn’t be how this ended.
The roads down were twisting and winding and more than a couple times, Zak nearly wiped out, coming perilously close to careening off the cliff side.
But finally, the ocean came into view ahead of him. That was where the shuttles took off.
He pulled up to the gate and was stopped by a guard.
“Sorry, no one can come through, there’s a launch going on.”
“Well stop it!” he said. “I’m your Prince, you have to let me through.”
The guard frowned, looking at him carefully before shrugging. “I’m sorry Your Highness, it’s not safe to let anyone in until after the launch.”
“You don’t understand!” Zak said. “I’m trying to stop the la—”
But it was too late. Cut off mid-word, Zak looked up at the sound of shuttle engines roaring to life. The sound of thrusters igniting.
And then the rocket was lifting, already off the ground, shooting toward the sky, his heart falling through the center of the planet as it did.
“—unch,” he finished, dejectedly.
The guard shrugged and raised the gate, letting Zakrom through.
He was numb as he drove through the spaceport. Cold and empty inside as he stopped the vehicle by the waterside, watching the plume of smoke streak across the sky as his One was taken away.
“No,” he said to himself. “No! This is not how it ends.” He’d get another shuttle ready. He’d race her back to Earth. He’d find her there, tell her his feelings, Kiss her, and bring her home. There was no stopping him now. Not after all this. This was not how it ended.
He gripped the rope fence that lined the edge of the port, water lapping twenty feet below. He took deep shuddering breaths, trying to get his emotions under control. Trying not to think about how sad and lonely Jen must be on that shuttle, not knowing he came back for her.
He hoped she’d forgive him.
He stared into the water for a long time, seeing her eyes reflected back at him, endless pools of intelligence and humor.
He had to get her back.
“Looking for something?”
Zak’s heart leapt into his throat. It couldn’t be, could it? It sure sounded like her, but surely it was just grief and desperation making him hear things. She was on the shuttle. The shuttle was gone.
She was gone.
But despite the evidence, Zak had to turn. He spun slowly, his eyes landing on her instantly. She was there. She was really there, standing before him in all her glory. The wind whipped through her hair, spun gold shimmering in the evening sun.
Just to be sure, he turned and looked back to the shuttle, barely visible through the clouds.
“You’re not gone? You didn’t go?”
She smirked, stepping nearer to him. “Very observant, Your Highness.”
He reached out, his hand cupping her cheek. He couldn’t believe it until he touched her. Until he felt her warm flesh under his fingertips.
“You didn’t go,” he repeated, his voice full of awe and reverence.
“I didn’t,” she said, shaking her head, still smiling in that certain way that made his heart try to beat out of his chest.
“Why?” he whispered, his thumb stroking across her cheekbone. She was really here.
She shrugged. “I sent the papers back with the shuttle, but I had some things I needed to take care of here.
”
Now it was Zak’s turn to grin, his chest full to bursting with all the things he was dying to say to her.
“I’m sorry,” he said, foregoing the whole speech playing through his mind.
“You should be,” she said, her hand snaking over to his side, pulling him closer to her by his shirt
He chuckled, but shook his head. “No, I mean it. I should have told you long ago that I recognized you as my One. I should have told you how I’ve been dreaming about Kissing you since the moment I laid eyes on you. From the moment we met, Jen, I’ve known I belong to you, and you to me. I just didn’t think you’d want me. Not like this,” he said, his disdain clear in his voice as he scowled at his own appearance.