“Don’t be foolish Jessie. I always have a plan. You, unfortunately, put a kink in my original arrangement, but I aim to remedy it very soon.” Cerin pulled the knife away from Zara’s neck then roughly pulled her up by her arm and dragged her over to one of the two long marble tables in the room and started strapping her down.
“Look Cerin; you have me. You don’t need Zara anymore. Just let her go. She’s your daughter for God’s sake.”
Cerin made quick work of Zara’s restraints. When he was finished, he glared at Jessie. “You’re next. Lay down on the altar, or I’ll hurt Zara.” When Jessie didn’t move, he emphasized his order by covering Zara’s mouth so she couldn’t scream, then cut Zara’s bicep. Nothing deep, just enough to prove his point. Jessie looked at Zara’s eyes which were now streaked with free-flowing tears.
Jessie quickly lay on top of the altar and snapped closed the hand restraints herself as best as she could. “You don’t have to hurt her like that. I’ll do anything you say. Just don’t hurt her anymore.”
“I know I don’t have to…I want to.” Taunted Cerin. “Zara has been a huge disappointment. Heloc and I had big plans until you came along. When the princes returned from their final voyage empty handed, all they had to do is bond with Zara. Once bonded, the royal family would have mysterious fatal accidents over the course of a year, leaving my poor Zara as the single royal survivor and therefore Queen. I wouldn’t have killed the princes until Zara was with child. Zara would die in childbirth, and of course, my brother would have had an unfortunate accident himself. I don’t like sharing the throne, which is rightfully mine. Now that I think of it, I owe you and Leigh a debt of gratitude for killing Heloc. It saves me the trouble, and there’s no way I could be implicated in his death.”
“You’re insane,” Jessie whispered.
“Insane? No. Determined? Yes. You see Earthling, I desire power and won’t stop until I get it. Due to my ancestral proclivities as keeracs, my family had been forced underground for centuries. With Zara as Queen and me by her side to guide her, keeracs would once again be able to practice their craft without ridicule.”
Jessie looked at the sheer horror on Zara’s face. She could tell Zara had nothing to do with her father’s evil. “You forget one thing jackass. You’re on Looch and Leigh’s shit list already. You’ll be lucky if they don’t kill you on sight and I wouldn’t blame them, I’d like to kill you right now.”
Scoffing, Cerin continued. “You know nothing of our ways. Once I transfer the mark from you to Zara, she’ll then be the princess. You stupid bitch, it doesn’t matter if you’re Looch and Leigh’s ayah. The only thing that matters is who bears their mark. Once she’s princess, I’ll invoke the right of kava as her only living relative. There’s nothing your precious little princes can do about it.” Cerin cackled.
Jessie was about to object to Cerin’s outrageous declaration when Zara spoke up. “He’s right Jessie. If he transfers the mark to any female, Looch and Leigh would be forced to be with her until the end of their days. By transferring the mark to me, it ensures I’ll be princess. Kava is a law meant to protect any female with a limited amount of family members. If the last blood relative to the female is destitute in any way, whether it be financial or otherwise he can invoke the right, and there isn’t a thing the Queen can do to him. Most males are honorable and would never take the law to this extent. If I’m princess when he invokes kava, then he’s technically royalty. Jessie, I don’t know if it’s even possible to transfer the mark from female to female, but we can’t let him do it.”
Cerin affronted by Zara’s doubt in his ability laughed. “It is possible child. All thanks to this box right here.”
Zara whispered. “No.”
“Oh yes, my darling daughter. There are benefits to being a keerac. When the choosing took place so many moons ago, Heloc and I positioned ourselves to make sure we were with the queen’s closest friend. This would ensure we could become close confidants of the royal family. We presented your mother with the necklace at the choosing. She was enamored with the shiny trinket. Little did she know what was in store for her. We scented our ayah at the choosing, but I embraced my destiny to be the king of this planet. I was born to lead.”
Cerin sighed, “We had blamed Ora for not having an open heart to accept our marks. No one ever even questioned it. Foolish people believed us, thinking no males would ever deceive a female. When Ora was home with us, we artificially transferred our marks to her to gain an heir. Little did we know we’d be blessed with a daughter. It worked out wonderfully, to hopefully seduce the princes. When Looch and Leigh didn’t find their ayah, Zara would be right there to fill the void.”
Zara was stark white with shock. “Although I don’t wish you on any female, I can’t believe you’d forgo your ayah.”
“It’s a small price to pay for power. Speaking of power, I think we will start the transfer.” Turning to Jessie, Cerin smiled a Cheshire cat grin. “Your pain will be excruciating.”
Jessie turned her attention to Zara. “Don’t worry Zara. Looch and Leigh will save us.”
Cerin placed an electrode over Jessie’s mark then repeated the process on Zara’s arm. Cerin then hooked the electrodes from each female into an intricately carved box. Once connected, Jessie’s arm instantly started to burn as hot as a branding iron. Just as Jessie let out a scream of pain, loud thuds sounded against the double doors of Zara’s room.
Zara could see the pain Jessie was going through and wished things were different. She should be the one enduring the pain, not Jessie. She has been nothing but friendly and supportive of Zara. She wasn’t going to stand for her father’s excrement any longer. While Cerin’s attention was focused on Jessie, Zara quietly wiggled her clasped wrist until her left hand slipped through the restraint. Zara tried to free her right, hand but it was just a bit tighter than her left. As Zara listened to Jessie’s screams and the pounding on the door, she knew what she had to do. Zara tried to pull her hand through the right restraint steadily. When it was stuck at her knuckles, she kept pulling until she heard and felt the bones in her hand snapping. Stifling a yelp, the pain radiated throughout her hand. Zara was finally able to slip her hand through the cuff. Zara grabbed the electrode with her left hand and peeled it off, then slipped off the altar as quietly as possible.
With the removal of the electrode, the box’s lights started to flicker. Since Cerin’s attention was on Jessie and the pain he was inflicting upon her, he only caught the flicker of lights within the box, then noticed Zara wasn’t on the high table anymore. He quickly whirled around to look for her when he came face to face with Meesa. Meesa acted quickly and brought a vase down on Cerin’s head. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to incapacitate him and just cut his forehead, pissing him off more. He grabbed Meesa by the throat and threw her as if she weighed nothing. Meesa bounced off a wall and crumpled to the floor in a heap, not moving. What Cerin didn’t realize is while his attention was on Meesa, Zara had managed to reverse the energy in the box to go back to Jessie.
Cerin turned back to the table where Jessie lay and grabbed his tractin placing the blade to Jessie’s neck. “Come to me daughter before I kill this meddling whore! This will be done today.” To emphasize his point he ran the blade down Jessie’s bare arm leaving blood trickling in its wake.
Without a thought of how to stop this, Zara came running from her hiding place yelling, “Stop! Don’t do this father. I beg you. No good can come from this.”
Cerin grabbed Zara by the waist just as the doors finally splintered off their hinges and clattered to the floor. Looch and Leigh were the first through the double doors followed by numerous guards.
Zara noticed Jessie didn’t seem to be in as much agony as she’d been just moments ago. Her breathing was still labored, but her screams had turned into whimpers as tears streamed down her cheeks. Cerin tightened his grip on Zara and with an evil smile, he boldly spoke. “Being Zara’s only blood-related male left, I invoke the right o
f kava! There’s nothing you can do to me.”
Looch smiled an evil smile of his own as he slowly strolled towards Cerin and Zara. “You’ll die for this Cerin. Not only did you poison me, but you’ve also harmed three females, and I suspect you killed Ora.”
A sliver of panic flashed through Cerin’s eyes but was gone in an instance. “Yes I killed the bitch. No matter how much torture we put her through she wouldn’t turn against Queen Maya. Heloc and I told her we’d punish Zara if she did not change her mind. Knowing what type of pain we could dole out she became demure for a while, but it was only a matter of time before she’d find a way to tell the Queen. That’s when Heloc and I decided she needed to die, so we took her to the snow palace and…well…you know the rest.” Cerin snickered.
Kings Raiden and Taavi came through the double doors with a meager man no one had seen before. As Looch was still creeping towards Zara and Jessie’s rescue, King Taavi brought the man forward for Cerin to look at. “Cerin, it gives me exquisite pleasure to introduce Taka Tumay, Ora’s brother.”
Cerin paled. “You lie. She didn’t have a brother.”
King Raiden smiled brightly. “I assure you she does. When we learned Zara had been mistreated, we did a vast amount of research into Ora’s family history. We thought you might try invoking kava, so we delved into Zara’s heritage to see if she had any living relatives. It turns out, Zara’s grandparents had Ora first and two years later had Taka. Within those two years, Zara’s grandfathers died in two separate farming accidents, but not before Zara’s grandmother became with child. Zara’s grandmother died giving birth to Taka. Being male, Taka was given to an orphanage, while Ora was given to a prominent house to be raised. We did an extensive search for Taka. We finally found him and explained what had happened to Ora and what torture Zara had been through at the hands of her fathers. We brought him to the palace to surprise Zara during the wedding reception.”
Cerin looked at the man named Taka who was seething in anger and glaring back at him. “You’ll release Zara at once and face your inevitable death.”
Looch, being the closest to Cerin and Zara could see the resolve flutter across Cerin’s eyes. “If I can’t have the crown, no one will. I’ve transferred your marks to this box to move to Zara, but since she is again useless in my needs, she will die along with Jessie.”
All at once, chaos ensued. Cerin stabbed Zara in the gut with his tractin and flung her to the floor. He then brought the tractin up with both hands intending on sinking the sharp blade down into Jessie’s chest, when Looch tackled him. When Looch tackled Cerin, the box containing Jessie’s mark fell to the ground shattering into pieces. On the ground, Looch made quick work of Cerin. Looch roared as he grasped Cerin by the throat and raised him up, Cerin’s feet dangling. “You’ll never harm another Arenian as long as you live.” With that, Looch snapped Cerin’s neck like a twig.
Taka summoned a healer to Zara’s wounds. The healer was able to take care of her immediate injuries and when she was healed enough to not be in imminent danger Taka was by her side with tears in his eyes, hugging her. “I’ve always wanted a family. I’m blessed by the Goddess herself to have you, Zara.”
Zara was beside herself. Finally, a real father figure wanted to care for her. She cried and hugged Taka back. Taka picked her up like a child and cradled her to his chest, then asked the healer to lead them to the healing ward. Zara gasped when she saw Meesa on the ground. “We have to help Meesa. She saved me. We can’t abandon her.” The healer complied with Taka’s request to bring Meesa with them.
When Leigh and Looch reached Jessie, she was semi-lucid and still in a bit of pain. Leigh grabbed a handheld healing unit from one of the other healers and ran it over her arm to heal the cut on her arm. Jessie looked up to Leigh with fear in her eyes. “The mark?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Looch spoke before Jessie could even get the words out of her mouth.
“It does matter. If I don’t have your marks, I can’t have your children. I want your children…lots of them.”
Looch spoke up, kissing Jessie’s forehead in between each word. “It…doesn’t…matter.”
Leigh nodded and looked at Jessie with questioning eyes. Jessie looked over at the electrode still attached to her arm then nodded to Leigh and closed her eyes. Leigh slowly peeled the contraption from her arm. For her, the world seemed to stand still. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until Leigh said, “Breathe Jessie.”
Jessie’s eyes popped open to see Looch and Leigh smiling back at her. She looked over at her arm and although her skin was extremely pink from the burns she sustained from the machine, the marks were still there. “They’re still there!” Jessie cried in relief.
Leigh and Looch took turns kissing her when Leigh finally picked her up to take her to the healing ward.
Chapter Twenty
Looch scooped Jessie up in his arms, and they all hurried to the healing ward. She clung to Looch seeking his touch. “Thank you for helping us. Don’t be mad at me Looch.” She whispered.
Looch almost stumbled before he carefully lay her down on the healing unit. He couldn’t believe what she was saying. He again, had failed to protect her, and she was apologizing to him? “It is I who should be begging for your forgiveness. This is the second time I’ve let you go, and you’ve almost been killed. I’ve failed you, Jessie. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?”
“Looch, there’s nothing to forgive. You can’t stand by me every moment of the day, and even if you could, I wouldn’t want you to. What are you going to do when we have children? You can’t hover over them all the time.”
Looch cocked a smile Jessie’s way, “Children?” Looch placed his hand on Jessie’s flat stomach. “Our daughters will have your beauty and determination.”
Jessie interjected with a smile, “And our sons will have both of your beautiful emerald eyes and unwavering strength.”
Once Jessie was healed they gathered around Zara who was talking with her uncle who seemed genuinely interested in Zara. Taka had prayed to the Goddess for family, and he finally had it. He asked questions about his sister and what she was like.
Leigh interrupted. “Zara, you’re welcome to stay and talk with your uncle for as long as you like. Your presence isn’t needed at the reception. Meesa will take a little longer to heal due to being RaBatt, but healers will stay with both of you until you’re ready to go.”
“Thank you, Leigh.” Zara rose and hugged each one of them, but spent a little more time hugging Jessie. “I’m sorry for what my fath…Cerin did to you. I know you’ll make a beautiful, strong queen one day.” As Looch, Leigh, and Jessie departed for the reception, Zara sat and talked with her new-found uncle.
On their way to the reception Looch stopped dead in his tracks. “Since you’re feeling better now, my bride, we don’t have to go to this reception.” Looch waggled his eyebrows. “I for one, say we skip it and get to the bonding sex.”
“Everyone came to see us. It would be rude just to skip it. We’re going.” Jessie chastised.
All three of them returned to the ballroom and mingled with everyone. From across the room, Jessie noticed Sloane had changed into an exquisite, but scant gown. The gold tone and jewel-encrusted accents highlighted Sloane’s dark brunette hair. Sloane was still very gaunt from her lack of nutrition on Earth and time in the healing unit, but the gown seemed to accentuate her thin form. Jessie smiled and waved to her. Sloane was wheeled over by a RaBatt servant with Lian and Lyon directly behind her watching her every move.
“Thank you for the beautiful gown Jessie,” Sloane said as she waved her hand over the dress.
Although Jessie didn’t know much about the planet’s precious gems, she could tell it was a very expensive gown. Jessie didn’t know what to say to Sloane’s declaration, so she glanced to Lian and Lyon who looked sheepish, to say the least. “I…uh…”
“It was our pleasure, Sloane.” Looch interrupted. “Jessie wanted to do somet
hing special for you, so we made sure you had nothing but the best. Lian and Lyon are fortunate men to have found their ayah.”
Sloane looked back at Lian and Lyon’s embarrassed faces and was about to say something, when an older Arenian triad came forward interrupting their conversation. The triad looked at Sloane with mild disgust. Sloane recognized the look immediately. She had contended with the look her whole life. The triad bolstered by her to bow to Jessie, Looch, and Leigh. “Princess Jessie, Prince Looch, Prince Leigh.” The woman spoke for the group as they all bowed.
“Jessie, please meet Lian and Lyon’s parents. Councilmen Roweq and Gav, and their ayah, Uri.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Jessie said as she bowed towards them. When she rose, she motioned towards Sloane. “Have you met one of my close personal friends, Sloane? I think Lian and Lyon have made their intentions known that Sloane is their ayah. Isn’t it wonderful?” Jessie regretted the words as soon as they passed her lips because two things suddenly happened. While Roweq, Gav and Uri’s eyes flew to their sons for confirmation, Lian, Lyon and Sloane’s eyes flew to Jessie’s.
Uri scoffed. “Surely you must be mistaken. Our sons are to bond with an Arenian.”
“Mother!” Lian and Lyon shouted at once putting everyone on edge.
Looch looked at Uri and chastised her with his words. “Jessie is selfless in her acts, and you should count yourself lucky your sons have found their ayah who is as beautiful inside and out as ours is. My ayah is an Earthling and will someday be your queen. You’ll show all Earth females the respect they are due as they have most likely saved our species from extinction.”
Uri immediately bowed to Looch, Leigh and then Jessie. “I…uh…meant no disrespect, your highness. What I meant to say was Lian and Lyon are promised to another since they have not found their ayah.”
It was Leigh’s turn to interrupt. “It seems they have now found their ayah, so I’d consider getting to know her.”
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