by Maia Starr
“It should take just a few revolutions. By the time they arrive, we will have had a chance to create the formation.”
“That is good news,” I said thoughtfully. “But if Laike isn’t finished by the time the Vellreq arrive, do you think we will have a chance?”
“Supreme Leader Aloitus, you had this plan in mind without Laike’s technology. You said it was worth the risk. If we are able to get rid of the Vellreq, we will be liberating the entire universe of their corruption. Even if it comes down to the worst…”
“Yes,” I said with a sigh. What the common Thressl’n didn’t realize was that if all other efforts were not successful, Jenal’k was going to make the ultimate sacrifice. I was going to have Zerk’k Arkti evacuate the rest of the Thressl’n, along with my crown and the sacred scrolls, and detonate the most dangerous weapon that the Thressl’n had at their disposal.
Unfortunately, that would leave no trace of our beloved planet. Fortunately, there was already an agreement made with the people of Kalron to welcome the displaced Thressl’n onto their humungous planet. The Kalron were a small, modest race of people who took up but one continent on their huge planet. If all else failed, my people and everybody else in the universe would be safe from the Vellreq. And I would be responsible.
Still, I had to hold out hope for Laike’s superweapon to protect the planet and destroy the Vellreq once and for all, without having to sacrifice our beloved planet. I couldn’t imagine having to live without the beautiful world I had been raised in, but it was the same plight facing so many other species in the universe. Even the Earthlings were soon to be killed or relocated into slave camps elsewhere in the universe. The Vellreq were a malicious breed, and the whole universe would be better off without them. If that meant the destruction of Jenal’k, and the sacrifice of my own life, then so be it.
“I have complete faith in you, Supreme Leader Aloitus. It will all turn out as Fate decrees. We must not lose faith. There is bound to be some good to come of all of this.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “I would like you to help me organize a service to honor the gods of Fate. It should be held no later than tomorrow. All Thressl’n and Earth females should be in attendance.”
“Of course, sir…Laike as well?”
I considered this for a moment. “Laike does not even believe in the Fates. Invite him, but if he isn’t interested, let him work.”
“Of course,” Zerk’k said, standing to leave. He hesitated before reaching the doorway and turned to me. “Sir?”
“Yes?” I asked tiredly.
“Please eat something. You are looking haggard. I shall tell Peko to bring you something.”
Without waiting for my response, Zerk’k left the room, and I sighed. Things were coming along just as I thought they might. Although I had anticipated this, now that things were finally unfolding, it was beginning to feel as if everything was happening too fast. It was more important than ever to focus everything I had on my work.
***
I worked late into the night, and had barely touched the fourth or fifth meals that Peko had sent up to my office. Everybody was surprised when I refused to come down for the meal. Everybody, I’m sure, except my female.
I hadn’t been able to get our encounter out of my mind. Every time I closed my eyes to think about the next move I had to make, the memory of Melinda’s body struck me. It was unbelievably frustrating, despite the thrills the memories surged through me at random.
“Supreme Leader Aloitus?” Peko said, hesitantly poking her head into my office.
“What is it, Peko?” I asked, sighing.
“I am so sorry to intrude, but I wanted to bring this to you.”
Peko walked slowly into the office and sat down a small dish with a square of my favorite dessert in the middle. She was afraid to intrude, but all she was really doing was interrupting thoughts that should not even be in my head in the first place.
“Thank you, Peko,” I said, more grateful for the distraction than the food. I didn’t feel much like eating anymore. Not after what had happened with Melinda. And despite my body’s needs, I was swamped with work. Not only did I have to plan for the attack, but I also had to arrange for all of the Thressl’n’s most important affairs to be accounted for should a move to the Kalron’s planet be necessary.
“Are you all right, sir?” Peko asked, sitting cautiously down in front of my desk.
I sighed heavily. I hadn’t been able to speak to anybody about the weight of my potential sacrifice, and the truth was that it, and everything else, was weighing heavily on me.
“Not really,” I said, doing my best to look pleasant. “There are some things that are very difficult about being a leader.”
“Such as abducting and taming a human?” Peko asked.
I shook my head in bewilderment. “I have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t have time to worry about one human female right now. The whole universe is at stake. And yet…”
“Take it from me,” Peko said. “She is going to be able to see you the same way we do in no time. Don’t waste another thought on it.”
I smiled half-heartedly at Peko. “Thank you. Now if only I could guarantee the safety of the Thressl’n and win the war against the Vellreq.”
“Well, the Kalron said they would do anything they could. And the Old Ones are ready to fight to the death. You will not be alone, no matter what happens.”
It was true. The Old Ones refused to leave Jenal’k, no matter what happened. They were the race of people who lived in underground caves deep in the mountains of Zennith. They followed ancient rules and protected sacred scrolls, copies of which were entrusted to the Thressl’n Elders. The Old Ones were the predecessors of the Thressl’n, who had evolved to love living in the open and beneath the nourishment of the three suns, while the Old Ones preferred dark and secrecy.
They would rather die than surrender the planet to the Vellreq or flee to Kalron, and had pledged their loyalty to me no matter what the cost to them. The thought was comforting, and I smiled in gratitude at Peko. “Thank you.”
“Of course, sir. Now please, eat this and feel heartened. Fate will have her way.”
I nodded, and lifted the plate, feeling better for the first time since Melinda had retracted her passions.
“All right, Peko. Peace to you.”
Peko bowed. “Peace to you.”
I watched her as she retreated from my office and shook my head, taking a bite of the dessert. Peko was right. Fate would have her way. All I could do was play my part, and hope that she would be on my side.
***
I didn’t get to sleep until about three rotations before I had to wake up, so when I came down for first meal, I was not feeling very well. When I saw the human female fidgeting in her seat, her malicious beauty just as striking as ever, it put me immediately into an unhappy mood.
“Good morning, Supreme Leader Aloitus,” Peko said brightly. She was obviously pleased that I had come down to the first meal of the day. I had decided that I would no longer let my inappropriate feelings for a human get in the way of my work. It was far too important.
“Good morning, Peko. Thanks to you this morning for the meal.”
“Of course, sir,” Peko replied, beaming. I usually wasn’t one to heap praise onto anybody, but I was feeling very grateful for the intervention she had given me the night before. It had been just what I needed to hear. Especially after the horrible experience with the human. It could have been so wonderful. Why had she ruined it?
“Greetings to you,” I said coldly to the human, as it was customary for me to greet everybody the first time I saw them during the day. That way I could go about my business the rest of the day without having to be a slave to social custom.
“Good morning,” she said, keeping her eyes pasted on the food that she was moving around on her plate.
Peko left the room, leaving me alone with the female. We avoided each other’s gaze, and I would have been happy to leave
it that way for the rest of the day, but the human, for the first time at the table, broke the silence.
“About what happened yesterday. I—”
“Have you no tact, human?” I snapped, disgusted. Did humans really discuss such intimate matters over a meal? I didn’t want to hear about it, especially not in a place where Peko or Chef could easily overhear.
“Tact? No…I mean, I just wanted to say I was sorry…”
“Your sorrow has no place here. In fact, nothing you feel has a place here. This whole situation is strictly business, and you are just a bargaining chip. Or have you not gotten that through your thick human head yet?”
I regretted letting my angry, tired words out on the human this way, but there was no stopping my temper once it had flared up. I could see her face falling in pain, but still, the onslaught continued despite my best efforts to slow it down.
“I brought you to Jenal’k for a purpose, and it wasn’t to sit across from me every day, feeling high and mighty, as if you are too good for me and my people. It wasn’t to give me the same smug look day in and day out and make me serve you. You are my human, my female, and as Supreme Leader of this planet, you are to do as I command you do.”
Melinda stayed quiet, her beautiful eyes downcast and her face drawn in anger. I was thankful she didn’t attempt to retaliate. When I was angry like this, on so little sleep with so many responsibilities pressing urgently upon me, it was almost as if I was looking for a fight. If she had indulged, there was no telling what might happen.
“I don’t feel like seeing you right now. You think your petty feelings and actions are worth talking about beyond their impact? After the fact? How self-absorbed! Are all humans the same?” I exclaimed. “Why don’t you take your meal into the bedroom and stay out of my sight for a while. You can do that, can’t you? There are much more important things on this planet than you, and it is my job to tend to them. Is that clear? Do not approach me again.”
Melinda stood from her seat, her eyes crystal and cold. I was chilled by the quiet malice in her face, but there was nothing I could do to take my words back. Besides, who cared if she was angry at me or not? There was no good to be had in occupying my mind with such petty matters. Emotions would only get me in trouble.
Again and again, I had been told this during my training. And now, that training was being put to the test during the most crucial time in Thressl’n history. I would be stronger than this. The human could be damned for all I cared. I would do my job to serve my people, and that was going to have to be the end of it.
Chapter 7
Melinda Jefferson (Daughter of the Prime Minister)
I stormed to my bedroom, holding my plate of food tightly. I pounded the code into the door and stomped inside. When the door hissed closed behind me, Kirk popped out of the closet, frowning.
“Are you all right? What happened?” he asked.
I thrust the plate of food to him and sighed in exasperation. There was no way I could tell him that I had slept with Aloitus, or describe the way he had attacked my feelings for regretting it afterward. I had never met a more insufferable, cruel man before. What had I been thinking, letting myself be vulnerable to him?
“Aloitus is an awful man,” I said as vaguely as possible. “I don’t really feel like talking about it right now.”
“Is he as bad as the Vellreq?” Kirk asked, moving beside me on the bed.
“Yes and no,” I said, sighing heavily. No, technically the Vellreq had treated me much, much worse. They never would have allowed me to leave my home, let alone take me out to a beautiful, mystical river unlike anything I had ever seen before. But they had never hurt me so badly either.
I had tossed and turned all night, thinking about what I had said to Aloitus and the pain that had flashed on his face before he had turned away. It was something I had regretted saying immediately. Didn’t he understand that it was difficult to accept any type of feelings for someone who had simply kidnapped me from my home?
But when I tried to apologize to him, he had all but bitten my head off and told me he didn’t want to see me at all. How could he have been so cruel? Why couldn’t he just try to put himself in my shoes instead of lashing out at me so harshly?
“Well don’t worry,” Kirk said brightly. “I’m here with you. And we’re going to figure a way out of this mess. Don’t worry.”
I stiffened when Kirk put his hand over mine. “I came all this way because I really like you, Melinda. I always have. And I was hoping that someday, maybe the two of us would, I don’t know…have a family of our own. I had no idea how many men across the universe I would have to fight to make that happen.”
I sighed inwardly. The truth was that I had never been romantically interested in Kirk. He had just been that fun, goofy kid brother who went on crazy adventures with me. Like following me across the universe to a strange planet where the Supreme Leader was hot and cold toward me and couldn’t handle any type of rejection or human emotion. What had I been thinking, allowing myself to surrender like that?
“Melinda, I love you,” Kirk said, setting his plate down on the bed and looking at me sincerely.
I studied Kirk, his sincere brown eyes and familiar face. Maybe that was what was supposed to happen between us. I was supposed to fall in love with Kirk, and he would rescue me from the bad guys, and everything would turn out as a simple and neat happily ever after.
Kirk didn’t wait for me to answer and swooped in to kiss me. I cringed, but kissed him back, my mind on the day before, the memory of Aloitus and his passion stirring a dark anger deep within me.
If he was going to make me feel that good but not care about how he made me feel, then he was just as cruel as I had originally thought he was. Maybe this thing with Kirk was what was right. Nothing else seemed to make sense anymore.
When Kirk pulled away, his eyes were sparkling.
“You didn’t throw up this time!”
I laughed, remembering the first time Kirk had kissed me during truth or dare with some of the neighborhood kids. I hadn’t wanted to kiss anybody, especially him, and had run off right after to vomit.
“No,” I agreed. “Maybe you’ve gotten better at it.”
Kirk grinned and came in for another kiss, and this time I let myself relax against the familiar feeling of having Kirk near me. It was different this way, but anything was better than letting myself stay caught up in my confusing feelings for Aloitus. At least Kirk was safe, and he cared about me enough to help me find my way home. I couldn’t let myself give in to my temptation for Aloitus any longer. I would be with Kirk, and that was that.
***
That night, I lay in bed with my stomach rumbling. I had refused to come out for any of the other meals. Aloitus had told me to stay away from him, so I wasn’t about to make myself vulnerable to him again. The last thing I needed was to feel any more of his wrath.
Kirk had disappeared into the closet, apparently floating on cloud nine. He spoke so excitedly about all the things he had always imagined we would do if we dated, and how it was like a dream come true for him to kiss me.
But the whole time he spoke, all I could think of was how hurt I felt about the way Aloitus had treated me. It had been very difficult for me to open myself up to him, especially to apologize for hurting him even though voicing my true feelings felt like the right thing to do at the time. Now though, I didn’t know anything.
Finally, the rumble in my stomach prompted me to get up, and I quietly ventured to the kitchen rather than steal from Kirk’s meager stash of food. Hopefully, I would be able to find something I could snack on. Otherwise, I would be up all night and victim to my hunger.
“What are you doing?”
My whole body was electrified by the surprising shock of Aloitus’s masculine voice rumbling from behind me.
“I got hungry,” I said, afraid not to speak to him. After all, he had made it abundantly clear that he was in charge. If I didn’t answer him, who could tell
how he might react?
“Then why were you not at the other meals? I wanted to…”
Aloitus trailed off, and I dared to face him, staring him defiantly in the eye.
“You said you didn’t want to see me, so I did what you wanted.”
“That wasn’t really what I wanted,” Aloitus said, his face so tired and confused that I almost felt sorry for him.
“Well, you sure fooled me,” I said, stalking on toward the kitchen. I could feel his powerful body follow me down the hall, although he moved with impressive silence.
“Apologies to you,” Aloitus said. “I am under a lot of pressure and—”
“Save it,” I interrupted. “I know the dynamic here. You’re the big, spoiled boss-man who is used to getting everything you want really easily with no questions asked. But you know what? Things aren’t always that easy. Feelings aren’t easy. And I’m not easy either, all right? And whether you think you own me or not, you don’t. And no matter how mad you get about it, it won’t change how I feel. The only thing that can change how I feel is me, do you understand?”
“I…”
I shook my head and stalked toward the kitchen. Aloitus sighed quietly.
“Apologies to you,” he said tiredly, and disappeared down the other end of the hallway.
***
The next day I didn’t see Aloitus at all, except once when he strode past me. But that didn’t even count; it was as if he didn’t even see me there. All of the staff around the palace were whispering about how worried about him they were. Apparently he wasn’t eating or sleeping much. All he could think about was the Vellreq. But what did the Vellreq have to do with anything?
He had said that I was a bargaining chip the day he had been yelling at me. What did he mean by that? Maybe if I understood that, it would all come clear to me about why I was on Jenal’k in the first place.
“I missed you!” Kirk said when I returned from fifth meal, bearing a small loaf of a sweet, bready substance for him. He took the loaf gratefully and kissed the top of my head. As much as I wanted things to be simple and work out with Kirk, for some reason all I could focus on was Aloitus. He was working himself too hard. If he didn’t relax, something might happen to him.