by Zara Zenia
I shook my head, “Not if they didn’t know. By now Artax will have contacted Dragselia and discovered that we were shot down. Our brother will cover this up as an attack by anyone but the Infernians. We will have a burial fit for princes, then his reign will go unchallenged. As long as he thinks we are dead, then he is safe.”
“If that’s the case though, what about the Infernians that were working with Vega? You said that he had to have accomplices, so what now?” Pavar asked
“We need to keep these people safe. Once they realize the plan has crumbled, they may come down here or go straight to Dragselia. Either way, we don’t have much time. We need to get word to our allies back home and hope that we aren’t too late. This city will need protection and I don’t think we can do it alone.”
Karun shook his head, “No, you are right. One fat Infernian is no trouble, but bring a warship with a couple dozen and we will all be in trouble.”
“What do we need to do?” Lee asked.
“We need to get to the outpost and then get word to a friend back home. After that, we need to get men patrolling the skies. I don’t want anyone interfering with Infernians. They are rash creatures who will shoot first and ask questions later.”
“How long do you think we have before the Infernians know?”
Anthony cleared his throat, “I think I have an answer for you. Once every two weeks, Vega would disappear for a few days. He wouldn’t take anyone with him but he would take a good bit of cargo. I just assumed he was illegally trading with aliens, I never knew it was his own kind.”
“When was he leaving again?” I asked.
“Six days,” Anthony said. “That was when he was taking off again. So, I think we can safely say that’s how much time we have to get hold of some help.”
“This is going to start a war,” whispered Jennifer. “Our people can’t handle another war so soon. The wounds are still fresh. We aren’t prepared.”
I took her hand, “You don’t need to be. None of you do. We will find a way to stop this before it ever happens, you have my word.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Karun asked.
I looked away from them, all of them. They were looking to me for answers and I needed to give them something. This was the role that I had been born for, the position of a leader. If I didn’t get this right, it could mean death and despair for so many humans and Dragselians alike. I didn’t want to see anyone hurt, especially not Jennifer. I looked at her and knew that I needed to keep all of them safe, it was my duty.
“Karun, Pavar, Ragal?” I started. “You need to get to Artax, it's less than a day from here. Tell them that everything is fine, but we stopped off for a little sightseeing, I stayed behind to enjoy the fruitful bounty. You need to make it look like everything is fine just in case they have spies there.”
“And what are you going to do? I don’t like leaving without knowing that we will see you again,” Ragal said.
“I am going to stay here and travel to the outpost with Jennifer and Hardin. From there I will get ahold of Donba.”
At the mention of his name, all three of my brothers smiled. Donba had been my father’s advisor. He knew everything there was to know about the kingdom, but as soon as my brother had ascended to the throne, he’d kicked the man to the curb. Of course, Donba never would have worked with my brother, even if he’d been asked too. Donba knew the dangers that the new king posed. He would be looking for us if anyone was. Hopefully, my rash king hadn’t done something unforgivable to Donba too.
“It will be good to have him on our side again,” Karun offered. “Still, I don’t like leaving you here alone.”
“I am not alone. I trust these humans as much as I trust my own brothers, minus the king of course.”
“Then we will leave you with them, but promise you will come to Artax as soon as you can.”
“I will,” I promised. “I will stay in touch, but for now, you need to go. I wish we had the time to spend together but I think it would be best if you left right away. At least now you have the cover of night to help hide your tracks. We still don’t know if all of Vega’s followers have been caught.”
Anthony cleared his throat, “There is a shipping dock just a few clicks from here. I can take you myself. We have all the gates in and out of town secured but as you three know, there are always loopholes.”
I went over to my brothers and hugged each of them, knowing that this could very well be the last time we were together for some time. Dragselians were not strangers to separations and wars. They seemed to plague the royal family no matter what. To my surprise, Jennifer hugged each of them too, though Pavar lingered a little longer than I approved of.
“It is wonderful to have you as part of the family, Jennifer,” Ragal said. “I think you will keep him in line just fine. I hope to see you again soon.”
She smiled at him, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Be safe, watch your backs.”
“You do the same,” he said before following the others from the room.
“What about us?” Jennifer asked when the others had left.
It was now just her and Hardin with me in the room. “Hardin? Would you give us a moment?”
He nodded and slipped from the room. “I think that you should stay here with Anthony and Lee. They are going to be able to protect you better than anyone else.”
She frowned, “Not better than you. My plan was never to stay in the city. I have friends and a clinic at the outpost. I want to go.”
“But it’s no longer safe for you to go. We are running on a bunch of assumptions. For all we know, everything we’ve discussed could be wrong. There could be an ambush as we travel.”
She rolled her eyes at me and crossed her arms over her chest, “There is always danger here, that’s part of what you sign up for when you live on a planet like this. I don’t know why you still think that you can control me, but that’s not an option. I am going home, Zaruv. Back to my people and back to my clinic. They need me.”
“I need you too though, Jennifer,” I told her, wrapping her in my arms. “I need you to be safe and away from danger.”
She pushed me away, “I won’t change my life just because you are scared for me. You have to let me go, Zaruv. You have to trust that I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” I said in earnest.
Jennifer smiled up at me and kissed my chin. “Then trust that I trust you to keep me safe. I am not going anywhere that you aren’t with me, at least for now. I am going with you to the outpost and you can’t change my mind.”
“Fine,” I muttered.
She cocked her head, “And if you are thinking of some plan to keep me here while you run off and deal with this on your own, then think again. I found a way to slip away before and I will do it again. So, I’m either going with you or without you, but either way, I will be back home.”
I swallowed hard as she stormed from the room. I knew that she meant every word that she said. She was so stubborn that it wouldn’t surprise me if she was already finding a way to sneak out without me. I couldn’t keep her locked away forever. I had to trust that I could take care of her as much as she trusted me to. She was one strong woman and I loved every part of her, even if she drove me insane.
Epilogue
Jennifer
“Stupid men,” I huffed from the back of the armored tank.
Hardin grinned at me through the mirror, “Don’t stay mad at him for too long, Jennifer. He was just watching out for you. Can you blame him?”
“Yes!” I hissed back at him. “I can blame him and I do blame him. When I said I was going back to the outpost with him, I didn’t think it was going to be in the back of a freaking truck.”
A dark shadow passed over the tank and I glared out the window once again. I wasn’t worried, the shadow was from Zaruv in his dragon state flying above us. I had insisted on flying with him, I had put my foot down but when it came time to leave, he hit the air
and left me behind with Hardin to travel in the tank. I knew that he was only trying to protect me, but still, it drove me insane knowing that he’d played me.
“Here we are,” said Hardin as we slowed down.
“The gate is still miles away. Why are you stopping?” I asked.
“Zaruv didn’t think it would be a good idea for him to fly so close to the outpost. Most of the people here don’t know what’s going on. They would be scared out of their minds to see a dragon alien soaring through the sky.”
“Great,” I muttered as the door opened and Zaruv climbed into the back seat.
“How is the drive going?” he asked me cheerfully.
I glared at him, “Why do you care?”
“Oh Jennifer, please don’t stay angry with me. I just sent my three brothers away,” he said. “Don’t turn your back on me now.”
I knew that he was just trying to make me feel guilty and to lighten the mood. I rolled my eyes at him. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t stay mad at him if my life depended on it. We passed through the gates and I took his hand in mine, smiling at him to let him know he was off the hook. As we passed the clinic, I saw my friends inside doing my job and it warmed my heart, that they could take care of things when I needed to go but now I was home and so happy.
“Here it is, this is the radio tower. You should be able to reach anyone you need to from this point. I need to go check on my men and fill them in on the situation.”
“Don’t forget we are trying to be discreet about the aliens, Hardin,” I reminded him.
He nodded as he got back into the tank and rolled down the window. “Don’t worry, as far as everyone knows we just helped the city to overthrow a good old fashioned human thug. You guys are in the clear.”
“Thank you again for all of your help,” offered Zaruv.
Hardin smiled and shook his hand. “Anytime. Let me know what else you need, I’ll be back in a few hours.”
I was still shocked by how much Hardin and Lee had changed in such a short amount of time. Zaruv and his brothers had turned diehard, alien-hating men into allies with nothing but charge and a little bit of a show. I followed Zaruv into the dusty outpost and cleared a spot to sit down as he started to mess with the controls. My mind was racing, we had to get hold of help before my planet and my home was overtaken by another alien war. I didn’t want to be caught in the middle.
For thirty minutes, I walked around the structure, reading through old logbooks and watching Zaruv work. I couldn’t hear what he was saying from where I was, but when he finally came over to me, I knew that something was wrong. He looked worried and even a little bit afraid. My heart sank as I thought of the other three princes who should have made it to Artax by now. It wasn’t far from us, but the airspace was a virtual dead zone until you reached the planet’s atmosphere.
“What’s going on?” I asked him with a racing heart. “Are your brothers okay? Do we need to go find them? Please don’t tell me they were shot down.”
He shook his head, “No, they are fine. They made it without even seeing another ship. It’s something else though. They tried to contact Dragselia as soon as they landed but couldn’t reach them. I just tried from here and the line is dead too. Something isn’t right.”
“What do you think is going on?” I asked.
Zaruv shook his head, “I don’t know but it’s nothing good. In all the years that I have been traveling, I’ve never come across dead airspace when contacting home. There is always someone listening.”
“Maybe it’s just Donba’s radio, interference happens,” I offered.
Again, he shook his head, “I wish that was the case, but he was only the first person I tried to contact. After I couldn’t reach him, I tried a dozen others and finally the palace. I was careful to hide the tracking signature on the radio so no one listening would know it was me or even where it was coming from but everything was dead. It’s like the whole planet went dark.”
“Oh, my God, what are you going to do? Can you send one of the others to check things out? I’m sure Ragal is stir crazy by now on Artax.”
Zaruv shook his head as he paced back and forth. My heart was racing as he looked inside himself for answers. I wanted to offer him some sort of help or guidance but I didn’t know how. I knew so little of his home and his people. All I knew was that I loved him and I hated to see him looking so worried. I took him by the arm and pulled him to me, wrapping my small arms around his large chest.
“We will figure something out together okay?” I said reassuringly.
He turned to me and took me in his arms. I listened to the steady drumming of his heart as it raced. Something else was on his mind. “Jennifer, if I send one of my brothers and a spy is on Artax, I could be exposing them to death. I can’t risk that, not when it means that their lives and all of the humans and other aliens there and here could be put in danger.”
“What are you suggesting?” I asked.
“I have to go, I have to get close to Dragselia and find out what’s going on. It’s the only way.”
My heart skipped, “No! I won’t let you go. I can’t be away from you, Zaruv.”
“I know. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I don’t think anyone will be looking for a small, pedestrian pod. Especially not one from a human outpost.”
“Zaruv, what are you saying?”
He looked down at me, his eyes filled with the same love that I felt for him. The very thought of being away from him for any length of time made my heart ache. I still struggled with wrapping my mind around how much my life had changed in a few short days and how much I could never go back to the way things used to be. He was my life now and I didn’t want to spend one more moment without him near me.
“I can’t live without you, Jennifer,” he whispered. “But I can’t stay here. My people and yours are in danger if I don’t stop whatever is happening. I never thought when I left my planet that I would find a love like this, but I have and now I don’t want to ever let it go. Will you come with me, Jennifer?”
My mouth fell open, I couldn’t find any words to offer him. I hadn’t thought about leaving my home, but then again, I hadn’t thought about being without him. The people here were my family. I loved each and every one of them in their own unique way. I thought about them and what I had seen when we went through town. Mikey and his mother working the clinic with smiles on their faces, the girls running around in a safe home.
“I know that I am asking you to give up everything,” he said softly. “If I thought there was any other way, I wouldn’t ask, but there isn’t. I can’t help all of them and know that you might be in danger. The only place I know that you will be safe is with me or my brothers. Together, we are one heck of a great team. Please, don’t keep me waiting.”
“This is big,” I stammered. “This is like, life changing. You want me to go with you? Are you sure? I’m not very good under pressure. I don’t think I’ve even been on a spaceship in the last ten years. What if something goes wrong? I can’t lose you, not ever.”
“You’re right,” he said, looking heartbroken at the ground. “I shouldn’t have asked. This is your home, it wasn’t right to ask you to leave it all behind. I’m sorry. We will find a way to get through this together. I can contact them from here, I just need to work harder.”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “You would stay here? Knowing that everyone else is in danger?”
He nodded his head, “I told you, Jennifer, I love you and I am never leaving your side again, even if that means we stay here.”
I couldn’t believe the sacrifice that he was willing to make for me. My mind had already been made up before he offered. I knew that I couldn’t live without him and that I would have followed him to the ends of the universe if he asked me, but knowing he was willing to sacrifice it all made my heart swell with love even more. He really was a prince among men and aliens alike. I was so lucky to have finally found someone that I wanted to be with forever.
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br /> “Zaruv, you don’t need to stay here,” I said softly.
He shook his head, “I don’t care what you say, Jennifer. I am not leaving you. Even if I have to follow you around like a lost puppy for the rest of my life I’m not going to let you out of my sight.”
I tossed my head back and laughed, jumping into his arms and kissing him passionately on the lips. “You don’t have to follow me around at all, Zaruv because I am coming with you. I knew from the moment I met you that you were going to change my life, I just had no idea how wonderful it was going to be.”
His eyes lit up, “You mean it? You will come with me even knowing about the dangers?”
“You were going to stay knowing them, weren’t you? I would follow you anywhere. I love you with all my heart and I never want to be away from you again. So, we are going, and that’s that!” I said playfully.
“I love you so much,” he whispered to me.
“And I love you, my prince,” I replied.
He took me in his arms and lowered me down to the dusty floor but I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was that we were going to be together forever. As his lips found mine once again and I wrapped my legs around his waist, I knew that our love story was just getting started. It didn’t matter where we were going as long as we were together. We had a planet to save and a mission to plan but in that moment, nothing else mattered but the passion between us. I had finally found my prince.
Benzen Preview
Preview:
Benzen: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance
Chapter 1-Benzen
I think it’s all working out with our escape plan, everything going as it should. I think so right up until the very last minute, when the engine fails. It comes as a violent shudder, the sound of metal crunching and stuttering, coughing like a dying old man before giving out completely. The next thing I feel is the terror inside my gut as we hit a speed I scarcely thought possible.