by Myra Star
“Earthling - what is your name?” The high monk shot Caleb a dirty look - the monk had asked Caleb previously, and he hadn’t been able to answer.
“My name is Lily Hawthorn,” she replied. Her voice only betrayed the slightest tremor, but its musical lightness utterly entranced Caleb.
“Are you ready, Lord Commander?” The high monk asked.
Caleb’s gaze fell to the earthling’s lips; they were rose-bud red, brighter than fire opals and their shape just as rare - a delicate cupid’s bow, with a plump, lower lip that Caleb longed to run his finger along and feel its firm softness.
“My Lord,” the high monk cleared his throat, “I said - are you ready?”
Caleb was brought back into the present.
“Proceed.” He snapped at the monk, irritated by his own loss of composure.
Pull yourself together, fool.
He faced the monk, and ignored the smirk plastered across Lieutenant Varga’s face.
The wedding proceeded without further distractions. As their vows were completed, Caleb took his bride’s hands in his own, as was the custom, and kissed each one of her palms. Her skin smelt fragrant; of lavender and crushed roses from her bath, her skin as soft as petals. He inhaled her scent as he kissed her, confused by the heady reaction a mere earthling could bring about in him.
Rather than join in the feasting, Caleb thought it better that he and the earthling retire to his chamber; many present were confused by his actions, and a small part of him didn’t want her subjected to their questioning and scorn.
“Credor,” he called to his emissary, “My wife and I will proceed to bed. Ensure that the drink flows and everyone enjoys themselves at my expense,” he continued drily.
“My Lord! Is it seemly for you to retire so soon?” Credor panicked.
“I don’t really care either way.”
“Will you not give me time to prepare the room in the proper manner?” The lizard pleaded.
“No.”
Caleb took Lily’s hand and escorted her from the room. He heard a few snickers and scandalized gasps from a few of the guests, mostly females. Caleb rolled his eyes as he departed; he had little time for standing on ceremony - something his uncle despaired of.
When they were out of eyesight, Caleb slowed his pace so that Lily could keep up with him. They strode in silence, Caleb a step ahead so he could lead the way. Idly he contemplated picking her up and carrying her, but she seemed perfectly content to follow him.
“So wife,” he asked eventually, “how does it feel?”
“Wonderful, my Lord.” She replied, slightly breathless from the brisk walk.
“Good.”
“And are you satisfied, my Lord?” She queried.
“We’re about to find out.”
Caleb opened the door to his chamber. He found her subservience startling; clearly the savage hoards that had captured her were thorough in their torture.
He felt pity for his bride, whatever person she had been, there was now nothing but an empty vessel left within her. Perhaps, he thought, she could find a life of peace within his walls.
He turned toward her, anxious to remove the robes and enjoy the feminine form that lay beneath.
“You still have your collar. Clearly my servants are inept as they are irritating,” he mused, more to himself than her.
He leant forward, wrapping his hands around the metal collar. He pulled. The collar broke in two, releasing Lily Hawthorn from her bond.
She blinked rapidly, and then gazed up at Caleb, her bright blue eyes meeting his.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Chapter Four
“What?” Caleb was taken aback by the sudden fury that sparked behind her gaze.
“I said - what the hell do you think you’re doing? You’ve just married me! What is wrong with you?”
Lily stood in the middle of his chambers, dressed in the finery from her wedding, screaming at her new alien husband like a banshee.
Caleb took a step back, belatedly realizing that his removal of the collar had released his bride from her subservient tendencies. The woman that now stood before him was anything other than the dutiful wife he had been expecting.
“I had need of you,” he replied in a tone that was ice-cold, “and you, clearly, had need of me. Be grateful you’re not dancing half-naked on a pole and be done with it.”
“How dare you!” She retorted, “I’ve swapped one life of servitude for another - and you, you expect me to be grateful?”
“I do,” he snapped, “and I’d like it more if you lowered your volume.”
She flounced over to the large bay window, which looked out over the lush greenery of Epsilon. With her back to Caleb she started to tremble, clutching her arms around her as if she were suddenly cold all over.
Without her screaming at him, Caleb could master some pity for the wretched creature. He couldn’t imagine what her life on that planet had been like; what indignities she would have suffered, and how frightened she would have been after being captured from her ship in the middle of an unknown Galaxy.
From what he had heard, humans were frail creatures - without the strength and moral fortitude that Epsilon inhabitants took for granted. Clearly, thought Caleb, they also tended toward hysterical.
“Human,” he called sternly, “you can have a good life here. Epsilon is the jewel in the Epsilon galaxy; our land is fertile and fruitful and we live in relative harmony. That is more than I can say for your home planet, or any other within Epsilon.”
She spun around, still glaring at him, with her hands placed on her hips.
“You have been to earth?” She questioned, evidently unconvinced by his argument.
“I have,” replied Caleb, “and found it to be a planet besieged by war and greed. You are better off here.”
“It was my planet - I had a family, friends - a job. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Caleb raised an eyebrow. Clearly, there was no reasoning with this stubborn creature. He sighed. Perhaps he would have been better off with one of his uncle’s offers - at least they would know what was expected of them when married to someone of his station; it certainly wasn’t defiance, temper or outright disobedience - all of which this earthling appeared to be apt at.
“What are you planning to do with me?”
Her chin jut out, as if she were determined to show Caleb that he couldn’t intimidate her - and would fight him tooth and nail on whatever punishment he was going to dole out.
“Well,” Caleb half smirked at her gumption, “I was hoping that I’d married a kind and dutiful wife that would be joining me in bed this evening…”
Lily opened her mouth to protest furiously, and he cut her off.
“But I can see that’s not going to happen. I have many females who are more than willing to share my bed tonight - let me reassure you that I’m not in the habit of forcing females to come to bed with me when they do not wish it, even if they end up becoming my officially bonded mate.”
She nodded, her beautiful rose bud mouth transformed into a thin line that radiated disapproval.
“Good,” she replied tightly, “in that case I will walk to my own chambers.”
Caleb burst out laughing.
“You absolutely will not,” he retorted, “you will sleep in this room - where I can keep a close eye on you. I don’t want you attacking my staff.”
She looked around the room, aghast.
“There is only one bed, I am not sharing!” Lily exclaimed.
“I don’t sleep much, take the bed.”
Let her have her own room, fool.
The decision to keep her close by had very little to do with the safety of his staff. He did want to keep a close eye on her, but it was more out of curiosity than anything else.
He’d never in his life met a creature quite like this earthling. Most females he knew were quite well spoken and prided themselves on their grace and poise.
>
In the very brief length of their acquaintance, Lily seemed to exhibit the opposite of all the behaviors that Epsilon culture, Caleb included, prided most in the female species.
“Don’t you dare lay a finger on me!”
Her tone was starting to grate on Caleb.
“Enough,” he barked out, “one more command from you and I will take you back to where you came from without a moment’s hesitation.”
He turned toward to door, suddenly eager to rejoin his wedding party and share a much-needed drink with Lieutenant Varga.
“I’ll give you some space,” he shot back over his shoulder, “I suggest you use the time to reconsider your behavior, and who knows,” he added drily, “perhaps you might feel grateful for your dramatic change in circumstance.”
He slammed the door shut behind him, locking it from the outside. He didn’t fancy spending the rest of the night conducting a manhunt throughout his palace to find her.
Chapter Five
When the door slammed shut, Lily started to tremble. Her own rage had shocked her; she wasn’t usually so combative, but the ordeal she’d been through since being taken from her own spacecraft had overwhelmed her to the point of sheer insanity.
She had spent roughly three months in the bar after being planted with that strange chip that allowed her to understand and communicate in almost every form of alien language in this part of the galaxy.
She still couldn’t say exactly how long she’d been here as there had been no way of knowing but three months seemed like a rational estimate. When she wasn’t on stage, she’d been thrown into a dank black room with the other captives till they were dragged back out to perform.
Some of the females had been there for years. Lily had experienced an agonizing few weeks contemplating her escape, but the repetition of the routine, and under the careful watch of a grotesque guard, she eventually had to admit defeat. It was almost easier.
Her heart had lifted when she’d been dragged out from beneath the table by her rescuer. She had thought for a moment that he was human - sent by her own people to return her back home.
It was only when she was in the spacecraft, which looked completely alien to her, did she realize that he too was another creature from outer space - with all of the physical characteristics of a human man, but something certainly other.
During the wedding proceedings, she’d been able to study him more intently. His eyes, which she’d thought at first were brown, were the colour of deep gold - the lines of his iris looked like they had molten liquid running through them, as if they were almost their own, live entity.
She couldn’t deny that some might call him handsome; he was tall and broad, with a muscular frame. His face was hard though, chiseled and unforgiving - with an air of arrogance in the high sweep of his cheekbones and set of his jaw.
His hair was a midnight black; almost blue under the lights of the crystal cave they married in. It was long, reaching down to his back, with tight, narrow plaits forming at his temples.
Some may say he was handsome, but she would not; clearly a monster lurked beneath the faux human figure - and a controlling one at that. What kind of madman married the first woman he laid eyes on, knowing full well that she couldn’t assert her own will?
The collar she’d been given by the savages who ran the bar, had restrained her both mentally and physically. It was used to bolt the captives to a chain that sat in the middle of the dank room, ensuring that they couldn’t escape - and ultimately they were as degraded as possible. Worse than that was the mental restraint. Lily felt like she’d been taken hostage within her own body.
The collar made her say ‘yes’, when she was screaming ‘no’ on the inside. It was like she became a very small fraction of herself; watching a virtual stranger who looked and sounded like her, but who certainly wasn’t her, make all the decisions for them both.
At the altar, when saying her vows, the real Lily had been crying and protesting loudly - searching the room wildly for anyone, or anything to help her.
Collar Lily, submissive Lily, had been smiling up at her ‘Lord’ and repeating the vows in that strange, disembodied voice which felt like it belonged to someone else.
Lily felt like weeping. Without bothering to remove the purple veils that a group of servants had dressed her in, she climbed up onto the master bed - pulling the coverlet around her to create a sense of security - even though she knew it to be false.
As she began to feel drowsy, finally anticipating a night where she could actually sleep in a bed, the door to the chamber swung open.
She shut her eyes tightly, hoping that he wouldn’t waken her.
She heard him slide across the room, and sigh deeply. With her palpitating heart, Lily hoped that outwardly at least, she appeared as if she were in a deep slumber.
She heard the sound of material dropping to the floor. She half opened one eye, and saw her captor standing naked in the moonlight. He was turned away from her; she saw the broad, muscular shoulders and well-defined back narrow down into a high and firm backside, leading down to toned thighs and calves.
He was a magnificent specimen of masculinity, there was no doubt about it, but her heart hardened toward him even further at witnessing his perfection. He could have any female he wanted; why had he chosen her?
“You’ve stopped breathing,” Caleb mock-chastised her, “which means you’re either seeing my naked body, or you have in fact, died.”
Lily scowled at him.
Egotistical, arrogant jerk.
“I was hoping I could take my own life by holding my breath,” she answered sweetly, “a preferable choice to spending another single second as your wife.”
“If you long for death, Lily, it can be arranged,” he replied, “there are countless options available to you if you continue to be this irritating.”
On hearing her own name escape his lips, Lily felt an illicit shiver run along her spine. Horrified at her body’s betrayal, she put it down to residues of the collar’s power over her - during her rescue and whilst she was standing at the altar, her body had experienced a myriad of lustful sensations that had nothing to do with her true feelings, and so perhaps it took the body longer to understand that it was no longer being controlled.
Yeah, right.
“If you let me sleep then I wouldn’t be so irritating!” Lily burst out, throwing her head back down on the pillow.
“Oh, I doubt that,” came the sardonic reply, “no doubt you snore or some other unappealing human trait.”
Lily snorted with derision, wanting desperately to reply and put him in his place, but she knew he was winding her up. Better to ignore him till he got bored and left her in peace. She shut her eyes and turned her face away from him.
A short while later, she heard him lower himself into the easy chair by the door, presumably to keep watch so she didn’t have the chance to escape. Lily rolled her eyes in the dark; he couldn’t keep watch over her forever. She’d find a way to escape, eventually.
Chapter Six
She had turned the wrong way. Lily had gone in search of the gardens that she’d seen from the window of her room; Dawn had just crept in, and her alien husband was nowhere to be found. Realizing that he’d left the door unlocked, Lily took the opportunity to explore.
After a few minutes of hitting dead end corridors and locked doors, Lily had to admit defeat and concluded that she’d navigated incorrectly; opening two large doors that she hoped would lead to the back of the palace - she was instead confronted with the banquet hall she’d been married in last night.
Its stillness was eerie. The evidence of last night’s debauchery could be seen on every available surface, including the floor. As she gazed upon the tatters of elaborate decorations, Lily sighed. It looked like the guests, at least, had enjoyed themselves.
The door on the far side of the hall burst open. In wobbled a group of huge, burly men. By the sounds of it, they were still drunk from last night’s excess.
“If it’s not the bride,” one bellowed across the hall, “lost your husband already?”
His associates laughed loudly at his joke, their eyes blurry with drink. One of them knocked over a chair, and it fell crashing to the floor.
Lily started to back away, sensing danger. From her nights at the bar, she knew what maudlin drunk was, and what red-eye drunk was; red-eye drunk got women in trouble - black eyes, bruised ribs, torn bikinis, Lily had seen it all.
“Not so fast, little earthling,” one of them coaxed, “why not give us a little dance?”
He was a squat alien; balding on top with dark tufts of hair protruding from large seeping sores across his chest, and a ruddy, bloodshot complexion. In addition to his general unattractive countenance, there was something about him that turned Lily’s stomach.
For all their drunkenness they made their way swiftly across the room, cornering Lily in the center.
“It’s what you’re good at, isn't it?” He demanded.
The laughter of the other men had grown noticeably more subdued.
“Come on, we all know you’re not deserving of that wedding gown - take it off.”
One of the other aliens shoved him, hard, on the shoulder.
“Enough - she’s your Commander’s wife, fool.”
The squat alien eyeballed his friend angrily, and then stumbled toward Lily. She jerked out of his way, but he caught the corner of her purple veil and tugged her back. He laughed uproariously.
“What is going on here?”
Lily hadn’t thought she’d ever be glad to hear that voice. Her husband strode forward. He took one look at the squat alien, and promptly hit him, hard, across the jaw. The alien swayed on the spot for a moment, before collapsing in a heap on the floor.
“What are you doing down here?”
It took a moment for Lily to understand that he was addressing her.
“I was looking for the garden,” she replied haughtily, “you had left the door unlocked - I assumed that meant I was free to leave.”