by Sara Nebula
“What we did was so beautiful,” I mumble to myself. It seems like just my luck that I’d find a guy who wants me this much and some evil Goddess would try to tear us apart. Yeah. Just my luck.
Klioc moves behind me and wraps his arms around me. I let myself sink backwards into him. I’m instantly reminded of the safety I feel with him. Yeah, Klioc can protect me. I have nothing to worry about.
“We’ll get through this together, my Nura. Trust me.”
Klioc
*
Naya Umbra. The shadow side of Yalani.
I cannot tell Jessica the truth. Something is deeply wrong, and I do not wish to frighten her. I would never lie to her normally, but her life is in grave danger.
“We must return to the old man at once,” I say.
“You’re joking, right? He already said he won’t help you.”
“I will make him.”
Jessica clothes herself in a light pink dress. She ties a violet ribbon around the middle, cinching her waist. Watching her dress returns my rod to full strength. But there is no time to claim her again. I will have to learn to be patient, as difficult as it may be.
I disguise myself as a human again. Jessica laughs at my t-shirt that has an image of a bald man screaming into something she calls a microphone. The words on the shirt say something about “smashed pumpkins”.
“I didn’t know you were a Smashing Pumpkins fan,” she says in a teasing tone.
“I do not choose the exact form of the disguise, my love. My location determines the form my clothes take.”
“Well, you’re in Chicago, so it’s appropriate,” she says.
We return to the neighborhood she calls Pilsen, and I storm into the shop of the old man. He is behind the counter polishing a brass plate. He keeps his focus on the object as I approach him.
“You must tell me where I can find a ship,” I demand in a booming voice.
A few other humans in the shop gasp.
“Don’t be so rude!” a woman calls out.
“I told you, Klioc. I do not have access to a ship. And yet you storm my shop a second time to demand that I suddenly manifest one for you. You are out of luck. Do the people of Califas care so little for you that they do not send someone to pick you up?”
“Then you must help me perform a Nurani ceremony. You were a Priest on Yalania, yes?”
The old man sighs. “Yes, Yalar. But I am not sure we can perform the ceremony here. The Goddess is far away. She does not come to this planet.”
“She will come if we call her.”
Jessica slides her hand into my pants pocket. The connection soothes me in an instant.
“Please help me,” I say softly.
“Return tonight and we shall summon the Goddess.”
“Thank you,” I reply. I turn to Jessica. “Show me your city, my love.”
She smiles. “You like bookstores?”
“What is a bookstore?”
She grabs my arm and pulls me out of the shop. The old man calls to me. “Ten o’clock tonight, Yalar. Your Nura will tell you when that is.”
“So, are we getting married tonight or something? You didn’t actually ask me,” Jessica says when we get outside. “What if I need more time to make up my mind?”
“You seem to have made up your mind quite well last night,” I reply.
“Come on. Your evil Goddess wants to kill me or something. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want us to get married.”
“Do not concern yourself with Naya Umbra,” I reply. “It will all be dealt with tonight.”
“If you say so,” she replies. She pulls at my hand and tries to drag me down the street. It’s quite charming that she thinks she is strong enough to move me.
“Eventually, I’ll build enough strength that I’ll be able to pull you around everywhere,” she says with a grin.
“You can try, my love.”
I squeeze her hand as we walk through the colorful neighborhood. Many of the humans smile at us because I am certain that they can see that we belong together. It is obvious to me and to everyone else.
“The bookstore is this way!” Jessica exclaims.
In this moment, I am more joyful than I have ever been. But the darkness looms over my soul as I think of what Naya Umbra might do to my Queen. It seems unfair that I should find such joy while having to fear for my Jessica...
Jessica
*
I literally drag Klioc into a large bookstore that used to be a former warehouse. There are rows upon rows of bookshelves to get lost in. As I look at all the piles of books strewn about the floor, I wonder if the shadow Goddess from my dream could even find me here...
“What is this place?” Klioc asks loud enough for the staff and other patrons to hear. He picks up a book on American politics, rapidly thumbs through the pages, and chucks it against the back wall. “Utter trash,” he exclaims, also much too loud.
Yes, Klioc, Earth politics are trash. But try not to be so loud about it in here, ok? I think to myself. A shiver of recognition hits me as I remember that he can hear my thoughts.
My belly tightens as I try to hold in my laughter. I bring him over to the poetry section. It’s devoid of other people at the moment and I figure I can introduce him to some Earth culture.
“This is one of my favorite bookstores in the city,” I say as I pull a Yeats collection off the shelf. Ironically, the first poem I open the book to is Leda and the Swan.
“Your people do not have computers?” He asks.
“Of course, we have computers, silly.”
“On Yalania, our knowledge scrolls are all whispered into our ears by a small computer. We absorb the information quickly and efficiently. I can see these...books... are made from your trees.” He holds a Bukowski book to his ear. “And I can hear the death screams of the tree murdered to make this one. Earthlings are such tragic creatures.”
Now I can’t contain my laughter anymore. I laugh so hard I nearly fall over onto a pile of books. The thought of Klioc as a tree loving audio book lover is just too much. By the way he acts and speaks of war, I’m pretty sure his people are rather violent, and this desire to save the trees seems out of character for him. I just can’t stop laughing.
“What’s so funny, little one?” He asks.
“You,” I reply. “I think you’re much softer than I originally thought.”
He tosses the book to the ground and puffs out his chest.
“I am not soft. I am Klioc, Yalar of Califas, slayer of a thousand—”
I press a finger to his lips. “Shush, mighty warrior. I like your soft side.”
“Oh,” he says. He follows it up with a simple and quiet, “Good”.
I go back to the book in my hand. I read the first stanza softly out loud:
“A sudden blow: the great wings beating still / Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed / By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill, / He holds her helpless upon his breast.”
I look up and see Klioc watching me with rapt attention. His eyes widen, and his lips curl into what can only be described as a smirk.
“More, please,” he says. “These words are rousing something deep within me.”
My eyes fall to the large bulge in his jeans. He can barely be contained. Yeah, I’d say the poem is rousing something in him, all right...
My mind runs back over the words of the first stanza, and I get a sudden vision of myself — helpless and naked — being carried over Klioc’s shoulder across the barren alien landscape from my dream last night.
Goosebumps coat my skin as I continue reading:
“How can those terrified vague fingers push / The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?”
Am I merely Klioc’s captive? I look up at him again, and his smirk has faded. He merely watches me with deep and unfading interest. If I were to run from him right now, I get the sense he would pounce on me and crush all hopes of escape. I suck in a deep breath as my finger falls to the page and tr
aces the next line of the poem. My breath hitches as I read:
“And how can body, laid in that white rush, / But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?”
I lean against the wall. Heat snakes across my skin, and my top clings to my now sweat drenched back. I have this sense that Klioc is causing this reaction in me right now. He can manipulate me in any way he chooses, and I may not even know it until it’s too late.
He rests his warm palm on my cheek and my body is wracked with sudden light shivering. A prickly sensation works its way down my face and travels downward until every inch of my skin has felt it. My thoughts scramble and I hear the voice of the shadow Goddess say, “You do not belong here, Jessica. Run now!”
I don’t want to run from him though. He made me his last night, but now I’m feeling as if I’m being dominated by his very presence. My heart races and then it seems to stop.
“Klioc!” I call out. “Ahhhhh....”
My pussy vibrates with pleasure. Yes, this definitely must be Klioc doing this to me. Or maybe it’s the shadow Goddess. I don’t know anymore, but I close my eyes and give myself over to sweet domination...
“Jessica,” Klioc says softly. “Are you alright?”
I don’t even need to read them, but the last lines of the poem seem to spring from my memory: “A shudder in the loins engenders there / The broken wall, the burning roof and tower / and Agamemnon dead. / Being so caught up, / So mastered by the brute blood of the air, / Did she put on his knowledge with his power / Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?”
“Jessica...” Klioc’s voice drifts in and out. Then I sink into a vast darkness.
Klioc
*
I sling the unconscious Jessica over my shoulder and carry her out of the bookstore. The humans stare at me and call out after me, but I pay no attention to what they say. Something is wrong with Jessica and I must take care of her.
I bring her back to the old man and he waves me towards the back of his store. I duck under a much too short door and lay Jessica in the middle of a small dark room. I lock the door and kneel beside her stroking her soft hair.
Her eyes jolt open and roll from side to side in frightened panic.
“Klioc! What did you do to me?”
“Nothing, my Nura,” I reply. “But you fell to the ground and I had to take you from that evil place.”
“Evil place? The bookstore?”
“What else could it have been to make you have such a reaction?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I just need to — just need to eat or something. I heard her voice again...”
Klioc growls. “Rest. I must call upon Yalani and ask her to unify our souls now before it is too late.”
She sits up and rubs her eyes. “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she whispers. “Your shadow Goddess keeps telling me I don’t belong here. Please take me home, Klioc.”
“No!” I bellow. “You — you belong to me. We will be joined before Yalani tonight.”
“I don’t belong to anyone,” she says. “You have to get that through your thick alien skull. You can’t bring me back to your planet. I just don’t belong there. Now please take me home. I won’t be your captive wife.”
“It is Naya Umbra speaking. Not you, my Jessica.”
She shakes her head. “No, it is me. I’m begging you, Klioc. Just take me home, ok? Then find your way back to your planet where you belong.”
“If it is what you desire then it must be done,” I say.
I have never accepted defeat in my existence, and I will not accept it now. But until a solution presents itself, I must do as Jessica asks. I lift her up and carry her out of the old man’s shop and all the way back to her dwelling, cursing the shadow Goddess the entire way.
I lay Jessica out on her couch and kneel beside her deep in meditation as she sleeps. But a sudden jolt wracks my body and I hear the voice of my ship’s computer in my mind:
“By order of the Goddess herself, you are to return to Yalania at once and face execution for claiming the wrong girl as your Nura.”
The wrong girl? It cannot be so. As I look into the peaceful face of the sleeping Jessica, all I can feel is great love. Surely, something is wrong here and it is not Jessica. We belong together...there is no other explanation for our deep connection.
But if it is true and I have chosen the wrong girl, then I have ruined her life forever by implanting my seed inside of her. I must face whatever punishment is coming to me.
“If you do not come willingly, Klioc of Califas, we will come for you,” the ship’s computer says. “We will execute you on the spot for your crimes.”
I kiss Jessica on the forehead. “I am sorry, my love. You do not belong with me. I am a fallen prince, and I will never rise again. I have lost my kingdom and worse, my freedom to be with you. I will die soon, but at least I know that I have loved you. That will bring me comfort as my eyes close one final time.”
Jessica opens her eyes. “Klioc?” She asks.
“Yes, my love?”
“Take me with you. I—I—I love you,” she says.
I press my lips to hers, and our fate is sealed.
“It will not be easy to convince the Goddess and the Priesthood that we belong together, but our love will overcome. If they kill us both, at least we will die together in each other’s arms.”
“That’s pretty damn romantic, but also a weird thing to tell me if you’re trying to reassure me,” she says. “Let’s get out of here, you big oaf.”
“Yes, my Queen,” I reply as I lift her from the couch.
Jessica
*
Did I really just agree to go to an alien world with Klioc? Yep. I definitely did.
The realization that I love him hit me so hard and fast that I no longer wish to escape. His gentle blue face fills my mind, and I realize I cannot live without him. Any attempts at getting away from him or sending him back to Yalania without me were just me trying to protect myself from what I knew was happening to me. I’m falling deep into love and I do not ever wish to lose that feeling.
The very idea of being separated from Klioc fills me with despair unlike any I’ve ever felt. I would shatter without him. I would cease to exist as I am now. All I would become is a broken shell of a person, and I know that I would never know love like Klioc’s. I might even manage to somehow fall in love with a human man, but it wouldn’t be the same. The connection would seem forced, and weak.
While I was sleeping on my couch, I had a vision of a blue woman who looked almost exactly like the one Klioc had called Naya Umbra. The difference is that this Goddess had no tattoos and spoke in a soft and soothing voice.
She took me to a grove of weeping willow trees, and we sat down beneath one as wild and wonderful animals unlike any I had ever seen surrounded us. She asked me if I loved Klioc, and I found that the only thing I could say was yes. But I had a feeling that I did not belong.
“It is true that you are not fated to Klioc,” she said. “But you have a greater potential than previous Queens of Yalania. Because you have an opportunity to truly choose him. It is not fate in your case. If you say you love him then it means you have decided to love him. It is unusual among our people, but it is possible. If you truly wish to be with him, then please come here to Yalania, my sweet girl, and show us why you wish to be Klioc of Califas’ Queen.”
As Klioc carries me to Millennium Park, I look around at my city, and I know that I’m leaving so much behind. But none of it seems to matter. I’ll miss my few close friends, maybe even my job, but not as much as I will miss Klioc if I let him go back to Yalania without me.
I decide not to tell him that his Goddess said we were not fated to be together. I don’t want him suddenly changing his mind about me, though I suspect he wouldn’t.
We board Klioc’s ship which has returned for us, and Klioc places me in what he calls a travel pod. He kisses my forehead and hums the same soft tune that he did when he made love to m
e. It sounds even more beautiful now.
“How long does it take to get to Yalania?” I ask.
“We will be there soon, my Nura. Just sleep and when you wake up, we will be there. We will be together, and nothing can tear us apart.”
“That’s beautiful,” I reply.
“Not as beautiful as you,” he says before kissing me one more time and backing away from my travel pod. The last thing I see is Klioc winking at me. Sometimes Klioc can be pretty damn smooth. The glass closes over me and a cool air rushes in. My eyes close, and I fall instantly asleep.
WHEN WE ARRIVE ON YALANIA, we are greeted by some very intimidating guards wearing full armor and carrying spears. I’m surprised at the choice of primitive weapon. I had imagined Yalania would be a highly technological society, but it looks more like something out of Earth’s middle ages. The guards place us in chains and lead us towards a large palace. The city has simple buildings made of red rock. But there are trees like weeping willows growing in the sand all around us, as strange as that is. It is as beautiful as it was in my dream. I don’t fear the chains on my wrists and ankles because I know I’m with Klioc and he’s all I need. We will get through this together.
We are brought into the palace where we are dragged before a tall blue man in a light pink robe with gold trim. He looks at me with golden eyes, and I stare right back without flinching.
“Klioc, this girl is not your Nura,” the pink robed man says.
“It is a lie,” Klioc replies. “You are all wrong. Let us go and I promise not to cut your throat.”
“You will remember that Yalar Vekshi now controls the city of Califas, Klioc. As the city lay burning, you turned and ran to your ship. You abandoned your soldiers and people like the coward that you are.”
“I was going to Earth to find humans to sell to raise a new army and reclaim Califas. Instead, I found Jessica, my one true Nura.”
I gasp at Klioc’s admission of his purpose in coming to Earth, but I’m not that surprised. Still, we’re gonna have to talk about that one if we get out of here.