by Zara Zenia
"Ah, Carina hates Glotters," I smiled.
"Good for her. She'll keep her waistline."
"Anyway," Davoth interrupted. "You said you wanted to gather us all here today?"
"Yes," I said, slamming my hands down on the table to show we were getting down to business. "Furi, he wants me dead and he wants Carina dead. He's a snake, a coward and hasn't a single moral in his body. If he could attack my wedding, he'd do it. He did, after all, try to kill my fiancée in the middle of the night when she was home alone. He’s capable of anything!"
"Asshole," Arlodd pursed his lips and grimaced. "I'd kill him myself if I could."
"He just thinks he can get away with it because he's current champion," Davoth said. "Someone needs to knock him down a peg, show him that's he's not as powerful as he thinks he is."
"Exactly," I agreed as I sunk back into my chair. "We'll need extra security measures at the wedding. Artis and you guys, I want you there as backup, Arlodd and Davoth, I want you there too. Watch everyone and everything and be alert at all times."
"Absolutely," Davoth clinked his glass against mine. "We'll do anything to make sure the day goes smoothly."
"So... I don't mean to sound like a lousy friend or anything," Arlodd leaned in closer with an inquisitive look. "But, like, do you owe us a special favor in the future?"
I knew what he meant. He wanted to know if he was going to get paid but was too embarrassed to ask.
"You won't get special favors," I said with a playful punch to his arm. "You'll all get paid whatever you want. Name your price and it's yours."
"What?" Artis gasped. "Name our price?"
"That's a bit extravagant, isn't it?" asked Arlodd.
"Anything for my Carina," I said. "I just want her to feel safe."
"You're an honorable guy," he said. "She's a lucky lady."
Davoth leaned in close and whispered.
"Are you sure you can afford it?"
I nodded.
"I can afford anything," I replied. "I've been saving my winnings for years."
At the other side of the room, the band finished their set and were hit by the sound of the crowd begging for an encore. They erupted into their favorite song once again and the crowd began to jump and dance. I watched for a moment, quietly sipping on my ale. Would I really be missing out on all this fun if I got married? The answer was no. There was nothing I wanted more than to be with Carina.
"Hey, I never had you down as someone who wanted a big celebrity wedding," I half-heard Davoth say over the sound of the music.
"Eh?"
"A big, fancy, crazy wedding," he said and flung his arms open. "I always thought you were a low key kinda guy. Didn't you once say it was just gonna be the two of you in a private ceremony?"
"Yeah, I'll be honest I didn't really care about it but Carina wants a big party so that's what she's getting."
"You spoil her, you know that don't you?"
"She deserves it," I said with a cheeky grin as I remembered her beautiful, doll-like face and perfect curvy body.
I felt a slight hardness begin to swell in my pants and leaned in closer under the table to hide it.
"Yep! She's a beauty alright. Anything to make her happy."
The sounds of dinner being made traveled up from the kitchen below. I could hear Carina knocking pots and pans around followed by the electrical whooshing sound of the cupboard doors gliding open. The smell was drifting up too and it suddenly dawned on me that I was starving. My stomach growled and I looked down to it.
"Easy boy," I said to myself.
My stomach rumbled back as if in response.
Making sure the bedroom door was firmly closed, I slid open the top drawer of my desk and peered inside. It lay there, the long onyx box that was as long as my arm and as heavy as the average human. I was always warned to never keep cash in the house. Most gladiators opened savings accounts with the arena managers who took their money and kept in electronic format. But I didn't trust anyone. I wanted to actually see my money, hold it, smell it, sleep beside it and know where it was at all times.
"You're crazy," Davoth had once told me. "Someone'll kill you for it someday. People try to rob gladiators all the time, Gar!"
"Nonsense," I dismissed his scaremongering. "You'd have to be a fool to rob me."
"There are more fools than wise men," he reminded them.
"Perhaps, but I have my methods of security."
"You're a strange man," he'd said. "I always liked that about you."
What he didn't know was that only I could open my onyx box. Carina had always thought it was amusing. She likened it to Thor's hammer, an object back on Earth that was so heavy only Thor himself could lift it.
Flipping open the lid, I gazed inside and felt the warmth of the golden nuggets on my face. My treasure, my winnings, the very things I committed murder for.
Until now I had hardly spent any of it, only frittering away what I had to on the basics and of course, alcohol. Until I met Carina, I'd never even spent money on accommodation. In fact, since I met Carina I never spent much on anything. But now, I couldn't help but notice that a large number of coins that once weighed down the box had a small dent in it that had been spent on the wedding. Not that it bothered me. For the first time in years, I had something and someone to spend money on. No point living like a virtuous saint if you're miserable.
Carina... She was going to have the best day of her life. I'd move all the planets and the sun and the stars just to make sure she had the wedding she deserved.
Outside the room, I could hear a creak on the stairs. I slammed the box closed and placed it back in its resting place. A few seconds later, Carina was in the doorway with her gossamer hair slinking around her shoulders and her breasts looking pert in her sheer dress.
"Dinner's almost ready," she said.
"I can't wait. It smells terrific," I said as I stood up. "And so do you."
I scooped her into my arms and smelled the subtle fragrance of her skin. Kissing her neck, I squeezed her tight and felt the breath being squeezed out of her.
"Gar! I can't breathe!"
She was trying to wriggle free but laughing too.
"Sorry, sometimes I forget how little you are."
She reached up on tip toes and kissed me softly.
"I like it," she said. "I wouldn't have you any other way."
She slid her way out from between my arms and onto the edge of the bed.
"Think we have time for a quickie?" I asked with my hands already making their way down to my crotch.
"No, Gar'zul! I have something in the oven. We don't want to burn the house down, do we?"
"Okay, fine. You just look so… tasty!"
I traced a finger delicately down her cheek and she turned her head to kiss my hand.
"I've been meaning to ask you something," she abruptly announced as she pulled away from me.
"Let me guess. It's something to do with Marco."
"How did you know?"
"You always act like you're guilty when you think about him," I said.
"I do not!" she protested.
"Whatever, what is it now?"
I sat back down at my desk and readied myself to hear about the idiot human who I'd rather see dead than at my wedding.
"Did you arrange for him to get the day off?" she asked.
I let out a sigh and held my head in my hands.
"Yeah... I spoke to the slave administration and they weren't too happy. They said if it was anyone else they'd say no but as I've been flying through the ranks recently, they thought it would probably be ok to let me have this one day. But there are special conditions."
"Like?"
"Like, I have to be responsible for him the entire day. I'm literally going to have to be his babysitter when I'm supposed to be focused on getting married."
She jumped off the bed and climbed onto my lap, kissing my cheek as she wrapped her arms around my neck.
"You're a good pe
rson, Gar'zul," she kissed me again. "Thank you."
"It's ok," I lied unconvincingly.
"But what could possibly happen to him?" she asked. "Why do you have to be responsible? It sounds like the slave administration think he's a naughty child or something."
"If a single hair on his head is out of place, believe me, I'll have to pay. The administration wants nothing more than their fighting gladiator force to be at their full potential. That means Marco can't drink, smoke, speak to strangers or trip over his own feet."
I rolled my eyes and held a hand to my forehead.
"But if it's what you want."
"It is what I want," she smiled. "You’re the best."
She tangled her fingers into mine and kissed me, her soft, moist lips sticking to mine. The hardness rose in my pants once again and I gripped her around her waist.
"Are you sure we don't have time for a quick one?"
Chapter 16
Carina
I'd been looking forward to this day for months so why did I feel so petrified.
Suki was standing behind me, brushing my hair.
"You're so quiet," she mused.
"I feel like I'm going to be sick," I said.
She giggled and tied up my hair, securing it with long pins and clips.
"I remember feeling like that on my wedding day," she said. "Don't worry, as soon as you see your man standing at the front of the aisle waiting for you, all your fears will just dissolve and it'll feel like there's no one else in the world but the two of you."
She waved a hand in front of my face as though she was casting a spell.
"Dissolve..." she repeated.
"Okay..."
Standing up to look in the mirror, I examined my hair and makeup.
"Suki you've done a great job. I've never felt prettier."
Or more alien, I thought. She'd done my make up like her own and there were bright, purple stripes streaked out from the sides of my eyes.
Renna and Tandra were sat in the corner of the bedroom, dabbing their eyes and sniffing,
"You look so beautiful," Renna said.
"Just so beautiful. I could kill you," Tandra swooned.
"Are you ready to get into your dress?" Suki asked.
I nodded with tears starting to prickle the backs of my eyes.
"Yes, I'm ready."
It was brought out of its wrapping with great pomp and ceremony. The girls all gasped and shrieked as it was revealed, squealing as though they were marveling at a spectacular miracle.
"It's gorgeous!" Suki cried.
"You'll look like a real life princess," Tandra said as she clapped her hands together.
As they held it up in front of me, I had to admit that it was a little bit on the elaborate side. But Gar'zul had insisted that I get the most expensive, custom-made gown. So, I had traveled into the center of the city with a bag full of coins in search of something extra special.
Slipping into it, I could feel how sumptuous the fabric was as it was secured around my body, with its silkiness flowing around my ankles, I did feel like a princess.
"Oh, God. I feel like I'm going to cry again, I said.
The gems around the skirt were dazzling, glinting off the mirror like a sky of diamond stars.
"This better not be the time you get cold feet," laughed Suki.
"I've never been surer of anything in my life. Not that I have much of a choice anyway."
"Still feel like you're going to be sick?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah! More than ever."
The three of them laughed.
"I promise," Suki leaned in to give me a hug. "You'll be fine. Just think about what Gar'zul's face will look like when he sees you."
I hope he wants to fuck me on the altar, I thought. I hope he can't keep his hands off me.
The first thing I noticed when I stood at the bottom of the aisle was the vast amount of security that covered the building. The next thing I realized was that I was walking up the aisle alone. Looking to my left, I imagined my father with his arm linked into mine. I imagined seeing my sisters behind me as bridesmaids and my mother crying with happiness from the front row. Pretending they were all beside me was all I could do to stop the tears from falling.
Looking to the front of the great hall, I saw Gar'zul waiting for me, his faithful friend Arlodd by his side. His face lit up as he saw me. His eyes widened and I saw his mouth open as he breathed out:
"Wow."
Arlodd clapped a hand on his shoulder. I could hear him whisper loudly:
"Lucky son of a..."
The smile wouldn't stop itself from spreading across my face as I neared my husband. Suki was right, it was if the hundreds of guests failed to exist as the world beside me fell away, and all that existed was the pristine beam of light that led me to Gar'zul.
As I reached the altar, he reached out and pulled the veil back over my face to kiss my forehead.
"You look incredible," he said in my ear before kissing my cheek.
My stomach flipped and I closed my eyes for a second to savor the moment.
"Are we ready to begin?" the minister asked.
I didn't know what to expect from the wedding. I knew it would be nothing like what took place on Earth but I had to admit that I knew nothing of that world either. Having been raised in the mine, anything that took place outside of the underground caverns was alien to me.
"We're ready," Gar'zul said to the minister, who tapped the air in front of us.
What is he doing? I thought.
After a few seconds, a large light display fell across the space between me and Gar'zul.
"Whoa!
It was as though every electrical impulse in the universe was dancing before my eyes.
"What do I do?" I asked.
But then I remembered that Gar'zul had done this before.
"You put your hand up in the holder here," he said as he demonstrated.
I followed his instruction and raised a hand into the static mass of sizzling atoms. My fingers tingled as energy gushed into my body.
"What are we doing?" I gasped.
"We're making a pact to the universe," Gar'zul said. "We're being joined together, you and I and the great powers in the skies."
"Gar'zul! It feels so strange!"
“Just stick with it.”
“It feels as though I’m being electrocuted but it doesn’t hurt!”
The minister and the guests looked on with shining eyes as they watched the spectacle in awe. I'd never felt so at peace or so in love and only noticed that the tears were dripping from my face when I heard the slight pitter-patter of them landing on my shoes.
"I love you, Gar."
"I love you, Carina."
"You looked so beautiful up there I couldn't stop crying."
Suki was hugging me so tight, at one point I thought one of my eyes might pop out.
"Thank you! It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life."
"You deserved it. I bet you're glad we talked you into getting a big ceremony now."
"Definitely!" I beamed.
The music was blasting out over the top of the crowd. Some guests were already dancing wildly while others were getting to know each other. Suki and I laughed as we looked over at Tandra. She had squeezed in between two gladiators and begun to sway her hips from side to side in the world's greatest example of attention seeking.
"She's shameless," Suki said.
"Absolutely shameless," I agreed.
"Hey," Suki pointed over to the bar. "Isn't that your friend Marco?"
"I don't know, is it?"
"Well, he's the only human here beside you."
I reached up on tip toes to see over the throngs of people.
"Oh, yeah! So it is."
He was slumped against the bar with an expression of sheer misery on his face.
"It looks more like he's at your funeral than your wedding," Suki said.
"I know! I wonder what the hell is wrong wi
th him."
"Go over and see if he's ok."
"Oh, no," I said. "I should be getting back to Gar'zul. He'll be wondering where I've gone."
Suki put her hands on her hips and gave me a knowing look.
"Just for two seconds," she insisted. "Go and see if he's ok."
"Fine! I'll catch up with you later."
It took me a full twenty minutes to get through the crowd as everyone stopped to congratulate me. At last, I emerged through the other side feeling as though I'd just escaped the womb.
"Marco!"
He looked up from his drink and forced a fake smile.
"Hi!" he waved.
"Where have you been?"
"Here, mostly."
He looked back down to his drink.
"What's the matter?" I asked. "I thought you'd be happy to be here?
"Are you being serious?" he said. "You should be marrying me, not that brute!"
He pointed to my beautiful, blue skinned beast that was currently standing on a table and laughing drunkenly with his friends.
"Please, Marco. Not this again. I always told you that there was never a way the two of us could be together. I told you I just love you as a friend. There's nothing else to it. We grew up together, came to this planet together. You're more like a brother to me."
He scrunched up his face and for a second I was sure he was going to cry.
"Please, Marco..."
I reached out to touch his hand but he yanked it away.
"I'm happy for you, I really am," he said.
"Jesus, you don't look it."
"I am. I'm miserable to see you with him but I'm happy that you've made it. I'll live as a slave forever and probably fight myself to death in that hellhole that is the arena but you'll live up in that big house of yours in the hills with a future champion."
"Hey! Don't be like that."
"Hello, guys!" Tandra was suddenly in between us, reaching for a drink across the bar.
"Hey, Tandra. This is my friend, Marco, from Earth."
"Pleased to meet you," she smiled and shook his hand. "You look a little down, honey, you wanna come dance."