by Maia Starr
"It is wrong! It is all wrong! You should not be allowed to steal human females at all! Do you not see that it is wrong?!” I shouted at him in anger.
"I do. I do see that it is wrong. But the survival of the entire Corillion race depends on it. If we do not mate with human females in our first 22 years, then we die. It is the only way to keep the race going. I wish there were another way, but there is not. This is the only way. The Corillion way,” he said.
"You die?” I asked him.
"Each Corillion alien warrior has 22 years of life. At 22 years, if I have not mated with a human female, then I will have used up my 22-year cycle and will die. It is like this for all Corillion alien warriors. Many perish this way, but it is why there are so many of us. A small percentage of survival is possible when there are many,” he said to me.
I looked at him in shock and said, “So if I would not have mated with Cyro, then he would have died?”
"Yes. But now that he has and that you are with offspring, he will live,” he said to me.
"I wish I never would have. He led me to believe that I would see my husband again if I did and that he would be saved, the lying bastard. But I am not with offspring. I have not become impregnated by Cyro,” I said to him.
"What do you mean? You have been with him for a month now?” he asked.
"Yes, but I am not with offspring. He continues to be angry about that fact, but it is not my problem. I do not know what is wrong, but I am glad that I am not with his offspring.”
"This makes sense. This is why he asked me to bring him a second human female,” Truo said.
“Then do it! Then maybe he will be done with me, and I will be able to return to Earth,” I said pleading with him.
"But you see, a second human female might not be the problem. It might be Cyro. He is unable to produce offspring. He is a terrible leader, and it would make sense that he cannot create offspring. He is defective," he said.
"Then what shall happen to me? He thinks that I am the problem,” I asked him.
"I do not know, Vera. You have given me much to think about. But you must return to your room now; it will not be good for either of us if we are caught here,” he said, pushing me toward the bottom of the staircase.
"Truo, will you meet me again tomorrow night?" I asked him, unsure of why I was asking other than the thought of not having anyone to talk to. Not having anyone to confide in was hard to deal with. Knowing that I had him gave me hope.
"We should not, Vera,” he said to me.
"Then I will come down tomorrow at midnight regardless. You can either be here or not,” I said as I turned and made my way up the stairs. I tried to keep my crying to a quiet sob as I did so. I could not stop thinking about my husband being pushed into space. It made me want to kill Cyro. It made me want to seek vengeance for my husband.
Chapter 4
TRUO SEEDUON, SECOND COMMAND
There was much to do. There was much to think about. There was much to plan. The human female Vera had given me information after I had given her information. It was a good exchange. She wanted to know about her husband's death, and against all sense, I told her. It broke her.
I held her in my arms, and holding her and consoling her once again gave me that feeling. I felt full of desire and lust for this human female as I held her against my scales and inhaled her scent. It was hard to restrain myself. I wanted to press my lips against hers as they quivered. I wanted to run my hand through her long brown hair and to press my hands against her body. But I did not. Instead, I simply held her, and she cried and grieved over the information about her husband.
But it was her information that had me thinking about the leader, Cyro. He was not able to procreate. Our entire tribe of Corillion assumed that the human female Vera was with offspring, the offspring of our leader. But what kind of leader could not create offspring? This was not good. This was not good for our tribe, and it was not good for Vera.
This was why he wanted me to bring him a second human female. When he said that she was a disappointment, I thought it meant simply because she was not loving him back, not because she was not producing offspring. If I brought him a second human and he impregnated her, then he would kill Vera. I could not allow that to happen.
But if I brought a second human and he could not impregnate her either, then he would kill both of them and continue to find human females, never admitting that the fault was his. This gave me new hope. This gave me the hope that I had been looking for, and what I had dared not think about doing before. But too much had happened; Cyro was not a good ruler. He was putting the entire tribe of Corillion on this asteroid in jeopardy. Now he was not able to create offspring and that was enough. It was all that I needed to proceed with a plan that I had been thinking about for very long time.
The next evening at ten, after the fortress had quieted down, we met for the first time. Not the human female Vera, but two other Corillion alien warriors of high-ranking birth met with me in the underground passageway in a secret room with a table and a bench.
"But are you sure, Truo? What if you're wrong? What if we do this and you were wrong about all of it? We will all be put to death," Sitione said.
"We are all dying anyway, are we not?” I said in response to him.
"How do you know of this? How do you know that Cyro is not capable of creating offspring? You have not shared that information with us,” Jin said.
"You must trust me, warrior brothers. I cannot reveal my source for it would put them in great danger. We already know that Cyro has turned out to be a leader that cannot lead us. I am ready to take his place. I am just. I am honorable. I put the Corillion way above all else. You know this of me, brothers, or you would not be here with me now. You would not be here to listen to a plan to overthrow his leadership,” I said to them.
"Yes, that is true. But it is a very big risk to expose ourselves in such a way. If we try and fail?” Jin said.
"Then we will be no worse off than we are now. None of us have mated. I am on my 21-year mark; Jin, you and Sitione are months away from your 22-year mark. Death is already upon you; there will be no difference,” I said to them.
They were quiet for quite some time as they thought this over. Then they spoke. “I am with you,” Jin said.
"I am with you as well,” Sitione added.
"Then we will reconvene in a week’s time. Give me this time to come up with a plan. Now you must go before our meeting is found out,” I said to them, rushing them off. But I wasn't rushing them off simply because it was risky to meet like this, but because I knew that Vera would be coming soon. I did not want her to find me having a secret meeting about overthrowing Cyro. She would not understand. It was nothing to burden her with. She already had so much of a burden on her shoulders dealing with the death of her husband and being forced to be with a Corillion that she despised.
After Jin and Sitione had left I waited. I waited, and I waited. I was growing nervous, which surprised me. I had grown used to meeting with Vera. I looked forward to it. She was a ray of sun in my night. I could not wait to see her again. Being with her started to give me comfort in a way that I had not expected. In comforting her in her grief, I had found new meaning in my life. Suddenly my existence and the existence of the Corillion tribe was not the only thing to think of. I found myself thinking of Vera often. This thinking had gone past her physical features and was more about her sorrow and grief. I felt a need to avenge her sorrow and her husband's wrongful death.
I waited longer, and midnight came and went. She did not show. I was disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing her face again. Then I began to worry. What if Cyro found out that she was sneaking down to see me? He would punish her brutally. I knew that it was risky for me to check on her, but I had to. I would not be able to sleep unless I knew that she was fine.
I stealthily made my way out of the underground passage and into the courtyard outside her bedroom chamber window, because I could not go to he
r door. That would be too risky. If anyone found me in the hall outside her door, it would be too obvious. It was easier for her to risk going down the stairs to the passageway because if she was found in the halls alone, no one would think anything of it other than perhaps she was coming back from the kitchen or from Cyro’s chambers. But I had no reason to be in the vicinity of her bedroom chamber.
I looked up at her bedroom window and saw the glow of light. I climbed the wall. I was quiet as I grabbed onto the stones that stuck out of the wall, providing a perfect ledge for my hands and feet. I climbed high and ducked under her window. Then I heard voices.
"When will you not be sick with this human illness? I must know,” Cyro’s voice boomed at her. It was clear that he was angry.
"I told you it is anywhere from two to three weeks for this virus to go through me. I have no control over it."
“But you have not been eating! My warriors tell me that you send the tray of food back full! How will you get better if you are not eating?” he shouted at her.
"I have not had an appetite for food,” she said weakly.
I peeked into the room to see Cyro shouting at her from the hallway outside her door. He was not in her room. He had a snarl on his face. He was very angry. It took all of my restraint not to jump into the window and defend her. It took all of me to not fight Cyro right then and there. He was looking at Vera as though he was ready to kill her, and that brought a deep rage out of me.
"You will eat! You will get rid of this sickness so that I may return to your bed and so that you may give me the offspring I deserve!” he shouted as he slammed the door and left.
I watched as Vera threw herself on the bed and cried. My heart reached out to her. I wanted to be there to console her. I wanted to be there to beat Cyro for her. What was happening to me? These desires had never filled me before; why now?
I slowly climbed down the wall, careful not to make a sound. I did not want Vera to know that I had seen what I had seen. I finally reached the ground and quickly moved across the courtyard back toward the east wing of the fortress where I stayed. I needed to put as much space as I could between Cyro and me or I would hurt him.
I needed to put as much space as I could between Vera and me or I would go to her.
There was much to be done. There was much planning to do. For how did one overthrow the leader of a Corillion tribe successfully? It had never been done. Yet, seeing the way he treated Vera gave me all the motivation that I needed to start planning. It was going to be dangerous.
Chapter 5
VERA RODANTHEE
I was disappointed that Cyro showed up at my door that night. He frightened me with his threats. His obsession with me was obvious, but I was mostly disappointed that it stopped me from meeting with Truo that night. I was planning on going to speak to my new friend and confidante again. But just as I started to freshen up to leave my room, Cyro kicked open the door.
“You’ve been hiding from me enough!” he shouted.
“I am still very ill! Look at me!” I said back with my bloodshot eyes and nose red from crying.
He stepped back further into the hallway and paced back and forth there. He was furious, and I could tell that he had been drinking some of the liquid that the Corillions used to get drunk. He shouted at me from the hall, frightened of catching the flu from me. I think he just wanted to be heard. He was obviously frustrated and he had nowhere to put that frustration except on to me. But as he yelled at me, all I could think was, I hate you! You killed my husband! You will never touch me again! But I did not voice this. I had to hold it inside. I knew that he would demand to know how I knew about my husband and then Truo would be in trouble. So I kept it all bottled up inside. Then he left, but I knew that I could not leave the room. Not after that display.
It was a good thing that I decided to stay in my room because an hour or so later, Cyro returned to shout at me again from the hallway.
“How long must it take for you to give me what I want? This is important! The Corillions depend on it! Depend on me!” he shouted and mumbled in his drunken stupor.
He shouted the same things as before, and I think he was so drunk that he forgot that he had already shouted at me. I was grateful that he wasn’t too drunk to forget that I was ill. But I knew then that I could not leave my room, at least not that night. It was too risky, and because of this, I threw myself on the bed and cried after Cyro left. It was partly because of Cyro’s words and threats, but mostly because I was disappointed that I would not be able to have a conversation with Truo.
He was the only thing that I looked forward too. He gave me the comfort that I so badly needed in my grieving process. Grieving alone was the hardest thing that I ever had to do. I could barely deal with it, and I didn’t know what to do with myself. So knowing that I was going to see Truo that night gave me some hope that I wasn’t so alone. That there was a Corillion out there that actually cared for me and was on my side, or seemed to be, filled me with relief. Now Cyro had robbed me of that too.
The next day I ate. I ate voraciously. I cleaned my plate with every tray that was brought to me. I did not want to give Cyro any reason to visit my chamber and bitch about how I would never get well if I did not eat my food. I coughed and sneezed every time I opened the door to get the tray, making as much noise as I could so that anyone that was nearby would report that I was still ill. Having puffy eyes and a red nose was not a problem to pull off because I was crying off and on all day in extreme sadness.
Then night came. “Should I go?” I whispered to myself. I paced back and forth in my room. I wanted to go see if Truo was in our secret spot. I missed him. He was a friend, and I was alone. I looked out onto the courtyard. It was quiet and desolate.
Then I saw a shadow move across the ground. There was someone watching me. But then Truo stepped out of the shadows. I felt relief. I stepped closer to the window. He gestured at me, and I knew what it meant. I put my hand in the air as though to agree with him. Then I quietly moved to my bed and plumped up the sheets as though I was under them. I left my room and moved as fast as I could to the stairway and into the underground passages.
“Hello,” I whispered.
“I’m over here,” Truo said as I moved further into the passage. When I saw him such relief overtook me that I rushed to him and put my arms around him and pressed my face against his scales. It caught me off guard, and it caught him off guard.
“Vera, is something the matter? Have you been hurt?” he asked.
I fought back the tears that welled up in my eyes and said, “No. I’m just glad to see you. That is all. I feel so sad. I feel so alone. You are my only friend.”
He sighed a heavy sigh and said, “I understand.”
I looked up at him into his kind eyes and said, “Do you? Do you really? Your presence is a comfort to me. I don’t know what to do with myself, but being here with you gives me relief. I’m so far from Earth. My husband was the only thing keeping me going here. I thought I was doing all of this for him and now he is gone. I have nothing. I am alone,” I cried.
“Yes. I feel the same. You bring me comfort as well,” he said as he patted my head, running his hand down my hair as though to pet me. It was soothing. But it wasn’t enough. I needed more. I don’t know what came over me. Perhaps it was the grief making me think unclearly or the fact that I thought I might die soon by Cyro’s hand, but what I said next shocked me.
“Kiss me. Please kiss me,” I whispered as I moved up on my tiptoes to reach for him. He sighed heavily and moved his head down. His lips pressed against mine and he let out a soft moan. I moved my hands up his chest over his scales and rested them on top of his strong, broad shoulders. I could feel his strength underneath my fingertips, and I needed that strength. I needed to feel safe and secure.
His kiss went deep as I opened my mouth. He moaned and groaned with each kiss. I touched every inch of his strong arms, his chest, his shoulders. I could not get enough. I had wanted to touch
him since the moment I first saw him, but I could not admit that to myself. But my body wanted what it wanted, and I could not stop it.
“We cannot do this. It is wrong. You belong to my leader,” he whispered breathlessly between kissing me.
“I do not belong to anyone. I am the only one that owns me,” I kissed back.
“I want you. I want to touch you, but we cannot,” he said as he pushed me away.
It only made me cry harder. I was a mess. I was a distraught mess, and I had never been this way before. I was a strong female. I was a photographic journalist that had been to war zones just to document atrocities. This was not me! But the toll of everything that had happened was finally sinking in. I was a shattered woman.
“Don’t cry. Vera…” he said.
But I couldn’t help it. Then I felt his thick arms around me as he lifted me off the ground and scooped me into his arms, cradling me. I wrapped my arms around his neck. His long, dark hair tickled my arms. I felt calmer instantly as he held me. I walked further into the passage to an underground room. I was surprised to see it. There was a long table, and a few benches. It was dimly lit.