“Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?” Joaquin demanded as he captained the sailboat going against the wind which didn’t seem right but his heart told him this was the way to go.
“You are the one with the connection to her. I am simply doing what you say.” Voyager gave him a smile and dropped the sails, so they were functioning under the engine of the boat only.
Joaquin made a non-committal sound in the back of his throat and kept going. He had to find her; it had been more than twenty-four hours since they took off. It was taking too long.
“Do you see that?” Voyager asked pointing directly in front of them.
“I see it.” It was still too far away to make out. Maybe it was driftwood or part of a wreckage. He didn’t know, but he had to find out because maybe it was Grace. His heart thought it was Grace, and he couldn’t stop himself from hoping.
He caught Voyager out of the corner of his eye make a circle with his hand; before he could ask him what he was doing the wind shifted pushing them towards Grace.
“The sails,” he yelled as he guided the boat in the direction he wanted to go.
At first, it looked like an abandoned canoe. No one was aboard, but he needed to get closer so he could see if Grace was dead lying on the bottom of the canoe and that’s why he couldn’t see her. Joaquin dropped the emergency boat in the water using it to get close to the canoe that floated there.
He reached out and grabbed the side of the canoe drawing it closer. When he could see all the way inside, he saw Grace lying on the bottom of the canoe surrounded by several inches of water. He tied the two boats together and crossed to her canoe scooping her up. He returned to his little boat and made his way back to the sailboat. Voyager helped him get her aboard.
“Take her downstairs, I will get us back to shore.”
Joaquin nodded and disappeared down the steps. There was a time he didn’t believe a word out of Voyagers' mouth. Thought he was at the trials to show him how much he had missed in his life. Instead, Voyager reminded him how much he had in his life.
He took Grace to the small bathroom and took her clothes off. He grabbed every towel and began drying her off and warming up her skin. When she was no longer wet, he placed her on the bed and took off his clothes. He wrapped them in every cover he could find and worked on bringing her body temperature up.
“Don’t die, Grace I need you. I love you.”
“Joaquin,” she whispered. “I begged the trials not to kill you.”
Her head collapsed on his chest, and he held her waiting for her body to make the decision to live or die.
Chapter Sixteen
Joaquin opened his eyes, but he wasn’t exactly sure where he was. He was sitting with his back against a massive tree looking up into a silver sky with beautiful blue clouds. Grace was in his arms cuddled up against his chest, and he knew this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
“Joaquin?” Grace moved a little.
“Grace? How are you feeling?”
“Surprisingly well since I was dying. Am I dead, is this hell and you’re the taunt of the things I never get to have?”
“I hope not, but if it is I’m right by your side.”
“Why is the sky silver?” She slowly sat up in his arms testing her strength until she made it to her feet and backed up a little.
“I don’t know. On the Sudir home planet, the sky was silver or so my mother told me. She use to always say my eyes reminded her of the sky, and she wished I could see it.”
“This is beautiful as beautiful as the tree you're leaning against.”
He got up, and they both stared at the tree that was so tall they couldn’t see the top of it.
“This isn’t Earth,” she said moving closer to him again.
“This isn’t real; I don’t even know if you’re real.” His arms tightened around her scared that if he let her go, she would disappear.
“Grace,” her name slipped out like a prayer. “I love you.”
She smiled and laid her head on his chest. “I love you, too. Joaquin, where ever you go I’m coming.”
He leaned over to kiss her. It was sweet and gentle, a confirmation of the way they felt for each other.
“This is such a beautiful planet,” Voyager said as he interrupted their kiss.
“It’s a shame that it no longer exists,” The Trialx added.
Grace jumped and found herself behind Joaquin. She had never seen The Trialx before.
“Who are you?” she demanded behind her spot of safety.
“I am The Trialx. The male behind every couple that comes here to soul-bond. The ultimate one who says yay or nay. Who are you?”
“I am Joaquin’s soul-bond, the woman he loves with all his heart, and he is the male I love with all my heart.”
“Now you believe you know more than I do?”
“No,” she stepped from behind Joaquin to stand by his side. “I know who I love and who loves me. As for the rest of it and everything that goes on here, I’m clueless.”
“I see.” The Trialx walked around taking in the sky looking at the tree.
“Do you know where you are, Joaquin?”
He looked around at his surroundings once again before answering The Trialx.
“Sudir?”
“Yes. It no longer exists. Several centuries after the Arbrin/Matra home world was destroyed, Sudir was destroyed.”
Joaquin turned his head to study The Trialx; there was sadness in his voice when he spoke of both planets.
“There was a time when I thought those two planets would become great in the galaxy, instead they both became a footnote in history. Now they are studied and held up as examples of what not to do. No one knows there are survivors living on this small planet.”
“We are more than survivors. Our people will never be what they might have become at one time, but I think they will be even better. Our children will be stronger, and we have become stronger by blending two races as one. By loving ourselves even when the world around us would have called us animals or worse. The hardest thing I have done is accept myself. Accept the fact that I am more than one species, and Grace helped me with that. She reminded me, she showed me that it didn’t matter what the others thought; it mattered what I thought. Now that I’ve let her in my life, her opinion matters too but I didn’t let her in before I knew her opinion of me.”
Joaquin looked back up at the sky before he wrapped Grace in his arms one more time.
“Whether I live or die, I will always love her.”
“Do you know what that tree is?”
“Yes. My mother told me about this tree. She said it was so tall that you could see it from anywhere on the planet. I remember telling her that was impossible because she said Sudir was twice as big as Earth.”
“She was right; Sudir was twice as big as Earth, and you were able to see that tree from anywhere on the planet. The Sudir called it the tree of knowledge. Look up, Joaquin.”
There was a leaf falling from the tree. It floated toward the ground with a lazy back and forth pattern that kept them all captivated until it landed on Joaquin’s head. His face twisted showing his shock as he placed his hand over the leaf and brought it down so he could see it. It was beautiful, silver with gold trimmings.
The Trialx turned to look at Voyager before he looked back at Joaquin.
“Did you know that Voyager has been your biggest advocate since you crossed into my domain? He asked me to bring you here today. He risked both of your lives on something he believed to be true.”
Joaquin and Grace turned to look at Voyager, but he simply stared at them before giving them a single smile.
“The tree of knowledge has always been used to select the next king when it was time to change family lines. It was done simply, a leaf like the one you hold in your hand would fall on top of the male it chooses to lead the people.”
Joaquin opened his hand to drop the leaf, but it wouldn’t fall no matter how much he shook hi
s hand or tried to pull it off with the other hand. It slowly seeped into his skin until it disappeared. He felt it breaking up in his body as it flowed through his blood. He looked at Grace who gasped.
“Your eyes, they're beautiful. They have a gold ring around them.”
“The mark of royalty,” Voyager supplied. “This is why you could not die. You were chosen from birth to be the next king and your parents knew it.”
“There has never been a mixed king but I believe the tree is correct. Times are changing, and our people, both yours and mine, need to be able to change with it. Rule well.”
“Where are you going?” Voyager called after The Trialx.
“This is your part; I’m done for the day, think I’ll go golfing.”
Voyager shook his head and tried not to laugh.
“Golfing?” Grace said a frown on her face.
“He is fascinated by the game, but he would never set foot on Earth, so he had an elaborate course built up here. Do not tell anyone, but he brings the great golf players in to play with him. The next time you hear someone disappeared for a few hours, they were here playing golf.”
Joaquin shook his head and looked at Voyager. “What does all this mean to Grace and me? Are we soul-bonded, will we be able to leave?”
“You will be able to leave; you’re the new king. Your first order of duty is to pick someone who will help you.”
“Can Grace leave?”
“No. She will be allowed to live, but she will live the rest of her life within the trials. That seems fair. You will have to find someone else to have children with; a firestarter is not good enough for a king.”
“I see,” Joaquin stood there nodding his head. He reached out and took Grace’s hand before he walked them back to the tree.
“I resign or abdicate or whatever formal word you need. I won’t be king without Grace. I need both her compassion and her wisdom but more than that I need her love. Pick someone else; I choose to stay with Grace in the trials.”
“The tree won’t pick anyone else.” The silver of the sky lightened as the morning began to seep over the horizon. The beauty of the sun began to rise.
“I could stay here forever it feels so majestic.”
Grace wrapped her arms around him. “I want you to go; your people need you. It has to be hard living day to day trying to fit in without anyone to look up to or an example to follow.”
“I’ll go under one condition.” He held her tighter and closed his eyes before looking at Voyager. “I choose Grace to help me.”
Voyager smiled, it was so bright for a minute they had to close their eyes against it.
“Joaquin. Grace, you may exit the trials.”
They turned around to find the ancient door waiting for them to walk out.
“Did we pass?” Grace looked from the door back to Voyager.
“You are soul-bonded.”
“How? Why? I am beyond happy but what happened here today?”
“Each trial starts with a question. We all knew you were meant to be together when you laid down together willing to burn for the other. The making of a king is not easy, and neither is the making of a queen. Will you make the right choice even when the wrong choice was made regarding you? Are you strong enough to meet out justice without being cruel enough to kill, even when the perpetrator may deserve death? Would you die so the other could live? How close are you truly? Those are but a few of the questions that we asked, and you both answered them sufficiently. Ruling a people that does not realize they need a ruler will not be easy, but I have faith in both of you.”
Voyager turned and walked away leaving them alone. Joaquin stood as two people shimmered into view. His parents approached him, and he wasn’t going to ask for proof; he was going to accept something on face value for the first time in his life.
His mother hugged him before his dad drew him into his arms.
“We can’t stay long,” his father said.
“We’re proud of you and want you to know it,” his mother said as she hugged him again. “I love you, Joaquin, mine to love.”
She walked over to Grace and hugged her tight. “Welcome to the family.”
“Don’t let Stevon try to intimidate you. He has more compassion than he’s willing to admit to. Tell him I’m happy with your father and one day he will be happy to.”
His parents disappeared as Grace took his hand.
“Sounds like there’s a story there.”
“I got a feeling all of our people have a story to tell; let’s go home.” Together they walked through the ancient doorway.
*~*~*~*
Joaquin opened his eyes to see the familiar faces of the Arbrin/Matra surrounding him. There was disbelief in their eyes and confusion. He slowly untangled himself from Grace and realized that he was no longer in his Sudir form, but he was in Matra form.
He waited for questions or condemnation, but none came. He turned over and began to slowly caress Grace needing her to wake up. Her body sat up in bed as her eyes flew open.
“Joaquin?”
“I’m right here, Grace.” She looked over at him and smiled before she snuggled closer. “I thought I lost you.”
The door opened, and Victor walked in. Joaquin stood needing to face Victor on his feet.
“King of the Sudir.”
“King of the Arbrin/Matra,” Joaquin responded.
“Welcome home, Joaquin.”
“Thank you, Victor,” His form changed naturally until he was once again tall with silver hair and silver eyes although now they were rimmed in gold.
“Can someone tell me what’s happening here?” Cal asked watching Joaquin.
“I can.” Colun was standing in the doorway watching everyone. “Why don’t we go downstairs for this explanation?”
Chapter Seventeen
Grace walked over to Joaquin and leaned down placing her arms around him. He’d spent so much time hiding who he was, now that everyone could see him she saw a little bit of horror showing on his face.
It was one thing to be rejected and know the person rejecting you had no idea of who you were, a totally different experience to think they may know you and still reject you.
“I want to take you to my pond. It’s not my pond, but it’s where I was pouring my fire into so it didn’t flame out of control.” She stopped and tested herself, feeling the level of her fire before she realized she had total control over it.
“Joaquin,” she flew into his arms. “I’m perfectly in control. No threat of hurting others.”
She kissed him snuggling deeper in his arms. He laughed with her, holding her tight.
“Let’s go see your pond, now that you’re in control we can restock it and maybe make it a nice place to visit.”
“I would like that.” She went into the bathroom to take a quick shower and changed her clothes.
Together they walked downstairs stopping in the foyer to listen to Colun’s deep voice as he explained who Joaquin was and claimed him as his nephew in front of everyone. Grace tugged on his hand, and they walked out the door together.
“The last time I came here I was alone and thought I would be alone forever. I also ran into Zuhun; someone is going to have to do something about him. He thinks the beings who live in the bed and breakfast are his, and he’s making plans.”
They stopped in front of the pond. Joaquin knelt down to examine the water. There was no algae growth; the water looked clean and pure.
“Your fire did this. I remember this pond and it was in need of cleaning up.”
She gave him a big smile and bent next to him placing her hand on his arm. Leaning over, she kissed him while he spread her out on the grass. He leaned over her nuzzling into her neck while she made sexy sounds in the back of her throat.
“We did it. We’re soul-bonded and have the rest of our lives to be together.” It still seemed a little surreal that they made it through the trials.
The sound of anguish broke them apart as they loo
ked for it. It seemed to be amplified in the open bouncing off the tall trees that surrounded them. They were up and running back toward the B&B when they found a male on his knees beating his hands in the dirt.
Joaquin stepped in front of Grace and approached him. The sound of running feet was coming from the B&B. The male in front of him was in his Matra form, but Joaquin was sure he’d never seen him before.
“Can I help you?”
“What’s wrong?” Grace said, sticking close to Joaquin.
“They’re gone?”
“Who’s gone?” Victor asked walking up on them.
“My wife and my child. I left them sitting in the car while I came to make sure it was truly safe to approach the bed and breakfast everyone was talking about. I was looking for him.” He pointed towards Joaquin. “I wanted to make sure my wife and child would be accepted here.”
“You didn’t see me because I was at the pond with my soul-bonded.”
The male nodded. “I decided to wait and come back later when I returned to the car they were gone.”
“Maybe they went for a walk,” Paige said looking around.
“They wouldn’t have. We all know the danger, and we were hunted before we came here. My soul-bonded wouldn’t have taken our infant for a walk without me.”
“I’m Victor, what’s your name?”
“I know who you are—the un-ascended king. I am Ruffian.”
“Your wife she is a pure Sudir?” Joaquin asked.
Ruffian cast his gaze around at the males standing there before he nodded his head and drew himself upward.
“Relax,” Colun told him. “No one here will fight your right to soul-bond to the female that calls you above all others. We just have to find her.”
“Zuhun has her. It can’t be anyone else unless Melissa took her for him,” Rylan spoke.
Joaquin's Saving Grace (Alien Mates Book Five 5) Page 10