by Maia Starr
When we stood there with the guards giving the royal salute and welcome to their prince, it only made me angrier. Yes, it was very impressive, but it also proved his power and just how big a deal this was. Then seeing his father, the king, along with his brothers only solidified just how powerful a family he belonged to. His father and brothers were tall blue aliens just like Alicron, only they were wearing more ornamental medallions on their bare-naked chest. Obviously, something that the royalty wore. All of it made me feel betrayed by Alicron. I couldn't shake the feeling no matter how impressive the surroundings were.
“Can you believe this?” Nancy whispered to me as we followed a Kynon female down an ornate hallway of the palace. It was my first time seeing a female Kynon, and it was a very bittersweet feeling because I knew that they were dying. It made me melancholy to look at her.
“No, I cannot,” I whispered back.
“These are the living quarters of Prince Qinov. This is his wing. You will take this room, and you will take this room,” she said pointing out doors that were across the hall from each other. I looked at Nancy. We both slowly opened the doors to our rooms and looked in but did not walk in.
“Come, I will show you how to run the hot water for a bath,” the female said as she opened my door wider and walked in. I looked at Nancy who followed us into my room.
“Holy crap,” Nancy said looking around as we entered. It was a luxury room. The walls were white marble and clean. There were woven tapestries on the wall. A very large canopy bed was against the wall, and there was a large sitting area along with a fireplace and small kitchen area with a table.
“The washroom is this way,” she said. Nancy and I followed her into the bathroom. It was just as stunning. The water was controlled by an electronic panel on the wall. She showed us how to use it.
“That is all. I will have dresses brought to you, and I will personally put food and drink on the table as well as in the cabinets. I will return in half an hour,” she said. She nodded to us with a smile and left the room.
“Wow. I don't know about you, but I am very excited to get in a hot bath. I am going to go check out my room,” Nancy said with a skip to her step. Then she left my room and went across the hall to hers. I was glad that someone was happy about this. I was grateful for the luxury accommodations and for a hot bath of course but I could not be in a good mood because I could not stop thinking about the betrayal I felt.
I looked around the luxurious room. It was better than in the luxury hotel I had ever seen in Beverly Hills. It was better than any palace I had seen in a movie. It was so beautiful. I walked to the French glass doors. I opened them and stepped out onto a balcony. My mouth fell open. From this height, I got a good view of the city. It was a better view than what I had on the ship. Since I wasn't moving, I could actually see. I could see down into the courtyard of the palace. There were Kynon guards everywhere. I could tell that Alicron was very important. His entire family was very important and needed to be guarded.
But I could also see outside of the palace into the city. It's stretched out vast for miles. But on the one side, I could see the forest. The trees were massive. The trunks of the trees were as big as cars: the type of trees that you saw in Northern California. They reached hundreds of feet into the sky. I longed to take a walk in the forest one day. On the other side of the city was a massive lake. It shimmered in the sun in a beautiful shade of emerald green. I could see small boats on the water, and I wondered if they were fishing.
To think, this was where Alicron was raised. This was where he lived. It was lavish. He had always seemed like a brute soldier to me and not the fine prince raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. This alien was very complex, and I did not understand him at all. Why would he keep all of this a secret from me? It made me angry again. So I stepped back inside and closed the doors.
I stepped into the grand washroom and closed the door. It felt good to have some privacy again. I liked having my own large room. I could not wait to sink into a hot bath.
I ran the hot bath just like she showed us to. I grabbed a cloth from the cabinet assuming it was the closest thing to a towel. It was very thick. I grabbed two and put them by the large marble tub. Steam was rising of off the water and I could not wait to get the desert sand of the X003 planet off of me.
I immersed myself in the steaming hot water.
"Oh my God, this feels absolutely wonderful,” I whispered to myself. I put my head under the water washing my long blonde hair.
I grabbed a slab of pink soap and smelled it. It smelled like roses but sweeter, almost like bubble gum. I rubbed it all over my body, getting the grime off of me.
It did feel good to feel like I was in a safe environment again, able to take a hot bath without worry. For one moment I could let everything slip away and not to think about anything. I stayed in the tub until the water turned cold. I stepped out of the tub wishing that I could stay in it all day.
I wrapped one of the white and blue cloths around me. I remembered that the royal flags that were billowing in the wind were white and blue; this must be the colors of the royal family.
I stepped into the living room and was hit with the smell of hot food. On the table were silver platters covered with silver domes. I uncovered the dish to reveal a hot meal of what looked like vegetables that were fresh and something that looked like chicken. I didn't care. I was hungry. I poured a glass of water and then picked up another canister with a red liquid in it. I smelled it. It smelled like wine. I poured a small amount into a cup and tasted it. It tasted like wine. I poured more, filling my cup. I ate and drank wrapped in my white and blue cloth. It was a very satisfying meal.
I filled my belly; perhaps I ate too much. But it had been a long time since I had had a real hot meal. Even at the yoga retreat, we were eating cold vegetables and salads as snacks before the midnight hike. I think the last hot meal that I ate was dinner the night before I left with Bridget to the yoga retreat. Because of this, and feeling extremely exhausted, I overate. But it felt good. When I was done, I stood up.
“Oh, a little bit tipsy,” I said as I realize that the wine was very strong. I went to a plush gray couch. I sat down and sunk into the softness.
“Wow, even the couch is extremely soft and well-made,” I said. It was very long. All of the furniture was very large, made for the giant Kynon and not small people like myself.
I laid down, pulling the cloth around my body tighter. I fit on the couch with extra feet of space to spare. Having a hot bath and a heavy meal made me feel very tired all of a sudden. It was that mixed in with the fact that I was in a safe place for the first time in a long time. I did get some sleep on the ship, but it was a restless sleep. I was always scared that it was going to crash and fall out of the sky again. But now I did not have to worry about that. The palace was not going to crash and fall out of the sky. Because of this, my eyes closed before I knew it. I drifted off into a very deep sleep. The couch was just so comfortable. It felt like a pillow that I was sleeping on. This mixed with the sedative wine helped to put me into a deep sleep.
I didn't know how much time had passed. But I thought I heard a banging. I opened my eyes. Maybe I dreamt the noise. I sat up. Then I heard it again.
There was a knock at the door. The door opened, and I was expecting it to be Alicron. I was ready to argue with him. I was ready to tell him how much it hurt me that he kept a secret from me.
"Vicki? Can I come in?” It was Nancy’s voice at the door.
“Yes, come in!” I shouted back at her. She opened the door quietly, and I realized that it was not locked. I didn’t lock it while I slept. That was very strange of me. I guess I had felt that comfortable in this palace.
“Can you believe this? They don't lock the doors. We are not prisoners,” she said as she walked in wearing a very long blue dress. It trailed on the floor around her and tied around her neck. It had a plunging neckline down to her belly.
“Beautiful dress,” I sa
id. “I guess it is made for the females here. It is very long.”
“Yes, it doesn't exactly fit me. The belt helps and being able to tie it around my neck. Look how much fabric goes down my back with the ties,” she said turning around to show me the back. It was a very sexy dress with an open back. The ties around her back trailed all the way down past her ass. They really were very long.
“Yes, it is long and obviously not for humans,” I said. “But the fabric is beautiful.”
“Yes, it is very soft. It feels like silk, but I don’t think that is what it is. And look, sandals that have been cut,” shesaid picking up the drapes of fabric and showing me her feet. She wore very primitive sandals. They were basically the usual sandals that the Kynon females wore, but they had to cut them in half to fit our feet. The sandals looked like a fabric covered piece of soft rubber with laces going through holes. Nancy had tied the laces up her ankle to keep them on. It reminded me of Roman sandals.
“Those are beautiful, even if they are cut in half,” I said arching my brows at her.
“I am sure that you got some too. Did you get dresses and shoes?” she asked.
“I don't know. I just got out of the bath, ate and then fell asleep on the couch for a while,” I said getting up and strapping the cloth around me again.
She walked over to the bed and picked up a dress. “You did, see?” she held up a long white dress.
“Oh, I guess I missed that. I was so hungry,” I said.
“Yes, me too. I took a very long hot bath,” she said sitting down in a chair. I walked over to the dress on the bed and pulled it over my head. I dried my blonde hair with the cloth.
“This place is like a luxury hotel,” she said.
“Or like a palace,” I said teasing her.
“Yes, isn't it crazy. All this time our alien abductor was a prince. It blows my mind,” she said.
“Yes, mine too,” I said.
“Holy shit, Vicki. You have been having sex with royalty!” she laughed.
“Yes, I have been having sex with a liar. An alien that abducted us and he's a liar,” I said.
“Oh come on. It could be worse you know. Don't forget that a Day ago we were being held hostage by very brute cyborgs that we're not going to be this nice to us. We are lucky,” she said.
“You call being abducted lucky?” I said.
“No, of course not. But it happened, and there's nothing we can do about it. I am just saying we are lucky now. Look around. And I have to say the tall blue aliens are far more attractive than those creepy cyborgs. Did you see the brothers?” she said.
“Yes, I did,” I said raising an eyebrow at her. I moved back to the kitchen area and poured her a glass of the wine and refilled my own. Then I sat next to her in the seating area are handing her a cup.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Did you not get some on your tray?” I asked.
“I did, but I was scared to touch it,” she said smelling it.
“As far as I can tell it is like wine. I already have a slight buzz,” I said.
“Oh, in that case,” she said drinking down the entire cup. Then she stood up and poured herself some more before reclaiming her seat next to me.
“Now, about the brothers. One was looking at me like I was naked,” she said.
“Really? Which one?” I asked.
“The one with the silver hair and blue eyes,” she said.
“Yes, I did notice him,” I said.
"They are all so beautiful. I have to admit when I looked at him it, made me think about what it would be like to be with him. You are ready know; that is not fair,” she said.
“You mean having sex with him?” I asked.
“Yes, exactly. I can't stop thinking about it ever since you told me what it was like with Alicron,” she said.
“You filthy girl,” I said.
“Oh, you should talk,” she said.
“Yes, I suppose you are right,” I said with a giggle.
“Now that I have seen this place, I have to tell you I really want to stay here. I don't want to go back to X003. Will you be very angry with me if I stay?” she asked.
“No, of course not. I can understand why you don't want to be back there. I could only imagine what it was like to be kept by K8L for that long. I don't hate you and I'm not angry with you for not wanting to go back to where you would be in easy reach of him. If the Kynon allow you to stay here then that is what you should do,” I said. I couldn't be mad at her. I was going back because of Bridget; Nancy had no reason to go back. She wasn't exactly close friends with anyone except for one of her employees, and I wasn't even sure that they were that close. She had not even mentioned her.
“And I am completely sure that you will be able to stay here. That was the whole reason they took us to bring you here to live here,” I said.
"Well, how can I turn down living in a palace? If I end up with one of these royal Kynon?” she said.
“I have a feeling that you will,” I said as I held up my cup. She touched her cut to mine, and then we drank the wine. I knew that this was goodbye to Nancy for now.
Chapter 23
Prince Alicron Qinov
This was the moment I had been dreading ever since the crash happened: having to explain to my father, the king, and my brothers Laku, Raka, and Suton, who all thought they were so superior to me, about everything that had happened on the planet X003. I was not looking forward to this at all. It was bad enough that I had the weight of my world on my shoulders. I was the one charged with finding the human females and bringing them to my planet in order to stop the extinction of my race. That was already very heavy to deal with, but now I had to explain my failure in a way that made it seem like more of an obstacle. I still considered those human females to be my bounty; they were just lost out there on another planet. I also had to rescue my crew. None of them would leave me without a rescue mission, and there was no way in hell that I was going to leave them out there. Even Ambassador Jion Lek. He was still an Ambassador, and he had gone down under my watch, which meant that he was my responsibility. I would get him back home where he belonged.
I followed my father, the king, and my brothers into my father’s council chambers. This was where all the meetings took place. It was a very large room with a large table. They walked in, and I followed.
My father sat behind the large desk made from the biggest trees on the planet. My brothers sat at his side while I stood in front of them. This was my place for now. This was where you stood when you were the one being questioned. It was annoying. It made me feel more like an outcast than I already did.
“We are ready to hear what happened on the mission to Earth,” my father said. “You left here with the responsibility of taking human females of breeding age from Earth and bringing them here.”
“Yes, and why have you shown up here without your ship, crew, and only two human females,” my brother Laku asked.
“I will tell you. The mission to Earth was successful. I and the crew took twelve human females from Earth without the Earthlings noticing. But on our return, we were faced with a black hole that was having more force than usual. We do not know why. So we decided to take a different path back to Xeion. It was on this path that we crash-landed on a planet known as X003. It is a cyborg planet. I do not know the reason for the crash. I woke from the crash alone. I, to this day, have not seen my crew. When I woke, I came across a cyborg camp that had captured two human females from the horde that I took. These are the two females that I rescued and brought here. I was able to make it to the trading village known as Cantu. It is an intergalactic treating village with many alien species, including the Lana, whom we count as friends. I sent a transmission to this base in order to ask for resources and a small army in order to find my crew and the humans. But the transmission did not reach. The planet is too far. I was able to hire a Lana pilot and ship to bring me here. It was the quickest way I could think of to get an army together and to go
back to rescue the crew and the humans. That is everything. So I am here now to get that army and take a fleet. If we split up on X003, then I will be able to find the crew and the humans quicker. The longer I am here, the more time is wasted. I must tell you that the cyborgs, including the cyborg leader known as K8L, have developed a taste for the humans. He is now hunting down. So time is of the essence,” I said.
“Did you speak with this cyborg leader K8L?” my father asked.
“I more than spoke with him. I fought with him,” I said.
“So you managed to also make a new enemy for us?” my brother said.
“It wasn't something I did on purpose. He stole my property; I had to get it back. He did not like this, of course,” I said looking at my brother.
“Do you know for sure that the humans and your crew survived the crash? What evidence do you have of it?” my father asked.