by Jaide Fox
The announcement hit Dar’s gut like a well-aimed punch. Opening the corridor was a desperate act—one that they all knew. “Why tell me this, your highness?”
“I think you understand the implications. If the Earth-women were to know how quickly and easily they could possibly return to their home world, what reason would they have for staying here?”
“I’m not sure I understand what you mean,” Dar said in a measured voice. Behind him, the doors beckoned escape.
A slow smile spread across the prince’s face. “The women must be engaged. You will do what it takes to make this woman happy and keep her from even considering ever returning to Earth.”
Dar realized he was gaping at the prince and princess. He wanted to know if they were drunk—maybe he needed a glass of that wine. Impudence at this point would only dig his grave that much deeper. “I have no experience with these things.”
“I have it on authority that you do, in fact, have the necessary skills for such things,” Prince Zeta said as he drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “The previous king’s harem was wont to talk of the dashing guard’s exploits. It is a wonder you did not lose your head those many years ago. Only their love sickness kept them from revealing their secret lover. King Anadaru has said you’ve earned special rights to a bride of your own.”
Dar swallowed hard. He wasn’t sure why he’d thought the past would never come back to haunt him. Besides that, if he was being rewarded, shouldn’t he get to choose which woman he wanted?
Princess Adrienne smiled as if she could see the turmoil inside him, and took joy from it. Or perhaps that was only his vivid imagination. “Do you expect to encounter anything dangerous while riding? I’ve been told the seventh division, which you are in charge of, patrols the outskirts of the kingdom where there are few, if any, living and working. It is nothing but forests and abandoned mines and villages, am I correct?”
“You are, your highness.” Dar’s eyelid twitched. He squinted his eye, attempting to make the twitch stop. It continued. He’d thought to get away from that damn woman by leaving on patrol duty, not be stuck with her in close proximity for days. “We’ve had no problems since the disbanding of the rebels and King Fallon’s coronation.”
“Conceivably, you could be alone together for a time, in relative peace?” Princess Adrienne held his gaze, raising her chin. The dark beauty was too perceptive, spirited, and intelligent. If she missed anything, he’d never heard of such. It was no wonder Dezec Zeta had wanted to take her to bride the instant he met her—the glutton for punishment. Dar couldn’t imagine having to fend off a woman like her. “So you are saying it is safe? Now?” she said.
“Yes,” he admitted reluctantly.
“Then I see no reason for objections. Do you, husband?” she asked, turning to Dezec.
Dezec Zeta chuckled to himself before straightening his smile. “I could see why the captain here would have pause. Indulge the woman. Let her see her new home world and perhaps that will help ease her into her newfound life.”
“And if that does not take the fight out of her? I take it you require more than that?”
The husband and wife exchanged glances and returned their gazes back to him. “Seduce her, Captain Tagnon.”
Dar gritted his teeth, feeling that resentment well inside him again. Beautiful she might be, but he’d decided long ago that if he ever took a woman to wife and bed, she would be a sweet, docile creature that would never dream of giving him a fight. The dark beauty was nothing but trouble. “Is that an order, my prince? Am I the only one being forced into this position?”
“That is beyond your concern. Steps are being taken that you need not know.” Prince Zeta leaned forward, all humor drained from his face. “You will do whatever it takes. Is that understood?”
He dragged a breath through his flared nostrils. “As you command, your highnesses. I must take my leave to prepare,” Dar said, bowing to them both and backing from the room.
***
The dragon didn’t look as big as she’d thought it was. It looked at her with glimmering eyes, shifting its wings and making the feathers rustle softly in a wind of its own making.
“Is it a boy or a girl?” Jasmine asked, admiring the citrus scented creature. “Can it breathe fire?”
Dar laughed, giving her a quizzical look. “He is male. One of the few remaining males on our planet. What would make you think something like that? The zhala can expel an acid on their enemies—one reason they smell of fruit.”
She grimaced. “Ew. Are they endangered or something?”
Dar tightened the saddle belt. She’d watched as he’d placed the two-seated saddle on the dragon’s back. He elbowed the beast’s side and the dragon exhaled so Dar could tighten the belt an extra two notches. “Few exist in the wild. In the past, they were hunted for their feathers, and their bones were believed to be an aphrodisiac when ground up and eaten. We have only a dozen males here in the stables. The females are kept at another location. If the males smell the females in heat they cannot be controlled.”
“That’s sad,” she said, frowning and approaching the zhala. “Such a beautiful animal. The feathers remind me of a peacock back home. Iridescent. Can I pet him?”
“Just don’t put your fingers near his mouth. They tend to bite. Keep to the neck and shoulders,” he said, moving to stand beside her. “He likes getting scratched on the back of his head too.”
Jasmine followed Dar’s lead, softly rubbing the dragon’s down-like feathers on his neck. The texture was so soft, it was hard to stop. In its throat she heard a soft purring sound that reminded her of a content cat. The dragon’s huge eyes closed as its head drooped. Dar laughed. “Enough of that. You’ll put him to sleep and we won’t be going anywhere. Are you ready to leave?”
She shrugged. “I guess so. I just brought myself and a few clothes. I didn’t even have anything to stick them into. I never thought I’d miss having a big grandma purse, but I do.”
He looked her over. “Just get them and I’ll stick them in the packs. We’ll be gone a few days.” Dar packed her few belongings and climbed up in the saddle. He held his hand out for her to take and lifted her effortlessly up so she could settle behind him in the padded seat. Her feet barely touched the stirrups and there was no belt to lock her in place. Before she had a chance to ask him about securing herself from falling, Dar clicked the reins and the zhala spread his wings and launched into the air through the wide open space in the center of the stable.
Jasmine’s stomach dropped as the ground fell away and the air rushed past her skin. She screamed and threw her arms around Dar’s waist, clinging to him as the city shrank beneath them. “You did that on purpose,” she gasped against his back.
He laughed at her, putting his hand on top of her entwined, clenched fingers. “Is this your first time flying?”
“On a dragon? Yes. Where’s the seat belt on this fucking thing?”
Dar laughed again—heartier this time. She was too terrified to be offended by his amusement at her expense. “This isn’t an airship,” he said.
“Feels close enough to me,” she ground out. Her teeth began to chatter. She pressed tighter against his body, shielding herself from as much of the wind as she could. Already she felt frozen.
He pulled the reins again and the dragon swung to the left, dipping down and coasting above the trees. The scent of the sea pulled her out of terror-mode and she sat up enough to see rocky bluffs battered by ocean waves. The air was warmer, allowing her to enjoy herself for the first time as they flew along the jagged coastline and left the city far behind.
They traveled in silence for a while. To her, it was strange that there wasn’t more civilization. The trees swallowed the land in verdant green. “Why is it so desolate?” she asked, watching the treetops rustle beneath the dragon’s wings.
“The virus claimed a lot of lives, as did the rebellion. We found it easier to relocate in only a few cities. Much of the planet is aband
oned and overrun by wildlife. Without advanced technology, nature is reclaiming her territory.”
“Why don’t you use cars and spaceships?”
“The old king was adamant against destroying our planet with technology—if it didn’t breathe, eat or bleed, he didn’t trust it with his life. I’m not so sure that it was distrust, but more that he wanted to control us easier, since we do have some advances in certain places. The miners and farmers had it the worst. The cities were filled with the over-privileged. Things have changed with the new king, but not fast enough. We need women to replace the older generations. We lack the manpower to open new mines with richer ore. It feels like our planet is doomed no matter what we do,” he said. He pulled the reins and guided them further inland, toward the mountains.
He didn’t have to say it, but she understood—without women, their race was dying. The realization made her sad in a way she would never admit aloud.
The dragon followed a wide river that flowed like bubbling turquoise over white rocks. Mist from the churning water drifted, feeling cool and damp on her skin as they passed through. Ahead she could see an abandoned brick road grown over with ferns and cracked by evergreens. A white haze covered the lush green mountaintops, and flowing down the peaks was a veiled waterfall. An arched stone bridge passed over the river.
“This used to lead to a mining village. With the old kings, our destinies were chosen for us. The new king changed that, but many think freedom has come too late to save us,” Dar said.
The road carved into the mountains, forming an artificial valley. Crumbling bricks covered by moss and clinging vines formed a channel leading to a large black maw in the mountain. Seeing the pitch black hole grow in size as they neared sent a chill of forewarning down Jasmine’s spine. Closing in, she could see the ground directly in front of the entrance had been disturbed. Dar said nothing as he pulled on the reins and guided his beast to land.
Here the green moss was smeared and the vines had been shredded all around. Dar dismounted the dragon, holding up his arms to catch her as she followed suit. His hands didn’t linger on her waist, but she continued to feel the imprint of them against her flesh long after he’d released her. She shook her head, trying to clear it as she trailed him to the mine’s entrance. The walls stood a good twenty feet tall, leaving them in shadows despite the sun shining overhead.
“What is it?” she asked. Behind them, the dragon huffed and flapped his wings. A glance back showed her the animal sniffing the air. Dar didn’t seem to notice as he examined the broken vines.
“Someone has been here since my last rounds,” he said, pulling a small pistol-sized gun from his utility belt.
Alarm threaded through her. “I’ll wait by the zhala,” she said. He nodded and moved forward slowly. She turned and headed back to their ride, but the dragon continued to flap his wings, looking as disturbed as she felt. She stopped, leery of approaching on her own with the clearly agitated dragon. He snorted, clawing at the ground. His legs tensed and he launched into the air with a great gust of wind from his wings. Jasmine stumbled backward, yelling and throwing up her hands as dust and debris showered her.
Behind her, she heard Dar shouting. He rushed past, trying to call the dragon back, but the beast was gone.
He whirled on a booted heel. “Why did you let him go? Why didn’t you stop him?” he demanded, giving her an angry look.
She gaped at him. “Are you insane? It’s a fucking dragon! What was I supposed to do? Hold on to the reins while he took off?
His jaw tightened. “Precisely. He is a well-trained beast.”
She planted her hands on her hips and dared him to say something smart with her expression. “Not that well-trained, obviously. I’m not about to stop something that big if it’s scared or wants to leave. How do I know you didn’t do this on purpose just to screw with me?”
He huffed, ignoring her jabs, and pulled a small silver cylinder from his belt and put it to his lips. He blew on the silent whistle, casting his gaze to the heavens. After a few moments, he tucked it back in place. “He’s gone. Bastard probably smelled a female in heat somewhere in the wild. I should have known he was getting ready to buck just from the way he’d been acting. We’ll be lucky if he decides to come back at all.”
“I thought he was trained,” she said wryly.
“You can’t control all the wild in them. The need to mate cannot be denied,” Dar said, his eyes glinting with hidden meaning.
Or maybe she was reading too much into his expression. “Don’t look at me.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not here for mating.”
Dar laughed. Guffawed would be a closer description. He held his belly, bent over.
Jasmine glared at him. “I’m so glad I could amuse you.”
“You should have stayed in comfort at the palace. No doubt the other ladies are being spoilt by suitors and servants, living the high life until they choose a partner. And you will all choose a partner, like it or not. Besides, I might as well laugh. There’ll be no pleasures for us any time soon. All my supplies were on the zhala.”
Jasmine regretted agreeing with Princess Adrienne about touring her new home world. What the hell had she been thinking? The princess had made her believe it was a good idea. Now she wondered at the woman’s ulterior motives. She felt deflated by reality and the need to make the best of a bad situation. The situation could get worse, and that worried her more than anything. “Can’t you go rub some sticks together and pull water out of a vine?”
He looked at her like she’d sprouted a second head. Either he wasn’t familiar with survival techniques, or he’d never watched any kind of reality survival television. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember seeing anything like a TV anywhere, but they had to have some modern conveniences…“What about a phone or radio?” she asked.
“We have communication units, but I left it attached to the saddle…with everything else. No. I’m afraid we are stuck together until we can find help or walk back to the city.”
She threw up her hands. “Well that’s just brilliant. You’re awful at this, you know that?”
He said nothing at first, merely stared at her. “I should not have allowed myself the distraction by a pretty face. That is true. Peace time has made me lax and soft.”
“I wouldn’t call you soft, exactly. You look hard enough to me.” Jasmine swallowed, wondering if she was the pretty face. And was he just messing with her?
“I could be harder,” he said, watching her.
She knew he was messing with her now. She cleared her throat. “I’m sure you could, pervert. Will anyone come looking for us if we don’t check in?”
“Eventually. Protocol is to send scouts after failure to report back to the city. We won’t be missed for another day. I think we can survive that. At the worst, expect a long trek back to the city.”
“What about whoever’s been here recently? Could they help us?”
He walked up to her and caught her hand, leading her away from the mine’s maw and back up the old cobbled road. “Anyone who has been here was unauthorized and likely up to no good. It appears as if a small vessel landed, possibly scouting for resources. Had we not lost my mount, I would check other abandoned mines along my route for a pattern of disturbance.”
She made a face and caught a wayward strand of curls in her lips. Pulling her hand free, she tucked her hair back behind her ears. Panicking wasn’t going to help, but she wanted to run away screaming just for the hell of it—it could be a good stress reliever. “What would that mean?”
He looked down at her, his face grim. “With luck, it is only our people mining without authorization. At the worst, this marks the arrival of an unknown and unwelcome alien presence circumventing protocol.”
In her old life, a grown man talking about aliens would have sent her running away and laughing hysterically. Now the possibilities were endless. Anything could be out there. It was enough to scare
her witless if she dwelled on it too much. Jasmine frowned and reconsidered giving up being cool and collected. After all, it was her dumb butt stranded in the middle of nowhere. Cyndy and Samara were probably living it up, getting massages and being fed grapes by groveling, gorgeous men. “Seriously? You think some other aliens would be interested in this hunk of rock?”
Dar frowned. “Chalcedonite is highly sought for crafting interstellar ships. It is rare and trace on other planets. Here we have enough to mine for generations. The elder teachings say that we were created in the image of the Old Ones for the sole purpose of mining chalcedonite. They come to collect the ore once every five generations.”
“Er. So are y’all overdue or what? And…you were…slaves?” she asked, walking beside him along the path. He led her back to the misty waterfall, and for the first time, she noticed a winding path leading down the mountain that she hadn’t paid attention to from the air. Strange how different things looked from this perspective. Looking out, she could see mountains from where they’d flown and a patchwork quilt of green forests in the direction he faced. It reminded her a lot of riding through the Smokies in Tennessee.
“I suppose it could be thought of like that—in some ways, yes. Not until our new king was crowned could anyone choose their life path. Before him, every aspect was dictated by the state. In ancient times there was only the mine and pleasing the Old Ones with our offerings. We kept little for ourselves. We are still adjusting to our newfound freedoms. Come, this path will lead us to a village. We’ll make camp there tonight and perhaps I can signal my zhala to return in the morn.”
They walked for a while in silence. Descending a mountain, even with a path, made her hips and knees ache. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was from being in stasis for months or years on a spaceship that left her slightly out of shape. Ahead, peaking above the treetops, Jasmine could see the crumbling lines of a stone building with slate tiles covering what roof remained. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing in its direction.