by Lisa Lace
"That female's name is Kenna. And I care about her a great deal."
"Oh dear, that's what I thought. You're infatuated. She is pretty. I will give her that. But she's not right for you, Darvish. She's human. She will prove treacherous in the end."
"Mother," I said, barely holding on to my temper. "I am not infatuated. I genuinely care about Kenna. Listen. Humans are not what we thought they were."
"How can you say that?" My mother looked at me incredulously. "Humans nearly killed you, took innocent lives, and destroyed their own kind's property, all in the name of greed. They are inferior in every way to our kind. You cannot possibly be considering this female as anything more than a passing fling. Humans are what we thought they were."
There was that word again — fling. I certainly hoped that Kenna didn't see us as just a fling anymore, after what we had been through together.
"And those humans also saved my life at the risk of their own. In fact, they have saved it more than once since the terrorists attacked. You are conveniently leaving that out of the equation, aren't you, mother? They can be as noble as we are. Just give them a chance. Get to know them. Kenna and Jared are both admirable examples of their species."
"Give them a chance?" She looked at me as if I were insane. "A chance to what? To steal from us? To betray us? A chance for that female to cast a spell on my only son and the king of our great nation? I don't think so, Darvish. I did not raise you to socialize with the lower classes. If humans aren't low class, I don't know who is."
I looked at her with sorrow in my eyes.
"Mother, we have been prejudiced and racist. And we have not even seen it."
She was taken aback by my harsh words. But it was the truth, and she needed to hear it.
"I have realized that over the past weeks. We pride ourselves on not having any racism on our planet, and yet we look down on off-worlders who are the same as us."
"They are not the same."
"You don't know any humans," I said, sharply. "You may not judge."
"Their actions speak louder than words. They have on the verge of expulsion from the union multiple times." She knew as well as I did that the terrorist group was the reason for the continual problems with the union. She was grasping at straws.
"Enough," I said, making a sharp gesture with my hand. "I am the king, and I say that they will remain until they wish to leave, as is our custom. And you will treat them with respect, mother." I stared at her without blinking.
There was a conviction in my voice, and she knew I was serious. She studied me, uncertain how to proceed and still get her way.
"Very well, son," she said mildly. "But do tread carefully with those humans. Or you may find yourself in a situation where you will wish you had never brought them here."
There was a threat in her voice that I knew I shouldn't ignore. But something in me knew that I couldn't be the son that did everything she asked anymore. My life belonged to me, and I had to live it the way I thought best. She would not determine my choices.
And yet, there was a look in her eyes that made me apprehensive. My mother was a female used to getting her way. I wondered how far she was willing to go to get it this time.
"I'll keep that in mind, mother. Now, if you'll excuse me, we have guests that I should not ignore."
I turned and walked out without giving her a kiss. That would show her how much she had displeased me. I had never left my mother's presence without kissing her.
Mothers are held in the highest respect on our world because they give life. I knew that she would be deeply offended at my flaunting of tradition. I wondered uneasily about the repercussions of my actions.
KENNA
I relaxed in the tub and wondered how Dar's conversation with his mother was going. I had taken a shower to scrub off the space dirt and wash my long hair. Then I filled up the bathtub to the top and added some fantastic smelling Susohnnan oil.
It was a terrific scent, and as I let the hot water soak into my sore muscles, I wondered again how a relationship with Dar could ever work. We had everything against us. And I mean everything. His mother hating me on sight was just the icing on the cake.
I shivered when I thought of how she had looked at me like I didn't even exist. But somehow I couldn't find it in my heart to hate her back. It had seemed to me that underneath that cold and somewhat cruel exterior was a lonely old heart that was worried about losing the affection and attention of her only son. All I felt was compassion for her. But what can I say? Gran raised me up to always look for the reasons why people might be doing unkind things.
Once I complained about a clerk being rude to me, and she had told me to look deeper. Do you think that the person was feeling happy inside when they did that? And I would have to say no, of course not. Someone who's happy doesn't act that way.
What might have happened to make the person behave that way, she would say, making me see things from the other person's perspective.
Another customer might have just been rude to the clerk. They might be having a bad day. Their feet might be sore. They might have been about to get off shift and then their boss asked them to work another hour. Maybe it was their child's birthday, and they couldn't be with them because they had to work. Maybe someone had just died, and their grief overwhelmed them and they didn't know how to deal with it.
I couldn't look at another person without trying to see life through their eyes, even if only for a moment. It was ingrained into my perspective now. Gran had made sure of that. She would say, You can't know another person, Kenna, until you walk a mile in their shoes. I had only walked a few steps in Dar's mother's shoes before my feet got terribly sore.
There was a sound in my bedroom and I held my breath. Who was in my room? I sat up, being careful not to spill the water over the edge. Footsteps were moving towards the bathroom, and I wondered if Dar's mother's animosity extended to kidnapping. Surely with all their talk of non-violence, nobody would hurt me.
"Kenna?" It was Dar. I lay back in the tub, letting my breath out in a rush.
"Jeez, you scared me to death, Dar," I called out. "I'm in here."
The door opened, and I lifted an eyebrow at him.
"I was sure I locked my door."
He stared at the floor and then back up to me, and I could see he was unapologetic.
"Both of our retinas open these doors," he said.
"Sure they do," I said. "Is Jared's lock keyed to your retina, too?"
He gave me a look and sat down on the toilet.
"No, but I have a slightly different relationship with you than I do with Jared," he said, his eyes darkening as they glanced down at my breasts floating near the top of the water.
"Ah, ha," I said, feeling suddenly hot. "Do you?"
"I do."
The way he was looking at me was making my heart rate speed up, and my nipples tighten. I hoped he hadn't noticed. I wasn't sure we should be doing what we were both thinking about doing while under his mother's roof. I decided to change the subject.
"How did your little chat with your mother go?" I said.
That broke the mood. He tensed up immediately, sighing deeply.
"That good, huh?" I said, sympathetically.
"I understand her perspective. She gets taught a certain viewpoint from birth and everyone she knows and respects has the same opinion. And she's never met any humans to challenge her beliefs. But if she were telling me to reconsider something I believed, I would at least try. Because I respect her opinion."
"Did you tell her about..." I trailed off, not sure what to ask.
"About us?" he said. "Yes."
"What did you say?" I was a little scared. Surely he wouldn't have told her we were sleeping together. Then she would think I was a disgusting human and a slut.
"Just that I cared about you a lot. She wasn't impressed."
I wrinkled up my nose.
"What did she say?"
"She threatened me. She said I would regret it
if I continued 'consorting' with you."
"Threatened you. With what?"
"Some old statute. I don't think it's anything serious. Once the government is back in session, I'll have it repealed."
"Don't kiss that woman under penalty of the law!" I giggled hysterically. "And somehow you think we are still a good idea?" I said, unable to believe it.
"I'm not sure there's anything that could convince me otherwise," he said, with a look in his eyes that stopped my heart. I held my breath as the moment lengthened.
Then he shook his head as if to clear it and stood up.
"Enough, Kenna. I'll have you flat on your back before you know it if you keep looking at me like that. Obviously, for my mother to invoke the statute, there would have to be proof that we've been 'consorting'."
"Maybe we shouldn't be doing anymore consorting then, until you get that nasty little law cleared up," I said, batting my eyelashes innocently.
He stood up and stalked over to the bathtub, with a look on his face that gave me goose bumps. He dropped down beside the tub and leaned over, his face inches from mine.
"My mother will not tell me with whom I may sleep. I am a grown man." He said looking deeply into my eyes. "That said, I will not be taking any unnecessary risks."
He closed the distance between us and kissed me thoroughly. Then he pulled away.
"Now get out of that tub before I end up in there with you. I have something I want to show you."
DAR
I set the hovercraft down outside the city at an oasis that was exclusive to the royal family. Tonight my mother was entertaining the heads of state at the palace. I had bowed out, saying I was exhausted from my ordeal.
I was tired, to be honest. But I was also not going to miss a chance to show Kenna my home and have some alone time with her.
I had invited Jared, but he had said he was going to bed right after supper. He was tired and needed to sleep. Losing his girlfriend had affected him deeply and I was afraid he was still depressed. I recommended he see our family healer.
No one else would dare enter the oasis of the king, so we were guaranteed to be left alone. Kenna drew in a breath when she stepped out of the hovercraft and saw the double sunset.
"Dar," she said, her face breaking into a grin. "You didn't say your planet had two suns."
"You're right. I never thought of it. There isn't always a double sunset. It depends on where the stars are in their orbit around each other."
"It's beautiful," she said, gazing at the two orbs as they dropped towards the horizon. "Did you bring me out here to see this?"
I smiled.
"That's one of the things I brought you to see."
She beamed at me, and I reached out and took her hand.
"Come on."
As soon as we walked into the oasis, we were met with cool, humid air. It was an enormous contrast from the hot, dry wind that was blowing out on the dunes. Kenna looked at me in surprise, and I smiled at her.
I led her deeper into the foliage. Large trees spread their branches overhead, and flowering bushes and shrubs surrounded us on either side of the path. Small birds flitted everywhere, perching for a moment and then hopping to another branch. They each gave their unique call, which I knew by heart. My grandfather had been a great bird watcher and had taught me everything he knew.
I whistled the call of the night maiden and immediately heard one of them answer. Kenna looked at me, and I smiled shyly. I hadn't shown anyone my bird calls since I was a child.
"What's that you just did?" she said, curious.
"It's the call of a night maiden. It was my grandfather's favorite call. He taught me everything I know about birds."
She tried to imitate it.
"No, like this," I said, whistling again. She listened carefully and after a couple more tries got it right. "That's it. My grandfather and I used to use it with each other as a signal. It can be a greeting or a warning. Night maidens only sing after the sun has set. That's how we used it as a warning; you know, when my mother was about to catch me eating cookies in bed or something like that. He would make the call, and I would know to watch out. It wasn't a real night maiden because the bird wouldn't call during the day."
"That's so cool," she said, making the call again. It was amazing that she could do it so perfectly.
I kept walking, not looking at her, but I couldn't keep the enormous grin off my face. I felt like a young boy again. For so many years, I had been only the king of Susohn. A person to be feared and respected. Sure, females had wanted to mate with me, but none had wanted to get to know me — other than getting to know how deep the king's coffers were.
I was happy that we had a mutual interest. I hadn't shared this with anyone since my grandfather had died, and it made me feel as light as a feather.
"What?" Kenna said, tilting her head to look at my face. I squeezed her hand.
"I'm just glad you're here," I said, unable to keep the love I was feeling from showing in my face.
She studied me, her eyes full of wonder.
"I'm glad I'm here, too," she said. "In spite of everything."
In spite of everything. That brought me back to the other reason I had brought her out here.
"Yes." I said. "Come. I need to show you more than just sunsets and bird calls."
KENNA
About twenty minutes later, Dar ducked under some vegetation that hung between two huge boulders, and we were in a shallow cave.
"What is this place?" I asked. But he didn't answer. He felt around on the left-hand wall until he found a triangle carved into the rock. He pushed it hard, and a small doorway appeared. Dar ducked through it with me right behind. A moment later, we were standing in a huge cavern lit by swirling colors on the ceiling.
"Where the heck are we?" I said, looking up at the beautiful colors on the ceiling.
"A haven," he said.
"Why would I need a haven?" I said, frowning.
"It's just in case. My mother is a woman who gets her way. I don't know how far she is willing to go to save her only son from making a huge mistake."
I looked at him, feeling troubled.
"That's how she sees it, Kenna."
"I know that. You're going through a lot of trouble for me. I'm not sure why." I looked down at the floor. It consisted of shiny black stone that reflected the dancing lights from the ceiling. "I'm nothing special, Dar. Why would you jeopardize everything in your life for me? It doesn't make sense."
He gazed into my eyes, and I could see he was not troubled. Not in the least. His eyes were full of something. Was it love? He was looking at me the way my Gran used to. I felt like I was the most amazing thing in the universe, and he would never stop loving me. Oh God. If I fucked this up, he was going to get badly hurt.
"Kenna." He took my face in his large hands.
"Yes?" I said, a little breathless.
"I. Love. You."
"Oh," I said, drawing in a shaky breath and unable to look away from the intensity in his eyes.
"You are amazing. You are special. And it will never be any trouble for me to be with you, to protect you, and to make sure that you're safe from harm. Do you understand?"
He dropped his hands to my shoulders and placed a reverent kiss on my forehead. I swallowed hard.
"Yes. But Dar..."
He waited.
"I never told you that I loved you back."
He just looked at me.
"I never asked you to, Kenna."
"But what if I don't love you? I don't want to hurt you, Dar."
"I am willing to wait until you know one way or the other, Kenna. And I will accept your decision either way. It is far too late for me to stop loving you now."
"Oh," I said in a small voice. I looked down again at the pretty colors moving in complicated patterns over the floor of the cave. "Honestly, Dar. I don't think that I'm good enough for you."
His eyes flashed, and his hand came under my chin, forcing me to look u
p at him.
"Don't you ever say that again, Kenna. My mother is wrong in every way when she says that we are not equals. If anything, I am not good enough to deserve an angel like you. But I'm not going to quibble. No one that's going to keep us apart."
I felt breathless and a little in awe of Dar, so filled with righteous indignation for us.
He pulled me to him until our bodies were touching along their entire length.
We were made for each other.
I thought about that for a moment. Through all of the years that we spent light-years apart, divine power had been closing the gap and bringing us to this moment when I couldn't tell where my body ended, and his began.
There is no one in the universe that is going to keep us apart.
At this instant, I felt the truth of those words in my heart, though my mind still refused to believe them.
"Kenna," he whispered, his face buried in my neck. His hands tangled in my hair. "Do you want me?"
Ah, he was back to Susohn tradition, now that we were on his home turf, asking my permission to make love to me. I had to admit that it made me as wet as the first time he had asked me, a lifetime ago when we had first met on Dobu.
"Yes," I said into his ear, my hands exploring under his shirt and running up and down his muscular back.
He dropped then and lifted the Susohnnan skirt I had put on. Then he planted a firm kiss on my left hip.
I hissed at the sensations that kiss produced.
"Why do you do that?" I said, a little breathless. "There's no scar."
"It is a tradition on my planet that there is no mating without the proper respect being shown. It is how I show my respect for you as a woman and as my partner," he told me. "It doesn't matter that there is no scar. The intent behind the kiss is important."
For a moment I wished I had a scar. If I had a scar, it would mean that I would feel like less of an impostor. Nothing could make me Susohnnan, but I would scar myself to please him. If it would please him. I didn't know if it would, after all. He seemed to like me just the way I was, unscarred human and all.
All thoughts of scars were pushed out of my head when he pulled his shirt off. My heart rate sped up just looking at those finely chiseled abs and his well-formed biceps. I swallowed hard. He was so handsome and sexy. How could he possibly love and desire someone like me?