The next two days passed quickly as Kiera helped Evelyn set up her sudden wedding. Evelyn handled it all with cheerfulness while Kiera stressed over the shade of flowers clashing with the décor, and the cake containing nuts, which Romas was allergic to. Evelyn’s wedding was for a hundred invitees in a small chapel by the ocean, followed by a reception for over twice that many guests. Most of the guests were Evelyn’s friends and family; Romas’s small party consisted of only a handful of men—cousins, according to Evelyn—that resembled an NFL team dressed uncomfortably in their tuxes.
The newlyweds spent the night at a local luxury hotel—also an arrangement made by Kiera—and she was left alone in the row house full of boxes.
Given her first chance to rest in over two days, she sighed, exhausted and irritated at having to dig her own clothing out of a box. The movers had gone crazy and even packed her stuff. Her make-up was smeared from walking through the Monterey mists, her maid-of-honor dress wrinkled from constant sitting and standing. She wove her way to her bathroom through the maze of boxes and took a long shower to ease her tired body. The day had gone beautifully, and the sight of Evelyn’s beaming, glowing face stuck in her head.
Kiera had never seen anyone so happy. Hot water ran over her head and down her body, soothing her. Would she ever be so happy?
Not if it has to do with a man.
She smiled, finished washing, and emerged from the shower. The new necklace she wore that matched the one she bought for Evelyn glimmered in the mirror. Disappointed her friend was leaving for somewhere across the world, she’d bought them matching necklaces featuring whimsical half moons in rose gold with a single, small, sparkling diamond of a star embedded in the moon.
She left the bathroom, pulling on an oversized, soft T-shirt Evelyn had shanghaied from Romas and Kiera had shanghaied from Evelyn.
The boxes were gone. Startled, she looked around twice. She listened but heard no one downstairs to indicate the movers had been through and glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was nearly one thirty.
Perplexed as to what kind of movers worked at such an hour, she roamed through the row house from top to bottom. All the boxes were gone. No strangers were in the house, and the doors were bolted. She briefly considered calling Evelyn to ask about her moving arrangements. Evelyn might love her but would probably not welcome a call on her wedding night.
Kiera glanced around again, shook her head, and crawled into bed. Evelyn had a way of ensuring things were done, even if she didn’t seem to have time to do them. She probably had a mover scheduled and forgot to mention it.
In the morning, Kiera planned to clean up the house. After, she’d start working on another painting, the portrait of Evelyn and Romas she wanted to give the two of them as their joint wedding present. Mentally, she started on the portrait.
Although tired, sleep didn’t come. Kiera rose and trotted down to her studio, happy to see the movers had left her studio alone. She flooded the studio with light, then pulled another blank canvas from the closet and perched it on her easel. She sat at her desk and started to sketch the visage of Evelyn in her long wedding dress and Romas in his dark tux on a piece of paper, glancing up occasionally at the blank canvas as she thought of proportions.
Comfortable in the plush office chair, she propped her feet up on her desk and continued to sketch until the picture began to look as she wanted it to. She dozed as she drew, caught herself twice, then dropped into sleep, unaware that those who removed the boxes were coming next for her.
Soon after confirming she was asleep, the two large men who had emptied the house of boxes returned for her. They ignored her studio and its contents. One placed a sleep patch on her ear to prevent her from waking and scooped her up while the other grabbed the last suitcase out of her bedroom. They left the row house for the park across the street, where a small spacecraft awaited them.
Settling Kiera on a grey slab bench, the first man straightened and motioned the other over.
“Not like our women,” he said as the other warrior joined him. “Very small.”
“Like a doll,” the second agreed. “Pretty for so small a creature.”
“You have no mate. Ask for her band.”
The second snorted and strode into the cockpit, followed by the first.
“She will mate with no one like us. Her sister is mated to the second son of our ruler. This one is too exquisite. She must be intended for Kisolm,” he replied.
“You brought all her belongings?”
“Everything, as Romas said, except the pictures. Not a noble pastime for one who will wed our next ruler,” the second said with a frown. “Only Anshan barbarians would use their hands to create pictures.”
“I think the pictures are too advanced for Anshan-kind,” the first said with a chuckle. “If they didn’t own the ore mines, they’d be using rocks to fight.”
The second chuckled as he ordered the computer to rendezvous with the massive grey spaceship awaiting them outside the planet’s atmosphere. The small woman’s soft snores filled the transport ship.
***
Evelyn stood in the dark grey room of the spaceship with its cozy, dim lighting and the soft purr of hidden machines. She didn’t really care what the dark grey walls, floors, and ceilings were made of or why the floor felt like carpet and looked like gun metal. The room was vacant except for a metal slab that served as a bed and the six-legged, cat-like creature sitting on the edge of the bed watching its sleeping occupant.
She leaned against the wall, pensive. Her plan, while brilliant when plotted the past month, didn’t seem quite so wonderful right now. Kiera hadn’t wanted to come, even for the proposed week. Evelyn knew—and Romas assured her—Kiera would be fine. She could paint anywhere, and her life was otherwise so unfulfilling, Evelyn didn’t know how she could stand it. She wanted her friend to be happy, and Romas thought this was the best way. She had few instincts, unlike Kiera’s hyperactive intuition, but she felt a definite tingling. She had to bring Kiera with her. It was meant to be.
And then she ran into several of the cat-like creatures roaming the ship. They were furry and about knee-height full grown with similar triangular ears and a tail. The rest of their bodies were unlike cats. They had six legs with little pads for feet instead of toes and claws, a delicate snout not quite the length of an anteater’s, lined with fine hairs and tiny teeth used to vacuum up mold, dust, and dirt that was its main food source, and an odd habit of climbing walls with hidden suckers in its padded feet. From what Romas said, every household on his planet had at least one or two of the critters to keep things clean.
One sat perched on Kiera’s bed, watching her sleep. Its legs were jointed outwards like a spider’s, and its ability to climb walls resembled that of a spider. It didn’t spin webs and looked more to Evelyn like a mutated cat, but the moment she recalled Kiera’s fear, she also realized that the cat-like creature would easily pass as a large spider.
That’s gonna be a problem, Evelyn contemplated. Kiera would freak when she saw the cats.
She grabbed the sitting creature. It twisted its odd little face to look at her and sniffed at her arm with its small trunk. It didn’t purr like a cat but growled. Turning away, she missed the movement behind her as another of the creatures appeared from beneath the bed. She tucked the creature in her hands under one arm and left the small room for a long corridor in similar dark grey which glowed more brightly from indistinguishable light sources. She trailed her fingers down a wall, smiling when she saw soft glimmers light up beneath her touch, trail her fingers a short distance, and blink out.
The cat-like creature squirmed. She set it down.
“You leave Kiera alone,” she ordered sternly.
The creature loped ahead, darting out of sight down another hall. Evelyn followed leisurely, unconcerned with being lost on the massive ship. If she became turned around, all she needed to do was touch the wall and tell it where she wanted to go. The glimmers would guide her there. Or Romas would come searching for her.
Evelyn hugged herself before looking down at the massive diamond on her ring finger. Bubbling with happiness, she hummed as she strode through the corridors in search of Romas.
He was in their quarters and stood as she entered. He was naked, as if awaiting her. She smiled and flung herself into his arms. They made love for the umpteenth time since their wedding. Afterwards, she snuggled into his arms, content with the sound of his heartbeat and the feel of his arms around her. Just as she drifted into sleep, the spaceship’s internal communication system awoke her.
“Your woman’s sister needs attending to.”
The male voice came from nowhere and everywhere and disturbed the two naked forms on the dark grey bed. Evelyn raised her head lazily, unable to quell the urge to seek out the source of the voice even knowing she wouldn’t find it.
Your woman. There had been several dozen mistranslations from the small translator attached to her ear lobe. This one was oft repeated and irritated her whenever she heard it. She started to sit.
“She’ll be well,” Romas said. He nuzzled her and pulled her back into his body. She relaxed, his warmth and presence lulling her into comfort she didn’t want to leave.
“Your woman’s sister needs attending to.”
This time, the calm male voice was accompanied by a distinctly feminine wail in the background. She shot up and scrambled for her clothes. Romas followed. If she looked, she feared she might find him amused. After Kiera’s three months of tormenting him, he would find turning the tables satisfying.
“You have to be understanding,” she reminded him again. “You know Kiera well enough. She’s really emotional. You have to be less … you know. You just have to be understanding.”
Romas snorted in response. She hurried from the room without her shoes and tucked in the alien clothing: soft, silky tunic into soft, silky pants that adjusted in size to fit her form. She stepped into the hallway, unwilling to await a purposely slower-moving Romas, and touched the wall.
“Take me to Kiera,” she said. Glimmers lit up along one wall, guiding her through the maze of the ship. She’d been contemplating how to break the news to Kiera.
How did you tell your best friend that aliens were real and oh, by the way, I married one and am taking you with me to his planet, for your own good? She was doing what she thought was best for her friend, and Kiera would hate that.
She mulled it over again as she trotted down the corridors. There was no choice now; she had some explaining to do. What would she say? That there was a better chance of her selling art if she painted something no one else on earth could imagine? That Kiera would have her ocean, sky, and grass on the new planet? That they were going to some other planet millions of light years from earth because Romas knew a few good men they’d like to hook her up with?
Her pace slowed as she thought until she was walking, troubled. Romas caught up to her and swept her into his arms for a quick kiss.
“I’ve completely forgotten what I should tell her,” she said.
“I’ll explain things.”
“She’s not going to like hearing it from you.”
Romas said nothing.
“You have to be gentle, Romas.”
They heard her before turning the corner. Kiera was cursing and shouting. The softened expression on Romas’s face—only present for her—hardened as he prepared himself to deal with whichever of his warriors had happened upon Kiera. Romas was all business by the time they rounded the corner; he even released Evelyn’s hand and quickened his step into one that befitted a warrior prince.
Evelyn loved his game face. It was sexy as hell, like everything about him. Having spent enough time on the ship to understand the odd society, she knew better than to charge in and handle what he would consider his duty. She hung back when she reached the other three warriors in the hall watching the scene in the room. Romas strode in unasked, and she cursed quietly as she saw the cat-like critter chasing Kiera.
Kiera was yelling at it, her blue eyes large and wild. She clung to one of the warriors, attempting to climb him as the cat-like critter—convinced it was a game—wagged its tail and chased her around the large man in the center of the room.
Evelyn would’ve laughed had Kiera not appeared so terrified and bewildered. The warriors made no move to corner the critter or even calm Kiera down. They watched instead with curiosity.
Romas snatched the critter with one hand and tossed it to one of the warriors at the door. He grabbed Kiera with the other arm and flung her over his shoulder. She stilled and grew silent, then pushed away from him.
“Evelyn!” she shouted, panicked. “What are you doing here? God, this is a horrible dream! There are monsters and big men with funny …”
At that point her talking became too quick for the translator hooked on Evelyn’s ear to keep up. She removed it, irritated. The warrior Kiera had been attempting to scale addressed Romas. Romas’s response was abrupt and sharp enough to be hostile. Evelyn glanced between them, uneasy at the exchange. The warrior stepped away.
“Kiera, it’s okay, just calm—”
“Evelyn!”
Kiera was near tears and began to squirm when the six-legged creature came into sight again. Romas strode out of the room and down the hall. Evelyn scrambled after him, jogging to keep pace with his long legs. He didn’t slow until they reached their quarters.
Kiera babbled the entire time, convinced it was a dream. Evelyn listened and cringed, not sure how she would explain everything. They reached their quarters and closed the door.
Romas set Kiera down gently. Kiera bounded away from him and flung her arms around Evelyn, who gave a startled laugh and hugged her back. She met Romas’s eyes over her friend’s head. Romas crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow in silent inquiry. Evelyn shook her head.
“K-K!” she cooed, trying to pry Kiera’s grip off her and break through her babbling. “Calm down, Kiera.”
Neither worked, so Evelyn let her talk and hugged her hard. Romas shook his head and stepped forward.
“No, I can—” she objected.
Romas ignored her and grabbed Kiera, pulled her away to face him, and gave her a stiff shake. She fell silent and stared at him, her striking eyes even larger.
“Do you understand me?” Romas demanded.
Kiera blinked.
“Yes or no?”
She nodded.
“Be calm. Do you understand?”
Another nod. Evelyn sighed. She elbowed Romas away to stand before Kiera. The smaller woman was still, as if afraid to move.
“Kiera, I need to explain something to you,” she started. “It’s not going to be easy for you to take, but hear me out, okay?”
Another stiff nod.
“Are you holding your breath?” she asked. Kiera released it. She blinked a few times as tears lined her eyes.
“Romas, can you give us a minute?”
He grunted and left. Kiera’s eyes strayed from Evelyn’s, and she twisted all the way around, taking in everything, before she started to cry. Evelyn was silent, debating what to say. Finally, she asked lamely, “Are you okay?”
Kiera wiped her eyes and gazed at her with a deep frown, then said, “I had a dream once about being sent into outer space.”
“So it’s not as much of a shock?” Evelyn asked hopefully. Kiera’s face skewed again as she started crying once more.
“In my dream … the aliens … took me … to a planet ruled by spiders!”
Evelyn sighed. Kiera was bound to be traumatized until she saw for herself there were no monster-sized spiders on Romas’s home planet. Hopefully, hopefully, that would be the largest obstacle Evelyn faced in explaining the situation to her.
“Come on. I’ll tell you about Romas and where we’re going.”
***
Kiera’s tears stopped sometime during the hours of explanation and history lessons Evelyn gave. She heard very little of any of them but somehow managed to nod when required and even respond with words her shocked mind did not hear or understand. She sat very still on the dark grey bed, her legs folded and hands in her lap, and stared at Evelyn.
She wondered if she had died, for she seemed able to see the conversation occurring from a dozen feet away, as if she were watching television instead of involved in it. She nodded and accepted Evelyn’s far-fetched explanations just as she might nod and temporarily accept the equally unreal world of Star Wars. When the movie was over, she would smile, get up, and go home.
But this movie had no end. The world around her was real. And it was uglier than she imagined a spaceship to be. There was dark grey and sterility in the absence of anything remotely friendly, homey, or welcoming. A yellowish glow emitted from some unseen light source in the grey walls reminded her of a late winter afternoon that never ended.
Kiera wasn’t watching Star Wars but living it. The only thing that seemed to click was Evelyn’s insistence that there were no spiders. Yet she’d seen the most incredibly huge spider dangling over her head when she awoke. It even slapped her with one of its long legs. She shuddered and asked again, “Are there more spiders on the planet?”
Evelyn looked defeated, and Kiera expected she had already covered the subject exhaustively.
“That was a cat, not a spider.”
“It had eight legs,” Kiera insisted.
“It has six legs.”
“It’s still more than four. Cats have four legs.”
“Kiera!” Evelyn snapped. “It’s their version of a cat!”
“Does their version of a dog have eight legs?”
“No! They don’t have dogs, and it only has six legs!”
“What does? The dog?”
“The cat!”
“What else has more than four legs?” Kiera pressed.
“My God, Kiera!” Evelyn sighed and rubbed her face. “You want Romas to come in here and explain things?”
“I want to go home,” Kiera replied.
“This will be better than home,” Evelyn promised. “I’ll be with you. So will Romas. You needn’t worry about anything. Besides, you said you’d stay at least a week, right?”
“And the cats?”
“The cats … they’re domesticated and really very nice.”
“Are there other creatures with more than four legs?”
“I really, really don’t know.” Evelyn shook her head. “Can you think of anything else but spiders?”
“Is there air on your planet?” Before Evelyn could answer, another thought occurred to Kiera. “Are you an alien, too?”
“No, no, no! I was born in Mississippi. I swear it to you, Kiera. I wouldn’t lie to you about anything like that.”
“Just keep it from me until I awaken on a spaceship?” she retorted.
“I asked you if you wanted to come,” Evelyn reminded her.
“I said no!”
“You said you’d think about it.”
“You didn’t tell me where we were going!” she said, incredulous.
“It’s far away, like I said!” Evelyn said somewhat defensively.
“Omigod! It’s so not just far away!” Kiera replied. “And women don’t have any rights where Romas is from. He said as much! So I’m going to be stuck on a planet far away without a bus ticket home surrounded by spiders the size of basketballs and being bossed around by Neanderthal barbarians who forbid me to talk and lock me in the bathroom!”
“You’re adorable even when you’re so upset!” Evelyn grinned. Kiera’s chest clenched as she began crying again. Evelyn threw her arms around her and hugged her, chuckling. “You’ll be okay, K-K. You’ll see.”
Kiera squeezed her back, feeling very, very lost. She forced herself to withdraw from the surreal world and let herself go numb. After all, when she finally awoke from this nightmare, all would be back to normal, and she would have new inspiration for her paintings. She kept telling herself she’d wake up from this wacky dream soon.
Six days passed on the ship. She awoke six more times willing the nightmare to be over. On the seventh morning—if there were such a thing in space—she lay in bed and stared at the dark grey ceiling. The world was becoming more real as the days passed. She’d avoided the galley Evelyn had tried for three days to drag her to and said it would prove they were on a ship after she challenged Evelyn to prove it wasn't a dream.
She sat and crossed her legs, thoughtful. She didn’t feel quite as traumatized today. In fact, she felt angry, and she wanted to see the galley to confirm this all wasn’t an elaborate hallucination. She tucked in her shirt in the way Evelyn had told her was customary. She liked the space clothing. It was comfortable, like wearing pajamas all day long. All she had to do was choose the color she wanted to wear—black for the past several days in silent objection to her presence aboard the ship—and the ship’s computer wove it for her.
At least, that was her version. Romas had attempted once to explain the clothing was not woven aboard the ship but created on his home planet, molecularly broken into invisible pieces and stored somewhere aboard the ship.
She didn’t understand. It was safer for her to imagine someone sitting just behind her wall weaving clothing and sending it to her or anyone else as they requested. It made the clothing unit much less intimidating than Romas’s lecture on matter and antimatter and how to store the two successfully without blowing up something.
The parts of the room were well hidden. It had taken her two days to work up the courage to walk alone into what appeared to be the rear wall but was really a mirage disguising a grey bathroom with a clothing unit in the corner. She closed her eyes as she stepped into and through the wall and opened them after two steps. A waist-high bathtub and a round disc serving as an alien toilet, also waist-high, were on one wall. If she asked, a mirror would appear on the opposite wall.
“Teal,” she said to the clothing unit.
There was no other purr aside from the constant, low hum similar to the hum surrounding electric wires. A flicker of light, and the clothing appeared on a slate grey slab serving as a bench near the door.
She changed into the comfortable clothing. She stood spread-eagle until it shrank to fit her, shuddered at the creepy sensation of life-like silk caressing her skin, and hurried out of the bathroom.
She held her forearm out to the door as she approached, glancing again at the gold band around her wrist that Romas had emphasized she needed to wear at all the times. For once, she hadn’t corrected his English, only nodded once more and held out her arm for the bracelet. What had appeared to be a thick, gold, hard band of about three inches in width had molded around her arm and felt no heavier than the clothing she wore. It was flexible and moved with her when she tested it by flexing or releasing her forearm muscles.
Romas had felt no need to explain his insistence of her wearing it, but Evelyn had explained it acted as a visual identifying piece and also happened to open all the doors on the ship.
All the doors.
It made her mind leap until she recalled she was supposedly on a spaceship. She couldn’t order the exit door open and walk home. If there were more of those monstrous spiders on board, she probably did not want to wander around opening doors at random.
Except for today. Today she wanted to see the window to space in the galley Evelyn wanted her to see.
Kiera placed a dark grey device the size of a small button on her earlobe like an earring. It stuck, but she forced herself not to ask why. It was allegedly her translator and emitted a low-level hum similar to the walls. Without it, the ship wouldn’t understand her outside of her room. She exited and touched the wall of one corridor.
“Main galley,” she said.
A trickle of lights lit up on the wall to her right. She followed. Several of what Evelyn had called warriors passed her in the hall. She thought she recognized one or two from the men who had accompanied Romas to the wedding.
Evelyn’s many history lessons had covered the strange kin of Romas’s, explaining they weren’t the cousins Romas claimed them to be at the wedding. They weren’t relatives at all, but members of Romas’s army. Kiera had nodded as was expected while wondering what the hell Evelyn drank to make all this seem reasonable.
Romas’s clan was very large and his father’s influence the greatest on the planet of Qatwal. The race of warriors was ancient, dating back a hundred millennia. Their planet had been a barbarian planet, until the Five Galaxies zone, in which Qatwal sat in the middle, was discovered by a master race of super-genius aliens Evelyn referred to as the Brains. The Brains set up the Planetary Council—the alien version of the United Nations—several generations before to mediate between the warring planets within the Five Galaxies. The Brains also brought technological advancement that—
A massive man passed her in the hall, and she stopped mid-thought to stare at him as he walked away. All the men on Romas’s planet were larger than those on hers. She believed Evelyn’s tale of a race of people bred for war. The man she just passed was a foot taller than Romas and one and a half times as wide. She felt dwarfed whenever she crossed one of the men aboard the ship.
When he disappeared around the corner, she returned to her thoughts and following the lights. There were still wars, Evelyn had confided, even though it was frowned upon by the Council.
Another giant of a man passed her, and she shook her head, amazed. The warriors never spoke or even gave her more than a passing glance. She continued down the hall, watching the lights. They stopped a short time later and surrounded a metal door. She waved her arm band, and the door opened. The room she stepped into was triangular shaped, consisting of a wall of angled windows, small tables against the other wall, and round seats facing the windows. The galley was occupied by three hulking men at a table.
She gazed out the windows, unease making her stomach churn. She couldn’t help feeling disappointed; space looked no different than it had when she was lying on the roof of Evelyn’s house. She expected real space to look closer if nothing else.
Which way was home? She didn’t see any glowing blue planets. She sat in one of the chairs and slid down in it until her head rested against the back. They seemed to be moving very slowly for being on a spaceship, she mused.
“I thought you would come here eventually.” Evelyn’s voice was soft. Kiera grunted without turning. Evelyn slid into the chair beside her. “You okay?”
“I don’t know. I can’t make sense of things,” Kiera said.
“You overanalyze things. Don’t try, just accept,” Evelyn advised.
“Is that what you did?” Kiera glanced at her.
“Don’t give this blonde the credit for thinking too deeply.”
The three warriors at the table relocated several chairs down.
“Take off your earpiece,” Evelyn whispered. Kiera did so and set it carefully on her knee. It would blend in with everything around her if she dropped it.
“Neat little things,” Evelyn said with some excitement as she placed hers on the chair’s slender arm. “I see you’re not wearing black today.”
“Too depressed,” Kiera said. “Needed some color.”
“Don’t think they like not knowing what we’re saying,” she said with some satisfaction. “Romas isn’t bad, but I can imagine most of these guys have a bit too much testosterone.”
“Romas has too much testosterone,” Kiera retorted. “I bet this was his idea, wasn’t it? Dragging me away from home?”
“No, it was mostly mine,” she said. “He agreed you needed a real life, though.”
“That’s bad enough.”
“You’ll be fascinating to his people,” Evelyn continued. “You’re what they might call petite.”
“Petite?” Kiera echoed with a raised eyebrow. “I’ve never been called petite in my life! I’m of above average height by an inch and above average weight by ten pounds.”
“The women there are grown bigger, too,” Evelyn explained. “Like me.”
“Omigod. So I’m going to a planet of models and body builders,” Kiera said. “I’ll be the rotund brunette no one wants to talk to!”
“Stop! Romas said you’re being a five-year-old, and I agree! They like you Kiera,” Evelyn said, and raised her chin toward the warriors near them. “The one who saved you from the cat asked Romas on the spot to marry you.”
Kiera gave an unladylike snort. “I’m sure Romas told him he wouldn’t want to deal with my fiery tongue. That’s absurd, Evelyn.”
“Well, they’re different, hon,” Evelyn said with some frustration. “I have the feeling we’ll both stick out.”
Kiera glanced at her, hearing the nervousness for the first time.
“Are you worried about … things?” she queried. “Other than being on a spaceship with aliens and super-tarantulas?”
“Yeah. The usual, I guess. Meeting his parents, them accepting me, fitting in with the new place, you know.”
“You’ll do great, Evelyn,” Kiera said. “You’re perfect, brilliant, and beautiful. Rum-ass thinks so, and so do I. There’s no way they won’t be bowled over by you.”
“That’s sweet, K-K,” Evelyn answered.
“If not, we can steal a spaceship and go home,” Kiera added under her breath.
Evelyn giggled. “Not if Romas hooks you up with one of his brothers.” She grinned. “You’ll get to meet them all when we land tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Kiera echoed.
“Their traditions are a little different.” Evelyn gave her a sidelong look. “You may not have much control over some things.”
“I think I’m already experiencing that.”
“Yeah … “ Evelyn said, and hesitated before continuing. “You might not have a choice in what man decides … to like you or propose or something.”
“What?”
“You know. Think of it as a tribal warrior society that’s kinda backwards or antiquated in its customs.”
“I’m not following.”
“You’re a guest of Romas right now, but if he decides to put you on the market, so to speak, pretty much anyone can … um … claim you as a … you know, a bride.”
“But I’m going home,” Kiera said blankly.
“Well, I’ll talk to him,” Evelyn said, and rushed into a new subject. “Isn’t this an awesome view?”
Kiera looked at her, attempting to decipher her warning. It sounded very much like Evelyn was trying to tell her Romas could marry her off at his will when he pleased. The idea was absurd, even for someone as chauvinistic as Romas. Her instincts didn’t like Evelyn’s nonchalance on the subject.
“Yeah, nice view,” she murmured. “Do they have anything unusual, like four moons?”
“There are two moons and two suns, but the suns are so close together, you can’t tell,” Evelyn said. “The standard day is longer than ours, about thirty hours instead of twenty-four, with that divided evenly between day and night.”
“Have you been there before?” Kiera asked.
“No. I’ve been interrogating Romas for about two months now,” Evelyn admitted with a smile. “They have green grass, oceans, and blue sky just like us.”
“Is the sun yellow?”
“Yes, Kiera!”
“So the only difference is their animals and the size of their people,” Kiera said.
“Pretty much.”
She shifted in her chair. She had many more questions, but the more she asked, the less she could deny the world around her was real. Tomorrow she would meet Romas’s alien-brothers and parents. Or maybe, just maybe, tomorrow morning she would finally wake up.
They sat for a while before she felt a familiar sense of anxiety at the reality of her situation. She wandered back to the safety of her room, wanting paper and pencils, her favorite jeans … anything familiar to comfort her. She lay on the bed as she had for several days already, sick of the jerky-like food Evelyn brought her.
She couldn’t sleep, even when the computer turned her lights out in the only sign it was bedtime. She spent the night waiting for the nightmare world to end and dressed the next morning with an undertaker’s solemnity. Soon after, a warrior came to her door and led her down several halls and into a tiny box resembling an elevator. Unlike an elevator, it didn’t appear to move. She felt silly standing in it with the three warrior strangers around her, waiting for something to happen that never did. When the doors opened, she realized everything had changed. For one, she was no longer faced with dark grey. For two, it was not just Romas and Evelyn before her.
There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of cheerfully clothed giants and models lining a petal-strewn pathway. Brilliant sunlight blinded her after days of grey, and she blinked at the bright, familiar blue sky.
It was morning. She smelled dew. A light, warm breeze brushed her cheek. The sensations made her want to cry. Relieved, she focused on the blue skies, yellow suns, and thick emerald grass that reminded her of pictures from a tour book of Ireland. She felt more grounded as she stepped out of the horrible grey elevator onto a thick carpet of green. She was no longer confined in purgatory, afloat in space. She avoided turning around to see what must have been a hulking grey mass of metal spaceship.
One of the warriors flanking her nudged her forward. Romas and Evelyn were already several dozen feet down the flowered path. Evelyn appeared serene and perfect, as usual. Romas was detached and unreadable, the supreme warrior prince.
Kiera stepped forward, eager to reach Evelyn. Her friend hadn’t been joking about her being considered petite and unique. She didn’t see one woman under six feet tall or any man who didn’t tower over six feet. Romas’s people were fair skinned with light hair in varying shades of blond and red. She saw a full range of eye colors, though she noticed with some interest that blue or green eyes were unnaturally clear—unlike her Mediterranean, green-blue-grey gaze.
She took in their bright clothing, glad she thought to wear light blue today. Any darker color, and she would stand out even more.
She reached Evelyn and Romas and forced herself not to crowd them. She kept her eyes on the couple instead of the crowd. People stare at her with varying looks of curiosity and intensity. Her face warmed and reddened beneath the scrutiny. Evelyn was the queen of handling crowds, but Kiera could think of nothing more than ducking into a safe corner and staying there with her back to the wall.
The warriors with her closed around her, blocking some of the crowd from sight.
The couple before her stopped, and she brought her gaze back to them. They stood in front of an airy, light tent resembling a silk sheet suspended in midair over a table. A man and a woman in their prime stood before them, and the light murmuring of the crowd hushed. They were a handsome couple, the elegant woman’s hair so fine and blonde it resembled white silk. The man beside her had dark blond hair, serious brown eyes in a chiseled face, and a form as fit as his son’s.
Evelyn’s in-laws. Kiera held her breath for her friend as Evelyn stepped forward. Her friend was sure-footed and confident, but Kiera knew she was nervous. Evelyn’s words were too quiet for Kiera to hear.
The scent of real food wafted towards her. Her mouth watered, and her eyes dropped to the source. It was not the chewy ship food. It looked like real food packed on the low tables with meat, gravies, and tons of dishes of what might have been casseroles of varying colors. Pillows passed as chairs, and bowls as cups.
She leaned to see past Romas and saw that the tent before her was only the head tent. Tables and pillows stretched as far as she could see to create a massive circle she assumed was large enough to seat the crowd. Her eyes caught movement at the edge of the crowd. Three massive warriors escorted a fourth whose hands were bound. They moved out of sight at her blink, and she wondered how criminals were treated on such a planet.
Evelyn turned, motioning her forward. Kiera went.
“My friend, Kiera.” Evelyn’s voice was quiet and respectful.
Kiera felt she should have curtseyed or saluted or something. Uncertainly, she remained where she was and gazed at the man and woman before her. They looked her over curiously. The woman appeared bright-eyed and pleasant, the warrior-husband unreadable.
“Kiera, this is Romas’s mother, Lishana, and his father, Mison,” Evelyn said.
A slight smile drew up one side of Lishana’s mouth, and Kiera felt the urge to smile as well. There was a gentle air around the woman, and her large brown eyes lacked the rigid stoniness of her husband’s. At first glance, Lishana did not seem the kind of mother-in-law that might cause Evelyn problems.
“You are welcome, Kiera.” Lishana’s voice was as soft as her features. “May the suns long grace you.”
“Thank you,” Kiera responded.
“Will you join us?” The invitation was addressed to all three of them. As if on cue, the crowd began to break up, with cheerful groups moving to various positions around the circle. Kiera watched them, somewhat relieved not to be the center of attention any longer. She trailed the two couples up shallow stairs and took the seat beside Evelyn not occupied by Romas. Her gaze dropped to the feast before them.
Did any of the animals on the table look like spiders while alive?
She stared at a tray of meat for a long moment. Several giants with Romas’s shade of blond hair and similar blue eyes seated themselves across from them. She knew by their similar facial features they were brothers, and Romas’s threat of hooking her up with one made her more self-conscious.
Mison motioned for those at his table to eat, and she reached for the plate of meat before her before Romas or any of his brothers could assist her. She tapped the earpiece as the conversation around picked up but the words faded in and out of translation. Even an elite, advanced society like Romas’s had technical difficulties. She removed the earpiece and replaced it. The translator hummed once more.
“Romas had all the cats corralled and kept elsewhere for this feast, just for you,” Evelyn leaned over to whisper. “Isn’t he just awesome?”
“He’s awesome if he keeps them corralled for my entire visit, which hopefully won’t be long,” Kiera replied. Evelyn frowned and shifted away. Kiera almost apologized, but the approach and introduction of two pre-teen boys with white-blond hair and bright blue eyes distracted her.
“My brothers, Lilan and Hilan,” Romas announced.
The grinning boys were between ten and twelve, already tall and lanky. The two scuffled for a seat next to one of their older brothers across from Kiera before a look from Mison quieted them. They sat dutifully, sharing the pillow, and were calm for several moments before a discreet elbow match broke out between them. She was grateful to see even alien kids behaved like typical kids.
She took her first bite of what looked like beef. It certainly tasted like beef, though the tangy spices were unfamiliar. Evelyn poured clear, steaming broth into a bowl beside her plate.
“This is good. You can dip anything in this,” she said.
Kiera tried it. The clear broth held a tangy, rich flavor, like spiced butter. As a fan of good food, Kiera found Evelyn’s words to be quite true. She dipped everything she tried—from meat to casseroles with odd textures—in the clear broth. They even had a version of bread; it was unleavened and came in large, round, flat ears.
She ate until full, then pushed her plate from the edge of the table. The two boys across from her had managed to make messes of themselves and the table in what might have been a competition. They cast several glances her way and appeared as interested in her as they were in looking past her. Romas’s eldest brother, who sat across and down the table from her, rose, a look of anger on his face. She watched him circle the table and twisted to see where he went.
Behind the tent and its low, shallow steps was a small group of blond warriors surrounding a fifth man with darker skin and hair. Romas’s brother spoke to the group. The boys across from Kiera began giggling. Uninterested in watching people talk, she glanced again at the boys and nudged Evelyn.
“Evelyn, I need to use the little girls’ room,” she said.
Evelyn leaned to whisper to Romas, whose response was a tad too long for Kiera’s impatient bladder.
“He says to enter the main house by the first entrance you find. Your bracelet—”
The translator cut out on her, and Evelyn’s next foreign words were incomprehensible. Kiera removed the translator from her ear. Evelyn did the same.
“Enter the main house using the nearest entrance. Your bracelet acts as a sort of master key, so you can go anywhere in the whole house. There should be a servant or someone posted near the entrance who can guide you to the restroom. If not, it’s along the same hallway as the door. Just go four or five doors, and it’ll be on your right.”
Something splashed Kiera, and she pushed the droplets from her face, concentrating on Evelyn.
“Is it four or five?” she asked. “If it’s four and I go five and interrupt someone’s conference or walk into a room full of tarantulas, I’m going to go crazy.”
“No, no. I think he said four,” Evelyn said. “I’m sure there will be someone—oh, hell, don’t look down!”
Something furry dropped into Kiera’s lap. The two pre-teen boys laughed.
Kiera’s eyes dropped to her lap, and she stared at the mass of furry legs, freezing in place for a long moment. The cats’ fur was matted from a bath in her dipping soup. She gave a startled cry, shot up from her seat, and swiped the creatures from her lap in one movement. Two of the cats, young and small enough to be kittens or perfectly sized adult tarantulas, detangled and darted from her pillow to the table.
Kiera took two steps back, shuddering in disgust and fear. God, she hated spiders. Hated them, hated them, hated them! A sharp word from Romas, and the two boys looked suddenly abashed. One of the kittens dashed toward Kiera, moving sideways like a spider on its flexible legs, and she skittered farther away.
Romas leaned back and snatched the kitten trotting toward her, and Evelyn rose to her knees, looking both surprised and dismayed. Suddenly, Kiera really, really wanted to go home.
“I’m going … to the restroom,” she said, heart thudding in her ears.
“I’m so sorry, K. I’ll go with you,” Evelyn offered.
“No. I’m okay. I’ll go and we can talk about going home when I get back!”
Romas tossed the kitten, which darted for her again. She took another hasty step back as he grabbed it once more. Her left foot found the first shallow step, and she took another step back, her eyes pinned on the second kitten running along the table. She’d just made a complete fool of herself and Evelyn … how would she react if someone were as terrified of kittens on earth?
Embarrassed, she didn’t notice her right foot reaching nothing but air until she toppled backwards. She gasped, waiting to feel the impact of the hard ground. Two hands caught her. An unexpected heat jarred her to her core, and the earth beneath her feet shook violently enough to rattle her teeth. The strange spell left her breathing hard and confused as to whether she’d had a heart attack or worse. The strange fever remained, making her feel as if she’d been sitting in a sauna for hours. Her head hurt and her body ached from the inside out, like she had the flu.
Unable to understand or control the strange sensations, she tried to help right herself as the hands gripping her ribcage steadied her. The hot energy circulating through her body came from the large, olive-hued hands touching her. She looked up, wondering who she now owed an apology for her embarrassing scene.
Her gaze was immediately riveted to that of an alien unlike those of Romas’s clan. His skin was darker, the color of honey as opposed to alabaster, his eyes a rich, dark brown, and his features lacking the delicate, chiseled beauty of Romas’s family. This man’s features were scarred and masculine with a crooked nose that had been broken more than once. Long, dark hair was held in place at the base of his neck by a thick band of rose gold.
His gaze was so direct it seemed to sear through her. The heat of his large hands made her feel as if she wore no clothing. He held her against him, his dark, spicy-sweet scent seizing her senses. Inexplicable scenes tore through her mind too fast for her to focus on any one of them.
A blue planet, two thrones, a hacienda-style dwelling, an older man and woman, fire in the sky, a red planet, war. The emotions behind the scenes were hot and angry before one more scene emerged—this one lingering for what felt like minutes.
She held the hand of the man before her, walking on a dead planet of nothing but rocky hills, dried streams, and cracked earth. The planet’s energy warmed her, ran through her and into him, and grass grew beneath her feet. She smiled up at him, content to be with her mate.
Another hand clamped around her arm and snatched her away. She blinked out of the spell and saw Romas’s oldest brother, his eyes glittering with anger. Her gaze fell to the bound hands of the man who’d caught her. Given his guard of four warriors and his unfriendly gaze, maybe she should be grateful someone wrenched her arm off to get her away from him. And yet, she still felt his hands on her body, smelled his scent, saw the vision from their touch.
Fate. The sense was fleeting and overwhelming. She didn’t know the honey-hued man before her, but she couldn’t help but feel their paths were entwined.
The idea scared her. She was going home, not staying on some dead planet with some hunky stranger!
The hunky stranger spoke to Romas’s oldest brother. The translator was dead and picked up none of the men’s terse discussion. She tried not to stare at the man staring at her. He was the most stunning man she’d ever seen despite his crooked nose. Whatever they discussed, Romas’s brother was getting more pissed; his grip on her tightened until she gave a verbal, “Let me go!”
Whether or not it translated or whether her voice was enough to alert him, all eyes fell to her before the conversation resumed. It was Romas—the man responsible for dragging her across the universe—who rescued her. He took her free arm and drew her away from his brother. Kiera went more than willingly, near the emergency point for reaching the bathroom. He pushed her past him and joined in the conversation. Evelyn smiled tightly from her position a couple of feet away, her attention riveted to the situation before her. Kiera looked at her arm, where a bruise was already forming from Kisolm’s grip.
Whatever the men were squabbling about, it wasn’t worth hurting her. Kiera looked at them all, her gaze settling on the prisoner. The thrum of warm energy coursed through her again, and she felt again her destiny was tied with his.
He still watched her. He was shorter than the seven-foot giants around him, standing right at Romas’s height. His clothing was styled differently, with a dark V-neck tunic, dark pants, and a thick belt around his lower abdomen. He wore a rose gold bracelet very similar to Romas’s in all but color, and soft, dark boots. He was, without a doubt, a warrior. His frame was thick beneath the snug clothing, with a tucked waist and flared upper body extending from the tucked waist to his wide, broad shoulders. His brow was low and his eyebrows dark, making his unwavering gaze even more intense.
Heat flared within her body, and her imagination painted an image of the warrior before her without the clothing. Kiera rubbed her arm with a small wince and forced herself to turn away. She wanted nothing to do with this world or its inhabitants, despite that unexpected, intimate connection with the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. She hadn’t felt instant attraction to a man since high school.
She was going home, sexy alien be damned. She turned to face Evelyn but still felt him watch her. Evelyn was upset at what was being said, emotions crossing her face quickly. Her look turned to anger, then softened into concern. By the end of the conversation, she appeared relieved.
The prisoner was led away. Kiera relaxed, no longer feeling his gaze on her. Evelyn spoke to her, her words foreign. Kiera tapped her translator and shook her head. Evelyn removed hers.
“You didn’t understand anything?” Evelyn asked.
“I have to pee, now,” Kiera answered.
“Oh. Sorry. I’ll go, too.”
Evelyn made a motion to Romas, who looked grimmer than usual. He nodded and returned to the tent. Kiera followed as Evelyn turned toward the main house, a sprawling, single-story compound made of brilliant white stone and dotted with hundreds of glass-less windows. It was open and airy, bright and cheerful. They walked across the open field before it, the bright sun and solid ground beneath her easing some of her anxiety about the day.
“You didn’t understand anything?” Evelyn asked again.
“Nope. Evelyn, I’m so sorry I’ve totally embarrassed you today,” Kiera said. “I wanted it to be special for you and managed to mortify both of us.”
“Oh, no, K-K!” Evelyn said. “They know we’re from another place. His family has been very understanding.”
“Except those boys,” Kiera muttered. “Stupid kids.”
“Just kids, though, K-K. I’m sorry they upset you.”
Kiera shrugged.
“Are you really ready to go home so soon?” Evelyn asked.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Evelyn sighed in disappointment. Kiera looked at her friend, guilty for hurting her feelings despite her need to return to her own world. Her thoughts went to the prisoner, and she wondered if she’d see him again if she stayed a little longer.
“If you want, I’ll stay for a few more days,” she offered half-heartedly. “As your wedding present. I’m not overly anxious to get back on that depressing ship.”
“Thanks, Kiera,” Evelyn said. “It really would mean a lot to me. The next few days will be nothing but feasts and parties in celebration of our marriage!”
“So then you’ll be very happy.”
“Even happier because I didn’t have to plan them,” Evelyn said. “And you’ll have fun, too, Kiera. I promise.”
Kiera shook tension from her shoulders. Evelyn did have a way of making even the most gruesome day of spring cleaning fun. Perhaps, if Romas kept the spiders away and Evelyn could make the days pass quickly, she might survive her visit. She may go so far as not to be disappointed with it if she saw the handsome man again.
“What did that guy do to be arrested?” she asked. “Steal something? Kill someone?”
“He’s more of a prisoner of war,” Evelyn said. “A lippy one at that. We need to get you a new translator.”
“I thought there weren’t any wars right now.”
“I guess he’s not a war prisoner in the traditional sense,” Evelyn replied. “I’m not always sure about things here either. I think there’s no openly declared war, but there’s lots of unrest and skirmishes among the clans. From what I understood, that guy and Romas’s eldest brother have personal issues with each other and are constantly hazing each other. I guess the other guy just got caught this time.”
“Typical male ego,” Kiera said. “Probably fighting over who stole whose cat when they were five.”
“Something like that.”
“You looked really upset for a while though.”
“Just stupid traditions and stuff,” Evelyn said a little too casually. “They’re fighting over a woman, and I really don’t take to the way they do things here in that regard.”
Satisfied to find the sexy man wasn’t a serial killer or worse, Kiera’s attention shifted to the main house as they approached. The house was as brilliant white on the inside as it was outside. There were no traditional decorations such as pictures or mirrors on the walls, but colorful cords and streams of what might have been silk edging the corners and dangling from high ceilings. The wide hallways were lit by skylights and lined with inset doors whose access pads glowed to the right of each door.
The women counted four doors, and Kiera held out her bracelet to the access pad. The door slid open. Evelyn waited outside while Kiera entered the massive bathroom. She removed the translator and replaced it, satisfied at the faint hum indicating it was working once more.
She went about her business and was about to leave when the door opened and two beautiful, tall women entered. One looked her over with disdain, and the other whispered to the first, “She could not possibly ally to the dhjan family, sister. She is too small and khorj to bear warriors.”
Kiera offered a smile and hurried past them, heart pounding and face red with embarrassment. The translator was not always good at picking up every word, but she didn’t need the translation of the unknown word. The two women had just called her short and fat.
“What’s wrong?” Evelyn asked, eyes on her face as she exited quickly.
“Oh, nothing,” Kiera lied. “Just not used to their bathrooms yet.”
She didn’t want to stay even a few days, not if it meant she was viewed as nothing more than a short-and-fat foreigner! That reputation could not possibly help Evelyn’s standing in the clan either; the sooner the clan forgot the blemish of a friend, the sooner they’d accept Evelyn. No sexy warrior—even a prisoner—would want anything to do with her at all.
“I’m feeling tired, Evelyn. Could I lie down for a while?” she asked. She hated the disappointed look on Evelyn’s face.
“Sure, Kiera. I’m sorry for stressing you. Can you wait here for a minute, so I can ask Romas where your room is?”
Kiera nodded, content to hide from the crowd. Of all the things to think about, she couldn’t get the prisoner out of her thoughts, even when Evelyn returned with sweet bread she normally would’ve pounced on. She took it absent-mindedly and followed her friend through the mansion.