My Alien King (Paranormal Romance Aliens) (8 page)

"You’re probably right about that," she said easily.

Once the panel had scanned him and confirmed his identity, the door hissed open, folding down into a staircase that led into the main part of the ship. Mia was standing there, stunned for the moment, so Asher smiled and climbed up, deciding to check and see if everything was in order.

The inside was spacious and equipped with places to sit and cots for sleeping on. The sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating the inside and glancing off the shiny knobs and switches of the control panel. There was a fair amount of chrome inside, but nothing like he’d seen in the sci-fi movies that apparently liked to make it seem like everything aliens had was shiny and metallic. Actually a good portion of the inside of the ship was done in dark woods to give it a more homey feel, and the Nalyi love for things that looked artistic and nice was present even in their transports.

Once he’d checked everything over, Asher leaned out to offer Mia his hand and help her up the steep stairs to the inside.

Her gasp when she looked around, made him smile. "Feel free to poke around," he said. "We'll be on here for a couple of days at the least, so I want you to be comfortable."

"Doesn't seem like it's going to be a problem," she said, awe in her voice. "I don’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t this. This is like. I dunno. Some kind of fancy airplane or something. It’s lovely."

His face was starting to hurt from smiling so wide. "I’m really glad you like it."

Her opinion was important to him, and even though this craft had been built long before he was born and he’d had nothing to do with it at all, there was a warm little glow of pride inside of him that she liked it.

"I’m gonna start bringing the stuff in," he called, and Mia waved a hand over her shoulder while she examined the cooking machines that were near the back of the transporter.

In his head, Asher went over the list of things that needed to happen before takeoff. He needed to make sure that there was enough fuel in the transporter and add the reserve fuel just in case. The craft was in a clearing that was just wide enough for it to rise up out of the trees and then take off at an angle heading upwards, but it would be good to check and make sure there were no obstructions in the way before he started flying.

...And he needed to tell Mia the whole truth.

It had been in the back of his head since they’d slept together, and he knew that he couldn’t take her to another planet without first explaining what Abon’s intentions were, even if they didn’t match up with his own.

His fear was that she was going to be mad and then decide that she didn't want to come anymore, and it would hurt if that was the case, but he knew he had to tell her. If she decided that she didn't want to come, then that was more than fair, considering how much responsibility and extra stuff being queen would heap on her.

Asher didn't even know what all went into it, but he knew that it probably wouldn't be easy.

He was lost in thought as he brought their bags onto the craft, and when Mia asked if there was anything she could do to help him, he waved her away, telling her that he had in under control. Hopefully, he actually did.

Once all of their things were on board, he sent a text to Madison, asking her to come and make sure his car got taken back somewhere safe. It would be fine in woods for a bit, but he didn't want anyone to get curious and come steal it.

Unable to put it off any longer, Asher bit his lip and walked to the back of the transporter where Mia was examining the fuel tanks.

"I need to talk to you," he said, hoping that the sincerity in his voice carried to her.

"You're not going to tell me I can't come, are you?" she said. "Because I'm pretty excited now, and I might not forgive you."

"No!" Asher hurried to assure her. "No, of course not. The only thing I want more than to go home is to have you come with me. There's just... There's something I have to tell you before we go and I'm not sure how you're going to take it."

Mia arched an eyebrow at him. "I guess you'd better tell me, then."

He drew in a shaky breath and then nodded." Okay. I'd like to point out for the record that this wasn't my idea, though. Abon... He wrote about it in his book. There’s...there’s a reason that he wanted you to come with me. I mean, other than he thought you’d enjoy being somewhere other than here."

"What reason is that?" Mia asked with a frown.

"He wants you to be queen."

A moment of silence followed his statement, and Asher bit the inside of his cheek, waiting for her to say something. He didn’t know her well enough to know what she was thinking or feeling about what he’d said, and she was just standing there, staring at him and blinking.

The few seconds stretched to a few minutes, and Asher was going to say something else before she burst out laughing.

Well. It was safe to say that was the last reaction he’d been expecting. "Um," he said. "Is it funny?"

"Of course," she said back. "I mean, for a minute there I thought you were serious, and I was scared out of my mind because what do
I
know about being a queen, right? But then I realized that you had to be kidding, so it’s all good."

Oh. This was going to be harder than he’d thought, and he’d already thought it was going to be hard. "Um. I’m not kidding," Asher said softly. "I’d show you the letter in the book, but you wouldn’t be able to read it, so you’ll have to take my word for it, I guess. But. Yes. He said that he thought you would make an excellent queen for me."

"How would he even know that!?" Mia demanded. "I was a
child
the last time he saw me. Do they make children into queens where you come from because if so, that’s messed up. Do we have to get married or something for me to be queen? Oh my god, are we
already
married?"

Asher’s eyes flew open wide at her questions and he held his hands up in a gesture of peace. "No! No, no, no," he said. "No. None of that. We’re not married, we don’t have to get married, and we definitely don’t make children into monarchs. It’s just. It’s something my uncle thought would be nice, I guess? I don’t know. He thinks a lot of you, obviously, and so do I, but you definitely don’t have to be my queen if you don’t want to."

She was silent for another few seconds and her eyes were guarded when she looked up at him again. "Is that the only reason you asked me to come with you?" The hurt in her voice was easily heard, and Asher hated it.

This had all happened so fast, and he’d been so excited, but maybe they shouldn’t have rushed into it if that was what she thought. "No," he said once more, voice soft and reassuring, or so he hoped. "I asked you to come because you seemed really unhappy where you were and because I wanted you to come. Because I like you a lot, and I want you to be happy, and...and I want you to be happy with me, if you want that, too. You can tell my uncle where to shove his ideas of you being queen if you don’t want to do it. No one’s going to make you. I promise you that. I wouldn’t have even brought it up, but I figured that Abon
would
when we see him, and I wanted you to know everything before we leave."

"Oh," Mia said, and that was all she said for a long minute. Then she sighed and shook her head, giving him a tiny smile. "Well, thank you for telling me. I guess I should be flattered that your uncle thinks so highly of me, or something like that. No one’s ever told me they thought I should be a queen before."

"You’d be good at it, if you chose to do it," Asher replied. "You care about people. I can tell. That’s how my mother handled being queen. She just… She cared a lot."

"Are you angry with me?" Asher wanted to know. He'd understand if she was, but he was really hoping that she wasn't.

She looked at him and then shook her head, leaning up to give him a light kiss. It was no more than a brush of lips against his, but it was enough that he flushed darkly and wanted to pull her in for more.

"No," she said when she'd leaned back. "I'm not angry. I'd have been angry if you were just trying to get me to come with you because you need a queen to be king, because I hate being used, but you wouldn't do that, I don't think. And you can't help what your uncle wants apparently. We can deal with this whole admittedly weird thing when we get there, I guess."

It was as good an idea as any, and Asher was eager all over again. He grabbed the extra fuel and went around to the back of the transporter, topping it off before slamming the hatch shut with a note of finality.

"Last chance to stay here," he said to her, and though he was mostly teasing, he was also quite serious. He wanted to make sure.

"I'm going," Mia said, nodding firmly. "Goodbye, Earth."

With a little whoop, Asher kissed her cheek and hit the button to close the door. The stairs folded up and smoothed out back into the door panel which slid into place with a hiss and a click. He checked all the dials and displays, making sure that there were no pressure leaks or cracks in the craft. Everything read perfect, just the way his uncle had showed him to read it, and with a deep breath, he hit the series of buttons to get them moving.

"You'll want to sit down for this," he said over his shoulder. "And strap in. This first bit is bumpy."

The device in his pocket trilled with a cheerful sound, and a smile crossed Abon’s face as he pulled it out and checked the screen. Even after all of these years, it still showed him the things he wanted to see, and right then and there it was telling him that his nephew was leaving Earth. Finally.

Finally Asher would be able to come home to his people and things would start to be the way they should have been if the Shaddoc hadn’t attacked when Asher was but a child.

Abon found that no matter how much time had passed, he couldn’t forget that night. The sounds of his home crumbling around him, the screams of his people as the Shaddoc killed without mercy. It had been the night that the life he knew and loved had come to an end, and he knew that no matter how long he lived, there wouldn’t be anything that could stop him from thinking about it and wishing that things could have ended differently.

The Nalyi had been set to prosper. They had been growing and building and making their lives better, and in the span of one night, all of it had come grinding to a halt.

Quite literally, in fact.

The Nalyi above all else were a peace loving people. They had people trained to fight, as every clan must when there were creatures like the Shaddoc prowling around, but they much preferred living in peace with each other and the other clans. Their land had been verdant and bright, the palace a testament to their skill at construction and art, gleaming in the light from the sun with spires that seemed to stretch on forever.

The halls were made from marble and ivory colored stone, polished wood and glass making windows and studding the walls. Other clans had flocked to their corner of Qantari, their home planet, to learn their ways and enjoy their land, but everything was different now.

Nothing was growing, nothing was thriving, and the palace lay in rubble, half of the walls broken down and demolished in the Shaddoc attack.

It made Abon sad to see it, and he paused when he reached the palace gates, pressing a hand over his heart and then to his lips, sparing a moment to mourn those who had been lost as well as the destruction of their lives.

But it wasn’t time to despair. Abon knew that the Nayli were a resilient race, and that with the arrival of their king, they would thrive once more.

First he had to check something, though.

He walked the halls, footsteps echoing on the scarred, dusty stone floor. Nothing had been moving here for too long, but Abon still kept his guard up. The Shaddoc raiders could be anywhere, lurking in case of his return, and his fingers tightened around the brilliant silver sword that he had brought with him.

If he got killed before he completed his mission, he was going to be very upset.

The door to the tunnels was shut tight, just as it was supposed to be, but there was enough authority in Abon’s touch that it opened for him easily. For a moment, he wondered if he had been wrong. The Nalyi palace was meant to respond to the hand of the king and no one else, and if he’d been right, then he wasn’t the king anymore. He supposed he’d find out once he moved further in.

The air in the tunnels was dank and stale, but that wasn’t a problem for the people who had been living down there for the last several years.

Spread out before him in the winding tunnels under the Nalyi palace were his people. No one stirred as he moved among them, and Abon smiled.

So it was true. He’d always believed in the legends, and the one that said that when the king left in times of trouble, his people would sleep until his return seemed to be true. Because there they all were.

Hundreds of Nalyi, sitting or laying on the ground, eyes closed and bodies still in an enchanted slumber that would only be broken once the true king returned.

The sleep kept them preserved exactly as they had been, and it was hard to see that they were all so young still, so untouched by time, while he was older than he’d been when he’d fled and sure that it showed.

A bright flash of brilliant red hair caught his attention and his breath, and he moved towards the still figure.

His sister. Just as beautiful as she had been the day he’d left with her son. She was leaned against the sloping wall of the tunnel, her hair wild around her face and shoulders. Carefully, Abon stepped over a sleeping child to get to her, crouching down and touching her face with gentle fingers that shook.

"My sister," he murmured, voice loud in the otherwise nearly silent tunnel. She gave no indication that she felt his touch or even knew he was there, and he sighed. "Soon, my dear. Soon your son will return and set all of this right."

He stood up and looked around at the people he had once been in charge of ruling. "Soon you’ll all be free from your sleep and life can begin again."

In the dim light of the tunnel he checked the screen of the device that showed him where Asher was. It would take a good couple of days for him to get back here, once he passed the veil, and Abon closed his eyes and wished him safe travels, hoping he wasn’t coming back alone.