The Alien's Captive (10 page)

At the top of the rise, Anna caught Menlo by the hand and pulled him to a stop. “This is where I turn off.”

Menlo spun around and stared at her in the early grey dawn. “You’re not seriously striking out for Lycaon territory by yourself, are you?”

Anna nodded. “I can’t go back to the Avitras. I told you that.”

“It probably won’t be the same,” he replied. “Aquilla’s not raving mad anymore, and you won’t have me to worry about. It could be good for you again, the way it was when you first came.”

Anna shook her head. “I can’t go back, not even with Aquilla restored and you set free. I never really belonged there. I don’t know why I came over in the first place. I should have stayed with the Lycaon. No, that’s not right. I do know why came over. I came because of Frieda. Now she’s gone. I have no more reason to stay here.”

He shrugged. “I still think you should reconsider. You’ve got a long, hard road ahead of you. I hate to think of you traveling all that way by yourself.”

“Well, what’s the alternative?” she asked. “I won’t go back to the Avitras, and that’s final.”

He eyed her in the growing light. “Come with me. Come to Ursidrean territory with me.”

Her mouth fell open. “You’re joking.”

He shook his head. “I’m not joking. You said you didn’t have anything left, and I don’t want to go back without you. Come with me, and neither of us will ever have to be alone again.”

She started to say something, but he stopped her mouth with a kiss. Anna froze with his lips lingering on hers. She tasted again the fear and grief of their one brief night in the store room when she never expected to see him alive again. At the same time, she tasted something new, some distant promise of lands and people she’d never seen—the promise of a real future together with him.

He pulled back to look her in the eye, but she didn’t move. She let her lips enjoy the softness of his kiss while her mind floated above the scene and looked down from above.

Emily was in Ursidrean territory with Faruk. Anna wouldn’t be alone. Menlo and Faruk were old friends. Anna and Menlo might wind up spending quite a lot of time with Emily and Faruk. That would be nice.

And the Ursidreans lived in developed cities with electricity and medical care and vehicles. Anna wouldn’t have to cook on open fires anymore or survive on nuts and seeds. For the first time since she crashed on this planet, she would actually live a life of ease and comfort. Who could say no to that?

At long last, her gaze migrated back to Menlo’s face and she found him studying her. He followed the turns of her thoughts through her expression. He whispered to her between her lips. “I love you, Anna. Don’t turn your back on that.”

She sucked in her breath. “You love me? You never said that.”

“Who could fail to love you after the way you rescued me from the Avitras?” he asked. “Who could let you walk away after the times we’ve seen and survived there?”

She blushed. “I didn’t exactly rescue you. Piwaka and Penelope Ann did most of it.”

He shook his head again. “I wouldn’t be standing here, on the border of my own territory, if it hadn’t been for you. Piwaka and Penelope Ann would have let Aquilla kill me if you hadn’t convinced them to stop him. You don’t think I’m going back to Harbeiz by myself, do you? What would Donen say, if I turned up there and told him all about you? He would say, ‘How could you let this woman walk away? How could you let her go back to the Lycaon? Why didn’t you do everything under the sun to bring her here with you?’ He would never respect me again, and I would never respect myself, either.”

She had to laugh at that, but he didn’t laugh.

“I love you, Anna,” he told her. “I don’t want to go back to Harbeiz without you. If you go to the Lycaon, I better come with you.”

“You can’t do that,” she blurted out. “You’re Ursidrean. You couldn’t live with the Lycaon.”

He cocked his head to one side. “Then you better come with me.”

She stared at him. Why was she arguing with him when she really wanted to go? She took his hand. “Alright. I’ll come.”

They turned toward the east. Thousands of miles of trackless mountains stretched away as far as the eye could see, but in the distance, a tiny point of light twinkled in the wilderness. “That’s Harbeiz, our capital city.”

That light called Anna home, and warmth spread through her frozen heart. In a few days, it would welcome her as no other place had. She would throw her arms around Emily’s neck, and she would live in her own place, with Menlo at her side. She would live in peace and quiet and comfort. She would have found her place, and Angondra would be her home.

( The End )

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Taken for the Alien Prince PREVIEW

Layla could only remember running. She was barefoot and the ground beneath her feet was cold and damp, sticks and rocks occasionally digging into the soft flesh and low brush clawing at her as if trying to stop her. Everything around her was hazy. The color seemed to have washed out of the world and left behind only shades of brown and rust and grey. She felt like she was running through water, moving slowly no matter how hard she fought to go faster.

Chilling air whipped at her face and she felt the first few stinging raindrops of a storm cut at her skin. She didn't know where she was going or how she had gotten there, and as she ran, the trees seemed to blur and blend into one another, making it impossible for her to orient herself.

She knew they were coming after her. She could feel and hear their heavy footsteps even in the thick, muting air and feel their presence getting closer. They seemed to be everywhere even though she couldn't see them as she ran. The oppressive feeling of them was getting more intense, but she had to keep running. She didn't know where she was running, but her feet wouldn't stop. Her mind and her fear wouldn't let them.

She thought she could be getting away. She might have a chance to get out of the woods and find her way back home – only, she couldn't remember what home was or where she may be able to find it. All she could do was run.

A cold, sharp breath invaded her lungs as she turned around a massive tree. The hard, choking pressure of a hand on her neck cut off the breath and she felt the ground beneath her feet disappear as the hand lifted her up. There was a moment of consuming terror and then the world around her turned to streaks of black and grey. Then there was nothing.

What could have been hours or days later, Layla became aware again. She kept her eyes closed as consciousness slowly rose through her body and she felt every inch become awake and present. Her muscles ached with the type of depth that came from intense exhaustion and long exposure to cold. The air around her, however, felt warm and damp. She was lying on her back and could feel something hard beneath her like a slab of stone. A tingling sensation flowed through her body and she tried to move her arms, only to find that they were lashed to the stone beneath her with rough lengths of rope. She tried to move her legs, but they were also secured to the stone beneath her.

She kept her eyes closed, terrified of what she may see if she opened them, and tried to remember what happened before she was running through the woods. No matter how hard she thought about it, however, Layla couldn't come up with anything except running. Her feet still felt chilled and stung from the forest floor, but she had no sense of how much time had passed since whatever had grabbed her and lifted her away.

Taking a long breath to steel herself, she let her eyes slowly slide open. As her eyelids opened and she lifted her head, the first thing she saw was the horizon. It glowed a vibrant shade of green as what looked like a deeply purple sun melted out of sight. She looked above her and saw a low grey ceiling as if she was in a small room. Confusion joined the fear that pumped through her as she tried to process what could be happening to her.

Suddenly she was aware of a presence in the space with her. She could feel someone near her, but she couldn't turn her head enough to look. She wanted to speak, but couldn't bring any sounds forward. The feeling of the presence shifted and she felt someone walking around from behind her head to pause at her side. She looked up at him and felt her breath catch in her throat. The man standing beside her was startlingly beautiful and she felt so immediately drawn to him she briefly forgot her fear. He gazed down at her with eyes the color of honey. The flicker of a torch above his head and the glow from the sinking sun showed streaks of bright, clear blue through the shimmering, melting color.

The man gazed down at her and ran the backs of his fingers along her cheek. Not exactly sure why she was doing it, Layla tilted her face slightly into the touch. She started to open her mouth to speak, but he shook his head, bringing a finger to his lips to quiet her. Without a word, he backed away from her and disappeared back around her head. A second later, the feeling of his presence in the space with her was gone. She lifted her head and saw that the sun was nearly down. Straining to see as much of it as she could, she watched as the purple dissolved into the vibrant green, blending into a single line of color before the sky went dark.

Just as the last of the sunset disappeared, she heard footsteps approaching. She hoped it was the same man she had seen beside her, but the feeling of their presence was different. It was like the oppressive, terrifying feeling that had surrounded her as she was running through the woods and she immediately felt herself tense. Four men appeared on either side of her and her body shook so intensely she could feel the ropes burning her wrists and cutting into her ankles. None of the men spoke, but at the same moment they bent down and she felt herself rise into the air as the men lifted the stone slab beneath her and started carrying her out of the room and into the darkness of the night beyond.

Layla watched as the sky moved past over her head, seeming to unfurl like a roll of velvet as the men carried her. They had lifted her above their heads like she weighed nothing despite the massive piece of stone and were carrying her smoothly almost as though she were floating through the air. Now that she was out of the small, tight room with the torches, the air felt cooler and she drew in a breath she hoped would calm her. She needed to get her mind together, to put herself back in control of whatever was happening. If she had any chance of escaping, the only way she would make it happen would be to stay calm and think clearly.

She searched her mind for anything that would help her, anything that would tell her where she would go or how she may be able to get away from these men. All that came to mind, however, was the slow motion repeat of her running through the woods through a washed-out colored world that seemed further and further away with each step the men took.

Suddenly she felt the slab of stone tilt and she seemed to get higher. She realized that the men were climbing a set of steps up into an ancient-looking stone building. The hall they carried her down was lined with torches contained within bright metal cages and featured thick tapestries in shades of green and black. She couldn’t tell what the tapestries depicted and by the time they reached the end of the hallway, she had given up attempting to decipher them and lowered her head back down on the stone slab to ease the tension and pain forming in the back of her neck from trying to hold her head up while not being able to move her arms or legs.

The sound of a heavy door opening filled her ears and she watched as a tremendous doorframe passed overhead. Her captors had carried her into a sprawling room so vibrantly bright after the muted light of the corridor that it hurt her eyes. She closed them, squeezing them as tightly as she could until the burning stopped and she no longer saw the pinpricks of color dancing on the backs of her eyelids.

When she opened them again she realized that the room was not bright simply because there was more light in it than there had been in the corridor or in the small room where she had woken up. Instead, it seemed intensely bright because it was completely lined with mirrors. Now that her eyes had gotten accustomed to the refracted light, Layla was able to look up and see that the ceiling reflected the floor and the walls, creating a never-ending series of reflections that was dizzying in its depth. From the reflection above her, she could see that the men carrying her were all dressed identically in hooded green cloaks nearly the color of the sunset she had seen when she awoke. Black gloves covered their hands and the hoods concealed their faces so that she was not even able to determine their age. She only assumed they were men because of their size and strength.

Layla felt the men lower the slab of stone to the floor and she turned her head to see the men walking away. Smaller figures in hooded purple robes approached and she felt the ropes at her wrists and ankles loosen, then soft hands come to her arms and gently lead her up to a sitting position.

"Come with us," a sweet, almost musical-sounding voice said.

Layla felt like she had no choice. She knew that she should run, but the compulsion was tempered by the realization that she truly had nowhere to go. Until she had some concept of where she was or how far she had come, she wouldn't be able to escape. Though whoever these people were had been gentle with her so far, she had no idea how they would react to her should she attempt to get away from them. Instead, she allowed these smaller figures, who she assumed to be women, to guide her away from the stone slab and across the mirrored floor toward a platform at the far end of the room.

They walked up a steep set of stairs and she saw a deep tub cut into the center of the platform.

"What is this?" she was finally able to force past the tightness in her throat.

"We must prepare you for Jiri," the same voice that had beckoned her to follow told her.

"I don't understand," Layla said.

The figures eased their hoods off and Layla saw that they were all indeed women. Young, softly beautiful women all wearing the same braids in their hair and calm, complacent looks on their faces. The one who had spoken to her reached forward and started to push her cardigan off of Layla's shoulders. Layla hesitated and saw a smile come to the woman's lips.

"Do not be afraid of us. We won't hurt you."

The way she said it made Layla feel even more nervous and she relaxed the tension in her shoulders so that the woman could pull off her cardigan. She let the women undress her and for the first time she noticed that her clothing had tears and streaks of dried mud. She tried again to think back on how she got to that place, but she could only remember running. There was nothing beyond the woods where she ran.

Once they had removed all of her clothing, one of the women took her hand and carefully led her to step into the tub. The water felt so hot it almost stung her skin, but the sensation was a soothing distraction from the chill of the night outside and the uncomfortable feeling of the confusion and fear that continued to trickle along her spine. She climbed down a series of steps deeper into the water and then crossed the tub so that she could sit on a low bench across from the steps.

One of the women picked up a bowl and poured the contents into the water, immediately changing the shade of the bath to a light pink that seemed to shimmer with touches of gold. A velvety, sultry scent touched her nose and she took a deep breath to fill her lungs with it. Her head swam slightly with the effect and she felt her body starting to relax into the hot water. Another of the women picked up what looked like a complex pitcher, used one hand to carefully tilt Layla's head back, and poured more water back over her hair. This seemed to be some kind of beginning for the other women, who started moving around her, picking up bottles and vessels, and bathing her quietly. She let them lift her arms to wash them as the woman with the pitcher cleansed her hair. After several minutes she felt brave enough to speak again.

"Who is Jiri?"

The first woman smiled at her again.

"He is the youngest prince."

"The youngest prince? Of where?" she asked.

"Of this planet."

The answers were so vague and delivered with such soft, unassuming tones that they sounded almost like riddles.

"What do you mean this planet?"

Just as the words came out of her mouth, Layla noticed that the sleeve of one of the women's robes had lifted away from her wrist as she poured water over Layla's shoulder, revealing what looked like large glowing gems embedded in the flesh of the inside of her lower arm. Layla grabbed her wrist before she could move her hand away and turned the woman's arm over so that she could look at the gems more closely.

"What are these?" she asked.

She saw the women exchange glances.

"Do you know where you are?" the woman asked her.

"No. I can't even remember where I was before I was brought here."

The women looked at each other again and Layla could see something in their glances that told her that something had happened that was even more serious than she had originally thought.

"Should we tell her?" one of the women asked.

"Tell me what?" Layla demanded, "Who are you? Where are we? What has happened?"

The questions poured out of her in rapid-fire succession and she felt like she was screaming in contrast to the consistent, even quiet of the women. There were a few more seconds of silent tension before the woman who had first spoken to her looked back at her.

"You are in Orion's Belt."