The Princess and her Alien Rogue: Alien Romance (6 page)

“Of course, Princess.” Mabel helped pack more food into another basket. “Here,” she passed the picnic baskets over to Johar, who lifted them with ease.

“Thank you,” Tallia said. As they moved towards another doorway, which he could only presume took them outside, she turned back and said very quietly, “Do you have a message for Yassa?”

“Is that where you are going?” Mabel asked, her face lighting up. Why didn’t you say. Limall, another basket. Put in some fruit and bread. And that leftover cake.”

“I wasn’t sure.” Tallia faltered, which was unusual, and his interest was piqued.

“She would love to see you.”

“I hope so,” Tallia said. “I don’t want to bring trouble to her door, that is all.”

“What interest could
they
have in her? She is out of the way.”

“They have an interest in everything I do.”

Mabel reached out as if to place a comforting hand on Tallia’s, but then she pulled back. The princess might be accepted here, but she wasn’t one of them. They still knew their place. “Will you give her my love. If you don’t mind. It’s been a long time since I have visited her too.”

“I will. I’ll see you on my return. I may not be able to come straight away, but I will come and let you know she is OK.”

“Thank you. Take care, Princess.”

“I will.” Tallia picked up the last of the picnic baskets; Johar carried the others effortlessly. She led him out through the door and into another hallway. They passed room after room filled with provisions, and then at last they were out into a courtyard. Surprisingly, there were no guards here.

“This way,” she said, and walked across the courtyard and through an archway. There was a kitchen garden, filled with vegetables, being tended by four men and one woman. It was the woman who looked up as they approached. When she saw it was Tallia she bowed her head, but her eyes were fixed on Johar.

“Princess,” she said, her eyes growing wider as they approached. When she stood straight again, she took a step back. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes.” Tallia looked at Johar. “He won’t hurt you. He’s my husband-to-be.”

“You are to be married at last?” the gardener asked.

“Yes.”

The gardener’s face cracked into a smile. “We have been so worried. Talk was that a husband would not be found and that the Emissars would get control.” She looked at Johar again, but this time there was curiosity in her expression. “We didn’t think you would find a man worthy.”

“Oh, I don’t know if he is worthy. But he’ll do.”

“Charming,” Johar said, but he liked the way Tallia seemed to have a spark to her now she was outside of the palace.

“Now I know why you are here,” the gardener said.

“You do?” Tallia asked.

“You wish to have some time alone. The two of you out of the ever-seeing eye of the Emissars.”

“Yes.” Tallia nodded her head in agreement. “You know how it is.”

“Yes. Of course.” The gardener downed her tools and led them across the kitchen garden and out through a gate. “Here. It is charged. You have about two hours before the battery gets flat. I’m sorry it is not more, but the Emissars will no longer let us repair it and the charger is faulty.”

“Why? Why won’t they let you repair it?” Johar asked as they loaded the baskets in.

“They are preparing for the end.”

“The end?” Tallia asked, and the gardener’s face looked full of horror.

“I’m sorry. I forgot my place.” The gardener looked concerned.

“Speak, please.” Tallia climbed into the cruiser, and Johar did the same, settling down into the seat next to her.

She looked around and then said quietly, “The end of your family’s reign. They say that the time has run out. But now I see that is not true.” She looked at Johar, her eyes going up and down his body, taking in every inch of his muscled physique. “You will soon breed the heir you need. He is as fertile as the
jobo
.”

Tallia giggled nervously, blushing at the words.

“A jobo?” he asked.

The gardener burst out laughing, and then apologized. “I am sorry. That was wrong of me.”

“It’s all right. I just hope you are right,” Tallia said, and climbed into the cruiser. “Coming?” she asked Johar.

The gardener laughed again, but this time said nothing other than, “Safe journey. Be back before nightfall.”

“Why?” Tallia asked. “I’m not afraid of anything out there.”

The gardener became serious now. “We are under curfew.”

“What?” Tallia asked.

“The Emissars brought the change in only five days ago. If you are not in the palace before nightfall, then you have to report to the captain on your return. They will come and lock these gates too,” she said, pointing at the wooden gates leading out into the world outside the palace.

“And that is not something we would want to do?” asked Johar. “I mean you are the princess; you rule the planet right now. What will the captain say to you?”

“I don’t know,” Tallia said. “Maybe we shouldn’t go.”

“Wait.” He placed his hand on hers as she made to get out of the cruiser. “They cannot tell you what you can and cannot do.”

“I know.” She looked at him harshly, and then she understood what he was saying. “Oh, I didn’t mean we shouldn’t go because of being back by nightfall, I meant we should not go so that I can go and tell the Emissars to revoke the curfew, and find out what other laws are being passed that I don’t know about.”

“Not now. Let’s go out first, and when you have calmed down, we will go and see them.”

“We?” she asked. “You have no say in this.”

“I don’t want a say in it. What I do want is to protect you.”

She sat back down, looking almost horrified, as if she did not know how to process the words he had just said. Beside them the gardener giggled and walked off muttering something about hope and the jobo.

Chapter Nine – Tallia

Was he playing with her? Or simply playing her, just as he had played the man in the inn. To him this was a gamble; to her it was her life, and the lives of her people. Yet she could not work out his angle, unless it was to keep her alive so he could get the rest of his coin. He also needed to keep his own head attached to his shoulders. So that must be why he would help her, things would be a lot easier if she were alive and free to transfer the currency to his account.

Another part of her wanted to believe he cared for her. Yet her logic told her that was impossible, they had only met a few hours ago. No one fell in love that fast, did they?

She ignored her own feelings in this; they didn’t count. It was easy to believe you were in love with someone when you were lonely and marginalized, and your only true friend was your slave.

“So these jobo?” he asked, grinning.

“What about them?” she asked coolly. Her thoughts had switched to more important things, such as the curfew.

“I take it they breed a lot,” he said, leaving his meaning hanging.

“I only require you to make me pregnant once. Hopefully.”

“And then what? You are going to throw me out?”

“Johar T’Omil, I can’t afford to pay you more than we agreed. So yes. One child. Then you leave.”

“Ouch,” he said, clasping his hands to his heart was, and her eyes were drawn to the silver tattoos that seemed to shimmer where his hands touched his skin.

“Tell me about those.” She indicated his silver tattoos.

“These.” His voice became serious. “They were a gift on my fifth birthday.”

“A gift. That does not tell me what they are for. They have meaning, I presume. They are part of your power.”

“My power? I don’t think I have power. Only through these. They were given by the Elusive Monks; they are a combination of magical wards and glamours.”

“Which is what you used on the guards?” she asked.

“Yes, they come in useful sometimes, but I use them as little as possible.”

“Why?”

“Because I like to be seen for who I really am.”

She laughed. “You are over seven feet tall, and built as big as a
tirimir.
How can people not see you for what you really are. Especially with that sense of humor you have.”

“Sarcasm. Right?”

“I wasn’t being sarcastic. Not really,” she said truthfully, as she guided the cruiser out of the gate the gardeners used. It was not guarded, but required a code, which she had been given. Once the code was inputted, the gates opened and she drove slowly through them. Then they were free.

“So you like my sense of humor?” he asked, leaning back and looking around them as they drove.

“I didn’t say that either.” They were traveling through a field of corn which was only up to knee height. She used to love coming out here as a child and getting lost in the stalks of gold when it was the shoulder height of an adult and hid her almost completely. Those memories were some of her best. A time when she had no real idea of what the world was like. No expectations, no fears.

“Tell me what you are thinking?” he asked.

“Private thoughts.”

“Serious thoughts, by the look of your face.”

“Now you can read my expressions?” she asked, flattening her expression to keep her thoughts veiled from him.

“Don’t,” he said softly.

“Don’t what?”

“Shut me out.”

“That is the best place for you … on the outside.”

“Are you so scared of letting anyone in?”

“Only those I don’t know.”

“Which is everyone. Except Rian. Tell me what is the connection between you two?”

“I am her princess, she is my slave.” She closed her eyes to shut him out, then she heard him sigh. Would it be so bad to let him in? To let anyone in?

“Good, neutral answer,” he said blandly.

“What’s it like on your world? Limera, isn’t it?” She wanted to know that other places existed where peace reigned. “And why did you leave?”

“I’m a trader. That’s why I left.”

“Now who is hiding from who they really are?”

He sat up, and turned to look at her. “Why do you care? I thought I was only here to fuck you.”

“Now who is defensive?” She studied him for a moment. “I suppose I want to know who the father of my child is.”

“Or maybe you don’t.” He looked out of the window as the corn field gave way to a field of grass, where in the distance they could see the rows upon rows of solar panels, which powered the palace and the surrounding town. “You think your planet is screwed up.”

“Tell me about yours,” she said. “I would truly like to know. It’s been a long time since anyone has spoken to me about politics. My father kept me out of it all, but my mother, when she was coherent, used to tell me about the different planets and their leaders. I think she began to realize that I was the only hope for the monarchy to continue its rule. Which is probably why she went crazy in the end.”

“Don’t say that. I think they would be proud of you. Both of your parents.”

“My mother, yes; my dad could never feel anything but disappointment towards me. He would never betray my mother by taking another wife or mistress, but when she died, he planned to remarry and produce an heir. A boy.”

“But he died soon after?”

“Within a year.”

“What happened?”

“An accident. He traveled to the outer lands; that is where the spiritual center of Carinia is. The Emissars persuaded him that the gods would bless him if he went through the trials of the Nine.”

“He failed the trials?”

“No. He passed them. But on the way home his cruiser blew up.” A surge of sorrow swept over her. Tallia had always hoped that one day her father would recognize that she was capable of ruling, that he did not need a son to carry on his bloodline. Yet it was not to be. At least she had been spared the heartache of him finding a woman to replace her mother. She knew that was unfair and selfish, but she could not bear the thought of someone else in her mother’s chamber, or in her father’s arms. It would have been like a betrayal.

“I’m sorry.” He sounded sincere.

“Thank you. I should miss him, but he hardly spoke to me. After my mother died, he would avoid me; it was as if he blamed me for everything. But particularly blamed me for not being a boy.”

Ahead of them the fields gave way to woodland, and that was where she steered the cruiser towards. It was good to enter the coolness of the forest, for the green leaves to filter the sunlight; it soothed her, and she would have loved to have lived here, in a treehouse somewhere, rather than the palace with all its rules and traditions.

“My mother came from a planet where two-thirds of the land was covered in ancient forests. She would tell me about them when I went to sleep.”

“You were close to her?” he asked.

“When I was young, before her obsession over an heir for my father overtook her.” She slowed to enjoy being under the forest canopy. “And you? Are your parents both from Limera?”

“Yes, it’s frowned upon to marry an alien.” He laughed and shook his head. “So my popularity is going to skyrocket after we’re married.”

“Because your family is important.” She studied him as they passed under dappled shade and into patches of sunlight, his body going from a sliver shimmer to a cool glow, making him look more magical than ever.

“Why would you say that?” He sounded suspicious; she knew she had hit a nerve.

“The tattoos. You were given them when you were five. Are all children given them when they are five by your Elusive Monks?”

“No.”

“So you were singled out. Maybe because your parents, or your clan, helped them. Or maybe because you are part of a ruling family. Don’t look at me as if I’m mad. You are no ordinary male. Even next to your friend Krigan, there is a difference that is obvious. And it stands to reason.”

“What stands to reason?”

She paused, not sure how he was going to take the news that she had visited a fortune teller who told her he was fated to be her husband. “Do you think it’s chance that I met you when I did?”

“Yes.” He shook his head. “Please don’t tell me you think it was something else.”

She smiled, but didn’t answer. This was going to make her sound deluded. But then why shouldn’t he believe her, he was the one with shiny tattoos all over his body.