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She died a couple of years ago during a tummy tuck surgery gone wrong. A blood clot formed, gave her a stroke, and she never even woke from the anesthesia. My father remarried a year later and I haven’t spoken to him since. If there truly is a god, he is rotting in one of the Cryons’ hells right now, I thought vengefully and without pity.
He had cheated on my mom since I was old enough to comprehend what that meant, maybe even sooner, without even trying to be discreet about it like most of the other men in our circles.
To spite him, I studied political science and international relations, set on becoming a diplomat and traveling the world, thinking that with my parentage I was born to be an ambassador or diplomat somewhere.
My father wasn’t all that upset about it. He had hoped I would take over his law firm, but imagining his daughter becoming a senator had stroked his oversized ego just enough. I hadn’t seen any sense in correcting him that I wasn’t going to become a politician.
All that was now water under the bridge I supposed. Fat good a degree in political science and international relations would do me on a different planet. It seemed all I was good for here was to become someone’s mekarry and be pampered for the rest of my life, just like my mother had been. I supposed some fates are hard to escape. A thought that made me almost laugh. Almost. Not much made me laugh nowadays.
So after Lady Natoi’s long sermon this morning on how I was supposed to behave more ladylike and flirt with the men, encourage them, I told her I would go to the park and reflect on my misbehavior, something she strongly encouraged.
“We’ll have another dinner tonight. Hopefully your reflecting will provide you enough insight on how to be a bit more amiable,” Lady Natoi remarked when I left.
Amiable? I had been amiable. I had talked to the father and his two sons. We had talked for three hours while they ogled me and brushed against me so many times it couldn’t be called accidental any longer. Sorry, Lady Natoi, I don’t think you’re going to attain even third place by getting me hitched, I snickered balefully.
I found what I called my bench in the park, because nobody ever sat on it, and stared at the beautiful waterfall and lake. It wasn’t a loud rushing fall, more like a steady stream down the rocky walls, which made it even more soothing.
A pair, of what I named swucks—fowl that looked like a cross between a swan and a duck—majestically swam over the deep magenta-colored water that always gave the impression of the sun setting over it.
Instant peace overcame me and I didn’t hear the emperor approach until he stood right over me, scaring me half to death.
My first instinct was to run, because—as silly as it sounded—I worried he came to finally punish me for my trespass yesterday. No matter how ridiculous the notion was that he would come himself instead of sending armed guards, but that was the first thought that entered my head.
I jumped off the bench, and tried to bow, or sink to my knees or whatever people did when they stood face to face with an emperor, but instead, I barely managed to lower my knees and torso, before he waved my efforts off.
To my surprise, a few minutes later I found myself sitting next to him, engaged in the most civil conversation I had had in a long time. Even if it was a bit stilted at first and I bit my tongue twice because I said something I probably shouldn’t have, I enjoyed his company.
I didn’t entirely forget that he was the emperor, one could hardly forget about that, but I was feeling more relaxed than when Lady Natoi showed me off to her friends.
I had had time to get accustomed to the alien appearance of the Pandraxians, of how their blood vessels lay on the outside of their skin, instead of underneath it, and their metallic shimmer that came in all colors of the rainbow.
So I could honestly say that the emperor was a stunning man. Power didn’t simply emanate from him, it exuded from every fiber of his being. From his regal posture to his muscular body that would have put any weight lifter on Earth to shame. No, scratch that, any competing weight lifter on steroids.
The top of my head barely reached his chest. He had to be over six and a half feet tall, maybe seven, but there was nothing disproportionate about him. Even his long fingers were perfect and, since I’m a sucker for hands, I took a few moments to study his.
His forearms were muscled in just the right way to harmonize with his strong biceps, which were on full display along with his chiseled chest and abs. I wasn’t sure why he wasn’t wearing a shirt when his broad shoulders were covered by a cape. But then again, I didn’t know that much about Pandraxian customs, only that the lord protectors moved about bare chested as well, whereas everybody else wore shirts or a uniform. I wasn’t complaining though, because I had never seen a man with such a ripped chest this close and in person. Only in magazines and on TV.
I wasn’t even sure why I was ogling him like a lovesick teenager ogled her movie idol, but I couldn’t stop either. I swear those pecs were eye magnets.
Not to mention his face. Whenever he stopped his incessant frowning and actually smiled a little, he was downright swoon-worthy with his dimples. His scowl, on the other hand, was utterly terrifying. I swore his teal eyes could freeze someone to stone. Right now though, he wasn’t frowning—he wasn’t really smiling either—but our conversation stayed mostly light. I told him about Earth and what little I knew of our galaxy while he listened interested.
“Trust me, I’m not indifferent to your planet’s plight and the suffering of your people,” he assured me.
“Thank you,” I replied with a weak smile. I wasn’t going to champion Earth’s cause to him, because I was sure smarter people than me had already done so, as his words indicated. “I’m very grateful for all the help you and your empire have already given us and I do understand the difficult position you are in.”
At that, he raised an eyebrow and eyed me warily, “You do?”
“I’m not going to pretend I understand the whole situation,” I amended, “but Lady Natoi and some…” I almost said suitors but nearly bit my tongue off keeping that word out of the conversation. “… others, have filled me in on some aspects of your difficult political situation. Which makes you helping us humans even more honorable in my eyes.”
“Honorable, eh?” His hand moved to rub his neck, and his facial expression turned to what I could only describe as a scolded schoolboy. After all the scowling he had down and his temper fit from last night, the gesture looked endearing as hell.
I swallowed and nodded. “You don’t think so?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure what I think. I feel as if I was bullied into helping your species.” He sent an apologetic grimace my way and I tried not to take his words personally. “First, one of my lord protectors found his mekarry… you’ve been told about the mekarry bond?” he asked, interrupting himself.
Oh boy, had I ever. “I’ve been briefed,” I said with a crooked grin of my own.
“Alright. Good.” He nodded before he continued. “He isn’t just one of my lord protectors, he is one of my two best friends,” he added. “And then my other best friend, none other than my superior commander, bonds with another human merrily.” He sighed. “Plus half his ship’s crew.”
