AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Do you want to sleep?"
"No."
"Do you want to groom An'tia some more?"
"No."
I hated myself for forcing her to stay with me. If only she could see that it was for her own good. Would it help if I told her? Probably not, but it was worth a try.
"If I take you home now, you'd be in pain. You are my soulmate and touching you has started the bonding process. It will have to be completed, or we will both suffer the consequences."
She didn't respond.
"Soulmates are special," I tried again. "It's very rare. It means we're destined to be together by fate itself. You are the most perfect mate for me in the entire universe. And the other way round, although it would be arrogant to suggest that I am perfect."
"It would be," she muttered.
"I know this will all seem very strange to you, but I promise, once we get to know each other, you will see that we are meant to be. The stars have brought us together for a reason."
"Let me guess, to have lots and lots of babies?" Her voice was emotionless. It hurt to hear her talk like that.
"We can have younglings, and I would very much wish to be a sire one day, but only if you want to. I know you don't think much of me just now, but I will never force you to do anything you don't want to do. I am sorry I can't take you home, but as I said, it would hurt. The bond will keep driving us together by force. I've heard it's unpleasant to try and go against it."
"So I don't have a choice? How is that not forced? It might not be you, but this supposed bond is just as bad. I don't want to be mated to you. I don't want to be your soulmate."
Her words cut deeper than any blade ever could. She was rejecting me. She didn't know that it was possible to reject a soulmate bond, but it took a great deal of strength. I doubted she'd be strong enough. She wouldn't survive the process, so I kept quiet and didn't tell her about it. I'd rather she hate me than risk her life.
"I have dreamed of you," I said instead, surprising myself. Suddenly it all made sense. "When I was close to death, I dreamed of you. Your golden hair. Your voice. I heard you in my dream, although I couldn't understand what you were saying. I didn't remember until now, but my memory is crystal clear all of a sudden. You held me. Protected me. Maybe you even stopped me from floating into the Eternal River of Souls to join my ancestors."
"In any other situation, I'd say that's almost romantic," she scoffed. "But it doesn't change anything."
Still, her voice wasn't quite as cold anymore. Her glare had lessened in intensity, going from scorching to a flickering flame.
She needed time. Time to process, time to come to understand that we were made for each other. She'd get to know me and realise that I was a good person. And then, we could conduct the starlight ritual and cement our mating bond.
"I will show you your room," I said, forcing myself to turn away from her. "And then I will bring you some Xerven delicacies. You must be hungry by now."
She didn't move to follow me. "Are you going to lock me up?"
I stopped in my tracks, aghast. "Of course not! You are free to move around the Xylope as much as you want. I just thought you might want some time to yourself. Sleep a little. Get some rest."
"That's...thoughtful of you."
I counted that as a victory. When I started walking again, she followed. I led her to one of the empty bedrooms, two doors down from my own. As much as I wanted her close to me, I realised she needed space. She didn't need to know that I'd keep an eye on her to make sure she was alright. The laughing thing had scared me. I would not lose my mate, no matter what I'd have to do.
Lesson 8: Sulking Studies
Tara
I avoided him for the next three days, ghosting through the spaceship, hurrying in the opposite direction every time I heard him approach. Every few hours, a meal would automatically appear on the table in my little room. The AI learned what I liked with every dish and repeated only the ones I'd enjoyed. All of the meals were alien and I never quite knew what I was eating. Sometimes I wasn't even sure if it was meat or vegetables.
My room was small, with every inch of space used efficiently. The bed disappeared into the wall every morning and instead, a table and a comfy chair rose from the floor. I never figured out how that technology worked. When the bed was there, the floor was seamless, yet the other furniture had to come from somewhere. In one corner, a toilet magically grew out of the wall whenever I told the ship that I needed the loo. It had taken me a way to get used to peeing in a plastic beaker attached to a pipe that started to suck as soon as I held it to... certain body parts. I supposed it would also work if we lost the artificial gravity, but it was still weird. Instead of washing my hands in a sink, I pressed them on a blue spot on the wall and turquoise mist would envelop them, leaving my skin refreshed and smelling of violets. Still, I didn't like that my bedroom was also my bathroom. Efficient, yes, but not how I wanted to live long-term. I would have liked to ask Bruin how long we'd travel on the Xylope, but that would have meant talking to him. No, thanks. I preferred to be on my own.
Another thing I didn't like was that the bed didn't have a duvet or even a blanket. The mattress was warm, the perfect temperature actually, but I missed having something to wrap around me for comfort. I slept in my tour guide uniform the first night, but when I woke up in the morning - or at least I assumed it was morning, it was hard to tell without daylight - a stack of clothes was waiting for me on the end of my bed. I wasn't sure if Bruin or the ship's AI had provided them. After finding some very lacy lingerie among the stack, I hoped it was the AI.
After three days, I started to smell, so I asked the ship to show me to a shower. Light strips appeared on the floor, guiding me to a door at the end of the corridor. I could swear it hadn't existed before. I'd explored the entire ship and snooped into every room. This one was completely empty save for three narrow shelves attached to one wall. No, they were part of the wall and I bet they could be sucked in like the other furniture. The door slid closed behind me. The ceiling glowed dimly, making it feel like a cosy cave.
Assuming that water would somehow spurt from the ceiling without the need for a shower head or faucet, I took off my clothes and placed them on the shelves.I stood in the centre of the room and waited, but nothing happened. Stretching out my arms, I waved, just in case there was a motion sensor. Nothing.
