The Alien Prince’s Omega by Lorelei M. Hart

1

Kagin

Sittingin my favorite spot overlooking our city as the day ended, I took a deep breath, inhaling the fragrant air. Both the suns, one red and one blue, were slipping toward the horizon. When those blazing orbs were high in the sky, their combined light had our planet, Thulnara, shimmering in a purple hue.

But now it was the moons’ turn to shine. Again there were two, Izleen and Zialt, and they were a mated pair, just as the suns were. One black and one white produced silvery beams which coated everything in a shimmering glow. We took our identities from the moons. I was an izleen, while my future mate, my rupling, would be a zialt and would bear our children.

The moment the day changed to night was a sight I never tired of. The suns signed off with a nod, and the moons acknowledged their work with a bow. They never appeared bored doing the same thing over and over.

Unlike me. My future had been mapped out for me since before I was born. Looking in from the outside, people might think our power and prestige provided everything we desired. But I was locked into a system which gave me little freedom. My father, King Savvair, had been on the throne since his twentieth year. When he was little more than a boy, responsibility had been thrust upon him after his own father died in a hunting accident. As such, hunting by the royal family had been banned, my father terrified a similar fate would befall one of us, me in particular.

I did not wish to rule but had little choice. And First Father had decreed if I did not take a mate by my thirtieth year, he and the council of elders would choose one for me. The anniversary of my birth was fast approaching, and First Father reminded me of it constantly. Both of my fathers. First Father was king. Second Father was his mate and consort.

Only this morning, when we had eaten the first meal of the day, the king had called up a list of prospective mates. Having the screen hovering above us as he scrolled through the names had put me off my food, and I had pushed the meal away. My younger brother, Herix, sniggered. “I am so glad I do not have to worry about finding the perfect mate. I lie with whomever I choose and no one cares.” That speech earned him a glowering look from our parents.

And now as the air crackled and the light transformed from purple to silver, I was contemplating breaking a law. I wanted to see my future. In generations past, soothsayers had terrorizedthe population by predicting miserable fates for those who came to them. And driven by greed, they insisted destiny could be massaged and shaped if they received large amounts of wealth.

Soothsayers lived in the shadows, their practice no longer accepted as it once was. It was a trek from the city to find the one I wanted, and I had given my bodyguard the night off, saying I was staying in the palace. I snuck away and waited until nightfall before striding away from the city, along a path lined with long, feathery grasses in multiple colors, which were dotted over our planet. Each one represented a different food group, available for anyone who was hungry.

In daylight, the fronds on the gray ones glistened with droplets, available for any traveller to quench their thirst by sipping the beads of water. At night, they curled inward, replenishing their supply for the following day.

The village I was seeking was over the other side of a river, one in which a torrent of water flowed downstream, tossing and rupturing anything that got in its way. But my people had developed a skill over millennia that allowed us to cross by harnessing our power. Being able to regulate the heat in our hands and feet, anywhere from freezing to the heat of a thousand suns, had its benefits.

I placed one foot on the surging water and it turned to ice. Another and another. I walked slowly, one foot on the ice groaning beneath me, the other in the air, waiting until I was standing on something solid before lowering the second. When I leaped onto the river bank on the other side, the river splintered the ice into shards and swallowed them as evidence of its rage.

Vines brushed over my head and whispered, “The King’s son,” and “What does he want here?” as I scrambled along the path leading to the village. And when I reached my destination, I stood at the entrance and waited as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Ancient trees grew overhead, protecting the settlement from the moons.

Slivers of light peeked through the gaps in the canopy as I stalked to the hut at the end of the path. Low whispers followed me, accompanied by grunts and rustles as I passed each dwelling. But I ignored them, safe in the knowledge no one would hurt me. Despite living on the fringes of society, First Father kept us safe from our enemies, protecting the village dwellers from marauders.

Standing outside the hut, I searched for a sensor or signs I was being monitored. Our technology had developed a way for buildings and individual rooms to recognize their owners, occupants, and approved visitors, allowing them to walk through the walls by rearranging our atoms. But here I found none.

“I am honored by the presence of King Savvair’s eldest offspring.” The scratchy voice at my shoulder had me planting my feet on the ground and standing rigid while a woman appeared and circled me.

“I wish to seek your guidance.” Soothsayer Idda. I did not say it out loud, fearing word would get back to my fathers.

“Come in.” Idda grabbed a knob on the wall, an opening appeared, and I walked in after her. She settled in a rickety chair and bade me sit on the floor at her feet. As a prince, I had never lowered myself to anyone but my fathers’ feet, but after a moment’s hesitation, I did as she asked.

“What is it you want of me?” She placed a hand on my head, and warmth radiated, not hot enough to cause pain, but it relieved my body of stress.

“My father, the king, wishes me to mate.”

“Soon,” she murmured, her eyes closed as her body hummed and swayed.

“Yes. But my true mate is disguised. If I do not find him and make him mine, he will be lost. And another will be chosen for me.”

“He is not hidden, but he is happy. His occupation brings him great joy.”

Not a prince. A worker.

“Please show him to me so I can present him to my family.”

Her eyes snapped open. “He is not from Thulnara.”

My head jerked backward. No wonder I could not find him. I must journey to another planet. “Tell me where. Please, my future is in your hands.”

“He is on Earth, the blue planet.”

“Earth!” I shouted. “The small planet in a distant galaxy which my grandfathers explored, deeming the people and their technology light years behind ours, and vowing never to make contact with Earthlings again until they were more advanced? That Earth?” I paused for breath.

She nodded.

It was not what I had been expecting.My life was about to change in ways I could not imagine.