Grumpy Alien King by Celeste King
Xxuric
“Yes, sir. Well, it is customary for a bride to navigate her own ship,” the idiot on the phone was saying for what must’ve been the fifth time.
I ground my teeth to bite back my retort as I continued to furiously pace back and forth in my limited foyer. I should really consider adding more space, especially with Jaxil around more.
“Sir?”
“Yes?” I spat at him to cover up my absent mind. He was doing nothing to help me, and I had grown tired of hearing his excuses. I wanted the bride.
“I said that her location is in the same quadrant as you. She will land within the next few hours-“
“No!” I cut him off quickly. “It has already been three hours!”
“Yes, sir-“
“THREE HOURS!” I roared into my phone. An agency- the best agency- should have ensured that a bride would be on time. Wasn’t she supposed to be perfect after all?
“I am sure she will be arriving shortly, sir, but have some patience. It is a trait needed in a husband.” I could hear the smirk through the phone line.
My jaw dropped at such an accusation. The idea that I would need to order a bride for myself was preposterous. I could bed any woman. Easily.
“The wife is not for me.” My voice rumbled deep and low. “She is a gift for my son. It would do you well to watch your words carefully. You know little of the transactions that occur through this agency. You are merely here to solve my problems, not chastise me.”
His gulps were audibly. “Sir, I-“
“Find the bride.” With one click, I ended the call.
“Great choice,” Jaxil called from the living room, splayed out across a tattered armchair. I glared in his direction, not needing his input. He had put me in this situation in the first place. He continued, though, undeterred, “a wife that is late is not a good wife.” He pushed upright, meandering in my direction.
I stopped my pacing and squared up in front of Jaxil. “What would you know of a good wife?”
He snorted. “Being without a mate does not make me blind, Xxuric.” He turned and began to slink back towards the kitchen. “If she is negligent in her timeliness, she may be lacking in other areas, too.”
There was only one area that I had truly cared about for my boy. Taking her time would be beneficial in that aspect. “We will assess her once she is here.”
Jaxil tisked at me, opening his mouth to diminish my decision once again, though it was truly his idea. He paused, though, when something just behind me caught his eye.
I followed Jaxil’s stare to where Dahrial was standing in the shadows. He flinched when my gaze hit him, and a pang echoed through my chest. I stood frozen as my son scurried away. I wanted to go after him but instead, chose to let him go.
Dahrial had been moping all day as we had prepared for the bride’s arrival. At first, I tried to talk to my boy. He had explained how opposed he was to my offer, and while I believed it to be shyness, he had made it clear he was purely uncomfortable.
By the third time he had sulked through the living room, I stopped trying to talk to him. Instead, I had resorted to giving him orders. Still, he refused to see the beauty in such an arrangement. Irritation had set in, and I had decided to allow the woman to convince my son just how blessed he was now.
“Dahrial!” Jaxil called, but I waved a hand out him.
“Let him be. He will come around to the idea when she arrives.” I hoped.
“If she arrives.”
My eyes narrowed, but I brushed off his comment. “It is difficult for your bride to be chosen for you, but she will be a good one. I’ll be sure of it if the agency hasn’t done its job properly.”
“Your boy is a lucky one.” He extended a bottle towards me, and I took it. “Cheers to the newlyweds!”
I chuckled. “Cheers!”
Our celebration was cut short by a sharp banging on my front door. I ripped it open to find Rhamad, head of my security, standing on my doorstep.
“Sir,” he inclined his head in a show of respect.
“What is it?” Rarely did my security appear at my home.
“A shuttle is approaching, sir.”
“The bride?”
“We assume so, but I have not been able to make contact with the pilot.”
I nodded, turning back to where Jaxial stood. The playful grin was wiped off his face. Here stood the man I trusted with my life, who would protect me to the end.
“Dahrial!” I shouted.
Sluggish footsteps echoed down the hall, and I let out a low growl to indicate my impatience. Normally, my son was more compliant, but he did not speed up his pace. He stopped just inside the doorframe of the hallway.
“Your bride is arriving. We must go now.”
His face turned an ashen gray, and for a moment, guilt flushed through me. Had I been rash in this decision? I shook the thought from my head as Jaxial grabbed Dahrial’s arm and dragged him out of the house.
Without waiting for Jaxial’s response, I rushed out of the door ahead of Rhamad. I lived within walking distance of the office of the weapons manufacturing plant I operated. It would only take a few minutes to reach the area where the shuttle was descending.
As I rounded the corner to the office, though, a glint in the sky caught my eye. I slowed my jog down, coming slowly to a stop. I recognized the rocket soaring through the sky, headed straight for the shuttle holding my son’s new bride.
It was mine.
