Kidnapped By the Alien Prince by Tori Kellett

Chapter Seven

Callie was awed by the daylight feast they had as well. She did her best with the villagers, but having to have every word translated was hard work. The women seemed to be doing okay, considering. Lexie and Sascha were adapting the most. Madison hadn’t joined them, but Brey reported she had eaten, so that was good. Isobel remained polite but aloof. Rachel seemed to be trying to be as obnoxious as possible, but after watching her, she noticed it was only the warriors she picked on, so she wasn’t a bully. Callie—of course—could give as good as she got, and she got the distinct impression Rachel was enjoying their sparring.

It was interesting to see the older villagers. They were obviously the same race as the warriors but much more of a regular height and build, their skin more a light pale gray and their hair blond rather than white. Their children and the young people obviously born after the genome alterations or whatever it was called often towered above them. Seeing them alongside Zak and his men, the differences were very glaring. She felt so bad for them though. To have an entire generation sicken and not only die but pass that burden onto their offspring was heartbreaking. She had left the resentment of her capture behind in the last twenty-four hours, because really, what did she have to miss. She might have longed for her old life with the pedicures that went along with it, but the tradeoff had never been worth it. She doubted very much Zak would ever make her a mother—a matriche—but she liked the idea of a cause to get behind. She might make a better future here. She smiled to herself. Better sex, anyway. She’d been so desperate for a child, she’d faked every orgasm she’d had in the last three years with Gary. Then the final year, she hadn’t even bothered doing that.

She finished her meal of fruit and an odd dish that she assumed was porridge. It was accompanied by flat leaves that scooped everything up. She tried to bite a leaf, and it tasted like cardboard, so she left it alone. She caught Zak looking at her a few times, and he seemed pleased, especially when she persuaded Voren to teach her how to say thank you. Voren seemed to have forgiven her for rejecting Zak, anyway.

As they were finishing, a guard came running over and nearly fell in his hurry to impart news. “My prince, the Alliance is here. They are saying they have evidence one of our cruisers broke the boundary agreement. The king has detained Prince N’ameth, and they are calling for his execution.”

Zak spat out something Callie’s translator didn’t pick up, but she could fill in the blanks. He stood and called his warriors to him.

“And the Alliance has this much power?” Isobel asked just before Callie got the chance to.

Zak turned. “They keep us trapped here simply because there are no longer enough of us to fight. We are unable to trade technology, so most of our weapons are outdated.” He paused. “And we only have five cruisers currently; two are barely shuttles. N’ameth pilots one.” He looked around. “I am sorry for dragging you all into a fight not of your making, but I must go and see if I can think of an excuse.”

“Something tells me they aren’t going to accept he just got lost,” Callie said.

“But they might accept responding to a distress signal.”

Everyone turned and stared at Rachel. She carried on. “What if we were in trouble? Our planet is advanced enough we arrange pleasure space flights. One of those wormhole things opened and started pulling us through. Strong gravitational field,” she added like everyone was supposed to know what she was talking about. “We were flung through, but it damaged our hull because our shuttle wasn’t designed for extreme gravitational stress. N’ameth heard our distress call and came just in time as the hull was collapsing and rescued us.”

“Damn, woman,” Sascha said admiringly. “You watch a lot of TV.”

“But there are no males?” Voren pointed out. “You clearly aren’t crew.”

“Says who?” Rachel taunted. “I can fly anything you give me.”

Callie gaped as did everyone else, but Rachel shrugged again. “But for this we say they sacrificed themselves to hold the ship together so the females could escape.”

Callie glanced hopefully at Zak. “And just as we were rescued, the ship exploded.”

“You have to admit,” Voren said slowly, “it is the action all warriors are taught. Save the civilians at all cost. Add the fact that they are females, and it goes without saying.”

“It means they must accompany us though, my prince,” H’adaar pointed out.

Callie nodded and met Rachel’s determined gaze. “We leave Madison here. Say she’s traumatized.”

Zak stepped closer and slid a thumb down her cheek. “I wanted to wait to give you the chance, but I am thirty cycles today. If I claim you in front of the Assembly, my sire will have no choice but to give up the crown, and I can save N’ameth’s life. The Alliance can only ask us to execute N’ameth; they wouldn’t actually do it themselves.”

Callie chewed her lip thoughtfully. This was it. Decision time. Although, if she were honest, she’d made her decision last night. “If you claim me as your queen, does that mean all the rest will be given time to make their own decisions?”

Zak tilted his head to one side. “They will be expected to allow a mating. Even I would have difficulty stopping that, and as I am about to make changes a lot of the elders will hate, it would be hard for me not to insist the females allow this. As king I would be expected to protect my people, and that unfortunately means breeding.”

“But we get to choose,” Rachel insisted. “We get to choose the warrior.”

Isobel and Sascha nodded in determination. Callie eyed Lexie, who looked scared. She’d forgotten for a moment how young she was. “Zak, can Lexie stay here? With Madison?”

Zak followed her gaze and smiled gently at the young woman. “Of course. I will leave H’adaar and two warriors here.” He glanced at the two males who had joined the group. “And H’adaar, Theron will be able to help guard the village, for he is soon to enter his warrior training.” Callie watched as Theron brought himself up straighter and assumed Zak had just imparted some sort of honor.

“My prince.” H’adaar thumped his chest.

Zak nodded. He held out his hand to Callie. “My queen? I am sorry I cannot offer you a pallet to be carried on.” Callie snorted.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Callie said dryly. “My legs work just fine.” She caught Zak’s quick inhale and knew instantly he was remembering last night when her legs had indeed worked just fine. Heat warmed her through, but she kept her head up, trying to act, well, queen-like.

“Come on, Majesty,” Rachel taunted Callie. “We need to get your ass to the palace.”

Isobel scoffed, and Callie didn’t blame her. She walked with Rachel. “Can you really fly anything?” Callie wanted them to be friends, and she had an idea a pilot would be a good thing.

Rachel nodded once. “In another life.”

Callie looked at Rachel. She seemed different. Still defensive, but she looked like she hadn’t slept. Callie wanted to ask if she was okay but imagined her inquiry would get shot down, so Callie left her alone.

It wasn’t too far, but the sun was rising, and all the warriors’ legs were way longer than hers. Zak seemed to notice after she nearly fell over a tree root that seemed out to get her, so he slowed and put an arm around her waist.

“Tell me what to expect.” She tried to bank down her body’s response to the effortless way he was supporting her.

“I honestly don’t know. He insists he removed my title to protect the people. My matriche was alive and gave him four sons, so he was able to be crowned when he reached thirty cycles.”

She stopped suddenly. “Wait, you’re forty-five?” Her eyes roved over him. “Damn.”

She didn’t think it was possible for Ishtaans to blush, but as she noted Zak’s skin on his neck darkening, she was pretty sure that was what it was, and he pulled her gently to start walking. “I am thirty cycles, but my sire is sixty-four cycles and will live, I expect, to nearly double that.”

Callie stopped again. What. “How old will you live to in cycles?”

He smirked. “The life expectancy of an Ishtaan warrior is around one hundred cycles.” He cupped her face and leaned down to whisper, “I will live to be one hundred and fifty of your Earth years. As my mulaa, so will you.”

Callie felt faint. “You’re telling me I’m going to live for a hundred and fifty years?” It was mind-blowing.

She carried on walking, but her mind was racing a million miles a minute. “What makes me live that long?”

“I do,” Zak said simply. “We bonded last night.”

Callie had to laugh. “Super sperm?” she whispered.

Zak’s eyes crinkled. “Not just. I am sure Azlaan will explain the scientific details if you want to know.” Zak glanced at her after another moment. “I would love to hear some more about your life.”

Callie blew out a breath. “I grew up in a small town in an area called Kentucky but wanted more, and I went to a larger one to study.” She had met Gary on a girls’ weekend in Vegas. He was on a similar weekend with his friends and knew how to splash enough money around to get noticed. God, she had been such a fool. “I told you I lost my daughter, and then we tried to get pregnant for a long time, resulting in an ectopic pregnancy.”

He frowned. “Ectopic means unusual or the wrong place.”

She guessed his translator was struggling. “Babies are meant to develop in an area that will expand to enable them to grow. Mine didn’t get to that place, and that part of me had to be surgically removed.”

Zak stopped suddenly. “They intentionally remove body parts on your planet?” It sounded so funny, even if it wasn’t.

“I don’t know what happens to your females, even if we have the same insides, I guess, but the part on me had to be removed or I would have died.” There had been days when she wished she had.

He tugged her close and rested his head on the top of hers. She reveled in the feeling of being so protected, but as everyone else had stopped because of them, she reluctantly stepped back. “I am sorry, my Callie.”

“Anyway, we spent thousands of dollars on trying to get me pregnant, and in the end, Gary left me. We owed a lot of money and I found I didn’t have anything to pay it with.” She hadn’t known, but the house had been mortgaged up to the eyeballs. “I moved into a one-room apartment and took two jobs.”

Zak nodded. “Tasks?”

“I needed to be paid money to live. To buy food, clothes.”

“What sort of tasks?”

“I worked in a store that sold food.” Her other job was complicated. “Where I lived, a lot of people visited for pleasure. The male I worked for entertained them.”

Zak frowned.

“Have you heard of magic?”

“Of course. There are rumors of many races with such abilities. I hadn’t realized your people—”

“No, they don’t or not like this. The male was good at tricking people. Sleight of hand?” He nodded again, so Callie thought it must have translated okay. “It made people laugh, and he got paid to make that happen. I helped him.” The Bazaar had been barely a stone’s throw from the Strip. She doubted Bryan—or Marco Bettuzzi, as he had decided sounded better—would have been booked by a major outfit, but he tried. He’d even taught her a couple of tricks which were kind of amusing. Not that she’d ever been arrested, but if so, she could get out of a pair of handcuffs if she needed to.

“Will you miss it?” Zak asked, worry apparent in his face.

She shook her head. Miss not getting to bed until four in the morning knowing sometimes she had to be at the store by seven? Miss the grabby hands of her landlord when he wanted more than the rent? She took a breath and forced the memories away. “So you just turn up with me and bam, he hands you the crown?”

It was Zak’s turn to pause. “By law, yes, but I have something else I must share with you first.”

Callie eyed him warily. “You can’t make me sick, right?”

He immediately shook his head. “No, it’s a genetic condition and cannot affect you or your young. It is only passed down the Ishtaan female line.”

Just then the trees thinned, and Callie faltered for a third time. “Wow.” It was the palace, and utterly incredible. Set on what looked like the side of a cliff, a huge castle rose up as if it were made from the cliff face itself, and as the sun touched it, it sparkled. “It’s beautiful.”

“It was made from black rock. Black rock is what we mine Azteen crystals from. Ishtaan has one of the greatest deposits of Azteen crystals in our universe.”

“They’re valuable?”

He nodded. “We trade with them for a fraction of what they are worth, but—” He suddenly stopped, as if realizing he was going to impart some secret. She didn’t push though. They might have been lovers, and she might be about to be his queen, but they had known each other barely a few days. It was hardly the length of time needed to invite trust. They walked closer, and Callie could see the stares from the other women. Even Rachel seemed impressed. Callie was just about to ask what he had been going to tell her when they heard a shout, and the large gates opened.

At least twenty Ishtaan warriors all ran out, all pointing what suspiciously looked like weapons as they surrounded Zak’s group. He pulled Callie behind him, which she was more than happy with, and he came to a stop and growled warningly at the warrior facing him. “How dare you raise a weapon against your prince.”

The male facing him looked uncomfortable but resolute and didn’t lower the weapon. “I am sorry, my prince, but I am bound by the orders of His Highness.”

The rumble in Zak’s chest increased, and Callie stepped out from behind him and placed a soothing hand on Zak’s arm. “Maybe we should find out what the problem is?” She didn’t want to encourage any itchy trigger fingers.

The warrior’s eyes widened in astonishment as he saw her. His mouth opened, but nothing came out. She smiled. “Hello. My name’s Calista. It’s very nice to meet you, but I’d really rather do this without you pointing a gun at me.”

When the warrior seemed too stunned to move, Zak barked angrily. “D’estaan! Have you so little honor that you think to offer such insult by not bowing to your future queen?”

The warrior jerked but immediately flung his weapon to the ground and prostrated himself. He actually knelt on the ground. “Forgive me, my prince,” he whispered, completely wretchedly, and barely a second later, every warrior that stood with D’estaan did exactly the same.

Zak fixed his gaze on every single one of them in turn. Callie thought he might have left them there forever if she hadn’t tugged pointedly at his hand, but he took a breath and nodded. “D’estaan, what’s happening?”

D’estaan got to his feet, and the others copied. He tucked the silver thing Callie assumed was some sort of weapon into a holster strapped to his leg. “Senator Vashti from the Alliance has come to report one of our cruisers for violating the border. That their scanners tracked it even crossing the Dark. Prince N’ameth has been arrested. Prince Azlaan is in the throne room with the full Assembly, as is First Prince Kaleth.”

Callie felt Zak still. “I thought he had been ordered into seclusion?”

D’estaan shook his head. “His Highness requested he appear as soon as Senator Vashti arrived.”

Callie frowned. Who was Kaleth? That didn’t make sense. There were four brothers, and one was missing. “Who’s Kaleth?” she asked into the silence.

Zak swallowed and turned to her, apology written in his eyes. “Kaleth is my son. He is nine cycles. I was just going to explain before—” He waved a hand in frustration.

Callie absorbed that. His son? He had a child? Then who was his mother?

She was sure the question was in her eyes as well when she met Zak’s. “His mother is dead. She died of the same disease affecting all the female warriors.”

Callie’s heart hurt, and she rubbed her chest absently. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you,” Zak acknowledged. “I am sorry you are finding out like this.”

Callie nodded and took Zak’s offered hand, her mind going a million miles a minute. Zak had been mated before, so what was all that about her being his mulaa? He’d made it sound rare and a one-shot deal, but if he had been mated before, it clearly wasn’t. Her happiness over last night soured a little until her common sense took over. She had been married before. It wasn’t like she was some virgin queen from a fantasy novel.

They carried on walking to the palace as all the warriors fell in behind them, but she spent more time worrying about Kaleth than she did what would happen to them when they saw the king. Nine cycles, so around twelve, thirteen? That would be hard, and her heart ached for the little boy who had lost his mother. Would he hate her? Classic images of wicked stepmothers rose to mind. She wasn’t wicked, but she was definitely a replacement, and he hadn’t had the chance to get used to the idea.

She paused. He didn’t even know. “Should we try and tell Kaleth first?”

“It’s too late,” Zak ground out, and she sympathized. “This was the last thing I expected, or I would have seen him myself.”

Her baby had been a girl. She would have been ten this year, not so much younger than Kaleth. She glanced at Zak’s face. He seemed closed off. Not the attentive warrior he had been less than two minutes ago, and certainly not the same lover who had lavished her with such care last night.

There were more warriors on guard lining the walls as they approached the steps to take them up, and all lowered their guns as they took in the procession. As Callie rounded the third flight of steps, she thought ruefully that she wasn’t going to need any exercise today.

At last, they got to a wider, more ornate corridor, and Zak tightened his fingers on hers in warning. They stepped through an open set of doors, and Callie was really glad she had something to hold on to because the silence as they walked toward the older version of Zak sitting on a throne was threatening and oppressive. Zak bowed fully from the waist as he stopped before the dais.

“Sire, I am come to present Calista from the planet Earth, who has found me worthy and has bonded, becoming my future queen.” He looked up. Callie didn’t move. She reckoned if Zak had wanted her to do the bowing thing, he would have told her. Besides which, her gran always said respect had to be earned.

“Calista of Earth, this is King Az’kye of Ishtaan.”

Callie waited to see what the king would say, but then she noticed the young male standing behind him. Without having to be told, she knew this was Kaleth, Zak’s son. He was staring at his father in shock, but then he turned his gaze on her, and all she saw was betrayal. Callie’s heart sank just as Zak started speaking.

“As per our laws and as it is officially my thirtieth cycle today, I respectfully insist that I be named as king.”

“No,” the king shouted and jumped to his feet. “This is a trick. She cannot be female.” Callie arched an eyebrow. She didn’t relish the thought of proving anything to the bastard, but she definitely had the necessary parts. “Guards!”

Those closest to the king all raised their weapons, only to be met by three times that number, all demonstrating their loyalty to Zak. Zak, of course, ignored the guns that were pointed at him and continued speaking in a calm but authoritative manner.

“These females were on a pleasure voyage accompanied by their own warriors. A space passage opened up too close for them to resist being pulled into its gravitational field. Because Earth is a young planet and not used to such occurrences, their vessel’s hull was immediately compromised. As you know, N’ameth’s cruiser has permission to scan certain areas for our brother. He was the only one close enough to pick up their distress signal, and because he has the honor all Ishtaan warriors aspire to, he risked the wrath of the Alliance by flying to the rescue.”

Callie didn’t dare look at Rachel. It was nearly word for word.

“He was just in time to rescue six females. The Earth males all showed honor in insisting the females be secured first when their hull degraded past the point of a rescue. N’ameth managed to get to a safe distance before their vessel exploded. He regrets his failure to rescue the males, but without his immediate action, six females would have also been lost.”

Zak paused quite theatrically, Callie thought, as murmurs started from their audience. He glanced at Callie and held out his hand, which she instantly took. “Not only will this world be in debt to Prince N’ameth for rescuing the females we so desperately need for the survival of our race, but I declare formally that Calista—Callie—is my mulaa and forever my queen.”

Well damn. He even got her nickname in.

“First Prince Zakaarir, perhaps you would introduce me to your lovely queen?”

Callie watched as an older male stepped through the crowd. He didn’t have quite the size of Zak, but he certainly commanded a presence. Whoever this guy was, the crowd parted for him instantly. And she had heard him call Zak First Prince. She was pretty sure that was significant and probably meant Crown Prince. Then she noticed Zak relax. The warriors nearest the throne all lowered their weapons. The king looked furious, but he didn’t seem to be able to come up with any objection.

Zak bowed to the older man and glanced back at Callie. “Elder Ptorean, may I present Calista of Earth.”

Callie took in the wise, twinkling eyes and liked the male already. “Please call me Callie.” She ignored the buzz that rose at her invitation. Something told her Zak needed this elder on her side. Besides which, he had a wise sort of air about him, a cross between an elderly statesman and a professor. He reached out for her hand, took it gently, and bowed low over it.

“I am honored.”

Then he turned to the king. “Perhaps we can arrange the crowning ceremony for this evening? To give the females a chance to recover from their ordeal.”

The king’s knuckles whitened as he tightened his fists. “Of course,” he said carefully, like a snake about to pounce on its prey. “I am just surprised that you have managed to find your new queen when the embers from your old one’s pyre still burn. Five days is a short time, after all.” He glanced at the boy, lips curling in a sneer. “Prince Kaleth, come and be presented to your new matriche.”

Kaleth gave a wounded cry, but even as Zak stepped forward as if to go to him, he wrenched the small circlet off his head and flung it on the ground. Whirling, he turned and ran from the room.

Callie stood frozen in shock, horror dripping down her spine like icy fingers searching for her heart. Five days? His mate—Kaleth’s mom—only died five days ago. She couldn’t even bear to look at Zak, and she turned, wrenching her fingers free and running out of the room, out of the palace, and as far as she could go. Somehow, she didn’t think she would ever find a place that was far enough.