Assistant for the Alien Prince by Tammy Walsh
Jessica
I didn’t getany extra sleep the night before we were due to head out to the Temple of Onsheggas.
There was just too much to arrange.
I put my head down on the journey to the temple as I had passed most of my duties over to my assistants.
I steered clear of Zai and anywhere I thought he might be.
I didn’t want to distract him from what he would have to do today.
He needed to focus on the tribe leaders and currying their favor, as well as figuring out who his fated mate was from the lineup.
The lineup.
It made me sick to my stomach that he would get to choose who he would spend the rest of his life with.
Not that he had much choice in the matter—not really.
The universe chose for him.
I got four hours sleep on the way up to the temple.
I was piled inside a large ship that traveled a whole lot slower than the vehicle Zai and the royal family would be taking later.
I was grateful for the extra sleep, a welcome respite from the ceremony, and managing it on the fly once the event kicked off.
The temple glimmered in the midday sun even brighter and with greater ferocity than I recalled the last time I was there.
It looked less alien than I remembered.
Was I getting used to the Ev’vat culture already?
With few items that needed setting up, we were ready to rock and roll within an hour.
It was fortunate, as that was when the royal family arrived.
Shortly after that, the guests began to swarm.
They came in ships so large I began to wonder if I’d drastically overestimated the parking lot as big enough but, thankfully, the ships maneuvered themselves to fit everyone in.
I guess they were used to coming in numbers like this as it wasn’t the first Royal Pairing Ceremony they’d attended.
I wondered if the tribe leaders would be anything like the celebrities back home.
Petty.
Demanding.
Prima donnas.
The first hatch door of the largest shuttlecraft descended and from the backdrop of a misty haze, the most incredible display of Ev’vat I’d ever seen descended the ramp.
Their traditional robes were similar but not identical to that Zai had worn when I first met him.
They were longer in the leg and it draped down over the front of their hips, almost touching the floor.
The single bolt of cloth covered their backs and cinched at the waist beneath a thin belt.
They were magnificent creatures, broad of chest and thick of horn.
They were paler than Zai, white as if they lived bereft of the sun.
They held themselves in high esteem, heads perched and full of self-confidence.
The creature who got my attention most was the female beside her powerfully-built father.
Her hair was blonde and allowed to splay about her shoulders.
Her face was concealed behind a square sheet of white fabric that she held by a handle.
The Queen was there to greet them and bowed graciously—only slightly less than the bow the creatures gave her, which I guessed connotated their senior rank.
“Brixx, allow me to introduce to you to our Master of Ceremonies, Jessica,” the Queen said, waving me over. “She’s human. If you ever have any ceremonies in mind, she comes very highly recommended by the royal family.”
The chief shifted his eyes to mine and bowed but didn’t say a word.
The Queen motioned for them to enter the temple, which they did, and their entourage followed after.
My assistants were on hand inside the temple to help.
They knew the ways of the Ev’vat far better than I ever would and were a whole lot less likely to cause a national embarrassment.
The second tribe was even more beautiful than the first.
They were thicker, their horns twice the thickness of any other Ev’vat, save Zai.
The daughter of the tribe leader was, just like the first, hidden behind a piece of cloth, this time red and in the shape of a circle.
The daughter’s hair was arranged into dreadlocks much like her father’s.
Their traditional dress left a great deal less to the imagination than the first tribe.
It too consisted of a single piece of cloth that wrapped around the entire body, leaving more skin open to the elements than it covered.
My mouth felt dry at the sight of the daughter’s sensuous and strutting manner, a girl far more comfortable with her body than the previous Leknin tribe.
They too were led inside by a team of assistants.
The third tribe—though they were not the last—didn’t wear any form of cloth at all but what appeared to be bark and moss from trees.
It was difficult to tell which of the moss and bark had been harvested from trees and how much of it had been grown by themselves.
They looked like they might have been borne from nature itself rather than from the womb of an Ev’vat.
As the third most powerful tribe entered the temple, the Queen turned and followed them inside.
Evidently, the other tribes didn’t need to be treated with the same level of respect as the first three.
“Jessica?” the Queen said. “May I have a word, please?”
Oh, great,I thought. What have I done wrong now?
She was going to tear me apart again and call me out on such a terrible job I’d done.
She took me to one side so we could talk in peace.
I braced myself, too tired to care, knowing that soon, at least I wouldn’t have to see her smirking smarmy face again for the rest of my life.
She clutched her hands in front of her silk gown, seemingly nervous or uncomfortable with what she was about to say.
“You did a really… satisfactory job on the Pairing Ceremony.”
It was hard for her to admit that much, I realized.
‘Satisfactory’ might have been disappointing to many people but from the Queen’s lips, it was high praise indeed.
She took me by surprise.
“Oh. Um. Thanks. It’s not so hard when you have such a beautiful structure to work with,” I said, downplaying the hard work I’d put into the event.
“Still,” the Queen said, growing a little in confidence now. “You did a remarkable job considering the strains you were under. I just wanted to… thank you.”
She struggled to push the words out of her mouth.
“You’re welcome, Your Majesty,” I said, performing the best Ev’vat bow I could manage.
The Queen nodded her head respectfully and paused as she leaned over and whispered in my ear:
“I would avoid performing the Ev’vat bow to the tribe leaders. We want to give a good impression, not accidentally insult them.”
And off she went, leaving something of a sour taste in my mouth.
I smiled and shook my head, chuckling at the scene that’d taken place.
Sure, she was a pain in the ass but she had only ever worried for her son.
And who could begrudge her that?
