Assistant for the Alien Prince by Tammy Walsh
Jessica
I stumbled back.
I’d become lost in the moment, lost to my senses.
This couldn’t be happening.
It just couldn’t.
“I… I don’t understand,” I said. “I… I thought your fated mate would be one of the daughters of the tribe leaders. I’m not… I can’t be… I’m human!”
He drew up to me, his hand finding the base of my neck, his thumb stroking my cheek.
“Don’t,” I said. “Someone inside might see.”
“Let them.”
I shook my head.
“I can’t. I’m here to organize the event. I’m not here to… This is wrong. All wrong.”
“The universe is never wrong. Neither is the beating of my heart. I know what I want. My heart knows, as does the universe. I know I want you. And you want me.”
I ground my teeth and shoved him away.
“No!” I said.
I’d intended for it to be a shout but it came out weaker and frailer than I’d intended.
“I don’t want this. I want to go home. I want to pay off the debt I owe and finish restoring my aunt’s house and live there.”
“You want to be with me,” Zai pressed, drawing nearer.
“No!” I said, stronger this time. “I want to be alone. I don’t want to end up with a man like my father!”
Zai froze.
“A man like your father? Is that what you think I am?”
“Yes. No. I mean, I’m not sure. Oh, I don’t know!”
“But you said it. You said I’m like your father. But I’m not.”
“I know you’re not,” I said. “How did we get to this point?”
Zai drew back now, further from me.
“Zai…” I said, searching, scrambling frantically for the right words to say. “You’re not like my father. I know that. I thought you were at the beginning when I first met you but—”
“Well, that really makes me feel better!”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I’m sorry!”
He turned away from me and I started when he immediately turned back to face me.
“You should go back to your house by the sand and the sea,” he said. “You should return there because you’re not cut out to be anywhere else.”
Okay, ouch.
So, that hurt.
“Why are you saying this?” I said.
He ran his hand through his hair.
“Because you’re just like your aunt, running away from the world and hiding in your little house by the sea.”
“That’s not true!” I snapped, my hands curling into fists at my sides, so tight my arms shook.
“Then why did she live out there by herself?” Zai said. “Because she was a coward! Because she couldn’t bring herself to live with others, wouldn’t risk that her heart might get hurt in the pursuit of something real, something genuine!”
“That’s not true!” I snapped. “My aunt wasn’t a coward! She was brave!”
In truth, I never knew why she lived out there alone.
I figured it was because she loved the beach and the seaside, the same way I did.
Why did it have to be for some other reason?
It didn’t, I told myself.
He was wrong about her!
Totally wrong!
Zai’s expression was harsh but he lowered his eyes from mine and spoke evenly.
“Come inside with me,” he said. “To the ceremony. Dance with me. Let everyone see what we just witnessed. They’ll see it. I know they will.”
Then, in a pitifully small voice, he said a word he’d rarely said to anyone before:
“Please.”
He extended his hand for me to take.
I looked at it, wanted to take it, to feel his touch today, tomorrow, and every day of my life…
But couldn’t.
“I can’t.”
His eyes, so troubled and hurt, glanced up at me for a moment, and I swear I could see the hint of shimmering tears that made his mauve eyes glow bright.
“Okay,” he said in the tone of a man who finally accepted something that he really didn’t want to. “Okay.”
Firmer this time, stronger, and it made my heart ache to hear it.
A servant appeared at the door and bowed respectfully.
“Your Highness, the guests are waiting for your decision.”
Zai caught my eyes once more before nodding.
“Yes. Yes, of course, they are.”
He took my hand, pressed his lips to the back of it, and then turned to follow the servant inside.
As he crossed the threshold, I heard him utter four short words that would define the rest of his life from this moment on:
“Then duty it is.”
My heart broke that I would never see him again, would never get to touch him, and for a moment, I almost shouted out.
I didn’t know what I would say—nothing recognizable, probably.
Not that it mattered.
Just to get his attention would be enough, to let him know that I wanted to be with him.
But I wasn’t ready to give up on what had been my dream ever since our family business broke apart and I sought refuge in the legacy my aunt had left behind.
The truth was, I would get to see him again.
I would see him often—from a distance, the same way millions of others did on the front of magazines and on the news.
It was him that would never see me again.
And for that reason, him forgetting about me would be a whole lot easier than the other way around.
With a heavy heart, I followed him inside and joined the congregation gathering for his final decision.
One of the crowd.
One of the many.
One of the forgotten.
