Wed to the Alien Prince by C.V. Walter

Chapter 19

The call from Mintonar was enlightening and more than a little amusing. He was trying very hard not to talk about what they'd done the last two days while also congratulating the Prince for spending two days with his new mate.

The data Mintonar had gathered from everything they'd done had been enough for him to start allowing the bio-nanos to start making some very subtle changes. They were still analyzing how her seizure implant worked and why the medication worked the way it did. There was a very real chance that they'd never be able to replace it with the bio-nanos and that fact made her slightly disappointed.

"I thought you didn't want the bio-nanos to change you," Roger said when they'd ended the call.

"I didn't," Kaelin said. "I don't, really, but I thought, maybe, if it was some horrible side-effect of the technology, I could learn to live with it."

"What were you hoping it would do?"

She sighed. "Dismantle the thing in my brain because I no longer needed it. Really, the only person who would know would be me, right? And it would be nice to not have to worry about having a seizure on a spaceship where the doctor might mean well but really doesn't know anything about me or how my body works."

"I can ask-"

Kaelin shook her head. "No, don't ask, I said I don't want the technology to change me and I meant it."

"But, I'm afraid I don't understand," Roger said. "You were disappointed when it didn't but you don't want me to say anything to Mintonar to do something about that? Why not? Even something so personal, so internally significant as having your seizures fixed, that nobody else would know about because they're mostly controlled as it is right now?"

"Because it's not right," she told him. "It's not fair that I'm the only person who would benefit from this."

"Right now," Roger said and she stilled. "You'd be the only person who would benefit from it right now. What kind of monsters do you think we are that we would withhold this kind of thing from people it could help?"

"You have really limited resources," she said. "You can't possibly help everybody who needs it. And are you going to limit yourselves to just seizures? What else could you change?"

"We have limited resources right now," he agreed. "And, I hope, we're going to be trading for more of them. Or at least the ability to find them in this area. What do you think we'll be using to trade for that? Did you just think we would demand them of your planet with nothing to offer?"

"I-" Kaelin's mouth worked but she couldn't make any sound come out. That's exactly what she had expected. The Orvax had come looking for a new home and Earth was inhabited. She was thinking of them as the very smart but constantly broke people she was used to dealing with.

"You were thinking of us as paupers with our hands outstretched, begging for crumbs, rather than equals with something of value," Roger said, obviously disappointed.

She stared at him and felt her brain shift at the accusation. "I was," she said slowly. "That's exactly what I was thinking. But you're not, are you? This isn't a warship, you didn't come to commit violence, you came prepared to start a new life."

"In a place we hoped would be hospitable," he agreed.

"You wouldn't do that without a whole lot of supplies to use once you got here," she said. "It's the ones that you intended to use in transit that you're running low on. And the alternative to trading with us is to eat your seed corn and guarantee that you're people will die once you land."

"We don't know that would happen but the way things are going, it would make it more likely if we couldn't figure things out quickly once we got there," Roger said.

"You're not planning to stay," she said.

Roger sighed. "We don't know what we're planning," he said. "It all depends on what we can do here and if there's somewhere else to go. We have no intention of overwhelming your people or bringing disaster, both of which are possible if we move onto the planet. Being able to mate with and procreate with your people adds a new wrinkle to it but it still doesn't mean we're going to invade."

"Right," Kaelin said. The possibilities were racing through her brain. "And whatever happens, you want me to go with you?"

"Yes," he said simply.

"You wouldn't consider staying?"

"Kaelin, cherna, you are my heart, if your desire was to stay, we would stay but I would be leaving my people leaderless. They followed me here, away from everything they've ever known, on the chance that they could start a new life without the intrusive, over-bearing government and some control over their own lives. If I must give up my people to be with you, I will, but it will kill part of me to step away from the promise I made them that I would be there to help and strive and suffer with them."

"I hadn't thought about it like that," Kaelin said softly. "I don't want you to give up your people, I know that you have duties to them, and I would never ask you to break your promise. I just thought-"

"My people are not the poor relations asking for help," Roger said. "You have said that you understand that there is responsibility that comes with privilege but it does not need to be a burden. I see so much care in you for others and only some for yourself. I have risked everything to get my people here and will risk more to get them where they need to be."

"I don't understand," Kaelin said.

Roger sighed and reached out to touch her. "My life, whatever it is going forward, is with you. I would make you a princess of my people but I'm afraid there is little honor that comes with that title right now and much work. However, if you wish it, I will stay on your planet with you and let my people find their way to the next stop, whatever that happens to be. You must choose which is best for you. And that means you must also choose how much you wish to accept from us. Not just me but the things my people have developed and worked for."

"You don't think I can come with you if we don't keep working towards a solution for my problems," she said, the understanding coming slowly. "Because, eventually, I'm going to need human doctors if we can't find a way for your technology to help me."

"It is not a question of coming with me," he told her. "But of where we will make a life. If I stay on your planet, I will continue advocating for my people in the best way that I can but I will be separated from them and grow more so every year. If you allow Mintonar to find ways to help you, research that we can use to trade for help, you will stay on the ship and with my people and you will be separated from your family and friends. One of us will give up everything they've ever known and you have already said you don't want Mintonar's help."

Kaelin's head hurt and an alarm went off on Roger's communication strap. He looked down at it then up at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her eyebrows coming together as she squinted at him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I have a headache and my eyes are starting to hurt. You haven't seen my glasses around, have you?"

Roger shook his head. "No, but I know where they are," he said. "We dropped them and Mintonar has been analyzing how they work to see if we can replicate them."

She nodded. "Alright. What was the alarm for?"

"The results of a test," he told her.

"Yeah?" she asked. "Did you pass or is that the alarm that the testing stuff is faulty?"

"It's not a question of pass or fail. Are you feeling well enough to go retrieve your glasses from the Medical Bay?"

"Yeah, and I want to ask him about something for the headache. It might just be that I need my glasses but this is bad even for that. Not quite a migraine, the symptoms aren't right, but definitely not pleasant."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked. "Would you like to lay down and close your eyes for a while?"

"That might help," she admitted. "But I can function with this so I really should get up and get to work. Whatever that work might be, honestly, and I think that's at least part of making that decision you want from me."

"Kaelin," he said and reached out to stroke her cheek again. "It must be you who makes the decision. I can tell you my preferences and what I will do in a given situation but you are the one who will be changing and taking on responsibilities that you never asked for. It is your life that will change no matter what happens and you are the one who knows best what will work the best for you."

"There's not a decision that's going to make you kick me out?" she asked and gave him a small smile.

"There are decisions you could make that would have you locked up in a very small room where I would come and visit you to make sure you were well taken care of and renew our bond as often as possible," he said, and the smile on his lips did not meet his eyes. "But I do not think you are likely to attempt to murder everybody on the ship or your planet so I do not think it would be necessary."

She shivered. "If I do ever get like that, I would prefer if you just killed me."

"As that would be likely to destroy me as well, I will not, but rest assured that is the only reason."

"So, we're together," she said. "You won't let me become a monster but you're willing to go along with whatever else I choose. Even if it means breaking your promise to your people."

"Even if," he agreed. "Though that is my least favorite of the options."

"I think I need to talk to Mintonar," Kaelin said. Her heart was racing and she was trying to deny the hope that was springing up in the back of her mind.

"He is at the Medical Bay," Roger said. "We can take you there now and get your glasses."

"Alright," she agreed. She was almost to the door when a hand on her arm stopped her.

"Not like that," he said. "Unless you want me to kill someone we walk past. And if that's the case, you should just tell me now that you want to stay on Earth."

"What?" Kaelin said and looked down. "Oh! I don't have anything to wear. We didn't stop to grab my bags."

Roger smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "Do not fret, my heart, but do come with me to the closet."

He took her hand and led her to the biggest walk in closet she'd ever seen. Space was tight on the ship but privilege apparently came with some personal perks. The array of colors before her was almost overwhelming.

She blinked and some of the ones closest to her came into sharp clarity before fading into blobs of color. He led her through the closet and the brush of fabric against her head made her shiver.

"How many clothes do you have?" she asked, shaking her head to clear the ache behind her eyes. It didn't work but the clothes also didn't do the sharp focus thing against, either.

"A lot," he said, the embarrassment clear in his voice. "Most of these are ceremonial, though. I didn't think we'd need a lot of it but I wasn't exactly the one in charge of packing these and it was pointed out that our people would want to keep as many of our traditions as we could on a new world so it was best to be prepared rather than wasting resources to make something new."

"That makes a lot of sense," Kaelin said.

"Brinker does have a lot of that," Roger said. "And he got some information from Mintonar that I did not think to ask for but it resulted in this section over here."