Wed to the Alien Prince by C.V. Walter
Chapter 7
Kaelin was trying very hard not to let on how much she was panicking. She'd woken up in the medical bay while several people were arguing over her. Her initial confusion at the surroundings was replaced by the sudden understanding that the alien standing over her wasn't just someone from the ship, he was a prince.
The vague, dreamy plans she had been forming in the back of her mind dissolved into a mess of panic and fear. This was not what she'd signed up for. She wasn't entirely certain what she'd signed up for but she was very certain it wasn't this.
Then she caught what they were talking about and her panic increased. She'd told him she wasn't interested in the bio-nanos, she didn't want to change who she was, and he had taken her to get them anyway. Her panic subsided a little when it sounded like the other human woman in the room had not only taken exception to her presence but was also refusing to allow her to be injected without her consent.
She tried not to acknowledge the disappointment in her chest when Roger set her down on the table. He fussed over her for a moment and it helped then he stepped back and she felt her panic start to rise again. Part of it, she knew, was being unable to see in an unfamiliar space.
Forcing her panic aside, she answered questions once they realized she was awake.
"Do you know where you are?" the human woman asked. She got close enough that Kaelin could just start to make out her features.
"On a ship?" Kaelin said. "Can you see my glasses? I can't see anything without them."
"They are in my quarters," Roger said when the other woman looked up at him. "She won't need them much longer, anyway."
Kaelin sighed. "We talked about this. I already said no so I really do need my glasses. I don't like not being able to see."
"Already said no?" The outrage in the other woman's voice was palpable and helped slow the rapid beating of Kaelin's heart. "And you brought her here anyway?"
"You said no about removing the birthmark," the prince said, dropping down next to her table. "And I agreed. It is so much a part of who you are, I would not see it gone. But you don't need to rely on something to correct your vision when we have ways of making it better."
He was a prince, she reminded herself. Not just someone who worked aboard an alien space ship, he was probably used to getting his way, and having all of his people's resources at his disposal.
"The vision is part of the birthmark," she said, reaching out to him. He took her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. "I don't know if you were even listening to me when I was talking to you about it."
"You're Kaelin, aren't you?" the other woman asked, putting her hand on her bicep. "You're a friend of Molly's."
"I am," she said, turning face her. "She'd told me she'd be at Geniuscon this year and I wanted to surprise her. I'd just checked in when I saw Aidan walking with the prince and his people."
"Did they tell you Molly wasn't there?"
"He told me she hadn't been able to make it to the 'con but he could give me a ride to see her. That was after-" Kaelin stopped and felt her cheeks heat.
"Seriously? You'd take advantage-" The outrage was back in the other woman's voice and it made Kaelin laugh. Of all the things to take offense to, that was something she wasn't going to lay at Roger's feet. Especially since the other woman was probably assuming more nefarious actions than had actually occurred.
"No, no, he didn't take advantage. He's been, mostly, the perfect gentleman. If anybody's taking advantage, it's me. I was so excited to see Molly, I didn't get any of the paperwork done or anything, I just hopped a ride and he said he could get me in to see her."
"Um, you, do realize he's an alien?" the other woman asked. The confusion in her voice was amusing, particularly considering where they were.
"Oh, yes, he didn't tell me straight away, of course, but I got around to asking about the blue skin and the horns that seemed attached and he did eventually tell me when he couldn't remember the word for cosplay," she said with a grin. "I mean, I might not have noticed if he'd swiped my glasses right away but I do eventually figure certain things out."
The liquid sounds of the alien language came from just beyond the other woman and Kaelin wished she could tell what they were saying.
The other woman nodded. "Yeah, she does. Alright, so, you said no to having your birthmark fixed and, given size and placement, I'm guessing it also intersects with your eyes, ears and parts of your brain, right? Your mom's the one that runs the foundation."
"Molly must have talked about me," Kaelin said. This was the part she was used to. Everybody who heard about her knew who she was. It always felt like she was at a bit of a disadvantage when she was meeting knew people. "She probably talked about you, too, but I'm pretty sure my identifying characteristics are a little more obvious."
"I'm Mindy," the other woman said and Kaelin felt a jolt through her core.
"Oh! The nurse who use to be a, um, client. Right! I helped her go shopping for your court date. She was so proud of you when you decided to be a nurse."
Molly had been more than proud, she'd been ecstatic. There were a lot of things she disliked about being a lawyer but the volunteer work she did wasn't one of them. At least, when she was able to get a client like Mindy. Innocent of what she'd been picked up on, it had really only been a matter of time before that wasn't the case.
There were so many reasons for Mindy to go back to the life she'd had before she was arrested and getting out of that kind of life was hard, especially with no support. When Mindy had decided she wanted nothing more to do with her past, Molly had been determined to be as supportive as she could be, and had tried to rally more.
Unfortunately, there weren't a lot of people willing to help. Most of them encouraged Molly to refer Mindy to various government programs or large, faceless charities that were known for losing people in their bureaucracy. The frustration had been palpable the times she and Kaelin had talked about it so Kaelin offered to help. A big part of what Molly needed was someone willing to run errands while she was working who she could trust to do them right.
Kaelin had bought, not just Mindy's suit for her court date, but the bulk of her wardrobe for when she was released. It was the first time Mindy had owned new clothes that fit her properly and were appropriate for someone looking for a job. When Mindy decided to go to school and become a nurse, Molly had called Kaelin crying, determined not to show Mindy how emotional she was about the decision. It was more than she'd ever hoped for as an outcome.
"It seemed an obvious career path to get away from all of that." Mindy said.
"Yeah, except she told me what kind of nursing you went in to. It's a hard specialty and you live in a rough area of town."
"It's a job. So, what did you agree to that you wanted to avoid making major changes to and around your birthmark?"
"Oh, um, being vaccinated so I could go aboard the mothership," Kaelin said. "He said the way they administer it would include little robots that would fix any internal issues and could heal scar tissue. I told him that was fine but I didn't want to 'fix' my birthmark."
"He kinda skipped that part," Mindy said. "Which tells me he was listening and was going to say something about avoiding the discoloration on your face after we'd already injected you and it was too late to avoid major changes."
The alien woman said something and Mindy nodded. "Well, now we have the chance to make the changes first," Mindy said.
More liquid syllables came from the alien woman and Kaelin wished she could understand what she was saying.
"Shit," Mindy said, biting her lip.
"What?" Kaelin asked. "What did she say?"
"Oh, shoot, you don't have a translator, either," Mindy said. "She said the person who can make the necessary adjustments is on the ship, which means you'll have to be quarantined until he can get to them."
"Oh," Kaelin said, and she knew she looked disappointed. She wasn't surprised that she was more complicated than she was prepared for; she hadn't expected that they'd be able to accommodate her at all if she was honest with herself, but a small part of her had hoped this wouldn't be the time when she was the difficult person.
"She says it takes time for the little robots to get to the cosmetic things," Mindy said. "So there's a chance we can get them to stop before they get to it."
The alien woman spoke again and Kaelin really wished she could understand her without help.
"She says it will fix the biggest issues first."
Kaelin gave a wry smile. "So, what, should I break my arm or something before they give them to me?"
"No!" Roger exclaimed, leaping up and pulling her into his arms. "I will remain quarantined with you if you would rather wait. I had not thought you would be so adamantly opposed to some small changes."
"Small?" Kaelin said, her voice muffled by the chest she was being held against. She pushed against him and the prince let her go reluctantly. "These are not small changes."
"They are not fundamental to who you are," Roger said. He stroked her hair and squeezed her close. "They will make it easier for you to function on the ship but they will not change you."
Kaelin closed her eyes and leaned into his chest. He didn't understand and she wasn't sure she could explain it well enough to help him. So much of who she was revolved around her disorder. Not just the struggles she'd gone through growing up but also her public persona and the work she did with kids. Finding a way to get rid of her glasses or the seizures would be denying a big part of that and lying to the people who looked up to her.
"There is more to the things that you would change about me than just my convenience," she told him. "And I have questions about how they work. Because I know you think they'd make everything better but this is completely new. They might make everything worse."
"I can't imagine that being the case," Roger said, pulling back and tilting her face up to look at him. She still couldn't see his face but she enjoyed the feeling of his hand on her chin.
"I do a lot of outreach that I wouldn't be able to do if I didn't have the issues I do," she said. "And that requires people being able to see the issues."
"I don't see why," Roger said, stroking a hand down her cheek. "You have the chance to make some of them easier to deal with. Why wouldn't you take the opportunity?"
"And what if it doesn't?" she asked. "What if all it does is make them more complicated? You can't know what they're going to do."
"I know what they're supposed to do," he told her. "And what they've done for other humans."
"I'm not like other humans," she said quietly.