Princess for the Alien Commander by Tammy Walsh

Ikmale

After everythingI’d been through the past few days, introducing Sofia to my family was just about the last thing I wanted to do.

Immediately after a kauah wedding, the families of both the bride and groom traditionally met up for a special private party.

It should have happened last night but I hadn’t wanted to take the risk of inviting members of my family in case the king sprung the trap I thought the ceremony would be.

It turned out to be the right decision.

The king could have taken multiple members of my family hostage and used them to manipulate me into doing as he wanted.

Forced to decide between what was right for my family and what was right for my people was an impossible decision to make.

I added the sash across my chest to complete the traditional kauah outfit.

It looked good and felt much better than the stifling suits humans forced their men to wear.

I left my room and proceeded down the hallway toward Sofia’s bedroom.

I approached the door and was about to rap on it with my knuckles when I decided to double check my appearance first.

The cloth was much like what humans described as a “kilt” and reached just above my knee.

The sash represented the colors of my family—a rich and luscious natural green.

Ordinarily, the kauah would have worn weapons too but it had fallen out of fashion in recent years.

A pity, I thought, as I enjoyed having something to fiddle with while at these sorts of events.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

After a moment, it opened but didn’t reveal Sofia but her nanny, Camila.

“She’ll be with you in just a moment,” she said.

I nodded and took a step back.

“Would you like to wait inside?” Camila asked.

“Sure.”

I stepped inside as she shut the door behind me.

Then she moved into the bathroom where I heard rushed whispers.

I had chosen this room for Sofia myself as it looked out over the forest and presented a beautiful view of the sunset—which was presenting itself to the world right now.

The sky glowed purple, signifying that tumultuous times were ahead.

The warning had come several days too late, I thought wryly.

“How do I look, husband?”

I turned away from the view and looked upon a beauty unlike any I had ever seen before.

Sofia was dressed in a long green dress that matched the exact hue of my familial sash.

It was more in the kauah style when we got married and lacked any of the pomp and lace of a human wedding dress—much less a royal one.

Her hair was done up in a style unlike anything I had seen among human females.

In her white curls, silver jewels sparkled against her pale skin, twinned with the necklace at her throat.

She wore little makeup, which was a good decision as it would only have distracted from her natural beauty otherwise.

My mouth fell open and the words tumbled out in half-formed garbage.

“You look… um… uh… I mean, you’re nice.”

Nice?

Nice? You asshole!

A finely-combed okmath was nice!

A delicious plate of boiled brisa was nice!

Sofia was gorgeous!

Her eyes glinted playfully as they ran over my traditional kauah outfit.

She seemed to take less interest in the clothing and more interest in my body underneath it.

When I extended my elbow to her—in the traditional human fashion—she started and tore her eyes from my chest muscles.

She slipped her arm through mine and smiled as we approached the door.

“Have a good evening!” Camila called out. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

“In that case, I’d better stay here in my hovel!” Sofia said with a laugh that reminded me of rain tapping on glass.

As we headed down the hallways and stairs to the main ballroom located at the front of the castle, the servants turned and watched, beaming at the sight of us.

In truth, they were grinning at the fact I had married at all and were likely intrigued by the partner I had chosen.

I was the very last member of the Ellas clan anyone expected to tie the knot.

I didn’t blame them.

I was as surprised as they were.

I glanced at Sofia out the corner of my eye, my grin broadening even further.

I stood a little taller, my chest swelling with pride at having such a beautiful woman on my arm.

As we descended the stairs, I warned her about my family and those who liked to jabber away and wouldn’t give her a single moment’s reprieve.

“Whatever they say, just smile, nod, and say ‘yes’ every so often,” I said.

“That’s it? Won’t they notice I’m not listening?”

“Trust me, they’re far too self-absorbed to notice.”

I paused outside the ballroom where soft music and the sound of polite conversation washed over us.

“Are you ready?” I said to Sofia.

She took a deep breath and nodded but didn’t say a word.

“Here we go,” I said.

We drifted into the room and two dozen beaming kauah faces turned to us, raised their drinks, and lowered their horns respectfully.

Each member of the family worked for my father’s company and despite being related, had to pull their weight or find themselves replaced.

“Blood is no excuse for laziness,” my father liked to say.

They descended upon us like a herd of rampaging v’sod and attacked us with a dozen different conversations at once.

Sofia grimaced at me.

I nodded my head and smiled politely and, catching on, Sofia did the same.

It was another side of her I hadn’t seen before.

In the forest, I’d seen her fiery and fierce temper and the apparent passion she carried with her in every fiber of her being.

At the wedding, I saw another version of her—taking on the role of the dutiful daughter.

On the night of our wedding, when I’d been the angry one, I witnessed the soft, delicate side of her.

Now, I saw her calm, caring, and graceful side.

Was she an actor? I wondered. Endlessly adaptable depending on the situation she found herself in?

Which version of her was the real one?

Which one would she be if left to her own devices?

Or were they all facets of her personality, creating this fascinating and awe-inspiring creature I suddenly found myself paired with?

Her eyes flashed up at me and I hastily looked away, embarrassed by my thoughts.

I gulped my drink and refused to look in her direction again.

That promise lasted all of ten seconds.

I wondered what it must feel like to wake up to that smile every morning, to feel her in my arms whenever I wished, to show her off to the merchants who came to discuss trade and business each day.

But that was never going to happen.

Our marriage was a sham, a farce.

And before long, everyone would know it.

Or would they?

Technically, we were married, after all.

We’d had the ceremony and as far as everyone else knew, we were a regular married couple.

No, not regular.

We each belonged to the richest and most powerful houses in the kingdom.

She was a princess and I was a—

I sputtered on my drink, almost coughing it up.

My uncle slapped me on the back and asked if I was all right.

I nodded and coughed until my lungs were clear of the cocktail.

“Never better.”

And for the first time in a long time, I realized I was.

I had an idea, and if Sofia agreed to it, it could solve all our problems.

About half an hour later,I noticed Sofia beginning to grow tired.

Her eyes were heavy and it was hard work for her to concentrate on yet another uninteresting conversation dribbling out of Aunt We’ana’s mouth.

She had the ability to circular breeze so she never had to stop wittering on.

I wrapped my arm around Sofia, beamed at my aunt, and said politely:

“It’s been a very long day for us. I think we should be turning in for the night.”

“Of course, my dear boy! Of course!” she said, before turning on her heel to latch onto another victim.

I made the same excuse to each family member who attempted to make conversation with us as we headed toward the stairs.

“Thank you,” she said, covering her mouth with a yawn.

“I should be the one thanking you. We all should. You survived a solid hour listening to Aunt We’ana! That has to be some kind of record!”

She smiled and stifled another yawn.

“Sorry,” she said. “I must be more tired than I thought.”

We reached her bedroom door.

“Well,” she said, “this is where we say good night.”

“Actually, there’s something I want to discuss with you. An idea I had.”

Despite her exhaustion, she brightened at the prospect.

“What idea?”

“Can we step in your room to discuss it?”

She hesitated only a moment before she entered her room.

I followed her inside and shut the door behind me.

“I’m going to get ready for bed,” she said, crossing the room and entering the bathroom. “If I stay awake one minute longer than I have to, I’m going to pass out. What’s your idea?

She ran the faucet and splashed water over her face.

I remained in the main room, out of sight.

“You said you wanted to leave Fod as soon as you’re ready,” I said. “Is that still the case?”

“As soon as we’re ready to, yes,” she said, calling from the bathroom.

“What’ll you do for money? And a place to live?”

“I’m not sure. We’ll figure something out. We did it once, so I’m sure we can manage it again.”

She leaned around the doorframe and pointed at her dressing gown that hung from the bedpost.

“Can you hand that to me, please?”

I did as she asked.

“Why do you ask?” she said.

“Well, I had this idea.”

“You mentioned that.”

“Your father intended on marrying us off to take advantage of our union and control the kauah military.”

“To fight off the dras.”

“We managed to escape, so I imagine that plan is out of the window.”

“I suppose so.”

Sofia began to brush her teeth.

“So, I was thinking,” I said. “What if we were to use this situation to our benefit?”

The brushing stopped and Sofia leaned around the doorframe wearing the dressing gown.

I gulped at the sight of her.

With the toothpaste dribbling from the corner of her mouth, I didn’t think I’d ever seen a sexier sight.

“Our benefit? How?”

“You could pretend to be my wife. And I’ll be your husband. You’ll come with me to events and convince everyone we’re married. We’ll stay together until I can work out enough leverage to get the rich and powerful to turn against your father.”

“He did plenty of terrible things in the past but they never turned against him. What makes you think they’ll turn against him now?”

“They never had a different option before. They had your brother, the prince, but he was never going to turn against your father. Whereas you and me… We’re very different. After your father, you have the best claim to the throne. With me by your side, we could unite the two territories and keep the dras at bay as well as keep both the humans and the kauah safe.”

Sofia just looked at me for a long moment.

She spat out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth.

She re-emerged and leaned against the doorframe, arms folded.

“And you think I would be interested in doing this because…?”

“Because once the kingdom is united and back to full strength, we can choose somebody else to rule the kingdom.”

Sofia pursed her lips.

“Not you? All that power in your hands and you would just give it up?”

I nodded.

“I would. I never had any interest in being king.”

Sofia appraised me closely and made a popping sound with her lips.

“What’s in this for me?”

“After the kingdom’s united, I would buy you a house anywhere you chose and give you enough money to live forever.”

A worm of doubt wriggled in my belly at the thought of losing her.

I squashed it and kept my eye on the prize: keeping the kingdom from tearing itself apart or being torn apart by the dras.

Sofia approached her bed and slid underneath the covers.

“What guarantee do I have you’ll keep your word?”

Seeing her lay under the blankets like that, her eyes half closed, her hair arranged in a golden halo about her head, made it difficult to keep my baser instincts under control.

“I give you my word,” I said, and I wished my voice didn’t croak.

I bowed my horns in her direction and extended my hand toward her in the pose of the traditional kauah pledge.

She’d trusted me then, so why wouldn’t she trust me now?

“On one condition,” she said.

“Anything.”

“I’ll pretend to be your wife and carry out the events and official duties that I must but we’re only husband and wife on paper. There will be no… intimate relations between us.”

She met my eyes when she said the word “intimate” and I had to turn my body away from her so she wouldn’t see my body’s obvious excitement.

Knowing she was naked beneath those blankets, beneath her flimsy robe drove me nearly insane with desire.

“As you wish,” I said.

Even if it isn’t what I wish.

She took a while to accept my offer and slid her fingers across my palm, sending shivers shooting through my body.

“A deal it is then,” she said.

“It is.”

I leaned back and fell into the armchair in the corner of the room.

“What are you doing?” she said, her eyes already heavy and drifting shut.

“My family thinks we’re newlyweds. If I head back to my room now, they’ll think something’s wrong. And what do newlyweds do a lot?”

Sofia met my eyes evenly.

“Fine. But don’t be getting any ideas. This is a marriage of convenience, remember. Nothing more.”

I picked up a book and slowly turned the pages.

As Sofia drifted to sleep, I held the book but didn’t read a single page.

Instead, I watched as she slipped deeper and deeper into sleep.

I stayed longer than necessary but couldn’t stop watching her.

Something mesmerized me about her.

No matter she didn’t speak, didn’t move…

I couldn’t tear my eyes from her.

I pulled the blankets up under her chin and ran my fingers through her hair the way I had wanted to do all night.

I wished I could kiss her gently on the cheek but held back.

A deal was a deal.

No intimacy.

“Good night, my princess,” I said.

I slipped out and crept back across the hall to my room.