Princess for the Alien Commander by Tammy Walsh

Sofia

The next morning,I was informed by Bakerfield that Ikmale would be taking a trip around his territory and asked if I would like to join him.

It was just about the very last thing I wanted to do but I guessed he would see it as part of my new duties now as his fake wife.

I nodded to Bakerfield that I would be downstairs shortly.

I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and got dressed for the day ahead.

Take a ride around town, Bakerfield had said.

What did that even mean? I wondered.

I dressed in hard-heeled boots, pants made of a thick jeans-like material, and a leather jacket in case I got caught in the rain.

Ready for any eventuality.

I also took a hat, sunglasses, and a small satchel to carry the necessary items.

I checked myself in the mirror.

I looked like I was going on a safari.

For all I knew, that might well be the case.

Camila had managed to locate every piece of clothing imaginable from sweeping ballgowns to the latest trendy high heels.

And while being in alien territory!

And everything was in my size!

I shook my head in wonder.

Camila truly was a marvel!

I tied up the laces and stepped into the hallway.

The servants were already busy moving from one room to another, cleaning and tidying up.

They each paused in their duties when they saw me and nodded respectfully.

“Good morning, Lady Sofia,” some of the more adventurous managed to squeak before continuing with their duties.

Their smiles lit up their faces and the gentle thrumming of their voices, though deep and mournful, were flecked with rising sing-song tones, a far cry from the dour lethargy given off by the humans working at the king’s palace.

It had nothing to do with the building, of course, and everything to do with its chief inhabitant.

The king.

I wondered how he had reacted when he found that we’d escaped.

Not well, I should imagine.

He didn’t react well to anything—least of all his estranged daughter who’d he’d beaten on her wedding day…

I shook my head of thoughts about him and moved the leather strap of my bag over to my other shoulder so it didn’t push so firmly on a bruise he’d given me.

Downstairs was even busier than upstairs as the contingent of cleaners armed with feather dusters worked at the banisters and mopped the already-shiny floors.

“Perhaps your ladyship would care for some breakfast before her outing today?” Bakerfield said, appearing at my shoulder like a magic trick.

“I thought we had to leave right away?” I said.

“Not before you get a full and hearty breakfast. The days can be quite long when the young master gets it into his mind to visit the territory’s outer reaches.”

Outer reaches?

That sounded like a long way…

I clutched my bag close as we entered the dining room.

Far smaller and less opulent than the palace, it was, like the rest of the castle, cozier and homier.

Servants dotted the area carrying food and drink but none walked with the same stiff gait as the palace workers.

They gossiped quite freely among themselves.

As I approached the small table, Ikmale put down his newspaper and got to his feet.

“Good morning!” he said, his voice full and chipper. “Would you like some breakfast?”

I was taken aback by his brighter attitude.

He sidled up to me and spoke under his breath.

“Remember, we’re a happily married couple and we just had our first full night of lovemaking.”

I glared at him.

“No, we didn’t!”

“No, but that’s what they think.”

A pair of serving girls whispered between each other, giggling and casting knowing glances in our direction every few seconds.

Despite myself, my cheeks flared red and I fell into a chair at the dining table.

Ikmale ran an eye over my ensemble and returned to his seat.

“Can I ask why you’ve chosen to dress for mountain climbing?”

“Bakerfield said you wanted to travel to the furthest reaches of your territory. I have no idea what the outer reaches look like, so I came prepared for anything.”

“Smart,” Ikmale said with a nod. “But you don’t need the boots or the jacket. We won’t be going anywhere near the highest altitudes today.”

He turned back to his newspaper and folded it over.

“And look! We made the front page!”

He extended it to me so I could see the full splendor of the ceremony.

“I guess they didn’t include the part about us disappearing,” I grumbled.

Ikmale glanced at his servants and lowered his voice.

“We didn’t disappear. We… invited ourselves out of the palace.”

“Isn’t that the same is disappearing?”

Ikmale’s eyes glinted.

“To us, yes. But not to everyone else who doesn’t know.”

The servants deposited plates of food in the middle of the table.

Fried snake-like creatures glazed with eshec juice.

Boiled eggs with what looked like a child’s face staring back at me.

I put a hand over my mouth and almost threw up.

“Do you have any toast?” I said, feeling queasy.

Right on cue, Bakerfield came to the rescue and placed a plateful of lightly toasted bread in front of me along with a collection of condiments.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you!”

Bakerfield nodded politely and moved on.

At least there was something I could eat!

“I had the condiments shipped in especially from Earth overnight,” Ikmale said.

I blinked in surprise.

“You did this?”

He shrugged as if it were nothing, but I was genuinely touched.

It was a new side of him I hadn’t seen before.

He wasn’t clutching at the reins of power, wasn’t angry at me, thinking I was part of my father’s plans, he was excited about the day ahead and wanted me to eat something tasty before our long day ahead.

“You’ll want to eat up,” he said. “It’s going to be a long day.”

I felt queasy again.

A long day…

Wasn’t I ever going to have a nice short and easy day for a change?

I slathered the first piece of toast with strawberry jam and gorged myself on it.

Less than thirty minutes later,I clutched my stomach with both hands and wished the jam hadn’t been so delicious.

“Just one more slice…” led to an additional five pieces that my body just wasn’t built for.

I held onto the carriage window frame and hung my head out of it, preparing to empty my stomach.

As we trundled through the city, small kauah children chased us like a school of happy dolphins.

Ikmale reached out through the window.

For a moment, I thought he was going to jump, but instead, he seized one of the children by his arms and lifted him bodily through the window and onto his lap.

“I caught you, little man!” Ikmale said, tickling his belly.

The kid squealed with delight, the tiny knob of his horns barely visible through his thick patch of hair.

“What are your plans for today?” Ikmale asked.

“Playing!” the boy said.

“Playing?” Ikmale said in a concerned tone of voice. “But today’s a school day! Shouldn’t you be at school?”

“Today’s a… holiday!” the boy said.

“Is it?” Ikmale said, sharing a look with me. “What’s the occasion?”

“The mar… mar… marry.”

“The marriage!” I completed for him.

The little boy’s eyes sparkled with recognition.

“Yes! The marry!”

He squealed with joy and clapped his hands.

I had no idea our wedding would be declared a national holiday!

“Would you like to meet the lady from the wedding?” Ikmale said.

The boy nodded.

“And how about your friends?” Ikmale said. “Would they like to meet her too?”

Again, the boy nodded enthusiastically.

“Driver!” Ikmale bellowed. “Stop the carriage!”

The driver slowed the carriage to a stop by the side of the road.

Ikmale looked over at me.

“You don’t mind, do you? It’s just that the locals would like to meet their new lady.”

I wasn’t their lady, I wanted to say. I’m not even really your wife, but the expectant look in the child’s eye stayed my tongue.

“Sure,” I said. “Why not?”

Ikmale threw the carriage door open and a flood of children scrambled into the carriage.

They took no notice of putting their feet on the chairs or exploring every inch of the carriage’s interior.

A couple of the elder children grabbed Ikmale’s arms and pulled at them.

Ikmale immediately followed suit and rolled onto the floor, wrestling with them, using less than a fraction of his true strength.

Still, the children struggled to overcome him.

But working together, they managed to “subdue” him.

Two children clung to each of his limbs in textbook wrestling moves.

“Okay! Okay!” Ikmale said slapping the floor with a hand. “You got me! You got me! I yield! I yield!”

The kids held on longer, chortling between each other, believing they had overpowered the great and mighty Ikmale.

Finally, they released him and Ikmale rolled onto his back.

“You guys have really improved your wrestling skills!”

The kids shrugged and pursed their lips.

“But you didn’t release me when I yielded,” Ikmale said. “That’s against the rules, so we need an impartial judge to decide who really won this match.”

The kids gasped, the breath hitching in the back of their throats.

“No! We win! We win!”

Ikmale glanced up at me.

“What do you say, lady judge? Who won the wrestling match?”

His eyes were golden, glinting happily, inviting me to join in with the game.

I’d often seen children playing with their fathers when I was growing up.

I always wished I was one of them.

They always seemed so happy, able to forget about struggling to survive for a little while.

It didn’t even cost anything.

A flicker of fireflies ignited in my belly and I grinned at the children.

“Well, I don’t know…” I said. “I’m going to have to think about it…”

I pressed a finger to my lips as if in deep thought.

“Please!” the kids said, dropping to their knees. “Please! We win! We win!”

“That is true…” I said. “You did beat him… But he also yielded and you wouldn’t let him go…”

The kids looked at each other, wide-eyed in disbelief that victory might have been snatched from them at the last moment.

“So, here’s my judgment…” I said. “I say you must fight a rematch!”

The kids were equal parts aghast and confused.

The younger ones didn’t understand what the word “rematch” meant and the eldest ones weren’t sure they could take Ikmale for a second time.

Finally, the eldest kids launched themselves at Ikmale, who laughed uproariously as the children knocked him to the ground again and wrestled him once more.

This time when he yielded, they released him immediately, and rolled onto their feet, and peered up at me expectantly.

“Well, it looks like you guys definitely won this time!” I declared.

The kids roared with excitement, cheering and giving each other the kauah equivalent of high fives.

Ikmale lifted the carriage seat and came out with a basket stuffed with sweets.

The kids dropped to their knees immediately as if it were the Holy Grail.

“I think you all deserve a little treat for fighting so well and with such honor!” Ikmale said.

He was about to hand them out before extending the basket to me.

“Would you do the honors, my lady?”

His eyes glinted golden, his long hair hung straggling across his opened shirt, his muscles huge, bulging, and powerful, and yet capable of being so gentle he hadn’t harmed even one of the small children.

A shiver traveled the length of me, bringing a chill to my body, and my eyes latched onto his, frozen and unable to let go.

“Of… Of course…” I said, barely managing to tear my eyes from his.

I reached for the candy and handed it to each of the kids.

“Thank you!” the kids said, gnawing on their prizes as they hopped from the carriage and took off down the street.

Ikmale placed what remained of the candy back under the seat and clapped off his hands.

He beamed after the children and watched them take off.

It was an entirely new side of him I hadn’t seen before.

Playful, warm, smart…

And as sexy as hell.