Princess for the Alien Commander by Tammy Walsh

Sofia

I toreacross the encampment and tried to ignore the three dozen pairs of golden gleaming eyes peeking out from jutting brows.

More than one lowered his head in my direction, their majestic horns aimed at me in the classic pose of a rampaging bull.

I had no plan, no idea where I was heading.

My only destination was away from there.

Away from him.

The nearest soldiers spread out their arms, forming a thick wall of hardened muscle and groping hands attempting to ensnare me in any way possible.

Two heavyset soldiers swung heavy arms at me but they were too slow and I easily slipped between them.

I had to twist my body to one side, stumbled, but was back up on my feet in an instant.

I hurtled toward the forest’s edge.

If only I could reach its thick green enfolds, I could make a break for it and return to the river.

It couldn’t be more than half a mile from here.

My smaller, nimbler size would help me outrun them in the dense woodland.

At least, that’s what I told myself.

Then I heard a braying startled noise from an animal in distress.

To my left, a kauah soldier held the reins of Deet, who tossed his head and stamped his feet wildly at the sight of me.

Should I make a run for him?

Or should I cut into the forest that yawned wide like the jaws of a giant beast?

Even if I was to reach the river, what were the chances of me beating its strong current?

I’d seen it as I sailed overhead earlier and thanked God I wasn’t caught within its powerful grasping claws.

There was no way I could make that swim.

But maybe Deet can…

I shifted my weight and took off toward Deet.

He bucked wildly at me coming to rescue him.

He threw his hefty weight one way and then the other, knocking his kauah handler off-balance before tearing after me.

“That way!” I yelled at the creature, waving my arms.

He arced into the forest as I had told him, turning so his body was side-on to me.

I leaped and swung up into the saddle by gripping onto his fur.

I clutched him close, my face buried in his soft mane.

I glanced over my shoulder at the camp we were rapidly leaving in the dust and grinned.

If we were lucky, we might just be able to escape them, I thought.

I was surprised to find the kauah weren’t giving chase, but standing shoulder to shoulder watching me.

Why would they let me go? I wondered.

Was their leader, Ikmale, actually keeping his word?

I shook my head.

Appearances could be deceiving, so I kept up the relentless pace and rushed through the undergrowth, trusting Deet to lead us back to the river.

I was surprised to find a small part of me regretted having to leave.

What was wrong with me?

Was I suffering from a case of Stockholm Syndrome?

No, I thought.

I knew exactly what was wrong with me.

A certain bull-horned devil was on my mind.

Even now, I could feel his disgusting lips pressing against mine, his putrid snake-like tongue in my mouth…

And the thrilling exploration of my own pressing against his…

I shook my head of the thought.

It hadn’t been a pleasurable experience, I told myself.

He had taken advantage of me.

He had no right to lay his hands on me, never mind put his lips on mine!

I was his prisoner!

There were rules and laws against such things!

At least, I think there is…

One irritating thought pressed in against all others:

If I hated it so much, how had I let myself succumb to him?

Why had my body turned flax and weak in his arms?

Why had I not only reciprocated his passion but reflected it back and enhanced it with a desire of my own?

Ikmale wasn’t bad looking, I thought idly, but no matter how hot someone was, it didn’t mean they could have their way with me any time and place they chose!

I was a stranger to this land.

There were rules of etiquette!

You didn’t just take a woman because you liked the look of her…

But boy, did that thought turn me on, and it frightened me a little that it had such a powerful effect.

That he had such a powerful effect.

I couldn’t deny the pleasure I derived from having his lips on mine, nor the feel of his lean muscle straining against the fabric of his shirt, no more than I could deny my desire to repeat the experience over and over again.

When the flashing shards of light through the dense canopy overhead blossomed into a full and open blue sky, Deet slowed his outright sprint and approached the rushing water at the river’s edge.

We’d made it, and we weren’t alone.

My chaperones stood in a circle discussing what they were going to do next.

They turned and peered over their shoulders at me, relief painting their faces.

“Sofia!” Camila said, breaking formation and riding her okmath over to me. “We were so worried! What happened to you?”

“You entered the kauah forest?” Bill said, approaching at a slow walk. “The river divides your father’s territory from the kauah’s. If they found you and took you hostage…”

He shook his head.

“Come. We’re still in danger on this side of the river. We must hurry in case someone finds us.”

He clucked his tongue and his okmath turned and waded into the fast-flowing water.

Camila turned to me and leaned in close.

“Did anything happen to you while you were in there?”

How did I respond to that question?

Did I tell her the truth or did I pretend the event had never occurred?

The kauah hadn’t taken me hostage and had let me go.

Would Ikmale have done that if he knew the truth of who I was?

It was a question I would never know the answer to.

“No,” I said carefully, “nothing happened. I… thought I could find a way back across the river. I didn’t find any.”

“Please try to be more careful in future,” Camila chided. “Unless you want me to have a heart attack. Come on.”

As she led me toward the river, I peered over my shoulder in the direction of the forest and knew without a doubt I would never set eyes upon Ikmale again.

At least, not in real life.

I would forever hold onto the private memory we shared, clutching it close like one of my favorite fairy stories I was told as a child of a magical place that never really existed.

Except this place did exist.

It existed just between the two of us.

And no one else would ever know about it.

Or what’d transpired.

No one but me and Ikmale.

The hardpacked dirtpaths wound through the forest and open grasslands like veins on the back of a giant’s hand.

They stretched and yawned, growing wider to cater to the growing foot traffic.

The brick walls of the city of Quoisa sprung up around me suddenly and without warning.

And there, in the distance, our ultimate destination:

The king’s palace.

Although the streets were packed with people rushing about their business, there was a general lethargy to their motions as if all pleasure had been sucked from their daily pursuits.

Marketers hawked their wares and customers haggled but not once did they laugh or joke or share so much as a smile.

A tingling sensation at the back of my mind ferried memories I’d long since forgotten, found like artifacts in a vast desert.

I remembered times when people would laugh in this place, would sing merry tunes at the top of their lungs.

Nothing like the dour atmosphere now.

Were they sad because their prince had been taken from them?

Or that war was on their doorstep and could visit at any time, bringing along with it his comrades Disease, Famine, and Pestilence?

Or had something else scared them?

The palace was perched on the hill overlooking the old part of the town.

It was only as we drew closer that I realized the palace wasn’t built on top of the hill but carved into it.

Large turrets sat at regular intervals around the wall and even from street level I could make out the soldiers keeping watch.

King Leo Brant had ordered for all shuttlecraft to land some distance away, which was why we had to trek by okmath to reach the city.

The king was fearful of an attack, and I thought his concerns were justified.

He just misjudged where it might come from.

With the lackluster and morose temperament of the people living within the city, I thought the king would be wiser to be concerned about those closer to home that might wish him harm.

Bill saluted to a palace guard and explained who I was and that the king was expecting us.

The guard spent no time looking at Camila, who he dismissed with a cursory glance as not being a threat but paid close attention to me.

Finally, he nodded and allowed us entry.

We dismounted from our okmaths and handed the harnesses to the stable hands who led them away with a handful of ripe vegetables.

The guards escorted us through the opulent hallways, their hands perched on the pommels of their ancient weapons.

The guards focused on the servants who busied themselves with running the palace but I sensed more than half an eye was turned inward, facing me and Camila.

“They seemed pretty hostile,” I hissed at Camila. “I thought they would be happy to have their princess back.”

“They haven’t seen you in many years. Give them time to get to know you and they’ll think as highly of you as they did with your brother.”

By the cold hardness of their eyes, I didn’t think they were going to care about me anytime soon.

We came to a large set of doors gilded with gold dragons that curled, forming handles and torch holders.

The old oil torches had been replaced with modern ones but they still looked spectacular.

A kauah dressed in a similar uniform to the guards but with tassels hanging from each shoulder that must have denoted his rank, raised a hand for us to stop.

Bill stepped forward and cleared his throat.

“This is Princess Sofia,” he began before the guard raised a hand to cut him off.

“Of course it’s Princess Sofia,” he said before bowing regally, his arm swinging in a wide sweep that almost grazed the floor. “You’re even more beautiful now than when you were a child. I am Ujok, head of the household and secretary to his highness, the king.”

A smile split his long and dreary face, completely transforming him.

It didn’t show any teeth but brought more than a hint of warmth to his taut cheeks.

“The king is very excited to see you,” he said. “Especially after all these years.”

My heart raced at a gallop.

I tried not to think about how my father would react when I finally met him.

Would he welcome me with open arms?

Would he treat me the way he had his fallen son?

Would he blame me for Mom having run away from him?

And, most importantly, was he still the violent man Camila had warned me about?

My nerves broke into a cold sweat.

“I’m… very excited to meet him too,” I said.

And terrified at the same time.

I took a step forward to enter the room but Ujok once again held up his hand to stop me.

“I’m afraid the king’s in a meeting right now. Please take a seat and he will be with you shortly.”

He motioned toward a side room.

To be honest, I was relieved I could get a handle on my emotions before seeing my father.

I drew to a stop when I saw more than half the hundred or so chairs were already occupied.

“I’ll take you in to see your father as soon as a slot opens,” Ujok said.

He turned and addressed another pair of guests.

A slot?

I hadn’t seen my father in fifteen years and I was added to the end of a long waiting list?

Perturbed, I took a seat beside Camila.

So, this was how the relationship was going to be.

I was just another item on his to-do list.

The images of running into my father’s arms, of him sweeping me off my feet and twirling me around, evaporated in a cloud of mist before disappearing completely.

Our relationship was going to be nothing like what I thought.