Fire Falcon, page 14
part #1 of Force 9 Series
“I don’t understand. The alert was triggered well after the blast. He must have been alive to do that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe some debris knocked it or something?” he looked sadly at the lifeless prince. “But… but are you absolutely sure he’s gone? Have you checked?”
I looked at him as if he was totally insane. Undeterred, he ran his wrist scanner over Vann’s torso. It let out a series of beeps. “No. That’s impossible.” I heard myself saying, not daring to believe.
“He’s alive, but in a bad state for sure. We have to get him to the med bay on oxygen quick.” Sten grabbed him by the ankles and I gripped under his shoulders, together we heaved him onto the stretcher and attached the oxygen mask, forcing life-saving gas into his lungs. I grabbed a pair of scissors and cut open the arm of his space suit to inserted a drip line into his vein.
“There has to be an explanation for this.” Sten drew a tiny drop of blood from a pinprick on Vann’s finger.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s just a hunch.” He wiped it onto a glass slide and inserted it into a slot next to the med-bay computer. A second later he pointed to an analysis readout on the screen. “There.”
“I thought he was Trathosan!” My eyes widened.
“He is. Well, half.”
“Half Pysan. No wonder he felt like an alien around his family.”
“The queen was a naughty girl then.”
The Pysan race were a hardy breed of humanoid, able to survive in extreme situations, even in the vacuum of space. The web of their skin structure would compress and harden the instant it came into contact with hostile surroundings, protecting them from pressure and extreme temperatures. If there was a lack of oxygen, their body would simply shut down into hibernation mode.
As a whole, they were not known for their good character. Pysans often engaged in careers as mercenaries, head-hunters, pirates or criminals. They were incredible fighters – strong and aggressive with a general inability to back down. Their home planet was famous for its underground clubs where fighters regularly tore each other apart limb by limb for the entertainment and wager of a crowd. To be called a Pysan was not a compliment.
“His twin sister will be, too, obviously. I wonder if they know?” I frowned.
“I would keep it to yourself for now. He’s not going to be happy when he finds out.”
“You’re probably right.” I looked at his peaceful face, marred by the oxygen mask and a few cuts and burns. “He’s been through enough for one day.”
Vann remained unconscious for the flight back to Asvellah. Once home, Sten and I stabilized him in the infirmary and ran more tests and scans. In spite of being violently thrown into space by an exploding vessel, he had suffered no internal injuries.
While he was still in hibernation, I carefully applied gel balm to his burns and glued the lacerations together before applying dressings. Still struggling to process the emotional whiplash of the last few hours, I trudged upstairs, slumped onto my sofa and stared out at the mountains as if they could piece me back together. It would haunt me for the rest of my life, that sadness and resignation in Vann’s eyes as he pushed me into the capsule and said goodbye. The regret of losing me combined with the knowledge that he was about to die while his planet still suffered must have been a heavy burden. He had saved my life, sacrificed himself without pause to reconsider –the exact opposite of what Thom had done. My heart was torn from my chest when I lost him, the sadness unbearable. An aching emotional hangover turned my body and mind into stone. But even before the crash he had confessed he was going to leave me, go back to his planet. I’ve made a mistake getting attached to him… to anybody.
“Atrana?” His soft voice came from outside my apartment door. Evening had fallen while I had been in a trance-like state on the sofa, I hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights. The darkness was a comfort to me. I flicked the lights on and rubbed my eyes as I opened the door to greet him. There he was, alive and smiling in front of me. Anger and stress suddenly overcame me. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside.
“What the hell were you thinking?” I spat. “You died, Vann!”
His face fell as he stopped in his tracks.
“You shouldn’t have done it!” I tried to growl, but it came out as a squeak and I burst into tears. I was being completely irrational, but I couldn’t stop myself. “You should have just bailed and left me!”
“I could never! How… how could I have lived with myself if I did that to you, Atrana!” He seemed clueless what to do with a sobbing, shouting woman.
When girls cry in movies, it is usually a delicate, moderately attractive sight – glistening eyes and wistful tears rolling down perfectly made-up cheeks. But when I cried that evening, it was the most unflattering horror show Vann had likely ever seen. I felt myself flush bright red as snot and tears streamed down my face. I wiped them on my sleeve like a small child as I hiccupped and sobbed, my skin prickling, my entire body shuddering into a weak and useless state. Worse, he just stood there looking at me, perplexed. Finally he stepped forwards and wrapped his arms tight around me so my nose nestled into his armpit and I could bury the heaving gulps of grief. “You were gone,” I blubbered into his robe. “I saw you get blown up.”
“And yet, here I am.” He softly kissed the top of my head.
“Yeah but for how long? You said you are going back to Trathosa. They’re going to kill you, Vann!”
“Atrana, no, it’s not going to be like that. I shouldn’t have said anything at all. I’m not going back without a proper plan.”
I took some deep breaths and as the crying subsided, I broke free from his embrace and sat down on the couch, head in hands. “I’m sorry. I should be thanking you, not abusing you.”
“It’s okay little one. It’s been a rough day for you.” He perched on the edge of the cushion next to me.
“I’m… I’m sorry about this morning… I shouldn’t have been so hard on you about my ship.”
“Not another word. You were quite right, I should have asked to borrow it. It was wrong of me. I will never take advantage of you like that again, I promise.”
“I was such a bitch to you, even after you’d told me it was an urgent meeting to do with your poor planet. I hated myself for it.”
He wrapped his arms around me once more.
“How did you manage to survive? To activate your tracker? You were gone with no trace. And then suddenly you appeared again.”
“I don’t know,” he drew away from me again. “One minute I was watching your pod shoot away from me and I knew it was the last time I would ever see you. Then… then I woke up floating in space. I managed to set off my alert but must have passed out again because I woke up just now, covered in bandages.” He smiled gently as he stood up again and paced towards the window.
“You almost died,” I whispered softly, overwhelmed by the sacrifice he had made – confused that he was standing alive before me, as if nothing traumatic had happened. “…for me.”
He turned around, his dark eyes burning into my soul. “I would do it again in a heartbeat, if that’s what it took.”
“If that’s what it took for what?”
“For you to trust me, Atrana.” He searched my face. “Your heart, your mind, they are resisting me. You think I am just playing with you, that I am not sincere. It’s not true.”
I could feel the tears welling up again, which was a bad sign. My walls were crumbling and my heart was exposed. I was terrified of letting him in… but frightened that he would give up on me and leave.
Then he said the most unexpected thing. “Marry me, Atrana. Let me prove I am worthy.”
I was taken aback. “You hardly even know me!”
“But I want to, if you would just let me!” He raised his voice again. “Atrana, if I live a thousand years, you are the only woman I want to be with. If you are not with me, then I do not want to live at all.” He paused, then softened. “Forgive me, I do not wish to pressure you. Do not answer me right now… I just want you to know that my intentions are honorable. I am not going to let you down. Death is the only thing that could tear me away from you.”
Then before my eyes, he was engulfed from head to toe in a bright, flickering light. I gasped, my jaw dropping as I sat up straight on the edge of the couch. I had heard of the incredible technology the Trathosans possessed which transformed them into a royal deity, but I had never seen it in action. The particle materialisers hidden within his usual costume rearranged and expanded the space between the atoms they held, covering him with his full royal regalia.
A striking silver piece adorned his head with huge buffalo-like horns arcing up from each side, framed by a magnificent fan of engraved metal feathers. A plate of jewel-encrusted silver on the front of his crown covered his brow like a knight’s helmet, slightly shading his eyes and coming to a point at the bridge of his nose. His black hair flowed from beneath it, resting on the charcoal shoulder armour which clasped his thick velvet cape. Intricate layers of silver plating covered the top of his leather tunic like dragon scales. His forearm bracers gleamed even brighter than before.
My pupils dilated with awe and desire as I drank in the spectacular form before me. But I felt suddenly intimidated by the sheer majesty of him.
“Atrana,” he said softly as he reached out his hand. “I am a prince without a throne. But one day… will you be my Queen?”
I stood up slowly, hoping my legs would not give out beneath me. It felt like I was drawn in by an invisible magnet, like a fly hypnotized by a spider. I was strong enough to escape if I wanted to, but I was tired of fighting the urge to be as near as physically possible to him.
Encouraged by my movement, he lunged at me as I threw myself into his arms. His lips found mine as I breathed him in and drank the touch of the warm metal on my fingers. I could no longer resist him, I felt past the point of no return. But he gently pushed me away from him, leaving my body reeling with loss. He took my left hand, turned it over so the palm was facing up and rested a silver eternity loop on it. He did the same with the other hand and took a step back. “If you accept my proposal, close your hands around these,” he whispered. “You can change your mind, of course. Or if you need more time, just keep them in a safe place until you are ready.”
I looked down at the flawless silver treasures. I wasn’t familiar with the rituals and customs of Trathosan royalty, but I sensed that these items carried a heavy weight of power with them. Slowly, with a rapidly beating heart and shallow breath, I closed my fingers and thumbs over them in acceptance. An unusual warmth radiated from them, the silver turned to liquid and leached out through the gaps between my fingers. It trailed up the back of my hands and dripped over the sides as if alive. Vann took my hands in his again and the silver ran over his fingers, leaving a thin ring around each of his digits before returning to me and wrapping around my wrists. The liquid then formed a radiant V-shaped bracelet on each of my arms which followed the contours of my skin perfectly, from the small of my wrists to the back of my hand, as if painted on. I turned my hands over and watched in wonder at the smooth curves which flowed with my movement so I could barely feel them at all.
“I retrieved these from my vault,” he whispered, locking my gaze. “They were bestowed upon me at birth, to be given to the one whom I choose to be my beloved.” He traced over the metal bands with his finger, then trailed it gently up my forearm to my shoulder. “You. Only you.” He brushed the back of his fingers against my neck, sending shivers up my spine. I couldn’t stand the delay any longer. I threw my arms around his neck, dragging his head down to meet his fierce kiss. Effortlessly he picked me up in his arms and lowered me onto the soft couch, but he did not go any further as I hoped. Instead, he pulled away and looked at me with sad, regretful eyes as he sat down, his cape flowing beside him.
“Oh no, what is it now?” My throat closed with anxiety. Surely there were no more barriers between us? After that grand gesture?
“There is… one more thing,” he stammered awkwardly. “This is harder for me than you could ever imagine. But if we are to have a long, happy future together, we must not be united physically until our wedding night.”
It felt as though he had thrown a bucket of ice cold water over me. Tears of anger and frustration welled up in my eyes. I buried my face in my hands and turned away from him. “I don’t believe it!”
“It’s Trathosan law. If we consummate our union before we are married, the throne is forbidden.”
“Are you serious? Then what were you doing that night in my apartment? When you were trying to get your hands into my robe?”
“I… I... I wasn’t thinking that night. I… I just wanted… you.”
“You were going to make me your mistress? You knew if you slept with me that night I could never be anything more!”
“I was lost, Atrana. I didn’t think I would ever gain the throne. I had nothing to lose and I wanted you so badly! How could I consider taking a wife, when I was an outcast? But when I got to know you better, I realised what I could have done. What I could have thrown away, and I hated myself for it. Please know, that if we had been together that night, I would marry you regardless. I would deny the throne to be with you. My darling Atrana. I am so grateful that your morals stood firm and you stopped me.”
“Do you have any idea how hard that was for me then? And now?”
“Atrana,” he took my hands in his, but I ripped them away. “My Queen. I am truly, deeply sorry. I hope that you forgive me for what I nearly did out of lust. Because now I truly love you.”
“You said you loved me then.”
“I said I had fallen in love with you, and I realise now it was an immature love with a large dose of lust. Oh, it is so hard for me to explain,” he put his head in his hands. “I was mesmerised by you and wanted to have you. I still am.. and do. But what I have now is so much stronger than lust or admiration. Any fool can say they are ‘in love’. But Atrana, when I say I truly love you, it means that I would die for you. I did, in fact, didn’t I? So when I say I love you, it means I want the best for your life, and I want to witness every second of it. Even if that means denying myself the physical pleasure of your beauty now. You deserve to be a Queen, and nothing less. I love you too much to take that away from you.”
Damn, he’s like a poet. Probably schooled in velvet-smooth linguistics. I groaned, took a deep breath then looked him in the eyes, still a little annoyed. “I didn’t think it was possible for a woman to be blue-balled.”
He paused for a minute in confusion before he started laughing and collapsed on the couch in a pool of metal and velvet regalia. “Believe me, Atrana, I am blue-balling myself!”
“But… how would they even know?” My hand gripped his bracer, eyebrow raised mischievously.
“Oh my love, you are not making this easy for me. There is a genetic test which deciphers a woman’s sexual partners. If the Achisar is one of them, they are forbidden to ascend.”
“Wait a minute, let me get this straight. I can sleep with anyone I like, except you?”
“Yes, if that is what you desire.”
“And you could sleep with me here and now if you wish, and marry me, but not become king?”
“That is correct.”
“And you could sleep with anybody else you like, and still marry me and ascend as long as I hadn’t shagged you?”
“Um… yes.”
“WHY!”
“It is Trathosan law. From my understanding, it is designed to protect the union. It is not meant for the royal couple to have a long engagement though.”
“But how does it protect the union? I don’t understand!”
“It allows the couple to explore each other in ways which are not physically intimate. Character, passions, intellect. By keeping sexual desire at bay for a short time, it strengthens the bond when the couple finally consummate. Abstinence ensures that the foundation of the union is love, not lustful desire. And believe me,” he growled sexily, “it will be worth the wait.”
Chapter THIRTEEN
“What the!” I exclaimed as I rushed through the hangar door the next morning with my laser drawn. “How did they get in?” I had heard the unexpected arrival of two spaceships and here they were, towering over me on the launch pad, gleaming in the artificial light as the whirring of their engines slowly ebbed away. We seldom had uninvited visitors to the lair, and the fact these ships had come through the hangar door and landed without triggering security was call for alarm. “We must have been hacked.”
“Don’t worry, there is nobody on board. They have security clearance to land, I gave it to them when I ordered them.” Vann followed me in. “An engagement present, my love. Choose whichever you like.”
I looked incredulously at his slightly smug face. Sometimes I forget he’s such a moneybags and could probably buy a whole planet. “It’ll do.” The corner of my lip turned up as a spark ignited in my eyes. These were the latest and greatest in space rescue technology. Three times faster than my previous craft and with far more advanced facilities inside. “I take it the second one is for you? So you don’t have to borrow mine again?” Ouch, I probably shouldn’t have brought that up, but thankfully he ignored my dig.
“Too matchy-matchy? I told you, I need my own wings so I can visit my concubines.”
I smacked him hard on the arm but he didn’t even flinch, just laughed.
“You can’t just let anybody know our location Vann. It’s not safe.”
“I didn’t. I used secure drone mode. I encrypted the coordinates and hangar entry clearance when I ordered them. You know, that day I borrowed your now deceased antique. Nobody at the factory knows where they went to.”
“You’re a genuis,” I admitted with a hint of sarcasm.
“Well, yes,” he gave me a mock patronising look and added, “and so are you, apparently, if you have only just figured that out.”
