Chapter 11
POV Melissa
I breathe slowly, inhaling a scent that reminds me of when I used to enter the greenhouse on the ship where I was born, and my mind wanders back to my memories there.
My childhood wasn’t bad–it was poor, but not bad. Miss Aiko, who took me in as a baby, did the best she could with the help of other children she raised, who grew up and sent her money from afar.
If she were alive, I would certainly send her money too. But she died when I was fifteen, leaving me with a pile of debts to pay because she borrowed from many people to feed us, her orphans. Even with the help of those who had once been sheltered by Aiko, I still had
to work hard on the ship and later sell her apartment.
But while she was alive, Miss Aiko used to say I was a very smart girl–though she said the same to all the other girls who passed through her home. Still, even though she said it to
everyone, I was the only one allowed to visit the ship’s greenhouse with her.
I remember exactly the path I took from her small apartment on the ship to the greenhouse, which is why I can relive it. Aiko would take my hand with her wrinkled fingers, and I would hum, excited beyond words to see a glimpse of what Earth humans
had.
Fresh food is extremely rare in space, but the greenhouse was full of expensive fruits and
vegetables. It was there that I saw my first tree, touched my first leaves and flowers, while
Miss Aiko traded clothes she had knitted for some brons with the gardener.
And it’s something like the smell of that greenhouse that I feel now–green, pungent, pleasant. But beyond that, I also feel warmth embracing my entire body, and I soon
realize it’s liquid.
I’m submerged in hot water.
“Fatak!” someone suddenly says, and the sound is so strange that it startles me. I open my eyes against my will.
“Fatak!” The unfamiliar word is repeated, probably by a very angry woman, and then I feel something pressing against my forehead.
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“Fatak, halum!”
My eyes take a moment to adjust because, wherever I am, it’s dark. But as soon as I see better, I realize I’m indeed immersed in hot, dark water. It covers me up to my neck in a stone pool, like a sauna.
“Where am I and…” I start to ask, only to be splashed in the face with water.
A woman outside the bath is throwing hot water at me with great force.
“Stop!” I exclaim, but it’s no use. I don’t understand her, and she clearly doesn’t understand me either, continuing to drench my head and face with water.
I almost choke on the liquid and begin coughing. This assault leaves me with no choice but to try to stand up, but suddenly, a sharp pain shoots through my legs, and my feet slip on the stones at the bottom of this round pool, nearly making me fall.
“Fatak, halum!” she repeats, and my panic grows as I feel like I’m about to drown with so much water being poured on me. That’s when I also realize I’m naked.
The only thing left on my body is my underwear, now completely soaked, and the wig on my head.
Does this woman want to abuse me? Or worse–does she want to cook me?!
The last thing I remember is landing in a cold place and an alien with red eyes who said the name “Kaleo” when I asked who he was.
Kaleo might be the name of the male who bought me, but this isn’t Faleia, so something went wrong with the module, and I need to figure out how to fix it. Faleia is warm, and the Faleus have four arms. From the little I can see of this crazy woman, she only has two and looks human to me, though very tall, with long horns, a tail, and clothes that seem to be made from animal skins fashioned into coats and pants.
I struggle to stand up in this enormous natural bath, glancing around in fear. I notice candelabras with candles on the walls, the only light source in this windowless place.
“Fatak, halum!” Suddenly, she grabs my arm before I can climb out of the water.
But now that she’s stopped throwing water at me to hold me, the cold in this place hits
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me again, and I bitterly regret stopping her. Maybe she was even trying to help me, albeit in a very rough way.
“All r–right, all r–right,” I mumble, shivering from the few seconds I was exposed to the cold. She gently pushes me back into the bath, where I hug myself and let the hot water soothe me.
The stranger nods and makes a low sound in her throat, as if approving of my decision to stay quiet. She resumes throwing water over my head.
But as she grips me to keep me in the water–a move that leaves me dazed and scared because I know if I leave, I’ll freeze–her fingers catch a large strand of the dark brown wig on my head.
I think her fingers get tangled, and as she tries to free herself, the whole thing comes off, leaving my bald head completely exposed.
I look up at her, eyes wide, unsure how she’ll react. I have no idea where I am or how things work here, only to see the strange woman begin screaming.
POV Kaleo
“You bought a foreign female behind my back and plan to have children with that… human?! Things are hard enough already, but that doesn’t mean we want a foreigner!” Virg’s words echo through the room where he receives his allies.
This used to be where we held war strategy meetings, back before the Faleus came and ended the Azuris and Lilaris conflicts. But that doesn’t mean we trust those treacherous people.
“I’ll take full responsibility for her,” I say, refusing to sit at his table, though now wearing the pants offered to me when I arrived.
The chief’s wife must be in her fortress, and Virg doesn’t like his female seeing any other males but him. Since he doesn’t have a nyclo, being bare–skinned puts me in a better position than him–something the village leader despises.
“How many other males joined in on this madness?‘ he asks, staring at me with eyes
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slightly less vibrant red than mine.
Virg is old enough to be my father but still has a lot of energy. His hair is short, unlike mine, and his blue markings are far less abundant.
“No other male is with me. I won’t share this female with anyone else.”
He sits at the far end of his long table, holding a posture that appears strong to many but only shows me how much things are crumbling around him. He’s trying to appear firm.
“You can’t have a female all to yourself!”
This bastard is wasting my time. By now, he should have just accepted it and declared me married to the human. After all, I paid for her.
“I’m the general of the army, and I won’t settle for scraps. She is mine,” I say without any attempt to appease him as others usually do. Virg is a vain male who thrives on feeling superior.
“You know how the males are suffering, especially the younger ones, from the lack of females, Kaleo. Some don’t mind and prefer each other’s company, but most are enduring the heat cycles alone. We’re trying to make a deal with the Driks, but they won’t help us. It’s crucial that the ones we have here are placed in homes with two or more mates,” he says, reiterating what I already know. I let him ramble on.
A disease struck our people long before I was born, courtesy of the Lilaris. It decimated much of our population, especially the females. Nowadays, for every ten babies, only one is usually a girl. I have only two sisters, despite my mother giving birth to twenty–six children, including me.
“You just said you didn’t want a foreigner, so why do you now want to share her with others?”
It’s his job to secure females. He remains chief of the village based on an unfulfilled promise, not me. I only went after what I wanted most, and now that I have her, I won’t yield.
“Since she’s here, we should… use her.”
The way he ends his sentence makes me growl in fury, causing Virg’s tail to twitch behind
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him.
G
Azuris females like having multiple males; it brings them many benefits. But human
females are different.
“I’ll take the scale–less female to my home today and be her only husband. She is my property!” I don’t waver in my words, making him finally realize there’s no negotiation here. I won’t compromise.
“With all due respect, General Ni…” Virg begins to flatter me, mimicking the praise he loves to receive–a pathetic display. He’s the village chief but lacks power. “We can’t let her be the mate of only one male. It would waste the potential of this female. She could help at least a handful of young males.”
It’s in the nature of Azuris males to care, to provide, to have children, and to build families. But with the scarcity of females, many have succumbed to a state of profound
sadness and loneliness.
Males don’t talk about it, but the grief that consumes an Azuri without a partner is overwhelming. They stop eating, stop hunting because there’s no one to feed, and become mere shadows of themselves.
I’ve been inching closer to that sadness until I had the idea to buy Melissa. Now that I’ve set eyes on her, I know it was the best decision I’ve ever made.
“Then give your wife to the young males, sir,” I say, silencing Virg instantly.
I know the young males need females, but I can’t share. I can’t accept mere scraps of a mate. I want the joy of raising children, of showing her off, of seeing her wake up every day and filling the hollow part inside me that grows emptier with each passing day.
“Have a meeting with your female and the males in need, and see how many she’s willing to marry. Once you do that, I’ll reconsider. Until then, I’ll keep my human to myself because I paid for her.”
I hold my head high, making the male growl and rise from his chair. But I’m not afraid of this fool because I’m one of the few in the city who can breathe fire. He knows that if I
want to, I can burn this fortress and everything in it.
I’ve never had limits, and I won’t start now. I’m a general not because Virg appointed me,
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G
but because my father was one and passed the position to me, earning me respect among
our people.
“This isn’t reasonable. What will happen when the males see that you have a female all to
yourself?!” He dares to raise his voice at me.
“What others think of me is not my concern,” I say, letting a dark smoke escape my nostrils. He immediately glances at my chest in panic, unwittingly revealing his fear as he notices my body heating up.
Fire forms in my chest, glowing like embers as I literally start to burn from within.
“Kaleo…” he says my name in a pleading tone, just as the room’s door bursts open.
My sister rushes in, breathless and drenched.
“We have a problem!”
Chapter Comments
Debbie Murray
I’m really enjoying reading your book so far thank you for sharing.
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