Page 1 of Royal Alien Mate

Chapter 1

Esmay crept down the narrow hallway, careful to avoid the creaky spots in the ice-cold floorboards. Unease spread through her, but she followed the murmuring of voices, curious about the late-night conversation that was occurring in the kitchen. Her parents were usually fast asleep by now.

Without warning, a chill descended upon her, a sudden sense that something terrible was about to happen, that all of their lives were about to change forever.

She swallowed hard and tried to shake the unpleasant premonition away, but the heavy feeling only strengthened as she drew nearer to the stilted, high-pitched whispers.

What were her parents talking about? Desperation and fear tinged their hushed voices, a realization that only caused Esmay’s worry to deepen. Her hands started shaking and a full body tremble soon followed. She crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to calm her trembling, but it didn’t help much.

Keep going. You have to find out what’s wrong.

The kitchen door sat ajar, allowing a sliver of light to escape into the otherwise darkened hallway, beckoning her to slink closer. She paused just outside the room and pressed herself to the wall, holding her breath as she listened. The tense exchange within persisted and she leaned toward the light, eager to hear every word, even as the content of the discussion broke her heart.

“If we get divorced and I claim all the debt as my own,” her father said in an anguished tone, “it’s possible you won’t be sent to prison as well.”

“No,” her mother said, “absolutely not. I-I can’t do that. We’ve been married for twenty-three years and—”

“The girls need you here,” he interrupted. “Esmay would need to take a second job just to afford rent for a one-bedroom apartment. Who would look after the twins while she’s working? At least if you’re not in prison, taking care of the twins will be easier. You and Esmay could try to get different shifts at the factory.”

Esmay’s stomach dropped to the floor. She had suspected something was amiss for a while now. Both her parents had recently taken extra shifts at the factory, but despite the additional money coming in, the kitchen cabinets had become practically barren as of late.

Employed at the same factory, Esmay recalled her co-workers talking about a recent increase in both rent and taxes, which made it more difficult than usual for families to make ends meet. Those who couldn’t pay their bills were jailed until their families could settle their debts.

Her heart lurched at the thought of her parents going to prison.

“You make more money than me,” her mother said. “I would hate for us to get divorced, but if-if we do get divorced, it would make more sense for me to claim the debt as mine.”

“No. I will not allow it. I’ll call a lawyer in the morning and we’ll try to get everything taken care of before the first deadline. Fucking Martian governor and his fucking taxes.” His shadow blocked out the sliver of light, causing the hallway to darken completely.

Having heard enough, Esmay made a quiet retreat to the cramped bedroom she shared with her younger sisters, the aforementioned twins.

With an air of forced bravery, she drew in a deep breath and opened her bedside table drawer. She pulled out the flyer and ran her fingers gently over the embossed lettering.

BECOME A MAIL ORDER BRIDE TO THE MARTIANS!

SINGLE HUMAN FEMALES WANTED

AGES 21 – 35

Benefits:

Live on beautiful terraformed Mars

Receive a one-time payment of 10K galactic credits

Bonus - all family debt erased!

Esmay had swiped this flyer from a post office message board a couple of weeks ago, telling herself she was just grabbing it in case her family ever fell upon hard times. She had hidden the flyer away at the bottom of the drawer, hoping she would never have need to look at it again, but here she was, still tracing the embossed letters as she seriously considered applying to become a mail order bride to the Martians.

What choice did she have?

She sighed. The benefits were listed on the flyer, and in her current circumstances they sounded almost too good to be true. The cons, however, were not spelled out on the brochure, though she had no difficulty imagining the many downsides of marrying a Martian.

If she became a mail order bride, she would likely never see her family again. Her throat burned when she considered being forever separated from her twin sisters Carmen and Lilly, as well as her beloved parents. She glanced at the nine-year-old girls and watched as they slept peacefully, both blissfully unaware of the troubles facing their family.

They can’t lose Mom or Dad.I won’t let it happen.

Still holding the flyer, she moved to the small bedroom window and peered into the darkness. Her family’s apartment rested on the tenth floor of a dilapidated New York City apartment building. From this window, all she could see was a trash-filled alley and the brick side of another equally derelict apartment building. There were also two campfires burning in the alley below, and she spotted the figures of several people huddled together close to the flames, trying to keep warm on this unseasonably cold winter night.

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