Page 5 of Royal Alien Mate

“Have you ever talked to a Martian before?” Faith asked.

“No. My parents taught me to avoid them at all costs. Whenever I saw a Martian enforcer in the street, I would always turn the other way, and none have ever directly approached me.”

“Once, when I was a child, I was running through the streets, playing tag with my friends, and I accidently ran straight into a Martian enforcer.” Faith’s eyes grew wider and she paled as she seemed to recall the distant but shocking memory.

“What did he do?” Esmay asked as both women sat down beside one another on a bottom bunk, huddling close so no one would overhear their private discussion.

“He looked at me with a murderous glare, his eyes gleaming black as sin, and then he drew in a deep breath and growled so loudly that the windows in a nearby house shattered. I thought he was going to kill me. I was frozen in place and couldn’t make my legs move to try to run away. Eventually, he growled at me again and by that time, someone had alerted my father to what was happening. He came outside, apologized to the enforcer, and carried me home.”

“That sounds terrifying.” Esmay reached for Faith’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “I’m sorry that happened to you. Maybe that particular Martian was just an asshole. Maybe they’re not all like that. At least I hope some of them are nice. I-I keep thinking that people—humans, I mean—can be so different. Maybe it’s the same with Martians.

Faith cast another glance toward the guards. “I hope you’re right.”

The two women grabbed a drink and made their way to the sitting room, where they conversed with the other women. The guards soon left the room, though Esmay heard a loud clicking sound after the door shut behind them, leading her to believe they had locked the women inside. She tried to repress the shudder that ran through her at this realization.

Suddenly, the wall beside the kitchen transformed, all at once becoming transparent. Esmay stood up and gaped at the image of Earth growing smaller and smaller in a viewscreen. Apparently, the ship had already taken off, though she hadn’t felt even the slightest vibration as the sleek alien vessel departed her home planet. Not for the first time, she marveled at Martian technology.

As she stared at the blue-green orb on which she’d spent her entire life, a pang of preemptive homesickness resounded in her chest. She wrapped her arms around herself, because she all of a sudden felt as if she were falling apart.

In a matter of hours, her entire life had been upended.

She’d gone from believing her family was simply struggling a little financially to realizing her parents were facing jail time to deciding to leave Earth in order to save them. In order to keep her parents and her sisters together.

In a matter of moments, Earth became a pale blue dot in the vastness of space. Her stomach dropped, as if she sensed the rapidness of their departure, though in reality she didn’t truly feel the movement of the ship, and she sat back down because her legs were also becoming unsteady.

No matter what happens on Mars, at least my family will be safe.

At least they’ll be together.

Chapter 4

Vaath watched as the ship descended to a landing platform outside the palace gates. He stood on the balcony of his royal chambers, trying to decide whether he should leave the palace grounds to greet his bride, or simply allow her to be brought to him.

All the other males who had been promised a human female from today’s shipment were supposed to retrieve their new brides directly from the spacecraft, though Vaath’s father—the King of Mars—had ordered him to remain inside the palace walls until his bride was escorted to him.

“It would look unseemly if you appeared eager to claim your human female,” his father had said in an imperious tone. “Besides, you are the first in line to the throne. People and things are brought to you, not the other way around.”

Vaath growled as he recalled his father’s words. He wished his father a long life, but when Vaath ascended to power, he intended to make many changes. For starters, he wouldn’t allow servants to constantly wait on him, nor would he spend so much time within the palace walls. He intended to travel the planet and come in contact with his people on a regular basis.

The best way to understand what his people needed and what issues required his attention was to talk directly to his constituents, rather than only glimpsing the few messages the royal council members deemed worthy of passing along to the king.

Several Marttiaxoxalian males who’d been waiting near the platform boarded the ship, and suddenly Vaath could wait no more. He wanted to meet his bride now. He exited his chambers and rapidly descended the steps, not caring if he appeared overly eager, and not caring if his father learned of his disobedience.

Vaath had led several successful attacks on Earth during the war, including the final battle that had resulted in the planet’s surrender, and whenever the king questioned Vaath’s actions, simply reminding his father of his steadfast dedication to his people seemed to appease him.

In comparison, Vaath’s father had not led a single battle in his two-hundred and fifty-nine years, instead allowing his wartime advisors to appoint generals to do all the difficult, and often deadly, work of defending Marttiaxoxalian interests and battling their enemies.

Vaath emerged through a servants’ exit in the gardens and as he approached the gates, he shot a stern look at the palace guards, letting them know that he expected the gates to be opened even if the king had publicly, during last night’s feast, ordered him to wait for his human bride to be brought to him.

Rem, one of the guards on duty, simply nodded at Vaath, his expression solemn as ever, as he pressed a button to open the gates. Rem had worked for the royal family for a long time and was one of the palace’s most trusted guards, though Vaath didn’t interact with the male very frequently, as Rem kept to himself and rarely spoke to anyone unless duty demanded it.

As Vaath left the palace grounds and headed for the landing platform, Jav stepped out of the bushes, his manner overly casual, as if he’d been hiding there waiting for Vaath to pass by.

“Good morning, Prince Vaath,” Jav said, tapping a foot against one of Vaath’s. “I figured you would be coming this way.”

“Did my father ask you to watch over me?” Vaath asked as he tapped a foot to one of Jav’s, returning the traditional Marttiaxoxalian greeting. However, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed by his friend’s sudden appearance. Jav was a member of the Vash’arr, an elite group of genetically enhanced Marttiaxoxalian warriors, and Vaath thought the male had better things to do than guard a prince who was perfectly capable of defending himself, should the need arise.

Jav shook his head. “No, but I decided to come, just in case thedrakksshow up.”

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