Page 14 of Taken By the Alien Siren King

“So, you just... what? Decided I’d be better off alone on the surface with ships full of people trying to kill us?” Her gray eyesflashed with renewed anger. “No warning, no explanation, just shove and swim?”

“The Knights wouldn’t kill you without orders. Not when you’re valuable as a hostage.” I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated. Why did she want to fight overeverything?“If I hadn’t summoned?—”

“The sea monster. Right.” She folded her arms across her chest. “And what the hell was that thing? Not that I’m ungrateful, but something like that is a story to scare children where I’m from.”

“The sea dragon is special to Khadians,” I explained, moving to pour her a drink and refresh mine. “Legend says the first Khadian king fell into the abyss after slaying the last of a hundred pretenders. Too weak to do anything but sing his final goodbye to his queen, he sank deeper and deeper until the dragon answered his call. The beast saved and granted him dominion over the waters in exchange for protection from hunters.”

I handed her the glass, our fingers brushing. Even that brief contact sent a jolt through me. “To honor our first king, each potential ruler now offers to battle any contender for the throne. Only when no more object can the potential plunge as deep as they can swim and earn the dragon’s favor. If they succeed, they can call upon it in times of great need.”

“And you can command it?” Emme’s voice held a note of awe that sent a ridiculous flare of pride through my chest.

“Not command, exactly. Request.” I took a sip of my drink. “The dragon chooses whether to answer.”

“It chose to answer you today,” she said, watching me over the rim of her glass.

I swirled the amber liquid in my glass, remembering the surge of power and exhaustion that followed. The sea dragonhadn’t just come—it had answered with fury, as if it too recognized the threat Nedaris posed. “Yes.”

Let my dear brother play at being king. Let him wear my crown and command his Knights. But he wasn’t the true king of Delovia Ridge. Not yet. Not until he faced the trials, and if I had anything to say about it, he never would.

Emme was quiet for a moment. Her voice softened, a note of something like pity threading through it. “So... your own brother?”

I sighed and poured us both another drink, buying time as I tried to sort through the tangle of emotions that came with thinking of Nedaris. Anger. Betrayal. And beneath it all, a stubborn thread of something that felt dangerously like grief.

“I don’t know when it started,” I admitted finally, staring into my glass. “We’ve always been at odds, I suppose. Driven there by our father, and then... it just continued into adulthood. He was always the perfect prince. Followed every rule, mastered every lesson, never stepped out of line. While I...” I gave a humorless laugh. “Well, you’ve seen how I am.”

Our father had pitted us against each other from the beginning. Watching. Testing. Waiting to see which of his sons would prove the stronger. I’d always assumed it was to prepare us for the inevitable challenges to the throne. Now I wondered if he’d simply enjoyed the show.

“Parental disappointment is a universal plague, it seems,” Emme said with a bitter twist to her lips.

I glanced up, curious. “What do you mean?”

She hesitated, as if weighing how much to share. “I lost my parents young. We hadn’t spoken for a few weeks, all over stupid demands for grandchildren. I wasn’t opposed to the idea, but...” She shook her head. “How could I bring a child into a world where they faced a future with no food on the table and poison for an environment?”

The pain in her voice struck a chord deep within me. I wanted to reach for her, to offer some comfort, but I kept my distance. She wasn’t ready for that yet.

“Then they died in their sleep. Carbon monoxide poisoning, faulty detector.” Her mouth twisted. “Nothing ever resolved. No apologies over tea. No closure. Just... gone.”

“I’m sorry, Emme.” I wished I had something more comforting to offer. Better words. Better actions. A better fucking world where such senseless death and heartbreak didn’t exist.

She shrugged, the gesture too casual to be genuine. “It’s part of what drew me to the Legacy mission. I want to ensure better conditions for future generations, even if I won’t see it for myself.”

The simple confession hit me harder than I expected. Here was something of herself, freely given, not extracted through emergency or duty. I wanted more, wanted to uncover everything there was to know about her, to learn what made her laugh, what brought her joy, what kept her awake at night.

The soul song between us thrummed louder, a constant reminder of what she was to me. What we could be to each other.

“I don’t know if I could be so selfless,” I admitted, moving closer to her. “Even if I was certain Nedaris wouldn’t destroy the kingdom.”

Emme didn’t back up. Instead, she lifted her chin and met my eyes. “I saw you choose saving me over fighting your brother. Why, if you’re as selfish as you claim? I’m nothing to you or your planet.”

Nothing? Here was this incredible woman who’d crossed the stars to save her people, who’d faced death without flinching, who set every cell in my body singing for her, and she thought she wasnothing?

I closed the last bit of distance, tilting her head back with a knuckle under her chin. “Do you truly not feel it?”

“Feel what?” Emme demanded. “You keep saying that, but what does it even mean?”

I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “The soul song,” I said quietly. “It’s how Khadians recognize their mates.”

Her eyes widened. “Mates?”

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