Page 70 of The Alien Who Saved Christmas
Sadie kept on grinning back, feeling a little nervous. Her new in-law was scary, even for an in-law. Still, Hathgarr’s eyes were so much like Xane’s, she couldn’t help but like him. And he’d saved them from Corono. That gave him a free pass for life, as far as she was concerned.
His spaceship was nicer than the ones the Lythions had used, too. Hathgarr’s vessel was way bigger and way shinier. All kinds of Rtaharions were moving around the bridge, piloting them towards safety. Looking out the oval-shaped windows,Sadie beheld an endless web of stars. No other waitress from Toledo had ever seen anything like it, she was pretty sure.
She was flying through outer space!
“Stop trying to intimidate Sadie.” Xane told his brother, sounding exasperated. “You will only embarrass yourself. She cannot be conquered. She is stronger than any of us.”
“But she issmilingat me.” Confused turquoise eyes flicked to Xane. “No one smiles at the King of the Rtaharion. They are too fearful of my wrath.”
“My wife is a very smiling person. Accustom yourself to it.Quickly.”
Hathgarr grunted at that warning, but his ferocious frown lessened a bit.
“Oh wow!” Sadie’s eyebrows soared, her attention still on Hathgarr. “You’re a king? Xane didn’t tell me that. Xane, you didn’t tell me your brother is a king.”
“Why would I tell you that, when we had more interesting things to discuss?” Xane waved aside his sibling’s majestic pedigree. “It’s unimportant.”
Hathgarr glowered at him.
“Doesn’t that make you a prince, though?” Sadie persisted, looking up at Xane. “Becausethatseems pretty important.”
Xane looked over at Hathgarr, like he had no idea if he was royal or not.
Hathgarr shrugged in a distinctly pouty way. “Onlymytitle matters, really.”
“Because, Xane… if you’re a prince, then I would be a princess.” Sadie spelled out, her head already filled with visions of Disney-movie dresses. “And that’ssuperimportant! I could be like Tiana!”
“Who?”
She gasped in horror at the question. “The Princess and the Frog. It’s a super,superimportant human story, because it’s my second-favorite cartoon, afterRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The Island of Misfit Toys were her people.
“Frog” must have translated to some kind of alien species, because Xane cringed. “A human princess and aslggat?” He shuddered with great feeling. “This is a horror tale?”
Hathgarr grunted in agreement, but he still considered Sadie’s idea. “We have very few female Rtaharions, so we have never had a princess.” He lifted one huge shoulder in a shrug. “But you can be one, if you wish, Sadie Malone.”
“Thank you!” How cool would it be to fill out official forms and bubble in “Princess” instead of “Ms.” when choosing her preferred title? Was that a thing in space? She hoped it was a thing! She grinned over at Xane. “Did you hear that? Your brother says I can be a princess. He’s not bossy, at all. He’ssonice.”
“He’s not nice.” Xane assured her. He took a deep breath, like he was steeling himself for something bad. “And this plan will not work, Sadie. I am sorry.”
Her happiness dimmed a bit. That didn’t sound good. “Huh?”
“You told her I was bossy?” Hathgarr interjected, looking outraged. “Well then, I decree that she will be a princess, but you donotget to be a prince.”
Xane responded with some finger gesture that was probably obscene. His gaze stayed on Sadie. “You cannot be a princess. The plan is impossible.”
“Oh.” She shrugged. “Okay. No big deal. I wouldn’t be great at the ‘waving at people from a carriage’ part, anyway. You guys have carriages in space, right?”
“Of course.” Hathgarr assured her. “We grow many types of bananas.”
Sadie squinted.
“Rtaharion royals must reside on their planet to be recognized.” Xane explained to Sadie, disregarding his brother. “That is the law.”
Sadie’s heart dropped, seeing where this was headed.
“Hathgarr’s crew has charted a course to the Milky Way.” Xane pressed on. “From there, you can help us narrow down which planet is yours, yes?”
“You want me to go back to Earth?” Sadie couldn’t believe it. “After everything we’ve shared?”
