Page 20 of Bound to the Alien King
I didn’t know the answers, but I did know another question: what was that heavenly, sugary smell wafting through Maxx’s castle?
The answer lay in a sprawling kitchen, guarded on the outside by four enormous Xenoxx warriors.On the inside bustled the princess herself.
“Is it okay if I go in?”I pointed in case my destination wasn’t obvious.
One of the guards bowed low and then rose.“You have full reign, Captain Cotrobin.What’s ours is yours.”
“Thank you.”Their complete trust in me was humbling, given that I was still technically a stranger to them.
I headed inside and was immediately greeted with a squeal.
“Nera?Can I even call you Nera?Can I hug you like a T-Rex?”She flung herself at me, her purple-scaled hands covered in what looked like white flour.
“Yes,” I laughed, unable to say no even if I wanted to.
She swept me up in a hug, somehow avoiding touching me with her hands, and suddenly, it felt like I’d known her for her entire life.She was like any other girl—young woman, really—only she’d lost so much in such little time.
I couldn’t help but compare her to my Lucy, who would be a little younger than her if her life hadn’t been snuffed out so soon.
Roxxanne pulled away, and it was like looking at a more feminine version of her father.She had the same nose and cheekbones, the same lavender eyes, the pupils like lightning bolts, the same long, silky purple hair.
Her dimple was not on her chin like her dad’s, however, but in her cheek when she grinned infectiously.She was obviously more petite, too, in her long, gossamer gown that reminded me of butterfly wings.
“I can tell why he loves you,” she said, her eyes glistening.
Her bluntness made me chuckle, but inside, I ached.For her and for me.A Faid loved us both, so much that it brought Maxx to his knees.How could that love be real though if it came from an artificial being?
“Oh, goddess, I said something wrong, didn’t I?”She reached out, her floured hands forgotten, and grasped my bare forearms.“Open foot, insert mouth, as the humans say.I’m so sorry.Leave it to me to make it all awkward.It’s best if I don’t speak, like, ever.It’s just that I’ve been wanting to meet you forever.”
“Me too, Roxxanne.Maxx has told me so much about you, and I still can’t really believe I’m here.”
Grimacing, she dusted off my forearms, the scales on her fingertips softer than silk.“Same.And Dad let you come see me all alone?No guarded escort or anything?”
“Uhh, we’re not…” My neck prickled and heated at the very idea of him “letting” me do anything.“He doesn’t know I came to see you.”
She grinned, showcasing that adorable dimple.“I wouldn’t knowanythingabout keeping secrets from my dad.”
I snorted.This girl was going to give Maxx so much trouble as she grew older that I almost felt sorry for him.
“So what is it that you’re doing in here?”I asked, gesturing at the enormous kitchen.
“Oh, this?”She flitted deeper inside, her gossamer dress fluttering behind her.The natural light slanting in from the skylight above shimmered and danced all over the delicate beading, making the gown come alive with movement.“This means it’s Uxxenday, or Wednesday as you call it.I make homemade donuts for the children who live nearby.In other words, I sugar them up good and then send them back to their parents while I run away cackling.”
I laughed.“Sounds like a great time.”
“I also do it to hear what the people need through the children.They’re much more honest about things, you know?”She busied herself with a lot of dials on what looked like an oven.
“Yeah…” I blinked down at the flour smudges on my forearms, my mind wandering to another time, another place.
Mama, your breath stinks like dirt.Have you been licking the ground again?
Of course, Lucy-Goosey.How else am I supposed to water it?
Rather than have a mental breakdown, I chuckled freely at the memory of Lucy’s honesty.The first time, maybe ever, that I’d ever been able to do that since she’d been taken from me.Strides had been made in the grieving process, only I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that right now.Had my grief transformed with my pregnancy?Was I not only growing a baby but a spark of hope that I could be a mother again?
“Do you want to come with me to deliver them?See how the Xenoxx live?”Like she’d done it a hundred times before, she opened a rectangular door in the oven and pulled out a six-yard-long tray of purple donuts.“I’m nearly finished, and we can talk along the way.”
“Yes.Please.”Practically salivating, I could barely tear my gaze away from the donuts.
