Chapter 17
If she so wishes.
Tamara
Filbur’s hand was anchoring me in the present, preventing me from spiralling too far into the past. Preventing me from getting lost deep into traumatic memories.
The sand was warm under my feet as we walked, slowly but surely toward Khegon’s palace, where said past was waiting to confront me.
He’d found me. How did he find me? This made no fucking sense, I—
“Back to the present, my love.” Filbur squeezed my hand. “Back to me.”
I released a charge breath and looked up at him. He appeared calm. Way calmer than me.
“I can feel your pulse in your hand, Kadhasse. It is too fast and strong, even by human standards.”
“I just—” A pause. Another breath. “I don’t understand how he figured out where I was. I didn’t even think he’d leave stinky little Earth to go after me if he did! Why—”
“We will have every answer once we face him,” Filbur interrupted, giving my hand another squeeze. “You need to stay calm, yes? You have done nothing wrong. We will protect you.”
They could see lies. Jake wouldn’t be able to get away with his usual tactics.
You’re safe here, Tammy. He can’t hurt you anymore.
My feet started dragging into the sand and we were standing on Khegon’s private beach less than five minutes later. His mansion was towering over us, the closed gate leading to the back of his house taunting my sudden inability to move.
“You are strong,” Filbur said, leaning close enough to drop a kiss on my temple. “The little man cannot harm you. He cannot do anything.”
“I know. You’re right. He’s no one here. He has no power.”
His grin widened, one of his bald eyebrows arching up. “Absolutely none. And even less over you.”
I couldn’t answer. My sole focus was on following my husband who had started walking confidently toward the huge door. My husband who, by standing by my side, made me feel like I had all the power in the palm of my hand. Hand that he was holding firmly in his, grounding me.
Jake has no power here. He has no power over me.
I can do this.
The palace was huge. The high pillars supported the roof three floors up, leaving lots of balconies above for Filbur’s family to keep an eye on us as we moved toward the platform where Khegon’s throne was.
He looked pissed.
And I could see why.
It wasn’t just Jake and Maxwell. Jake’s parents were here too, angry faces turned to us. My parents, avoiding my eyes, stood ramrod straight on Maxwell’s side.
The only hint that I’d frozen on the spot was Filbur’s body, moving to stand before me, hiding them all from sight.
“It is alright, Kadhasse. You can do this. I am by your side.”
“Both Jake’s parents and mine are aware of what he put me through. They let him do this. They—”
“Have no power here,” he repeated softly, brushing a finger along my cheek. “Canco people do not tolerate abuse. We do not listen to lies. They will be gone soon, I promise.”
No power. None of them. Right.
I wasn’t the scared girl I’d been when I escaped. Not anymore. Filbur gave me the chance to discover myself. He gave me my confidence back. My life.
So, I lifted my chin high and resumed our walk, ignoring them all and focusing on my brother-in-law until my husband and I both stopped before the platform.
“Qumhasse,” Khegon said softly, standing up with a small smile pulling at his lips, spreading his arms in invitation.
My throat bobbed. Filbur squeezed my hand, urging me forward.
“Quimhasse,” I answered, stepping closer until his hand could find a now familiar spot on my stomach. I returned the gesture. “Please, forgive me for this…” I looked over my shoulder, at a loss for words. “Disagreement.”
He shook his head. “It is not you who are a bother. I apologize for pulling you both out of your home for such a…displeasant reason.”
“Now, now, Khegon,” Maxwell said from his spot near my parents. “I’m not more happy about this than you, but you have to understand that this situation needs to be settled as quickly as possible.”
Khegon’s smile was forced. Too tight. It didn’t suit him. “We will.” Then, low enough for only my ears. “Do not worry about a thing, Tammy.”
I could only nod as I retreated a few steps until my back found the familiar front of Filbur. My partner. My husband.
It’ll all be alright. He’s here with me.
“Tamara, why did you lie to Mr Donovan when he recruited you?” Maxwell asked and my jaw almost hit the floor.
“I didn’t.”
He arched a brow. “You most certainly did. Only unmarried women are eligible for the Zodiac Repopulation Program. You clearly forgot to mention that you were, in fact, married.”
My knees buckled.
Married?
No. No, I fucking wasn’t.
My wide eyes met Khegon’s. He was frowning at Maxwell, clearly confused. Could he see the lie? Or, maybe Maxwell was the one that had been lied too, and so, he wasn’t actually lying but telling something that he’d heard.
Fuck.
No. No, no, no.
“I’m only married to Filbur,” I said, slowly. “And I have never been married before.”
“You lying whore,” Jake spat, taking a menacing step forward before being held back by his mother. “You signed a contract. You belong to me!”
I blinked, taken aback by the swirling rage on his face. What the hell was going on?
“I haven’t signed anything of the sort. The only thing I did sign was a paper stating what I was and wasn’t allowed to use while I was living with you before the marriage was to happen.”
Khegon nodded, satisfied by my honesty.
“Liar!” he screamed again, plunging a hand in his pocket to retrieve a folded document. “Here! This one is a contract signed by your parents saying that you were to marry me in exchange for them to acquire one of our houses. This is the document they signed when they agreed to our terms, and—”
“What I hear,” Khegon cut in sharply, “is her parents signing on her behalf for things she did not agree to.” His tone was too sharp to leave room for negotiations. He turned to Maxwell, waving dismissively. “This does not mean Tamara was the tiny man’s spouse.”
Maxwell looked sorry but took a step forward. “I believe they have another contract. One of marriage. They…showed it to me back at the station. This is the reason we came here.”
Jake’s parents exchanged a glance. Mine were increasingly interested in their own feet.
My ex’s mother cleared her throat, pulling a neatly folded piece of paper out of her elegant beige jacket.
Beige.
I’d hoped I’d never see this damn color ever again.
She handed it to Khegon, bowing at the waist. He stared at her, confused, but still picked what she offered between careful fingers.
“What do you want me to do with this?” he asked, unfolding it carefully.
Maxwell came forward. “Apologies, Khegon. Give it to me and I will translate.”
“No need,” Filbur said behind me, walking around to reach his brother on the platform. They looked at each other silently as Khegon gave him the so-called marriage contract. No words were needed with these two…
When my husband came back to stand by my side, he pulled out the translating glass from the pocket of his loose pants.
He tensed with every second.
That was it. I had to look at it.
Inching closer, I read over his arm.
“What?” I shrieked. “This is nonsense!”
Jake’s smile was cruel. “You thought you’d leave me behind? This is a marriage contract. You can’t—”
“Silence,” Filbur snapped without looking up.
“I never signed this,” I said softly. “I was careful to everything I was agreeing to and this—”
“Kadhasse—”
“—I never signed this!”
And yet, it was my signature at the bottom. How did my signature end up there? This was insane. How did they—
“I believe you, Kadhasse,” he whispered, eyes searching mine. “I believe you.” He looked up to his brother. “Khegon believes you too.”
“I want compensation,” Jake hissed to my parents. “I am getting her back but she’s obviously not the untouched woman I was promised.”
My parents gaped.
Of course, the only thing they were worried about was their money.
“I didn’t sign up for a whore,” he added.
Filbur’s shoulder tensed and he took a step toward Jake, only stopping when I caught hold of his forearm to hold him back.
This was too much. I wanted to escape. To find the closest hiding spot and stay there for hours, until everyone forgot I existed.
“I-I didn’t…I never signed this.”
“You did!” Spit was flying out of his mouth now. His parents turned to look at me, a satisfied smile on their faces.
Filbur growled next to me. “And when did she sign this…document?”
“I don’t fucking know,” Jake sneered. “The only thing that matters is that she signed it. She’s my wife. Mine!”
Another glance between my husband and his brother. Was this it? Did they see the lie? Was I free? Were they going to be sent away and never allowed back here? I—
“We will not fall for lies, tiny man,” Khegon said, leaning back on his throne. “You have no right to Tamara. You have no right to be here. I trust Maxwell will escort you back to the station and—”
“How dare you!” Jake yelled, throwing the documents he still held in the air. “She is mine!”
Khegon let out an annoyed sigh. “The marriage contract was not signed by Tamara. I am not sure what you have done, but she is telling the truth and you reek of lies. She was unmarried when she was partnered with my brother. There is no case.”
Jake blanched.
Giggles echoed all around and I looked up. Juni, Guidy and Tegha were all seated above, legs hanging from the balconies. “Liar, liar, your face is on fire,” they chanted.
Filbur let out a muffled chuckle next to me.
“And what about the promises of marriage?” his mother said, leaning down to pick up the discarded papers on the ground. “This has to be worth something! She was promised to our son, for Christ's sake!”
Filbur ignored her and turned to Maxwell, who looked more embarrassed by the minute.
“A promise signed by her parents holds no value to us. As far as we are concerned, Tamara did not consent to her union with the tiny man. She is to remain here—” He paused, sliding a hand over my hip and turned his eyes to me. “If she so wishes.”
***
“Please, forgive me for this whole thing Miss Matossi,” Maxwell apologized, holding both my hands while we stood next to the shuttle meant to bring my past back to the station. “With the…forged evidence they possessed, I had to come and settle this.”
I forced a smile. “Of course. Unlike my husband and his people, we aren’t able to detect lies just by looking at someone’s face.”
Maxwell quickly glanced at Filbur, standing just a few steps behind. “I had no clue. If I had known, I would have come straight here and ensured they were properly questioned before bothering you with this.”
At least he felt bad for believing I’d lied.
Maxwell was a bit of an odd man, but he still had been kind during my prolonged time in the station.
This project was his whole life. He’d joined it freshly out of university and had worked in this system ever since.
All the species here may have started to have severe fertility issues only twenty to thirty years ago, but Maxwell had been working here for over sixty years, monitoring them all.
Good thing being on the station made the humans there somehow age slower…He still had a few decades ahead of him. I doubted he was ready to retire anyway. At least, not until the fertility issue was resolved and all the species were back to being able to reproduce on their own.
What the original scientists had done here may have been morally questionable—playing with DNA and playing a part in the evolution of some species by making some somewhat a bit human—but Maxwell and his team were hellbent on making things better.
They may not be able to go back in time to prevent this from happening, but they worked hard to find a way to fix all the issues that had risen.
“Do not worry about them anymore,” he said, letting go of one of my hands to squeeze my arm. “Unless they manage to come back here illegally and crash on the planet, they will never bother you again.”
“That’s an oddly specific scenario.”
He shuddered. “I hope this…situation will never happen again.”
Right…Wendy had told me all about how she had ended up on her husbands’ planet without stopping by the station first.
Good to hear it had been a one-of-a-time situation.
“Alright, we need to get moving.” He turned around and waved at his crew to start the shuttle. “We will see you at the station in a week, remember?”
I nodded, remembering perfectly well about the monthly check-ups.
Maybe I would meet the next bride, like Wendy had met me when she came for hers.
For some reason, I was excited about it. Although Wendy had added to my anxiety by having not one but two husbands, seeing how her giant men treated her had also soothed my nerves. She’d been visibly happy, and they were pretty obsessed with her.
It seemed to run in the system…Because now, I had my own big alien man to look after me. To love me.
Like he heard my thoughts, both of his arms snaked around my middle to bring my back close to his front. His lips landed on the top of my head and my body melted against his.
I waved back to Maxwell just before the shuttle door closed and we all stepped back, giving it the space it needed to fly away.
“Human males are so…tiny,” Guidy said as she came to a stop next to Filbur and I.
“I hope this one never comes back here,” Tegha added. “Actually, all of them. They were all small and angry and mean.”
My parents hadn’t uttered a word, but, for obvious reasons, I also wished I’d never see them again.
I had a new family here, and they were all I needed.