Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
This was nothing like the transport ship she came to Virilia on. This was a warship. Cannons and guns and loads of things she knew nothing about were attached all over the exterior of the behemoth ship that hovered above Exir City to return her and Virak to Tagja City.
On the ship, they were led to an open area that functioned more as a thoroughfare than a room. Heavily armed aliens clomped by, clad in armor and shouting to each other. Jessa looked around in awe, feeling like an extra in a Star Wars movie.
Most of the crew had a tough look to them.
Many sported scars and fighting gear, but they were cordial enough.
Half were Virilians. The other half were a mix of different types of aliens with vastly different appearances and body parts.
They worked side-by-side, communicating in their languages.
Here, there were beings with lizard-like skin, multiple appendages with unclear functions.
There were an awful lot of tentacles. A small, pink creature zipped about in a hovering glass sphere.
It blinked enormous red eyes at them before zooming off to its destination.
The crew spoke in a language Jessa’s translator wasn’t calibrated for.
It got so annoying to hear the device tell her no translation was available, that she took the thing off and stuck it in the pocket of her borrowed tunic.
That meant she couldn’t understand Virak, either, but there wasn’t much to chat about while crammed in a cluttered space, in the belly of a warship.
She pressed close to his side and liked the weight of his arms around her.
The trip was short, and they disembarked onto a platform that sealed them into a brightly lit vertical shaft. Jessa put her translator back in and Virak smiled down at her. “We’re home.” He gave her waist a squeeze.
The platform lowered them from the ship toward a receiving chamber in the palace. They descended fast. Air rushed around them. Lights pulsed. Jessa was breathless when they stepped off the platform and into the familiar smells and sights of the palace.
Home. The thought surprised her. When had she begun to see this as her home?
She was happy to be back. Four Virilian guards met them as they stepped off the platform.
They looked enormously relieved to see their leader.
It was a tremendous relief to walk down familiar corridors, adorned with ancient artwork, and see that nothing had been destroyed.
Virak’s advisors and generals descended on them almost instantly. They all began speaking at once, demanding a full medical evaluation, wanting to give briefings, wanting him to give a briefing—the list was endless. Virak sighed and turned to Jessa, momentarily ignoring them all. “I must go.”
Jessa raised her brows and grinned. “They will eat you alive if you don’t.”
“Don’t give them any ideas,” he murmured over the increasing volume of his advisors’ voices. “Jessa, after I see to my duties, you and I must have a talk.”
Her nerves jumped at his serious tone. “About what?” she asked. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” he replied, but there was tension around his eyes and a tightness to his jaw. “But a talk is needed, between you and me.”
She fidgeted, unable to meet his gaze. Was this it?
Would he be sending her back? His expression was so serious, he looked as though he was dreading this “talk.” She wasn’t looking forward to it, either.
“Sure. Okay. See you later, then.” Her words were halting.
She turned and walked away, leaving him standing there as his advisors surrounded him in a flurry of robes and gold chest straps.
Jessa hurried to her quarters. She released a breath when the door opened and hissed shut behind her.
The familiar sights of her rooms were instantly soothing.
The plants still thrived, and a little blue face popped out from behind one of the trees.
The hulpu let out an excited trill and hurled her furry body into Jessa’s arms.
She laughed and cuddled the squirmy creature.
“I missed you, too,” she murmured into her soft fur.
“And how is Henry doing?” With the hulpu settled on her shoulders, Jessa headed to the solarium to check on the gruti residing in the tall trees.
The lovely, peaceful room with a meandering stream running through it was as beautiful as always.
Henry the gruti sat in his trees, but the ground was strewn with his bright, scaly feathers, along with sticks and grasses from his destroyed nest. Patches of missing plumage revealed stress, or illness.
He let out long, aching calls, tilting his head as if listening for a return call.
“He’s calling for a mate,” said a voice behind her.
Jessa turned to see Paeri standing there, holding her hands together and looking up at her with wide eyes.
“Paeri!” She was so happy to see the attendant she rushed over and enfolded the tiny female in her arms. “I’m so happy to see you.”
Jessa clearly rattled the attendant, whose shimmering tentacles drew up into tight corkscrews, then relaxed, smoothed out as the small female finally hugged her back.
When Jessa leaned back, Paeri was smiling.
“We missed you, too, Jessa.” She pointed to the hulpu, still wrapped firmly around Jessa’s neck.
“This one prowled the rooms, looking for you, and crying when she couldn’t find you. ”
“I was so worried about you—all of you,” she said to Paeri. “The last few days have been…” There were no words that accurately described the events that had transpired since the last time she’d left her chambers. “Interesting.”
Paeri’s face pinched in concern. “Is all well with you? And Virak?”
“Yes.” Jessa felt her face heat. “Surprisingly well, to be honest.”
“Welcome news! Will I soon be chasing a little one around?”
Jessa put her hands over her flat tummy. “Oh geez, I don’t know. It’s way too soon to know.”
The attendant clapped her hands together in glee. “I knew you’d be the one to break through to him. He just needed the right female.”
“I don’t know about that.” Jessa sat down on the rock edge of the stream. “He said he needs to talk about something later, and he sounded really serious about it.” She frowned at the gurgling water. “Not serious in a good way.”
Paeri opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. “I probably shouldn’t be interfering.”
Jessa raised an eyebrow. “But you’re going to?”
“You’re worrying about nothing,” said Paeri. “Virak is not going to send you home. I think he’s going to ask you to stay here, with us. To be his queen.”
“What?” Jessa shook her head, provoking a twittering grumble from the hulpu. “No way. He’s perfectly happy doing things his own way. I can’t see—”
“Well that’s the issue, isn’t it?” Paeri folded her hands.
“What do you mean?”
“You can only see your fears and needs and dreams, but you don’t know Virak’s mind.”
Jessa spread her hands wide. “How can I? I can’t read his mind.”
“No, you can’t.” Paeri smiled. “But I can.”
“What?” She didn’t see that coming.
Paeri tapped her head, then her chest. “You asked about my past. The reason I—and my kind—are captured is for our abilities to read minds. I was forced to listen to the darkest minds, seeing things that I will never forget—cruel, terrible thoughts in the hearts of the beings I was forced to mind read.” Her face, which had clouded in pain, cleared.
“Then Virak found me. I expected to endure more of the same treatment, but instead he gave me a home, the financial and physical means to leave anytime I wanted, and he has never once asked me to tell him the thoughts of another—not even you.”
“So you know…how he feels about me?” Jessa partly hoped Paeri wouldn’t answer her. The possibilities felt huge—too huge for an orphaned kid who aged out of the foster system to take on. Or be deserving of.
“He cares for you, Jessa. He will not ask you to leave today.”
Her head spun. “But I planned to return to Earth. I wanted to have a farm, raise animals. Not have to work three shitty jobs just to make rent.”
Paeri tilted her head. “Alone?”
“Um.” Why did that suddenly sound so lonely? “Maybe. It’s better than putting your faith in someone who could dump you in a heartbeat.”
“And you think that will happen with Virak?”
“I don’t know.” Jessa spread her hands. “Look, when I was a kid, I had to be ready to grab my stuff and move to a new place at any moment. There was no such thing as long-term plans. This was the longest plan I’d ever had. If I stay—and we don’t even know if that’s what he wants—”
“Yes, we do.”
“—then I’ll be living with someone until they don’t want me anymore.
” And that was the root of her fear. The realization of it took her breath away in a gasp that left her numb.
“I’d have nothing of my own to fall back on.
No independence.” She squeezed her eyes shut.
“I can’t stand being at the will of another’s whims again. ”
“Oh, sweet girl.” Sympathy swelled in Paeri’s words. She reached out and touched a tiny hand to Jessa’s cheek. It came away wet with tears. “He loves you, Jessa. He’s not going to send you away. This is not a ‘whim.’ Those days are over.”
But all Jessa could do was sit there and stare at the flowing water, letting her thoughts crash through her and wondering how much of her “plan” was based on a childhood she had no control over.
Paeri left her with another pat on the cheek and a promise to return with a full, warm meal if Virak wasn’t finished with his duties soon.
Jessa sat there for a long time, moving things around in her head and trying to make sense in the complete upheaval of her carefully (she’d thought) laid plans.
As far as the future went, she did have some vague ideas.
She’d thought about going to college—something she’d always wanted to do but could never afford.
She knew she wanted to work with animals.
She knew she wanted the means to live independent from the demands of others.
But that was feeling more like a life philosophy and less like an actual plan.
So why was she adhering to it so tightly?
Jessa gently disengaged herself from the purring hulpu.
She took a long bath, changed into comfortable clothes and ate the food that Paeri left on her table while she was in the bath.
Then, she left her chambers and walked to the Sanctuary.
It had not been breached by the Sifters during their brief attack on the city, thankfully, and there were a fair number of Virilians there.
Some were working, some were enjoying the space.
It was technically part of the palace, but free for the public to use and enjoy.
She strolled through the beautiful gardens and streams and rock formations. She peered back at the creatures who lived there. It was a marvel, truly, if she thought about all the work that went into turning this empty space into habitats. And Virak made all of this.
He took in all these creatures, made them a beautiful permanent home, and invited his people in to enjoy it.
Perhaps he was what he seemed. He’d shown himself to be kind, generous and strong. Perhaps it was finally time to trust herself and him, and let herself fall in love.
With her heart pounding and a giddy smile on her lips, she turned and rushed off to find him. She was ready for their “talk,” ready to change her plans, and ready, for the first time, to take a chance.