As my beautiful bride’s euphoric face drops, I wish I had waited until tomorrow to bring up our enemy.
“Oh, yeah, the Deenz.” She frowns, looking up at me, “Is it bad that I forgot about them?”
“I wish I could forget about them too, but I won’t rest until you’re safe. I’m just so confused why they would sell your contract and then try to harm you?”
“Fuck if I know, babe.” She sighs, removing the oversized crown from her brow. “I do know that regardless of why they want me back, I can’t let them keep taking girls from Earth. Not every gal will meet a Ke’ain to protect her from the hive-minded idiots.”
“Oh, the other women…”
My jaw sets contemplatively. I hadn’t thought far enough ahead to figure out what we’d do with all the humans that would be displaced after we defeated their captors.
“How many do you think there are? There were at least forty on the bus with me.”
“Forty on your bus, a bus at every club on Sontafrul 6, and repeat that by an exponential number of planets in this solar system alone…There are going to be so many human refugees if we win this fight.”
“Wecan guarantee them a safe place here, can’t we? I can’t just leave my fellow Earthlings to rot.”
I don’t want to say no. Opal's eyes do that thing where they turn into shiny orbs and her bottom lip pouts out at a strange angle. It is human witchcraft, I’m sure.
“We can help some of them, but I’m not sure aboutall—”
“This is non-negotiable. If they can make it here, we will make a home for them.”
“‘I tried,’ I’ll tell my council, ‘but your queenpouted.’I am under your thumb, and I don’t mind one bit.” She rolls her eyes as I feign, only partly, my subservience to my beautiful wife.
“So, let’s deal with the Deenz tomorrow. Tonight I’d like to just enjoy my husband.” Opal winks.
“Have you not been enjoying him already today?” I clutch my chest. The longer I’m with Opal, the more I enjoy teasing her.
She bats at my chest and chuckles.
“I’m looking forward to a good night's rest. You know, I don’t quite remember the last time I had a decent night’s sleep.” She yawns.
“That’sanotherthing I should have spoken to you about,” I say as I stroke her hair.
She arches an eyebrow at me. “What other surprises await me today?”
“We aren’t going home. We’re to spend the night in the original palace and sleep as the first monarchs did.” I can feel her body stiffen.
“How weirdly did they sleep, Ke’ain? Please tell me weird for the fi’len just means a down filled bed…”
“We’ll sleep in the waters of I’loh tonight. It’s tradition and is supposed to,” I cough, trying to stifle the last bit of information I need to impart, “increase the chances of conception.”
“Ke’ain, for one thing, who even knows if our reproductive systems line up in that way. Two, humans aren’t meant to sleep in water…” She seems exhausted suddenly.
“I promise you, we’ll figure it out on both accounts, Opal.”
“You want lil ole me to have your possibly huge babies?” She gestures to her stomach. “I’ve only got room for food babies right now, bud. Let’s take care of the Deenz, and we’ll worry about how cute our babies are after humans are a bit safer round these parts.”
I look at her soft belly and imagine her with my child. Maybe I’m naïve, but with how well we fit together, I assume the chances of her being pregnant are more likely than not. I’ll humor her for now, but I’ll find a way to make sure we get at least some rest in the waters of I’loh. Best not to anger the goddess by breaking tradition.
“I promise you a bed full of feathers after tonight, if that’s what you want. This one last tradition is the last I force on you this year.”
“So. Many. Feathers,” Opal squeaks out as she lets her eyelids drift closed.
I wish the ride was longer so I could hold her just a bit more. But not long after Opal closes her eyes, the cruiser slows to a stop. We’ve arrived in front of the foreboding castle of the monarch's past. Its black Tr’ael rocks look as if their jagged structure sprung forth from the ground. A single attendant waits at the grand doorway for our arrival.
Al’frind swings open the cruiser door.
