Page 10 of Taken By the Naga King

“A few hours, usually.”

“How long have you known how to pilot a ship?”

He glanced at her, a satisfied look on his face. “As soon as my father would let me. I’ve always loved piloting.” He cleared his throat and looked down. “Actually, since I became king, that’s one of the things I don’t get to do as much anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

He shrugged as the ship began its launch. “I am getting used to it.”

“I heard about your father, the former king. Even here, his death was huge. No one expected it.”

“I did not, either. I have been training my entire life to take his place when the time came, but I thought it would be much later.”

“Were you close with him?” She wasn’t sure why she felt the sudden need to ask him so many questions. She just had this inexplicable urge to know more about him.

“Not really. Not in the typical father-son way you’re probably thinking. We were close in the sense that he believed in me, and he knew when I took over as king, I would not let him down. He did his best to make sure I would not be unprepared when it was my turn. So I guess it could have been worse. For that I am grateful.”

She felt sad for him, though she didn’t really understand why. But she knew what it was like to not know a parent’s love. She had personal experience with it.

Gravon looked back at her. “You’re strapped in good still?”

She nodded.

“Good, because we’re about to change speed very quickly in a moment. To get past the exosphere, we need to be at top speed. And, Azha? As it’s your first time experiencing this, you’re going to want to pay attention.”

She trained her eyes forward and did exactly as he said, watching the world around them. He wasn’t lying. As they picked up speed, everything seemed to change. It was almost like everything became blurry, and her eyes couldn’t focus on any one thing at a time. A plethora of bright colors burst around them.

“Is it going to be like this the whole way there?” she asked.

“No, once we get into space, we will be slowing down. It is definitely possible to travel like this the whole way, but I prefer we did not do that for this trip. I think you will enjoy seeing the stars and all the planets we will pass on the way there.”

Azha felt like she was in a dream. This entire day had taken a turn that she never could’ve planned for. But she was doing her best to embrace it instead of letting it completely overwhelm her.

Somehow, the ship seemed to speed up even more, and she felt like she had to grab the sides of her chair to brace herself, even though that really wasn’t necessary.

“This is amazing!”

“Oh, this is nothing compared to what you are about to see.”

She couldn’t help but smile. But her smile turned into more of an awestruck expression as the ship slowed, and she realized they were in space. Her jaw dropped, and again she felt like this was some sort of dream.

“Are those stars?” She wondered at the multicolored objects littering the dark space around them.

“They are. In some parts, like the area we are in right now, they are much more visible. But once we get farther, you will not be able to see them very well.”

She couldn’t take her eyes off of them. That is, until she spotted something much, much bigger.

“Is that…”

“One of Noxxa’s moons? Yes.”

“Amazing.”

After they’d traveled for a while, Gravon tapped a few buttons on the control panel, and the ship slowed down even more. “I’ve set it to autopilot.”

He unstrapped himself from his seat and slithered over to her. Without warning, he began to mess with the belts keeping her in her seat, popping them off one by one.

“This was really only for safety as we traveled at such high speeds. We’ll strap you back in when it’s time to land on Nirum,” he explained.

---