Page 14 of Taken By the Zypherian King

All the while, Alice had been studying about our history, had shown an interest in the world she had been thrown into. Embracing it instead of bemoaning what she had lost or grabbing for the next glittering object.

“And what have you learned?” My voice sounded hoarse even to me.

Her head tilted to one side, and she regarded me with troubled eyes and… understanding. “You fought for a long time to become king of this…” Her graceful hand fluttered through the air to encompass all of Zypheria. “Why?”

“Our king and his heir were killed in an accident, leaving a gap on the throne,” I explained what she surely must have already known. “It was my birthright to be next in line.” I stared hard out over the houses below us. “Unfortunately, many nobles contested the idea.”

“Being a king might bring a lot of power but also a lot of responsibility. You could have just sworn an oath to the new king, leaned back, and enjoyed a much easier life,” she observed astutely.

“The other males who wanted to be king were idiots. They would have ruined Zypheria,” I pushed out with all the dislike I had harbored for the males who had wanted to be kings without having any idea on how to be one.

“So you care about your subjects, your planet?” she concluded. I nodded, realizing she was leading me somewhere.

“And yet, you buy slaves,” she finished.

I sighed loudly. “I do not buy or sell slaves.”

“You bought me and the others.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

I closed my eyes, praying for patience and wondering if I truly wanted to spend the rest of my life with this obstinate female by my side who constantly seemed to want to challenge me.

The answer came fast and easy. A resounding ra.

“That was a mistake,” I admitted grudgingly. “The priests told me if I wanted to stay king, I had to marry a pale golden-haired female. When I had no idea where to find one, I was told about the traders.” I wasn’t about to throw Typhar out. If Alice wanted to be mad at someone, it should be me, not my friend who had only tried to help me. A small tick by her left eye, though, was telling that she had caught my choice of words but chose to let it slide for now. “I bought you and the others, ra. What else should I have done, attack Earth and find myself a more agreeable pale golden-haired female? Would that have pleased you better?”

Her mouth opened and, to my surprise, closed as she gave it more thought.

“Alright,” she said at last. “Show me the beach.”

Gracefully, she stepped on the glider, and I beside her, putting my arm around her waist while the sidewalls came up to prevent us from falling off.

“How do you steer these things?” she asked, leaning into me.

Her nearness, the way she trusted me to keep her safe, touched me in ways I would have never thought possible. Gods, what a female.

“They are programmed to follow our lead, wherever our attention turns,” I explained automatically because my mind wasn’t even remotely on the glider’s mechanics.

“But what if I look left and you right?”

I chuckled. “It will always follow the higher-ranking person’s lead.”

“Of course,” she grumbled, but a smile arched the corners of her lips.

ALICE

The beach was as breathtaking up close as it had appeared from the balcony. I discovered that the aqua coloring of the water came from a myriad of rocks on the bottom and wasn’t the water’s color at all, which was just like on Earth, clear.

The silvery sand I had admired was fine and baked warm from the sun above, as I found out when I shed my shoes to step into the waves, which were a little cooler but not much.

The moment my legs moved into the water, I was surrounded by a school of tiny fish with frilly tails and large heads. They shimmered brightly in all colors of the rainbow as they swam around my legs, making it seem like the greatest fun to them.

“You like them?” Zayden asked in a deep voice.

“They’re tickling me.” I laughed. And they were, their tails' brushes were like the lightest stroke of feathers.

“They’re not used to people here. This part of the beach is off limits to anybody except those I invite.”

I turned and looked up into his orange eyes. “And am I?”

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