Page 6 of Taken By the Zypherian King

Her eyes were unfocused before they suddenly rolled up into her sockets, and I barely caught her before she fell to the ground.

What in the gods’ name was happening?

Her breathing was slow and deep. She was out. My earlier suspicion came back to me, and I lifted her into my arms to carry her to the bedroom while yelling over my shoulder, “Fetch a bio warden.”

On second thought, I added, “Guards detain the trader. I want to speak to them.”

If they had drugged my future queen, the bio warden would want to know what they had used in case she showed any adverse side effects.

She moaned quietly in my arms, and I cursed before I gently put her down on the bed in which we were supposed to be rolling in right now if things had gone to plan. Damn the traders.

She looked so petite and fragile on my large, oval bed. Careful not to disturb her, I moved the sheets to cover her naked body and gently stroked her soft face.

I hadn’t given myself any time to actually think about the queen I had ordered by the priests’ urging, but now that she was here, lying there, thousands of questions raced through my mind.

I had gone by the assumption that she, like any other female in my kingdom, would have been honored, pleased even to be chosen as my bride. Now, though, I was forced to consider that maybe this female had never even heard of me, just like I hadn’t known her species existed.

Damn these trucking traders. Damn the trucking priest, and damn me for not asking any questions. It was her who was paying the price for my shortsightedness now.

The bio warden arrived quickly, and I filled her in on what I suspected.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I will take good care of her,” she promised. “In the meantime, if you can find out what drug they gave her, it would be of immense help.”

A cart hovered beside her as she made her way to the bedroom, where I ended up leaning against a wall to be close but not in the way. With my comm, I contacted my war commander, Typhar, to instruct him to find out what the traders had used on my future queen.

While I watched, the bio warden pulled one delicate arm from under the bedding and moved a wand over it. Lights that didn’t mean anything to me blinked and beeped. “Will she be alright?”

“It appears that she is only sleeping, Your Highness, which is probably the best for her right now.”

She picked another device from the cart and held it against the female’s finger; a drop of red blood welled, and I jerked as if I had been impaled. My future queen was bleeding. I swore I would make the traders pay for this.

The bio warden’s tablet dinged, and she read through whatever vitals the drop of blood gave her. “It’s hard to determine. Her physiology is close to ours, but I don’t know if her measurements are normal or not compared to ours.”

I nodded and pinched the bridge of my nose. All this I should have taken into consideration first. Fortunately I knew how to remedy this. “Would it help if you had others of her species to compare to?”

“It would definitely help.” She nodded.

I turned to my comm again to contact Typhar.

“They used floruxin,” Typhar said at once. I looked at the bio warden, who nodded. I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved yet or not. Floruxin was a common enough drug meant to make people feel more relaxed; some even used it recreationally. But like we didn’t know anything about her physiology, we didn’t know how this female’s body would react to the drug. I could only hope that it wasn’t the first time the traders had used it and knew it wouldn’t cause her any harm.

“Good,” I told Typhar. “Keep them contained and purchase any other females they might have of the same species as the one they brought me.”

“Is she defective? Do you need to return her?” Typhar asked, and I clenched my jaw.

Typhar and I had been friends since we were younglings, but his attitude towards certain things, especially females, differed strongly from mine and even disturbed me in some cases.

ALICE

Just like every morning during the past weeks or months—I had long lost track of time—I woke on a soft mattress, covered by a soft and light blanket.

Different from waking up like on the other days, though, was the way the air smelled. Where it was usually filled with many cloying, sweet scents, this morning it smelled fresh instead, with just a hint of a flowery fragrance. Also different was the lighting. I blinked my eyes open and was pleasantly surprised and momentarily disoriented when they didn’t meet the usual artificial low glow I had grown accustomed to, but by a slightly violet tone that, aside from the color, reminded me of home. Most of all, it was the void of sound that caught my attention. No, not complete void; there was something. Something I couldn’t quite place yet, but none of the usual sounds of snoring, crying, low voices talking, or even the occasional farts—yes, when left to their own devices, a group of females could be just as disgusting as a group of men.

My mind still felt a bit fuzzy, like waking up after a night of heavy drinking and partying hard. With that, first came back the sensation of walking on clouds, accompanied by a feeling of lightness where nothing unpleasant could touch me.

At that thought, the image of a blue alien came back to me. Rushed through me like a lightning bolt, and without thinking about consequences or anything, I sat up straight, making myself dizzy in the process, but the pounding of my heart overshadowed that sensation too.

My head swiveled left and right, surveying my unfamiliar surroundings. The sound of his voice directed my gaze straight toward the object of my musings.

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