Page 8 of Taken By the Devilish King

Fuck. Why does this look so good?

"How about taking me home? That would be a comfort!" I tell her but she's just the help. What could she possibly do? She sets the tray down on the table and watches me with crossed hands.

"Is there anything else you'd like, Your Highness?" I don't miss how she hiss at the end.

She did the same when she was here earlier with more food and drink—food and drink I’ve never seen before. She hissed a lot. He did it too. Maybe it has something to do with their forked tongue. Or maybe it's their accent, although Lofynyx said he wasn't speaking English.

"How can I understand you?" I ask her.

"Your Highness?" She looks perplexed.

"You speak your own language, aren't you? How can I understand you? How can you understand me?"

She blinks and lowers her head again. I wish she wouldn't do that. I'm not royalty. I'm just a girl who happens to be a Hollywood actress. And I doubt that means anything to an alien civilization.

"Your neural translator, Your Highness. We all have them." She taps her temple and I frown.

"How could I possibly have one?"

She smiles.

"We injected you with one, of course. When you first boarded, His Majesty's medic took care of that."

I gasp.

"What! You injected me without my permission? That is beyond reprehensible."

See, I could get along with the whole "I want you to be my queen, let me take you to my planet thing" if it didn't invade my privacy. On my personhood.

"It was the only way you'd understand us, Your Highness."

"Stop calling me that. I'm not your highness. I'm just Ayla."

She smirks humbly again.

"Oh, I know, Your Highness. You're pretty famous in Vyperion."

"I am?" That makes me pause. "How?"

"Your movies, they're quite popular. They love how you portray other civilizations. A lot of Vyperians grow up watching your Earth movies. We learn a lot about Earthens."

"Is that so you can invade us one day?"

She chuckles.

"I doubt that will ever happen. We can barely keep peace on our planet. I don't think we'd be able to colonize others."

I frown.

"Well, that's reassuring."

She nods.

"I was being sarcastic. How bad is the situation? What am I walking into?"

"It's not so bad nowadays. King Lofynyx has been very good in keeping the peace between Leviathars and Minoans."

I put my hands up and shake my head.

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