Page 44 of The Pregnancy Pact

“Might as well face the music,” she said quietly.

Another strange human expression. I shrugged it off. Doubtless, some of our expressions would be strange to her, too.

As we left my chambers and proceeded down the space ship’s corridors—which were now teaming with busy crew members, hurrying this way and that, preparing for disembarking, as well as cleaning and inspecting the ship—I glanced down at the human female keeping pace with me. Despite having to resort to borrowed clothing, she appeared a proper Elder’s wife. The gown I’d chosen was simple, with a blue that enhanced her skin and hair color, while emphasizing the roundness of her breasts and shape of her hips. It floated by her feet, swishing against my boots.

When I found my mind wandering towards the notion of removing the gown, seeing her breasts and hips for myself, I took my gaze from her and planted it firmly down the hallway ahead. That would not do. I was soon to face a circle of my peers. I could not have my thoughts adrift on bedding my wife. It must wait.

The ship’s captain was waiting at the final entrance for us. As was customary, I halted to thank him for his efforts, congratulating him on another safe flight.

“Gratitude, Overlord,” he replied, bowing from the waist. He then fixed his eyes on the human female by my side. “May I wish you both every happiness on your new venture?”

“Thank you,” Lorelai responded crisply. “I think we’ll need it.”

She was clearly unhappy. At the same time, she did not seem angry. Rather, resigned.

“I do not doubt that.” The captain’s demeanor was consistently calm and even cheerful. “Overlord Pendorgrin, I received word as we touched down that a delegation from the Council awaits.”

What?

I had received no such word. Nevertheless, I kept my irritation from my face. Someone should have informed me, but perhaps the notification had arrived too close to landing for the message to be passed on.

We continued down the footbridge, emerging from a world of sterile grey corridors and eternal hallways to a skypad in the clouds. The skypads were the tallest structures in the city, allowing space ships to land and depart with no hindrance from city buildings. It was different on Earth. They landed on bare, hard ground, not up in the sky, thousands of feet above the streets. From the skypad, we would walk down an uncovered footbridge into the spaceport itself—the spaceport being one of the massive hubs for all space travelers coming and going. There were several of them in this section of the city. During inclement weather, which happened rarely, awnings could be unfolded to cover the walkways, but they were not needed today. The weather was lovely. Mere guardrails stood between us and the city streets of Korith. Far below, the Asterions moving about the streets resembled ants crawling about their hill.

I’d not thought to warn my wife of any of this. Once we stepped onto the footbridge, and she was able to see where we actually were, she gasped and clutched at my arm.

“What th—where the hell are we?” she demanded. Her voice trembled and her face had gone stark white.

“We are on a skypad,” I replied, puzzled by the sudden change in her demeanor. “In the Asterion city, Korith.”

“I kn—know that,” she said. When I tried to walk forward, to keep her moving, she simply clenched my arm and refused to budge. Her legs were stiff in defiance. “Why are we u—up so high?”

“So high?” I chuckled. I glanced into the sky overhead, a blue sky, like Earth’s, but tinged with deep purple, unlike her home planet. “You just descended through the stars and the atmosphere and this is high? This is the lowest you’ve been since Drixus.”

“Does—doesn’t count,” she stammered. “We were in—in a ship. This is too high. I can’t…”

She squeezed her eyes tightly closed. Her fingers dug into my flesh through the fabric of my coat. By the stars, what was wrong with the woman? I could not present my new wife to the delegation in such a state.

“If I may…” From behind us, our ship’s captain approached. His voice was calm and compassionate. “I believe, Lord Ellax, your wife is suffering from height fear.”

“Height fear?”

“Fear of heights,” Lorelai mumbled, still clinging to my arm. “I think the captain is right. I didn’t even know I was afraid of heights. But when I open my eyes, I feel like I’m going to pass out. Or barf.”

“Barf?” That word was not translating properly through the chip.

“Vomit,” she supplied weakly. “I can’t do this, Ellax. I can’t walk off this skypad. I’ve got to get on solid ground. Or at least in a solid building with walls. Can’t the ship take me down to the ground like we do on Earth?”

“There is no room,” the captain chuckled behind us. “The city meets the thick forests and then the mountains. That is why we’ve built the skypads.”

“Then put me back on the ship!” she demanded. Finally, she opened her eyes. They met mine. I saw raw fear and desperation in their deep blue depths. “Tell the delegation I’m sorry. Tell them they’re going to have to release us from this marriage. If I can’t get off the damn skypad…”

“You can.” Before she could protest, I pried her fingers from my sleeve then scooped her up in my arms. She gasped again—this time in surprise, I think—as I hoisted her firmly against my chest.

“Close your eyes until we step onto the spaceport’s platform,” I instructed, walking briskly down the footbridge connecting our skypad to the spaceport platform directly across.

“You’re not going to dr-drop me, are you?”

Her fingers dug into my shoulder, telling me of her fear. Strangely, I was not disgusted. Instead, I felt…sympathy. I found it odd that I wasn’t repulsed by my human wife’s terror as I carried her easily to the spaceport. It was unlike me. I was honest enough with myself to know that I looked down on the weaknesses of others. Rather than look down on Lorelai, I felt…protective. A strange emotion that I scarcely knew how to identify. It had been many years since I had felt it towards anyone. Not my former wife. Not my children.

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