Page 32 of Alien in the Attic

The king and queen nodded. His father’s face was impossible to read, but he saw the concern twisting his mother’s expression. They were clearly preparing themselves for some pretty significant blowback. Not everyone would be as pleased as he was by their arrival.

When the call came through from the medical tower that Carmen was awake, conscious, and lucid, Arccoo rushed over at once. As the doors to their room opened, he was shocked to see Rocco standing there with his guards. The future king glowered at the woman Arccoo loved.

“Pleased as I am that you survived your journey, this intrusion poses many difficulties,” he told her.

“Intrusion?” Carmen asked, sounding baffled. “We didn’t mean to…”

“My lord,” Arccoo interrupted. “Since when does the first prince condemn a guest of the royal family?” He kept his tone evenalthough his blood pumped through him with fury. How dare he accuse Carmen of being an intruder?

Rocco scowled at his brother. “A guest?” he asked. “Or a pet?”

Carmen’s jaw almost fell onto the bed with shock.

“The hell did you just say?” Sofia asked, attempting to remove the wires attached to her by the doctors. A nurse urged her to lie down.

“What did we do to you?” Elena asked, her eyebrows arching toward each other with indignation.

Arccoo got in his brother’s face. “Watch your tongue,” he almost spat.

A guard moved to get between them, but Rocco held up a hand. “Apologies,” he said. “I am not myself at the moment.” He let out a heavy breath. “Times are difficult and having… humans present only complicates matters.”

“But we haven’t done anything,” Carmen said.

“Perhaps not,” Rocco answered, “but we know your species and the damage you can cause all too well.” Without another word, the prince and his guards left the room.

Arccoo watched him leave, promising himself they would have words. His eyes fell on Carmen and all his anger evaporated. “Iam so glad you’re here,” he said. “When you’re able, I will give you the tour of a lifetime.”

That tour did not go as planned. Many citizens of Thryal did not trust humans and felt no compunction about showing it by throwing insults and stones at the alien women.

The same went for some servants in the annex. While they did their duty, Carmen reported back to Arccoo that the way they looked at her and her sisters made them uncomfortable. Rocco kept his distance, only nodding politely to them over dinner with the king and queen.

In private, things were different. In the living quarters Arccoo was able to secure for the three sisters, it almost felt as though they were back on Earth. He spent as much time as possible with them, hoping his presence would make them feel safe.

“It will get easier,” he told them. “There are a lot of theories about humans being the ones who brought this plague on us, but they are only theories. Scared people can be irrational people. But as the days pass, and they grow accustomed to seeing you, the ire will subside.”

He took Carmen on the veranda outside of their quarters to speak privately. She told him about finding the device in the mansion’s library.

“If I’m right,” she said, “our grandparents have been here before. They may have been the ones to bring the disease.” She lowered her eyes.

“The disease will be cured,” he told her. “I have the parantaa locked safely away. You are not to blame for what happened. Neither are your elder parents. Progress is slow and difficult. It can also be painful. I believe you being here will lead us into a new age. You’ll see.”

Carmen looked up from the ground. “I can’t believe I’m here,” she said.

“Neither can I,” Arccoo replied. To make sure this was really happening, he brought her in for a kiss, which was just as electric as he’d remembered.

Chapter 14

Carmen

Carmen was used to being made to feel like she didn’t belong. As the most classically Latina looking of her sisters, people would often assume she was a maid rather than an office worker at her last job, or that she didn’t speak English. Her weight added another layer to it. If she went to work out at a gym or to do a sport, she would feel people’s eyes on her back and hear their whispers.

It didn’t matter if she could run a seven-minute mile or do the splits. People would act like she was intruding for daring to stay in the same space as them while curvy. She was used to it but that didn’t mean she had to like it. Still, she kept her head held high and stayed polite to every Thryal who glared at her or spat in her face.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Sofia said in the safety of their shared bedroom. “It’s like half the people out there want to kill us and the other half don’t give a shit if we die at the hands of the first half.”

“So, not that different from home,” Carmen replied, flopping on one of the three king-sized guest beds. She wished she could be with Arccoo, but for the moment, it was more important that they maintain the appearance of propriety. She didn’t want to piss off the people or his family any more than she already had.

The room was massive, bigger than the apartment she and her sisters shared before they inherited Wildridge. The walls were decorated with holo-art that moved of their own accord, shifting from deserts to jungles to abstract shapes and photorealistic drawings. It felt like living inside a screensaver but in the best way possible.

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