Page 33 of Alien King Crashes the Wedding

Dagan looked at Sasha, all fired up and ready to defend her friend at the slightest provocation, and fell in love all over again. He couldn’t resist giving her a quick kiss. “They’ll be fine. Trust me.”

“I do trust you. You know I do. But you can’t mess with my friend just to get even with yours!” Sasha seethed. The doors opened before she could say more, and Dagan proceeded to carry her out of the transporter, down a short hallway, and into a gigantic, empty room before setting her down on a raised platform near the back.

Sasha looked around in confusion, her anger temporarily forgotten. “This doesn’t look like a dungeon. This looks like a big banquet hall, complete with a fireplace and candles, only no one’s here but us. Are we lost?”

Instead of answering, he shook his head in amusement and turned so that he stood at her side and called out in a deep, commanding voice, “I am King Dagan of Caldor. I call forth any who would protect my queen and swear allegiance to her.”

Sasha’s confusion soon turned to fascination as the fiercest warrior she’d ever seen suddenly appeared out of thin air right in front of her, then another, and another, one at a time, then in fives and tens, until more than a hundred warriors stood eerily silent in the room. She strained to hear anything but the sound of her breathing and failed. They made not a single sound, and were clad identically in a strange black camouflage material that flickered in patches in and out of sight like shadows in the night. Strapped to their backs were ancient looking swords in rune covered scabbards that flickered ominously in the dim light. Only their faces remained solidly visible. As one, they tapped their right ears and knelt. A thunderous sound echoed in the room as their armor hit the floor. The sound was deafening after the prolonged silence.

Sasha stood in stunned silence for seconds or minutes, she wasn’t sure, until one huge warrior, the fiercest one who had appeared first, rose and took a step forward, a strange looking crystal orb in his hand. The inside of the ball swirled with silver and gray smoke.

In a deep, gravelly voice, he said, “Your Majesty, I am Falden, leader of the Lumerian Knights in the Western Sector on Caldor. We asked King Dagan to bring you here so that we may pledge our loyal service to you, our new queen.”

Sasha looked to Dagan for guidance, and he nodded in encouragement. She straightened her shoulders and tried to look more regal and mature beyond her twenty-three years as she looked back at Falden. “Thank you, Falden. I’m honored.”

“It is we who are honored, Your Majesty, for there are men and women here today who were among the injured that you healed. We are all grateful to you.”

“Oh.” She smiled shyly. “I’m so glad they’re alright.” Sasha tilted her head slightly and really looked at the large warrior. “I’m sorry, but have we met before?”

“No, but I’ve held you in my arms,” he replied.

“She’s taken, Falden, so stop flirting,” growled Dagan.

Falden grinned, undaunted by his king, and continued, “It is tradition to pledge our service, one at a time, to the new king or queen one solar year after a binding ceremony. We did not wish to wait that long, so if now is agreeable to you, Queen Sasha, we ask your permission to pledge our lives and loyal service to you today?”

Speechless, all she could do was nod. Dagan squeezed her hand in support and encouragement. She squeezed back and looked at him, love overflowing in her heart, before turning back to the Lumerian Knight. “Again, I am honored, and of course you have my permission.” Sasha fidgeted uncomfortably, then burst out, “And if you ever change your minds, just tell me, and I will release you from your pledge. I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay with me.”

“Little human, we are Lumerian Knights,” Falden awkwardly tried to explain. “We link our lives to yours as a protection for you, not just a pledge of our allegiance. We have been linked to King Dagan for more than a hundred years. You are now linked to him through The Yielding. We do not wish to be linked to one without linking ourselves to the other.” Falden searched for the right word to explain the strange emptiness such a thing would cause. “It would feel like an incomplete circuit, always reaching to connect. But know this, had we not already been linked to King Dagan, we would still ask to link ourselves to you. Before our planet was destroyed, we were free to choose those who showed courage and honor. It was a very rare and sacred event. We have chosen you, Your Majesty. Please honor us with your acceptance.”

Sasha opened and closed her mouth several times before whispering loudly, “Thank you,” she stuttered, blinking back tears. “I would be honored. Truly. I’m so grateful to all of you. I couldn’t have saved anyone, had you not saved us first! I’m so sorry about your planet! Thank you for saving mine!”

She turned to Dagan before either had a chance to speak, her large blue eyes like saucers in her face, “And you! Linked for a hundred years? How old are you exactly? I thought you were in my age range. Maybe thirty-one or two. Not a hundred!”

Dagan winked, “I’m almost two hundred, but never mind that now. You’re likely to extend both of our lives with your healing abilities.”

Sasha looked at Dagan, then the Lumerian Knight again in stunned disbelief. “And I suppose you’re going to tell me that you might look close to thirty but you’re nearly as old as Dagan? You all grew up together and played hopscotch?”

“No,” he answered, wickedly amused.

Sasha’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Oh, good, because that would freak me out. I’m twenty-three. I’ll be twenty-five in a couple of years. That’s a big milestone on Earth, you know, but I guess if you can live way past a hundred then it’s not such a big deal, huh?” she looked at Dagan with uncertainty.

“Nonsense, little one.” Dagan decided it would be best not to ever mention that Falden was so old, he never revealed his true age, not even to Dagan. He kissed her hand, wanting to banish the fear and uncertainty from her eyes. Someone handed him a long, fur-lined cloak and he wrapped it around her shoulders. The clasp clicked closed and he murmured, “You’re the perfect age to be my queen.”

“Okay,” Sasha nodded and straightened her shoulders. “Let’s do this.”

Falden held the smoky crystal orb out in front of him at shoulder height. He spoke a few words in a language that didn’t sound like Caldorian and Sasha strained to understand, but it was no use.

The crystal began to grow larger, just like the one she and Dagan used in their binding ceremony, only this one had no pedestal. Soon the crystal floated off of Falden’s hand and began to expand until it was large enough to fit three or four people inside, hovering no more than an inch or two off the ground. She entered and one by one the Knights came to pledge their loyalty and service. She was humbled by their sincerity and awed by the determination and loyalty she saw shining in their eyes.

Finally, Falden stepped up, the last Lumerian Knight to enter, and Sasha shivered nervously. He was the biggest and fiercest of the warriors, and just being near him was intimidating. There was something almost otherworldly about him. Ancient. Powerful. She covered her pounding heart and looked back at Dagan on the other side of the crystal, reassured by his presence. Inside the crystal, the air had grown surprisingly chilly, and she could see her breath crystallize as she exhaled. She shivered again, glad Dagan had given her the cloak.

Falden knelt in front of Sasha and pulled his sword from its scabbard, pointing the tip toward the ground. The blade sounded like metal as it scraped the sides of the scabbard on its way out, but it was made of a material she had never seen before, like a mixture of solid and liquid metal. The blade shimmered and swirled with silver and black smoke, ever changing, and was etched with the same runes that lined the scabbard. The runes appeared alien and ancient at the same time, and the artist in Sasha took a mental picture of the beautiful swirling sword and etchings. The hilt was smooth, with a divot in the pommel as if a stone had once been imbedded there. The hair on her arms stood up as the air charged with an unseen energy, swirling around her and Falden, slightly lifting her long hair with static electricity.

Falden spoke from his kneeling position, but it sounded far away and echoed mysteriously, “I will use my sword to draw a drop of my blood before placing both hands upon the hilt. Once that is done, you must place one hand atop mine. I will say the words of binding, and then it will be done.”

Sasha nodded her understanding, as she had with all the others, and grabbed her hair to one side, trying to keep it from flying around. Falden carefully placed his thumb on the edge of the rune covered blade and pushed just hard enough to split the skin. A single drop of blood beaded on his thumb, which he smeared into the divot. He placed his hands on the hilt and Sasha placed her right hand over his. Falden’s markings flashed with gold fire at her touch, then dimmed.

The etched runes, however, lit up with brilliant neon blue color. A bolt of energy zinged through Sasha, and she caught her breath at the strange tingle lingering in her fingertips. Her Lumerian crystals buzzed from the burst of energy along her skin, and she flicked her wrists absently, already accustomed to their strange vibrations.

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