Page 21 of I Married Amreth

“You expected me?” I asked, hating to find myself in such a vulnerable position.

He nodded. “Do not give us reasons to hurt you, and all will be well.”

“Who are you?” I asked, as the pressure on my brain continued to fade. To my relief, their auras were steadily shifting to blue, the standard color for the absence of threat.

“My name is Aku. I am the Kald of Bryst, the village you were trying to sneakily enter. And these are my tribemates. Our people are called Kreelars. But do stand. You should be steady enough now.”

He didn’t have to say it twice.

I rose to my feet and dusted the dirt off me before readjusting my breastplate. No words could describe the extentof the mortification I felt right this instant. As an elite Obosian Warrior, deemed the best of my bloodline—which had earned me the management of our Sector on Molvi—I never should have been so easily defeated. Granted, I was seriously outnumbered. But they were primitive, land bound off-worlders without weapons. I had psionic powers of my own. I also possessed a blaster and a sword, neither of which I used.

Considering the current outcome—at least for the time being—I was glad I had not. Attacking or killing these people was the last thing we needed if the prisoners were to stand a chance of coming back home unscathed.

I just poorly handled the whole thing. The warning signs had been loud and clear. But in my arrogance and overconfidence in my ability to escape thanks to my wings had been my downfall.

If Father finds out, I’ll never hear the end of it.

While I doubted that he could read minds, the Kreelar named Aku gave me a teasing smile that seemed to hint he suspected what self-deprecating thoughts swirled in my head.

“We will relieve you of your weapons for the time being,” Aku said, extending a hand towards me. “You will get them back later, once we feel confident we have an understanding. Fear not, they will not be tampered with.”

I silenced my instinctive urge to argue. The unyielding glimmer in his eyes belied the polite sweetness of his voice. The aura of authority emanating from him screamed loudly what a formidable foe he could become if needed. A peek at his aura thankfully confirmed once more that he held no ill intentions towards me. Not that it would have made a difference. If I tried to resist, they would have no problem beating me into submission and still take away my weapons, as demonstrated by the ease with which they captured me.

Pinching my lips, I complied, which only had the Kreelar’s smirk expanding a notch. He handed it over to another male,comparable in size and musculature, but with a grayish-beige fur. At least, the care with which that second male handled them appeased me. It didn’t scream of fear of the unknown, but more of respect towards an item of value.

“Walk with me, Obosian,” Aku said, gesturing towards the village.

“My name is Amreth,” I said grumpily.

“Then Amreth it is,” he replied in a conciliatory tone, as we began walking.

“But you haven’t answered my initial question. How come you expected me?” I asked.

He gave me a sideways glance and raised an eyebrow that clearly indicated I was being a bit too cocky. Obviously, I wasn’t in a position of power. However, my people had the tendency of being blunt and straight to the point about everything. It occasionally came across as being rude, entitled, or arrogant, which actually was not intended.

To my surprise, he indulged me.

“Our friends warned us that you would come to rescue your mate. Except, she doesn’t need to be rescued. She requires your help,” Aku said in a factual manner.

“Help with what?” I asked, confused.

“With completing her task. Once that is done, all of you can return home,” he replied in the same neutral tone.

“And what task would that be?” I insisted, starting to feel annoyed by the slow drip-drip of information.

“Righting the extreme harm humans inflicted upon us,” he replied, his eyes and voice hardening.

“Humans?!” I exclaimed, stunned. “When? How? Your planet is under very strict restrictions from the Prime Directive.”

“And humans violated it by traveling in forbidden areas well beyond Sangoth territories,” Aku snarled. “Because of theircarelessness, the humans infected us with a deadly disease that now has my people on the verge of extinction”

“Tharmok’s blood!” I breathed out, shock giving way to understanding. “So that’s why you took the prisoners. You want them to find a cure!”

He nodded, his expression grim as we cleared the tree line and stepped onto the wide path leading to the village. With a stiff gesture of his head, Aku signaled to his tribemates that they could go back to their duties tending the fields. All of them complied, but for two males who remained with us as we continued down the wide path towards the village.

“But if you found a way to travel off-world to abduct these scientists, why not simply go public with how humans wronged you?” I asked, baffled. “The UPO and all the allied planets would have put every resource at your disposal to fix things and make the culprits answer for their crime.”

Aku shook his head with a conviction that took me aback. “We explored all such scenarios. Every single one of them ends up in a much worse fate for us. Some powerful people in your world stand to lose a lot if this is exposed the way it ought to be. Exterminating a primitive species that no one has ever heard of to keep their secret can be tempting for those with the means to accomplish that.”

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