Page 50 of Tricked By the Alien Prince

“You’d dare risk even the slightest of threats to a vulnerable female?” Volan roars, marching towards the warriors with his chest puffed out. The lights on his body pulse furiously, giving him a strange appearance of stop and start motion. Wisely their jests quickly quiet, some even looking ashamed at their behavior.

The fact that the warriors listen to Volan is proof enough that he’s brought them—and the threat they bring with them—down upon us. He has the power to command my release, and yet he doesn’t…

“Let’s just get this over with,” I snap, losing patience.

I feel so lonely all of a sudden.

I have absolutely no idea who I can trust, and I really desperately want a friend I can rely on right about now. Absolutely none of my plans or ideas are of any use right now—I’m useless.

I hate this feeling that’s weighing down on my chest, like the ceiling is closing in on me. A quick glance confirms just solid rock above me... Solid rock that can crush and destroy me in a heartbeat. I’d prepared for weeks for an adventure. I carried everything I thought I’d need on my person every single day. You’d not believe the number of pockets I’d sewn into my skirt... which always begs the question why it didn’t come with them in the first place?! Men’s clothing always has a dozen usable pockets, yet women are just expected to carry everything in their hands? Given we are the fairer sex expected to generally look after a miniature human too... we need our hands free, so it makes sense we have the most pockets, right?

My hand slips inside my pocket, brushing against the solid form of my tablet. It’s a familiar weight, but not as comforting as it used to be. In the colony it gave me some freedom—I could hack my way through security locks if I really needed to get someplace, like conveniently escaping a room. But here?

I’m so alone.

Apparently, there’s no better way to make one feel small than show them a view of an entire city. The first thing I notice is the noise. As we draw closer to our destination a dull roar fills the air; the kind of noise you get from hundreds, if not thousands, of people speaking at once.

Then Tanis is pushing open a door, and the world completely changes, revealing an impressively large cavern. The ceiling just lifts up and away. What were once a few small glowing crystals lighting our path suddenly become massive clusters suspended from the rock; dim light turns almost blinding now that my eyes have adjusted to the dark.

There are aliens everywhere. I was shocked to see so many harkcana attacking our town... but I had absolutely no clue there were this many aliens living on Atraxis. Greens, blues, reds... My eyes catch glimpses of long tails and fur and feathery wings.

I stand and gape, completely overwhelmed. I’ve met aliens before... but I’ve never been surrounded by so many at once. When my father used to host events, it was always a few guest aliens amongst hundreds of humans. This time, I’m the odd one out.

“Keep moving,” Volan barks from behind me, making me jump. “Tanis, guide us directly to the throne room. I want to get Maya into a secure place immediately.”

Volan’s hand falls on my shoulder, forcing me to walk at a brisk pace. A part of me is grateful for his guidance; without it, I would still be staring in absolute awe and disbelief.

Hundreds of eyes turn towards our party, all manner of faces unrepentantly staring—and they are all looking directly atme. As we move along, pushing through the crowds, my skin itches at the attention I’m given. Every single being surrounding me is a male. I can’t see a single female here.

Everyone around me is dressed with a variety of armors—or sometimes the lack thereof, which they are quick to display. It’s rather intimidating when many smile with sharp teeth as they wield rather forbidding weapons. I’m like half their size, with a tiny slingshot.

There’s no way I can fight my way out of this one.

“Little female, how about you and I leave this place together,” one male calls out. He gives me a cheeky grin with sharp teeth to go alongside his cheesy pickup line.

On Earth it might have worked, but here, feeling so isolated and vulnerable, has me quickly backing up.

A hand wraps around my waist, drawing me closer to a warm body. I glance up to realize I’ve stepped closer to Volan.

A part of me hates how I seek his comforting presence. I’m strong on my own.

I can… I can do this. Right?

“I don’t need your protection,” I snap, pulling away from his grasp. He grits his teeth, but doesn’t say anything as we move forward through the crowd.

“I never meant to hurt you,” Volan eventually tells me. The sincerity in his voice almost makes me believe him—almost.

“I don’t think I can forgive you for this,” I reply, keeping my voice low.

“I made you a promise, Maya; I won’t let anything happen to you.” He speaks softly, so much that I barely hear him over the buzz of excited talking surrounding us. He says it like his promise means something, like he hasn’t hurt me enough already.

Why do his words sound so ominous?

“I hope that includes us too,” Melvall mutters, stepping a bit closer. “It’s not like we were doing anything wrong.”

“Other than just casually liberating some medicine like you own it?” Volan asks, with a quirked eyebrow. The humor in his voice sounds forced, not at all like his usual casual response.

“There’s plenty of beings that need it. There’s younglings that get hurt all the time... granted a few scraped knees, but infection is always a worry. And that’s ignoring how you males keep rushing at each other with blades. Do you know how hard it is to keep you all alive when you only have so much product to go around?”

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