Page 21 of Alien Prince's Fake Bride
“I see,” Mareliux says with a neutral expression on his face. “You think some of these may have held prisoners of war. And you would be right.”
I have a strong urge to pull away, to put more distance between us. Vera’s assessment that he comes from a predator species is obviously correct. And still I can’t help having flashbacks to that handsome, blue face buried between my thighs, tendrils caressing me and giving me goosebumps on top of goosebumps. Shit, he was good.
“And now this whole ship does,” I say, looking up to indicate the ship we’re in.
“Let me apologize for the shoddy treatment you received,” he rumbles. “I offered you no refreshments and no meal. I shudder to think what you must think of my hospitality. And then I fear one of my associates perhaps went a little over the line in her urge to keep you safe in the cabin. I apologize for that, too. And for my own lack of restraint. In my defense, you are an unusually attractive woman and any man would lose his self-control around you.”
I think that’s the only apology I can get from him. Well, I did enjoy it. But I was under the influence of a substance without having any way to know about it, and thisishis ship. He’s totally responsible for everything that happens aboard it. Especially to those who aren’t here from their own free will.
“Make up for it by taking me back to my unit,” I demand.
“One day I will do that,” Mareliux says. “But before then, I thought that maybe you would want to see more of the galaxy. You can bring your planet valuable information about the volume of space that you live in.”
His promise to take me back to Earth surprises me and softens me up a little. “You will take me back?”
He fixes me with those red eyes. “One day. Perhaps not even so long from now, but the exact time is out of my hands. It depends on… well, it will become clear to you. You will not return empty-handed, Ambassador. I will reward you for your services.”
I don’t like the sound of that. My head tilts to the side all by itself. “What kind of services do you expect me to perform?”
A gentle wave goes through his tentacles. “I want you to marry me.”
Something in my mind short-circuits. I was not prepared for that. And I break out in a hoot of laughter. “Marryyou? Oh man, I think you misunderstood what happened in that cabin.”
Mareliux doesn’t get mad. Instead he smiles tightly. “No, that has nothing to do with this. Well, not much, anyway. Our marriage will not be real, Umbra. It will be a fake marriage. We will not actually be married. But we will pretend to be. For only a short time.”
I shake my head. “You must have lost your mind. You abducted me and then assaulted me! And now you want me to not marry you?”Huh. That didn’t sound right.
“The events in the cabin are regrettable,” Mareliux says stiffly. “I would give a lot to have that undone. But when we’re pretending to be married, you will not be expected to do anything of the sortagain. We will sleep separately and keep our distance as much as possible, while keeping up the illusion for others.”
For a second I think that this could be interesting. But this scheme has crazy alien nonsense written all over it. And danger.
“No,” I state firmly. “Absolutely not. Count me out of that insanity. And then bring me home.”
My words echo from the far walls of the hangar before the big hall goes quiet.
“Home,” Mareliux finally rumbles and walks towards me, tentacles a cool blue. “Such a warm word.”
I hurry to get out of his way.
He walks past me towards the black ships, then stops and puts his hands on his hips, looking at the alien craft. “What is life without a home? Be it ever so humble. My home is the army and the navy of the Khavgren Empire. I’ve spent my life fighting, Umbra. I’ve conquered and killed and kept the Empire safe. And I have expanded it. Do you know how we expand the Empire?”
“Do I need to know?” I ask, looking away and trying to seem nonchalant.
I feel the prince’s imposing presence as a tension in my spine. This is plainly a man with power over life and death of many people. Including me. He’s regal and calm, and now he has chosen to show me a more menacing side of him. He’s an impressive creature, somewhere between human and demigod. And still, the one thought that goes through my mind ishe knows what my pussy tastes like.
“Yes, I think you do,” he goes on, deep voice echoing from the walls of the hangar. “When there’s a planet the Emperor wants,I send gunships like these. Not just these eight, you understand. We have thousands. But only about a hundred are ever needed, at the very most. They stay in a low orbit and bombard the most important parts of the planet, taking out all the leaders and whichever armed forces they have. Sometimes that’s enough. If not, I send in my legions. Bellatriz, how many soldiers do I command?”
“Prince,”the sword says in its own voice, different from when it’s translating, “you have seventeen million, eight hundred and eleven thousand, five hundred and fifty-six legionnaires under your command. This number will fluctuate by a few tens of thousands from one day to the next because of deaths, retirements, and new recruits.”
The prince taps his lips thoughtfully. “How many are needed to conquer a planet?”
“In the worst case, taking over a spacefaring planet with high technology and the same rough level of technology as the Empire will require ninety gunships and two million legionnaires.”
Mareliux gives me a red glance. “And a less developed planet? Say, one that has just started to explore space and still only has access to small shuttles made from paper, metal foil, and sticky tape?”
“After the bombardment, maybe a thousand troops to march through the streets and demonstrate who owns the planet now,”the sword says. “There will be no military resistance left after such a planet is bombarded by a few gunships. I estimate that these eight in here will be enough.”
“So do I,” the prince says. “And then the planet will be opened for the slave traders. Usually, about half of the original population are taken and sold. To pay for their conquest, you see, Umbra. The remaining half will have to try to keep their planet running. Because of course they must pay taxes to their new emperor. That usually never works out well. After a decade or so, there’s no sentient life left on a planet like that. All that remains is a couple of billion slaves on Imperial planets.”
