Page 38 of Guardian's Legacy
Xyrek is already gone to wherever he was going, Alice. Deal with it.
"I can go tomorrow," I heard myself say. The further away I was from Xyrek, the less I would think about him—hopefully. Talking to him over the comm was nice and all, and I wouldn't have minded keeping him as a friend, but the universe was so much bigger than Earth, and I had no idea if I would ever get to see him again. It wasn't good for me to get attached to him now; I needed to stand on my own two feet and prove that I could make it out here. By myself.
"You don't have to," Silla's eyes bored into mine.
"It's okay, I want to," I assured her.
"Good, you'll be my new chief engineer," Garth held out his hand to me, and I shook it. Silla looked all proud, and I was sure the handshake thing was something she taught him.
"I'll get things packed for you. You need so many things. Nothing is being produced on Rottvan yet. I'm afraid it's still very much an outpost," Silla fretted.
"It will be okay." I smiled at her. I was sure of it.
That night, Xyrek commed me again, and we talked about Rottvan, but I never got a chance to tell him that I would be leaving for it the next day. He didn't seem too thrilled about me going there, but the more I thought about it, the more it appealed to me. Soon, he would be out of comm reach anyway, and I would have to let go of the crutch he was becoming to me. No, crutch wasn't the right word. He was becoming more than that. If I wasn't careful, I would fall for that alien—I was well on my way, already.
XYREK
Several times,I was close to changing course. I needed to go to Darlam, not back to Astrionis, but this urge to seeherwas relentless. It might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn the damn mating marks were burning. I was pretty sure it was only my imagination, though. I hadn't felt anything like it before Lord Protector Garth mentioned that it had been like this for the others.
On top of that, I hadn’t been able to reach her last night. The night before, she indicated she might go to Rottvan, so there was a possibility she was just out of range. The stars only knew what kind of backwater planet Rottvan was. They might not have any reception relays there at all. But not having been able to talk to her didn't sit well with me. With the added worry about her well-being, I was slowly working myself into a frenzy the likes of which I had never experienced before.
And if that wasn't enough, the dreams of that strange world—during what little sleep I caught—were gaining in intensity. Not only that, but there were times I felt Alice's presence in them. I didn't see her, but it felt like she was there. With me.
I had no idea what any of this meant, but it brought the urgency of how much I needed some answers to the forefront of my mind. I hoped that Darlam or the other Space Guardians would provide them. But first, I needed to see her. Speak to her. Assure myself that she was okay.
Damn her anyway.
And damn the mating marks.
And whoever was responsible for them.
I didn't like anybody fucking with me, but when it extended to myemotions… —I hated just thinking that word. I was livid. Furious. As soon as I found out who or what was responsible for it, I would send them straight to B'Rtrx—a planet covered in lava and volcanoes. I would dangle them on a rope from my ship and watch them slowly roast.
Planning various versions of this demise made the time go by faster, but it still felt as if the ship was flying through a morass instead of slicing through space at hyperspeed.
I had no idea what I would say or do upon returning to Astrionis. Frankly, I hadn't planned on anything beyond finally laying my eyes on her again. Breathing the same air as her. Frygg. I was totally losing it. And the powerlessness behind it drove me mad.
It was late afternoon when I landed on Astrionis. Just like before, Lord Protector Garth and his mate Silla waited for me at the end of the extended platform. I stomped down it, my head turning left and right to catch a glimpse ofher, but she was nowhere to be seen. Would it have been too much to ask of the insufferable female to be here? She had to know my ship had landed—stubbornly, I refused to believe she had indeed left.
"You didn't bring me more humans this quickly, did you, Space Guardian?" Lord Protector Garth asked, but there wasn't much hope in his expression. He looked more resigned.
"Unfortunately not," I confirmed his statement.
"She's not here," Lady Silla said, coming forward and hugging me. Hugging me? What the frygg? Like we were long-lost friends.
"Where is she?" I pressed out after I waited some excruciating ticks for her to let me go again.
"She went to Rottvan a few hours ago. She is my new Chief Engineer." Garth proudly filled me in.
It was the pride in his voice that threw me off for a moment. But it wasn't hard to realize that Alice would be an asset to anybody, especially a new colony. I wondered what she had done to impress the Lord Protector this much.
Frygg, I should have known. Her talents would be in high demand at the new colony. Anywhere, really. She would be doing exactly what she was best at. This new job was just what she needed. My hand moved through my hair to ground me.
I didn't have anything like this to offer to her. I repeatedly watched her take cleaning drones apart and put them back together until she had it right and things worked as they had before. I didn't fully understand her desire for it, but it was obvious that she loved doing things with her hands, fixing things, building things. She had been formidable, saving all of us from being returned to the Ohrurs. What could I offer her? An unknown future, danger, and a grumpy Space Guardian who hadn't done anything to earn her favor.
"You should go to her," Silla said, pressing my arm with her small fingers.
Her light honey eyes looked at me as if she could see to the bottom of my soul, as if she had read every single thought that had just run through my mind. I'd never been the type of male to pour my heart out to others. Frygg, I had never had any others to pour my heart out to. But for some reason, I felt close to this female—the Lady of Astrionis.
