Page 12 of The Alien Noble's Little Human

And if it is there, the journey is almost as likely to end in death as the illness plaguing Hanai.

I turn as the door slams shut. I thought I knew what to expect with a haughty Kiphian Prince, but apparently not. I never thought he would walk out on me and his daughter in the middle of a mission to save her life.

“Zaya?”

I turn to Hanai and smile like I’m not bursting with frustration. “Yes, Princess Hanai?”

“Do you know where my dad went?”

No. But I would love to find out.“I don’t, honey, but I’m sure he’ll be right back. You never know what kind of emergencies a Prince might have. Your family is very important.”

Kneeling before her, I rest my chin on my hand and look up at her from the bedside. “Why don’t you keep telling me your stories?”

She shrugs and looks down at her hands. “I don’t know any other ones.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do. You’re a great storyteller.”

“I am?”

I nod and grin. “What about when you first found out you were a princess?”

“Oh, that?” She smiles and waves her hand at me, and I can’t help but hold back a chuckle. The personality of this little girl is incredible. Somehow I don’t think she got her charm from her father.

“Well, most little girls are called princess when they’re little, Zaya. Did you know that?”

“Even my parents called me princess.”

“Did you ever believe that you were one?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, my grandpa is Thane, and my dad is Prince…”

I can’t help but wonder about the mother, especially given how awful the father is.

“And Daddy and Grandpa Odar were talking about the royal family. And they mentioned the Royal Princess, and I said, ‘Oh, Mom? Princess Kantha?’ They went quiet and sad. Because she was gone. And they said, ‘You’re the Royal Princess, Hanai. The most wonderful princess of all.’ And they cheered right up, and it made me so happy to know that being a princess made it better.”

A sharp pain strikes my gut. She’s sick, surrounded by strangers,andher mother is dead. What worries me the most isn’t her emotional state, as kids are extremely resilient, but what the stress of her mother dying could be doing to her condition.

I wonder how soon after that she fell ill. Although the father grates on me like sandpaper, he’s had some bad luck. First, the death of the mother, and then his child develops such an awful illness at such a young age.

The resentment of my childhood sickness lasted years. I always wished I’d had the opportunity to fall off a slide or get in trouble for tracking mud on the floor. My childhood is one vague flash of hospital beds with people coming in and out, always wearing grim expressions.

I was constantly in the dark. I had no clue what was going on, and I was told to trust those strangers. While I look at Hanai beaming with excitement about being a princess, I remember that feeling of loneliness that hurt almost worse than the sickness. She’s going through that too, and I had wished for someone to talk to when I was in her position.

I have to stay. I have to help her.

“You are the most wonderful Princess. They’re right. And I can prove it with my royal reflex hammer.”

“Yourwhat?” Hanai asks, giggling.

She flinches at the sight of the rubber mallet. I hold out my hand and grin. “Hey, you’re okay. Take my hand.”

Gradually, she holds out her hand to touch mine, and I grip it lightly. “This isn’t going to poke you or hurt you, alright? I need to see how well your body moves on its own.”

“On its own?”

I nod. “Yep! Your body has the power to move without you eventhinkingabout it.”

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