An Alien Love

First Conversation

The breath rushed out of Jewlos’ lungs with such sudden force it was as if he had been hit in the diaphragm with a horse’s kick. His heart, which had been racing all hour, seemed to suddenly stop and squeeze violently in his chest.

Standing among the armed guards, the woman seemed small and fragile. Though she was slender, she held womanly curves that the uniform she wore helped accentuate. Her full figure kept her from appearing like a child. As the envoy led her further into the room, Jewlo shook himself mentally and willed his heart to beat and air to refill his lungs. The guards bowed low before their prince, then turned to leave the room. Kanoch bowed to Jewlo as well, but as he turned to leave, the prince stopped him with a gesture of his hand.

“Why is she cuffed?” Jewlo asked, speaking in his own language so the woman would not hear him questioning his guard’s decisions.

“For your protection.”

“Does she look like she could hurt me?”

“I would feel better leaving you two alone if I knew she was cuffed. Looks can be deceiving.”

“Kanoch, I need her to trust me. Cuffs won’t help that. Remove the restraints and then leave us.” As Kanoch opened his mouth to argue, Jewlo stared hard at his guard and the words that he was about to speak fell silent. Taking the keys from his belt, Kanoch unlocked the human woman’s bonds, bowed low to the prince once more, and left the room quickly.

Jewlo turned his attention to the human left alone in his chambers with him. She stood before him with an air of confidence despite being in a strange place with a strange being. Jewlo wondered how much of the confidence was a show. Likely just as much as his own confidence.

“Come and sit please,” Jewlo spoke in her language, trying hard to make his accent neutral so she could clearly understand him. He gestured toward the couch across from the one he himself stood behind. Slowly she walked forward and seated herself with a graceful motion. Jewlo sat on the couch at his side of the table and studied the woman he had been dreading to meet.

Her chestnut brown hair fell around her face down to her waist in delicate waves that seemed to ripple like water over the rocks of a creak, highlighting the femininity of her face. Her lips were full and red without the aid of cosmetics, her cheekbones were high and her cheeks full and pink with a natural blush. Her nose was small and straight, slightly upturned, reminiscent of a pig’s snout, but it was cute. However, of all the features of her face, her eyes were the most striking.

Upon first glance, they seemed like ordinary blue eyes, but when Jewlo looked deeper into them he found them to be half blue, half green with a light brown starburst circling the iris. It was an intense combination that captured Jewlo’s attention almost completely. With a start, the prince realized he had been staring, and the woman across from his shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked away shyly.

“I apologize. I don’t mean to stare. You’re the first human I have seen this close. It was rude of me.” Jewlo bowed his head to her with sincerity and she nodded her head towards him in acceptance of his apology. The woman appeared as though she was going to speak and then she stopped herself and shifted uncomfortably again. Jewlo paused briefly, waiting and hoping she would say something, but as the seconds ticked by, the tension grew between them and Jewlo could start to see the fear that she had been hiding. He had to do something to break the silence.

“What is your name?” The woman looked at Jewel with suspicion but answered.

“Natasha Braidsen. But most people call me Tosh.” Her voice was light and melodic like the tinkling of the metal chimes blowing in the breeze.

“Natasha. How pretty.”

“Thank you.” Her eyes narrowed and she bit her bottom lip. Jewlo could almost see the wheels turning behind her eyes as she thought about the situation. He had seen it over the monitors as she was introduced to each new situation, but seeing her intelligence working up close was even more impressive. “What am I doing here?”

“That is a tough question to answer.” Jewlo paused and then carried on slowly, grasping for words as he went. “Last night, I addressed all of the women on this ship and I told you that we hoped you humans would save us.” He paused and she nodded at him.

“I remember. But I don’t understand what that has to do with me being here.”

“In order to have you save us without forcing you to do so, certain mortsos, I mean men, on this ship, have chosen females from among the groups to try and get to know them. In order to build trust and understanding. It is our hope that a relationship can form and eventually evolve so that we can save our race.”

“Evolve how? Save your race how? What do we have to do with saving you and your people? I mean, you said last night you wanted to mate with us, right?” Tosh tilted her head to the side, flipping her hair over her shoulder and leaned forward slightly.

“Yes.” Jewlo nodded and smiled at her question. As he went to speak more, however, Tosh cut his words off quickly.

“So I am here to mate then?” She leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs.

“No.” Jewlo frowned slightly, also leaning back.

“Then what?” Her eyes narrowed once more and her brows furrowed. Jewlo huffed out a frustrated sigh, sensing this conversation was not going where he wanted it to.

“You are here so I can get to know you and you can get to know me. Then maybe we can mate.”

“If we refuse, will you take us home?”

“No.”

“So, our only option is to go with you to your planet, with you trying to mate with us?”

“Yes.” As soon as he said it, he knew he was in trouble. The tension that had begun to ease was back. Jewlo’s heartbeat jumped into his throat as Tosh’s captivating eyes turned icy and her soft feminine face turned to stone. When she started speaking, her voice was almost a whisper.

“So basically, what you are telling me is that I am here for a date in the hopes that it will go well enough that I’ll let you impregnate me? Despite the fact that, for all intents and purposes, you have abducted me and hundreds of other women and will never let us go home ever again? Even if we are not sleeping with you? Are you crazy!?” Her voice had risen to a harsh scream as she finished. Her hands balled into fists and were tremoring with anger. Jewlo didn’t know what to say to those accusations. For all intents and purposes, that was exactly what was happening, despite the reasons for it. Jewlo’s heart sank into a pit forming in his stomach as he watched her turn away from him with hatred and anger clear on her face.

Jewlo wanted so badly to reach out and comfort her. He wanted so badly to tell her he would take them home that very second. Jewlo knew this was going to be an issue, but that knowledge hadn’t prepared him for the instant reaction. He wanted to tell her he was sorry and to fall on his feet before her and beg forgiveness, but he also knew that at this moment she would never believe him.

He stared at her from across the small table and saw her fighting back tears and trying to be strong despite the fine trembling that radiated through her body and his heart broke once more. No, property and land weren’t going to fix this.

“I can’t pretend to have ever felt or even fully understand the way you are feeling right now. And I can’t tell you that your feelings are not justified. I know they are. To you, we must seem like the evilest beings in the universe. There are 1,000 women from earth aboard this ship right now. There are 19 other ships alongside this one holding the same number of females. All of you taken for the purpose of saving people that, up until yesterday, you did not know existed. You were all taken away from mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, and children. Without permission. We stole you from the lives you were leading and now we have the audacity to ask you to save us by bearing our children. It’s sick and twisted. I know that.” Natasha had stopped shaking and was looking at Jewlo with a suspicious expression. Her body was hunched in protectively showing her mistrust of the prince’s words.

“Why do it then? If you know it’s wrong, why am I still here?” Jewlo stared at the human woman and sighed. His heart felt heavy and he was suddenly very tired despite having woken up only a couple hours previous. Jewlo knew that eventually, he would have to explain to this earthling woman across from him why they had taken them, beyond the explanation of simply saving his people. He would have to tell her about their goddess and the curse. But today wasn’t the day.

“I will tell you in more detail at a later time. That is my promise as the Crown Prince and next in line to the throne. But for today, all I can tell you is that our situation is desperate. Our mortsa’s are dead. All of them. We need you more then I could ever express.” Jewlo’s accent was thick with the emotion he felt at that moment. He could feel the desperation and despair he had felt to this point clear on his face and in his body. He felt years older than he was and the weight of the world was heavy on his shoulders.

“If you need us to mate with you, why are you not just forcing it upon us?”

“It wouldn’t work if we just forced ourselves on you. I know you don’t trust us, nor do you have any reason to do so. But I promise I will explain more later.” Jewlo wanted her to hear the honesty in his voice. Natasha stared at him with a contemplating and cautious face. She sighed heavily, suddenly appearing as tiered as Jewlo felt.

“May I go back to the others now?” Her voice was sad and almost pleading. Jewlo nodded his consent. Standing, he walked to the door, knowing Kanoch would be just outside. The door swished open and Kanoch turned towards the prince with a serious face.

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Take the girl back to her room now. And no cuffs, please. From now on for any of the women.” Kanoch nodded and stepped into the room. He looked at the couches where Natasha stood, looking for all the world like she just wanted to run as far from Jewlo as she could. She walked towards the guards at a quicker pace than necessary. Without Kanoch having to say anything, she followed him out the door and back the way she'd came.