Promised to the Alien King

11

I completely lost track of time when I felt my stomach rumble and demand food. I was suddenly aware of how tired I was, and it was already a lot darker in the room. I managed to read twenty pages of the book, having to check every single one. But my knowledge improved greatly, and I didn’t regret a single second.

I checked the time- it was 3:36 pm. No wonder I was hungry. Luckily, lunch time was until 4:30 pm, so I had time. I decided to leave the books on the table, since I was probably going to be the only one using the library. I left it and closed the door behind me. The hallway was quite crowded- everyone was probably finishing up their exercising or studying.

I was pushed with the rest, and I let the current of cadets carry me to my destination. I decided to go to the central cafeteria- everybody was probably thinking that the student-only one was less crowded, leaving this one quite a few empty spaces. At least I hoped so as I entered the line for food.

After getting chicken in some kind of sauce and a bottle of water, I realised that I didn’t drink anything that day. That was not healthy, since I was doing so much physical activity. So I decided to always have this bottle with me. I was slowly turning into my mom, worrying about this kind of stuff that I didn’t care about before. It reminded me of my brother, always so caring…

I was taken away from my thoughts by someone sitting across from me saying my name.

“You’re Sane? Sane Watson?” a sweet voice said, and I looked up to see the most handsome creature I’ve ever seen. I never believed in love at first sight, but this man was just… I couldn’t wait to tell Lanie about him.

He had jet-black hair, stretching all the way to his shoulders, and seemed to be kept from raging, like mine, with a lot of gel. His face was clean, with no trace of facial hair. His face shape was thin, and his chin was strong. But his eyes were the ones that caught me off guard- deep, piercing blue. I felt my breathing stopped when I looked up at him. He was wearing a grey uniform, but it was different from mine- he wore a black badge, and it was a different shape overall. Was he an instructor? He looked at me with patience, and I realized I had to answer.

“Uhm, yes, I am, uhm, Sane. Sane Watson, pleased to meet you.” I muttered, trying to supress a blush. But then he smiled, and oh, I was lobster red. His lip just slightly curled upwards, making me melt. I never had such a reaction to any male.

“Good. You need to come with er.” He said, using the Neuran word for ‘me’.

“I’m eating.” I said. Then I saw that his biceps were visible on the uniform, and my breathing messed up again.

“It is urgent, and I didn’t ask you anything. You’re coming with me before they notice me here.” he said sternly. He was definitely something important. I took another quick bite and grabbed my bottle, giving him a nod. He stood up- he was really tall compared to me- around two meters, I’d say. And I was pitiful 1,75 metres, and considered tall. And he was hot. He moved leanly between the seated cadets, and I barely managed to move my queasy knees, my eyes never leaving his perfect posture. As soon as I was out of the mess, he motioned for me to follow him and he went off, stretching his long legs so I had to jog to keep up. We pushed through the mass of students, attracting quite a few gazes, coming mostly from girls. He stopped in front of the library door, waiting for me.

“Unlock it, I didn’t bring my ID.” he ordered sternly, and I decided to do what he said without asking questions. As the door opened, I heard Laine call me.

“Sane! Where the heck are you going with that handsome dude!” she said, and as I turned around to greet her, I felt the guy’s strong hand on my shoulders as he pushed me in, whispering something that sounded like ‘Ato vunum’, meaning no time. He entered as he pushed me in, closing the door. 

Then he looked at me, his eyes seemingly staring into my soul. They reminded me of my eyes- did I make other people feel the same? Probably not, but I stared back into his eyes. I tried intimidating him, but I got lost in the deepness of the perfect blue eyes, on a perfect face…

“Wo nor hon from?” he asked, using fluent Neuran. I understood the word ‘hon’- it meant you, but I had no idea what the others meant, and although I was pretty sure I read them in book, I didn’t remember them.

“What?” I asked simply after not being able to figure out the meaning. He simply looked at me, his eyes seeming angry. Did he really expect me to speak fluent Neuran on first day?

“Don’t play games with me!” he said suddenly, after staring into my eyes for a while. I was sure he was trying to read my soul. As he was speaking, he got closer, and I was going backwards. But then I hit the wall, and he was free to approach me. He got so close that we almost touched, and I felt his presence so near me. It made my heart race wildly. Way to go, teenage hormones! Getting the hots for a man yelling nonsense at you.

“Fernta, I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir.” I said. Fernta meant sorry. He stiffened, looking into my eyes once more. Was he trying to determine if I was a lying? I was so confused.

“You are clearly a Neuran. And a noble, at that- don’t try to hide it from me, you know damn well who I am! I’ll play along now, since you claim not to speak Neuran. I know you use instinctive aim- that’s the trait of the royal family- it’s incredibly rare with other Neurans- in fact, there’s only one non-royal possessing it, and It’s nowhere near good as yours. Your skill can easily be matched with mine. And the yes and hair are a dead giveaway.” he said, moving his hand towards my hair. I stiffened. What was he talking about? Royal families? Neurans? I was confused. Then his hand connected with my hair, and sent weird waves to my stomach. The correct term would be butterflies in my stomach. He let go of my hair, letting his arm fall.

“Just tell me who you are. Why did you come here? To sabotage us? You know that this trade can only benefit us! Why haven’t I seen you before… I thought you might’ve been one of my distant cousins, but you look nothing like them…” he trailed off, now seeming confused. Then his expression became even more down.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually human…” he muttered, looking at me like a puppy asking for food. He wanted me to say I’m not human. By this point, I stopped trying to find sense in what he was saying.

“I’ll be honest with you- I have absolutely no idea who you are and what you’re talking about. You asked me if I’m human, and the answer is yes, I am. As far as I know, we haven’t discovered any extraterrestrials yet. Unless you’re implying… nevermind. I am Sane Watson, and I am human. I was born and raised in Bushville. I started shooting a gun when I was seven years old. I don’t know when I started using instinctive aiming, since I found out it existed just yesterday. I came here, and I was told I’m special, and that’s all I know. Now, your turn- who are you, and are you an alien?” I said, staring into his eyes. He seemed intrigued during my talk, and he flinched at my question.

“I was mistaken... How? How are you so like us?” he said, moving a few steps away from me. “I apologize for stopping your lunch, cadet Watson. I was mistaken about you. I just wanted to make sure you’re not- you’re not plotting against us. It wasn’t the most professional way, I know, but I wanted to come down here myself. I didn’t trust my agents enough… I just had to make sure. About your question- I’m afraid I can’t give you an answer just yet, but I promise you’ll know everything once you’re on the ship. I am certain you will get there, especially if your abilities extend to the true royal ones… Now, excuse me, I really need to return, uhm, elsewhere. If your friends ask, tell them I was captain Michell’s assistant and I was here about that little gun you stole.” he said with a wink. How did he know? He was about to leave, but then he stopped and turned around, making me melt once more at his perfect gaze.

“I forgot my ID, I’ll need you to open some doors for me. Don’t tell captain Michell I was here under any circumstances.” he said sternly, and I nodded.

“What’s your name?” I asked as I opened the door.

“I am Annon Gr'Aran, but you will not be calling me that. As I said, you’ll find out exactly who I am once you’re on the ship. I already told you too much.” he said. Annon Gr’Aran. That’s a weird name. I followed him outside, and he walked forwards urgently. There weren’t many people walking outside anymore, and I was able to see captain Michell in the distance.

“Captain Michell!” both me and Annon Gr’Aran whispered in alarm. He looked around frantically, and realised that we were next to the male bathroom. He opened the door and pushed me in.

“That’s male!” I whispered in annoyance, but luckily, it was empty. We stood silently, and we heard footsteps approaching, and sound of two voices- he was probably joined by another instructor.   

The footsteps stopped in front of the bathroom.

“I just need to use the bathroom, I’ll be right back!” we heard him say, and I froze in terror.

“Watson, move!” Annon Gr’Aran said and grabbed my arm, dragging me towards the stalls quickly. He opened one and pushed me in. He was about to go to a stall next to mine, but I heard the door open. He said something in Neuran, probably a curse word and entered after me, closing and locking the door as quietly as possible. It was a small stall, and it was short enough that Annon Gr’Aran had to dip his head to stay under the limit. He was wearing a white shirt underneath his uniform, and I saw his abs behind it. There we go, breathing wildly again. He motioned for me to be quiet, and I blushed, managing to control my breathing. He was standing really close, again making us almost touch again.

Captain’s footsteps grew closer. He was whistling a melody unfamiliar to me, and he approached our stall. We only had time to enter the first one, so he had to go past us to get to the other ones. Crap. If he saw two pairs of feet, he’d assume someone was breaking the no-dating rule. I looked frantically at our feet, and Annon Gr’Aran seemed to be thinking the same thing. Before the footsteps reached us, he stepped towards me quietly. He put his right foot next to my left foot, and his left foot in between mine. Now it seemed like one healthy pair of feet.

But his genius idea came with a side effect. His body was now pressed tightly onto mine, and my hormones were raging. His touch made fire burn through my skin, and I was blushing wildly. Luckily, he was a lot taller than me, so in order to stand in this position, he was unable to look at my face. My face was also buried in his chest. It was an amazing feeling for my girly side. But it wasn’t the best moment for this to be happening, since we were currently hiding from the commander. We both stopped breathing as he went next to our stall. But instead of moving on, he stopped.