“Nova!”
I jumped when my name was called, and a glance over my shoulder showed me that Envi was heading towards me with a bright smile on her face. She had on a long pleated hot pink skirt and a tightly fitted black sleeveless top that showed not only her midriff but also her cleavage and the side of her breasts. It was a beautiful outfit—bold but beautiful.
I smiled at Envi but quickly lost my smile when two huge males suddenly blocked her path. They both had daggers strapped to their muscular thighs, and one of them even had a small sword in the centre of his back. There was some sort of device on his skin that the sword stuck to.
“Make way,” Kol’s suddenly spoke. “She is allowed to speak to my female.”
The two males parted instantly, placed their fisted hand over their chests, and bowed to Kol … and me. Envi swallowed, looking back and forth between the two males before she quickly dart between them to reach my side.
“That was weird,” she whispered.
I snorted. “Tell me about it.”
“I was just going to a cleansing room when I spotted you.”
“I’m heading there right now. Walk with us.”
Envi flushed scarlet as her eyes flicked to Kol, who was glancing around, his eyes flying to every being close by as if waiting for them to step out of line.
“Envi,” I began. “This is … Prince Kol. My husband, or as the Maji say, my mate.”
At the mention of his name, Kol turned his focus to Envi, and he grinned at her attempt at curtsying to him.
“It is wonderful to meet you, Your Majesty.”
Kol looked down at me. What does that mean?
“It’s just a title used when addressing human royalty,” I explained quietly to him.
He nodded and looked back at Envi. “Hello, Envi. Welcome to Ealra, and welcome to Maji society.”
“Thank you very much, Majesty.”
The poor girl was crimson. I smiled, and after a moment’s hesitation, I held out my hand and was glad when Envi quickly grabbed it and moved closely to my side. Kol placed a hand on my lower back and guided us both into the large building that turned out to be the Sorting Centre, a place where Maji enlisted for jobs they wished to do. The Maji didn’t work for a wage; they worked to provide for one another. Each job the males and females worked at provided or contributed to the Maji society, and I fucking loved that.
On Earth, credits were the only thing that could keep you fed, healthy, and safe, so without credits, you were on your own. Just like I was before the Maji came into my life and saved me from a helpless fate.
When we reached a vacant cleansing room, Kol checked every corner of it before he let me enter. It took a five-minute conversation for him to relent and wait outside while Envi and I relieved ourselves. When he assured me he’d be right outside if I needed him for the tenth time, he finally closed the door. I exhaled a deep breath and shook my head.
“He is very … protective of you.”
I turned to Envi. “That’s putting it lightly.”
She giggled then went into a vacant relief pod stall, so I entered the one next to her. When I finished, I left the stall and walked over to the large sinks to wash my hands. I coated my skin in water, pumped some gel from a tiny dispenser, and rubbed my hands together as I waited for Envi.
“Wise men say,” I softly sang as I washed the lather from my hands. “Only fools rush in, but I can’t help falling in love with you.”
I exhaled a deep breath, wiping away the water droplets from my hands with a hand towel to my right, all the while feeling sorry for myself.
“I have never heard that song you were just singing.” Envi frowned as she exited her stall, the sound of the relief pod still flushing. “Who sings it?”
I glanced at her through the mirror before us. “Elvis Presley.”
“Who is Elvis Presley?” she asked.
I stared at her, certain she was playing a joke on me.
“You’ve nearly heard of Elvis?”
Envi shook her head. “Is he from before our time?”
Long before.
I nodded. “He is a singer from the 1940’s. I know that’s a very long time ago, but he was an icon while he lived and a legend after his death. My father played his songs all the time when I was little then when music was no more, he would sing them to me.”
“How old was your father to know about a singer from the 1940’s?”
“My father was born in the 2060’s, and he died seven years ago. He knew of Elvis because back then, the world was not in that much chaos. Papa said they had something called the internet, and that contained lots of information about pretty much everything in history.”
“I’ve heard of that too; I wish we were born long before aliens were discovered by humankind.”
I leaned my hip against the sink. “You and me both, Envi. I can’t imagine Earth as anything but a wasteland in chaos. It must have been nice to walk by people and not fear they would attack. I can’t imagine a time where you could just say hello to a stranger and not expect them to attempt to take your life or goods. A whole without murders, imagine that?”
Envi became silent.
“Hey.” I nudged her leg with mine. “Are you okay?”
Envi looked down as she whispered, “I'm a murderer. I ... I killed a man.”
I widened my eyes at her shocking admission. “You did?”
She nodded, her head still downcast.
“He … he tried to rape Echo … seven years ago when we were eleven,” she choked out, making sure to keep her voice low. “It was our birthday, and my mother left our shelter to get us some chicken. She saved up all her credits and wanted us to have something nice to eat to celebrate. Our four brothers, older sister, and my father died in the Great Illness the year before, and we were the only ones to survive it. She … adored us. We were all she had left, and she put us first over herself. She thought no one saw her leave the morning, but he did.”
I instinctively reached out and took Envi’s hand in mine. I didn’t speak; I just held her hand as she told me of her ordeal. She didn’t look up or flinch. Instead, she gripped my hand and held on tightly.
“He was a mutant,” Envi said, her voice thick with emotion. “He didn’t look very human anymore. He had been exposed to a lot of radiation, and it made him look like a monster. He entered our hut and tore it apart until he found me and Echo in our makeshift basement. We hid down there when we were left alone so no one could find us. He knew we were in the hut somewhere. He told us he saw our mother leave on her own and that he’d find us. He did. He grabbed Echo when she put her body over mine to protect me.”
I gave her hand another squeeze as her voice grew tight with emotion.
“He stripped her of her clothing, tore it from her body, and forced her legs open. I screamed so much that he punched me when I smacked his back to let her go. The force knocked me to the floor and caused me to pass out for few seconds. When I opened my eyes, I found my face was throbbing, but that the man was undoing his pants. He was over Echo one second then on the floor beside me the next. I heard my mother’s voice then.”
Envi sniffled. “It was a blur of activity when she returned home. She was screaming, and I remember hearing her hands smack against the man’s flesh as she punched and slapped at him. She tried … so damn hard, but he was just so much stronger than she was.”
Oh, no.
“He broke her neck,” Envi choked. “He didn’t even have to try. He just broke her neck and let her body slump on the floor. I looked at her face, and her eyes were still open. It was like she was looking right at me … right through me.”
My heart broke for Envi and Echo and what they had been through.
“I can’t remember how, but one second, I was on the floor next to my mom, and the next, I was beside the man with a knife in my hand. He was just about to hurt Echo in a way she would never truly heal from, so I used every ounce of strength I had to ram the blade into his face.
It went through his right eye and got stuck in his head. We started running then, and we haven't stopped since.”
Tears fell from both of our eyes.
“Envi,” I said, clutching her hand tightly. “You’re the bravest person I have ever met.”
For the first time since she started speaking, she looked up at me, tears streaking her cheeks.
“What you did was fight for your life and your sister’s life. What your mother did was fight your sister’s innocence and both of your lives. She died a hero, and you ended the life of a waste of space. You’re so brave.”
Without another word, I stepped forward and hugged Envi tightly.
“I’ll always have your back,” I told her firmly, and I meant it with every fibre of my being. “Things will be different here on Ealra; it will be nothing like Earth.”
She whimpered. “Me and Echo, we’ve only ever had one another. We’ve never had a real friend.”
“Me either,” I admitted, “but we’ll figure it out together. All I know is you are my friend. Echo too. I haven’t done a lot to show that, but that’s going to change. I’ll earn your friendship, I promise.”
We remained in each other’s embrace, and that is the visual Kol walked in on when he opened the door. Two human women hugging and crying in the middle of a cleansing room. We separated as he literally leaped towards us, startling us both.