“We will have her back to you within the day,” he says.
Those words are like an absolute kick to the gut. I feel as though I have been emotionally disemboweled, though I do not know if I have any right to feel that way. Tyrant never made any promises to me. We did not come to an agreement of any kind. We never talked about the future. We hardly talked at all.
* * *
Tyrant
“I’ll get my things,” she says, turning away from me and walking into the void of filing cabinets. I know there is nothing back there to get. She’s avoiding me, and her boss.
Perhaps she does not wish to return to her planet. Perhaps she wishes to stay with me on the ship. But there are greater concerns. Unbeknownst to her, there is a war in progress on one of our many borders. The Swarm threatens to swallow up multiple colonies and push the Essence back many thousands of light years. It is a battle which has been raging for many months now, and this little detour to handle our taxation obligations has amounted to a vacation.
There is no doubt that we have formed a carnal connection, but there are many reasons to return her to her world. She will be safe there. She will live a happy, healthy, human life. She will become her fullest self. To keep her is selfish.
And yet I am tempted to ask her if she wishes to stay.
“Don’t.”
Terrible cannot read my mind. At least, that’s what I tell myself. He simply knows me very well and has for a long time. That’s why he knows I am tempted to keep Tania close. I have never wanted to keep any female aboard the ship. The allure of war has always been far greater than the allure of the bedroom. But this human is special. She is unique in all the universe. She…
“We are going to be flying through Swarm territory,” Terrible reminds me. “It will not be safe for the human, and it will put the entire fleet in danger.”
I know humans do not belong in outer space. They are soft little creatures molded by the world of their birth. She will be safer on her own planet. She will find a mate biologically suited to her. She will earn a greater amount of numbers, and those numbers will make her happy.
I am a warrior king. I can offer her nothing but a nomadic life and the very real possibility of a grisly and painful death. Love is sacrifice. And sometimes, that sacrifice means being separated from the very one you love.
7 The Goodbye
Tania
“I would tell you to ensure that you have all your possessions, but I am assuming that you are not overly attached to the stained garment you boarded the ship in.”
The cabin is gone. Terrible has packed it all up and taken it all away, leaving me in the pink-hued womb of creation from which so much pleasure has arisen. He has removed every scrap of it, erased every trace of me.
I can sense his eagerness to be rid of me. That is bad, but it is not as bad as Tyrant’s absence. He should be here with me. He should be saying goodbye, using these last few minutes or hours to bid me farewell.
A course has been set for Earth. The ship mows through the galaxy at an astounding pace, turning light years into light seconds. I can practically feel home rushing toward us.
I should be relieved, and I think on some level, I am. Falling for an alien king was never going to be a long term strategy for success, probably. But pleasing Mr. Rogers and earning more money, that will create a successful life. Won't it?
I don’t know anymore. I don’t know anything. All my experiences with Tyrant have been so hot and sweet and sexy. It’s kind of like an alien summer romance, I tell myself. I’ll be okay. This will be a memory I can look back on and tell my human grandchildren about and have them think I’ve advanced into dementia.
“Time to return to your planet,” Terrible announces, suddenly and without any warning.
“Really? We’re here?”
“Yes. You will disembark through the cargo port.”
I almost ask if Tyrant is coming to say goodbye to me, but I know Terrible will only mock me mercilessly for asking the question. He truly is a spectacular asshole.
Feeling more miserable than I have in a very long time, I try to compose myself. I don’t want to start crying before I get back to my apartment. I don’t want to give Terrible the satisfaction as he leads me through the same halls and walls he led me through the first time. I can keep it together. I can stop myself from crying. I can…