It took us about thirty minutes to make it to Hewon, a giant green planet surrounded by a large ring of space junk. It wasn't the prettiest on the outside, but once we were in the planet's atmosphere, everything changed to a beautiful rainforest, trees standing tall as I landed my ship onto a clearing. When Joseph and I left the craft, our senses were assaulted by the natural smell of rain and trees, making me close my eyes in bliss as I breathed it all in. The naturalness of the planet made it at least worth it to come, even if I knew the ball was going to be a bust.
I took a breath, eyeing the giant massive tree that served as Queen Lorah's home, the inside lit up by natural lighting. I watched as many others left their ships and went into the tree, all of them dressed in their finest garbs. A couple of them were even naked, making me raise an eyebrow at their lack of clothes. I then glanced over to Joseph, who was eyeing the tree with interest sparkling in his dark eyes. "Wow. This is reminds me of that one movie with the blue alien things in it. They lived in a tree too, I think. They even had the same glowy plants that are lighting up the place."
"What's a movie?" I asked casually, making my journey to the large tree.
Joseph looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "It's like a film. A story-come-to-life by a talented group of individuals. I'm surprised you don't know what a movie is, considering you're way more advanced in technology than we humans are. For goodness sake, your beds float!"
"You mean pods."
"You call your beds, pods?"
"Why not? I can call them whatever I wish, since I basically own Glacion."
Joseph blinked and pursed his lips, nodding before he lifted a tanned hand to scratch at his short beard. "You got me there. So, how do you rule an entire planet by yourself? Must be difficult to run things without much help."
I sighed and began playing with the beads on my wrists, stopping directly in front of the entrance to the tree. "I'm not going to lie, it is very difficult. Especially since there are always people who are going to oppose your idea, regardless if it helps your species as a whole, or not. Plus, we have these dreadful things to go to every year.''
Joseph shrugged, tucking his hands into his pockets. "I doubt it's that bad."
"Well, well, well. Looks like the painted doll finally showed up. I was beginning to wonder if you had been broken since no one has seen you in a while."
I felt my anger boil at the new arrival's words, turning to catch sight of a large buff man, with tanned skin and dark red hair that fell into braids down his back. This was Delkele, barbarian King to the planet Naraka, a wasteland with no real purpose. Delkele was the type of man who would try seeking a weaker species out, and try to make them loathe themselves for no reason other than to entertain him. It was utterly deplorable, and I really wanted to throw him into a volcano.
Sadly, I couldn't do it. So instead, I turned to him with a fake smile. "You're alone? Seems to me like your whore finally left you."
Delkele turned red in the face, making a move to attack me when Joseph stood in front of him, holding one of his hands up, the other one on the gun tucked at his side. "Hit him, and I'll shoot you faster than you can cry for your deal ol' mommy."
Delkele tilted his head down to look at the human, his brows furrowing before he glanced back at me, a weird gleam shining in his red eyes. "So you finally found yourself a whore, huh? How much would you have to pay to have someone to appreciate an ugly thing like you?"
"Oh, so we're resorting to middle school insults? Got it. Funny how you call him ugly when you look like something that crawled out of a sewage drain."
Surprised, I gave Joseph a look of bewilderment. He defended me? Why for? He didn't have to defend me, and yet, here he was going neck to neck with this gargantuan barbarian, whose muscles were bigger than his head. Were all humans naturally this challenging? And for some reason, I felt a little warmth spread in my chest as he defended me. Maybe I was just happy that someone was finally standing up for me. It was a nice feeling, if I was to be honest.
"What could a human like you, possibly do to something as strong as me? You will be dead before you could even blink, human."
"You really think so? Man, you're like the very definition of a middle school bully. Maybe you're trying to compensate for something, judging by those oh so giant muscles."
Delkele glared at Joseph, looking as if he were about to hit the smaller man, when a woman called his name, making him to look away. I looked up as well and smiled as Lorah gestured for Delkele to come with her. She winked at me when the barbarian glared at Joseph, and cleared her face of emotion when he turned back to her. As he began walking, he stopped by me and glared.
"This isn't over yet, doll. You can have your little chihuahua bite at my ankles all you want, but it isn't going to do crap to me."
With that he walked off, making me curl my hands into fists at my sides, wishing that I was allowed to hit the jerk. Sadly, no physical violence was allowed at parties and balls, especially if it were a royal one. Sighing, I rubbed at my temples, already wishing that I could be at home, in my cozy pod reading a book. Instead I was stuck in this crap ball with my sanity slithering away with each second that passed.
"You know, I think he kinda likes you."
Blinking out of my thoughts, I glanced curiously at Joseph, who was...wiggling his eyebrows at me for some reason. Why were his eyebrows wiggling like that? Was there something wrong? No...the smirk on his face said otherwise. Was it a human defect? And what did he mean that Delkele liked me? I was literally the bane of his existence, the thorn in his side, the volcano I may or may not push people into in my spare time. There was no way that he bullied me because he could possibly like me. Who would do that?
With that thought in mind, I finally answered Joseph. "Even if he did like me, I would not touch him with a ten-foot cattle prod."
"Wow, hate the guy that much?"
"No...well...actually, yes, but that isn't the big reason. I'm just not into the whole...romance thing." I waved my hands around as I said that, emphasizing the romance bit.
Joseph raised an eyebrow at me, crossing his arms over his chest and briefly glancing at the tree before his eyes went back to me. "Oh? And why's that?"
I frowned at him, not really trusting him enough to give up something that personal. Sure, I could tell him Glacion's culture, and interests, but he told me about the humans in return. This was more than culture and hobbies, this was personal, my inner demons, if you will. I didn't want to tell him the reasoning why love was off the table. I doubt he would understand. Humans were the most susceptible to love. They wouldn't understand the struggle of losing your parents because of love, or to be able to rule an entire planet without it.
Instead of answering him directly, I only shrugged and picked at the beads on my outfit, trying to appear nonchalant. "Well, it just doesn't seem like something that's worth it. Besides, kings and queens are most of the time approached by potential consorts because of their wealth and power. Not because they're a kind person that likes birds and music and whatever else they fancy. Not every place is a fairytale with a happy ending, you know."
"Actually, love can be very worth it when you have someone to hold you and tell your secrets to, trust me." Joseph then looked back at the tree, placing his hands onto his hips as he stared intently at it. "So, we gonna do this thing or not? I'm sure your boyfriend is already missing you, being so far away from you and all."
"He's not my boyfriend," I muttered, rolling my eyes as I followed him into the tree. Although...what would that be like? To have someone to share your thoughts with? To have someone to kiss you when you're sad, or to hold your hand when you were scared? No. I couldn't let my thoughts stray like that. I had to remain passive. I couldn't fall into love's clutches, not after what it did to my parents, and so many others in the universe. I had to keep a clear head on this. Besides...being lonely wasn't all that bad. Or...maybe I was just lying to myself to not feel bad.
Whatever. I couldn't let these thoughts race through my head, not when there was a ball to attend.
A/N: Oooooh he's starting to doubt himselffffffff. I wonder how many times he will end up thinking about it? Dreaming about it? Hmmmm, only time shall tell! Anywho, I hope you enjoy the chapter! And if you have any questions, or anything you want to say about Frost, just comment below! XD