Chapter 7: Chapter 7

SILIAN

Silian lay on his bed, the port window behind him blacked out and the lights off. His eyes were closed, but his mind restless. ~I hesitated. I never hesitate.~

He tore his eyes open, the lights turning on as he did, and stared at the bright white ceiling. ~She is so small. So weak. And yet, she got the upper hand on me.~

He pulled in another long, deep breath, savoring the hint of sweet floral perfume still clouding his mind.

He rubbed his fingers together, remembering how soft her skin felt in his hand, and his lips pulled into a small grin. ~No. Forget her. Forget these silly fantasies. You know you don’t deserve anything like that.~

Silian tore off the covers and climbed out of bed. “Prime, quick, clean and fresh clothes,” he barked out into the room.

A swarm of tiny silver specks blew out from the ground around him, and he shut his eyes as the fog reached his face.

With the nanite shower over, he looked down at the same black uniform he always wore. ~Another day. Just like yesterday, no different from tomorrow.~

He closed his eyes and dropped his head.

~I thank you, Prime, for the knowledge you grant me. I thank you, Garia, for I am not left wanting.~

~I thank you, Aquaria, for the life in my cup, and I thank you, Infernia, for the fire in my heart. And I thank you, Morkai, for granting me another day.~

Silian opened his eyes slowly, looking at the ground. Every morning started the same. For as long as he could remember, he has always woken up alone and thanked the Sentinels for all they have given him.

“Silian,” Mikhlas’s voice sounded in his ear, “it is morning on Earth. Amy agreed to join Isabelle and the princes in the Realm. It is time to begin preparations to leave.”

“On my way, Captain,” he said, hoping that he didn’t have to kill anyone today. ~Especially not her.~

Silian quickly made his way down the barren gray hall to the bridge and found Mikhlas. “How did it go last night?” he asked, taking note of the tired expression on his captain’s face.

“Well.” Mikhlas smiled. “I enjoyed listening to them speak. Our future queen is quite funny when she is inebriated.”

“When was the last time you slept?” Silian asked.

“Same time you did, brother,” Mikhlas said, turning in his chair to look at Silian. “We may not need to sleep every night, but I suspect the last time we both rested was before we arrived here.”

Silian went to his seat and sat down, turning to face Mikhlas. “My mind is restless. Filled with things that should not take so much of my time.”

Mikhlas nodded, “I understand your plight, brother. We were sent here with a task of utmost importance. We cannot fail. We need to focus on what must be done, so we do not lose our lives in the process.”

Silian nodded slowly, his mind again lost in thoughts of soft skin and how the small woman bested him.

“Isabelle is waking up. I will go to her and take the rejuvenation drink to her. They consumed a lot of alcohol. I expect she will not feel well.

“Stay here, begin confirming our jumps home. Ensure we stop between sixty-five and eighty million light-years from this planet.”

Mikhlas stood and left the room.

ISABELLE

The first thing Izzy felt when she woke up was a pounding in her head.

~Drinking with Amy was a bad idea.~ But she needed it last night. She lay on the bed for a few minutes, her eyes closed, her mouth dry, and her head throbbing.

“Isabelle,” Mikhlas’s voice sounded in the room.

“What?” she groaned, sure it had come from her ear.

“Drink this,” Mikhlas said. She cracked open one eye to find him standing over her bed. She frowned and blinked a few times.

“What is that?” she asked, noticing a small silver bottle in his hand.

“It will help with your head,” he said with a smile.

She sat up and regretted it the moment she did. Her head hurt even more, and she felt dizzy and sick all over again. She leaned forward, put her head in her hands, and let out a pained moan.

Mikhlas knelt in front of her and looked into her eyes. “Drink,” he said, pushing the bottle to her.

She took it from him and cracked it open. “What is it?”

“It’s a rejuvenation drink. It will help with the effects of the alcohol you drank last night,” he said.

She looked at the contents and for a moment considered whether it might be poison. But at this point, it would either help her or kill her, and both outcomes would take the headache away.

She drank it down in one long sip and waited. A warm feeling began in her stomach and moved out into her arms and legs, causing a shiver to run down her spine, the pain in her head easing quickly.

“Wow!” she said, looking up at Mikhlas.

He walked over to the window and pulled the curtains open. Izzy turned away from the light pouring into the room. Her head felt better, but not that good.

“I need coffee,” she said and swayed a little as she stood. Mikhlas was by her side in an instant. That little flutter in her belly fired up again when he held his arm out to steady her.

She left the room and went down the stairs. Amy still slept on the couch, with only her head sticking out from under the blanket.

“How is Silian?” she asked, remembering how much pain he was in yesterday. Mikhlas smiled to himself.

“He is fine, physically. But his ego is bruised.”

“Not used to getting his ass kicked by a woman?” Izzy asked with a proud smile.

“Not many people can catch Silian by surprise.”

“So how did Amy get it right?” Izzy asked as they stepped into the kitchen.

Mikhlas just smiled and shrugged. He leaned against the counter and watched as Izzy filled the kettle and took four cups out.

“Will he be joining us?”

“Yes. Soon. There was a matter onboard the ship he needed to deal with first.”

“Yeah, about your ship. Where is it?”

“On your moon.”

“How do you get there and back so quickly?”

“Teleport,” he said, as though stating an obvious fact.

“Of course,” Izzy said with a little too much sarcasm.

“I will take you to it today if you wish,” he said, and Izzy paused.

“To the ship. In space. By teleporting there?” she asked. She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

“Yes,” was all he said.

“Coffee first.”

When she handed Mikhlas a cup, he brought it up to his nose and pulled in a long sniff.

“It smells good.”

“Wait till you taste it,” she said, picking up her and Amy’s cup. She walked into the lounge and placed it onto the end table next to the couch.

“Amy. Amy, wake up. I’ve got coffee,” she said.

Amy began to stir, and Izzy could see how bad she must have felt. The same way Izzy did a few minutes ago. Now that she thought about it, Izzy felt perfectly fine again. No hangover, no nausea. ~Wow, that stuff was good.~

“I’m never drinking again,” Amy mumbled and sat up. Her eyes still closed, she stuck her hand out to Izzy. When she felt the warm cup in her palm, she opened her eyes and looked at Izzy.

“Morning,” Izzy said with a happy smile.

“Why are you so chipper?” Amy asked and took a sip of her coffee.

“I’m not. I just don’t feel as bad as you do.”

“You drank more than me. How are you still alive?” she asked.

Izzy laughed. “Alien juice,” she said.

Amy opened her eyes wide and looked at her. “What the fuck is alien juice?”

“Do you have any more?” Izzy asked, looking up at Mikhlas. He nodded and in a second disappeared from in front of her eyes. Amy turned around to see who she was talking to but there was no one there.

“Are you still drunk?” she asked, turning back.

“No. He’s gone to get you some,” Izzy laughed.

“Who has? Get me what?”

“Mikhlas. He’s gone to get you some alien juice. It’s like an instant hangover cure.”

“You drank this stuff?” she asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” Izzy said, shrugging her shoulders and taking a sip of her coffee.

“Oh God, Iz. What are we doing?”

“Think of it as an adventure. An adventure with aliens and spaceships and who knows what else. That’s what I keep telling myself,” Izzy said.

She looked up when a bright light flashed in the room, and Mikhlas and Silian were standing behind Amy.

“You’re back.” She smiled at them. Amy frowned and turned to look at who she was talking to. She met Silian’s eyes and they had a flicker of red in them at the sight of her.

“Shit,” Izzy mumbled when she saw the pissed look on his face.

“Amy, drink this,” Mikhlas said, giving her the same small bottle. She took it from him, watching Silian stare at her. She looked at it and then at Izzy.

“It will help. It’s fine. I drank it, and I’m still alive,” Izzy reassured her. Amy took a sniff of the drink and then threw it back into her mouth. She swallowed it in two large gulps, then handed it back to Mikhlas.

“Whoa!” she said.

“I know, right. I’m not sure how it works, but it does,” Izzy said. When she looked back at the men, Mikhlas watched her, and Silian’s eyes were fixed on Amy.

“Silian, everything okay?” Izzy asked, hoping to break the death glare he gave her friend.

“No,” he said and didn’t look away. ~Oh man, he is pissed with her~, Izzy thought. Amy turned to look at him.

“Yeah, sorry about the cheap shot. But in all fairness, you did attack me for no reason, so you kind of deserved it,” she said.

“You threatened the queen whilst in possession of a weapon. Article four, subsection three. A crime punishable by death where I come from.”

“No, I didn’t,” Amy said, frowning back at Izzy. Izzy shrugged her shoulders in confusion. She could not remember Amy threatening her.

“You told her you would beat her if she did not tell you the truth. That is a direct threat to the queen,” he said.

“You’re lucky I decided upon a direct approach since you are Dakira Isabelle’s close friend, instead of simply transferring you into a low orbit.”

Amy opened her mouth in a shocked O, and Izzy’s heart beat faster realizing just how close her friend had come to dying last night.

“What kind of law is that?” Amy said, placing the coffee cup on the table and clenching a fist, “No trial? You just lethal up at the first sign of trouble?”

“A law designed to protect that which is most precious,” Mikhlas replied.

“Something you would do well to remember when in the presence of Realm citizens. No one would hesitate to kill you for what you did last night.”

“Silian, Mikhlas, if she did say that, it wasn’t meant as a threat, more as a…an expression of frustration. I did lie to her, after all, and she knew it. Amy is no threat to me, trust me,” Izzy said, but Silian said nothing.

His eyes burned into Amy.

“Silian,” she said, and he transferred that red gaze to her for a moment before lowering his eyes. “Yes, Dakira Isabelle.”

“You are never to kill Amy,” she stated, glaring at him.

“Never is a long time, Dakira.”

“SILIAN! She’s like my sister, okay? I don’t care what she does. You will never hurt her, understood?”

Silian exchanged a glance with Mikhlas. “I… understand and shall obey, Dakira, but you are not the queen yet.”

Mikhlas stepped forward with a placating gesture toward Izzy. “He does not mean any disrespect, Dakira.”

“Explain it to me, because from here it sounds like he still wants to kill my friend,” she snapped.

Mikhlas frowned. “You just made him an accomplice for any future crimes she commits. By sparing her life at the moment of the crime, all future actions reflect on him.”

Izzy frowned, thinking hard. “I see, I assume since I am the queen and ignorant of these laws, I’m immune, but she isn’t?”

Mikhlas nodded.

“Then if he’s responsible for her, he’d better start being a good teacher.”

Amy shot her head around to glare at Izzy. “What the hell, Iz? I don’t need a babysitter!”

“Listening to these laws of theirs, it sounds like we both need one,” Izzy said.

She placed her cup on the end table and stood. “We have no idea what we’re getting ourselves into, and having someone help us out might not be the worst thing. They almost killed you, Amy. We can’t let that happen again.”

Amy got to her feet. “Iz, you may be the queen of their world, but to me, you will always be Izzy. My best friend. I’m never going to change the way I treat you like I have for the last six years.

“Babysitter or not, if I don’t like something, I’m going to damn well tell you,” Amy said, getting into Izzy’s face.

Silian stepped forward, his body tensed, but Mikhlas pulled him back with a stern shake of his head.

“And I want you to, Amy,” Izzy said, pulling her into a hug. “I get the feeling I’ll need someone to tell me when I’m being an idiot, and I’m not so bigheaded that I think my words are infallible.”

The two men shared a look before Mikhlas stepped forward and spoke. “I will take you to the ship today. The crew is very eager to meet you.”

Izzy released her grip on Amy as her face turned white and she swallowed hard. ~The crew? Crew of aliens?~

“How many are there?” she asked.

“Total crew, including Silian and me, is twenty-four,” he said.

“And are they all like you?”

“I do not understand. I am the captain. There is only one captain on a ship.”

“No, I meant, do they look like you? Or do they look very different?” she asked.

“I see. There are six different races on my ship. Silian and I are the only ones of our race,” he said.

“Right,” Izzy said, taking a sip of coffee and looking at Amy. She just raised her eyebrows and sipped her drink.

“Izzy, we will need to leave in a few days. There are still many things we need to do before we go. May I suggest we get started?” he said.

“Yeah. Okay. I’m going to shower. Make sure they don’t kill each other,” Izzy said as she stood and looked at Amy and Silian.

Mikhlas smiled and nodded to her. “Fear not, he gave his word,” he said.

Izzy gave Amy the eyeball and went upstairs.