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But when she was led into the building she saw it only appeared dark from the outside. Inside, it was light and airy. The walls were wholly transparent and Kara looked around in awe. In every direction she saw only blue sky and sunshine, as if the palace was built on clouds. Yet it was neither too hot nor too cold, as she might have expected under a glass dome.

She was impressed. More Vraxian engineering.

They entered a long corridor where the décor was more traditional. It was lined with pillars and columns, almost Grecian in their design, and the walls were painted with glowing murals.

She thought she saw something move within the pictures and stared at them more closely. She wasn’t mistaken. Small parts of the images were animated. A leaf blowing in the wind. A bird opening and closing its wings. A person lifting his head.

How was that possible, she wondered? The murals looked as though they’d been painted directly onto the walls, they should have been completely static.

She tried to make out what they showed. One of the scenes sparked a flash of recognition – a handsome young man kneeling before a Vraxian woman, offering her his sword.

Ayanlesh and Vannla.The original enemies-to-lovers. The Vraxos version of Adam and Eve.

Vahn had told her the story down on Minerva-6 and it had stuck with her. The mortal and the goddess who had met in battle and fallen in love.

Kara started to get an inkling of where she was. The opulence of her surroundings, the collection of statues and paintings, the decorative uniforms worn by her escort all pointed to one thing. She began to walk faster, almost outpacing her guards.

The end of the corridor was marked by another door, this one made out of a golden metal and inscribed with alien pictographs which her microbes couldn’t translate. Perhaps they were from a long-dead language like the Egyptian hieroglyphs on Earth.

She didn’t have long to wonder about it. The door swung open as they approached, revealing a large room beyond decorated with sumptuous wall-hangings and ornate furniture.

Several Vraxians turned as she entered but only the one sitting on the throne caught her attention.

“Finally,” said Vahn. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d escaped.”

Five

Vahn had left Kara’s cell in a maelstrom of emotions. Physically, the touch of her hand had restored his equilibrium. Exhaustion had receded and his body was a hundred times lighter. But mentally, the news of his father’s death had shaken him to the core.

His father had reigned for decades, he was the only leader many of his people had known. Yes, of course everyone knew his son would take the throne one day but no-one had thought it would happen so soon.

It was the war, Vahn thought bitterly. It had exhausted him. Ten long cycles of fighting the humans – or two decades in Earth years. He should have done more to persuade his father to make peace, even if the Terrans had not been open to it.

Alone in his quarters, he tried to prepare for what was to come. His first duty as Zhaal was to speak to his people and cement his position as their new ruler. At least there would be no dispute over the succession this time.

In past generations, the throne had veered between three separate families, all of whom had legitimate claims. Had his father died without a son, it would have been a different story. But Zhaal Qu’rash had left an heir so the line of ascendancy was clear.

Now he’d have to make his own heir.

Vahn thought of Kara and his stomach tightened. She was hiskalehsha, his mate. As such, she would be expected to bear his hatchlings. But even leaving aside the fact that Vraxians would never accept a human Zhaalini, he wasn’t a hundred percent certain he could impregnate her. Terrans and Vraxians were two very different species.

He assumed, since thekalehshbond had been activated, that procreation was possible. But they wouldn’t know until they tried.

Would she even be willing? He imagined Kara with a swollen belly and found himself getting aroused. She would be even more beautiful as an expectant mother, he mused. He would have to make love to her carefully, perhaps from behind, a position she enjoyed immensely…

Stop this.He shook himself out of his reverie. Whether or not Kara could bear him an heir was irrelevant. She was currently in custody as an enemy combatant. A prisoner-of-war. And he had no idea what to do about that.

He couldn’t just let her go. Despite the fact that he was the ruler and could in theory do what he liked, in practice such a move would give rise to all kinds of questions. Questions he didn’t want to answer.

Could he do what he’d hoped his father would do? Use her presence on Vraxos as leverage to force the humans to make peace? Agree to release her in exchange for a ceasefire?

That way she would be freedandthey would achieve an end to the war. But Kara seemed certain her mother wouldn’t respond to pressure, which he found hard to fathom. What kind of parent would leave their only child in enemy hands?

There was a knock at the door. Ela came in.

“Your Majesty. It is time.”

“Don’t call me that, Ela. It sounds strange.”