Page 4 of Nanny for the Alien Prince (Alien Recruitment Agency #4)

4

NATH

To say I was pleased with how the boy had given the traditional Ulsen food a try and then turned out to love it was an understatement.

It wasn’t that he was experiencing what it was like to be an Ulsen that thrilled me, it was the look of sheer shock on Amelia’s face.

It was a reminder that she did not know everything the boy needed to learn, that half of his genetic makeup — whether she liked it or not — belonged to the Ulsen.

Although it was not altogether welcome, it was, nonetheless, necessary.

The experience gave me the bounce I needed to face my father’s closest advisers warning me about an impending attack on a colony on the outer rim.

“Do we have any defense forces nearby?” I asked.

“Negative,” the defense minister said with his usual dour mood. “We suspect that’s why they are targeting this particular colony, Your Highness.” He always added ‘Your Highness’ as if he were wiping his feet.

“And what defensive weapons do the colonists possess? ”

“Very little. They are equipped to handle ground offensives as per their military training but they are not prepared for an attack from the air, much less space. They will be forced to hide in the underground cave systems. Do you wish me to give the order for them to take refuge?”

I didn’t need to think. Innocent Ulsen lives were at stake. “Do it. And send a frigate. It’s about time we defended our colonies with greater vigor.”

The defense minister nodded and rung off.

The truth was, our military had suffered in recent years due to my father’s pacifism. None of the ministers would have called him out on it of course — no one ever dared question the royal family — but as his son, I could.

And would.

My father had always been the ever-optimist, preferring to look on the bright side and expect only the best outcome.

Once I was in charge, I would bolster the military and make it far stronger. I didn’t intend on using it but having the biggest stick in this part of the galaxy would be a strong deterrent.

At least, that was the hope.

And if an attack came despite my best attempts at peace through strength? Well, at least we would be well prepared.

It meant raising taxes, which would undoubtedly make me one of the least popular royals in recent memory, but it was necessary.

I hoped the people would understand that.

In an ideal world, I would have abolished taxes altogether but that wasn’t an option — at least not at the beginning of my reign.

I turned to other matters as the various ministers poured in with their ideas and suggestions and requirements for immediate discussion .

I paced back and forth in my office, focusing on the smallest details. I always found they had the greatest influence in the long run. By getting them right you could vastly improve the final outcome.

People always forgot that it was the little things that mattered the most.

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and noticed Amelia wandering around in the gardens. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining but it was so strong that it tended to wash out much of nature's bountiful color.

I liked the way the light played with Amelia’s hair, turning the dark strands golden brown like melted honey. It shone brightly as if it were on fire.

On fire.

Much like the expression on her face when she saw the boy eating the traditional Ulsen food.

It still brought a smile to my lips that I had bested her, the same way that she had bested me in our negotiations earlier in the day.

“Your Highness? What is your decision?”

“Hm?”

I’d gotten distracted and had no idea what they had been wittering on about.

“Uh, let’s discuss this some other time,” I said, shutting off the holo-camera.

I moved toward the window and watched as Amelia bent down and fingered the flowers.

The boy wasn’t with her. Odd, I thought, considering she was always at his side.

I decided to take a break and stepped outside into the sunlight, squinting against the brightness. I approached Amelia silently, hoping to catch her by surprise the way I had the first time we met in the boy’s room .

“I’m surprised to see you out of your office,” Amelia said, reversing my expectations and instead surprising me.

How she’d picked up on my approach, I couldn’t ascertain.

I curled my lip in annoyance. “Where’s the boy?”

“ Elijax,” Amelia said, emphasizing his name as she patted down the soil, “is with his tutors.”

She stood up and ran her hands over her shirt, completely unconcerned with the dirty marks. She raised her chin at me defiantly, still sore over the events at our lunch.

She was attractive, in an Earthling kind of way. Her skin was smooth, sprinkled lightly with sweat from the heat of the sun. The wind blew and disturbed her hair, brushing it from her face. It was as wild as she was. She’d attempted to collect it into a ponytail with a rubber band but it resisted like wire.

Her eyes were deep brown, the same color as the soil that stained her fingertips.

And her body.

Her body…

I tried not to stare but the strength of the breeze had forced her plain dress against her figure, revealing her curves, her large breasts, and the swell of her hips. She was born for child-rearing.

I felt something I did not recognize deep in my stomach, a deep, growling hunger. But how could I be hungry? I’d just had lunch! Then there was that other strange sensation…

My balls tightened.

I ground my teeth, shutting the amorous sensations off.

It did not do well to play with one’s servants.

“You, uh, seem at a loss for what to do with yourself,” I said, joining her at her side .

She raised her eyes to me and then looked away. “It’s been a while since I had any time to myself. Between working full-time and taking care of Elijax.… It’s been pretty hectic for the past five years.”

“You don’t have any hobbies? Studies? Something to entertain yourself with?”

Entertain yourself with…

I shook my head of the images that came rushing into my mind.

“I’ve always had interests,” Amelia said. “But I’m not sure what I can do here.”

She seemed totally lost, I thought. And was it any wonder?

She’d been torn away from her home, from any friends she might have had, from her work…

It was only then that I realized the significance of the decision she’d made. She’d left her life behind… all to take care of the boy.

She lived for him, did everything for him.

And I hadn’t even considered that that might be the case. After all, my life and my routine remained exactly the same. Whether the boy was in the palace or elsewhere, I doubted I would see him often. His existence would have little impact on me.

But as for Amelia…

He was her existence.

All those years of living and passing among the people had given me an insight into their lifestyle but I’d never adopted their thought processes, how they considered things. That was always beyond me.

And now I saw it, full blast in the face.

Perhaps that was why I made the offer. I felt sorry for her. Or maybe it was for some other reason. But I extended the hand of friendship to her.

“Come with me,” I said.

Amelia looked me over, suspecting a trap. Who could blame her after the lunchtime events? “Come where?”

“Come. So long as you are with me, no harm shall befall you.”

“I don’t expect you to be dangerous. But powerful people tend to attract danger to them.”

It was a stinging comment (even if it was true) but she did as I asked and followed me as we headed back into the palace.

With some trepidation, Amelia followed me. Then again, with nothing else to do, what other choice did she have?

The hallways were vacant and we passed through unimpeded.

I was wracked with guilt. I had been the one to bring her here. I had been the one to make her the offer to stay here with the child. It seemed only right that I should be the one to ensure her stay was as comfortable as possible.

“There’s a section of the palace devoted entirely to pastime activities. It hasn’t been used in some time as I don’t have free time for such things but since the boy arrived—”

“ Elijax,” Amelia interjected.

I growled under my breath. “Elijax. He’s going to require all sorts of activities that will enable him to achieve the level of education he will need in later life. As it’s been opened up already, you might as well use what facilities we have, assuming you have any interests.”

“Do you always talk like that? ”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re in a business meeting.”

I puzzled over what I’d said. “I’m merely stating that—”

“‘Merely stating?’” Amelia said with a snort. “When you say goodbye, how did you do it? ‘Best regards’?”

I scowled at her. Couldn’t she see I was investing my time with her? That I was giving her some of the most precious minutes of my day? How could she be so disrespectful?

“Then perhaps you would prefer it if I were to leave you here, alone, with nothing to do?” I snapped.

Amelia folded her arms. “Sounds fine to me.”

I ground my teeth so hard I could hear them crunching. Likely Amelia could too. But I had made a vow to myself that I would help her claim what useful time she had and I was not the type to shirk my promises.

“I will… try to sound more… relaxed. Will that please you?”

Amelia just shrugged.

Just shrugged! Shrugged her shoulders at the Ulsen Crown Prince!

I took a deep breath, consoled myself with the knowledge that cultures were different from one species to another and that Amelia would, eventually, get used to dealing with the Ulsen.

“As I was saying, we have lots of facilities—” Facilities? Was that a word I should change for her benefit? I thought, suddenly conscious of myself. “That is, lots of things you can do.”

“Facilities is fine,” Amelia said flatly.

Well, I’m glad I meet your lofty requirements.

Then I felt chagrined, knowing the word “lofty” was likely one of her “meeting” words .

We came to a large set of doors and I shoved them open — shoved because I could not shove the female at my side.

“This is the activities room. Here you can find equipment for practically any pastime you can imagine. And if there’s anything we do not have, it’s easy enough for us to send off for it and have it brought here.”

Many of the items still had sheets over them. The servants had paused momentarily as I had entered the room, bowing their heads, waiting for me to leave so they could continue.

“Here, we have mats in case you want to learn some form of self-defense. The Ulsen self-defense system is one of the most highly-regarded forms in the galaxy. And over here, we have every variety of paint you can imagine — as well as many you have probably never imagined before. Over there, every computer system in the known galaxy, along with any kind of programming or system skills you want to learn. And over here—”

I glanced over my shoulder but found Amelia wasn’t beside me. Instead, she was standing some way back. And when I say standing, I mean in place, not moving a muscle, in the middle of the room, peering at the large open space.

She looked shell-shocked, frozen in place as if the floor had suddenly swallowed her feet. Her eyes flicked from one section of the room to another, taking in every last detail.

I returned to her. “Is something wrong?”

For the longest time, Amelia did not answer. Instead, she continued flicking her eyes from one section to another.

“If there’s something missing, something Earthlings like to do, simply inform my staff and they will have it brought to you—”

A whimper escaped Amelia’s lips. Water wobbled in her eyes in the unmistakable form of tears. Something was clearly wrong but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what.

“What is it? Did I use meeting language again? Have I said something deeply offensive in your native tongue?”

Amelia shook her head and wiped a tear off her cheek. “No. It’s nothing like that. It’s just…” She shook her head. “Forget it. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

Amelia let out a deep sigh, her shoulders sagging beneath an invisible weight. “For the past five years, I’ve scrimped and saved to give Elijax the kind of education he deserves. It was tough, and I did my best, but I knew there were better opportunities out there for him. I just never had the money for it. Sometimes I would see him watching other kids doing activities, playing games, learning, skateboarding, all sorts of weird and crazy things… And I knew we couldn’t afford for him to do any of them. And the worst part is, he never complained. He never asked to do those things, even though I could see on his face that he really wanted to. I always felt like…”

Her eyes flicked up to mine and turned her face away, dismissing whatever it was she wanted to say to me.

“My point is,” she continued, “you have everything here. It’s given to you and you never had to struggle. How could you live in this place, in this palace, and not make the most of every minute of your life? All you do every day is work.”

She was a little out of breath by the time she was done admonishing me and my choice of lifestyle.

My response to her was as simple as it was true. “It’s my duty. I must think of and serve the empire and the people first. But no matter how many issues are resolved, how many things I deal with, there’s always more. And I suspect there always will be. I have very little free time, and when I do, I would look like you did earlier in the gardens — a little lost and confused.”

Amelia smiled and almost blurted out a laugh. It was a tragic-looking thing seen through the lens of her tears. “I suppose we all have our struggles, don’t we?” she said.

I noticed a servant approach. She extended a handkerchief to Amelia but I took it from her and handed it to Amelia.

Amelia wiped her eyes and then honked her nose loudly.

I glanced at the servant, who looked as surprised as I did, before lowering her eyes to the floor. In the Ulsen culture, it was rude to expel air the way she had. We associated it with the soul escaping our bodies — a silly notion, I knew, but superstitions died hard.

Amelia moved to tuck the soiled handkerchief in her pocket but the servant plucked it from her fingers before she could.

Amelia look up at me sheepishly, her colored cheeks spreading all the way up to the tips of her ears. “Sorry about that. Sometimes… it’s overwhelming.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m sorry things were so difficult for you. But if it’s any consolation, you will never have to deal with those hardships ever again.”

Amelia smiled and I felt a satisfying warmth spread through me.

It felt strange to be offering that promise to the female human. I barely knew her, and yet, I was oddly relieved that I could offer that relief to her. It was as if every cell in my body was aching, stretching, wishing to overcome her problems, to give her everything she needed to be happy and healthy.

I shook my head of the feelings but they would not fully release me. And my entire being lit up when her huge grin spread across her features.

I turned and waved a hand at the equipment. “Now, not only will the boy, I mean, Elijax have access to all these facilities to explore his interests but so will you. You’re free to use it whenever you wish. Consider it an extension of our agreement.

“The instructors will also be made available to you, as will any equipment you require. Feel free to try out everything within and without this room.”

“Without the room?” Amelia said.

“Meeting room language again?” I said, hissing through my teeth.

“Yes. But you’re referring to the gardens?”

“We have far more facilities than merely the gardens.”

I flinched at my use of the word ‘merely,’ and fully expected her to call me up on it. But, thankfully, she didn’t.

“There’s more outside and anything we do not have, you may find a short trip away in the nearby town.”

“You’re saying there’s another section?”

I beamed with delight at her shock. “Of course. Follow me.”

I led her across the vast room and shoved open the broad doors that spilled out onto a patio. This then gave onto a huge field. I motioned to the glass pavilion in the distance.

“Inside the pavilion, you will find accessories for all kinds of outdoor sports, games, and anything else you wish to learn. And of course, there’s also the library, the swimming pools, the steam rooms—”

Amelia raised a hand to stop me. “You have all this and still you don’t use it?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Duty often calls. ”

Amelia nodded, although her thoughts seemed to drift elsewhere.

“What are you going to try first?” I asked.

“Design,” she said without hesitation. “Specifically, costume and fashion. I’ve always had a passion for it. And now that I have all this free time… I don’t want to waste another minute waiting.”

She beamed up at me the way I imagined she must have as a small child. She headed back inside.

My eyes drifted of their own volition down to her waist, her broad hips, her large ass ripe for pumping…

I shook my head and blinked in shock at myself. I growled under my breath — not all of it was directed inward angrily at myself — and immediately turned and marched away.

If I watched any longer, I feared what I might do.

Dinner that night was an entirely different affair from the earlier tense lunch. For the first time in a long time, I found myself actually enjoying those moments.

Amelia still refused to eat meat — much less fresh blood — and only shuddered a little when Elijax slurped on his soup.

Elijax was excited to tell us about the things he’d learned about the history of the Ulsen. I was equally excited to hear it, filling him in on details that the tutor had missed out — or more likely had run out of time to share.

Amelia looked on, absorbing the information, pretending that she wasn’t particularly interested.

She was a conundrum. It was as if she was intentionally trying to prickle me, trying to goad me into anger, but I could not figure out exactly why she would do that.

Once Elijax had finished telling his thrilling stories of what he’d done during the day, Amelia filled in the time by telling us about hers — about how she had discovered different kinds of fabrics that she had never seen before, about how it would take her forever to get her head around them all, where they came from, how they felt beneath her fingertips and the sensations she experienced while touching them.

I had no idea cloth could have such an effect on a person!

Although she said the word “forever” I sensed that she did not see it as a negative thing but a massive positive. That it was actually good she would have so much to focus on and enjoy.

She breathed a contented sigh once she was done and picked up her wine glass. (She had finally given in and allowed herself one glass.) She looked over at me as she put it down, licked her lips, and said:

“How about you, Your Highness?” Somehow she made it sound like a curse word. “Anything to share about your day?”

I blinked rapidly, shocked she had asked.

When was the last time someone asked me about my day? I couldn’t even recall.

My mother use to badger me when I was a kid, trying to get me to try different things, to put down my studies for a while so I could focus on hobbies. “Life is about more than just studying,” she always said.

She said it so often it became a personal mantra. And although I knew she was right, I never took much action toward reducing the time I spent studying, and when I was older, working.

Now, I wasn’t entirely sure what to share.

“Well… I arranged a new peace deal between us and the Ordres.”

“The Ordres?” Amelia asked, taking another sip of her drink. “Were there problems before?”

“No, nothing like that. It’s just…”

I looked Amelia over. I had never discussed issues like these with anyone outside the advisers and ministers before. The responsibility was mine and they didn’t need to concern themselves with it. But for some reason, I wanted to discuss the details with her.

“Well,” I began, “they keep attacking our colonies.”

Amelia’s eyebrows rose.

“They keep attacking and sometimes they even kill our people. We retaliate with sanctions and other punishments but they never stop. So, by having a peace agreement — a new one — the attacks might stop.”

“What makes you think this agreement will work where the other one failed?”

“My advisers suggest that if we were a little more open with them, give them better terms,” I said, “then the Ordres would be kinder to our outer colonies.”

“But you don’t.”

She saw right through me. She was right. I didn’t think it would make any difference. I thought they would follow what they always did and would not pay any attention to any deals we agreed to.

I was betraying the Empire by talking about our relationships with other alien species. I glanced over at the servants nearby and knew they could be spies for the enemy .

But what real difference did it make? Even if they were disloyal — very unlikely, as serving the Crown Prince himself meant they had to have been closely vetted before they got here. And Amelia would only offer her advice and suggestions. What harm could come from that?

“I think they will break this peace deal the same way they broke the last one. And the one before that.”

“So why are you making a new one?”

“Because it’s what my father wants.”

Amelia nodded.

“And he’s been striving for peace his entire reign. Which is not a bad thing. Not with most of our trading partners. But with the Ordres…”

I let the meaning hang between us. Amelia nodded as if she understood.

“Now, we’re back at the negotiation table. People run scared, hiding in caves beneath the planet’s surface.”

The heat was hard in my voice. I never believed our people should have to live in fear. Especially not with how powerful we were.

“Maybe you should try talking with your father,” Amelia said. “Try to convince him that you need a new plan.”

“I’ve tried. Trust me.”

“So maybe try harder.” Amelia’s eyes met mine. They were confrontational. It was not the kind of look I was used to seeing as the Crown Prince. But maybe it was what I needed. “There’s a genius human, dead now, who once said that only a fool repeats the same actions over and over again and expects a different result.”

My scales shivered at the insinuation my father was a fool. Amelia must have picked up on it as she hastily added: “I’m not saying anyone’s a fool in this situation. I’m saying that some might say it’s not good to be too optimistic about these Ordres.”

And who could argue with that? No one. Even the Ulsen people agreed with her summation.

“I will… try again.”

I was shocked at how sure I was that this time I would succeed. The reason was simple: I would not stop until Father listened.

For years, my instincts told me we were pursuing the wrong course of action, but hearing it from someone else — an outsider, no less — made me realize that perhaps I was right after all.

We looked at each other over our wine glasses. Something passed between us. A spark? A jolt of electricity? I expected her to tear her eyes away but she didn’t. Neither did I. And so we sat there, staring at each other, and that dull hunger in my belly was now a raging tempest.

“I heard a funny sound today,” Elijax said.

His voice broke our connection and we each tore our eyes from each other.

Amelia cleared her throat. “What sound, baby?”

“A weird noise. Like a high-pitched scream. And not just once but a few times. My teacher didn’t notice it. Maybe I imagined it?”

My eyes lit up and I reached over and tapped the boy on the hand. “No, he heard it. It’s just he hears it all the time. What you heard was the Shriim.”

“Shriim? What are those?”

I beamed at him. “Elijax, you are in for a big surprise!”

The servants led the way with their torches held high. No electronic devices were allowed near Shriim Mountain. The creatures did not like the high-pitched whine they emitted. It sent them crazy, lashing out and attacking the device, often killing the Ulsen foolish enough to bring a device near them.

“Where are we going?” Amelia said, peering out the darkness around us.

“To see the Shriim,” I said. “I should have brought you here first! They are something to behold!”

The trail snaked up the mountainside, the path barely visible beneath the moonlight. We climbed over craggy rocks and fallen trees. It was sacrilege to destroy any part of Shriim Mountain. If they fell in our path, we had to climb over or go around them.

“Shriim Mountain is one of the holiest sites in the entire empire,” I said.

“Are you sure we should be here?” Amelia said, clutching Elijax’s hand tightly. She was looking for any excuse not to head deeper into the darkness. More than once, I caught her glancing over her shoulder in the direction of the palace’s warm lights.

“It’s not sacrilegious for an alien species to come here. In fact, it’s considered quite an honor.”

Amelia did not look honored. She looked afraid — unlike the boy, who seemed more curious than scared. With his heightened Ulsen senses, he could see into the darkness and hear the noises far better than Amelia could.

That was good. I’d been informed his superior Ulsen senses would come back to him and were only temporarily dulled by his human ones.

We ascended the final bluff, and once we did, the screeching cries of the Shriim washed over us .

Amelia held Elijax close and waited as the servants moved forward with their torches, illuminating a great cave of Mazzarak’kar.

“Look!” I pointed at the ceiling still wreathed with shadows. “There! Do you see them?”

“Oh my God!” Amelia’s eyes were wide and terrified.

The boy’s eyes mimicked his mother’s. Where Amelia would have seen writhing shadows, he would clearly see the creatures above us with their hooks buried into the cave’s ceiling.

“They’re bats!” The boy cried.

“Bats?” The blood fell from Amelia’s face. “We can’t be here! They’ll give us diseases!”

I rolled my eyes. “They do not carry diseases. We take good care of them. They are healthy and good to fly.”

“Fly?” Amelia snapped. “Of course they can fly! They’re bats!” Then her eyes somehow widened even further as she spotted the saddles attached to the creatures’ backs. Her neck snapped toward me. “You do not fly on those things!”

In response, I whistled a tone that began low and rose up through the octaves until it was so high that Amelia and the boy clasped their hands over their ears. The sound reverberated through the cave, disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel.

The creatures became still, silent. Then a single shriek issued up from the depths.

A loud flapping came, like the sound of a bed sheet snapping in a brisk wind. A single beast came in so fast that within the blink of an eye, she emerged from the darkness.

“Holy shit!” Amelia screamed, pulling back as if to run back down the mountainside.

The boy stood firm, holding her in place. Her anchor.

Biik stood twice my height, with a curiously ugly squashed face, large ears perched on either side of her head, and a thick mane of fuzzy fur about her neck that turned smooth over her shoulders and back. Her wings were broad — broader even than the full length of a shuttlecraft — and the veins within its membrane-like skin pulsed with blood from its twin hearts.

The Shriim leaned forward and made a soft purring sound, which was actually a series of clicks that bounced off me and the surrounding environment and back to her antennae-like ears so she could “see” the environment.

She lowered her head to me. I ran my face in her mane, so soft that it was like silk. Then I ran my hands down her wings, squeezing tightly the way she always liked.

“It’s been too long, my friend,” I said. “Can you forgive me?”

She made a soft mewling sound that, to my ears, spoke to the affirmative.

I had spent countless hours with Biik over the years and had long since grown used to her every movement, sound, and click. I could understand her as if she were as speaking my own language. And in some ways, she could understand me the same way.

“There’s someone I would like you to meet.” I motioned toward Amelia and Elijax.

“Oh no! I don’t think so!” Amelia said, backing away. “I have a thing about bats. Especially big giant alien ones!”

I did not know what a bat was but the translator in my arm informed me it was a tiny Earth creature not dissimilar from Shriim. Only on a much larger scale.

The boy, however, did not have his mother’s reticence.

I extended a hand to him. “Would you like to meet her?”

The boy hesitated. I wasn’t sure if it was coming face-to-face with the alien creature or me that made him more afraid. Finally, he slid his hand in mine and I brought him over to Biik.

She sniffed my scent and then the boy’s. It was a bond, a way of linking the two of us together, to make Biik understand the boy was a friend and not a threat.

Biik and the boy’s reticence were mirror reflections of each other. Slowly, they came together.

The boy ran his hand through the creature's mane and Biik made her soft mewling sound.

“She likes you,” I informed him.

A smile spread across the boy’s face. He looked over at his mother, still pale as the rising moon, the blood having fallen from her face.

“Elijax, don’t get too close. These things have rabies.”

“Rabies?” I asked.

“Something that makes you froth at the mouth and go crazy.”

“Mating?”

Amelia almost laughed but her fear prevented it. But it did lighten the mood.

“Would you like to ride her?” I asked Elijax.

“No way!” Amelia said. “No chance! We’re leaving!”

I focused on the boy, who looked up at me with… curiosity? Concern? Fear of riding the creature? Or fear of upsetting his mother? It was hard to tell. I was not an expert at reading human emotions.

The mother grabbed the boy by the arm and dragged him over the mountain’s lip. “Are your torch people going to lead the way? We might break our necks on the way back down otherwise.”

The boy paused and looked back at me, a little forlorn and sad at leaving.

In that fraction of an instant, madness seized me. Perhaps it was seeing my old friend and wanting to fly her, or the majestic silver magic that wove its spell upon all Ulsen. I don’t know, but I grabbed the boy’s other arm, pulled him from his mother, wrapped my arm about him, and hopped into Biik’s saddle.

She immediately leaped from the cliff’s edge and fell. The wind rushed over our faces and ran through our hair.

Amelia’s scream echoed into the night and nipped at our heels but was quickly swallowed by distance.

We rose higher. I clutched the boy close and held him in place with my elbows. Before us, I held onto the reins, but I hardly needed to use them.

Instead, I steered Biik with my knees, turning her left and right, weaving between the trees.

It really had been too long. I missed the feeling of freedom on my face and the sense of leaving all my duties and responsibilities behind.

I took us higher and noticed our flight had attracted the attention of other members of the Shriim, who flapped their wings, flying in formation around us like a protective cocoon.

We sailed higher, twisting and turning, toward the moon. Then we descended back down sharply, the moonlight picking out the land’s skeletons with sharp silvery light.

The boy screamed as we descended, but it was with excitement, of the thrill, his little heart racing, his adrenaline pumping through his system.

Spurred on by his excitement, I held him closer and instructed Biik to enter a barrel roll, twisting end over end. With the tree canopy rising fast below us, I leaned back and Biik threw out her wings and caught the updraft, missing the tips of the trees by mere inches .

I let out a laugh and wondered how long it had been since I’d heard myself make that sound.

Too long.

“That’s enough for tonight, don’t you think?” I asked the boy.

He didn’t respond, and just held on to Biik’s mane and peered out over the majestic view below.

I returned the boy to the mountain’s lip, illuminated by the soft golden light of the servants’ torches.

We landed softly with a few powerful flaps of Biik’s wings.

I roared with laughter as I reached for the boy and attempted to raise him from off the Shriim’s back but his tiny hands clutched the beast’s mane so tightly that it took a moment for me to unfurl them.

Then I braced him under the arms and hopped off the back of the Shriim, bringing the boy down with me. I placed him on his feet. He padded a few steps before his mother lurched forward and caught him.

The boy was a little dizzy from the flight, his blood still sloshing around in his head.

“He’s okay,” I said. “He’s not hurt. He’s—”

“You could have killed him!” Amelia spat.

A dark shroud descended over my eyes and I told myself she was just overreacting. “The boy enjoyed himself.”

“Couldn’t you hear him screaming? What’s the matter with you?”

“He was screaming with delight.”

“Does this look like delight to you?”

She turned the boy around so I could see his face. It was so pale it was a wonder he hadn’t passed out.

The realization hit me full in the chest. “I thought… I thought they were screams of joy… ”

And he was tiny. He was so small. He was not yet fully grown. He was not ready to ride. If he was a full-blooded Ulsen, his parents wouldn’t have allowed him to fly either.

And I had overridden her desires, ignored her emotions and her thoughts… Her rights as a mother.

And I had taken him.

But it was the look of terror in both the boy’s and Amelia’s eyes that rocked me to my core.

The boy had been terrified of the Shriim and the somersaults I had performed.

Amelia…

She was terrified not of Biik or of what might have happened to the child. She was scared of me and the harm I might bring to the boy if left to my own devices.

A rock formed in the pit of my stomach and I took a step toward her. “Amelia…” I said in a pitifully small voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I’m sorry.”

Amelia stabbed me with another look from her fiery eyes before she turned, wrapped her arm around the boy protectively, and led him away.

I watched as the servants crowded around them, bathing them in soft golden light as they were led away.

I had ruined everything. But I was determined to make it right again.