Page 10 of The Bride Contract (Princes of Xaavia #1)

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Chapter 10 - Niska

“Oh, my God! That looks so pretty!” Lois comments as we all sit on what used to be Az’s bed, but is ours now, for this journey at least. The thing is huge. Like huge-huge . The three of us can sleep in here comfortably and each have enough space to spare.

The room is just as nice as he’d promised, too. The bed is a four poster, but the posts are carved out of a deep, dark wood to look more organic in shape, like smooth, polished branches reaching across to embrace each other. The thick-pile carpet is cornflower blue, and Az was right, the floor-to-ceiling windows have spectacular views of… well… space .

We’re actually travelling through space right now. I was too petrified to really appreciate that the last time.

But that’s not what Lois was referring to.

On our tour, we apparently had one too many questions for Vel, and she’s decided we need a Xaviann 101 class, so here we are.

“Thank you,” Vel beams, changing the projected image that hovers in mid-air in front of us from a rural landscape to that of a cityscape at night with a billion glowing lights. “Xavianns are very proud of our homelands. Nowhere feels quite the same as on Xaavia.”

She shakes herself then, blinking rapidly as her eyes widen. “Oh, I’m sorry . That was insensitive of me… considering.”

Considering us humans are never going to be able to go back to our homelands.

That was made abundantly clear. It turns out very few space crafts or crew have legal permissions to actually travel to Earth. It doesn’t stop the illegal ones, like the ones who took us, but the Intergalactic Peacetime Authorities are very clear; we can’t go back.

“It’s fine,” I tell Vel. Honestly, it’s kind of refreshing and sweet for her to even realize how we may have taken her comment. Most of the aliens I’ve met so far have tended to treat us like possessions, not people.

She shakes her head and smiles. “I still can’t believe we actually have humans joining the palace now. You know, I’ve been a huge fan of your planet and species since I can remember. There’s a whole group of human fanatics that meet virtually. I can’t wait to tell them that I’m actually working with some now. They’re going to want me to bother you with so many questions.” Vel ducks her head, the apples of her gray cheeks tinging pink as she tucks her hair behind her elf-like ears.

“What kind of questions?” I ask, curious now, especially since she seems to have gone all shy about her… human fan club?

“ Well ,” she taps on her tablet and shifts where she sits demurely on a nearby, high-backed chair. “I’ve been wondering if ‘iced-cream’ really does taste that good? What actually is a ‘Kardashian’? Why does the size of your bodies seem to matter so much to you? What is the fascination with making products out of plaz-tic? And why do your males-”

“Let me stop you there,” Lois says, holding up a hand. “No one knows why men do any of the things they do, but if you ask them, it’s probably their mother’s fault,” she says, popping up a finger to begin listing off all her answers. “The plastic one is just capitalism. I don’t know what else to tell you there. The size one is - as always - good ol’ fashioned patriarchy . Yes, ice cream tastes pretty fucking amazing. And do not get me started on the Kardashians.”

“Oh. Alright, let me just write some notes on that.” Vel says, quickly scribbling something down on her tablet. “ Do not mention the Kardashian ,” she murmurs along as she writes the words. Vel’s blush deepens as she looks back up at us and says, “I suppose we should stay on topic anyway.”

The projection in front of us changes again, showing an impressively tall building with multiple towering spires and connected archways, but some walls are made of shimmering glass and it looks like there’s little flying pods hovering in mid-air all over the place. It kind of looks like a medieval fairy-tale mated with Tomorrowland at Disney World.

“This is the palace in the Northern Principality,” Vel explains.

Jaya swings her legs down over the edge of the bed - the thing is so tall, she can’t touch the floor. “That’s where we’re going to live?” she asks, eyes wide as she stares at the illuminated image.

“Yes,” Vel smiles, showing us another image of the palace from a different angle.

“Wait,” Lois says, “for real? We get to live there? ”

Vel nods her head and changes the projected image again. This time showing a weirdly perfect oval-shaped valley full of thick forest and dotted with little spots of glowing light. “And this is a drak-ball game in its final quarter. It’s a team sport involving finding glowballs and a drak to ride in the forest before taking to the skies and getting as many glowballs in your team’s net as possible.”

Jaya, Lois and I just blink back at her, utterly baffled by everything she just said. In response, Vel zooms in on the image, and what initially looked like a little speck in the sky soon became an image of Az. He’s wearing black leather pants and is shirtless again. And he’s… well, he’s riding what looks like a two-headed dragon?

Jaya giggles as she turns her head as if trying to get a better look at the dare-devil alien on the projection. “Lois, your man is kinda hot. No wonder he’s used to getting lots of action.”

“He’s not my man,” Lois complains, but I see how her cheeks flush a little as she stares at the photo of him riding that ‘drak’ thing. She blinks and then shakes herself out of her stupor before addressing Vel. “Wait, is this where he brings all his… you know?” she gestures to the bed we’re all sitting on. Vel stares at her, her brows knitted in confusion. “I mean, I’m no prude, but if this is where a fuckboy brings all his conquests, then I’m not sure I really wanna-”

“ Oh! ” Vel says, finally catching Lois’ drift. “ Oh my horns! No, Az doesn’t-… we don’t-… I-…” she closes her eyes and gently slaps her forehead repeatedly a few times with the flat of her palm before taking a calming breath. “I’m so sorry - I forget that humans don’t know about the bonding bites.”

For some unknown reason, the little downy hairs on the back of my neck prickle to attention and something in my stomach swoops uncomfortably. “The what now?” I ask.