“Here are some more for you, sir. They just keep flooding in.” I looked up at my butler from the lounge chair I was lying on at my back patio pool. He reached a pale arm out to hand a stack of envelopes to me. I knew what was in all of those envelopes, but I was in no mood to filter through them.

They were the prospective brides who had applied through Celestial Mates to become my lover, best friend, housemaid, and wife all in one. These were all depressed women spanning many planets, but they shared one very important thing in common. They had nowhere else to go, and this opportunity was their last resort. I should have felt bad about this, but I didn’t care. I needed a serious companion to reshape my image.

Yes, these ladies had nowhere else to turn, to so they were willing to choose the easy way out, even if they had no idea how dangerous it might be for them. They were women so desperate, they had to turn to the advert of a random stranger to find what they were looking for. Most of the time what they were looking for turned out to be food, clothing, and a place to sleep at night.

The sun had gone down and I was staring up at the stars. I came out here almost every night because I needed to clear my head and purge the clutter of my mind. No matter whether I wanted to rule my home planet of Cardalph or not, I was now forced into the role and I had no choice now but to face my responsibilities.

I would give my all to try and live up to my fallen father’s name. It still felt awkward when the servants called me ‘sir,’ not just for me but I imagined for them as well.

I looked down at the pool that was shimmering in our moonlight. The moon resembled a tiny golf ball bobbing back and forth in the water. Other than the moon, my pool looked clear as glass. I wanted to jump in but I knew it would be too cold at this time of night. Besides, I had too much work to do.

I had piles of mail-order bride applications to filter through, sent from Celestial Mates, and none of them were raising even the slightest peak of interest for me. A playboy by nature, I had spent almost my entire youth sleeping with just about every female who walked this planet.

I had an insatiable desire for the opposite sex, but now that my father was dead, I needed to turn over a new leaf so that the people of my planet would take me seriously.

I didn’t want to just be referred to as daddy’s spoiled son, a brat who got his way and played with the ladies of Cardalph left and right. I searched through every sad woman’s face in each picture from their application; her life story was there of why she needed this opportunity. Their vulnerability spiked when they agreed to spill it all out onto the pages they’d written. Each one was more or less the same as the next, but none captured my attention.

The idea to seek out a bride had come to me after I had lost my father in a battle he faced against the Daklins on Cardalph. The Daklins lived on a neighboring planet and had been our mortal enemies from before I was even born. The first thing I remember being taught was how much I was supposed to hate them. During the recent carnage, there had been a slew of bloodshed.

My father was among the casualties; the ruler, and king of our planet gone forever. I was stuck picking up the pieces and I dreaded how to overcome my fears about how it was going to be possible, how I was going to prepare myself and be ready for this new role.

I had watched my father take his last breath. Sometimes I still woke up in the middle of the night, soaked in my own sweat by the horrific nightmares I had from that terrible day. I had held his head in my arms as I had run over to drag him to safety, but it was too late. The arrow had already plunged through his heart.

When I close my eyes, I can still see the blood pouring out of his mouth and nose as he tried to choke out his last words to me. “I love you, son. You can fulfill my legacy. I believe in you.” Those were the last words my father ever spoke to me.

No matter how often I try to shake his voice out of my head, I am not able to do it. I cannot let go of what I’ve lost. I knew he had given it the fight of his life, but in the end, he was not able to defend his own life. Every day that I had to live without my father by my side, was a psychological battle of enormous capacity. I chose to believe that he died with dignity while trying to save this planet.

The only problem now was, since my father had been the ruler of our land; the only person left to take his place was me. I was an only child and I was standing front and center of a dynasty I had no idea how to run. My father tried to teach me the tricks of his trade, but I had never held an interest. Of course, I had never imagined I would be faced with dealing with his loss either.

I had dated quite an elaborate array of women here on Cardalph, but none of them were interesting enough in my eyes to actually keep as a wife. I found myself bored and detached from the majority of them, and didn’t hesitate to toss them out with mascara running down their faces in the morning.

A particularly nagging worry constantly tickled my brain now that my father was gone. Not only did I not believe in myself when it came to taking on this huge responsibility as the new leader, but no one who lived here believed it either. My track record wasn’t exactly perfect, and everyone thought I was a notorious bad boy.

Now was as good a time as any to prove I could be the commander they so desperately wanted and needed. They were used to my father who was gentle, protective, and diplomatic. We were in difficult times because of the war, and the people of Cardalph deserved to know they would be protected no matter what we endured as a species.

Cardalph was a special planet, and I needed a wife with a grandiose type of personality, who would stand by my side through the thick and the thin. I had developed an island on Cardalph that was isolated from the rest of the planet. It was extraordinarily beautiful because it was surrounded by ocean, surf, and sand. The sunrises and sunsets on Cardalph were prizes I would always be proud of as a native here. The colors in the sky were different than that of any other planet in the galaxies I’ve explored. The radiant and vibrant hues of green, purple, and yellow took my breath away no matter how many times I stared at them. Being at the secret island made those colors even more pronounced.

I had planned to take my bride-to-be to the exclusive island, to get her acquainted with me and her new surroundings before I told her the truth about where she really was. I went back to surveying the prospective brides. There was certainly a variety and selection to choose from, on planets spanning across galaxies I’d never even heard of.

One by one I tossed the papers to the floor, ruling them out and moving on. Then suddenly, I was drawn to a beautiful brown-haired girl with soft green eyes. Her eye color reminded me of the sunsets we have on Cardalph, and that immediately sparked my interest.

The note on the inside said her name was Cindy Jameson, and that she was from Chicago, Illinois. I knew this meant she was a human, living on the earth. I was hesitant to get involved with or pick a human, but she was so intriguing. I couldn’t escape getting lost in her eyes in the photograph.

I saw that she had hand written a longer essay than most of the other women had bothered to put forth. I squinted to read her script, to see what she had to offer me. Even though she thought it was all about what I had to offer her, it was actually the exact opposite. I needed the bride I chose to have everything and more.

Her essay began normally at first, “Hi, my name is Cindy Jameson. I’m a 24-year-old, born and raised as a mid-western girl. I feel like the universe put this application in my mailbox for a reason. I have had my fair share of hardships over the past couple of years. I feel as if I’m an outsider to everyone, including my own family. I was in an unhealthy relationship for a long time. I finally obtained the strength to leave him, to grow into myself as a person.

Though my relationship was a failure, it wasn’t a complete and total loss. I learned how to treat people with kindness and respect because I felt so devoid of receiving such basic human compassions from my partner. I feel as if I can help mend someone else who feels broken because I felt that way too.

I’m still trying to overcome those challenges. Maybe a new spouse for me could help me find the missing puzzle piece that would make me whole. I’m sorry for the endless clichés, but I know I have the potential to be a good wife to whoever reads this. Thank you for your time. Respectfully, Cindy Jameson.”

I put the paper down and thought deeply about this Cindy girl. She seemed genuine, unique and strong. I needed someone like that, but I was still hesitant because she was a human. If I wasn’t so enthralled with her story and her beautiful eyes, she probably wouldn’t have been my first choice. I had overcome many obstacles in my life, and unless she was making it all up, she seemed to have overcome many of her own battles. But humans had a nature about them that was stemmed from hatred, competition, and wars of their own. I didn’t need any more negativity walking into my life.

Whoever I chose in the end to be my bride was going to get a royal wedding grander than they would ever expect. There was something charismatic about this Cindy girl that made me desire to know her. I got up from the chair and walked back inside my house, holding and staring at Cindy’s picture the whole time. I think I’ve found my perfect match.