Since Looch had emerged from the healing unit a week ago, his brother and himself were genuinely dying a slow and agonizing death. Although they thought they would finally have the bond they were destined to have with Jessie, she had other ideas. She had put a halt to any sexual activity until the Earthling wedding custom. She’d even gone as far as to get a separate room to sleep in. She told them something about waiting would make their wedding night more special. Neither Looch, nor Leigh were fond of waiting but would do as she wished.

Queen Maya, on the other hand, was ecstatic to be planning a royal celebration. She spent every waking moment planning for the royal wedding reception. She invited kings, queens, and dignitaries from neighboring allied worlds.

Earlier in the week, Jessie had asked King Taavi and Raiden to walk her down the aisle and give her away to Looch and Leigh. They were a little reluctant at first, but once Jessie explained the significance of walking her down the aisle, they both puffed out their chest in manly pride and agreed immediately. Since Arenians didn’t know what a wedding was, let alone the vows usually spoken during the ceremony, Riley officiated. Sloane was her maid of honor and Marie and Teagan were her bridesmaids. Jessie decided not to have groomsman as Marie and Teagan didn’t seem overly comfortable around men in general, and Jessie wanted the ceremony to be stress-free for everyone.

Apparently crying at weddings is a universal commonality even on other planets. Queen Maya cried happy tears throughout the whole ceremony. Looch, Leigh, and Jessie had recited their vows together as one to signify their unity. Now that their small quiet family wedding was done, the reception was looming over Jessie. She was afraid she’d start an interstellar war with her lack of grace. Looch and Leigh scented Her apprehension because they were both right by her side with encouraging words.

“So far everyone who has met you loves you. You have nothing to fear.”

“Several months ago I thought humans were the only species in the whole universe. Look how I treated Meesa the first time I saw her. What if I make a mistake?”

Looch took Jessie’s hand and gently kissed the back of it. “Although you’re perfect in our eyes, we know you’ll make mistakes along the way. That’s why Leigh and I are here. There will be many other species in attendance. Not all species believe the same things Arenians do. Some will look very different from us but don’t be afraid; we will guide and protect you.”

Looch’s declaration calmed her nerves until the doors opened in the grand ballroom. Everyone in the ballroom stopped what they were doing and parted ways until a clear path down the middle presented itself. Looch and Leigh lead her down the path to the dais as everyone bowed as they passed. When they reached the bottom of the dais, Looch and Leigh turned Jessie to the crowd. While they both still held her hands, Leigh whispered from the side of his mouth, “Bow to everyone.”

She complied and bowed to the crowd. While Jessie, Looch, and Leigh all bowed in unison toward the crowd, Queen Maya, King Taavi and Raiden stood from their thrones at the top of the dais. Queen Maya announced, “I, Queen Maya Aren, matriarch of Arenia, present to you with much pride, my sons, Prince Looch and Prince Leigh and their ayah, Princess Jessica May James-Aren.”

As Looch, Leigh, and Jessie rose from their bow, cheers and clapping erupted from the guests. Jessie looked at Looch, then Leigh and smiled. Leigh kissed the back of her hand and whispered again. “The receiving line will start. Don’t speak unless spoken too. Bowing is a universal sign of respect and is acceptable with almost all species within the allied worlds. Smile Jessie, they already love you.”

Jessie was dumbfounded with all the different species that were in attendance. She couldn’t remember all their names due to the sheer number of people there were. She was thankful the first King she saw was a RaBatt. She was at least familiar with the species. He had six females in two straight lines trailing him. The king bowed, then the females and in turn Jessie bowed to them all.

She just couldn’t get over how different everyone was from each other. Some species were covered in feathers; some had translucent skin and she could see all their internal organs and bone structure. Others had a reptile vibe going on with all their scales and yet others had deep purple skin with trunks where their hair would be.

Anything and everything you could imagine, she saw on the receiving line. She was relieved when they were done meeting everyone. She sat down for just a moment when Meesa came up to Jessie bowing. “Princess Jessie, Zara sent me to find you. She’s in need of your assistance. Could you find it in your heart to take a break?”

Looch and Leigh eyed Meesa with contention, but Looch was the first to speak. “Why would Zara need anything from Jessie? She has maids for dressing and warriors for her protection.”

It was Jessie’s turn to eye Looch and Leigh. “She apparently asked for me, what does it matter why? She’s my friend, and so is Meesa. Of course, I’ll help them. I need a break anyway. This has been a little overwhelming, to say the least.”

“We will go with you to ensure your safety” Leigh stated firmly.

“Nonsense, I’ll take guards with me, but you need to stay to keep appearances. The people came to see us. If someone asks just tell them I had to freshen up for just a bit and will be back soon.”

Looch growled low in her ear. “I don’t like this. There’s something you don’t know about the RaBatt. Due to their constant production of pheromones, it masks all other emotions. Arenians can’t scent their true emotions, nor can we tell if they are lying.”

“A while ago you couldn’t tell if Zara was lying either. So I guess we’re going to have to go on good old-fashioned faith. You know I can take care of myself.”

Sitting back in his seat and pouting like a petulant child Looch sneered, “Fine, take Gade and Aryn with you.”

“First of all; I’m not one of your servants, I’m your wife. You won’t snap your fingers at me and have it be so. I have my own mind and exercise it on a regular basis. Second, I’d never do that to Marie. She’s frightened enough with Gade and Aryn I can’t just take them with me and leave Marie with two other hulking men she doesn’t know. Give me some other guards, and I’ll take them.”

Looch gently grabbed Jessie by the back of the neck, pulled her forward and kissed her forehead. “I love you, ayah. Please don’t be sore with me. I only look out for your well-being.”

Jessie kissed him back and then Leigh. “I love you both too. It’ll be alright. I’ll go with Meesa and be back in a flash.” Finally, Looch and Leigh relented and sent two guards with Jessie and Meesa.

They walked down the corridor in complete silence, which kind of unnerved Jessie. When they arrived at Zara’s room, the guards stood outside while Jessie and Meesa went inside. Once the doors closed, Jessie moved towards Zara sitting in a chair with an odd look on her face. “Zara, what’s wrong?”

It was then; Councilman Cerin came out from behind a pillar Zara was sitting in front of. “So nice of you to join us, Princess Jessie.” Cerin spat. He settled a knife to Zara’s neck. “You’ll do as I say or you’ll be the person responsible for Zara’s death.”

“You’d kill your daughter?”

“You’d be surprised at what I’d do for power. But first, Meesa please quietly secure the door. If you alert the guards in any way, I’ll kill them both.”

Meesa did as she was told, then walked silently towards Cerin but as she passed by Jessie, Meesa whispered, “I’m sorry to deceive you princess, he was going to kill her if I didn’t do what he said.”

“It’s okay; you were right to come get me.”

“Meesa, when you’re done dawdling, please come to me.” Cerin sneered.

While Meesa strolled towards Cerin, Jessie was wracking her brain to figure out a plan to get all of them out of here safely. Keep him talking, and stall is all she could come up with. “What are you going to do with us Cerin? You know Looch and Leigh will figure things out and come looking for us. What will you do then?”

It all happened in slow motion. Cerin took something out of his pocket with his free hand and placed it on the side of Meesa’s neck and depressed a small lever which in turn sent an electrical current through Meesa. The shock was so harsh, little bolts of electricity came out from the tips of her long ears, singeing the hair. Without a sound, Meesa immediately fell to the floor in a heap. Jessie stepped towards Meesa, but Zara let out a slight whimper which caught Jessie’s ear. When Jessie turned her attention back to Zara, Cerin had made a small cut on Zara’s neck. A slow-moving rivulet of blood started to trickle down Zara’s neck.

“Don’t be foolish Jessie. I always have a plan. You, unfortunately, put a kink in my original arrangement, but I aim to remedy it very soon.” Cerin pulled the knife away from Zara’s neck then roughly pulled her up by her arm and dragged her over to one of the two long marble tables in the room and started strapping her down.

“Look Cerin; you have me. You don’t need Zara anymore. Just let her go. She’s your daughter for God’s sake.”

Cerin made quick work of Zara’s restraints. When he was finished, he glared at Jessie. “You’re next. Lay down on the altar, or I’ll hurt Zara.” When Jessie didn’t move, he emphasized his order by covering Zara’s mouth so she couldn’t scream, then cut Zara’s bicep. Nothing deep, just enough to prove his point. Jessie looked at Zara’s eyes which were now streaked with free-flowing tears.

Jessie quickly lay on top of the altar and snapped closed the hand restraints herself as best as she could. “You don’t have to hurt her like that. I’ll do anything you say. Just don’t hurt her anymore.”

“I know I don’t have to…I want to.” Taunted Cerin. “Zara has been a huge disappointment. Heloc and I had big plans until you came along. When the princes returned from their final voyage empty handed, all they had to do is bond with Zara. Once bonded, the royal family would have mysterious fatal accidents over the course of a year, leaving my poor Zara as the single royal survivor and therefore Queen. I wouldn’t have killed the princes until Zara was with child. Zara would die in childbirth, and of course, my brother would have had an unfortunate accident himself. I don’t like sharing the throne, which is rightfully mine. Now that I think of it, I owe you and Leigh a debt of gratitude for killing Heloc. It saves me the trouble, and there’s no way I could be implicated in his death.”

“You’re insane,” Jessie whispered.

“Insane? No. Determined? Yes. You see Earthling, I desire power and won’t stop until I get it. Due to my ancestral proclivities as keeracs, my family had been forced underground for centuries. With Zara as Queen and me by her side to guide her, keeracs would once again be able to practice their craft without ridicule.”

Jessie looked at the sheer horror on Zara’s face. She could tell Zara had nothing to do with her father’s evil. “You forget one thing jackass. You’re on Looch and Leigh’s shit list already. You’ll be lucky if they don’t kill you on sight and I wouldn’t blame them, I’d like to kill you right now.”

Scoffing, Cerin continued. “You know nothing of our ways. Once I transfer the mark from you to Zara, she’ll then be the princess. You stupid bitch, it doesn’t matter if you’re Looch and Leigh’s ayah. The only thing that matters is who bears their mark. Once she’s princess, I’ll invoke the right of kava as her only living relative. There’s nothing your precious little princes can do about it.” Cerin cackled.

Jessie was about to object to Cerin’s outrageous declaration when Zara spoke up. “He’s right Jessie. If he transfers the mark to any female, Looch and Leigh would be forced to be with her until the end of their days. By transferring the mark to me, it ensures I’ll be princess. Kava is a law meant to protect any female with a limited amount of family members. If the last blood relative to the female is destitute in any way, whether it be financial or otherwise he can invoke the right, and there isn’t a thing the Queen can do to him. Most males are honorable and would never take the law to this extent. If I’m princess when he invokes kava, then he’s technically royalty. Jessie, I don’t know if it’s even possible to transfer the mark from female to female, but we can’t let him do it.”

Cerin affronted by Zara’s doubt in his ability laughed. “It is possible child. All thanks to this box right here.”

Zara whispered. “No.”

“Oh yes, my darling daughter. There are benefits to being a keerac. When the choosing took place so many moons ago, Heloc and I positioned ourselves to make sure we were with the queen’s closest friend. This would ensure we could become close confidants of the royal family. We presented your mother with the necklace at the choosing. She was enamored with the shiny trinket. Little did she know what was in store for her. We scented our ayah at the choosing, but I embraced my destiny to be the king of this planet. I was born to lead.”

Cerin sighed, “We had blamed Ora for not having an open heart to accept our marks. No one ever even questioned it. Foolish people believed us, thinking no males would ever deceive a female. When Ora was home with us, we artificially transferred our marks to her to gain an heir. Little did we know we’d be blessed with a daughter. It worked out wonderfully, to hopefully seduce the princes. When Looch and Leigh didn’t find their ayah, Zara would be right there to fill the void.”

Zara was stark white with shock. “Although I don’t wish you on any female, I can’t believe you’d forgo your ayah.”

“It’s a small price to pay for power. Speaking of power, I think we will start the transfer.” Turning to Jessie, Cerin smiled a Cheshire cat grin. “Your pain will be excruciating.”

Jessie turned her attention to Zara. “Don’t worry Zara. Looch and Leigh will save us.”

Cerin placed an electrode over Jessie’s mark then repeated the process on Zara’s arm. Cerin then hooked the electrodes from each female into an intricately carved box. Once connected, Jessie’s arm instantly started to burn as hot as a branding iron. Just as Jessie let out a scream of pain, loud thuds sounded against the double doors of Zara’s room.

Zara could see the pain Jessie was going through and wished things were different. She should be the one enduring the pain, not Jessie. She has been nothing but friendly and supportive of Zara. She wasn’t going to stand for her father’s excrement any longer. While Cerin’s attention was focused on Jessie, Zara quietly wiggled her clasped wrist until her left hand slipped through the restraint. Zara tried to free her right, hand but it was just a bit tighter than her left. As Zara listened to Jessie’s screams and the pounding on the door, she knew what she had to do. Zara tried to pull her hand through the right restraint steadily. When it was stuck at her knuckles, she kept pulling until she heard and felt the bones in her hand snapping. Stifling a yelp, the pain radiated throughout her hand. Zara was finally able to slip her hand through the cuff. Zara grabbed the electrode with her left hand and peeled it off, then slipped off the altar as quietly as possible.

With the removal of the electrode, the box’s lights started to flicker. Since Cerin’s attention was on Jessie and the pain he was inflicting upon her, he only caught the flicker of lights within the box, then noticed Zara wasn’t on the high table anymore. He quickly whirled around to look for her when he came face to face with Meesa. Meesa acted quickly and brought a vase down on Cerin’s head. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to incapacitate him and just cut his forehead, pissing him off more. He grabbed Meesa by the throat and threw her as if she weighed nothing. Meesa bounced off a wall and crumpled to the floor in a heap, not moving. What Cerin didn’t realize is while his attention was on Meesa, Zara had managed to reverse the energy in the box to go back to Jessie.

Cerin turned back to the table where Jessie lay and grabbed his tractin placing the blade to Jessie’s neck. “Come to me daughter before I kill this meddling whore! This will be done today.” To emphasize his point he ran the blade down Jessie’s bare arm leaving blood trickling in its wake.

Without a thought of how to stop this, Zara came running from her hiding place yelling, “Stop! Don’t do this father. I beg you. No good can come from this.”

Cerin grabbed Zara by the waist just as the doors finally splintered off their hinges and clattered to the floor. Looch and Leigh were the first through the double doors followed by numerous guards.

Zara noticed Jessie didn’t seem to be in as much agony as she’d been just moments ago. Her breathing was still labored, but her screams had turned into whimpers as tears streamed down her cheeks. Cerin tightened his grip on Zara and with an evil smile, he boldly spoke. “Being Zara’s only blood-related male left, I invoke the right of kava! There’s nothing you can do to me.”

Looch smiled an evil smile of his own as he slowly strolled towards Cerin and Zara. “You’ll die for this Cerin. Not only did you poison me, but you’ve also harmed three females, and I suspect you killed Ora.”

A sliver of panic flashed through Cerin’s eyes but was gone in an instance. “Yes I killed the bitch. No matter how much torture we put her through she wouldn’t turn against Queen Maya. Heloc and I told her we’d punish Zara if she did not change her mind. Knowing what type of pain we could dole out she became demure for a while, but it was only a matter of time before she’d find a way to tell the Queen. That’s when Heloc and I decided she needed to die, so we took her to the snow palace and…well…you know the rest.” Cerin snickered.

Kings Raiden and Taavi came through the double doors with a meager man no one had seen before. As Looch was still creeping towards Zara and Jessie’s rescue, King Taavi brought the man forward for Cerin to look at. “Cerin, it gives me exquisite pleasure to introduce Taka Tumay, Ora’s brother.”

Cerin paled. “You lie. She didn’t have a brother.”

King Raiden smiled brightly. “I assure you she does. When we learned Zara had been mistreated, we did a vast amount of research into Ora’s family history. We thought you might try invoking kava, so we delved into Zara’s heritage to see if she had any living relatives. It turns out, Zara’s grandparents had Ora first and two years later had Taka. Within those two years, Zara’s grandfathers died in two separate farming accidents, but not before Zara’s grandmother became with child. Zara’s grandmother died giving birth to Taka. Being male, Taka was given to an orphanage, while Ora was given to a prominent house to be raised. We did an extensive search for Taka. We finally found him and explained what had happened to Ora and what torture Zara had been through at the hands of her fathers. We brought him to the palace to surprise Zara during the wedding reception.”

Cerin looked at the man named Taka who was seething in anger and glaring back at him. “You’ll release Zara at once and face your inevitable death.”

Looch, being the closest to Cerin and Zara could see the resolve flutter across Cerin’s eyes. “If I can’t have the crown, no one will. I’ve transferred your marks to this box to move to Zara, but since she is again useless in my needs, she will die along with Jessie.” 

All at once, chaos ensued. Cerin stabbed Zara in the gut with his tractin and flung her to the floor. He then brought the tractin up with both hands intending on sinking the sharp blade down into Jessie’s chest, when Looch tackled him. When Looch tackled Cerin, the box containing Jessie’s mark fell to the ground shattering into pieces. On the ground, Looch made quick work of Cerin. Looch roared as he grasped Cerin by the throat and raised him up, Cerin’s feet dangling. “You’ll never harm another Arenian as long as you live.” With that, Looch snapped Cerin’s neck like a twig.

Taka summoned a healer to Zara’s wounds. The healer was able to take care of her immediate injuries and when she was healed enough to not be in imminent danger Taka was by her side with tears in his eyes, hugging her. “I’ve always wanted a family. I’m blessed by the Goddess herself to have you, Zara.”

Zara was beside herself. Finally, a real father figure wanted to care for her. She cried and hugged Taka back. Taka picked her up like a child and cradled her to his chest, then asked the healer to lead them to the healing ward. Zara gasped when she saw Meesa on the ground. “We have to help Meesa. She saved me. We can’t abandon her.” The healer complied with Taka’s request to bring Meesa with them.

When Leigh and Looch reached Jessie, she was semi-lucid and still in a bit of pain. Leigh grabbed a handheld healing unit from one of the other healers and ran it over her arm to heal the cut on her arm. Jessie looked up to Leigh with fear in her eyes. “The mark?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Looch spoke before Jessie could even get the words out of her mouth.

“It does matter. If I don’t have your marks, I can’t have your children. I want your children…lots of them.”

Looch spoke up, kissing Jessie’s forehead in between each word. “It…doesn’t…matter.”

Leigh nodded and looked at Jessie with questioning eyes. Jessie looked over at the electrode still attached to her arm then nodded to Leigh and closed her eyes. Leigh slowly peeled the contraption from her arm. For her, the world seemed to stand still. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until Leigh said, “Breathe Jessie.”

Jessie’s eyes popped open to see Looch and Leigh smiling back at her. She looked over at her arm and although her skin was extremely pink from the burns she sustained from the machine, the marks were still there. “They’re still there!” Jessie cried in relief.

Leigh and Looch took turns kissing her when Leigh finally picked her up to take her to the healing ward.