The minute they entered the house, a female warrior walked out of the living room. By the looks of her, she was Arghearian, like Kahm. The woman was almost as tall as him, with the same muscled body, golden skin, golden and hair and even the same black horns, though hers were a lot smaller than Kahm’s.
“Kahm, I can’t believe it’s really you…” the female said, rushing to meet him and hugging him.
Selena looked at him, noticing the shock on his face. He didn’t seem very happy.
“Moyana... what are you doing here? How did you find me?” he asked coldly, forcing her to take a step back.
“I’ve been looking for you for the past ten solar cycles. I was about to give up when I met a trader in one of the intergalactic markets of the fifth quadrant. He told me he had seen you here,” she explained.
“Why would you be looking for me?” he asked, with a deep frown.
“How can you ask me that? Don’t you think it’s time for you to come back home? You’ve been away for far too long,” she said, trying to get closer to him again, but he kept her away.
“This is my home, now. I’m never going back,” he assured her.
“You can’t be serious. Why would you want to live in a place like this?”
“Well, because it’s my home, Moyana. I have no reason to go back to Arghear,” he assured her.
“I can’t believe you’re saying that. I know you left feeling quite disappointed, but it’s been over fifty solar cycles. It’s time to put the past in the past and move forward,” Moyana insisted.
“That’s exactly what I’ve done – moved forward. My life is here now, with my wife,” he said, pulling Selena to his side. “Allow me to introduce you to Selena, my wife.”
The other woman was in shock. Apparently, that was the last thing she wanted to hear. “Wife? You married this woman? She’s weak… she’s not even one of us…” she ranted derisively.
“Yes, she is my wife. Why would she be one of us? I’ve had more than enough of people like us,” he said, in a stern tone.
“I thought we were getting married… how could you do that to me? All this time you…” she started saying, starting to sound furious.
Selena decided it was time to leave them alone. The conversation was clearly personal, and she was feeling uncomfortable, standing there, and listening to it.
“You seemed to have a lot to talk. I’ll leave you two to it,” she said, walking straight to her bedroom. The other two didn’t seem to notice she had left.
Selena closed the door behind her and closed her eyes. Who was that woman? Could it be possible they had been engaged as she claimed? What would her presence mean?
She rubbed her forehead, with a sudden headache. She couldn’t help feeling threatened by the other woman’s presence in the house. Her instinct told her she would change things forever, and that didn’t make her happy, not even a little bit.
She paced the room, not sure what to do. For the past weeks, she had actually felt happy, slowly getting into a happy lifestyle. Kahm was more than she had ever dreamed and the pleasure she had met in his arms had no comparison with anything she had experienced before.
She didn’t want to see her new life shattered into pieces again. But she had no idea how to act, or what to do.
A few minutes later, Kahm entered the room, still with a stern expression on his face. “I’m sorry… this wasn’t the way I wanted to end this day,” he said, as he closed the door behind him.
“It’s alright,” she said, wriggling her hands, nervously. “Is she a friend of yours?”
“Yes, we grew up together, in the same institution,” he explained in a solemn tone. “I asked Moyana to leave Arghear with me, but she said no. She loved being a warrior and had no plans to stop. I was through with that life.”
“So, you were engaged?” she asked, trying to clarify things.
“We could say so. But our lives changed… we changed, and when I decided to leave, we finally broke up,” he replied.
“She doesn’t seem to think so,” she pointed out.
“That’s her problem. Anyway, I was forced to invite her to stay a few days. Though she won’t admit, she’s not alright.”
“It’s your house, you can invite whoever you want,” she said, not very pleased with the news.
“It’s your house too,” he stated.
She let out a sigh. “She’s your friend. If you feel she needs some time away, then you did well asking her to stay,” she said, trying to keep an even tone. She didn’t want him to know she felt threatened by the other woman’s presence. “Will she join us for dinner at the refectory?”
“I decided to have dinner here in the house. Moyana is not the most sociable person in the universe,” he replied, rubbing his nape, looking stressed.
“Did you advise Ysha?”
“Yes, I told her. I’ll go talk with the men before dinner, so why don’t you take a shower and get ready?”
She nodded and watched him leave the room. She looked around, not sure what to do. It was still early, so she decided to go find Ysha and see if she needed help.
She found the android in the kitchen preparing the meal. “Do you need any help?” she asked, with a faint smile.
“I have everything under control, Víf Selena. Murs, the android from the refectory will send me most of the food. I’m just preparing a pie for dessert.”
“Very well, I’ll leave you to it, then.”
She returned to her bedroom, and when she was about to enter her room, she met Moyana.
“So… you’re Kahm’s wife…” she said, with scorn.
“Yes… that’s me,” she said, steeling herself to face the woman.
“Do you really think you can make a man like him happy? You’re no match for him,” Moyana asked, oozing disdain.
“That’s not up to you to decide, don’t you think? You had your turn, and you let it slip through your fingers,” she pointed out in a stern tone.
“You’re quite mistaken if you think I’ve lost my turn. Kahm is meant for me, and now that I’m here, he’ll realize it, sooner or later,” she said, through gritted teeth.
“You’re fantasizing, and you know it. Kahm told you himself, he moved on, you should do the same,” Selena advised her, turning to enter her room.
But the woman wasn’t ready to accept the conversation was over. She closed the distance between them and pressed Selena against the wall.
“You’re no threat to me, you little worm…” she muttered, in Selena’s ear.
“Then why are you feeling threatened?” Selena asked, pushing the other woman away from her. “This is my home now, and I won’t allow you to act this way. You’re welcome to stay, as long as you remember this is my house, not yours,” she added, in an ice-cold tone.
Moyana seemed surprised by Selena’s reaction, but it didn’t take her much to recover from it. “Not for long.”
With those ominous words, she returned to the bedroom Kahm had assigned her and Selena entered the main room. She knew the woman meant trouble the minute she had seen her, but she had had no idea just how much trouble.
With a sigh, she headed to the shower, hoping Kahm would return and join her. She needed the comfort of his presence, she needed him to confirm things hadn't changed between them, that he still wanted her.
But he only returned at dinner time. Selena didn’t leave the room until she was sure he was back, unwilling to have another confrontation with sweet Moyana.
The Argherian woman made sure she excluded Selena from the conversation during the meal. She kept mentioning people and places only the two of them could know, and though Kahm didn’t look too happy, he did nothing to stop her or include Selena in the conversation.
When the meal was finally over, Selena was fed up. She got up and announced she was going to bed. Kahm nodded and bid her good night, as he guided Moyana to the room he used as his office.
Feeling frustrated and even a bit hurt, Selena went straight to bed. But it was impossible to close her eyes. All she could think of was the two of them, alone in the office and Moyana’s promise to get Kahm back.
She shouldn’t have left them alone, but now she had no excuse to go join them. She rolled in bed for what felt forever, and she must have fallen asleep at some point because when she opened her eyes again, the sun was coming up in the sky.
She looked to the other side of the bed and let out a small cry of despair. Kahm hadn't slept next to her. His side of the bed was still intact.
Not knowing what to think of it and struggling not to jump to conclusions, she got out of bed. By the time she entered the kitchen, Kahm was long gone. Ysha informed her he had left early in the morning, after stating he would only be back by dinner time.
Pursing her lips at the idea of spending the day putting up with Moyana, Selena took a seat at the table to get some breakfast.
She was about to start when their guest entered the room with a victorious grin on her face.
Kahm looked at Moyana sitting in front of him. He had brought her to his office because he wanted to make sure she understood she had no place in his new life, but the woman seemed determined to ignore all he was telling her.
“What’s the real reason why you’re here?” he asked her again, sure there was something else behind her presence on his farm.
“I’ve told you that… I thought it was time we put our past behind us and finally get the life we deserve on Arghear,” she insisted.
“I’m not going back to Arghear. I got tired of their lifestyle, and I’m not leaving behind all I’ve built here,” he assured her.
“You’re a warrior, Kahm, how can you say that you’re happy with the life you have on this forsaken planet?” she ranted, slamming her fist on his desk.
“Am I a warrior? I was never sure of that, and now that I left that life, I’m surer than ever that I wasn’t born to be one. Losing my parents changed my life, and I was forced to become a warrior,” he assured her. “I'm free to choose now, and believe me, I would never choose to become a warrior again.”
“You’re so stubborn… I haven’t met a better warrior than you… how can you say you weren’t born to be a warrior?” she protested.
“Because it’s the truth. I was trained to be a warrior, and I’ll always do my best at any job, but my heart wasn’t on it, not the way yours is,” he replied earnestly. “As I told you, you can stay here for a few days and get some rest, but forget that crazy idea that I’ll go back with you. My life is here now and I’m quite happy with it.”
“You can’t mean that. I’m sure you don’t, and you’ll see it sooner or later,” she insisted.
“You’re only fooling yourself, Moyana,” he warned her. “And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.”
For a moment, he thought she would insist on the topic again, but she finally got up and left the room.
Letting out a deep sigh, Kahm leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Moyana’s presence had brought too many dark memories back, things he had hoped to have forgotten, but that were just hidden, waiting to come out with any trigger.
He didn’t miss Arghear, he didn’t miss any of the people he had left behind. None had been real friends, just people he knew. For a while, he had thought Moyana would be different, that she would be a permanent part of his life. But she never knew him, she never made the smallest effort to understand him and the way he felt about everything.
When she refused to leave Arghear with him, he realized she wasn’t meant for him, that she wasn’t the woman his heart ached for.
With time, he had stopped waiting for that one to show up in his life and had decided to order a bride. Selecting Selena had been the best thing he had ever done in his life. She had proven to be the companion he craved, and the last thing he wanted was to lose her.
Too restless to stay still or even to sleep, he decided to go for a ride through the woods. The cool air of the night should be enough to drive the ghosts of past out of his mind.