They got back when she was ready to have dinner served. It had been a very long day, and she still felt her nerves cracking.
The wide smile on Moyana’s face didn’t do a thing to make her feel any better, but she did her best to hide it. She wasn’t letting her know how scared she was.
And not because she would be sent back to Earth if their marriage contract ended, she was long beyond that. During that endless day, she had had time to examine her feelings, and the conclusion she had come to didn’t make her happy, in light of the latest events, but it was the truth. She had fallen hopelessly in love with her husband. In just a few weeks, he had turned into the most important person in her life, and she didn’t want to even think of the possibility of losing him.
Kahm had turned out to be the man she had been looking for her whole life: strong, passionate, caring, and hardworking. She knew love wasn’t a part of her marriage agreement and she had never expected it. But now that she had it, even if he didn’t share her feelings, she didn’t want to lose it.
“How was your day?” he asked, as he crossed the room to pick her in his arms and kiss her.
Selena was able to see Moyana at the door, her previous smile gone from her face.
“It was alright. Melanie called, and we spent a few minutes chatting.”
“I’m glad she did. I meant to take you visit her. Raye won’t let her out of the house now that she’s pregnant.”
“Yes, she told me about it. She’s thrilled, even if a bit scared,” she said, smiling.
“Have you told your wife she won’t be able to have your children?” Moyana’s voice interrupted them.
Surprised, Selena looked at Moyana and then at Kahm. She hadn't thought about children, but she had assumed there would be some in the future, like in all marriages.
“This is not the moment to discuss that, Moyana,” Kahm warned her, with a cold tone.
“Oh, but I think it is,” the woman insisted, taking a few steps inside the room. “Arghearians can only procreate with their own species. This is just one more reason why this marriage is insane.”
“I don’t need offspring to be happy,” he stated in a stern tone.
“Then, why the hell are you working so hard in this forsaken place?” Moyana attacked again. “It makes no sense, and you know it. You don’t belong here; and you certainly don’t belong with this woman.”
“You have no say in my decisions, Moyana,” he let out, raising his voice a little bit.
“You have no arguments to refute my point, and you know it.”
“I don’t need to refute anything. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll have my meal with my men.”
With those words, he stormed out of the house leaving the women alone.
“I believe you’ve overstayed your welcome, Moyana,” Selena said, turning to look at the other woman.
“You can’t kick me out… this isn’t your house…” she protested.
“Actually, it is, and your presence is longer welcome here.”
“Kahm is my friend, he’ll never agree to that,” she assured her.
“Kahm is my husband, and when I tell him you were upsetting me, he’ll not only agree to it, he’ll arrange for someone to take you to the docking bay,” she replied, in a cold tone.
“You’re digging your own grave. Being rude to me will only show Kahm the mistake he made marrying you,” she ranted.
“I doubt it, but if that ever happens, you’ll be free to come back. Until then, I would like you to stay away from our home,” Selena insisted, colder than ever, not budging an inch.
“You’ll regret this,” the other woman threatened her.
“No, I won’t. Have a safe trip back to your planet.” With those words, she left the living room and headed to the kitchen.
She found Ysha there and asked the android to serve dinner to their guest. She would eat in her room that night.
The android nodded and quickly proceeded to follow her orders, but she returned only a few moments later to notify her Moyana wasn’t around.
“Please, check her room and ask her if she wants her meal served there,” she asked, with a slight frown. She doubted the woman would leave at that hour, but if she did, she wouldn’t be the one stopping her, that was for sure.
Ysha returned and informed her, the other woman had rejected the food. She was packing her things.
Nodding, Selena picked her tray and went to her working room instead. She didn’t want to be anywhere, near the other woman.
That night, when Kahm entered their room, Selena was already in bed. She wanted to talk to him about Moyana’s revelations, but she sensed it wasn’t a good moment. Instead, she opened her arms and invited him to the bed.
With a grunt, he ripped off his clothes and crawled into bed with her, losing himself in the passion that burned between them. Everything else was momentarily forgotten, giving place to pleasure and bliss.
The following morning, when they were having breakfast, Ysha informed them Moyana had left early in the morning.
“Did she say why she was leaving?” Kahm asked, intrigued.
“I asked her to leave,” Selena informed him. “She has been nothing but trouble ever since she arrived, and I’m afraid I was getting tired of putting up with her threats and insults,” she explained.
Kahm frowned, not sure what to think. The day before had been of nerves wrecking, with Moyana’s persistent intents of making him leave Sumirion, and Selena, but she had been an important part of his life. “You should have consulted this with me,” he finally said, in a cold tone.
“I thought this was my home too. Am I mistaken?” she asked, matching his tone. She wasn’t budging on this. She wanted the other woman away from her and her home.
“No, of course not, but… I know Moyana is not an easy person to get along with, but she is a good friend…”
“She wants to be more than a friend, Kahm. She wants my place in your life, is that what you want too?” she asked, clenching her hands into fists as she waited for his answer.
“Of course, not. There was a time when I considered joining my life with hers, but that ended when she refused to leave Arghear to be with me.”
“Well, it hasn’t ended for her. She still wants you in her life, and she used every chance she had to make sure I knew she was after you,” she explained.
He rubbed his face, torn between the past and the present. Selena was right, Moyana had bothered them since the moment she had arrived, but he still felt bad Selena had asked her to leave his house.
“I understand the way you feel, I do… but she is still my friend, and I would have preferred if you had consulted this with me.”
Fed up, Selena got up. “I believe you need to rearrange your priorities. Let me know when you have.” She walked out of the room and out of the house, too furious with his reaction.
He hadn't reacted the same way when he found out his sweet friend had been harassing her, and she was making a huge effort not to let that hurt her, but enough was enough. She wasn’t staying there listening to him acting as if she had harmed his sweet friend.
She walked straight to the backyard, and down to where the fruit trees were, wishing she could pick up a car and leave the farm for a few hours. But she didn’t dare to do it. She still didn’t know the place well enough as to venture away from the house.
She took a seat under a tree and leaned her back against the trunk, feeling all of a sudden too tired. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.
Selena was still there, a few minutes later when she felt a sharp sting on her neck. Startled, she took her hand to it and removed what looked like a tiny dart. A few seconds later, she was lying unconscious on the ground.
She had no idea how long she had been unconscious. When she came to herself, her head was pounding terribly, her mouth was dry, and she was still lying on the ground, but she was no longer in the backyard.
Rubbing her forehead, she carefully sat up and looked around, trying to identify the place where she was, but she had never seen anything like it before. She was in the woods, surrounded by tall trees and bushes, barely leaving room for her to move around it.
She got up and looked around, but all she could see was the tall bushes that surrounded her. It was impossible she was still in Terrion. Whoever knocked her down, had taken her to Sumitera and dropped her in the middle of the woods she had seen from the beach. The only person she knew that would want to see her out of the way was Moyana.
What she didn’t know was the purpose behind it. What did Moyana expect to get by taking her to this place? Even if Selena died out here, she had no guarantees Kahm would want to return to Arghear. But she had no intentions of dying, at least, not before she did all she could to survive.
First, she would have to find her way back to the beach. She would be more likely to survive there, and if Kahm went looking for her, he might spot her across the sea. But she had no idea where she was. Walking blindly through the woods could lead her deeper into the woods, and that was the last thing she wanted.
When they had been at the beach, she remembered the sun set in Sumitera, what would have been the west back on Earth. She doubted things were the same on this planet, but if she managed to survive until the next morning, all she had to do was walk towards the sunrise. That should take her back to the beach.
The problem was spending the night in that place. She remembered Kahm mentioning wild animals and the very unfriendly inhabitants of the continent and she shuddered.