Selena looked around trying to decide what to do. Staying where she in the woods wouldn’t help her much. If there were wild animals around, she would have nothing to protect herself from them. She dreaded the idea of moving away from there, but she didn’t have any alternative. She had to find a shelter and soon before the night fell.
She had no idea what lies Moyana would be telling Kahm, so she couldn’t just stay there and wait for him to come rescue her. That might not happen. Her heart ached at that possibility, but she knew he still cared for the other woman and he might believe whatever story she told him.
She looked up, trying to determine the sun’s position, but the dense foliage of the trees stopped her from seeing it. She could tell it was still day, but not much more. She looked around trying to find the signs that would indicate Moyana’s way, but again, she saw nothing.
Cursing her fate and hating Moyana more and more, she started walking, attentive to her surroundings. She should look for a clearing and try to check on the sun’s position, and start from there.
The woods were so dense, that after a few minutes of struggling across it she had several scratches on her hands. The jumpsuit protected her a lot, but she was sure she would have an extensive collection of bruises when the day was over.
After what seemed an eternity, she finally reached a clearing. Relieved, she was about to run towards it, when her instinct stopped her in her tracks. Something was wrong. There was absolutely nothing in the clearing. Gulping, she took a deep breath and picking up a small rock from the ground, she threw it to the clearing.
Astounded, she watched the rock being immediately sucked in. It was some sort of quicksand, with distinct emphasis on the quick part. Letting out a small cry of sheer frustration, she walked towards the edge of the clearing, looking for a better view of the sky, but she wasn’t able to see the sun. It took her a few moments to control the desperation trying to crawl into her heart before she was able to move again.
She wasn’t giving up. She would find a way out of that place. Wiping the couple of tears that had rolled down her cheeks, she moved away from the clearing.
Selena must have walked for a few hours before she allowed herself to get some rest. She examined the ground thoroughly around a tall tree before she let herself lean her back against the tree trunk.
She was feeling hungry and thirsty, but so far she hadn't seen water or a fruit tree. The trees around her had none, and though the bushes had berries, she didn’t dare to touch them. She didn’t recognize any of them, and she still wasn’t that desperate.
She closed her eyes and rested her head against the tree, praying to all gods in the universe to help her find a way out of that place.
She must have dozed for a few minutes because when she came to herself, she had several lianas around her body. Scared, she tried to free herself, but the minute she moved, the lianas moved as well, tensing their grip around her, and before she was able to do a thing she was pulled up, and tightly tied against the tree trunk, with her arms pulled over her head.
She cried for help as loud as she could, tugging at her restraints, trying to free herself, but it was useless. Whatever caught her, had done a pretty good job. She wouldn’t be able to free herself without some help.
She cried for help again, at that point, not concerned with what other creatures she attracted. She just wanted to free herself.
A few moments later, she felt something crawling up her legs and sliding down her arms, and she cried louder. She was sure it was some sort of snakes, but when she looked, she saw just lianas, though these looked a bit different from the ones tying her.
The one crawling up her legs reached her thigh and after circling it a few times, she felt the sting of like a million needles.
Desperate, she tried to move her leg to get rid of it, but it was impossible. Just a few seconds later, she felt the one that had been sliding down her arms, reach her neck and repeating the process. The damn thing was sucking out her blood.
She cried louder, but it was useless. She started to feel weaker and weaker, and her last thoughts went to Kahm, and how much she wanted to live to be with him, to love him. Sobbing, she closed her eyes and stopped struggling.
Her whole body hurt as if she had been hit by a truck a high speed. You weren’t supposed to feel pain when you died, right? Then why was she in so much pain? She groaned and moved her head, just to still it again. Moving made the pain a lot worse.
“Welcome back,” a woman’s voice greeted her.
Slowly, she flickered, trying to see where she was, and when she was sure there was no pain in the action, she opened her eyes.
The woman in front of her was a total stranger. Selena had never seen anyone like her, so far. She was humanoid, but her skin was greyish, with lighter spots all over her head, neck, and shoulders. Her nose was almost flat and her mouth small, with thin lips, and as far as she could see, she had no hair. But it was her eyes what stood out. They were larger than you would expect in a face like hers, and they were completely dark.
“Where am I?” she managed to mumble.
“You’re in Sumitera. We found you a few days ago, captured by a Genus, one of our carnivorous plants,” the woman informed her.
Selena closed her eyes, worried. This couldn’t be good news. She had escaped the plant just to fall on the Sumirion’s people’s clutches.
She opened her eyes again. She would have to face whatever came her way. “Thank you for saving me.”
“It was our pleasure. Your husband asked us to look for you,” she explained.
“Is he here?” she asked, trying to sit in the small bed she was in. But the rush of pain made her lay still.
The woman caressed her forehead. “Stay still. The Genus’ toxin is still in your body, and until you’ve managed to expel it, you’ll be in pain.”
“Yes… it hurts…” she mumbled.
“Your husband isn’t here. We don’t allow other species to enter our continent. The Arghearian that brought you here broke that rule,” the woman explained. “She has been asked to leave the planet, and she’s long gone.”
Selena nodded, trying not to panic. Would they make her pay for Moyana’s crime?
“What will happen to me?” she finally asked.
The woman looked at her in silence for a few moments. “We’re still deliberating on that. Right now, the only thing that matters is to heal you. Try to get some rest, I’ll come back later,” she suggested, caressing Selena’s forehead.
Her touch induced Selena to close her eyes and soon she was sound asleep. When she opened her eyes again, she was alone.
Curious, she looked around, but the dim light didn’t allow her to see much of the room’s contents. It actually looked more like a tent than a room, but she couldn’t be sure.
Slowly, she tried to move, and this time, she didn’t feel any pain. That was a relief. She was about to get up when someone raised the tent’s fabric and entered it.
“How are you feeling?” it was the same woman.
“Much better, thank you. The pain is gone,” she told her, with a faint smile.
“Yes, the toxin has been completely expelled.” She smiled, introduced herself. “My name is Glynoy, and I’m one of the tribe’s healer.”
“Thank you for all your help, Glynoy. My name is Selena.”
She nodded. “The council of elders would like to have a word with you, do you think you can handle that?” the woman asked, standing next to her.
There was no use delaying the inevitable. She sat on the bed, happy she was still wearing her jumpsuit. “Yes, of course.”
“Good,” the woman cheered. “But you’ll need to change. Females aren’t allowed to wear pants.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but she rapidly realized that wouldn’t help her cause. “Sure, I wouldn’t like to break any more rules.”
The woman smiled and handed her a dress similar to the one she was wearing. It was strapless and covered her whole body like a second skin, leaving nothing to the imagination.
Feeling a bit uncomfortable, she followed the other woman out of the tent. The sun was setting in the sky, but there was enough light for her to take a good look at the place.
There were about thirty tents, similar to those she had seen in pictures in the history books, used by the Arabic people. They were on a river shore, surrounded by the woods.
Glynoy guided her to the largest tent, and soon they were surrounded by a large group of people. All women dressed like her and Glynoy, but the males only wore some sort of loincloth that barely covered their genitals, but that didn’t hide their long and thick tail. A lot taller than the females, they were quite impressive, with their massively muscled bodies. Their heads, unlike the females, had some thick crests, that fell down their back.
“Welcome to our home,” the male sitting at the back of the tent, greeted her. Next to him, there were a few other men, but they didn’t look a day older than the rest of the people in the room.
Selena guessed they aged a lot slower than people on Earth.
“Thank you and thank you for saving my life,” she replied, in a respectful tone.
“You should thank Zag, he was the one that found you,” the man informed her pointing out one of the men in the crowd.
“Thank you,” she said again, addressing the man.
“Since he was the one saving you, he has claimed you to be his mate,” the elder continued, and Selena almost passed out.
She couldn’t have heard him right.
“But… but I’m already married…” she mumbled.
“Whatever relationship you had outside Sumitera has no importance for us, unless there are children involved,” the elder continued.
She paled, even more, her heart pounding so fast in her chest, she was sure everyone in the room could hear it.
She started shaking her head, but Glynoy, standing beside her, answered for her. “She’s with child, Tristud.”
Startled, Selena looked at the other woman. Why was she lying to her own kind? She wasn’t pregnant, that was impossible.
“Hasn’t the Genus’ toxin harmed the baby?” Tristud asked, clearly not pleased with the news.
“No, Tristud, her mate is an Arghearian, and they are immune to pretty much everything,” the woman continued.
Though Selena was happy with the woman’s help, she couldn’t help feeling scared too. If they asked for proof, they would both be in deep trouble.
Tristud nodded. “Very well. Zag, I’m afraid you can’t claim her. Is there anything you would like in exchange?”
“I want to know how I can get a female like her,” the warrior asked, with a stern tone. He didn’t look very happy, but he accepted the elder’s decision.
“Where do you come from, female, and how did you get here?” Tristud asked her.
“I come from the planet Earth in the eighth quadrant. My husband found me through the Mail Order Bride agency,” she replied, still a bit shaken.
“Then, you should ask her mate to get you a mate, Zag,” Tristud suggested.
“May I add that to the reward for rescuing her?” the warrior asked, his eyes still on Selena.
“Yes, you may,” Tristud allowed before he turned to look at Selena. “Tomorrow, when the sun rises, we’ll take you to your mate. If he agrees to our conditions, you shall reunite with him,” he announced.
Selena nodded, and Glynoy guided her back to the tent she had been before. When she was sure, they were alone. She turned to face the other woman. “Why did you lie? Believe me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, but…” she asked.
The other woman shook her head. “I didn’t lie, my dear, you are with child.”
Selena fell sat on her bed. “It can’t be… he said we couldn’t have children… that Arghearians only had children with their own species…” she mumbled.
“Well, he was wrong, because there’s a small being inside you and I have no doubt it’s an Arghearian. No other baby would have survived the Genus’ toxin,” Glynoy assured her.
Selena was in shock. Her life had changed so much in the past weeks, all of the sudden she was feeling overwhelmed.
“Get some rest. You seem to need it,” Glynoy advised her with a smile. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Selena lay down and stared at the ceiling of her tent, her hands over her belly, trying to understand all that had happened. She was expecting a baby, Kahm’s baby.
She fell asleep with a serene smile on her face, and she was still smiling when she woke up. Glynoy brought her some food, and after she had eaten, she guided her to the small boats that would take her to the beach where Kahm should be waiting for her.
It took them a few hours to get to their destination. When they were getting closer, Selena was able to see some sort of campsite near the stream’s mouth. Kahm had been waiting for her all that time.
The boat in front of them reached the beach, and the men in it walked towards Kahm and two men she didn’t recognize. Her boat was kept a few yards from the beach, as well as the boat behind them. She guessed they had negotiations to make.