The Royal Euthenian Armada, my family and guards, use to travel to Earth is vast. Out the window of the courtroom, a line of black, shiny crafts flies alongside the main one; the one my father and I ride in.

Thirteen ships fly on each side of us, bringing the entire royal family, all the way to the last duke and lord and the majority of our guards to witness this historic wedding. The capital was nearly emptied with our departure.

A handful of guards were left behind to watch over the city and the palace. It seems everyone wants to be on Earth to see what is supposed to be a spectacular event.

All the entertainment and what I’m sure will be over the top displays of all Earth has to offer will most likely be lost on me once I have my hands on my beautiful new bride. She is all my eyes will most likely see once she’s mine.

My father, the king, sits on an overstuffed seat, covered in the leather the Earthlings that live in the desolate areas of our planet, The Euthenia Nebula, make out of the creatures’ hides they brought with them and they call bovines. The meat is quite horrid, though, and it’s hard to know how they can even ingest such a thing.

A platter of crunchy, boiled red beetles, served in a mineral glaze made of the best soil our planet has to offer is on the table as the first course of our third meal of each twenty-eight-hour day. I pop one into my mouth and delight in the crunchy outside and oozing center.

“Father, are you hungry?” I ask.

His light blue eyes gaze out the window as the blue planet of Earth hangs in the bottom of the thick glass pane. He sighs. “To eat as we are only hours from our destination after hours upon hours of travel is not a thing that interests me, son.” His gaze turns to me. “Tell me how it is that you’re not doubling over with spasms of nerves in your stomach. You are to marry an Earthling. One of the most despised creatures in existence.”

“It is for our planet, Father. I will be king once you pass from this realm to the next. It’s a task I hold with the highest regards. I intend to unite our planet with Earth and any other planet that seeks the peace and unequivocal balance that will come from galaxies which partner for the better of all.” My eyes move to look at the planet which is home to my awarded female.

The hope in me wells up as I think about how smart she is and how she will help me understand the minds of the people who seem to be insane at times.

Who comes to someone’s planet and takes over? Who does that sort of thing?

Our planet differs greatly from the one my bride has grown up in. Our oceans reflect yellow because of the two suns our planet orbits. From space, it appears more yellow than any other color. But in the desolate regions, the ones we’ve allowed the Earthlings to settle on, there are vast fields of purple grass.

Those fields are visible as well, lending some streaks of purple to contrast the yellow oceans. A bit of red can be seen from the ancient red forests there. All in all, our planet is lovely. Even though it’s smaller than Earth, we have utilized its resources to make use of the things it provides to the utmost efficiency.

Everything runs on solar energy which costs nothing, and our buildings are made from a naturally occurring metal which replenishes itself with each rainy season.

The whole planet gets incredibly saturated, and the assorted material that combines to make the metal is pooled together beneath the surface, forming new metal for us to build and repair with.

Our homes are made from a thin but sturdy wood we call Bracha, and it’s quite similar to what the Earth calls Bamboo. Of course, whatever gets cut is immediately replanted to make sure we don’t deplete our source to build and repair our homes.

The palace is the only exception though, as it’s made of the pearl-like stone that occurs naturally at the bottom of our largest ocean, the Stalwart Ocean connecting with the other three through a series of seas and wetlands.

The palace shines all through the sunny days and moonlit nights. It’s like a beacon, and its beauty is unsurpassed. Only in the capital are the streets paved with silver dust. The whole city sparkles; I hope my new bride finds it an amazing place to live in. I really want her to love it there.

The people from Earth I’ve met have been decent and seemed to want peace and happiness just as much as we do. I even met with a man when he first arrived. His military record was one of concern.

He had been in the military since he was ten years old. Growing up in an academy and becoming one of their top leaders established him as a real threat. To add to that, he was an assassin. Not the kind of man we want as a settler as he had such vast knowledge of war and how to win it. So my father and I had him brought straight away to our palace upon his arrival.

All Earthlings come through the capital to be documented and then taken on a flying craft, much like a barge, to the settlement area we gave them. This particular man was a person of great interest and in danger of being sent back to Earth on the first Vestal back there.

Caleb Booth proved to be a very docile man, tired of war. He was seeking only peace and happiness. He wanted to start a family and live a quiet existence for the remainder of his life. So we allowed him to stay.

He’s one of the reasons I decided to take the award the Earthlings were willing to give to me. If a man of war could be so kind and genuine, then there is true hope. We can all get along and not have to obliterate the Earthlings currently on our planet, something my father plans on doing if they don’t stop coming into the cities and procreating like flies.

My father gets up and comes to the table, picking up a fat beetle. He looks it over and then places it on his tongue. After he swallows, he smiles. “Your mother loved these things. I miss her more than you can imagine.”

I clasp my father’s shoulder. “I pray my wife and I find the love you two shared. For it was one for the record books, Father. Her passing was devastation for our planet, but a death sentence for you I fear.”

The edges of his eyes droop with sorrow. “It has been a year since she passed, and still I manage to live. I do not know how. My heart pines for her. To be with her is all I want. All I dream of. All there is for me.”

My heart aches for him. I have never known a love so encompassing you would yearn for death to find you so you may be together again.

My father was once a tall, strong man that looks nothing like me. I took after my mother as far as looks are concerned. His hair was once dark black, but now they’re white as snow. His brown eyes are now so light they almost appear to be a shade of blue. His once tanned skin is now pale and wrinkled.

My mother’s passing seems to have nearly destroyed him as he stands as tall as he can while seeming to hunch a little. Not much, but enough for me to notice a difference, one I’m sure others do as well. Though no one would utter a word of it.

I pull a picture of my awarded bride out a pocket inside my golden cloak, something my father and I always wear when appearing in public.

I gaze at the picture. My betrothed appears to be tall in stature. Her long, black hair hangs to the top of her rounded bottom in cascading waves. Her skin is creamy white and seems to be as smooth as silk. Sapphire eyes stare at me from the photograph. It’s those eyes that stir something in my soul for her.

Kataline is the daughter of a Senator on Earth. Although his DNA is part of her, she has been genetically altered with DNA from other, special Earthlings.

The way her eyes sparkle has me thinking she must be one of the sweetest creatures. Kind, nurturing, and most likely one of the easiest females to get along.

My father, like many others, has an aversion to people from Earth. It’s true they can live like animals quite easily. The can turn practically anything into something they can use.

Most see them as lower brained creatures that cannot find the easy way of living their lives making them intentionally difficult.

Their worst trait is over-populating every surface they live on. Some people compare them with rodents. I am not some people, though. I respect their attitude for exploration.

They were the first people to get on a rickety rocket ship some hundred years ago and seek out a new place for them to settle and make homes on. Unfortunately for thirteen of those planets, they took them over from the people who inhabited them since time began.

I want to be the leader who learns how to handle the Earthlings in a way that will teach them to coexist, rather than take over. It’s my goal to find a way to get through to the tenacious species of humankind.

Marrying one and finding out how to do that with her is the first step in what will most likely be a long process. One that may even fall upon our children to take on.

Our children, their adorable little faces flitter through my head. What will they really look like?

With her great beauty, they’re bound to be the most precious, little things. The future is filled with mysteries. How many children will we have? How many males and how many females?

The people of our planet can only have two children. It’s the way our bodies are made. My older brother died when he was only a baby, so I’m an only child. However, I am looking forward to seeing how my wife and I will have children.

It’s been written in the contract she and I will sign that we will have all the children we are meant to. No contraception will be used. Our planet never had a need to develop it, and I refuse to allow her to bring any of that with her.

We do allow the Earthling settlers to use birth control methods, though. I wish they’d use it more often as their numbers are growing too rapidly.

The subject of children has me thinking of the wedding night which is less than twenty-four hours away. I wonder if she’s nervous. I wonder if she’s been schooled in the physical ways of coupling. Or maybe she’s innocent, and they expect her to be taught.

Some females have been given as gifts to other planets. Most assume it’s a ploy to overtake even more planets. I’m not positive on that yet.

I can see the leaders of Earth wanting to leave the women uneducated about the physical aspects of coupling. Each planet’s beings do things a little differently. If they were to train the women the way Earthlings couple or as they call it, having sexual intercourse, then most would have to retrain them anyway.

It doesn’t matter to me, either way. She and I will find our way through that, I have no doubt. Her curvy body and physical appearance already stir my groin, and that’s really all anyone needs to couple.

The planet grows larger in the window and the time is approaching. My nerves begin to stir also, but not in the way my father thinks. No, it’s excitement that has my stomach fluttering.

My future is about to begin, and I cannot wait for it!