Chapter 9
VERA RODANTHEE
I was feeling sick, for real this time. I was throwing up in my private bathroom attached to my bedroom chamber. It must be the food, I thought. It must be the stress. It must be the grief taking its toll on my body and not knowing whether my husband was actually alive or not. It must be the stress of being forced to be with Cyro as his wife and mate. It must be the stress of thinking Truo was a friend only to find out that he was lying to me even after I had given myself to him.
As soon as I thought about giving myself to Truo, a lightbulb went off in my head. I took a good look at myself hunched over trying not to vomit again.
"Shit,” I said to myself. “It couldn't be, could it?"
I was pregnant. It had been almost 2 1/2 weeks since the first time that I was with Truo. For some reason, I assumed because Cyro could not get me pregnant that I could not get pregnant by any Corillion alien. But I was wrong, so wrong. I pulled myself off the floor and went to go sit on my bed. This was not good. I had really screwed up. If Cyro found out, he would think that it was his. If he found out that it was not his, then he would kill Truo, and probably me as well. I had to keep it a secret from Cyro as long as I could. I didn't know how I was going to be able to do that, but I had to try.
But on the other hand, I could not tell Truo either. I no longer trusted him. I still did not know if my husband was alive or not, and if he was, that meant that Truo had lied to me and had used me. Because of this, I could not tell him that I was carrying his offspring; he could be dangerous, even more dangerous than Cyro. Cyro put everything out in the open, but Truo was deceitful about it. So this meant that I was pregnant and I had to keep this baby a secret from everyone. I was the only one that could know, and it would be a burden: my burden.
I was completely astonished by this realization. I was going to give birth to an alien-human hybrid. I had never thought about it in that way until that very moment. I suddenly felt excited! A child, a special child, was inside of me. I wasn't expecting to be joyful about it, but that was exactly what I was feeling; this was my baby. This was my baby! A surge of hope filled me. I suddenly had a purpose greater than myself. It was surreal; it was moving.
Knock, knock.
"Vera, it is I, Cyro,” I heard him shout through the door.
"Yes, I am here," I said trying to rub my eyes to make them look bloodshot and pinch my nose to make it look red and stuffy.
"Can you come to the door? Don't open it. I just want you to listen through the door,” he said to me. I looked at the door in confusion.
"Yes, I'm coming to the door,” I said, wondering what he was up to. He sounded strange, almost kind. “I am here,” I said a little softer. I could hear the door creak as he leaned against it.
"Vera, I've come to apologize. I have not been myself lately. It is the pressure. I am the leader of this tribe, and there is great pressure with that. Not only do I have to rule, but I also must produce the offspring that will become the leader. It is part of my responsibilities, and sometimes it gives me rage and I take it out on you. I apologize for this. I have realized that I am madly in love with you. These past two weeks and days of being apart from you have been very hard. It has made me angry, all because I have not been able to talk to you again. I miss being with you…” he said.
I stood on the other side of the door completely stunned. It was like speaking to a completely different Corillion, and if I had not already memorized the sound of his voice, I would think it was someone else, but I knew that it was him. I didn't know what to say to this. I had no sympathy for him. He had possibly murdered my husband and lied to me about it in order to take advantage of me, and if my husband was still alive, then Cyro was still the one that was holding him for leverage to take advantage of me. So I simply responded, “I understand, Cyro.”
"I thought you might if I was honest with you about why I act this way. You are the first human female, or any female, that I have been a companion to and I do not know how it's done. I realize that I have been doing it wrong, very wrong. I hope in a few days, when you are no longer ill, you will let me prove it to you.”
"I would like that. I am feeling better and better every day. Soon I will be myself again,” I said in return.
"I am glad to hear it. I will have hot liquids and food brought to your door now. Thank you for listening, Vera. Goodbye,” he said as I heard him walk away.
My mouth fell open at the confusion of what had just happened. Why did he come to my door and say those things? What had changed for him? Was he being truthful, or was this some sort of trick? Did he discover that I was pregnant before I knew? My mind swarmed with questions, confusion, and fear. Cyro suddenly changing face only made me more suspicious about what he had planned. It was another burden. I needed to know what was going on. I needed to see Truo to find out what he knew, even though I knew his answers could be lies. I needed to know more.
I waited two days. It was hard to wait that long to find answers from Truo, but I was scared that Cyro would be coming to my room again to confess his feelings for me and explain his emotions. But on the second night, I could no longer wait. I needed to know if my husband was truly alive. I needed to know what Truo knew about why Cyro has suddenly changed.
But worst of all, I just wanted to see him. I hated feeling that way. Was it possible to have feelings for two males at the same time? I still loved my husband and wanted nothing more than to be with him if he was still alive. But at the same time, I had developed emotions for Truo, and I really hoped that he was not using me and lying to me.
I moved quietly down the stairs, but it was not midnight. It was an hour until midnight, and I hoped that perhaps Truo would be in the underground passage. So I went early, but I was not expecting to find what I found.
"We will have to leave for the High Council soon, very soon. I am ready to go to Cyro and tell him that your plans for the fortress are true and that you and I should leave to the High Council the very next day for permissions,” I heard a familiar voice say as I walked quietly down the hall to the secret room. I slowed down listening.
"Yes, I agree with that plan. He does not know yet of your plans to overthrow him. I believe the High Council will make you the leader, Truo,” another voice said.
I gasped. I was in shock that Truo was planning to overthrow Cyro.
"What was that?” Truo said.
My eyes grew wide. Had they heard me? I begin to backtrack my steps, but it was too late. Truo and another alien warrior came out of the room.
"What is she doing down here? She will tell Cyro,” the other alien warrior said as he came towards me in anger.
"No. No, she won't. Do not touch her. She is down here to see me,” Truo said as he stood between me and the other alien warrior.
"Why? Why bring her into this secret? She cannot be trusted. She will tell Cyro your plan to overtake him,” the other alien warrior said.
"What? You plan to do what?” I asked, looking at Truo in confusion.
"Vera, this does not concern you. You should go back to your chambers and remain there. Say nothing of what you saw down here,” he said to me.
"So this is why you were kind to me? This is why you were using me! You are using me so that you can become the leader!” I shouted at him in anger.
I was so pissed off that I could not control my rage. I was right about him. He had lied to me. He had been deceiving me in order to get something from me. He had planned to impregnate me so that the leadership seat could be his on this godforsaken asteroid.
"You lied to me! Cyro told me that my husband is still alive! You lied to me simply so that you could console me in my grief. You knew that I would go into your arms if you treated me with kindness, if you treated me as though I was your friend and I could trust you. You knew that eventually you would mate with me!"
"No! That is not what happened. You're not part of this plan at all; I have not lied to you!” Truo shouted.
"Truo! You mated with her?!” the other alien warrior shouted.
"I should never have trusted you! You are horrible!” I shouted as I turned to run back toward my chambers. I had all the answers that I needed. Truo had been using this underground room for his secret meetings for a revolution. It wasn't a special place just for he and me. I had been a complete fool and he had taken advantage of me in my state of grief and stress. I felt his hand wrap around my arm and stop me.
"Vera, don't go like this. This is not what you think,” he said to me.
"Let me go! Let me go!” I shouted.
"Who is down there?!” a voice shouted from on top of the stairs.
Truo, his companion, and I grew silent. We all looked at each other with wide eyes.
"There's someone down there!” More alien warriors shouted from the top of the stairs.
"We will be caught,” his companion whispered.
"Follow me. There's only one way out of here. There's no turning back now,” Truo said as he grabbed my arm and ran. I moved my legs as fast as I could to try to keep up with the large stride of the 8-foot tall aliens. I was out of breath, and I was terrified. If I were caught below the fortress with Truo and his companion who were plotting a revolution, I would be put to death.
"This way," Truo whispered as the sound of boots filled the underground passage, echoing off the walls as alien warriors shouted directions to each other. It was frightening. It sounded like there were many that suddenly flooded the underground passages hunting us.
"We are almost there," Truo whispered.
I was scared. I was confused. But I was not prepared for what Truo had in mind, where he was leading us.