Nabvan watched as many of his comrades chose one of the human women that they had pulled in from an auto-piloted ship. Apparently, it had been headed to the Arkani so that the women could marry and breed with them. He had remembered hearing that the Arkani were in some sort of crisis with the females of their species. They were dying off from an unknown disease. Nabvan did not really care. The two races were not enemies, but they were not friends either. The Arkani did not value strength the way the Milisarian knights did.

Nabvan scoffed at the thought of what they were called now. They had taken the name from human history, after men that walked around in metal suits, poking each other with swords. The Milisarians had become obsessed with humans ever since their dealings on Earth began. Earth was an excellent trade partner for both resources and weapons. They were also a great intergalactic ally if the Milisarians ever needed help in a large battle, but beyond that, Nabvan did not understand the appeal. Yet, all of his fellow men were lining up like kids at a candy store in order to pick a mate. They all had talked about how beautiful they were before the women were officially on board. Nabvan did not necessarily agree.

Human females were slightly more attractive than their own, he would give that to them. But human women were loud and stubborn, and they certainly didn’t seem to be as smart as King Shene claimed they were. Maybe it was the fact that Nabvan had not had the honor of stepping foot on Earth yet and that he was young that made him so indifferent to the women’s presence on the ship. Perhaps, it was also the fact that he had given up his chance to choose a woman for himself. He had to keep himself disinterested.

Nabvan was young, especially for as high ranking as he was in the army. He was the ship’s commander when the king was not available and trained the young men to prepare them to become the best Milisarian knights they could be.

He had turned down the women for more than one reason. The first was that it seemed to be his duty to allow the king and some of the other higher-ranking men to find a mate. There were only enough women for a third of the men contained on the ship right now, so a lot of them had to step aside. Nabvan also knew that he was young enough that he had time. He had time to find the right woman of any race he wanted. They traveled to conquer, so many colonies. There was no reason he could not find the right woman for him later on.

Nabvan smoothed back his red hair behind his head as he saw that King Shene had finally picked himself a woman out of the crowd. While it was not his place to question the moves of the king, he had to make note of the fact that the king already had many lovers. It was something that used to be unacceptable among Milisarians. They were meant to mate for life unless there was a crisis that demanded the expansive spreading of their seed. Other than a want for a better race, there was really no need for so many women. What was worse was that he kept all these women locked up in separate rooms and saw them only when he felt like it. He would get a new one, have fun with her for a while, and then do the same. These human women were meant to be lifetime mates to marry and have children with. He could not help but feel sorry for the woman King Shene had chosen.

Nabvan could see why he had chosen her, though. She was one of the only women who was standing there without making a sound. She was not asserting herself to find one of the men, but she was not crying and wailing like she was about to be killed either. It was only natural that their leader would want someone strong by his side, for however long he meant to keep her there.

She also resembled a Milisarian the least, with her thin frame and light-colored hair. No one on Milisaria had light colored hair or eyes. Even he, with his dark red locks, was often considered an anomaly.

Nabvan waited until the room had emptied of the women and the men that had chosen them before he began to make his way to the command center of the ship. He had no idea if the king would take some time to get to know this human woman first, or if he would come up to the command center himself. Either way, he would expect Nabvan to keep things running. They had a date with fate, so to speak. They were about to travel to check on one of the colonies they had taken over before then taking over yet another one. That was their main purpose: to conquer as many places as they could before other war-like races did. Power was everything now that almost the entire galaxy was aware they were not the only life forms around.

As soon as he made it to the command center, King Shene came in behind him, looking like he was on a mission. “Nabvan,” he said in his thick voice.

“Yes, King?” he asked, bowing his head in reverence.

“I have an important assignment for you, and it will be yours until I say otherwise,” he announced. Nabvan nodded in respect but was unsure what this new assignment could be. A lot of the older knights would love to see him take a demotion because of his age, but what would he have done to deserve such a thing? “I need you to be by my new human mate’s side at all times. You will guard her and care for her when I am not around. Most importantly, you will make sure that she does not escape or cause any trouble for me or for the others. Is that clear? You are her keeper when I am not on this ship and when I am caring for my duties as king. You should see this as an honor. It is the most important job besides mine.”

Nabvan did not know that he agreed with that. He was about to play babysitter to a human woman that the king meant to breed with for an indefinite amount of time. He would much rather be training and commanding a ship. He could see it in the eyes of some of his comrades that they thought it was a joke. Nabvan was not happy, but he knew what could happen to him if he defied the king.

“I see,” he said to the king. “I will take my new assignment seriously.”

“Do this right, and I can promise that all of these new children will be yours to train and command,” the king offered, upping the ante. Nabvan could not help but feel a push to do a good job despite his qualms about watching over the human woman. He would get a whole slew of new warriors in just a few years that could learn new techniques and abilities unlike any of the other knights right now. It would be the most challenging and rewarding job he could think of.

“It would be an honor.” Nabvan bowed and made his way to the king’s quarters on the ship as he heard the king give the order to fly on to the colony planet they needed to check on. It irked him that he would no longer be up there and a part of those commands, but he had to think of it as an opportunity.

He made it to the double doors and put in the code to enter, finding the woman looking much more scared than when he first saw her coming off of her ship. She was lying on the bed, looking startled at his entrance and scooting away from him, as if that would do her any good.

“Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you want to look at it, I have been assigned to be your keeper of sorts for the time being. The king has many important matters to tend to. And please, don’t try and escape. It will make this easier on the both of us.” That was as much as he was willing to say before taking a guard like stance at the door and focusing his eyes on a singular spot in the room. It was going to be a long few years waiting for those new knights to grow up and come to him, especially if he had to guard her the whole time.