Nabvan cringed every time he heard a whimper come from Alexis’s mouth. He found it hard to believe what King Shene had done to her. King Shene was a self-righteous sort of king, and he expected his women to submit to him, but most of the other women were willing participants. He had never punished anyone this way. The markings on her back scared him, and she had been in and out of consciousness for two days now with the pain. He knew he had to do something to help her before it was too late. Her body was not healing, and he knew all too well the infection that those whippings could bring for her. Many of their prisoners had died within just days of getting a beating like that.

It could get him a similar fate, but he had to help her. He had called the nurse to come and be quiet about it: say it was for him and not Alexis. Hopefully, she would be able to bring the necessary medicines with her in order to heal those wounds and help them not hurt Alexis so badly, or she would never wake up. And she needed to wake up to keep them clean and get strong. King Shene would eventually be back on the ship, and he would expect her to be ready for mating or another round of punishments.

Nabvan shook his head as he dared a glance over at Alexis before the nurse came into the room. What a waste of a human mate: putting her body in pain and bringing her to the brink of death. Nabvan really did not get the point of any of this right now. Many of the other men had not successfully mated with their women either, though their punishments were less harsh. These women were stubborn creatures. If only they had known that before they had captured a ship full of them. They could have saved two races a lot of trouble.

A knock came at the door, and he let the nurse in quickly, hoping no one would ask any questions. If they did, he would have to do a good job of faking illness. Neither of them would ever get away with helping Alexis after the king had chosen to punish her. The nurse faked an easy smile as she looked over at Alexis and shook her head silently. How often had she seen injuries like these? Nabvan would guess it would not have been too often since prisoners were generally not allowed any care. Those living free on the ship did not see a punishment such as this, which was the only reason Nabvan was risking everything to heal Alexis. This was not meant to be her fate, and he strongly disagreed with the way his king was handling things. That was not how a mate was won, and he did not even need a mate to begin with. He had so many. Alexis should have been granted to a man with a need for one who would have treated her with respect.

He watched as the nurse pulled some vials out from her bag and put them onto a tray. Then, she pulled out some bandages and soaked them in the liquid she had prepared. Nabvan also noticed that she set down two needles and a small bottle on the table. “I cannot stay here for the whole treatment, Nabvan, because they will realize I am not in here for you. It will take some time. I will have to trust you to take care of her. Once these bandages are all soaked with the antibiotic, you will place them along the wounds and let them soak up the infection. After about an hour, inject her with the pain medicine I have left. There is a dose for today and for tomorrow. I do not know if I can get you more after that. We will see. Make sure after the pain subsides that she cleans herself. You may need to help her. I am sorry I cannot do more,” she explained with her head hanging low.

“I understand. I appreciate you coming at all,” Nabvan told her with a sad look. Alexis was still not awake, and he wasn’t sure if it would be better if she was or was not awake for this. “Should I wake her to do this?” he asked the nurse, wanting her professional opinion.

“I hate to say it, but it is best if she is awake so that she knows to be still during the process. Cool water might help pull the fever out and wake her up.” Nabvan nodded and let the nurse go, hoping that he was not going to regret what he was doing. He could see the king any day or not for a long time, depending on the mood he was in. Nabvan could only hope that he would stay away for some time, letting her heal before he did come back to decide what to do with Alexis. Otherwise, she surely would not survive another visit from him.

Nabvan waited until the door shut and locked before he went to the washroom for a bowl of water, bringing it back to sprinkle along her neck and her head. He sprinkled it lightly a few times, and she began to stir. He sat by her side to be sure she did not roll over onto her back. “Shhh,” he calmed her. “It’s me. I need you to be awake and very still, do you understand?”

“Why?” Alexis squeaked out, a shadow of her former self. Why had King Shene chosen to be so cruel?

“I have some medicines here to help you, but it’s going to hurt. It won’t help if you move.” She nodded, biting her lip. He hated that he had to hurt her, but it was the only way. Nabvan got up to check on the bandages and found that they were now soaked in the liquid that the nurse had poured into the tray. He picked up each one, bringing them over to her and placing them on her back. A new sound came from her mouth as each one was laid down on her infected, broken skin, but she did not move. That was what was important.

He was finally able to sit by her side and wait for them to draw out the infection. “The nurse said you need to leave those on for about an hour,” he announced to her, keeping her informed. “Then, you can have an injection for pain, and we can get you cleaned up.”

“You think it’s strong enough to let me stand up in a shower?” she asked, sounding like she didn’t believe it was possible. She sounded ill, and he could see now that she had a green color to her skin. He had acted just in time.

“It should be,” he answered. He looked over and could see she was dozing, but he knew it was important to keep her awake. He had to find a way to keep her engaged. It meant he would have to talk to her, and he did not know how he felt about relating to a human that technically belonged to the king, but he was finding that he cared for her much more than he expected to care for any human woman. “Tell me something about your life before, like why you were on a ship headed to marry the Arkani,” he said, hoping it wasn’t too personal to start out with. It was something he had wondered about, what had caused these women to leave Earth and head to the Arkani instead of marrying a human man. Were they that bad? He knew they were not scarce.

“Most of the women needed a second chance. They were in trouble and didn’t have many opportunities on Earth, or their family was keeping them from being happy and living to their potential,” she said hoarsely. Nabvan noted that she mentioned nothing personal about herself.

“I did not ask about the other women,” he told her, not letting her get away with that. “I asked about you.”

She sighed, and Nabvan could tell that it must be a sore subject for her. He doubted her story was the same as the rest of the women. She had been different from the moment she stepped foot on the ship, which ended up serving her poorly, getting her chosen to be the mate of the king instead of somebody else. Not that most of the other women were happy, but they were not in such distress. “I love science,” she said, not being at all what Nabvan would expect to hear. He knew what science was and the importance of it. The ship they were in was all made possible by science, but Milisarians did not partake in any such endeavors themselves. They often stole technology from other civilizations and leaned on them for such matters. They knew little about their own illnesses and anatomy and even got their cures for diseases from elsewhere. It was one of the reasons they needed humans so badly. Humans had a great capacity for scientific knowledge. The Milisarians believed that if they bred with humans, they too would gain those abilities.

“So, you were going to the Arkani to assist in their research,” Nabvan guessed. “You must be a very intelligent woman. We could use someone like you on our planet, if only the king would appreciate what skills you might have to offer.”

“That’s the story of my life,” she retorted. “Men have never appreciated what I might have to offer. That is why I left Earth. No one would take me seriously because I was a woman.”

Nabvan thought about that for a moment. In general, the Milisarian women were lesser beings as in they did not hold power positions or go to war, but they were not doubted in the talents they did have. All nurses were female, and every warrior needed a mother to birth and raise him. He doubted the Milisarian Knights would be opposed to allowing women to have other jobs on the planet as well. “That is very sad that you could not live your potential on Earth. I can see why you would think the Arkani would be a good race to help you with that. I do hope that you are allowed to share your knowledge with us now that you are here.”

“I don’t think the king will let me share anything other than my body,” she commented sourly, and he felt a pang of guilt at that. The king’s desperation for a hybrid child was so much so that he was on the verge of committing a crime. The problem was that none of the women had stepped foot on the surface of their planet yet, so they did not have protections under the law. He could only hope she could survive until they made it home. That sort of treatment would be frowned upon, even if it were coming from the king.

“Things will be better on the surface,” he assured her. “Just hang on until then.”

“You’re being awfully nice to me,” she noted.

“Well, I do not necessarily agree with what my king is doing right now,” he admitted.

When the hour was up, he checked the bandages to see that they were the color of blood and puss. They had done a great job of sucking out infection. The wounds looked smaller and older, less angry as he looked them over. He was sure they still hurt, though. He went for the needle and filled it with medication before injecting it straight into her back. There was a slight groan from her but then a relieved sigh. “What’s in that?” she asked, sitting up with the blanket covering her womanly form. “It’s strong.”

“I have no idea,” Nabvan answered with a shrug of his shoulders as he went to the washroom to prepare the shower for her. “We have one of our colonies produce it. We make almost nothing ourselves. Are you ready to get clean?” he asked after he had started the water.

Alexis looked hesitant, but he needed to reassure her. “You need to keep it clean. It’s what’s best. I will not take advantage of you. I am only here to help.” She stood up slowly, reaching out her hand to him. She allowed Nabvan to lead her into the washroom where he helped her into the shower. She gritted her teeth as the water fell against her pained skin, but he noted how brave she was not to scream or jump out immediately.

“Just let the water run over it for a bit,” he told her. She looked up at him, still hanging onto his hands, and Nabvan noticed her blue eyes for the first time as they looked upon him. He tried to focus there and not look to her body, which despite being broken was still a beautiful shape. He realized for the first time the appeal of a human woman, and he felt his own body respond to her. By the way she was looking at him, Nabvan wondered if she felt something similar.

The sad part was that it did not matter what either of them felt about the other. She was the chosen mate of the king, even if he did not agree. He could not act on any feelings because it would put more than him in danger. He needed to get a grip on himself.