If Alexis had to guess how long it was before Nabvan came into her room, it would have been about an hour. The moment the coast felt clear, he had come into the room with a sweet smile on his face that was hard to resist. Her mind went immediately to the deal she had made with King Shene, but she didn’t know if she could say anything just yet. She had to process it first for herself, and she knew she had a whole week to enjoy whatever time she could have with Nabvan. It was a selfish notion, but it was all she had to cling to these days.

Alexis watched Nabvan as he walked over to her and sat down on the bed, leaning in to plant a sweet, chaste kiss on her lips. There was more feeling in that less-than-thirty-second contact than anything she’d experienced with any other male: Milisarian or human. She had to think about all the events that led up to that kiss and wonder if there was a driving force behind the things that happened to people. She was supposed to be with an Arkani man right now, possibly already married to him. She was supposed to be working in one of the Arkani labs, finding out why all of their women were getting ill and dying. Instead, she had been captured by the Milisarians along with all of the other women, and she found herself in love with a Milisarian who was not the man that chose her. But it didn’t matter. Her life would be just a little emptier without Nabvan in it.

“Do you ever think that all of this happened for a reason?” she asked him, trying not to give too much of her emotional state away. She didn’t need him to go asking any questions that she wasn’t ready to answer yet.

“Yes, actually. I absolutely think this happened for a reason,” Nabvan said, surprising Alexis. She hadn’t expected such an answer out of him, especially after the way he had reacted to their first kiss. He had said he was sorry and she had forgiven him for it. But there was a piece of his personality in there that made her think he regretted meeting her. “I don’t know the reason yet; I can’t deny that. But I don’t know if I could ever want this to turn out any other way. Well, unless it meant me choosing you to begin with. That might have been better.”

That made Alexis smile. “It might have, but you wouldn’t have. You were too stubborn.” They laughed at that, only because it was so true.

“You are probably right about that,” he told her, meeting her eyes in a way that made her feel like she might be melting into the bed. “Alexis?” he said quietly, like he was afraid to say what was coming next. Alexis perked up, wondering what he might have to say. She needed to let him know what was on her mind about the women, but she had to know what he had to say first. Maybe he knew. “I love you. I don’t know what that’s going to mean later on, but I know that I do. I love you the way Siefer loves Destiney, but maybe even more than that.”

Alexis felt her heart skip a beat in response to what he said. She was not expecting him to say something so strong. It did complicate things since she loved him too. What would that mean for King Shene? Nabvan might have to make a decision to leave or stay sooner than either of them thought. “I don’t know either, Nabvan,” she told him, afraid to say it back because it was so final. There was nothing they could go back on after that point. But she couldn’t just leave him hanging. “I love you too.”

Nabvan looked shocked, as if he had no idea she felt that way. How could he not know? She was risking so much for him now, and he had been there for her when no one else was. He had done so much. He embraced her, and she him, squeezing him until they couldn’t breathe. “I didn’t think you did,” he admitted as they pulled away.

“Well, I do,” she replied. “But there’s something I need to talk to you about. It has to do with the other women. I don’t want to get you involved, but I am scared for them,” she told him, hoping he would have something reassuring to say; an idea of what she could do to stop it.

“What’s going on, Alexis? Was it something the king said?” Nabvan asked. He didn’t seem to have any idea. That made it even worse. The king must not have been telling anyone his plan.

Alexis nodded. “It was. He was telling me that a lot of the women still are not cooperating with the men who chose them and that it was causing distress for both parties. I can see how that might be true, but I do not agree with how he plans on handling it.” She paused, trying not to choke herself up talking about it. She still felt like she was the one responsible for their fates. She was the one who had chosen them for that flight. “If they have not mated within the next week, they are going to be taken back to Earth when King Shene goes to meet with some of the leaders there. He’s just going to hand them over and leave them there.”

“Okay, so what is the problem with that? They aren’t happy here, and that is their home. Isn’t that better than forcing them to stay here as slaves?” Nabvan asked, clearly not understanding.

“Don’t you remember that I told you these women were leaving Earth for a reason?” she said desperately. Nabvan nodded. “The thing is that some of them were in jail. It means they were prisoners. They had done something wrong and wanted to get away from that life and start over. If they go back to Earth, it means they go back to that lifestyle they needed to leave. They go back to unsupportive and abusive families, friends who keep them doing things that are illegal, and possibly back to jail.” She was frantic at this point, trying to get him to understand the gravity of it all.

“Earth wouldn’t help them out and give them new lives after what happened to them? I mean, they have been captured by an alien race who is trying to force them to breed with them. I would think that would count for something,” Nabvan pointed out, but Alexis shook her head. She wished she could trust her own race to do those things, but she knew better. It wasn’t so easy.

“I wish I could say it would be that simple, Nabvan, but it’s not. Even if they didn’t go back to jail, finding a job and a home would be hard. Many would be forced to go back where they were before because they would end up starving on the streets otherwise. Humans can be kind and helpful, but laws can make them seem very cruel. There wouldn’t be much for them to go back to, and I don’t know what to do for them. I don’t even think they know this is what is happening to them.”

“I don’t know what we could do to change it, Alexis, but many of the men are away with the king. I could see if you could get to some of the women to warn them. At least then they would know, and they might change their minds about cooperating with the men. It is a harsh choice, but at least it would give them one,” Nabvan offered. It was better than nothing.

“You always do so much for me, I hate to ask it, but that would be great if we could just get through to them.” Nabvan nodded, sliding his fingers through her hair reassuringly for a moment before making the call. He would have to find out where they were at and how guarded they were before they even tried, but she knew she owed him for doing this for her. Nabvan was always putting himself in danger for her. She should have realized his feelings from the beginning. Maybe they would have had more time to figure it all out.

As Nabvan took her to the place in the inner city that now held all of the women who had not mated with their men, Alexis was feeling hopeful. They had gotten their own wing on tier four, so she hoped that meant they had more freedom. The king had promised that to her as long as she considered his proposal to mate with him.

Her hope was soon dashed as she realized that the king had only made the situation look better. The women were actually quarantined together so they could not leave the hall where their rooms were for any reason. Food was brought into them along with clean clothes, but they only had each other for company until the men had visitation hours when they continued to try and convince the women to give their bodies up to them.

And as she talked to each woman, she could see that they had begun to view her as one with the king. They did not trust or believe anything she said. They mostly thought she was trying to trick them or that it didn’t matter what she had to say because she was just as evil as the rest of the Milisarians. Only one woman had said she might talk with the man she was supposed to be with and see if they could work something out because there was no way that she was going back to Earth.

Alexis felt sad with defeat as Nabvan led her back to her own room for a meal of her own. There was little hope for these women, then. But now she had a decision to make herself, and as she ate a meal with the man she loved, she knew she would have to tell him whether she liked it or not. She knew now that she did not want to be sent back. She did not want to be sent away from this wonderful planet, the man across from her, or the chance to make a difference with science. She knew what she had to do, and she was going to make the most of the week before telling Nabvan what that meant.