Alexis’s lungs and heart hurt the more she called out to and cried for the love of her life. He was long gone, taken away by the king’s guards while the king waited for her to stop wailing so he could dole out whatever punishment he had for her. All was lost, and she knew it. She would never be able to help the women now. She would never get to be with Nabvan. So, she hoped that her punishment would be a death that would lead her to a place where she could be with his soul. She did not want to live the life that would be ahead of her if the king kept her around.

“I cannot believe the betrayal that I have seen with my own two eyes. I cannot believe after all you have scolded me for that I have found my human mate, the woman I have chosen to be my queen, in bed with a man I count as my second. I cannot believe you have taken on another lover. Do I not please you when I thrust myself into you? Do I not make you shake and shiver with madness when I touch you in your special places?” he asked, his voice rising into a fever pitch over her now softening cries. She was losing her voice and losing her will to scream. For all she knew, the one she loved was dead already. If he wasn’t, could she ask for him to be spared?

“Please, before we get into this, I beg of you to save his life. Spare him. He has betrayed no one. He loves me dearly, and that is his only crime. He has no other mate, nobody else to answer to. I will die in his stead if a punishment must come down. Or send him away from this planet, somewhere else, anywhere. But please, do not hurt him. I will do anything.” Alexis pleaded through her tears, falling to the ground and begging at the king’s feet. It was the lowest moment in her life that led her down there, offering her life or anything the king commanded to save the love of her life.

She looked up at the king as he cocked his head to the side, not unlike a confused dog. He did not laugh, but he did not give her the answer she was looking for either. Alexis could feel her heart shattering inside her chest. She was certain it could never be whole again. “You would die for this Milisarian knight that has betrayed his king: this young, inexperienced man who took you just the way I wanted to?” the king asked as if it surprised him. The king would probably never give his life for anyone. No wonder he survived every battle. He probably used the rest of the knights as meat shields. It was sickening.

“Have you not ever heard of anyone willing to die for the one they love?” she asked, winning her a slap across her face that stung. His nails had raked her skin as well, leaving bloody claw marks that she grabbed and held, holding back her tears this time. Nothing hurt like the loss of Nabvan.

“Love? You have allowed yourself to fall in love with a man when I have chosen you? I have chosen you for a worthy position: to be the queen of all of Milisaria. I have had you in my bed and given you all the freedom you have asked for. I have not forced the women and men together. Instead, I am sending them home. All of this I have done because your wit and beauty had bewitched me in a way I never thought possible. And still you tell me you love another: a keeper that I gave to you to care for you?” he asked, clearly enraged. He did not understand. He would never understand.

“I am flattered that you find me so wonderful, but love is not a choice. If you had ever felt it yourself, you would know that,” she cried, hitting him where it hurt: that stone-cold heart of his.

“I want you to know before I do what I must do that I have felt something for you from the moment you stepped foot on this ship. It was why I chose you. Your beauty is an eye-catching thing, but your mind and your strength are something I have never seen here on Milisaria. It was something I wanted my people to have. You were a precious gift to my people and to myself. You may be right that I have never loved, but with you, I was certain I could have if you had only let me. I would have given up all of those women just to keep you, even in all of your stubbornness.” She didn’t know if she should believe him or not, but she couldn’t feel any worse than she already did. It was just more blood from an open wound at that point.

“And what is it you must do?” she asked as she watched the guards that had taken Nabvan away come back in. She found her eyes searching them for signs of blood but saw none. She didn’t know if she should hope for anything good, though. She doubted they would be allowed to so much as say goodbye.

“What I must do is follow Milisarian law which dictates a certain punishment for such matters. Nabvan is a Milisarian knight, and he will have to face the suffering that pays for the level of betrayal he has committed. I cannot stop that no matter what you say or what I want. Believe it or not, his service meant something to me. He was an amazing warrior.”

Alexis did not like his use of the past tense. Nabvan was already dead to the king. She bent over herself crying with no will left in her to speak or fight. She just wanted it to be over. “Will you kill me?” she asked him in an almost whisper before she felt the guards lifting her off the floor as if she weighed nothing.

She floated down the hall with the king following behind them. She didn’t know where they were going or who was seeing her being carried away like that. She didn’t really care anymore. She just wanted to know when it would end. “No, I will not kill you. You have not technically committed a crime. Though, your time with the Milisarians is over,” King Shene announced as she heard the clanging of bars. She looked up for the first time and saw that they were in the prisoners’ quarters, and the other women were locked up there as well. It seemed to be a formality only, with no guards around other than the ones who had carried her in. It was more of a symbol rather than a deterrent to anything. Wherever Nabvan had been taken to, it wasn’t there. “You will go back to Earth with the rest of them.”

The cell door closed behind her after she was thrown into the room, and she curled up in a little ball to cry. She did not get to end it yet, even when the happy ending would not come.