Bethany opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Klowix sitting on a chair next to her. He was talking on his T-screen to someone, and his eyes flicked up when he saw Bethany was awake. Without saying anything, he got up and walked out, blurring and speeding away so fast that her eyes couldn’t follow him.

Bethany’s heart sank. He was still mad, she knew it. Klowix came back a few seconds later, though, followed by Dr. Yie, who asked how she was feeling.

Bethany did a quick mental inventory of her body. “Good, actually. I mean, I’m tired, but otherwise I feel fine.”

Dr. Yie nodded and addressed Klowix. “As I said, having you in physical proximity for another few days will help.”

“When will we be able to separate safely? I still need to send her home.” Klowix spoke directly to the doctor and did not look at Bethany.

“Two weeks, maybe three. Of course, we’ll test her first to make sure everything is ok.”

“Is there anything else I should know about the sharing?” Klowix frowned at Dr. Yie, who wrung his hands and didn’t meet his eyes.

“No, Commander, nothing. I assure if I had realized you didn’t know, I would have…”

Klowix brushed him off. “Dismissed, doctor.”

He sat down next to Bethany again and put a hand over hers. For a moment, she thought he was making a tender gesture, but she gasped as she felt the familiar pleasure tingle through her. She noticed that Klowix had what she could only describe as a bracelet on under his uniform, but she couldn’t focus on it for long; she was too busy moaning in bliss.

When Klowix was done, his face was flushed, and Bethany felt weak and limp. She should let him send her home. Could her heart keep beating? Could her lungs keep inflating with him taking more and more from her? Even though it felt so good, she should tell him to let her go.

She opened her mouth to do so, but different words came out. “I don’t want to go back. I want to stay here.”

Klowix frowned at her. “You were brought here illegally and against your will.”

Bethany restrained herself from rolling her eyes. What was it with Evions? Talk about persistence; how many times would she have to tell him she wanted to stay before he got over the illegal disaster that brought her here? She wondered if he’d make her beg. She found the thought strangely sexy.

“Please, Commander, I want to stay. Yes, I was brought here against my will, but now I’m here because I want to be. Let me stay?”

Klowix considered her. “Very well. Now, sleep.”

Bethany didn’t want to sleep, but she obediently closed her eyes, wondering if he would watch her while she slept. The doctor had said he needed to stay close. She liked the sound of that.

* * *

“Come.”

Bethany grimaced. “Commander, I’m still really tired.”

Klowix held out his hand and raised his eyebrows. Bethany reluctantly took it and let him lead her to the dining room.

“The doctor says you must not lie in bed, or your strength may fade. You need to keep active. After breakfast, we will go for a walk.”

Bethany stumbled, and Klowix grabbed her elbow to stop her falling on her face.

He may have read the alarm in her expression. “Not in the hover. We will walk. You must regain your strength.”

Bethany much preferred the idea of being locked in the bedroom with him, but didn’t say anything.

The others gathered around Bethany when they saw her.

Snia pulled her into a hug. “We were so worried. Are you ok?”

“I’m fine.” For now, she added in her head. Would she even survive the next sharing?

She snuck glances at Klowix as he ate in silence, which was unusual for him. He usually made an effort to make conversation. Before breakfast was half done, his T-screen began vibrating. He glanced at it before getting up and swiftly going to his room, closing the door behind him.

Lizzy didn’t look up. “The king.”

“What?” Bethany choked on her glass of water. “The king calls him personally?”

“Oh yes, every now and again. He is the commander of all the forces on Telion, after all.”

“I didn’t know that. I thought it was just in the area or something.”

She looked at Klowix’s closed door, imagining him commanding a planet’s worth of soldiers.

“Anyway, he’ll be in there for at least an hour. Conversations with the king are never short. Your walk may need to wait.”

Relief swam through Bethany as she leaned back against her chair. At least an hour – she’d be safe for at least an hour.

“Let’s do some shopping.” If she had one guaranteed hour of life, she wasn’t going to waste it. Who knew what would happen next?

Culip happily produced a T-screen out of nowhere. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Let’s see, Bethany still needs some more going outside clothes…”

“Speaking of shopping, when did Klowix start wearing a bracelet?”

Beoli laughed. “He bought that the day after you two first did the sharing. I thought he was going to give it to you, but I guess he decided he liked it.”

Bethany laughed too. She couldn’t imagine anything less Klowix-like than wearing jewelry; she supposed there was still a lot she didn’t know about him.

The hour flew by, and soon Klowix was back, holding his arm out for Bethany to take. By then, the others had her dressed in what counted as “appropriate” for Evions; she found she missed the silk dresses, having gotten so used to them over the past few weeks.

She eyed Klowix’s hand, and sure enough, he brought it up to grip the back of her neck, gently but firmly. Bethany’s eyes slipped closed and she fell back against his chest. She could feel Klowix’s heart beating behind her.

When she opened her eyes, no one was looking at her, seemingly embarrassed, as though catching her in the act of sex. She guessed they were, in a way, and she blushed.

“Come on.” Klowix gestured to Trili, who took Bethany’s hand. The rush of essence coming into her rather than going out was becoming familiar, but it didn’t turn her on the way it did when it was Klowix touching her.

She still felt a bit shaky as Klowix led her outside. There was a path going around the city, though there were few people using it – almost everyone was in a hover. Klowix steered Bethany along, taking her past some of the greener areas of the city. Bethany was amazed at how tall the trees got on Telion. They seemed to be touching the sky.

As much as she was enjoying the walk, Bethany stumbled to a halt. “I’m tired again.” She began to think longingly of her bed.

“Come.” Klowix didn’t give her a chance to protest before he took her in his arms and moved so fast it made Bethany’s head spin. The world flew by them, and a second later, Bethany was sitting on a bench in completely unfamiliar surroundings.

She looked at him. “I’m getting used to that.”

“That is good to know.”

They sat in silence for a while, Bethany watching the few other people on the path go by. Mostly, the Evions looked human, except for when they did those flashes of super-fast movement. Bethany realized that she hadn’t been outside properly since she was taken, and she missed it.

“Ok, I’m ready.” She stood up, but Klowix gestured her back down.

Bethany hid a smile and waited for his command before setting off again, suddenly enjoying her walk a lot more.

After a while, Klowix told her they were heading back. They passed a woman with her hair in a high bun, who glared hotly at Bethany as they passed. Bethany took half a step back, alarmed at the venom in the woman’s expression.

Klowix’s brow drew down in a frown and he pushed Bethany slightly behind him and turned to face the woman.

His voice boomed at the woman. “Is there something you’d like to say?”

The woman paled a bit, but held her head high. “I have nothing to say to Evions who disgrace our heritage.”

Klowix seemed to expand as his expression darkened. “Well, if that’s the case, maybe you’ll have something to say to the magistrate. Such talk is banned on Telion, which means you’ve just committed a crime.”

Bethany didn’t know what was going on, but she was transfixed by Klowix. He looked like a great predator, preparing to spring on its prey.

“Who do you think you –?”

“Commander Klowix of the fifth division.”

“Forgive me, Commander, I didn’t know…”

“Didn’t know who you were speaking to? Well, perhaps that’s for the best, if you would have veiled your true thoughts to one who would call you to account for them.”

Klowix took a small device out of his pocket, about half the size of a T-screen. By this time, a crowd had started to form around them. Klowix typed something on the screen, and turned his glare back to the woman.

“Your name, citizen.”

“Unili of the seventh citizen’s division, sir.” Her voice was suddenly very small, and she was clearly regretting her rash comment very seriously.

Bethany heard a loud wailing coming closer and closer. It sounded like someone being tortured, but when it got closer, she saw that it was a hover. Men leapt down and bound Unili with what looked like glowing ropes of light. They bundled her into the hover, after saluting to Klowix.

Klowix addressed the group around them. “Anyone else?”

They all turned away hurriedly, but Bethany noticed that some of them looked angry and resentful, as though they agreed with Unili, but wouldn’t say so in front of Klowix.

Klowix approached one of the soldiers from the hover. “Get another hover here now.”.

“Of course, Commander. Shall I have someone wait with you until it arrives?”

“That won’t be necessary, soldier, you know that.”

The man grinned and saluted again before climbing into the hover. It rose into the sky and flew away.

“What was that?” Bethany’s voice was almost a whisper as the crowd fled from the expression on Klowix’s face, leaving them alone on the path.

“Not now.”

He was still as tense as a spring, even though Unili was long gone. Bethany remembered the video she’d seen of him in action and realized why he didn’t need anyone to wait with them in what he clearly deemed to be a dangerous situation. He could probably kill everyone on the street with one hand, and without breaking a sweat.

Everyone on the path was now giving Klowix a wide berth, and for good reason. Even Bethany was a little afraid of him right now; she’d never seen him like this. Since she clearly wasn’t supposed to talk, she went through the memory again, trying to see him through his soldiers’ eyes.

He was curt and firm with them, like he was with everyone else, but she also thought she had glimpsed something more than that in the brief minutes she had seen. The men clearly respected him and would follow him anywhere. She wondered what he’d done to earn such respect.

When the hover finally arrived, Klowix got her in quickly and ordered it to take them straight home. He was still silently fuming, and Bethany didn’t dare break the silence. When they got home, the girls were waiting at the door as usual, but Klowix brushed past them without so much as a hello.

“Trili, Anna, come.” He headed straight to his bedroom. Trili and Anna scurried after him, leaving Bethany feeling somewhat hurt.

“What’s going on?”

Ruth looked at her. “We were hoping you could tell us. What happened out there?”

“I have no idea.” Bethany described the bizarre encounter as best she could remember. When she finished, the others all had knowing looks.

Snia looked down. “No wonder he’s so mad.”

Beoli agreed. “Yeah, I don’t envy Trili and Anna.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re the two who wind up attending to Klowix when he’s stressed or angry. He vents to Trili and then Anna tries to massage out some of the tension.”

“But why is he mad? I don’t understand.”

Culip sighed. “Well, it’s a bit of a long story. Come on, sit down. We’ll try to explain as best we can.”

Bethany allowed herself to be led to the lounge, wondering what it was she didn’t know.

Lizzy looked at Beoli. “You’d be best at explaining it.”

“I guess so. I thought I’d left all that behind me. I didn’t realize it was here already.”

“What?” Bethany was beginning to feel impatient.

“How much of the history between Earth and Telion do you know?”

“Not much.”

“Well, in the early days of discovering each other, humans and Evions didn’t tolerate each other very well. Our races have many similarities – both fear that which we do not understand and cannot control. Anyway, things got better over the years as kings and governments passed sensible laws, but large parts of the populations still remained conservative and afraid.”

Bethany remembered how she used to think of Evions as monsters that would eat your soul, and felt her face reddening.

Beoli continued. “I grew up in a community like that. When I got here, it took some time for me to learn to live with humans. Everything I’d been told about you was wrong; it turns out you’re not that different from the rest of us. Many people still live in ignorance, though.

“Worse, there has been a movement recently; the more conservative Evions advocate no interaction between humans and Evions, and their cause is gaining traction. They’d have us kick out all the humans who’ve made a home here, and drag back all Evions who live on human planets. It started off in the less civilized areas. That it’s made its way here is disturbing.”

“So that’s why Klowix is so angry.”

Snia nodded. “Klowix faced a lot of trouble early in his career because of his tough stand on equal rights for humans and Evions. He thought all of this was dealt with. Now that he knows it’s not, well, let’s just say that heads will roll.”

Bethany giggled, but Snia looked serious, and Bethany’s grin faded. She certainly didn’t envy Unili at the moment.