The Song of the Rose by K.M. Carroll

Author:K.M. Carroll
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fairytale, beauty and the beast, space opera
Publisher: K.M. Carroll
Published: 2022-02-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6: Kidnapped

ALNAIR WAS STILL WAITING for Tarazed to answer his request for a voice transmission when he heard the approaching ships. He swore and cut the transmission. Then he hastily typed a message to Tarazed and sent it. He'd have to pray that his friend was near a screen to receive the message.

He leaped out of his chair, flung open his door, and dashed across the top-floor loft toward Zayn's room. She emerged as he reached it and ran into him. She bounced off with a grunt, and Alnair caught and steadied her.

"Rasalas!" she exclaimed.

"Yes," Alnair said. "Get outside and run into the grounds. Hide. Don't let them catch you."

"In the rain?" she exclaimed. But she was already galloping downstairs, toward the back door. She halted at the door, peering out the window in its upper half. "Alnair, there's ships landing in the grounds. Three of them. I think they've surrounded the house."

Alnair swore in his own tongue, his mind racing. If he hid Zayn in the house, Rasalas would simply tear the place apart. There was no other way to escape, save the doors. They would have to talk their way out. But a part of him was certain that all was lost. If Rasalas had brought an army with him, friendly negotiation was not his intent. He had struck fast, before Zayn and Alnair could call for help. Why had they spent so much time talking? Precious time had been wasted, and now it was too late.

Zayn raced back to him, moving with the light-footed speed of panic adrenaline. Alnair caught her hand and drew her close. "Zayn," he said, his voice low and intense, "I need you to trust me. I'm going to give you a device that may save your life. Don't part with it for any reason."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his linkstone on its strap. Zayn took it and crammed it in her pants pocket. "What is it?"

"My linkstone," said Alnair, watching the lights of two ships land on the terrace. Time was almost gone. He had to do one more hard, extravagant thing. He turned to Zayn, bent over her, and kissed her on the mouth.

He'd always imagined his first kiss as something magical, a gesture of love between his beloved and himself. It was the first taste of his beloved's energy, when his own energy first began to mingle with hers. Over time, their life energy would blend and become one.

Zayn's life energy didn't quite entwine with his the way he had hoped. For one thing, he had taken her by surprise, and she gasped and pulled away.

"Please," Alnair whispered.

She came back, her eyes softening with understanding. The second kiss was better, the energy mingling more freely. He sensed his linkstone in her pocket, attuning to their combined energy, accepting her as part of his link.

"There," he whispered, pulling away. "It's enough."

"What was?" Zayn said breathlessly.

But doors burst open all over the house, and there was no time to reply.

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