The King (Zolan Book 3) ✓

6

VADNAR

"I'm the one asking questions, Dee from Milky Way. Here is the first: are you married?"

She looks shocked, or perhaps offended. I don't understand why. I'm only gauging if I should expect an angry male to march onto my land, demanding for his wife to be returned. I wish a bastard would.

Although if Trey is any indication, I won't have much to worry about. The males of this species are... feminine. Short, soft, and sheltered. Perhaps I'm judging them too early, and they have pleasant qualities I haven't discovered yet. Trey might be good at... massaging wood by cowering and trembling on the floor all day.

I look down at him and scowl.

"Marriage? Why is that important?" Dee asks.

Definitely not because I'm interested in claiming her. No. That would be madness. This is simply a tactical question to prepare for future arrivals at my territory. Yes. That's what this is.

"Because I want you," I say, because I'm an impulsive arrow. I want to see her reaction. I'm not lying to her. There is a true attraction that I'm curious about, but pursuing it would be reckless.

She's shocked, rendered speechless. Maybe she hates the idea of being claimed by me. Interesting.

"Will your husband come looking for you or not? And does he also look like an adolescent?"

She lowers her head, almost in embarrassment. "I have no husband." Her voice is small and sweet. It will take me a while to get used to it.

"It's just you and Trey, then?"

She nods, still avoiding my gaze. "Where exactly are we?"

"Depends who you ask. War is everywhere, but last I heard, this land is called Zolan."

Her big, wondrous eyes seem to be worlds in of themselves. "Have you ever seen someone like me? A human? Maybe more of us got teleported. Maybe we can come together, maybe..." she stops, seeming disappointed to have slipped into desperation.

I reach for her, touching her chin and tipping her head up.The color of my skin is stark against hers. "I have never seen a female like you, Dee of Earth."

I would remember such beauty.

I hear movement behind me, but I don't look back. That is how little I think of this Trey male. He doesn't intimidate me.

Dee steps away from my touch and steps outside. I follow her, and we stand beside each other as she glances around.

It all looks like home to me, but who knows what she sees through her gaze.

"So you really don't know a way back? You don't know how to help me?"

"No," I answer truthfully. Not even the witch would know what to make of this. Humans are unheard of, more mind twisting than the epidemic of Masters.

Slavers would love to get their grimy hands on Dee and Trey.

I look down when I feel pain, and realize I've dug my nails into my palms.

"Where are your animals? This is a lonely farm." Dee asks, but I can tell that her mind is planets away.

"I set them free."

I had a few domestic beasts on the farm when I first purchased it. But then they began to follow me around, call for me, nudge me in almost a playful manner, and the idea of slaughtering them for my dinner table became discomforting. So I let them go, and that's one of the few reminders that I'm not a monster.