Alien General's Chosen: SciFi Alien Romance (Brion Brides) Page 4

  Only after it had all calmed down did he allow himself to think on the matter of Gawen’s death.

  The sense of being incomplete took hold. His father and Gawen had been family, but they had both been taken from him. Diego was a friend, but that was not a bond as strong as the one he’d shared with his twin.

  That left only one option for being whole. In that whole great mess, Diego and his gesha Isolde had been right before him for most of the time. Faren had never thought that Diego, as ruthless and dangerous as any Brion general, could become warm in the way he did when he was around her. He probably didn’t realize how much his whole posture changed when he looked at Isolde. Faren had seen him kill countless enemies, had seen his friend grow into the most feared man in the galaxy, but that woman made him weak.

  It wasn’t the bad sort of weakness, just like being fearless wasn’t a compliment. Gawen’s death had left Faren alone in a way he didn’t think anyone else could even comprehend. The healers had told his father that he and Gawen were parts of a whole and he’d always assumed it was two wholes for the two of them. Only now everything told him he wasn’t enough for himself. It was a crippling feeling, one he didn’t like.

  Other men desired geshas so as not to be alone, in a very literal sense. Faren wasn’t bothered by solitude. There was lust too, but he’d always had enough women in his bed if he wished. That was not an incentive either. He wanted what a gesha truly was, at the most basic level – a feeling of being complete. Maybe then he could be a proper Brion. And he would have clarity in his life again to continue serving his purpose.

  At the very least, he would have to try. If there was one thing Faren didn’t tolerate in himself, it was being less than he could be. And right now, he was not all he could be. This would have to change, on way or another.

  After all, it was the Brion way to trust fate to bring them exactly the one they needed.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Leiya

  Home, Leiya thought happily. Home at last. Peace and quiet and…

  “They want you to sing!” Aya exclaimed so loudly that Leiya yelped and threw her cup of hot cocoa into the bush over her shoulder.

  “That will make my mother so glad…” she began, but stopped.

  Her best friends were running over the grass in front of her house and she couldn’t really muster even a single shred of anger towards them. She bounced off the precious grass and jumped into their hugs.

  When they finally broke their embrace, Leiya was nearly in tears.

  “Oh,” Iloya said at once, her healer-persona switching on like someone had flipped the light. “Did we hurt you?”

  “No-no-no,” Leiya hurried to assure them. “I’m just so glad, I was so afraid we’d grow tired of each other while we were away studying, but here you are, still the same brats that like sneaking up on me…”

  They laughed, the three of them. They’d all grown up together, the houses of their parents almost side by side in this luxurious part of the capital. Leiya hadn’t actually joked about the bush, because both that and the grass were rarities in the city. Briolina was quite green, but in the high-tech cities grass was almost nowhere to be seen. Children grew up and only saw the first of it during their study years. Leiya loved it, loved the feel of it under her toes, and she knew she was blessed to be so accustomed to it. There was something familiar and warm in it on a level she couldn't really explain.

  Iloya was the oldest of them, but it barely mattered. The Elders didn’t wake every year and they’d still all gone away to study at the same time. She could boast maturity over them, but she hardly bothered, Leiya thought with a smile. Iloya was the image of someone who didn’t fit the Brion profile completely. Healers were supposed to be short, small and mostly quiet. Iloya was taller than most of them and louder by a score. She made Leiya feel better.

  Aya was a year older than Leiya and quiet only in comparison to her friends. She was going to be a senator – which was why she’d already been smart as a child – and Leiya had always trusted her to know better. Aya simply saw through people more easily than she did, it was her gift, her job.

  And she, she was the youngest and needed no excuse to act like that.

  “Now…” Leiya said when the three of them had settled down. “You have got to be kidding me, right? I got home two days ago. My first tour begins in a week. I thought I would get some, I don’t know, rest? Peace and quiet? No?”

  “Yes,” Aya said. “Sing. You. Not joking.”

  “Why?” Leiya said in the same suffering voice she’d probably inherited from her father.

  “You’re the best, they say,” Iloya put in with a smile.

  Leiya giggled. That, too, was something the other Brions didn't seem to do. Her reactions were natural, immediate, pure. Even her friends, who she had always been close to because they didn't entirely fit either, actually fit the mold. They laughed when it was obvious someone told a joke. Leiya laughed when she thought something was funny.

  “They’re not afraid I’ll break all the glasses?”

  “They’re afraid you’ll break all the hearts, actually,” Iloya shot back.

  “Wait, who are they anyway?” Leiya said, realizing she wasn’t entirely sure what she was protesting against.

  She simply didn’t know if she wanted to sing already. Her tutors had taught her never to perform with anything she wasn’t satisfied with. She honestly didn’t know if she had enough material not in her first concert already.

  “They want you for the reception,” Iloya said, and then they both just looked at her.

  Ohhhhh, went Leiya’s mind. Now you’re talking.

  “You’re really not joking?” she had to ask.

  “No,” both her friends said at once, still waiting for her honest reaction.

  “I…” began Leiya.

  They smiled.

  “I have no songs,” she sputtered then. “I don’t know what I should wear. What if my gerion is there and doesn’t like my songs? Oh gods what if my gerion is there…”

  “Relax,” Aya said, patting her hand. “Everything will be fine. We take it’s a yes, and we can tell them you’ll sing?”

  “Of course I’ll sing!” Leiya said, grinning ear to ear. “I wanted to go anyway, but to perform there, it’s such a dream! Can you imagine if someone finds their fated just as I’m singing? Oh, I would love that. I need to write something magical.”

  “Receptions are magical,” Iloya pointed out.

  Yes, yes they are, Leiya thought.

  For as long as she could remember, she’d dreamed of them. In the Brion world where the fated couples were everything all of the social life revolved around the bindings.

  The fated – the gerion and the gesha – were meant for each other. Leiya firmly believed that had always been and always would be the most romantic theme a song could have. She lived for good binding stories, which is why she collected them with glee. She wasn’t jealous even for a moment but just excited to one day have her own story.

  Her admirers and audience knew of her love and approved of it, even if the Brions considered the bindings very private. Initially, some had thought she shouldn't sing about that, but those protests had drowned in the sheer mass of positive feedback that followed the first songs. Leiya had found that without names, without much detail, and the invasion of privacy it would have brought, it was fine. They sent the stories to her and Leiya turned them into musical magic. Sometimes they wrote to her, thanking her for making their stories immortal.

  Aya was snapping her fingers before her eyes and Leiya had to concentrate. Yes, the reception. The fated couples were only possible by actually meeting at some point in their life. To trigger the recognizing moment the gerions had, the receptions were a necessity. Of course all Brions knew that if fate wanted them to meet their other half, it would happen, but they were… impatient – now that was a true Brion emotion. One that Leiya had in common with them. She couldn’t wait to meet her gerion, if there wasn’t for th
e…

  “Opposite game,” Iloya was saying, just in spite of her, Leiya knew.

  Iloya was a healer, so she knew more about the matches than they did. And she often reminded them that fate sometimes brought the person their polar opposite. As far as Leiya knew, it was to keep the species from staying still in their evolution, prompting more variety. And, she added with a giggle, maybe just to mess with people.

  It scared Leiya a bit.

  “Iloya will have a scientist,” Aya said. Leiya laughed along with her at the way Iloya pulled a face at that.

  “Great occupation, but not for me,” she said. They all knew she was hoping for a warrior.

  “Definitely a scientist,” Leiya agreed, teasing. “You will have long, boring, insanely detailed conversations about… everything, really.”

  “Hah,” Iloya said. “Aya will absolutely have a warrior then. A really, really stupid one. Only talks in grunts and never wants to discuss philosophy with her.”

  “Oh gods,” Aya groaned, and they laughed again.

  When they didn’t immediately continue, Leiya had to ask, “What about me then?”

  “Oh, with you it’s too obvious,” Aya said, and Iloya nodded.

  “Definitely a warrior, but not a dumb one necessarily. Just a really cruel one, you know, like they say Diego Grothan drinks the blood of his enemies.”

  “That can’t be true,” Leiya said, not able to hide her concern.

  “About Diego or about your gerion?”

  “Both,” Leiya said, trying to smile, although if what Iloya was saying was even remotely true, it didn’t bode well for her.

  “Probably not true about Diego,” Aya allowed.

  “I don’t think they’d really let him roam around if he did that. Our generals are vicious, but that’s just… too much, I think. People will believe everything, though. The Galactic Union certainly believes it. I swear they will test his breath for blood the next time they see him.”

  They all laughed, the thought of someone daring to stop Diego Grothan for a test like that just too much.

  “About your gerion… it might be,” Iloya finished.

  “It isn’t always the opposite. We’re not hoping for those things either, you know. But fate sometimes goes in unexpected ways, so we really don’t know until they find us.”

  Nah, Leiya thought, pushing that possibility from her mind. Fate wouldn’t do that to me. I will have a nice, good Brion man who doesn’t drink blood.

  “Yes,” she said out loud. “I’ll definitely have a general. Only wait, no. Diego’s already bound. What a pity.”

  Iloya gave an appreciative hmm at that. Leiya laughed, before she remembered again.

  “Will you stop distracting me now?” she said, playing to be mad. “I need songs. What if I go there and just blank? Everyone will be at the reception, we haven’t had one in such a long time… Stop laughing, Aya, I really think I might fall off the stage.”

  “You never fall off the stage, you only ever worry you might. Why would you fall off?”

  “I’m really graceful, as you know.”

  “Well yes, I’ve seen you try to dance.”

  “You see!”

  “That’s why they make the edge of the stage extra high for you, dear.”

  “You’re telling me they’re literally building the stage for me thinking I’ll trip on something.”

  “I thought you never worried about anything.”

  “I didn’t say it was a bad thing,” Leiya said, still grinning. “It will be funny if I do. I’m just saying it’s a very real possibility.”

  They said Leiya – and all the Leiya-types – never really stood still, but that wasn’t entirely true. Later, when she was alone, Leiya thought of the reception once more but from a more personal angle.

  Ever since she’d realized she was going to be a singer, she’d wanted to take the stage during a reception; there was no doubt about that. Her heart yearned for the audience to make her music come to life simply by being there and listening. And she couldn’t overstate how much she wanted someone to find their fated to one of her songs. It would have been a compliment beyond all others, because the recognizing moments were always somehow special.

  She was well on her way to super stardom, by Brion standards at least, and it was high time she got used to being the center of attention in earnest. That part didn’t bother her. If anything, it made her more excited.

  But the reception itself… terrified her. Iloya wanted her warrior, and Aya wanted someone who could put three words in a row, and Leiya wanted a happy ending for all of them, but she… she was just afraid, for some reason. All her life she’d wanted and waited for her gerion, but now that the reception was looming ever closer, she had her doubts.

  Gods, she thought, smiling just a bit at the idea of asking fate favors. I don’t mind waiting a bit. Take all the monsters away first.

  That damn opposite game, that was what terrified her. She’d gone a surprisingly long while without seeing anything or anyone bleed. She’d even gotten over the small shock of Miren turning out to be a warrior – and he’d find her soon enough, there was no doubt about that. Leiya hoped he wouldn’t be her fated. He was one of her closest friends and a nice man. A nice warrior, but still a killer. She didn’t want that, couldn’t have that.

  It was something she hadn't even shared with Aya and Iloya. She'd joked along with them before, but there was a dark truth in it. Leiya didn't believe she could bear it if fate brought her someone cruel. Aya and Iloya were proper Brion girls. They had hopes and dreams, but she knew they would accept whoever it was without complaint and make it work. She didn't know if she could.

  There’s a song in there somewhere, she thought. When the words in her head started to dance to a tune, it was always a sign. They say lovers are bound by blood, yours is mine and mine is yours, but I want your hands unmarred and clean for me. Yup – definitely a song. Maybe not for the reception though.

  She smiled, her fears gone as quickly as they appeared. It would be amazing. All the people and lights and happy moments – the reception was pretty much everything she was. It was as if for one whole night, every Brion was compelled to be like her.

  On the evening of the reception, when it was time to choose a dress, she found herself unable to shake the hope despite her best efforts. Her heart yearned for her other half, had always done so. Even the opposite game, which was terrible, allowed her to dream of what he might be like. The one to make her complete, the one to give her songs that last final push she thought they needed. The personal one, her own story told at last after telling the tales of so many others.

  She quickly went through the usual phases from “not going” to “but I have the best songs”, which always won out.

  Eventually, Leiya decided on her favorite yellow dress.

  That wasn’t a traditional color for Brions either, too bright and sunny for them, she sometimes teased. But she liked it; it felt like she was dressed in sunlight. So, if she really was to meet her gerion, he would meet her just the way she was.

  No warriors, she warned fate. I will run. I will really run away. I know geshas fight, but I will honestly run away.

  She smiled to her image in the mirror, looking herself over. Yes, that looked like her, alright.

  She was ready to meet him.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Faren

  He honestly couldn’t believe Diego had talked him into this.

  The problem with having only one friend was that it left Faren with only one real option of who to talk to. And Diego had, in his infuriating way, been right about everything as usual. His meeting his gesha, Isolde, was truly a miracle of chance. If anyone didn’t believe in fate or the legitimacy of the Brion fated couples after that, nothing would convince them.

  “It had to happen,” Diego had said when they’d discussed the reception on the Triumphant, in his usual tone of calm. “It was meant to happen. Isolde is a human, the amount of coincidences that ha
d to happen for me to meet her…”

  He’d fallen silent then and Faren had done so as well, out of respect for his friend. He knew Diego was thinking of all the ways he could have missed Isolde, missed his gesha. That was enough to make even Diego Grothan speechless.

  “So,” Diego said when he shook himself out of the moment of considering the impossible. “It doesn’t hurt to give fate a few more chances, don’t you agree?”

  Faren agreed.

  That didn’t mean he had to like it. Like Diego, he couldn’t argue with the logic, nor with the results. Receptions were the biggest social gatherings on Briolina, held at irregular intervals whenever the demand for one arose. And the whole mess with Rhea had put a damper on that for a while. The Brions were hungry for a more positive event for sure. There was no better place to meet one’s fated. All of that was rationally true, Faren truly agreed.

  It was simply the reception itself he had a problem with. His ability to connect with other Brions was limited at best. He could only really talk to Diego, others he tolerated at their most likeable.

  The reception was, in short, everything he was not. It was loud, bright, noisy, and full of those who actually liked it. It was even worse this time as it had been a while since the last one. Everybody on Briolina was going to be vying to listen to a new budding singing sensation whose name Faren had mercifully managed not to catch yet. It was going to be a nightmare.

  He’d told Diego that too, but his friend had just smiled.

  “Almost every Brion attends a reception at some point in their lives,” he said. “You’ll manage one night.”

  That almost sounded like a challenge and Faren didn’t doubt for a moment Diego had phrased it like one completely on purpose.

  “Did you go?” he asked at last.

  “I did,” Diego called back to him, already returning to his training routine, which Faren had interrupted.

  “And,” Faren urged him on.

  Diego sent him an amused look.

  “I hated it.”

  The premise of it all was bad, but the reality was even worse.