Star-Crossed

Chapter Fourteen: I get a laugh outta starin' in darkness

Seeing my seriousness, Xerxion's eyes sweep over my face, waiting for me to give away what I was about to do.

"I'm sharing my food with you." My heart is pounding at that thought. I've never-ever-shared my food with anyone. Ever.

"Be lucky that I like you."

"Is that a confession?"

The tone of Xerxion's voice sounded a lot like he was flirting. When I look up at him, his face is doing that thing where it's completely straight, giving nothing away, but his eyes are laughing, amused by how flustered I clearly am.

"Just try it." I push my plate over to him lightly, trying to ignore my warm cheeks and Xerxion's obvious amusement.

When he does, his eyes widen and he just stares at the plate, then slowly drags his gaze to meet my eyes.

"That's amazing."

I laugh and nod.

"Now, give me my food."

Halfway through eating, I clear my mouth of food and say, "I still have a lot of questions..."

Xerxion looks up, nodding once. His serious gaze seems to say he figured as much.

"The first time we met on that beach, Ithuriel said you and your merry band of idiots crashed into him. That being said, I'm assuming you're not here alone...?"

Xerxion looks at me for a long time before he opens his mouth to speak.

"The Imperial Guard came along with me."

"Imperial Guard?" That sounds familiar, but when I try to remember where I've heard that name, all I'm drawing are blanks.

Understanding my confusion immediately, Xerxion explains, "They were your private army in your other life. They did a lot of missions in the Cosmos that you didn't trust anyone else with. I told you, remember? Now that the people of our planet know their queen is alive, many of them wish to follow you."

"And the ones who don't want to follow me want me dead."

"That won't happen." Xerxion fixes me with his serious gaze. "Not only is the Imperial Guard here, but I'm here, too. I failed to protect you once, I don't plan on doing so again."

When my eyes meet Xerxion's, I see that he is serious. There are no shadows of doubt in his deep, expressive eyes. He plans to protect me with his life if he needs to.

"Where are you all staying? And how in the hell did you end up with money?"

"For now, we're continuing to stay in our ship. It's still broken from our crash landing here, but once it's fixed the General thinks it would be a good idea to take you and head for Niburu." Xerxion frowns a little.

"You don't think that's a good idea." There's no need to ask, his disapproval is as plain as day.

"It's like you said, many still do not wish for you to rule. For the time being, Earth is the safest place for you. But your government hunts us. Ever since we landed in your Sahara Desert, they have been searching far and wide. It won't be long until they discover where we've hidden our ship. We don't wish to quarrel with mankind. Our only concern is you."

I lean back in my seat, considering things for a moment.

"Who's been running Niburu for the last seventeen years?"

"As your king, that responsibility fell upon me," Xerxion replies, frown deepening. "Once you are able to return, the task will return to you." He looks like he feels relieved about that. Seeing the thinly veiled relief on his face, I'm reminded of my memory. The one where he told me he was not fit to rule people and he didn't know the first thing about being a leader.

"My body is human now..." I trail off.

"I am aware of this."

"Is being on Niburu...safe for me?"

"The air of Niburu and the air of Earth are very similar to one another. If anything, the Niburuian air should be much better for you than your Earth air."

I nod once, my mind moving a thousand miles a minute. If I do end up having to return to Niburu, what would I say to Lari, Ty and Ava? I don't like the idea of having to leave them behind. And what about Aida. When all is said and done, those four are the ones I can't stand the idea of leaving.

Suddenly, though, my heart is beating in overdrive, my skin is far too overheated and there are tingles starting from the tips of my toes and working their way up to the crown of my head, and all of this is because Xerxion has lightly bumped his foot against mine.

My eyes shoot up, seeking his, wondering if the whole foot bump thing was intentional or if he did it by accident. Because he is tall and his legs are long and it's very possible it was completely an accident. Even if it is an accident, I will tell myself it was done purposely.

Giving nothing away, Xerxion says, "You don't have to leave if you wish. We can stay here as long as you want. Forever if that's what you desire."

What I desire is you, my love, the deepest fathoms of my soul whispers.

Clearing my throat, I give him a nod.

The minute we step out of the restaurant is when everything goes wrong. The cars whirling by us warp like some drug induced hallucination. It's like the feeling I had the one time I took the kids to Disney World and they insisted on riding one of those big roller coasters. It's that feeling of dropping from the highest point, feeling all your organs slam against the front of your stomach as you fall screaming, feeling the wind whip by you and feeling your heart race from the danger.

It's exactly like that but so much worse.

I stagger as the once colorful world turns black. The sensation is like I'm being pulled forward at light speed.

I hear Xerxion muttering something, but I can't understand him over the wind and the blood rushing in my ears.

Then, just like that, the world around us comes back into focus. The weird thing is that we're not where we started. The first thing my body registers is the great difference in temperature. The once warm night is very chilly, at least fifty degrees and steadily dropping. My shoes are not on a sidewalk, but instead, they are in sand. So much sand. A sea of sand.

Ithuriel is standing in front of us, his wild eyes moving from Xerxion to me and back again. Halcyon is standing behind him, staring at me hard. Fauvian is looking straight at Xerxion, his handsome face dripping with malice. It seems like he doesn't intend to forgive Xerxion for chucking a blade into his shoulder the last time they met.

"Xerxion, Rania, welcome to the party," Ithuriel greets us like a perfect host, smiling as his eyes glint in the moonlit dark. "Seeing my two favorite lovebirds is always a pleasant surprise."