Plutonian

Chapter 12

"Why did you attack me last night?" I accuse him angrily. "You nearly killed me."

His eyes fall on my neck and his face pales. "I wasn't aware of what I was doing. I need you to tell me exactly what I did and if I mentioned anything."

"I woke up when I heard you moaning loudly. I then saw you crouched on the floor digging into your skin," I grimaced at the vivid memory of dark blood trickling out from under his nails. "I tried to stop you and that's when you attacked me. You said you had to kill me in a voice that didn't sound like you and then your grip weakened when you resisted. That is the only reason why I'm not dead right now."

"I resisted?"

"Yes, you said 'no' but you were in some sort of trance," I explain and his face lights up in realization. He knew what I was talking about.

"Thank you for your report, Aria," Lucian states mechanically. He picks up a piece of meat and starts cutting them into tiny pieces. 

My appetite begins to dwindle as I realize he knows something about last night that he isn't telling me. I grip my knife tightly and stare at him but he refuses to meet my eyes. 

A few questions that I might have ignored previously now fight their way into the center of my mind.

Why am I the first person he has invited over to watch him?

Why has he never recorded himself instead?

"There is something you are not telling me," I state.

"I've told you what is necessary. You are here in my house, my city, my planet. I have no obligation to tell you anything," He snaps and then his face scrunches up in guilt. 

My skin burns with anger. He has been nice and too accommodating, I almost forgot that he is a cold blooded Plutonian. And worse, Plutonian royalty. 

"I agree, this is your house and your planet and I am nothing but a lowly servant. But if it's regarding our arrangement here then yes, I think it is your obligation to fill me in on something that clearly endangers my life. Wouldn't it have been safer if you had just recorded yourself instead of endangering someone else? And why have you asked a human to accompany you when it is so easy for you to overpower and kill me? Wouldn't it have been safer for a Plutonian to watch you? Surely one of your servants would have sufficed? Unless a human life means less to you than a Plutonian's."

His jaw ticks and his eyes fill with pain, confirming that there is some truth in my accusations.

"I have promised to keep our arrangement a secret but if you can't be honest with me then our deal is off." I stand up theatrically and keep my face stern even though my body is shaking in fear. I do not know what he will do to me for saying this but there is some fear in his eyes which gives me the courage to take a step back.

"Wait, sit down," He instructs in a defeated tone. 

I sit and stare at him in silence waiting for him to continue.

"I can't record myself," He finally admits in defeat. "The camera's here are easily accessed by our security center, which is why I don't have any in my room."

I don't understand why that is a problem. 

"Surely someone in your position could have kept your recordings a secret? Don't you have exclusive access to your own private property?" I asked indignantly. It didn't seem fair that something as private as his sleep could be accessed by others in the security center.

"You are right as much as you are wrong. The security center is manned by only a select few and only the Trinity and the army generals have access to recordings of our private property. But that is exactly the problem. If I had recorded myself, the generals, Lazarus and Luna might have seen it," He explains and I swallow hard, processing this crucial piece of information.

Now I know all the cameras in the city are viewed in a place that can only be accessed by a handful of people. And yet something just doesn't feel right. How can the generals be fine with sharing their privacy with each other?

I raise my eyebrows skeptically and he sighs.

"I didn't know this either. Not until a few years ago when I started developing bruises after I slept. I recorded myself and didn't see anything. The next night I asked my house keeper to keep watch and tell me what she saw the next day. I woke up to a dead body and broken cameras but the film was recorded and one of the generals saw it."

I nod slowly, eating up his words and letting them settle like heavy stones in the pit of my stomach. 

He killed someone. I am not the first person he has asked to observe him. 

"To kill a Plutonian is murder but because I was a minor and did not do it intentionally I was exempted from punishment. The general deleted the video immediately from our database and we have not spoken of it since," Lucian answers. "I was warned that if I harmed another Plutonian again the general would not be able to help me."

I nod my head in understanding. It is a crime to kill a Plutonian but not a human. The bile rises in my throat as I am unable to stomach my disgust. 

"I'm guessing the general is your father?" 

"My mother," He replies. "This is highly classified information. If we were to hear anything from anyone outside, she would have your head on a stick."

I run a sweaty palm across my lap and smile bitterly. "Do not worry, if I die tonight I would have taken this secret with me to the grave."

"I have no plans to kill you or anyone, Aria. Contrary to what you believe, a human life and a Plutonian's life make no difference to me and I have enough guilt to last me a life time, I do not want to add to it unnecessarily."

"Why have you waited for so long since? Why are you curious now?" I watch him play around with the meat on his plate.

"It's been getting worse the past few months. I wake up in pain and hardly ever get any sleep. It is affecting my work and I can't take it anymore. I need you to tell me what I say in my sleep. I need to know why this is happening. I need someone I can trust," His eyes are filled with desperation and pain and I can't help but sympathize as I see myself in his expression.

"What if I don't wake up in the morning?" I ask him.

"I will think of something," He says and then he gets up. 

I nod my head in response and do the same. Once we have both gotten ready, we walk in unison to his bed room door. 

Before we leave, he stops and blocks my path.

"Remember, if anyone asks you, we are lovers," He says.

I blush slightly and quickly turn my head before he catches me. 

"You were hesitant about killing something you instructed yourself to kill last night," I said and he grabs my arm and turns me his way. 

His eyes are wide with recognition like he knows what I am talking about.

"Did I say what?" 

"No," I frown feeling confused.

He lets me go and sighs in what looks like relief, before walking out the door. "My chauffeur will take you to training."

My eyebrows knit together in a frown as I realize there is something he is still not telling me.