*Zax*
Warm.
That's how I felt when I awoke when the sun began it's slowly rise into the sky, the morning dawn a fresh new start to my day but I usually awoke cold and lonely.
Emptiness, both internal and external, consuming my thick bones, doubtful mind and willful soul.
I always woke up alone but this time was different.
This time, I was drawn out of the darkness of slumber to a warm body that was snuggled up against my bare chest, a delicate body that I've never known the curves and smoothed edges of smothered against the hard and rigid lines of my own rough build and frame.
I froze as I felt Mabel, the woman who seemingly captured the attention of every man she ever laid eyes upon, nevermind the fact that most of them were unaware for now that she was a female in nature, who was now seeking warmth in the form of her pushing up against my skin, as if she wanted to crawl inside my flesh and be laid to rest within my body itself.
It was a strange and peculiar thought to have but it was the most accurate description I could give, as Mabel sighed peacefully in her slumbering unconscious state, her little pale hands resting lightly against the hard muscles of my pectorals, the stark contrast between our differing complexions fascinating me more than it should have.
She was tiny, fragile and delicate.
Her bone structure was not made like our kind, the tresses of soft hair the color of burning fire was not made to smooth out over my chest, the fluttering of her eyelids as she remained locked away in her version of a dreamland making my heart ache with a feeling that I wasn't quite familiar with.
Longing.
I haven't felt such intense emotions towards another sentinel being such the day my mother left this planet for good and that was too long ago for me to even remember the pain that came with such intense feelings, to remember that this feeling wasn't of my own volition but that it was caused by the tiny human cuddling against the side of my body.
"Hmm…Mhmm…"
Mabel made another sighing noise in her sleep, her pink lips parted as an exhale of cool air brushed past her lips after flowing through her chest with a soft inclining and declining motion.
The gentle breeze of the air leaving her mouth brushed over my throat and I gulped as I felt something stir inside my chest, my heart pounding inside my chest wall as I fought against the emotions that were running rampant through my veins.
I was feeling something rather strange bubbling up inside my chest and it wasn't the longing emptiness from earlier, it was a harsher sensation that burned across my skin like the finest burns from our glorious warming sun.
I was feeling something close to…Desire for Mabel.
Desire to claim her as my own.
To announce to the rest of the kingdom that she belonged to me and me alone.
Fates, I wanted to scream it from the mountaintops that she accepted me as her male for the rest of eternity or for as long as the Gods allowed us to be together for so.
And then, I wanted to bury myself deep inside her and give her all that my sperm could offer, so she could bear our children, such strange little creatures of mixed species, and we could roam the planet as fated mates of life with our giddy offspring trailing not too far behind.
But that was not my decision to make.
I could not, and would not, demand that Mabel experience such strong emotions towards me that mirrored mine in reference to her.
Yes, I absolutely did want Mabel to experience her own longing and desire to become one with me as her life mate but that would be her ultimate choice and decision.
I would have no interference with her choices and even as much as I wanted to influence her mindset, that would not be my actions.
I wanted her feelings to be true and pure, for them to be honest and full of purposeful intention, not for them to be misguided and forced upon much like how my kind acted towards outsiders of another species.
Much like how Zephyr acted towards Mabel when he discovered on his own that she was indeed female.
My jaw clenched even with how much time had elapsed since that encounter, I was still very much so angry and disappointed in my brother for believing he could treat Mabel that way, or any future females that we may encounter eventually, as if he merely thought of her as a prized possession instead of an intellectual being.
And although I had acted no better than he did when first encountering Mabel, I knew that she was going to put up a fight when it came to our overpowering and demanding species and that was perhaps a good trait for her to have.
She needed to be strong-headed and strong-willed to survive amongst our kind and the tiniest smirk pulled at my lips, our first encounter hadn't exactly been pleasant but I was taken aback when Mabel showed just how fearless she had been when standing up to not just myself but Casimir as well.
Perhaps that was why I admired her, she was strong.
Capable.
She wasn't weak like many of the youngsters of this generation were led to believe on the twisted tales of the female species.
She was different in a way that was pleasantly refreshing, it was almost nice to be around her instead of the toxic masculinity behavior that my father and brother clearly displayed around the Palace, for starters.
Speaking of which, the tips of my ears perked up when I heard the slightest bit of sound from just down the hallway and the stairwell leading up and out of the servant's quarters, was there someone here now?
Slowly, without disturbing Mabel from her unconscious state of sleep, I gently moved her soft limbs off my body and snuck out of the cot before creeping out of the servant's quarters as quietly as I had entered them earlier.
From the looks of the slowly illuminating darkness around me, I could tell that neither Casimir nor Zion were within the nearest vicinity to be considered as the prime suspects for an unknown stranger lurking nearby and my hands balled into fists as I silently marched out of the quarters with only one glance over my shoulder at the sleeping female in the cot I had recently abandoned.
She was still sleeping, Mabel's eyes fluttering softly beneath her eyelids, and I sighed quietly as my cold heart burned at the thought of leaving her to inspect what I assumed to be an intruder of sorts but I could not allow her to be hurt once more.
She had already suffered enough at the hands of my brother whom I thought I could have entrusted her to be in the presence of and that acknowledge alone was enough to have me bursting through the doorway leading out of the servant's quarters, now more then concerned for Mabel's safety and irritated with whoever could be bothering me at this late of the night.
My heavy feet stomped across the hard, slightly cracked tiles of the hidden hallway before I ascended the stairwell that led up into the Palace where, at the tops of the stairs, I abruptly found and nearly collided with my father who was, apparently, being rather courteous this morn as within his large palms was a silver platter overflowing with an assortment of various fruits, vegetables, cheeses and herbs native to our homeland.
My eyebrows rose up with curiosity, what in the Fates was he doing here with that large of a platter, the fine silverware that we would only bring out in the past for finer evenings when dining with our higher royalty relatives.
"Hello, Father. What has caused you such trouble that you have bothered to prepare an assortment of substances that I can only assume is for Mabel?"
I asked him with a politeness that I didn't know I still had in me, which was nonetheless surprising as I could not stand to be in the same room as my father, and his collective sigh told me that he felt similarly about his own son.
"Yes, indeed, this assortment is for Mabel as a welcoming gift to better help her adjust to this lifestyle of ours which will need to occur soon if we are to help her rebuild her craft and exit our atmosphere safely without another unwanted and unnecessary crash."
Casimir said as he brushed past me slightly and he turned towards me when he saw the perplexed and partially astonished expression upon my face, an unfamiliar smile of his own beginning to creep out into his worn cheekbones.
"You do not take your father to be a fool as well, Zaxton, do you? For whilst I may be becoming progressively blind from old age, it does not take a blind man to see that Mabel and her otherworldly craft of sorts had been an accidental encounter, that her presence was not intentional in the least, and we are obligated to assist her in safely departing from our planet by all means necessary."
Shaking my head slightly, I realized that my father had, unknowingly or perhaps knowingly, agreed to help Mabel and I as we were constructing the formulating ideas for her rebuilt spacecraft before we had slipped into slumber the other night.
Had he been listening to our conversation?
Though it was entirely plausible and rational to think so, I decided to be trusting of my father for once as I spoke of the disbelief that muddled my logical thinking.
"Perhaps I had misjudged your intentions, Father, but how could you want to help us if you cannot stand the slightest thought of my entering the Palace Grounds, let alone the acknowledgement of my presence?"
Was it the best idea of mine to try and provoke a response from the stone cold wall that was my father?
No.
But that didn't mean that I didn't want an answer from my father.
After all, I was still his son, I still felt the need to ask for his kindness and compliance, to seek his approval like I had done so for much of my lifetime.
"Because, my son–"
My father said as he reached out to clasp my shoulder and give the hard muscle a small squeeze of reaffirmation, as if he was about to lay the weight of the world upon my heavy shoulders and he wanted to prepare me for the worst.
"--I may have been wrong when I prejudged Mabel at our first introductory and I am the only one to blame for such troubles. But if we cannot help this human female with the simplest of tasks that she asks of us, then what does that say of our kind, hmm?"
My jaw dropped open at his words, how did he figure out what species she was closely related to when I have been struggling to understand the multitude of alien races she could have come from?
At my father's bemused chuckle, I snapped my jaw shut as he shook his head down at me.
"Perhaps you are wondering how I discovered that she is human after all. Do not look so surprised, Zaxton, I have had many encounters with humans before, as many of our legacy of rulers have done so in the past, although I was not sure if she was one of the more evolved humans until our first interaction. That, coupled with her spitfire attitude, only confirmed my suspicions about her true identity.
However, as much as I dislike interacting with humankind, I find Mabel's presence to be refreshing, in a sense, which is why I have decided to help her in the rebuilding process of her craft. Now, if you will please excuse me, I am going to apologize to Mabel with this delicate arrangement of fruits and vegetables."
Father stated before he turned away and headed back down the stairwell towards the servant's quarters, leaving me stunned as I wondered why he was more than eager enough to help Mabel out despite his unwavering unfriendliness towards his own son.
I suppose that when another species is the female nature is dropped upon a planet deserted of females in general, of course any logical thinking male within the closest vicinity would be glad and compassionate enough to assist her in what she may need or want.
If only he could have treated his own children in such a calm and caring manner, perhaps things may have been different between us. But I will never know this for a fact as the past remained in the past. And the future was staring me in the face with a sarcastic grin and bright green eyes.
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-Ro♥️