I was quiet during the duration of Issak’s tests on the few servants who had agreed to be something poked and prodded at. I couldn’t understand why they wanted a creep like that to poke them with needles in order to gather dna. Curiosity maybe? However, I didn’t really try to figure out a reason. I was too busy mulling over the fact that I, King Asurah of Glacion, was in love with someone. Me. The one person who swore he would never fall in love...was in love. It was quite ironic how some things turned out, huh? And as I sat there, staring as a needle was pushed into one of my servant’s arm, I wondered if Joseph felt the same way about me. I mean, he did ask me what I felt for him, and I was sure that he would only ask that if he had some feeling towards me, right? Why else would he ask me such a loaded question?
I risked yet another glance at Joseph, watching as he read something on my digital tablet I let him borrow, since he had been so bored. He looked so at peace as those chocolate eyes of his drifted word to word, his perfect white teeth nibbling at his full bottom lip. I felt an ache in my chest at being so far from him, and when he looked up at me, I blushed darkly and looked away, embarrassed that he caught me staring.
I couldn’t help it, though. I was drawn to him, even subconsciously. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him no matter how hard I tried, and it only solidified the revelation that I was head over heels for this man. And what a scary thought that was. If anyone knew about my feelings towards Joseph...they could use him against me in order to take over Glacion. They could kidnap him, or worse. And what would I do then? I would only break and do as my father had done. Then where would that leave Glacion? In the enemies hands? There were so many other kings and queens that loathed me for some unfathomable reason. I’ve no doubt that once they found out my weakness, they would be on the next warship here, ready to take me down.
No. I was overthinking this. Maybe nothing will happen. I mean, there were plenty of kings and queens with consorts, and they’re all fine. Besides...Glacion may be a mostly peaceful planet, but we were a force to be reckoned with if we were in danger.
“Is it just me? Or are you dozing out more than usual?” Joseph’s voice rang in my ear, making me glance sideways at him. My heart immediately began racing as I cleared my throat, hoping that he didn’t see how flustered he was making me. He didn’t notice, did he? Please tell me he can’t see the raging blush on my cheeks...or hear how fast my heart was racing. Ugh, I would be so embarrassed if he caught on. Unless he felt the same way. That would at least make it less awkward when I confess my undying love for him, or some crap.
Relationships were hard. How did one do it? Was it supposed to be romantic when I mustered up the courage to tell Joseph? Or, was that only a movie thing? Anything with love was so new to me, since I’ve never had feelings this strong for another, before. I never even had a crush. Oh crap. What if I mess up? What if I tell him and he doesn’t feel the same towards me? What would happen to me then? Would I be too heartbroken to live on? What about my people. What about-
“Asurah.”
I blinked and looked over to Joseph, noticing the worried look on his face. “Um, yeah? Sorry...I have a...lot on my mind.”
Joseph frowned at me, studying me with dewy brown eyes, a brown curl hanging just above his nose. “You sure? Cuz if we’re going to be doing the whole “oops he died” thing on Issak, we need to have both of our heads in the game.”
I nodded, clearing my throat as I side glanced at Issak, seeing that he was still invested in his tests. I looked back at Joseph, crossing my arms over my chest as I cocked my hip to the side, not missing the way Joseph’s eyes dropped, watching the movement.
That meant he liked me, right? Why else would he look at my hips? I felt a surge of happiness that he was distracted by me. All Glacic’s took pride in their bodies, and even though I had wide hips unlike the other Glacic males, I still took pride in the fact that I had the attention of the one man that counted. I resisted the urge to smirk and wiggle my hips in a sudden burst of courage, just to make him flustered. However, that would have to wait until Issak the Creep wasn’t staring at us with a look of disgust as his last subject walked out of the lab.
“Gross.” He muttered, wrinkling his nose. He placed the tube of blood he had gotten from the willing Glacic’s into a small refrigerated container his “bodyguards” had brought in. Ha. Bodyguards my butt. They were more like servants to that creep. “If you’re both done mentally undressing one another, I’d like to get samples from the wildlife here.”
I blushed crimson as my mouth fell agape, disbelief crossing my fingers as I struggled to come up with a good comeback. “You pervert! We...we weren’t...why would you even assume that?!” Wow. Great job on the comeback, Asurah.
“Yeah, whatever you say. Are we going outside, or what?”
I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. “I thought I said samples from willing participants? Last I checked, animals can’t talk, therefore they can’t say yes to your needles.”
“Actually...let him get some samples.” Joseph said, making me glance at him in disbelief until I saw the hidden message. Ah. He wanted Issak to get near the wild life so they could...wow. What a way to go. Then again, this man was a creep and a menace. He hurt countless people and there was no telling how high said count was. For all I knew, with his age, it could be in the thousands. Who would want to have someone like that living on their planet? Or living in general? It was a cruel way to go about it, but there was no other choice. If he didn’t go, he would go back on his word, and I knew he would. I had a feeling that he was going to go back on our deal the moment my back was turned. I was sure that he had never had a royal test subject before, judging by the way he was when he had me. There was this...glow in his eyes as he injected me with that...whatever it was. And to let something like that go? I doubt it was in his nature to do such a thing.
Besides, this would work out for us anyway, if he tried getting a sample from some of the...livelier animals. Ones who could smell meat from miles away. I would have to keep Joseph away from them, to keep him safe, of course. I didn’t want him to be harmed in any way. Gosh, it sucked to resort to such a violent method, but as sad as it was, it was the only way. He wouldn’t leave us alone otherwise, and could end up killing Joseph’s Ma once he made it to Earth.
So despite hating Issak to the core of my soul and not wanting to resort to a violent method, I nodded anyway, sighing so it seemed like I wasn’t happy with the decision. Which, I wasn’t fully happy with it, since it was going to be violent, depending on which carnivorous animal he tried poking, but it was the best way to keep him away from us.
Ugh. Leave it to Joseph to convince me to do such things. Him and his curly hair….and adorable brown eyes….fit body. My lord something was wrong with me. Why did he have to be so freaking attractive?
“Well, come on, let’s go.”
I nodded and followed the two men outside, both of them shivering once they met with the cold air, while I just walked around comfortably. I glanced over to Joseph, taking in his outfit and whether or not he should dress in anything warmer so he didn’t freeze. When I saw that he was wearing thick pants and a thickly padded jacket, I deemed him fine and frowned as I realized Issak was already stalking up to a small animal, a creature that resembled a wolf, though completely harmless unlike it’s Earth counterpart.
I averted my eyes when Issak grabbed the poor creature by its scruff, holding it long enough to get a blood sample. When he was done, he let it go and watched as it hurried away on its tiny, fuzzy legs. We then trekked on, searching for any other creatures. We found a few, some small, others a little bigger, but no predators that could rid us of Issak. I was starting to lose hope the longer we walked on, the suns starting to fall below the horizons as night began to fall.
I sighed heavily, rubbing my arms as I moved closer to Joseph, who had his arms tightly wrapped around himself as his teeth chattered. Worried, I placed a hand on his arm, making him look at me. “Are you alright? You’re not too cold are you? If you are, I can let Issak know and we can go back to the palace.”
Joseph nodded solemnly, agreeing with me as he nibbled at his bottom lip in order to stop his chattering teeth. “It sucks, but I’m freezing. I can’t even fathom how you’re out here in such thin clothing. Gosh, I could only imagine how the boys must be feeling.”
Boys? What was he talking about? Wait… I blushed darkly as I realized the meaning behind his words, looking away from him in embarrassment. Did he really just bring...such an intimate part of me into this? Really?
...Could he be...flirting? Was that how humans flirted? Or was he not flirting and was just being perverted? Or...was he genuinely curious? Why did he have to be so darn confusing?
Instead of dwelling on it further, I moved away from him in order to get Issak’s attention, the other man glancing at me with turned brows.
“We should probably call it a night. I’m sure you have more than enough samples to tinker with for tonight.”
Issak rolled his eyes, but gathered his things anyway, making his way closer to us when it happened. A shrill growl had us all freezing, our eyes wide as it sounded close to us. I gulped, recognizing the shrill screech from that of a Moril, a creature with the jaws of a shark, and the body of a bear. All it had to do was sense warmth for it to go on a feeding frenzy. And with three bodies to sense from? Of course it was only a matter of time until one of them came after us.
I gulped, subconsciously grabbing Joseph’s arm as we all glanced around us, trying to pinpoint the creature’s location. Where was it at? Why couldn’t I see it?
I heard the snow crunch from behind us, making Joseph and I look at each other slowly before we glanced behind us, catching sight of the large Moril. It stared at us with beady red eyes, it’s white fur raising as it’s teeth snapped impatiently. My eyes widened and my heart dropped as it launched at us, making me push Joseph away as he headed towards me. I grunted as it shoved me to the ground, the world around me freezing as my heart beat erratically in my chest. Was this how I was going to die?