A Royal Engagement (Enchanted Galaxy Series Book 1) Read online

  “It is what it is,” he replied then looked around. “Are you hungry?”

  “Actually, I am,” she admitted.

  “Me too. We should find a nice place to sit and eat dinner.”

  Considering her stomach was growling, she was more than happy to follow him to a log where he sat down. When all he did was scan the trees, she grew uneasy. “Is this how you eat? Because if it is, we’re going to have problems.”

  “I eat food through my mouth like most species. I’m just looking for something appealing to eat. If you take a careful look at the trees, you’ll find all kinds of food in the branches.”

  If there were planets like Earthquakery and planets where queens had complete power, she supposed anything was possible. Earth’s scientific laws and technology wasn’t all there was to the universe. And they certainly had no place here.

  A momentary pang of regret pricked her heart. Would she ever see Earth again? Would she ever see William? Of all the people who’d come into her life, he’d been the only one who stuck around. Surely, that counted for something.

  “Do you like apples and bananas?” Hathor suggested, interrupting her thoughts.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Good.” He rose to his feet. “I’ll grab the food and soda. Wait right here.”

  “Where am I going to go? Tornado Planet?”

  But her joke was lost on him. He was already climbing one of the trees before she had time to blink.

  Amazed at how agile he was, she watched him as he climbed the branches. It was as if he was born to do this. She continued to watch him, barely aware of the ticklish sensation on the back of her neck. She rubbed her neck, figuring it’d go away, but it didn’t. She stilled and concentrated on what was going on around her. She had a sinking feeling that something was behind her.

  With a gulp, she slowly turned around, hoping it was just her imagination. But the lion staring at her notified her that her fears were very real.

  Screaming, she bolted off the log, ran for the nearest tree and hid behind it.

  Hathor swooped down from the tree, sword in hand, and ran over to her. “Where’s the threat?”

  “Over there.” She gestured to the tree a few feet from where a lion was huddled with its paws over his ears. She expected Hathor to go right over to it and strike it down, but he started laughing. “What’s so funny?” she demanded.

  “The lions here are friendly,” he replied. “He’s a lot more scared of you than you are of him. Look at how badly he’s shaking.”

  He murmured a spell and the sword disappeared. Then he walked over to the lion and petted its golden mane. “Everything’s alright,” he soothed the animal. “She just doesn’t understand that you’re friendly yet. On her world, your kind is probably violent toward humans. Come on,” Hathor assured the lion. “I promise you she won’t scare you this time.”

  “Good grief,” she muttered.

  He urged the lion over to where she stood behind the tree and gave it a playful pat on the head. “The lion is more afraid of you than you are of him.”

  “Yes, I gathered that much when I realized you were more concerned about his welfare than mine.”

  “I had a sword and was ready to attack him in case he was a threat.”

  “True,” she relented.

  “Do you want to pet him?” When she hesitated, he added, “He’s soft.”

  Her gaze went back to the lion that looked up at her with big brown eyes. Though she never would have done it on Earth, she reached out and touched the lion’s fur. It reminded her of silk.

  “You see? He’s gentle. I think he likes you.”

  “Well, he is peaceful. Where I come from, a lion is apt to eat people.”

  “We’re on another planet. Rules are different everywhere you go.”

  Right. She’d have to remember that.

  “I’ll get us something to eat and be back,” he told her then headed back up the tree.

  He gathered several fruits for her and the lion. After they ate, they grabbed some mushrooms and fixed their beds on the soft grass. The lion settled down between them and closed his eyes.

  “The Palers are probably done for the day,” Hathor said as he stared at the stars in the night sky.

  “How can you be sure?”

  “I can’t really, but Palers like to take time to plan their attacks. Once the suns come out, we should be on our guard.”

  “It’s actually kind of nice on this planet,” she admitted.

  “It is. Everything is calm and quiet here, and the temperature is just right no matter what time of day it is.”

  She nodded and folded her hands over her stomach. Releasing her breath, she finally gave herself permission to relax from the day’s events. “If I become queen—”

  “When you become queen,” he corrected.

  “Alright. When I become queen, I’m going to visit this planet again.”

  “What about Earth? Are you going to go back there?”

  “I’m sure I will. It’s where I was born and grew up, after all. But now that I’ve seen some of what else is out there, I’m curious about other planets, even if some of them are ridiculous.”

  He chuckled. “Some creatures on other planets think Earth is ridiculous.”

  “Well, they’re wrong.”

  He laughed harder but didn’t argue with her.

  She turned her attention to the sky and wondered about all the different places out there. Someday, she’d get to visit some of them, and she suspected there were so many out there that she’d never get to visit them all.

  What a strange day. Granted, it hadn’t been a dream, but so much of it still didn’t seem real to her. After a few minutes, her eyes grew heavy, and soon, she fell asleep.

  Chapter Five

  Planet: Forestaria

  Galaxy: Musical

  Hathor woke up the next morning, and for a moment, he thought he was back on Raz during one of his travels through the land to do his mother’s bidding. But then, the distinct melody of Forestaria brought the previous day’s events back to him. Leaning up on his elbow, he looked over the sleeping lion and saw the next queen of his planet, asleep on her side.

  The dawn’s light coming down softly through the canopy of trees afforded him a good view of her. Dark hair spread across the mushroom pillow, high cheekbones, rosy lips that were slightly downturned as she slept, a soft complexion, a nice figure with generous breasts… His face warmed. She really was lovely to look at.

  But she already loved another. He hadn’t anticipated that, but it was her right to divorce him once he gave her a daughter. Then she’d be free to marry William. Ever since Kathz placed the curse on the planet, there’d only been two queens who divorced the king in favor of taking another one. It wasn’t a common practice, but one he had to honor. And he would. His first duty was to the wishes of the queen, whatever those were.

  The lion stretched and yawned, opening his mouth and showing off his sharp teeth. It was a good thing Ann was asleep because if she wasn’t, that impressive sight might have scared her since lions ate people on her world. When the lion was done yawning, Hathor scratched behind its ear, and the lion rewarded him with a purr.

  “You’re a happy lion, aren’t you?” he whispered.

  The lion offered a nod, making him chuckle.

  “Before we wake her up, show me around this place.” He rose to his feet, and the lion joined him. “Where can we find some water?”

  The lion headed off down a path so Hathor followed. He went around a bend before he found a large pool of water with a waterfall. After he drank some water and washed up, he returned to the area where he spent the night and saw that Ann was still asleep. As much as he hated to wake her, they needed to continue their journey to Raz, and they couldn’t go until the Palers set up their next attack. And there was no telling when they’d strike.

  “Ann?” he asked as he gently touched her arm. “It’s time to wake up.”

  “Let me s
leep for five more minutes,” she mumbled, turning away from him.

  “You don’t want to miss out on four beautiful sunrises, do you?”

  Her eyes flew open as she sat up, glancing at him then the lion and then turning her gaze to the sunrises. “What’s going on?”

  “Do you still think this is a dream?” he asked, amused.

  “Well, I…” She took in the rest of her surroundings and rubbed her eyes. “No, I don’t. Not anymore.”

  “It’s okay. You’ll get used to it.” He gestured to the path the lion had taken him down. “There’s a waterfall in that direction. You can use it as a shower if you want.”

  “Is it private?”

  “Completely.” When she didn’t make a move to go toward it, he added, “Did you want me to take you there?”

  “No. I just wondered where you’ll be while I’m taking a shower.”

  “I’ll stay here and get breakfast.”

  “In that case, I’ll go.”

  Realizing she hadn’t wanted him there in case he saw her naked, he couldn’t resist teasing her. “Don’t worry. I’m not interested in seeing you without your clothes on.” Which was a lie. He might be bound to honor her as the queen, but he was still a man.

  “Well, I should hope not,” she replied, her tone indignant.

  He chuckled as she hurried down the path. “She’s not so bad, is she?” he asked the lion who purred.

  With a smile, he went to retrieve the food they’d need for breakfast.

  ***

  The Great Prison

  Planet: Pale

  Paff stirred from a fitful sleep. The moans and screams were all-too-familiar by now, and try as he might, he couldn’t remember what silence was like anymore. And he hadn’t even been here for that long. No wonder others had whispered that the Great Prison quickly claimed its victims.

  He opened his eyes and saw the Paler who had attacked him when he first came to this wild place. Halima, if he recalled her name right. He blinked and focused in on her, surprised she studied him with such an intense gaze. So there was a shred of sanity left in her.

  He sat up and saw her forehead wrinkled in a way that indicated she wasn’t sure what to think about him. Clearing his throat, he said, “Hi, I’m Paff.”

  She gasped and ran off.

  “Wait! You don’t have to leave,” he quickly replied, getting to his feet.

  He wanted to go after her, to find out what fascinated her so much about him when she could have spent her time studying someone else. But she was already lost in the crowd. If she sought him out again, then he’d see if she would be willing to talk at that time.

  “It seems like you have an admirer,” Cem said as he approached Paff.

  “Oh, I don’t know. I can’t help but be intrigued by her.”

  “Most wild females are intriguing.”

  “Do you think she can be tamed?”

  “Tamed?”

  Paff shrugged, not sure how to adequately explain it. “A part of her seems wild but another part seems rational.”

  “It’s possible that she could return to her natural state if we get out of here in time.”

  Paff’s ears perked up. “There’s a way out of here?”

  “Indeed, there is,” Cem replied with a nod.

  “How?”

  “I don’t know. All I know is that there’s a way.”

  Paff did his best to hide his disappointment. He’d love nothing more than to get out of here, especially before Omin thought up his punishment.

  ***

  Planet: Forestaria

  Ann, Hathor, and the lion had just eaten when a stream of blue fire lit up the trees around them. Jerking, Ann looked at Hathor. “Is that normal for this planet?”

  “No.” He grabbed his sword and stood up. “That’s a Paler.”

  Recalling the cave and the fire that nearly burned them to death, she bolted to her feet and got behind him. The lion leapt in front of Hathor, alert for any other signs of danger.

  A loud roar came from nearby and she grabbed his arm. “Is that roar from the Paler?” she whispered, scanning the trees but not seeing anything. Even the fire blast had vanished.

  “Yes. I won’t let it hurt you,” he promised. “Lion, protect her. I need to find the Paler.”

  The lion roared his agreement.

  She held onto his arm before he could run off. “Hold on a minute. You can’t leave me here. I don’t know how to defend myself against a Paler.”

  “I’m leaving you in good hands,” he replied, gesturing to the lion.

  Somehow a gentle lion didn’t make her feel very secure.

  “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

  With a sigh, she let go of him. “Alright.” She watched him disappear into the trees then knelt by the lion. “I hope the Paler will be gone soon,” she whispered.

  The lion purred his agreement.

  They waited for a few minutes but nothing happened. She listened for any sign of a fight or struggle, but all she heard was the music and some noises from the animals. Despite how peaceful everything seemed, it was eerie because she knew the Paler was on the prowl, and Hathor was trying to get to him before the Paler got to her. This wasn’t really any different from being in a dream, except she couldn’t wake up from it.

  The lion nuzzled his head under her chin in a comforting manner, and for once, she was glad she was in a lion’s company.

  A loud thrashing from behind them made her jump. The lion darted in front of her and roared in a surprisingly menacing way for an animal who’d been so lovable just seconds before. When a white dragon with cold black eyes charged into view, she let out a shriek and ran behind the nearest tree. Not that it was much of a shield. The dragon stood at about ten feet with a long tail that swooped down and knocked aside several trees in its path.

  It let out an ear-piercing howl as it tried to shake something off of it. With a glance up, she saw that Hathor was on its neck, sword still in hand.

  The lion raced forward and pounced on the dragon’s tail and bit into it. She blinked. Now that was the kind of lion she was used to back on Earth.

  The dragon, however, didn’t seem as impressed as she was since it hissed and blew blue smoke in the lion’s direction. The lion fell off its tail, going unconscious as it hit the ground. Her fingers dug into the tree bark. The lion had to be fine. The smoke couldn’t have poison in it. Could it?

  The dragon lowered its head then jerked it back up, an action which almost made Hathor lose his balance. Still holding the sword, he wrapped his arms around the monster’s neck so he didn’t fall off.

  Since the dragon was distracted, she hurried over to the lion and petted its mane. “Are you okay?”

  The lion stirred, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Good. It looked like the smoke only knocked him out for a few seconds.

  “Come on,” she told the lion. “Get back here with me.”

  The lion leapt to his feet and followed her behind the tree. She watched as the dragon continued to try to shake Hathor off its neck. Looking back at the lion, she wondered if they should make a run for it. She had no way of helping Hathor, and the lion was powerless against the beast, even if he did put on an impressive show of bravery when he bit the thing’s tail.

  The dragon sent a blast of fire their way, and it burned the edge of her sweater. Well, that decided it for her. She would run. As she patted out the small fire from her sweater, she followed the lion around the trees. The dragon came after them, its tail swooping in from the left. She and the lion dodged the tail just in time and kept running. Another swoop of the tail came in shortly after from the right and this time, it knocked Ann to the ground.

  The lion turned to the dragon that crouched in front of Ann. On its neck, Hathor managed to regain his balance and lifted the sword to strike, but the lion jumped forward and clawed the dragon’s right eye. This made Hathor lose his balance once again since the dragon jerked its head up and bellowed a high shriek that made
all the animals grow silent.

  The distraction, however, didn’t last long enough for Ann to run again. She’d only managed to get to her feet when the dragon crouched back down and snapped at her shoes. She fell onto her bottom in the most ungraceful way possible and—worse—the dragon caught her leg in its mouth. But before it could bite down, Hathor plunged the sword into its neck. The dragon opened its mouth further to roar in pain. Ann rolled away from the dragon and scrambled behind another tree.

  Daring a look back, she saw Hathor strike the dragon again. But this time instead of trying to throw him off its neck, the dragon vanished with the sword still in its neck. Hathor fell to the ground, expertly landing on his feet—not on his behind like she had. And this proved that between the two of them, he was much more capable of ruling Raz than she was.

  Hathor ran over to her. “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine. Just shook up a bit, that’s all,” she said as he helped her up. Wiping the dirt off her clothes, she added, “My first official act as queen will be to give you the power you need to rule Raz. Then you can send me back to Earth because I’m not cut out for this kind of life.”

  “Nonsense. You’ll do fine. Besides, that’s my job. I’m supposed to protect you.” He smiled and petted the lion. “And you did a great job of helping me.”

  The lion purred and licked his face.

  “I don’t know, Hathor. I mean, this is serious stuff. That dragon almost ate me. We almost burned to death in the cave. It’s a lot to take in, and to be honest, I don’t know if I can do this.”

  He stopped petting the lion and gently squeezed her arms. “You have nothing to worry about. I’ll be with you every step of the way. Until William becomes king, my job is to stand between you and your enemies. If that means I die, then that’s a chance I’m willing to take to protect you and Raz.”

  She was ready to tell him William wasn’t going to become king, but the lion nudged her in the side and peered up at her. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought it was nodding toward a path.