Tariel Read online

  Tariel

  by C.R Corbin

  Table of contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  More from the Author

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  CHAPTER ONE

  Jess

  "It's coming up in a week. You know that right?" she asked me and I nodded.

  We were currently seated under our favorite tree on the outskirts of our small town. It had been founded as a small mining community as these towns usually were. It would have gotten bigger, but in the years the ore has dried up and it's been left as a self-functioning residential community that was primarily focused on agriculture instead. It was one of the reasons that this place was built next to a large river, so that we could farm as much as we loved with as much irrigation as we required.

  Currently, Sarah and I were seated under a large oak tree that was planted here by the humans upon the colony's foundation. That was over 200 years ago, things weren't so simple given that the Morelens now ran the place. It was the very subject that was on our minds at the moment. What was going to happen when local asshole Morelen Prince Tariel came to collect his mate? Mom and dad are worried for me given the reputation of the prince, but I didn't care or didn't want to care. I wasn't going to be picked anyway, too curvy, unattractive to most men in that sense.

  "I just wonder how many planets he's gone through already. I mean shit, he had to travel outside of his solar system for this didn't he?" inquired Sarah and I nodded.

  For as local as the prince was, he was only in a neighboring solar system, not a planet that was right next to us and he certainly didn't control the planet that this moon was orbiting around. That distinction belonged to prince Beral whose reputation was much more benign than Tariel's. He never forcibly took whatever he wanted or demanded that women stay with him. If Tariel had been similar I don't think the girls in this town and on the moon, in general, would have thrown such a fuss.

  "I mean...Come on. What kind of castle does he even have? I think he lives in some desert world or something." said Sarah absentmindedly. I knew the truth. He lived in a world of grassland, dotted with lakes and sparse forest. It was rather nice and he ruled it effectively with an iron fist, didn't make the nature of his rule or his mating habits any more appealing.

  There were certain rules that a Morelen prince was expected to adhere to, such as that he couldn't physically harm his mate, but beyond that, it was basically a crapshoot. He could do whatever he wanted to us and that was the end of the story. Stories about him during the wars did little to assuage the anguish that was sure to arise in our hearts when he stepped down. He was feared amongst his enemies for his mercilessness and his brutality. If a life could have a motto his would be "I take whatever I want whenever I want.".

  And now he was coming to this quaint town to pick a girl. Even if my chances were low I was still a bit nervous.

  "Hey look on the bright side. After this we can leave. You know that right?" asked Sarah and I nodded.

  I wondered why I didn't leave when I first had the chance. Back then prince Beral was still up for grabs and I thought that if I stayed around I might get a cushy appointment as his mate, but that obviously didn't fan out the way I was hoping it to. As soon as that entire process was done it was announced that Tariel was going to be stopping by and that all women were forbidden from leaving the planet.

  Really wish I had the foresight to have left earlier than I did. Really would have helped.

  "Well, what do you think living under him would be like? I imagine it can't be much fun. You'll basically be used for his own carnal desires and nothing more right? Jeez I don't even really want to think about it all that much." lamented Sarah and I rolled my eyes.

  Yeah, he was bad but I don't think he would be that bad.

  Like the other princes in this galaxy, he would be extraordinarily handsome and fit. Part of that was due to their Morelen physiology which allowed them to tower above humans, princes usually hung around at 7 feet tall and Tariel was no exception from what I could understand. He was wealthy and could grant whatever wish that his mate had, we would basically live in luxury and our only duty would be to bear children. Despite the completely dehumanizing aspect of it at least we weren't captured by some bandit warlord instead. That would have been much worse.

  "We should run you know?" asked Sarah and I raised an eyebrow.

  "Excuse me?"

  "You know? Run out of town while we still can. There's about a week left and I think we could make it out before he finds us."

  "You do know that there are guards everywhere right? He's been prepping for this all his life and he's not about to have it ruined by some girls that barely know how to escape a guarded town let alone outrun a trained squadron."

  "Hmmm...I guess you're right about that...Whatever. Just make sure to slump your shoulders and frown when he sees you." She said as she began to give me more tips on how to decrease my attractiveness.

  "Oh don't worry, I don't think he's going to touch either of us with a ten-foot pole." I stated and she swatted my shoulder with her hand.

  "Speak for yourself. I might not want to be chosen but that doesn't mean I'm not going to deny that I am a ten." she said and I chuckled to myself. She was at best a 6.

  We spend the rest of the day gazing out amongst the wooden huts and cabins in the center of town. There were fields and fields of trees that had various fruits from Earth and other planets on them. It looked as if the entire town had been dipped into gold paint and then taken out. The way the sunshine fell onto the leaves gave it a sort of ethereal aura. I began to grow rather distressed when I realized that this was something that I possibly wouldn't be seeing again. I didn't even know why my mother stayed on a moon that was marked for mate collection by the prince. She could have moved to an inner planet and found a nice place to live there but old people still believe in the virtues of attracting a prince, they believed that young girls could be set up for life and gain power that was unimaginable and it was true in some cases.

  I just ...I was afraid.

  Tariel was not nearly as nice as Beral and when Beral came the entire process was rather unsettling despite the fact that I wanted to be picked then. The way Beral looked upon me with those green eyes was rather intimidating, as if every inch of me was being scrutinized before he finally picked a girl that I didn't know on the other side of the moon in an entirely different town. I could only imagine that if someone as sweet as Beral was replaced by Tariel, then the intimidation factor would be raised to a hundred at least.

  "You want to come over tonight? My mom is making flank steak and broccoli again. It's kind of hard to get broccoli out here but she managed to snag some at a steal off of the merchant that came here the other day." offered Sarah and I nodded, nothing to do at home besides trying my father's cooking which wasn't...the best.

  "Alright yeah. Let's go." I sighed as I followed her down the hill.

  We began to make our way through the town and along the way I could see the various women getting ready for Tariel's arrival. They were combing their hair and applying makeup, others were praying and praying to whatever deity they believed in that they wouldn't get picked. Other women went about their day, completely neutral on the subject. Although I actively avoided getting picked I think I fell in the latter group. There was nothing that coul
d be done except to hope, this was the one time in my life that I wanted to be rejected. All the neighborhood boys wouldn't spare a glance at me and I hoped that such an experience would come back to bless me at this time.

  Just hope, just hope.

  "Alright, I can smell it, just you wait. After he arrives and we don't get picked we're all going to have a feast!" said Sarah as she kicked open the door and I winced before stepping inside.

  I hoped to god that she was right about all of this.

  #

  Tariel

  "My lord...We will be converging upon the moon of Denia in approximately one Fero." he said to me and I nodded.

  "Good, good...And is lord Berial sending an envoy to greet us?" I asked my assistant, Oxos, he shook his head.

  "No my lord."

  Soft-hearted bastard didn't like me coming along did he? I knew that the only reason he accepted me there was because the treaty of Morelen conduct said he should do so. I knew if he was in charge of it he would never have given me such an honor and frankly, I didn't care. I had been searching my entire solar system for a mate thus far and all of my attempts have been fruitless, thus I had to turn to other leaders in the neighboring solar systems. I knew that she was out there somehow, I knew that I would have her but it was just a matter of when. From what I heard the women on this planet weren't so privy towards my arrival.

  It didn't matter, I would have what was mine.

  "Is there something else you need my lord?" Oxos asked me and I shook my head. My red eyes surveyed his face, his crimson face was covered in beads of sweat and I sighed. He didn't have to be frightened. Why was he so frightened?

  "Oxos you look nervous." I said and he shivered.

  "Well sir it's just...I'm sorry sir." he said.

  "Is it the rumors? I know about them you know? You don't have to hide them from me." I said in a matter of fact voice. I had known that my people talked at length about my nature since I was somewhat of a shut-in.

  My policies were decidedly middle of the road in terms of Morelen standards. I didn't actively harm my constituents nor did I make a concerted effort to make their lives worse. Sure I was stringent on the policies regarding the freedom of people on the mating colonies in my control and I actively kept an iron fist on the imports that my planet could receive but it was all done with the interest of my planet, Nyran, in mind.

  There wasn't anything exceptionally cruel. In fact, polls that I have taken have shown that my approval rating was high, it was all thanks to the work of some gossiping women that my reputation has taken such a downfall.

  "Surely you don't believe these rumors Oxos. You've been with me for nearly an eternity by now." I mumbled and he shook his head.

  "Not at all my lord. I'm sorry..." he apologized and brushed the back of his head sheepishly. He knew that I was on edge about the whole thing and wasn't entirely too happy about the fact that my reputation had been harmed before my arrival.

  The moon that I was going to arrive at was one of two. It belonged to Beral whose policies were decidedly less strict than my own. Perhaps those rumors had been received on his planet and he was now paying them mind as well. I requested an envoy to greet me but apparently, he was busy, or rather, he harbored some dislike. I didn't approve of how he had ruled with a lax hand either. Giving back your mates? How preposterous!

  I gaze at myself in the mirror of my room and watch as the red lights of the screen in front of me flicker off of my blue skin. My red eyes are glued to the wall and my claws rubbed the stone chair that I was currently seated on, leaving streaks of white in the granite that weren't there before. I bite my lip and sigh as I tried to refocus on the task at hand and not get bogged down in the fear that I had regarding this entire process such as the question of "What if it would take me even longer to find a mate?". I had been searching for quite a while and it was nearly three years into the entire period where I can actively find one so it was now or never I suppose.

  #

  Jess

  "Well looks like today is the big day, isn't it?" My mother asked me as I was guided through the large crowds. We were all supposed to spend the day outside in the center of town and the prince would walk through before choosing us from whomever there was. It was a rather large town square and women were invited in at various intervals. I was chosen for the morning group.

  Some princes wanted to take longer to pick their mate but it all came down to the same factor, whether the mate was yours or not and according to legend there was only a single type of woman for you and once the bond was formed she would be the only woman you loved in your entire life.

  "I'm nervous to don't worry. Just stay calm and try to look away." Sarah reassured and I frowned. If it was that easy I wouldn't be worried but a prince could grope you or do whatever he wanted in an attempt to know if you were his or not. That meant that he could move you so that he could see you so if I was even trying anything like that it would only be a matter of him correcting me.

  But I wasn't worried! Was I?

  "He's arriving! The prince is arriving!" called out the mayor from his station and I shivered as I looked to the skies. There was a ship landing on the outskirts of our town, a small cruiser that was separated from the main mothership that is. It lands and suddenly I hear a litany of guards marching out onto the rocks and the sand before they approached. They step forward one by one and their boots grow louder as the entire town square remained silent. The crowd at the entrance is moved aside by our police force and the prince steps through, he was dressed in a red cloak that matched his crimson eyes. I could see the claws in his hands retracting and detracting over and over again, his black boots crush the gas beneath as he gazed upon all of us with his scowl.

  My god was he enthralling.

  There was definitely some serious muscle being hidden under the robe judging by how broad his shoulders were. His spiky white hair was combed back and his white horns stood at a modest height above his head. I could see patches of scales on his neck and his eyes glimmered as he looked upon the crowd. I found that my breath was quickly growing short upon seeing him, my heart was beating faster than it ever has before.

  What was this? Was I actually...infatuated?

  I had never felt such an emotion upon encountering Beral and this emotion was entirely new to me. Not once has this occurred even in the presence of a human man so I was rather curious as to what it was in all actuality. Was this some sort of trick being played on me by my senses or was it something else?

  The girls didn't have it in them to speak. Just his mere presence was stifling and when he began to look us all over, it seemed as if the magnitude of his presence was increased even more. He gazes upon me after his eyes circle the groups of girls gathered for a little while. There were about 20 of us in the middle of town, 20 that would be paired up with him anyways, 20 that were of age. His crimson gaze bleeds into the world around him as the girls twitched and smiled at him. He seemed to be everything that they had said he was, vicious, inconsiderate, an animal ...But his gaze on me was entirely different.

  When his eyes locked with mine, and I was pretty sure he was looking at me, I felt my legs quivering beneath me. His eyes locked with mine and suddenly all of that fear had simply washed away. In his pupils, I found a great degree of longing, of joy, of anger that was now extinguished and a sadness that was now barred from extending anymore. I bite my lip as he stepped forward through a crowd, making his way to a spot in front of me. That look of his made me feel so...calm. It was rather strange, to say the least but that calmness was quickly replaced by calamity as soon as he stepped up in front of me. Was I being chosen?

  He towered above me and his blue skin glowed a shade of green in this yellow sunlight. I could hear the winds sweep by and clash with the grass beneath me. I could see the leaves on the tree in front of me flickering as he rests his eyes on me. Those blood-red eyes glow and I bite my lip as my blue eyes dueled his red with my
own helplessness. My blond hair flickered over my shoulders and I suddenly felt very self-conscious. I had made an effort to not put that much care into how I dressed today, just a simple black shirt and blue shorts with brown boots, that was all, a regular outfit. Then again this outfit was showing off my curves quite a bit, I wond-

  "What is your name?" he asked in an authoritative voice, apparently he knew English. It was almost a snarl but I did not sense any anger creeping through that expression of his.

  "Jessica Holodon sir." I said in a meek voice while Sarah gazed at me with fearful eyes. She rests her gaze on him as well and shivers but I couldn't do that. For some reason, as much as my body was telling me to, I couldn't show any signs of fear. His presence was captivating and every inch of me was telling me that...he shouldn't be as feared as I thought he should have been. He reaches into his pocket and grabs a small chip. He grasps my head gently and I struggle not to resist his movements as he gently pressed his hand up against my ear and allowed...something to crawl into me. I tremble and shake as I felt a slight burn in the middle of my forehead before he slipped his hand away from me and a tiny chip fell out. It clearly looked like a translator that I have seen soldiers slipping into their ears in movies but...it was of a much higher quality than anything I have seen before.

  "You are the one...Oxos. Approach and take her with me. The rest of you may return to your homes. I have what I need." he said in a cold voice and turned on his heel. I gasped and quickly the emotions began to race through my mind. Feelings of bitterness, of naive hope, of sadness and finally resignation.

  I knew that it was done, I couldn't fight him and I couldn't possibly get my way out of this but I began to try to talk myself into accepting his offer. Perhaps he wasn't as bad as he seemed, perhaps he was a better man than I gave him credit for, perhaps ...no I wouldn't give in without protest.

  "No! I don't want to go! Choose someone else!" I shouted, or at least I thought I did, what came out was a meek call that only caused the prince to turn around.