The Song of the Rose Read online

  The Song of the Rose

  By K.M. Carroll

  Table of contents:

  Chapter 1: Hostages

  Chapter 2: Rox

  Chapter 3: Rain

  Chapter 4: It must end

  Chapter 5: Rasalas l’Archon

  Chapter 6: Kidnapped

  Chapter 7: Garden of Roses

  Chapter 8: The Song of the Rose

  Chapter 1: Hostages

  LIEUTENANT ZAYN WAS willing to do anything to stop a war. Except, perhaps, what Captain Danyl was asking her to do.

  She stood at attention, her black uniform sleek and clean, the stripes marking her rank as ship’s political officer bright white on her left shoulder. Her black hair was pulled back in a tight bun, as regulations demanded while on duty. She kept her head up, eyes straight ahead, hiding the turmoil churning within her heart. But she could do nothing about the way her golden skin had turned grayish and cold.

  Captain Danyl had been her surrogate father while on this six-year sojourn in space. His hair was streaked with gray, and his coffee-brown face was beginning to show lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth. “You understand why it must be done,” he said, gazing at her. Beneath the words, he looked imploring, seeming to beg for her forgiveness.

  Zayn drew a deep breath, struggling against the fear that rose from her heart to choke her voice. “I ... I’m not certain I’m the right one for this mission, Captain.”

  “Zayn.” Danyl looked away for a moment and swallowed. He stepped to the nearest window and peered out. They stood on the bridge of the ship Dawn’s Horizon, with windows and view screens on every wall. It was the night cycle, the Dawn lying in the shadow of the gas giant Beta Pictoris B, and the bridge was empty except for the night crew. They occupied the seats across the bridge and ostensibly could not overhear the Captain and Lieutenant, although likely they were straining their ears to catch every word.

  “Look at them out there,” said Danyl under his breath. “The flagship of the Rox, themselves. They know they have us pinned, here between the planet and the blasted accretion disc. We either negotiate, or they blast us into the gas giant. Our ships barely made it out of the battle of Sirius B.”

  Over his shoulder, Zayn watched the enemy fleet on a view screen. They floated in the gloom like splinters of broken glass. The largest ship, in the center of the swarm of ships, was a horrible spiky shape, like a caterpillar with pointed armor on every segment. The Pride of Talons. She had seen that flagship curl into a torus, like a caterpillar, and plow straight through the human fleet. Looking at it now, her stomach clenched.

  “I don’t see how it helps,” she said. “A hostage exchange will solve nothing if the Rox do not honor the agreement.”

  "They claim that their hostage will be royalty," said Danyl. "They ask that our hostage be equivalent. Since you're the daughter of the CEO of Starlight Enterprises ..."

  "... and one of the primary shareholders," Zayn added.

  Danyl nodded. "You are as close to royalty as we have here on our fleet, without sending home to Earth. It would take years, and we don't have years. Even now, their harvesters are out in the accretion disc, collecting material for more of their weapons and ships. If we don't stop this conflict, they'll strike at Earth."

  Zayn nodded. She knew what was at stake. She had known of the discussion of a hostage exchange, which the Rox had agreed to, after much deliberation. She had thought that Command would send one of the fleet admirals, not a lowly political officer. But she did own a majority share of Starlight Enterprises, along with her father. They operated Earth's orbital shipyards and built the military and civilian ships. They enjoyed enormous power and influence, and Zayn had gotten her position on the Dawn's Horizon through her contacts.

  But becoming a hostage? She had never anticipated that.

  "Wh—where will they send me?" she asked through trembling lips, looking at that horrible spiky flagship. She envisioned sitting in a black alien cell, being fed slime and insects.

  "We're still discussing it," said Danyl. "At present, it looks as if you will occupy one of the estates the Rox have built on Pictoris's moons. Both humans and Rox will have access to the estate, to make sure supplies are delivered and no harm befalls either hostage."

  "I'm to stay with the Rox hostage?" Zayn asked in horror. "But they're demons! Horns and everything! He'll probably eat me alive!"

  "That's why both sides will be keeping watch," said Danyl. "You will not be allowed to harm their hostage, and he will not harm you. It helps that you are fluent in Roxanian. You are to remain on the moon until the human and Rox delegates can negotiate a ceasefire and peace treaty. It may take months."

  Months trapped in the company of a demon from space. Zayn's stomach crawled with terror. But if she didn't agree to this, the Earth fleet had no one else to send. She was literally humanity's last hope. They could not afford any more battles with the technologically superior alien race. She had studied them for the last six years while learning their language, so maybe she would have a fighting chance at survival.

  "All right," she said at last, her voice unsteady. "I'll do it."

  BETA PICTORIS B'S LARGEST moon had been dubbed Aria. It was a beautiful green world with an oxygen-rich atmosphere and liquid water. The Rox had built homes there for their people who tired of space travel.

  Alnair l'Nath stepped from the transport craft onto the terrace of the Nath estate, and his hearts sank. He was the crown prince, pride of his father, ornament of his mother, commander of one hundred fighting ships and their crews. And he was to become a hostage.

  The human transport had already arrived. It was a dead mechanical thing, resting on wheels on the opposite terrace. Alnair's sharp eyes caught the flash of sunlight on armor. They had sent soldiers with their hostage, naturally. Alnair had come alone, partially to show the humans that he meant to honor the agreement, and partly because his pride would not allow him to ask for a detachment. He was the strongest of all of his brothers. He could fight an army of humans with his bare hands.

  He followed the walkway from one terrace to another, his woven mail fitting his body like a second skin. In appearance, he resembled a human, but seven feet tall, his skull adorned by two black, curved horns. He had pointed teeth, sharp fingernails, and patterns of black scales that swirled across his white skin. Alas, if only he had been born red, like his youngest brother. But one could not have everything.

  He slowed to a stately walk as he approached the humans, standing tall and throwing out his chest for effect. The humans gazed up at him, fear staring from their eyes. One man in uniform stepped forward.

  "Prince Alnair l'Nath?"

  "I am he," said Alnair, speaking their tongue with regal clarity.

  The man saluted, touching a hand to his forehead. "It is an honor to meet you, sir. This is the human hostage, Zayn Starlight."

  A tiny female stepped forward and saluted, as well. Alnair gazed down at her in astonishment. Her head barely reached to his elbows. "You are royalty?" he said incredulously.

  Zayn glared at him, which was amusing on a smooth, undecorated human face. "I am royalty, l'Nath. My death would bring about civil war. Would yours?"

  "My death would cause my father to crush the perpetrator and all his kin," Alnair replied. He extended a hand to the tiny woman. "It is my pleasure to meet you, Zayn of Starlight."

  She trembled before him, but she placed her hand in his, showing courage for one so small. "I am pleased to meet you, as well, Alnair l'Nath."

  As soon as custom allowed, she withdrew her hand, perhaps a little quicker than was necessary. Her gaze had dropped to his long, sharp fingernails, filed into claws as a sign of his rank. He chuckled inwardly. His intimidating looks worked on humans, anyway.

  "Come," said Alnair. "All of you. I will show you the house, and where your princess will be staying. She will be treated with utmost care."

  He led them into the house, smiling at the way the humans gaped at the doors and ceilings built to accommodate the much taller Rox race. The house occupied the top of a hill, and was built in three levels. The top level held the terraces, the sleeping rooms, and a living space with places for sitting and study. The second level held more living space, a library, and the dining room. The third level held the kitchen, the washing facilities, both for people and their clothing, and the furnace.

  Alnair played the gracious host, both to show his superiority to the human guards, and to study the woman they had sent. She reminded him of a Rox woman, but without the beautiful scales and horns. He read by her movements and energy that she was nearly crippled with fear, but was trying to hide it, trying to do her duty, operating on courage alone. It reminded him of his dearest sister, the one who had died of lung sickness. She had faced her illness with the same courage. Perhaps humans and Rox were not so different.

  "Supplies will be delivered once a week," Alnair said, gesturing to a stack of boxes in the kitchen. "I understand that our tastes in food are quite different. Humans are carnivores, correct?"

  "Omnivores," Zayn corrected. "We must have a varied diet of both animal and vegetable matter to maintain optimal health." She glared at him. "We know the Rox are carnivores. We've seen your men tearing at the flesh of our dead soldiers."

  Alnair winced. "That is a battle ritual, not our normal diet. We, too, are omnivores. That is why we colonized these moons. If you look outside, you can see Harmony, silhouetted against the gas giant, there. She is a beautiful world, full of farmland and crops. I vi
sit when I weary of war."

  "Do the Rox ever weary of war?" Zayn asked.

  Her superior officer cleared his throat. "You two will have plenty of time to debate later. For now, we must unload our own supplies so Miss Starlight does not starve. l'Nath, will you bring servants?"

  "No," said Alnair. "The agreement was one human, one Rox, so neither has the advantage of numbers over the other. Now, other Rox do live on Aria. Their estates are down that way, among the trees. But they have been informed of the political situation and will not interfere."

  The officer cleared his throat. "So you two must prepare your own meals and, uh, keep house together."

  "It is menial, but necessary," said Alnair. "I argued for a complete house staff, but the human negotiators feared that a single human woman in a house full of Rox would not live long."

  Zayn studied his hands again. "How do you wash dishes with claws like that?"

  Alnair mimed picking up an object in the tips of his claws. "Carefully."

  He watched as the humans unloaded their supplies, carrying the girl's belongings to her room, and her food to the kitchen cold storage. As they worked, Alnair inspected the power array on the roof. It had been some time since he had visited the Nath estate, and he worried that the field reapers might not have been maintained. But he found the metal polished and gleaming, the readouts showing 100% efficiency. His father must have had it inspected before sending his son here as a hostage.

  Alnair stood for a moment, gazing at the distant gas giant with its bands of purple and blue. Then he gazed the other way, at the accretion disc like a vast silver band across the sky. Full of gas, stone, and metal, the disc had been the reason the Rox settled this system in the first place. They had lived there for centuries before the king had begun sending out scout ships, looking for new worlds to settle. That was how they discovered the fierce human race, and the long war that followed had been bitter. Alnair welcomed the opportunity to make peace with them. His Choosing day was coming soon, and he wished to find a wife and settle down on an estate like this one. Battle was glorious, yes, but he could not bear any more death.

  He returned indoors and watched as the humans said their farewells to Zayn Starlight. Then they departed, their machine lifting off and screaming into the sky. Alnair was alone with a human for the first time in his life.

  He was curious about her, but terror radiated from her like electricity, making his energy sense ache. So he went to the library, instead, and settled down with a book. He listened as she went to her room and barred her door, and he sighed. So much for any sort of companionship to ease the boredom of his imprisonment. He resigned himself to reading and attending to daily calisthenics. Perhaps he would work on the house itself. Add a new room or some such. He thoughtfully took down a book on architecture and made some sketches.

  That evening, he ate a solitary dinner and went to his quarters. There was no sound from Zayn's quarters. If she did not appear by morning, he feared that he would have to check on her. It would not do for the human hostage to have killed herself the first day. Negotiations would be short, indeed.

  Chapter 2: Rox

  ZAYN STAYED IN HER rooms, alone, with only her fear for company.

  They were nice rooms, if a bit too large to be comfortable. In Earth terms, the bed would be considered super-king-sized. The first night, she felt quite lost in it. There were no pillows, which made sense, because what would a horned Rox do with a pillow? Still, she woke up with a sore neck, and resolved to make a pillow somehow.

  She had a bedroom, a sitting room, and a bathroom, all of which had high, airy ceilings and furniture she had to climb. The windows began at chest height, and afforded pleasant views across the forested landscape. She stood and watched birds fly, and longed to know their names. Extrasolar flora and fauna were her delight.

  But Zayn could not overcome her terror of sharing a house with a prince of the Rox. He was huge, for one thing. Huge and strange, a man covered in scales, with demonic horns, and strange, slanted eyes with glowing red irises. He was the epitome of every terrifying news image of the Rox invading space stations and boarding vessels, killing and ravaging the humans within. Humanity was begging for peace with them, because the very idea of the Rox attacking Earth was too horrible to contemplate.

  Zayn ate no evening meal, too sick with fear to tolerate anything. She slept badly, waking at every creak of the house or breath of wind, expecting that demon man to be forcing the door open, or climbing in a window. But he did nothing of the sort. She heard no sound from him at all.

  By midmorning the next day, Zayn's body began to stubbornly demand food. Like it or not, she would have to sneak downstairs and open the supply boxes Captain Danyl had left her. Perhaps she could do it without attracting the notice of the demon.

  She pulled a heavy chair away from the bedroom door and peeked out. The hallway was empty. No sound came from within the house. She crept out and down the stairs, wishing for a weapon.

  As it turned out, her terror would not let her rest until she knew exactly where the Rox was. She searched the huge house on tiptoe, peering into every room. The house was empty, the door to his rooms closed. She listened at the door and heard the rattle of tools on metal inside. Good. She crept downstairs and located the boxes of food.

  Zayn's only thought was to find something portable and dash back to her room with it. But to her annoyance, the ship's commissar had only sent along raw food items. She had flour, sugar, vegetables from the hydroponics lab, and plenty of canned meat. If she wanted breakfast, she would have to cook it.

  She pulled out a cookbook that was buried at the bottom of a box, paged through it, and set about making herself enough food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Once it was cooked, she took it all up to her room and locked herself in again. There. Now she didn't have to leave again for twenty-four hours.

  Zayn set up her communication equipment and located the signal of Dawn's Horizon, hanging in orbit to act as support. Captain Danyl had forwarded several queries to her regarding orders from Command, so she settled in to resume her job as political officer.

  Days passed. Zayn quickly figured out that the alien man rose and prepared his own breakfast early, then either went outdoors, or retreated to his rooms. Once he was safely out of the way, Zayn cooked her own meals, and retreated back into hiding, where she buried herself in remote work. She never saw her housemate, only heard him moving about the house and clinking dishes.

  This might have gone on indefinitely, except that Zayn began to go stir-crazy. She saw only her own room and the kitchen, and the screen of her laptop. The daily blue skies and the songs of the birds outside drew her attention more and more. She had been in space for six years, and this was her first sojourn on any planet. Her craving for the outdoors and the breeze on her face grew to a physical hunger.

  One day, after breakfast, when the alien was still in his own rooms with no sign of leaving, Zayn sneaked outdoors. She was delighted to find that the estate had wide, shady grounds, grown with some sort of mossy ground cover that was green and soft, but not remotely like grass. The trees were tall, shapely things, like graceful eucalyptus, but the leaves were fine and lacy. One tree baffled her entirely, because it seemed to be some sort of fungus, all tall loops growing from a single trunk.

  She broke off a loop and was examining its furry surface, when a masculine voice said, "Fancy seeing you here."

  Zayn jumped horribly and whirled around. The demon prince stood a short distance away, carrying a shovel over one shoulder. Instead of armor, he wore trousers with mud-stained knees, and a loose tunic with laces down the chest. He would have looked like any human man busy with outdoors projects, if not for the black horns and scales that swirled along his jawbone like a beard.

  Zayn didn't answer him, only stared in panic, wondering how to escape to the house. He was between her and the door.

  The alien winced a little. "I mean you no harm, you know. No need to fear me."

  His command of English was very good, with only a slight accent. Zayn's Roxanian wasn't so good, so she replied in English. "We are alone, and you are armed."