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Chapter Nine

Freya

Iwoke up confused. After looking around and seeing Zark’s collection of prison collars on the wall, my panic subsided. I didn’t even remember falling asleep. I must have been so tired. When Zark left last evening, I ate the soup and cleaned up the dishes I used. The last thing I remembered was lying at the foot of the bed waiting for him to come back. He never came back…or maybe he did.

The leftover pot of soup had been removed from the stove, so someone had come in here while I was asleep. Why didn’t I wake up? Certainly, a huge full-grown man like Zark would have made a sound.

I peaked out the small window next to the door. It was foggy outside, so I couldn’t see further than a few feet. My clothes still hadn’t been delivered. I had very few belongings. I paid for the stuff myself with my allowance on days when Meriuam and I visited the market together. And when I wasn’t shopping or helping out in the dorms or at the orphanage, I wrote. Writing down my daily thoughts in my journals helped me process my memories and feelings. As for clothes…I didn’t know how much longer I could wear this clingy, barely-there tunic.

Curious about what type of man Zark really was, I got up and walked around the room. I made sure not to leave anything out of place. With the way his podhouse was spotless and without clutter, he seemed like the type of man that would notice if I moved something.

Aside from the prisoner collars, which sort of gave me the creeps, he also kept a trunk full of other weapons near the front door. Since he was a warrior, I figured he’d have some axes and swords. He had a whole bunch of them.

On his bedside table, there was a glass sphere sitting on top of an iron disc. The object reminded me of a snow globe. We had them on Earth, but I’d seen someone carrying one of them around the market the other day. I wondered where Zark had gotten his. Was it something made on Zunator to be sold at the market or had one of the raiders brought it from Earth? Inside the globe was a silver stone. I touched the glass and immediately shrunk back when I felt an tiny electric jolt shoot through my fingers. Strange. Meriuam had said that the crystals in their caves contained powers, but that seemed surreal. But then again…I was here on a planet with tribrids and a world that fascinated me.

I wanted to learn more and I couldn’t do it if I stayed here in this podhouse. I was tired of waiting. Waiting for Zark.

I pushed the door open and peeked outside. “Zark?” I whispered. “Are you out here?”

I hoped that nothing bad had happened to him. I wondered if he had even slept in the podhouse at all.

I was halfway out the door when the chill in the air hit me. I reached back inside and grabbed a thick shawl from the door rack and hung it over my shoulder. The garment smelled just like him, of exotic wilderness and a hint of cinnamon.

“Zark?” I whispered again, looking to the left and right. I thought I saw a shadow move near some trees so I headed toward it.

Sure enough, Zark was sitting on the ground with his back leaned against the tree. His eyes were closed and his chest rose and fell evenly. He was sleeping. So the rumors were true; he did sleep outside.

I tiptoed up to him, careful not to make a sound. He looked so peaceful. The morning light gleamed on his body, illuminating all of his perfections. Most of the alien warriors I’d seen were built like Zark but they weren’t Zark. Not only was he pleasing to look at, every time I thought of him or came near him, I felt compelled know him.

I came to a halt about one foot in front of him. Just as I parted my lips to call his name again, he grasped my ankle with his hand. I let out a squeal and stumbled back from the shock of it. Just before I landed on the ground, Zark broke my fall, capturing me in his arms.

“I thought I told you to stay inside,” he rasped, covering my body with his solid torso.

“You never came back,” I said.

“I did. You were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“You didn’t have to sleep outside, you know.”

“I didn’t,” he said.

“What?”

“I slept in the chair. I rise early. I checked on my posts and came back and you were still snoring.”

“I don’t snore.”

A grin twitched at his lips. He searched my face with his gaze and his attention lingered on my lips. My gaze dropped to his parted mouth. I brought my hand up to trace a small scar starting from one corner of his mouth to his chin. “What happened?” I asked.

He lifted himself upward and placed some distance between us. “You’ve forgotten the rules already.”

“What rules?”

“The one about not leaving the podhouse unaccompanied.”

“But you were right outside,” I countered.

“And if I wasn’t?”