I Need A Girl
Alien King's pov
I sat on the edge of the heavy bed, my back to Mara. The room was silent, but my head was full of noise. The rough sex didn't help. It didn't make the shame of the retreat go away. I stared at my hands, the same hands that had crushed so many human skulls, and all I could feel was a cold, old fire.
"I need a daughter," I said. My voice was like a ghost in the dark room.
Mara moved behind me, her gold jewelry jingling. "Karn, why are you like this? You have sons. You have Kael. He is strong. He is becoming a man who can kill with a look. Why talk about girls?"
I turned my head slightly, my eyes dark. "Because Kael is a soldier. He is like me. But my daughter... she was the only good thing I ever made."
The memory hit me hard. I didn't just lose her to a sickness. I lost her to a monster. I remembered the day I found out what the human governor had done. He was a small, greedy man from Earth who thought he was safe because of his titles. He had taken my daughter, my little princess, and he had raped her. He treated her like she was nothing because she wasn't human.
The pain on her face when I found her... that was why I went to the human world. That was why I started the raids. I wanted to see every human city burn. I wanted to take their women and their treasures because they took my heart. Aurora was just another victim of that rage. I brought her here to suffer because a human made my daughter suffer.
"No one can give me a girl like her," I whispered. "None of you. Not the mistresses, not the slaves. Every time a son is born, I just see another warrior. I want the piece of me that the humans stole."
Mara sighed. She didn't like talking about my daughter. It reminded her that I loved a child more than I loved any of my wives. "The governor is dead, Karn. You killed him and his whole family. You burned his city. When is it enough?"
"It is never enough," I snapped. I stood up, feeling the anger returning. It felt better than the sadness. "How is Kael? Tell me about my son."
Mara stood up too, her heavy body moving slowly. "He is doing well. His battle skills are perfect. He is faster than the instructors now. He will take after you, I am sure of it. He has your blood and your drive. He will be a great king."
I nodded. Kael was my pride, but he was a cold kind of pride. He was a weapon I had built. He didn't make me feel human. He just made me feel like a king who was successful at breeding.
I started toward the door, my mind already leaving the room. I was thinking about the human governor. I was thinking about the way his eyes looked right before I ended him. And then, I thought about Aurora.
"Karn?" Mara called out.
I stopped at the gold doors.
"You are acting very strange," she said. She looked at me with a sharp, suspicious look. "First you run away from a war, and now you are crying over old ghosts. Did some side chic break your heart? Is that what this is? Are you upset over a human girl?"
I felt a vein in my neck throb. I hated that she could see through me, even a little bit. She didn't know the whole story, but she knew I was distracted.
"Do not speak to me of hearts," I growled. "I have no heart. The human governor took it, and I buried it with my daughter. I am the Alien King. I do not feel. I only take what I want."
"Then why are you so empty?" she asked.
I didn't answer. I slammed the doors shut. The sound echoed through the hallway like a gunshot. I walked away, my boots clicking on the stone. I had to get back to work. I had to find a way to break Kraye’s world.
I wasn't just fighting for a girl anymore. I was fighting because the humans had started a fire in me a long time ago, and it wouldn't stop burning until everything was ash.