CHAPTER 2

Goddess-blessed

V rixiel couldn’t sit at the bar any longer. The place had a relaxing ambience and a great view of Jupiter, but he was a tangle of nerves inside, his upper heart beating erratically. At least he looked impeccable on the outside; his ceremonial red jumpsuit and medals were in place, his horns were freshly polished, and his long hair was divided into three orderly braids starting from the top of his head.

“Are you sure it is a good idea to wear so many of your medals?”

The question kept Vrixiel in his clamshell-shaped seat. Instead of getting up to leave, he turned to face his friend to his right. “What do you mean? ”

Nitiel gave him a pointed look over a swirly glass of water. He never drank alcohol, not even when he was off duty for several weeks. In fact, he was never going to be on active duty again, since he was vacating the post of Subcommander of Gaenthia’s army in the Solar System in favor of a diplomatic role on Terra. Nitiel had arrived from the Venus station just yesterday to undergo the necessary training for the new job.

Vrixiel was happy to have his closest friend at the station he himself was yet to get to know. He had moved here just three days ago, as per protocol when the ASI located a space soldier’s niela in this system. Vrixiel was even happier to have Nitiel around for the arrival of Lady Trixie Miller, since it was good to have someone to share concerns with ahead of the most important moment in a Gaenthian’s life. But still. “What is wrong with showing my medals to my niela ?” Vrixiel grumbled. “Speak plainly, Nitiel.”

His friend scratched the pointed tip of his purple ear. “Forgive me, I did not mean to add to your worries. It’s just that… What if your niela gets overwhelmed? Females are delicate creatures.”

Vrixiel harrumphed and drank the remaining two drops of his Terran whiskey. “With all due respect, I have far more experience with females than you.” Like, way more: Nitiel was a virgin. “Delicate is how they must act, to meet our society’s conservative standards.”

“True.” Nitiel scratched the base of his horn nub. “However, neither you nor I have experience with Terran females. Shouldn’t you be more careful? Why not display just three of your medals instead of as many as you can fit on your uniform? Three will prove to her what kind of soldier you are, while ten… She might think you have nothing else to impress her with.”

Vrixiel couldn’t stop the nervous flutter of his wings. That was the issue: he might not have what it took to impress his female. He excelled at his job, sure. He was part of one of the most influential clans on Gaenthia, indeed. But none of those things mattered when one was alone with one’s niela . He trusted the Goddess, who acted through the ASI, to pair him with a female who would love him as he was; yet he couldn’t help but fear disappointing Lady Trixie.

Vrixiel jumped from his seat. “I must go.”

“What?” A deep frown appeared on Nitiel’s purple face. He put his glass on the levitating bar. “Go where? To leave some medals in your cabin?”

“No. The medals stay.” Vrixiel needed that metaphorical shield, for better or worse. With his wings drawn tight, he added, “I’m going to the landing bay. You may join me now or later, but I cannot stay here a second longer.”

“Vrixiel.” His friend flew off his seat and landed next to Vrixiel. “There is a lot of time until Lady Trixie’s arrival–”

“I know–”

“–but I understand. I shall not leave you to wait alone.”

Warmth filled Vrixiel’s lower heart. His friend, despite the chronic pain in one leg from an old injury, was going to stand beside him for at least an hour. “You better not try to catch the eye of my niela , Subcommander,” Vrixiel said, grinning.

“That would be impossible,” Nitiel replied through a smile. “For the poor female would lose her sight as soon as she sees the blinding sparkle of your medals.”

Vrixiel laughed, his worries temporarily subsiding, and tugged at one of his friend’s horn nubs with a pinkie. “Quit mocking my medals. She will love them, and you know it.”

Nitiel delivered an answering playful tug at Vrixiel’s front left horn, then they were off to the landing bay. Vrixiel would have enjoyed a flight to their destination, as the exertion would help him relax somewhat, but flying along the station’s corridors was prohibited unless there was an emergency. Walking would have to do.

Once in the landing bay, he and Nitiel approached the worker in charge of the landing spots’ allocation. The Cordubian’s six tentacles kept operating a holo-console while she took them in with all but one of her eight eyes. She directed them to where Lady Trixie’s aircraft was expected to land. “Congratulations, Goddess-blessed,” the worker chirped afterward.

Vrixiel bowed, some of the nervous tension at the base of his wings dissipating. He needed the reminder from a stranger that what awaited him was a union blessed by the Goddess. All would be all right.

That thought stayed with him as he waited for 53 minutes for the arrival of his Terran bride. It stayed with him as the spaceship entered the landing bay and Nitiel took a few steps back, leaving Vrixiel to greet his niela on his own. The positive thought didn’t waver even during the landing process, which seemed to take forever.

It was when the exit hatch hissed open and Vrixiel saw his female that his positivity left him.

Because, a moment after their gazes locked for the first time, his future wife slumped to the floor.