15. Axl

“She does not have brain damage, Mother,” I say firmly, not taking my eyes off Georgiana. Now she realizes this is real. She’s pale. Tears are falling down her cheeks and just as she begins to close her eyes, I catch her before she collapses on the floor. After a few moments she tries to speak, but her words are unintelligible through her tears. She can’t catch her breath.

The House Zu doctor enters quickly followed by some of her staff. The women immediately take Georgiana away from me. I try to follow, but they raise a House standard. Men aren’t allowed to follow women to the infirmary who are not their family members unless they are married. I don’t bother showing them my marriage bracelet as I have just admitted to our marriage being a lie. Everyone in House Zu will know that now. There are no secrets in Houses.

“Axl let women attend to women,” my mother chides me. “We will heal her and send her back to Earth. We will put everything back in its place.”

“Madame Georgiana is not a thing, Mother.” As I stand here helpless to help Georgiana, I reflect that none of this feels right, but it’s unreasonable I should feel this way about a woman I only met a week ago. Isn’t this exactly what I told her all along? If she helped me get past the Alliance Force, then I’d send her back to Earth and she’d get the human money hidden in the cabin. But so much has changed between now and then, I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime with her already and I can’t imagine her not in my life.

“She did her duty to you,” Lia says. “Now you must do yours to your family. Mother wants you to marry Aru. You need to…”

“I won’t,” I reply, interrupting her. “Before I was more open to the idea of an arranged marriage because I hadn’t actually met a woman I cared about. But I love that woman,” I point to the door Georgiana had just been taken from. Both my mother and sister are visibly shocked I used the word ‘love,’ they see it as a kind of sickness. “And I will not have her sent home if she wants to stay.”

“Perhaps you should see the doctor as well,” my mother suggests. “What would you do with a human wife?”

“The same as I would an Alliance wife.”

“She’s human,” Lia points out unnecessary.

“One of the Lost People,” I counter.

“And the Lost People should remain lost. The Empire already has too many troubles, we don’t need humans here as well.”

“Blasphemy.”

“Stop fighting,” my mother says. “Axl, you have seven days. On the seventh day we will reconvene and Madame Georgiana will choose what she wants to do. I doubt she will want to stay. If she was special enough to make such an impression on you, the chance that she will want to stay in a place where she is a second class citizen is unlikely. But I want to give you the chance to let her tell you herself.”

“And if she decides to stay, you will accept her as your daughter in-law and give her full status as a member of House Zu?”

“You have my word.”

“Mother?” Lia says, “You can’t be serious. What if she’s an idiot and Axl is just being overly emotional? You know men. You can’t be suggesting we might let a human into House Zu.”

“This human woman fooled the Alliance Force and charmed Axl. She can’t be stupid.”

“She thought it was a game,” Lia counters.

“Wouldn’t you if you didn’t know aliens existed? I don’t know much about Earth, but I’m certain they do have enough technology to fabricate simulations. I stand by my offer, Axl. Seven days and let the human decide. When she turns you down I don’t want there to be any hard feelings. And just so we are perfectly clear, during this time you will treat this human as if any other woman you are courting. No kissing, no touching, no sex.”

“I agree.”

“This is a mistake. This will hurt the reputation of House Zu. There are already too many humans living in the Empire. Everyone knows humans would do anything to move to the Empire.”

“I’ve just spent a few weeks on Earth. I guarantee you most humans don’t even know the Empire exists. I think all humans want to do is to live in peace and not be abducted by aliens, and sold as pets. Mother is correct that Georgiana is smart and she will recognize quickly she’s not equal here. Whether or not love can overcome that, we will see.”

“Stop using that word. You are insufferable,” Lia says.

I remember Georgiana saying, ‘that’s what you love about me. I make you tell me you love me all the time. It frees your heart.’ I smile to myself; she does free my heart.

My mother asks Lia, “Do you agree? We all must be in agreement.”

“Yes,” she says reluctantly. “But this is a mistake.”

“You’ve stated that a few times. None of us are hard of hearing.”

I head directly to the infirmary. Georgiana and I, for all intents and purposes, officially courting by my mother’s word, so I am allowed to check on her. However at the infirmary’s entrance, I’m met with resistance from a nurse.

“Commander Axl, you know you’re not allowed to be here.”

“The Head of House Zu has granted me seven days of courting with that human woman.”

The nurse pushes her lips together and then tells me to wait while she verifies this. Then she comes back over and reluctantly lets me enter. She guides me to Georgiana’s room. I can see her through the window. but the door is locked.

“May I go in?”

“She’s resting as you can see. She’s exhausted. She needs sleep. Lying to her for your own benefit altered her perception of reality.”

“Have you managed to straighten it all out in her mind?”

“The doctor did, but it took her longer than usual. The poor woman had a tough time accepting that aliens existed and that this could have happened to her. She must be more intelligent than most humans as there was also a lot of guilt that she let this happen to her. We all tried to comfort her. I know I’d feel the same if I’d been fooled like this.”

“I was not dishonest,” I tell the nurse. “The doctor must have seen that in Madame Georgiana’s memories as well. I told her from the very beginning it wasn’t a game.”

“Maybe you didn’t stress it enough because it didn’t suit your purposes?”

“No. I said clearly and many times.”

“Was that while you were taking advantage of her body? The doctor saw that too.”

I remain quiet. Of course female doctors would see it this way. I give up trying to convince the nurse of my honesty. “May the goddesses be blessed you were able to heal her. Please notify me when she wakes. I want to be here.”

The nurse nods. Despite whatever she personally feels, she must do it for me. This is a registered request between two maximum class people.

I stand at Georgiana’s window a little bit longer going over the last week in my mind. Could I have emphasized that it was not a game to her anymore? I know that there were times that I just let it go because it did benefit me, but wasn’t she benefiting as well? She will get the money if she returns to Earth.

I must review the facts. I inserted a translation device that may or may not have caused some brain injuries. But I don’t think so as no one has mentioned it and they would have definitely checked now. They would have also checked to see if I had had sex with her, which I did not. And they would have checked her memories and found that yes, I did probably let her believe it was a game more than I should have and she did get food poisoning in my care. But the latter, I could not have known. Otherwise, I have treated her as I would any Alliance woman who was my wife. I have clothed her, fed her, and kept her physically satisfied.

But now I want more from Georgiana. I want her to stay with me. I want her to be my real wife. And I’m frightened she’s going to be so angry with me for allowing her to believe this was all a game she will never want to see me again.