Thank you to SorceressQueen for your supportive comments about this romantic fantasy. A little more back story here, rated K+. Please read & review.
Day 10
Captain Marlena Glenn, Duchess of Westfarland, didn't know if her lover was alive or dead. He was off negotiating a peace treaty with the Gar, a dangerous and mysterious blue-skinned people who lived in the shadows of the Dark Hemisphere, according to The Illustrated Peoples of Eternia. The Gar were one of Eternia's native species, dating back well before the time of the Elders, who apparently were King Randor's ancestors. That information raised a whole bunch of questions in the mind of the Earthling scientist. But there was no one nearby who could answer those questions.
As the morning turned into afternoon, Marlena fixed and organized all of the machine parts that had been delivered from the royal labs. She plowed through all of the books so generously loaned by the king from his personal library. She spent time talking with Nurse Tasha, whose work ethic and healthy attitude about life gained Marlena's respect more and more with each passing day.
She even got to know her healer Trin-Lor a little better - and Marlena had been correct when she deduced that Trin-Lor probably had a history of strong loyalty to the royal family. Trin-Lor had been the personal physician to Randor's mother, sister and paternal grandmother; and, on orders from Queen Adora, she had even been discreet enough to deliver some of Randor's half-siblings, ensuring that the children of King Miro's infidelities received the same medical care as his legitimate heirs. In fact, Trin-Lor was now part of Randor's team that tracked down his half-siblings and moved them with their mothers to safe houses. The healer's sense of integrity deeply impressed the curious captain.
There was also time for a few short naps during the day - after all, Marlena's body was still healing from the crash landing and she had nowhere else to go.
As the afternoon moved toward evening, she got up and paced her quarantine room, did some stretches, looked out the window at the distant hills (that odd-looking falcon was in the tree again, looking right back at her) and ate her supper. She began to wonder about Randor's quarantine room next door...so she went over to her door, and opened it slowly. An ordinary hallway, with two armed guards in dark green and gold uniforms standing at attention. Both guards were females over six feet tall, with broad, muscular shoulders.
Timidly, Marlena stepped out, and looked left and right. "That's his room?" she asked, pointing to the door next to the guard on the left. Both guards nodded solemnly. "May I…?" She gestured toward his door, and the guards nodded again. They didn't seem surprised by her presence or her curiosity. She hobbled down the hall as quickly as possible before anyone could change their mind.
The room wasn't locked; it was a tidy mirror image of Marlena's room. The bed was neatly made. There was a book on the nightstand, and a change of clothes was folded and stacked on the shelf underneath. Instead of the armchair and two rolling tray-tables that Marlena had in her room, there was a desk and chair here. On the desk was a pen holder with pens, a small, straight stack of folders, and a taller stack of books. In the bathroom there was a toothbrush and shaving kit by the sink, but no other personal effects.
Taking it all in, the astronaut decided to make herself at home in the desk chair, and started looking through the documents in the folders. She skimmed through all types of legal forms - a property deed for a wounded veteran's family, interest-free loans to struggling farmers, executive orders to build schools and medical clinics, scholarship letters for future leaders in various fields, incomplete contracts for various workers' guilds, drafts for terms of peace with provinces and tributary kingdoms, and even some partially-written personal letters. One was for his half-brother Stephen in Dorados; another was for a woman in hiding with one of King Miro's young children. It was a snapshot of the king's mind.
Next she turned her attention to the stack of books, and right away she spotted a few that she wanted to take back to her room to read: a history of the Gar people, archaeology from the time of the Elders and (her personal favorite) an atlas-style book on Eternian astrometrics and chronometry.
But the most intriguing item on that desk was the notebook that Randor had been carrying around ever since he had first rescued the astronaut. She couldn't resist: she simply had to see what he had been writing in it. So Marlena slid it out from in between two other books, and opened it up to the first page.
At first, it looked like a diary. There was some type of date and a location at the top of the page, then an objective, factual description of what Randor observed about the astronaut's dramatic arrival on Eternia. A list of her injuries followed, and she turned the page to find...pencil sketches.
The first drawing showed her ship, the Rainbow Explorer, in the deep furrow of her crash site. There were wisps of smoke rising from it and clouds of dust around it - Randor's artistic rendering was quite realistic. Marlena thought of the moment she laid eyes on her rescuer - the shock, the relief, the thrill - never had she felt so happy to be alive.
Alongside the image were a series of questions, most of which the king had asked her within the first few days of her interrogation, and her answers were jotted under each one. The questions and answers continued for several pages; and Marlena noted that Randor must have memorized her conversational responses, because they were word-for-word exactly how she had spoken them. Interspersed with the text were sketches of the astronaut from various angles, with different expressions, some in color, some black and white, some rough, others more detailed and refined. One image showed Marlena unconscious with people leaning over her; another had her winning triumphantly at Cabal, then with an angry expression as she told the king to leave her room; there was a close-up of her eyes with tears clinging to her eyelashes just before they kissed for the first time; her face with a drop of purple smoothie on her nose; and a diagram of the constellations around the Elder's Gate with the captain's words, "Don't be sorry for love."
Page after page, it continued - rather creepy, she thought to herself. And yet, she couldn't tear herself away. On the other hand, there was nothing disrespectful or demanding, just copious observations and notes of an unusual visitor to the realm that Randor had sworn to serve and protect.
If the tables had been turned, Marlena thought, with Randor crash-landing on Earth, the examinations and testing would have been far more invasive and far less dignified. Everything in this notebook indicated a sincere esteem for her abilities and interests. He had found meaningful work and a source of income for her to live independently; he had assigned female guards and caregivers for her peace of mind; and with regard to the captain's pleasure, everything they had done together had been at her insistence. Yes, this notebook - and all of the other half-written documents on that desk - was proof that her lover was everything he claimed to be.
Finally, she arrived at the last page of notes, where the astronaut found the questions, "Are you one of the Elders? Or did the Elders send you?" She smiled at the memory. There was a little portrait of her sleeping next to that.
At the bottom of the page were the words, "Do you believe in love at first sight?"
Captain Marlena Glenn - scientist, explorer, pilot - chuckled at the idea. Love at first sight was an absurd notion! But...then she remembered how it felt to see the face of the most handsome man she'd ever met, at the time of her greatest need. And she knew, even though she had been wracked with pain - he felt it, too.
Lost in thought, she jumped when the door suddenly opened. Randor's deep, cheerful voice said, "Ah, there you are!"
Marlena couldn't help it - she threw herself into her lover's arms, delighted that he had returned safely to her. "Yes," she said.
"Yes, what?" asked the king. He was hoping for an answer to a certain question.
"Yes," she repeated. "I do believe in love at first sight."
***next update will be posted in a few days***