Rogue Warriors of Lorr
Captured By the Alien Chapter 15

Scarlett felt like her stomach was going to come out of her throat as the doctor examined her.

The hospital had said her results had greatly improved, and she would be able to walk around as long as it wasn't too strenuous-like carrying heavy things or long-distance running. Scarlett had snorted at that.

But Nyla had said the palace doctor should confirm the hospital's findings. The baby had to stay healthy. And if Scarlett heard one more of Nyla's damn opinions, she just might make sure her nurse took a turn for the worse.

The doctor held a blank expression, leaving her to question everything. She wished the doctor would say something. At least let her know everything was good so far as he examined her.

Was she good? Had things gotten worse? Was she going to remain on bedrest longer? All of these questions were swimming in her head, making her anxiety spike.

Grux stood next to her, waiting patiently. It was clear he was the calmer of the two. He held a tranquil, relaxed expression while she looked like a disaster.

The doctor finally pushed himself back, leaning into his chair. He smiled. "You're doing great, Scarlett. Everything is how we want it to look. I'll be taking you off bed rest. I only ask that you continue to take it easy. Pregnancy is hard on the body, doubly so for the cross-species variety."

Grux and she both sighed, relieved. He patted her hand, giving her a smile. "That's great news."

The doctor nodded. "I'll just let you get dressed, and you guys should be good to get on the move. Simply be sure to take it easy and try to keep your stress as low as you can."

It was magic to her ears. The doctor was saying she could move, which meant she could be on a spacecraft. They didn't have to stay on Lorr anymore-even if they couldn't go back to Earth, yet.

She looked at Grux excited. He would be able to take her away from here without the baby being in danger. They finally had a chance to get out of here. She wouldn't have to be a prisoner anymore. Grux handed her pants to her, allowing her to redress herself. She sighed after she finished and looked at Grux.

"So," she said. "When are we going to leave?"

He looked confused. "Leave? What are you talking about?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I have the okay, so we can get going. You know, get away. We can finally get on a ship and leave."

Grux's expression fell, and he reached for her hands. He gave her a gentle smile. "My love, I think this was a sign that we need to be careful. Your body is already weak. Traveling isn't a smart idea right now."

She frowned. He wanted to wait longer? No. She couldn't. She couldn't stay here longer than they already had.

"The doctor just said I was good to go," she said back, disappointed he was telling her no again.

"Yes, that you were good to get moving as in getting out of bed, not get on a spaceship and run to another planet where they may not be able to help you. The stress would cause problems with the baby. We can't travel. You need to take it easy, like the doctor said. Space traveling isn't taking it easy, Scarlett."

She scowled at him. "Grux, I don't want to stay here."

"It's not forever." He squeezed her hands. "Just until the baby is born. You'll regain your strength after that. Once you do, we can leave, knowing you both will survive traveling. In the meantime, I'm going to find us a way to connect with your family."

She opened her mouth to say something, but someone called for Grux. She snapped it shut.

An advisor walked up, giving them each a nod. "The king requests your presence."

She sighed, frustrated. They needed to talk. Badly. But she knew Grux would leave. He always did when his father requested him. And he had to. Otherwise, the guards would drag him there.

Grux nodded and looked back at her. "We can talk later tonight. All right? We can take some time to figure out what we want to do."

She didn't like the idea, but she couldn't tell him no. So, she just nodded, and Grux left. She stood in the room by herself.

She couldn't stay in the palace. Everything that used to amaze her just made her angry. So, she went out back to the garden. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nyla watching, so she kept circling the gardens, waiting until someone came up to speak to her guard. As soon as Nyla's eyes were off her, Scarlett slipped out of the main part of the garden.

She wanted out of the king's presence and away from him and his guard dogs for a while. So, she kept walking farther and farther away from the palace, checking over her shoulder that no one was watching her.

The more she thought about the king, the quicker her legs seemed to move. She was irate.

She didn't want to stay here and have her child. She didn't want to be involved in royalty, and she certainly didn't want to bring her baby into it. She wasn't going to raise her child here.

She hadn't been to these parts of the gardens before, which were slightly more overgrown. She went around corners and underneath tree branches. She just walked, allowing her feet to take her anywhere.

She wanted her freedom. It seemed each time they got close, it was ripped away from her all over. She was tired of it. She was tired of everyone denying her the most important thing to her.

She needed her freedom. She had lost it so many years ago, and she wanted it back. She hadn't run away just to be stuck in another place.

If she had her baby here, her child would be stuck. If she couldn't get away now, she knew she wouldn't after the baby was born. There would always be a new reason they had to stay.

The baby was a newborn, and they couldn't leave. The baby would be too weak. They'd have to wait. The baby would be almost one. They'd have to celebrate here. It would be never-ending, and she would never get the life she wanted.

She growled, walking faster. She wished she could run away, but she knew that wasn't the answer.

She sighed, knowing the anger wasn't something she should hold on to. Grux was looking for a ship to protect her, and they'd talk about everything tonight. She knew that he really did want what was best for her.

She shook her head, trying to push it all away. She wanted to enjoy the day. Soon, they wouldn't be here anymore.

So, she continued to walk, taking in everything nature had to offer her while she could.

As soon as Grux stepped into his father's study, the king beamed with happiness. It irritated him, but he didn't say anything about it.

"I'm thinking we should have a celebration," his father said, holding a smile. "For the baby. We should invite as many people as we can."

Grux stopped himself a few feet away. He frowned. "Why would we do that?"

"Because." His father waved a hand. "We can have the bonding ceremony, and everyone can be present so we can just announce the arrival of the baby. Everyone will be overjoyed to hear about that and even more so when they find out about the birth of a new Lorrian. Everyone will just rejoice in this news."

Grux hated to hear his father talking like everything was a deal to be made, so emotionless. Grux having a child was a huge thing, and his father was turning it into a show for everyone to enjoy. He didn't like it.

"Maybe I would rather we don't do that." If they were going to do anything, he didn't want to invite people. He wanted it just to be him and Scarlett.

And maybe they'd be out of here before then if he could secure the right ship. It was hard between watching over her and keeping his father pacified to dig through the comms or commandeer a ship, though.

His father waved his hand. "It's a good thing. It will bring us into people's good graces, especially after that Jorvlen attack. It's exactly what we need right now while we plan our next move. After everything we've gone through, this is exactly the distraction the people need right now."

Grux clenched his jaw, trying to remain calm. He knew this was something they did, but Grux didn't like how his father was making it out to be. Bonding with Scarlett was supposed to be an intimate thing, not this.

"Plus," his father continued. "It only gets better from there, son. This will be the way to get through to her family! If I send out an SOS that says she's pregnant, they are bound to receive the comm. Scarlett will be thrilled to hear her family wants to watch this. It will open up windows for us."

n't thinking about them. His father was thinking about himself. He would claim it was for t

No, the tie to Earth wasn't as beneficial as he claimed. It would lessen the strain they had with another race, but the Terrans were so far and, honestly, weak that he was only doing this to make himself look good. To be the king who achieved the impossible. "This is just a closer step to them wanting to join forces with Lorr. This could be good for us, bridging the gap between our two planets-a united front, a brighter future. And who doesn't think about the future when a baby is involved?" His father nodded excitedly. "This is great news indeed, Grux."

Grux could only rub his eyes. He was too tired for this. His mind wasn't here. After everything with Scarlett and the baby, the last thing he wanted was to argue with his father. "Father, can we discuss this later? I'm tired from the stress."

There was no arguing with his father. If he could get out of this meeting, he could actually try to work on contacting Scarlett's family-with a real message about her well-being and not whatever politically loaded comms his father was sending. His father waved his hand. "All right, I'll speak to you tomorrow instead. But in the meantime, inform Scarlett of our plans."

Grux frowned. ike he had.

He left, heading back to their suite. He hoped maybe to talk to Scarlett a little about everything. He knew she wasn't going to be jumping up and down about the idea.

So far, she had fought him on everything, and he understood why. Scarlett wanted her freedom, and being here was not what she signed up for. Hell, he didn't even like it half the time.

He headed down the hallway from his father's study and took the stairs down to the main floor. He took a right and took the hallway toward their suite. He took a deep breath in before he opened the door to the room. "Scarlett, I'm back."

He looked over the space, seeing it was empty. He frowned. "Scarlett?"

Silence.

He walked around, looking in the bathroom and out on the balcony. She wasn't here.

He knew it was possible she had left the room to go somewhere else, especially since Nyla wasn't here. She wasn't stuck in the suite-thanks to his demands in the doctor's presence. The doctor agreed she needed some exercise and to move about, for the health of the baby.

She could have gone to the kitchen to get something to eat. It was possible she went to sit outside in the garden to get some fresh air. But his insides twisted, telling him that wasn't it. He knew that wasn't the answer. Something was wrong.

He hurried out of the room, heading down the hallway. Grux kept from screaming or looking worried as he passed by guards. He feared if he drew attention to this, she would be apprehended forcefully or lose her privileges to walk around. He couldn't risk anything bad coming of this.

He searched every hallway and in all the rooms. He checked the kitchen and all the upstairs servants' spaces. His heart was beating double time by the time he stepped outside.

He ran his eyes over the garden. He didn't see her anywhere. He didn't see anyone so he dared to shout, "Scarlett!"

An orchard servant jumped as he yelled, stumbling out of a patch of the garden. She turned, looking at him. "Are you looking for someone?"

"Yes!" He walked toward her. "I'm looking for Scarlett." He didn't bother describing her with the posters everywhere. "Do you know where she went? Was she out here?"

She thought for a few moments before she nodded. "She was out here about a few hours ago walking around. She looked frustrated, so we left her alone. I haven't seen her since then. I didn't even see her leave since I've been working." Grux's insides twisted frantically. This wasn't good. That was hours ago now. God only knew where she could be by now.

"Fuck!" he cursed, running his hands through his hair. "F**k, f**k, fuck!"