Rogue Warriors of Lorr
Captured By the Alien Chapter 25

Four months later...

Coming back from their honeymoon was bittersweet.

They'd spent so much of their time unwinding from those stressful months leading up to the birth of Gruxor and the wedding. Falling into an easy routine that didn't require any thoughts beyond taking care of each other and their baby felt amazing. Now that they were heading back to Lorr, Scarlett couldn't help but feel a little sad.

She knew Grux had a duty and an obligation to his kingdom and his father to uphold, but seeing him look so carefree while they'd been vacationing had been a nice change of pace from his usual frown.

Getting to see him be a father to their first child made Scarlett want to start trying for another one...

Or five.

Which was ludicrous considering how fraught her first pregnancy and birth experience had been. But by now, she'd forgotten all of that pain and could only focus on how incredible her husband was with the baby.

As they landed on the grounds of Lorr's palace, Scarlett sighed and unbuckled herself from her seat. She scooted into the back of the ship and unclipped Gruxor, lifting him out of his seat and pulling him against her chest.

He was old enough now that he could pretty much sit up in her arms on his own, his eyes alert to his surroundings and curiously taking them all in.

It had been nice to visit Grux's brother, Kozien, and his wife, Gianna, and their baby. Anna was only a few months older than Gruxor, but it was nice to see how a half-human/half-Lorr baby would grow in the future.

Scarlett had been worried about it mostly since she had no idea how her genes would affect a Lorr baby, so getting advice from Gianna had been immeasurably helpful.

Gruxor nuzzled his head into the crook of Scarlett's neck, cooing softly while she made her way back to where Grux was pulling the door open and letting the steps out onto the tarmac. She smiled at him and kissed him on her way down carefully. "I can't believe we're back," he said from behind her.

As she got to the bottom step and hopped down onto the tarmac, she turned to look at him. "It feels like we've been gone forever and then not."

He chuckled, hauling their bags down the steps. "I know. Did you think about what I suggested on the ride back over here?"

Scarlett shifted Gruxor in her arms and nodded.

As they'd been leaving Tageind, he'd brought up the idea of them moving back to Noxxa's inner city. She knew he missed helping run PAPS along with his brother, Trigg, and that feeling had only intensified after they'd boarded the ship from visiting Kozien. He was close with his brothers, even if they argued like there was no tomorrow sometimes about the wildest things.

But, she supposed, that was just what siblings did.

The only thing that Scarlett was worried about with moving so far away from Lorr was the fact that the king seemed dead set on keeping his next-in-line, as well as his grandson, within arm's reach.

As long as they could figure out that problem, she wouldn't care about moving to the city on Noxxa.

"Why don't we talk to your father first and see what he says? Then we'll go from there."

After getting his wife and son settled back into their room, Grux headed off to find his father.

He knew Scarlett's concerns over their living situation were valid and that she didn't want any bad blood between him and his father now that his title had changed to the next-in-line. The thing was, he didn't give a damn about any of that.

Inheriting his father's throne, as well as Lorr as a whole, had never interested him. It's why he never envied Kozien and his duty as the next-in-line when he'd still had the title.

All of it seemed like way too much work for very little benefit in the end. Not to mention their father was kind of insane most days.

Though, since his father had granted Scarlett clemency and had helped him in securing a future for her, Grux couldn't exactly go around and denounce himself as the prince like his older brother had. There was no telling what kind of wrath his father would upend if he did such a thing. Knocking on his father's study, he straightened himself and tried to push the anxiety down.

No matter what the king's mood, he needed to try and convince him that letting Grux leave Lorr wouldn't be a detriment to the economy or whatever bullshit his father would most likely try to spin at him in order to guilt him into staying. When the door to his father's office opened, Grux pushed it further from the jamb and stepped inside.

His father was bent over his desk, squinting down at the surface because he still refused to have his aging eyes repaired. He was studying some kind of document that had a stack of papers underneath it-most likely a treaty of some sort. Once Grux shut the door behind him, his father's head perked up.

"Grux! Welcome back. How was the honeymoon?"

He smiled a little, surprised that his father even cared to ask. "It was nice. We traveled a lot. Saw a lot of cool sights around Noxxa."

He didn't want to mention visiting Kozien. Not only did he not know how his father would react, but mostly due to how hostile their relationship still was. Grux wanted to keep his father in this rare good mood for as long as possible in order to weasel what he wanted out of it.

"I'm glad you were able to show your new bride the planet's sights."

Grux nodded, tucking his hands in front of his waist.

"Yes, while we were traveling, we found a few places we were thinking about taking up residence."

His father lifted a slow brow, making Grux's stomach squeeze. "Oh?"

Grux nodded. "There's a small housing unit right outside of Rosoha. We looked at it, and we think it could be a great place to raise Gruxor."

The king didn't say anything for an agonizingly long moment. He slowly took his reading glasses off of his nose and folded the arms together before setting them down on top of his desk.

"Hm."

Grux remained as still as possible, trying not to fidget. "Of course, I'd still be around to visit and make sure things are running smoothly here."

The king frowned. "Why not just stay here, then? Does your new bride feel unwelcome? We can certainly make sure she's more comfortable."

While the suggestion was sweet, Grux knew the "caring" facade that his father was trying to show was more due to the political influence Scarlett held-and, moreover, her family.

The situation between the Terrans and Lorr was still fresh and could easily be broken by one wrong move on either side. Therefore, Grux was sure the king would be trying to do anything in his power in order to ensure that that didn't happen. Which, again, would hopefully work in Grux's favor.

"Well..." Grux shrugged. "She feels a little stifled here. She isn't used to court life, and I think that she would do much better closer to a large city."

"We can move you two into Lorr's Capital City, Grux. An apartment over on the east side, perhaps."

"I'm afraid Lorr is too slow-moving. I want Scarlett to feel energized, and I want our baby to grow up in a cultured environment. Which is exactly what Rosoha on Noxxa has to offer."

The king folded his arms over his chest and sighed slowly. "You've really thought about this."

"I have, yes."

"There's nothing I can do to change your mind? That's what I'm hearing."

Grux bit the inside of his cheek. "Correct. As I said, I will come back to Lorr to fulfill my duties, but my full-time commitments will be with Scarlett and the baby."

"I see."

They stood in awkward silence for a long moment-long enough that it practically drove Grux mad. His father was obviously taking this all in and going over whatever way he could argue with Grux to stay inside of the palace walls.

However, Grux wasn't willing to give in. He'd been serious when he'd brought up moving back to Noxxa's city. He felt more at home there anyway and allowing Scarlett to feel the freedom she felt while she'd been in Xoyosis was something he wanted her to have again.

He missed that adventurous nature that she had and could tell she did too while they'd been away honeymooning.

When the king finally sighed, Grux knew he had him. "Well, then I suppose you have my blessing. But I will expect you to be here when duty calls."

Grux nodded before bowing his head. "Of course. I'm a call away."

"Good."

With a dismissive wave, his father settled back into his chair and grabbed his glasses off the stack of documents on top of his desk. When he slid them back on over his nose, Grux took it as his sign to leave and quickly exited the study. Once he shut the door, he felt the giddiness of finally getting something he wanted taking over.

He couldn't wait to tell Scarlett.

***

It took a little under a week to finalize their plans to move as well as secure an airship large enough to transport everything they needed for their new place.

The day after the king had given them their blessing, Scarlett and Grux had left Gruxor with Cardil, his nursemaid, and headed to Rosoha.

As luck would have it, the place they'd originally looked at had been long since sold off to another happy couple with their own children running around the front yard as they pulled up to it.

He could tell Scarlett was disappointed at the SOLD sign in front of the house and quickly got to contacting the realtor who was representing this area.

To their surprise, another house only a few minutes outside of the city in a secluded part of the countryside was even more perfect than the one they'd looked at previously.

Grux had laughed when Scarlett's eyes went wide looking at the price of it, and even more so when he slapped down a wad of credits as the realtor sent him the files to sign off on the transaction.

When he'd handed her a keycard loaded to unlock the house, she'd cried, and that's when he knew that he'd made the right decision.