Free Her Alien Abductor (Aegarian Saga) by Alexandra O'Hurley Page A

with unfortunate accidents , I felt you were the perfect man for the job.”
    Dar winced, the remembered pain still great, the weight of it still crushing his soul.
    “Dar Jin, this will be the last thing I ever ask of you. With her gone, I can proceed with my plans, and you can get on to living your life without my shadow following you. And the threats of the Empire finding out you were the one to kill its greatest son will be over.”
    Tears formed in Dar’s eyes. He could not face the world knowing what he had done. He could not even face looking at himself in the mirror since that fateful day. But to kill this innocent woman just to save himself? She did not deserve this.
    Yet, the thought of losing everything he had, the position he had worked hard to reach, the trust of those around him, the love of the only real family he’d ever had was too much. He had made a rash decision and a heated argument had turned deadly, killing the one person who had been his greatest advocate and friend, which ate at him.
    “I will not kill her. There has to be another way. There will not be any more blood on my hands.”
    The older man looked thoughtful. “Then make her disappear. Ensure she will never darken our Empire again. The Crimeon fields would do the trick.”
    “And have her sanity taken from her? She’d be as good as dead. What’s the difference?”
    “It wouldn’t be death by your hands, and you would be free of me.”
    “I will never be free of you. And who’s to say Besh won’t find a way to save her before any real damage is done to her brain. She would just tell him who had taken her and left her there to rot.”
    “Not if he isn’t there to find her.”
    Dar looked up with fright in his eyes. “What do you mean?”
    “Do not worry your weak little head, boy. There is no plan to kill him. Just move him out of the way for a while. You will do this.”
    Dar closed his eyes, his heart heavy in his chest, knowing there was little choice.  His head fell forward as he realized he would submit to his final duty.
    “Weakness becomes you, boy.”
    ****
    J’Halle and Kaya walked down a short hallway, which had one side open to the outdoors. Kaya was able to catch sight of another segment of the village. There were mostly homes on this side, but each was so colorful and had such beautiful gardens surrounding them her eyes were searching everywhere around her. There were so many new things to see, her eyes didn’t know where to start.
    Her maid urged her down a flight of stairs at the end of the hallway, her palm on Kaya’s lower back. They exited the building into the main thoroughfare of the village. She saw many carts and vendors with fruits and flowers, what she assumed was bread, exquisite gems and jewelry, and something she suspected was similar to dairy and meat products on Earth, as well as other various carts laden with goods.
    As they walked, people turned to stare at her being led by the maid. She stuck out on the street because she was so small, and for the first time in her life, she felt dainty, petite, and for some reason, she loved the sensation. She’d looked eye to eye with many men on Earth, and it seemed to intimidate them. There was no way she would ever look down at the top of a man’s head here.
    One point for the Aegarians.
    J’Halle led her down the street and put her arm around Kaya in an obvious show of her protection. Not that anyone had made any threatening advances, but it still warmed her the female wanted to shelter her. They turned down a small street and walked a few more yards. This street was less busy, but the few people there did stop what they were doing to stare at Kaya. She felt incredibly self-conscious from the moment they had walked out of the building.
    Thankfully, J’Halle soon led her to the doorway of the small building. Kaya escaped the staring masses and dove through it, nearly bumping into a tall white-haired woman with glowing red eyes. Was this the famous