Free Alien's Princess Bride by Sue Lyndon, Sue Mercury Page A

my mother gave up her title. I used to wish I was a princess too, and whenever I saw you on magazine covers looking perfect I’d become angry with my mother.”
    “Your mother wanted her children to have a normal life away from the cameras.” Memories of her late aunt swept down with the cool spring breeze, and for a distinct moment, Elizabeth thought she smelled the jasmine perfume Aunt Beatrice had always applied liberally. She glanced around, half-expecting her aunt to stroll over the rolling hills with a picnic basket tucked under one arm.
    “I thank my mother for that now.” Fiona patted Elizabeth’s hand and stood up. “It’s almost time. Come, I’ll walk you to the landing site. I saw the ship earlier, a half mile down the shore.”
    They left the remnants of their picnic behind and set off. Elizabeth carried nothing with her, as her belongings had already been delivered to her quarters on the Starship Matchmaker , the massive ship that would take her away from Earth and everything she’d ever known.
    She didn’t know much about the planet she was headed to, a newly discovered and sparsely populated Earthlike planet known as Sepkar. Worries flitted through her mind. Would the people there be welcoming? What would her intended, Zarr, be like?
    As they approached the sleek spaceship, she took notice of a line of women making their way onto the craft. An odd looking, red-eyed creature interviewed them before two guards escorted each woman aboard.
    Having never seen an alien in person before, Elizabeth paused and stared at the scene. The guards wore uniforms similar to riot gear, which covered their bodies in full, but their towering height revealed they weren’t human either.
    “Don’t be scared, Elizabeth. I’ve made all the arrangements. You can skip the line and enter your private quarters from the other side of the ship. Pull your scarf over your face so no one recognizes you.”
    Nodding, Elizabeth concealed her face and followed her cousin, keeping her gaze on the ground and not once glancing up. She doubted any of the women in line would raise alarm even if they recognized her, since they obviously had their own good reasons for escaping Earth, but she couldn’t take the chance.
    No doubt some of the women in line knew someone who’d taken part in the storming of Buckingham Palace five months ago. She’d been in Scotland at the time, hidden away with friends of her aunt’s, because her father had become worried after watching the downfall of the United States, Canada, Australia, and many other countries around the world. England and the rest of Europe fell last, but it fell just as swiftly as across the pond.
    There came a point where too many people died from disease, where too many people were starving, and where too many people hadn’t returned from the various wars that had sprung up during the last decade. The breaking point, her father had called it. The point at which the rules of society gave way to a pitiless survival instinct, a point where citizens had to choose between stealing and starving, between looting and perishing, and between killing or being killed.
    Much of the world had settled since the breaking point, with pockets of semi-civilized villages springing up here and there, but peace in the aftermath of a once industrious world never lasted for long. As quickly as new leaders rose, they were assassinated by those who believed they could do a better job, or those who were simply power hungry.
    The world had gone irrevocably mad, yet Elizabeth still feared leaving.
    Fiona led her around the ship and up a narrow ramp guarded by another tall alien, who let them pass after taking one look at Fiona.
    Elizabeth wished she could repay her cousin for the risks she’d incurred while arranging for her safe passage off Earth. Saying ‘thank you’ didn’t seem adequate enough. Tears burned in her eyes and she dashed them away, determined to hold herself together at least until the