Elusive Possession - Chapter One

Vallon never considered herself “in charge” of anything. Her recent promotion to Platform Commander was to be a slight challenge. She figured she’d gotten the position by folly when her mentor suddenly transferred to a different sector to be with his expecting wife. How in the hell was she supposed to order others around? It just wasn’t in her nature. Vallon was born of servitude and subjugation, along with her mother on a grungy slave planet in the barter district of Core. Their menial status eventually led them to the lovely, peaceful world of Allure. Allurians were a graceful race; however...the home they would come to know was of royalty. Her Eminence Conta was a spiteful woman and often pushed her servants into insanity. Vallon’s mother could tell that story well.

After many arguments and fights with the crazy queen, Vallon and her mother were passed on to the youngest prince. A prince they never saw, which led them to a dusty planet for the unseen man’s mining ventures. Soon after her sixteenth birthday an operations monitor came to view the mines and keep with regulation. He showed sympathy and compassion with her mother and secretly led them out to freedom. Vallon’s liberation and absolve had brought her to Galliance, a trading station near Earth, to carry out her new life as assistant to the Platform Commander. How was she supposed to smooth her way through this? Submission was simply her calling, or so she had thought – her birthright.

Vallon had sent all other employees at Gate Eleven to their lunch break. She had known for days that royalty from Allure was to dock today. The fun-loving misfits of the day shift were likely to make a fool of her, no doubt. She felt she should do this transaction alone. The call from Admissions letting her know a scheduled dock was in range and would be landing soon jerked her out of her daydreaming. Vallon pressed a square shape on the touch screen table in front of her – opening a giant set of steel doors over the platform. Within minutes, a small regal craft silently settled through the hole in the ceiling and placed itself softly on the polished floor.

A small, thin man in a crisp uniform stepped out of an open door on the craft and made his way toward her station. The man smiled, handed her an information disk and announced the arrival of a crowned prince of Allure. What? Of all the days, she had decided to dismiss her newly acquired staff and do things herself. This is exactly what she needed – a reminder of her past. Not! Vallon inhaled a ragged breath and looked up to see a tortuously beautiful man. She couldn’t function. Vallon knew her expression was that of surprise, and she also knew she was no longer breathing. Allure, a befitting name for the race and not just the gorgeous planet. She’d forgotten how agonizingly perfect they were.

He was tall -- well over six feet five was her guess. His long, straight knee length stark white hair gave contrast to the black uniform he adorned. The man had the most striking violet eyes she had ever seen. That scent, oh my... what is that scent? His redolence was so... reminiscent. Vallon had beheld that fragrance before. But, where? When? The man with sculpted cheekbones and heavy plumped lips smiled, and his cheeks colored a soft pink. Had he said something?

Vallon cleared her throat and finally pushed air out of her lungs. She spoke in choppy sentences and raspy words as she explained that they were to check in with Inter-Galactic Affairs in the next sector. The prince thanked her and smiled again as he turned to walk away toward the long hallway to his right. Looking over his shoulder to catch one last glance at her, he strode out of her sight. 

What were the chances? Out of hundreds of royal Allurians, was this him? The one she never saw. The one that had made sure her and her mother were cared for, fed, and clothed. The one that had made sure they were comfortable, always living in luxury. Of course, they were instructed to prepare his meals, clean his rooms, and make sure his uniforms were ready. Their position inside the prince’s home was never considered slavery in any way. No doubt, they would still reside there had her mother not fallen in love. It was him, had to be. No other reason for her senses to turn proverbial cartwheels the way they had. She knew that scent. Roses paired with a woodsy twang. Vallon had pressed his uniforms to her face and inhaled on too many occasions. It was him. The man she had been stolen from all those years ago. Her stomach lurched. Did he know? Was he there for her? Was he there to regain his property? Only one thing Vallon knew was certain...it was him.

Vallon tried to clear her reeling head. He was probably there to contract mining on Earth, after all...he is a precious metals and minerals mining mogul. Besides, he has no sanction here regardless of the status on his own world. Oh! The disk! Get it together girl, there’s protocol to follow, and if he reaches the destined sector before she runs the disk... I’ll not have to worry about how to do the job any more. Vallon placed the disk on the console before her, and the screen initiated a series of beeps before displaying an image her eyes immediately fell to. Him. Sovereign Kael Orien, born prince of Allure. She read his information eagerly, disengaged the disk, and stored it. Vallon knew her life would never be the same, as of today.