Enticed by the Alien Warrior Hope Hart (the giving tree read aloud .TXT) 📖

a couple of clowns, and Arix stares at us, the corner of his mouth twitching. Korzyn’s gaze is glued to my cousin, who looks wild, her hair tumbling around her shoulders, face flushed, aqua eyes glowing.

She clears her throat, pushing her hair off her face, and the smile disappears. I’m sad to see it go. My cousin doesn’t smile enough anymore.

“Good morning, gentlemen.”

“Don’t let us stop you,” Arix says, gesturing for us to continue, and I squirm in embarrassment. His eyes are lit with amusement, and I shrug. If he didn’t want us to act like children, he shouldn’t have given us beds stacked with approximately nine hundred pillows.

Arix’s brow raises at our awkward silence, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“I was wondering if you’d like to join us for the midday meal,” he says. “I try to eat with my advisers and some of my guards occasionally. It’ll be a good opportunity for you to meet them, since you’ll be staying here until you can fix your ship. It’s close to the river with a view I think you’ll both like.”

There’s no trace of the man who dropped the “c-bomb” yesterday while staring at me like I was the sun and he was freezing to death. I don’t know what this new tactic is, but whatever his true reasons are for inviting us here, his generosity is allowing us to have a real chance of getting off this planet.

I glance at Sarissa. I’m down if she is. She nods, and I smile at Arix, pulling my robe tighter around myself. “That sounds great.”

The guys leave, and I groan as Cauri glares at me, pointing her finger toward my room. Great, now I’ve pissed off my maid. Given that she likes to show her displeasure when she does my hair, I’ll be surprised if I have any left after this.

Sarissa snorts, Hesa—her own maid—waiting quietly, her face amused, behind Cauri.

“Good luck with that,” Sarissa murmurs, and I scowl at her.

“Just you wait. My revenge will be swift and sweet.”

“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, V.”

Cauri lectures me the entire time she’s helping me get ready. I manage to tune out most of it until she decides my hair simply must go in a complicated updo if I’m having a meal with the king. The sharp tug of her brush down my hair reminds me of my mother getting me ready for pageants as a kid, and I’m so tense I’m about to put my foot down and tell her to leave when she pushes one last pin in my hair and steps back.

“There. Now you look like a lovely female and not a romping child,” she says.

I roll my eyes. “We were having fun.”

Cauri frowns as if the concept is completely foreign to her, and I sigh, getting to my feet.

I’m wearing a long forest-green dress. The material itself has some kind of soft-gold sheen to it, and it shimmers in the light. My hair has been brushed, curled, and braided into submission, and my scalp aches. I’ll last approximately half an hour with this tension on my scalp before I take it down. I’m not planning to end up in bed with a migraine today.

My stomach flutters at the thought of being in bed for an entirely different reason, and I can’t help but think of the intrigued look in Arix’s eyes when he stared at me in Sarissa’s room.

The king is arrogant, suggestive, and charming. But beneath all that, I occasionally get glimpses of a man I’d like to know better.

Cauri nudges me, dragging me from my daydream.

“What are you waiting for, silly girl? Don’t be late!”

I sigh. “Thank you for helping me get ready.”

She harrumphs, turning away, but I catch the surprise on her face. Do people not usually thank her for her work?

Sarissa meets me outside my door, and I glower at her. “How come you get a ponytail and I get this?”

She attempts to hide a smirk as she stares at my complicated updo. “Because I’m not scared of my maid, that’s why.”

I narrow my eyes. “I’m not scared of her.”

Cauri opens my door and glares at us, and I jump.

“Go!”

I jolt into motion, ignoring Sarissa’s low laugh.

“Not scared, huh?”

“Shut up.”

Chapter Five

Vivian

The guards escort us close to the dock behind the castle, but we don’t get into a hydro. Instead, we cross a long bridge over the river, walking down a stone path for a few minutes before it opens up to a large clearing.

To the left, the river flows, hydros full of people traveling up and down the water, many of them craning their heads to get a glimpse of the king. To the right, a large group of tables and chairs has been set up, and servants are busy placing huge dishes laden with food on the tables.

Arix sits at the head of the longest table, talking to a few men who are nodding in agreement with whatever he’s saying.

“Ah, here they are,” he says as we approach, still surrounded by our guards. “Vivian, you remember Bevix?”

Bevix is the adviser who interrupted the first time Arix was propositioning me. The one Arix was determined wouldn’t see me in my “nightclothes.” Honestly, the nightclothes here cover more than the clothes I would wear to the mall on Earth, but from the frown on Arix’s face, he’s likely remembering that little interaction. And he’s still not happy about it.

“Nice to see you again,” I murmur to Bevix, ignoring Arix’s warning look. Bevix introduces himself to Sarissa, who nods her hello, and then Arix gestures to the older man on his left.

“This is Tridi. My father’s brother.”

Tridi smiles at me, his face puzzled as he runs his eyes over Sarissa and me. He’s Arix’s uncle, then, but from the cold look on Arix’s face, there’s no love lost between them.

I find myself intrigued by Arix’s life here. For some reason, I’m almost desperate to know all about his inner circle. I want to know who he