The Emperor's New Nightingale (2 page)

She skimmed over the basic rules for the second round. She was to meet up with the other winner at the Melbourne airport
—no passport was necessary. So, at least they were staying within Australia. She wasn’t sure when she would get time to do her shopping for clothes, she had to work in the morning, and she hated walking into clothing stores where everything was for a size ten and under.

Julie heaved another sigh
while walking home in a dreamlike state, clutching her five thousand dollars. She stopped at a local Chinese restaurant, getting takeaway, before visiting a bakery and treating herself to a nice slice of chocolate cake.

Chapter Two

Orin
, Emperor of Ario, Lord of the Four Galaxies of Harmony, leaned against the palace wall, watching the first of the nightingale ships land. He started, he hoped, as his father before him, to find his destined Empress on board one of the many ships landing over the next few days.

The contest
was coming not a moment too late, for already he felt the power draining from the Song Krystal and his heart was heavy with worry.

His life
, along with all those connected within the four galaxies, depended on the power of the Song Krystal to keep the universe in balance.

His loving mother,
The Divine Empress, died more than a moon month ago, and along with her, the song keeping the Krystal strong and the galaxies pulsing with energy and life.

Without the S
ong Krystal and its power, they would be thrown into darkness, and the evil, which so long ago stalked the universe, would be unleashed.

The time had come for
Orin to find a new empress and nightingale. The Krystal would accept only one voice, one perfect pitch of absolute beauty. It would vibrate joy and peace to every living creature within its protection.

The woman would become his wife as
all the prior Nightingales became his forefathers' wives.

Each spacecraft h
eld women chosen by seekers for their voices. The law demanded all singers must be willing participants, for only a true heart song would make the Song Krystal glow. The Song Krystal guardians would watch it carefully until it reacted to the right voice.

A long time ago, Orin
accepted he would love the woman he was yet to meet. Once they found her, no other would ever tempt him. Even if other brief affairs filtered through his life since his coming of age, they merely sated his lusts and taught him how to please and pleasure, but none of them ever pulled at his soul, or did he feel the completion of his heart. His mother and father promised him he would know the right woman when he met her.

“
Before she opened her mouth to sing, my boy, I knew your mother was mine. You will feel the pull too from deep in your soul.”
The words of his father lingered.

Orin
believed in his parents and in the Song Krystal. It never failed to provide beautiful, loving wives. Love, light and music reigned supreme in the kingdom.

He also
commanded the most formidable army in the galaxy, defending against any force daring to threaten their peace. Orin spent much of his youth training with the armies, learning all there was to know about the empire which one day would be his.

He smiled at the memory of his mother
teasing him about how many maidens' hearts he already broke. His heart ached knowing he would never hear her voice again, or have her sing to him as she did when he was a boy. Now, the only time he saw his mother’s smile was on her portrait, hanging in the palace gallery.

Orin turned
from the balcony, walking back through his chamber into the reception rooms where work was waiting for him. Occupation is the best way to keep his mind from building anticipation about the woman he would find.

“Lee, bring me the new trade agreements.” His personal assistant bowed low and went to retrieve the data.

Later, he would slip out of the palace and visit his favorite song tavern for some discreet, pretty diversions. A smile curved up his lips
—
even an emperor needed to blow off steam once in a while.

* * *
*

Thirty women
—
it was a good find. Uric and his brother Erson were seekers from the planet Frax. It was their talent to know beautiful voices when they heard them. This was the pick of the planet Earth's undiscovered talents. They were all lovely.

His
gaze met the uncertain eyes of little Julie. Compared to the other women, she was shorter and certainly not as malnourished as many of the human women, those thinking skin and bone was attractive. Behind Julie’s dark, soft eyes, she held deep insecurities, but her voice was pure magic sending tingles down his spine. Such beauty and talent hidden behind a self-doubting mask.... He had high hopes for her.

Only time would tell who would make the
Song Krystal shine. Now, it was time to get moving, or they would be late. Everything was prepared for the human women; none of them would even know they left their planet, let alone their galaxy.

The
seekers were taking a big risk scouting the more primitive planet Earth for prospective nightingales. In centuries past, the planet was off-limits due to its slower developing species and warring cultures, but the bounty was worth the risk.

“
We’re going to take off in just a moment. Everyone please make sure you are seated,” he ordered firmly. He watched until the last woman obeyed fastening their belts. He and his brother left the cabin, joining the pilot on the bridge. Their craft was hidden by a holograph disguising the alien space craft. Humans were known to react with hostility towards aliens.

“Cargo secure.”

Uric sat down. His brother gave the other crew members a nod and the pilot started the take-off sequence. Uric turned in his navigator’s seat to activate the switch which filtered a sleeping gas in with the oxygen. The gas allowed their nightingales a restful sleep until they reached Ario.

* * * *

Julie woke with a start. Yawning wide, she stretched her aching limbs and rolled her head around on her shoulders.
How long have I been asleep?
She licked her dry lips, noticing a strange taste in her mouth, one she couldn’t quite place. Glancing around the dimed cabin of the aircraft, she noted all the women around her still slept.

How o
dd
. Julie unbuckled her safety belt and stood up. She glanced down the rows of seats. Everyone’s eyes were closed, sleeping soundly.

The leather seat hissed
softly when she lowered her weight back into it. She nudged the thin, blonde woman sitting next to her.

“Hey, you awake?
”

No response.

Julie's brow furrowed in a frown. She reached over, took a firm hold of the blonde woman’s shoulders and shook her.

The blonde
snorted something unintelligible, but stayed asleep. If Julie didn’t know better, she would swear they were all drugged.

A click of a door
signaled someone coming and her heart pounded with uncertain fear. Quickly, she laid her head back and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to be discovered as the only one awake.

“Quite a bounty.” T
he deep voice of Uric Weston grew closer.

“
What if none of them is the new Nightingale?”

“
You have such little faith in my choices, brother. I know one of these human women is the one. The rest of them will never suspect a thing. We can return them to their planet of origin, no harm done.”

Julie
’s mind erupted into a frenzy of questions
. Nightingale? Planet of origin? What the heck were they talking about? What the hell was going on?

“
A pity...some are such exceptionally beautiful song birds! Couldn’t we keep one or two? I want this one,” Erson said, the longing in his tone evident.

“No,
brother. We’ve already broken enough Ario, intergalactic rules collecting these women. If anyone in court finds out we’ve taken them without them knowing exactly why, or where they've gone, we will serve time in detention, but as long as no one discovers what we’ve done, we may be able to return to Earth later and choose our own song birds. I admire this one, too, her voice is stunning; you can tell the song comes from her heart.”

“Hmm, agreed.”

Julie felt the weight of their gaze. She struggled to keep her breathing soft and even so they wouldn’t know she awakened and heard their every word.

“Apart from their women, Earth is not a welcoming
planet. We would be doing a favor for any woman we took.”

The kidnappers
' lusty chuckles faded down the aisle as they moved away. Julie dared to peek out from under her lashes, watching the backs of the retreating…she wasn’t sure if she could call them men.

She struggled to dampen the rising panic making her chest tight, trying to sort out the men’s cryptic conversation. One thing ran crystal clear. She
, along with twenty-nine other women, were tricked and kidnapped by aliens.

What the hell am I going to do now?

* * * *

A glance at her watch told her the cheap
timepiece stopped working. She didn’t have any idea how much time passed and she couldn’t see out of the frosted, black windows, no doubt a part of the illusion of being on an airplane.

At least
she got her panic attack under control, and now she felt calmer and more able to handle whatever was to come.

The
lights brightened and the tangy smell in the air faded away. Slowly, the other women around her awakened.
If we’ve been drugged, why did I wake up first?
She glanced back along the rows of seats and saw the other women were all a lot thinner than she was.
Maybe being fat was useful for something after all.

Uric’s deep voice boomed over the cabin speakers.
“Good morning ladies. Soon, we will be arriving on a private island in the South Pacific. The weather is a lovely, warm twenty-eight degrees. As you depart the aircraft, please stay together
—
we are surrounded by jungle with dangerous snakes and spiders.” Julie held back a snort of disbelief. Some of her fellow abducted contestants visibly shuddered, some declaring not to leave the hotel with such creepy crawlies about.

Indecision
rode her. Should she tell the other women they were kidnapped? Would they believe her? Most of them were so self-absorbed, she doubted they would believe her.

Julie
decided to test the waters with her neighbor.

“How do you know we’re rea
lly landing on a private island? For all you know, we’ve been kidnapped by aliens.”

The blond
e woman stared at Julie as if she grew two heads.

“Some imagination you have there.” Her response
was dryer than the Sahara desert.

“What would you do if it were true?
” Julie persisted. “What if Uric and his brother are really aliens and now we’re far from Earth?”

The girl's
red-painted lips curved up into a patronizing smile. “Abducted by sexy aliens? Maybe a little one-on-one probing might be in order.” The blonde wiggled her eyebrow and giggled.

Julie
sighed. Telling the truth to these women wouldn’t work. If Uric was to be believed, they weren’t in any immediate danger as long as no one noticed they were not on Earth anymore, but what would their abductors do to Julie if they discovered she knew the truth?

She could e
scape
. Yes, but to where? I’m on a strange alien planet, but I have to try something.

The craft bumped slightly
and not long after, the pilot informed them they landed and they could collect their luggage on the way through to the hotel.

Calmly, she followed along behind the rest of the excited
, chatty women.

“Are you alright
, Julie?”

She started, glancing sharply up at
Erson. His light blue eyes assessing her.

“I’m fine, thanks
. Why?”

“You seem a little out of sorts.”

“I do?” Her stomach dropped; did he already know?
Think quickly.
“Oh, no. I’m fine. Just still a little sleepy.” She faked a yawn, praying it covered her nervousness.

Erson smiled at her, his
gaze dropping to the swell of her chest. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you settled in your rooms, and you can rest.”

“Um, great
. Thanks.”

He moved off to talk to some of the other women. Alien planet or not, she was out of this so
-called nightingale contest. She would find a way to make her escape.

Stunned at how blind everyone was to the fact they were herded like cattle into a small transport, again
with no windows, to the supposed hotel, Julie noted how the alien brothers talked and charmed the women. She was more creeped out by how Erson’s gaze continually strayed across to her.

Julie
leaned over, pretending to brush dirt off her shoes and half unzipped another woman’s suitcase.

As
they stepped outside for the first time, Julie glanced up. The sky was blue; nothing alien about it; the air felt sweet and warm. The hotel was luxurious and grand—the entrance modeled with white, Greek columns and tall, French style windows.