XERIS' POV

I stood on the other side of the table looking at her. She could barely keep herself in an upright position. It had only been a few minutes since she woke up. She would need my help until she gained control of her movements.

Here goes.

I walked around the table. "I'm going to lift you and take you to the sitting area. It is much more comfortable talking there than it is in the kitchen."

I could tell she wasn't comfortable with this, but she nodded. I bent down and scooped her up in my arms. She held her head stiffly, trying not to let it rest against my shoulder. I could tell that doing so was a challenge

I walked slowly to the sitting area, trying not to jostle her. I set her down in a chair and made my way to the one facing her. I sat down as well and placed my hands lightly on the arms of the chair and waited.

I looked at her, wondering why she wasn't asking anything. She looked confused. I sat silently, letting her figure things out. Now that I wasn't letting my hatred for earthians' lifestyle rule me, she didn't seem so bad. But I was smart enough not to let my guard down, not yet anyway. These people were full of lies and deceit.

She seemed to have gathered her thoughts and I readied myself to answer all of her questions.

"Why did you kidnap me? Are you responsible for all the missing girls on earth? Are you after some ransom? Or are you going to use us for experiments? Will you erase my memory, and the memories of all the other girls and then return us to earth? Are you trying to analyse our anatomy before you take over the planet? Are you going to make us humans your slaves? Or are you trying to find the best way to destroy earth so that you can inhabit it. Is that why I'm here? So that you can find our weakness? When will you..."

She would have carried on her rapid fire of questions if I hadn't stopped her.

"I can only answer one question at a time. I am not a machine that records everything and produces answers in the end. Try again."

She took a deep breath. She had a deep furrow on her forehead as she concentrated on a spot by my feet. "Are you responsible for the all the missing girls?"

"Yes and no."

She looked up at me.

"We have..." I looked for an appropriate word "taken girls from your planet, but we are not responsible for all the missing girls. Some of your people took advantage of the situation and decided to kidnap some of the missing girls for their own.... personal reasons." I maintained eye contact with her. But I knew, even though she was looking at me, her mind was elsewhere.

"How many girls did you take?"

"Twenty million."

She gasped, "But the news only reported a little over eighteen million girls."

It wasn't really a question but I answered her anyway.

"Your planet's intelligence team only started counting once they noticed that a substantial number had gone missing. We have been...taking girls for the past six months, not five. As I mentioned earlier, some of your people also...took girls for their own reason." I was trying to be careful with my words.

"'My people?' 'My planet?' You've mentioned that quite a number of times. Are you not human?"

"I am."

"Then why do you keep saying, 'your people'?"

"I am not from earth."

"But you said you were human."

"I am human, just not from earth."

"Then how can you be human if you're not from earth?"

Oh goodness.

"Is it that unfathomable that there exist humans who are not from earth?"

"Aliens are supposed to look different."

"Oh? And how are...aliens.... supposed to look?"

"They should have giant heads and bulb like eyes. Or tentacles for arms. Or four legs. Or resemble insects, like in Independence Day. And they shouldn't be able to speak English. Are you making yourself appear human so as not to scare me? Or do you refer to all other species as human?"

She can't be serious.

I had to force myself not to let my laughter come out. I tried hard to hide my smile. I lifted my hand to my mouth, making it look as if I was rubbing my lips, when really I was covering my smile.

Once I had recovered, I lowered my hand. She waited anxiously for my reply. It seemed she had run out of suggestions.

"Do you really think I have hidden my true appearance to put you at ease?"

She examined my face. I grit my teeth as my smile threatened to be exposed. I lifted my chin a little and looked at her. Her eyes travelled down my sitting form and back up. They were now locked on my eyes.

I could tell she believed that this was a mask.

"What makes you think so?" I asked with a tilt of my head.

"Well, you do appear human. But you're unlike any other human I've met."

"How so?" I was genuinely curious.

"Well, for starters, you're really tall."

"Does my height disqualify me of humanity?"

She thought for a second, "I guess a lot of people are tall, so that isn't it." She turned her head a little to the left. "The way you hold yourself. Your back is too straight. Most people usually slouch."

I couldn't help it. A little laugh escaped with my exhale. "Does proper posture make me extra-terrestrial?"

She tilted her head the other side as she continued to examine me, "I guess not. There are people who have been groomed and have good etiquette. Mm," she looked into my eyes. People did not look me in the eyes. As prince, everyone lowered their gaze in respect. But here this girl was, staring right at me, not even flinching. It was unnerving. Then again, she did not know of my status.

"Your eyes."

"What about them?"

"Your eyes are really green."

"Do people on earth not have green eyes?"

"No, that's not it. They're not just green, they almost shimmer. They are such a vivid shade of emerald green, unlike anything I've ever seen before." She continued looking into my eyes, almost as if caught in a trance. I let her look. True, royals had striking eyes, it was due to the royal gene we carried and served as a sign of our status as God's chosen.

She came to her senses and looked away.

"So my eye colour is what makes me an alien."

I let a smile escape and looked down, my head lowering a little. I looked back up at her.

"I am most definitely human. Just like you. Of course, I do not look like anyone you have met before. But that is because we have not crossed paths before. I have the same organs that you do, mostly, as I am male, and you are female. I eat, sleep and breathe, just like you do. The only differences being our behaviour and where we were born."

"Where were you born?"

"I was born on a planet called Thanzor."

"Than-zor," she sounded it out slowly, "where is it?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot give you directions."

"You said you would answer all my questions."

How do I explain this?

"You misunderstand me. It is not that I do not want to give you directions, it is that I cannot give you directions. The way to Thanzor cannot be described like a road map."

"Oh. How can you describe it?"

"The universe is a vast place. We do not fully understand it but make use of the knowledge we have gathered about it. We know only what God has allowed us to learn. Time and distance mean nothing out here. We use black holes to travel through the universe, and we more often than not estimate their location. We have the brightest of Thanzor on this ship working continuously so as not to miss any of the black holes, or as we like to call them, 'passages', that would lead us home."

"It sounds like you took a great risk travelling to earth."

"We did. Everyone on board The Exodian risked their lives by coming on this mission."

"Mission? It was your mission to kidnap girls from earth?"

"Yes, it was."

"What is the mission about?"

"This mission is about ensuring our future. The fate of Thanzor depends on its success."

I expected her to question me more about the mission, but she surprised me when she asked, "You said something about God earlier. Do you believe in God?"

The right side of my mouth lifted. "Of course, He created all things."

"Is he the same God we believe on earth?"

"You earth people have what you call religions. Each of these religions have different beliefs and call their gods by different names. But what they don't understand is that they ultimately refer to the same God. The years have distorted the truth behind God and that is what has caused this branching out. Earthians have twisted the truth to suit their needs. From my studies and research of your religions, one of these religions is closer to the truth. But it too is incomplete."

"Which religion is that?"

"Christianity."

Her mouth opened a little, whether in shock or wonder, it was not clear. She leaned back in her seat and digested what I had just divulged.

"What is your religion?" I asked tentatively.

I knew that this information was hard to swallow. Growing up believing something strongly your whole life, and then having it proven false, must be...intolerable.

"I'm Christian," she finally uttered in a small voice.

Why do I feel relieved to hear that?

At least my match was not someone too far off from my beliefs. I thought this would be the end of her queries for now, but she surprised me by continuing. "What other planets are humans living on?"

"Only Thanzor and Earth. We are the only planets in the universe with life."

"How come?"

"The origins of Thanzor lie on Earth. Many years ago, some of the remaining good and righteous people in God's eyes foresaw the state the world would be in. God had made a covenant with us promising never to bring a great calamity to earth, as the flood and Noah. So, He sent a vision to some of these people and they started to prepare to make the second exodus. Except this exodus would take them to another planet. God had given them the knowledge to build a craft capable of this feat. Once completed, they gathered their families and left earth for Thanzor, the planet God had chosen. Once they got there, they started life anew, diligently serving God."

She was looking at the same spot by my feet in concentration. "So, you, or your ancestors, came from earth, but left for Thanzor because of the state earth would be in?"

"Yes."

"What state are you talking about?"

I have to be careful about what I say.

"Mm, earth has lost sight of God. Even most Christians do not worship Him as they should. You have fallen so far away from Him and have made your humanity an excuse for this. Instead of eradicating your weaknesses, you have embraced them as a part of life. This is not what God planned for us. You have let your greed and lust for money and power rule you. Instead of living in peace and equality as children of God."

I expected her to dispute this. I expected her to try and defend herself. But she just surprised me again.

She had a faraway look as she spoke, "You're right. We discriminate and judge each other on things that shouldn't even matter, such as the colour of our skin, or where we were born. We wage wars on each other all because of greed. We are envious of others that are better off than ourselves. We have no self-appreciation but rely on what the masses dictate as perfection. We try so hard to fit into society and be accepted, that we are willing to throw away our values and morals. We are egged on by people to do wrong things, and willingly comply for fear of being rejected, no matter how evil."

She looked up at me, a little moisture in her eyes. "Those that are rejected live unfulfilling lives, believing that they are worthless. Some give up hope and end their lives. Others continue living on; not as people, but as empty shells grabbing at anything that could possibly fill them up, while the 'in crowd' carries on living their seemingly happy lives."

I was taken aback. Her view of the world was not what I had expected. I suspected there lay a deeper meaning to her words. They felt...personal.

"But you know what, there are a few good people on earth. They may not be decent according to your standards, but they must be pretty close. You cannot disregard the few, no matter how modest in size they are, based on the many."

"Are you one of these good people?" She must have been referring to herself. Just as I suspected, she would defend herself and make herself appear better than the rest. I was right after all.

I waited to hear her answer. I knew it would be followed by an explanation of why she was good. I leaned back and hardened my gaze.

She stood up. Only then did I realise how long we had been talking for. Her disorientation had worn off. She walked towards the bedroom, but before she disappeared around the corner, she turned her head to the side and said, "far from it," and then she walked away.

What? She didn't try to make me believe she was decent. This is not what they taught us of Earthians.