by Ryan Muree
Her claws were just like long, human nails, and her palms were very warm on his skin.
“This way.” Nida pulled him around two corners, and then down a long hallway and a flight of stairs.
Two of her sisters rounded a corner, chatting about something, and getting closer.
They needed an escape. A place to hide. His eyes scanned the halls around them for a place to go.
Nida gasped and pushed him around another side and pressed him against the wall for cover.
CHAPTER 9
Nida held her breath.
With her full body against him and her hands on his chest, she was both stunned and humiliated.
This wasn’t necessary. She just needed to shove him back, and instead, she’d basically accosted him in the hallway. What in the Great Tial’s name had she done?
The whispers came nearer; it was too late to move. His chest heaved under her palms. He was rigid and strong like the stone built up around her. The warmth burning through her hands melted her. Was it her heat or his? She couldn’t tell.
But he waited, patiently and silently. His focus dropped to her hands, as hers did, too.
He didn’t move them. He didn’t move. He let her hands linger against him.
He’s letting me… touch… him.
As soon as the whispers were gone, she took a step back and breathed. If scales could change colors, hers would be as red as her face felt. “I think it’s clear.”
He nodded.
Her hands needed a better place to be. She tucked them under her crossed arms and led him through the halls.
She took the back way through some of the lecture rooms for studying. They passed the wall fountains and the textile rooms until they entered the back side of the kitchens. Clean, golden pots glistened on the stove. The long stone counters for prepping food had their golden shine. The utensils and food had all been stored away.
“Here.” She pulled out a stool and slid it up to the wide island counter.
He sat carefully and leaned against the counter. His eyes roamed over everything. “This place is huge. Half of our warriors could fit in here alone.”
She headed for the water basin in the corner. After turning a knob for fresh water to come pouring out of the spigot, she filled a large carafe. She grabbed a golden goblet from the shelf and placed both on the counter in front of him.
Before her hands had even left the goblet and carafe, he took them up, poured a glass, and started guzzling it.
She swung the two doors to the food pantry open and eyed the shelves. The shelves had some food, but it hadn’t been restocked yet.
“That’s enough to feed all of you?” he asked between gulps.
She shook her head. “It only holds what we’ve had most recently. Most of it is grown or farmed in other portions of the temple. Anything look appetizing?”
He pointed to the melons, berries, and some ripe paratils. She grabbed as much as she could hold, including a ripe red melon, and carried them to the counter.
“I thought we had some durlo fruit, but—”
“Durlo?” His mouth dropped open. “You have durlo?”
She cringed. “The stinky, sticky, messy fruit—
“—that gushes with sweet and sour juice when you bite into them? Yes, that durlo fruit.”
She giggled. He loved durlo that much? But it sort of made sense. She and her sisters could eat it from time to time, but the younglings preferred mostly durlo a year or so after their hatching. Maybe it was the human in them.
Rowec shook his head. “We haven’t found any in the jungle for some time, and we can’t seem to grow it.”
Raz had climbed out of Rowec’s pocket and was lapping up some water. His beady gaze darted between Nida and his water. He even took some in his tiny white paws and rubbed it over his narrow snout.
“Do you need a knife?” she asked. “For the paratil—”
He’d already begun peeling the rind on the paratil with his bare hands.
“Never mind.”
He laid one chunk out for Raz, and then swallowed several pieces whole.
He tore through seven of them in less than five minutes, and she’d felt terrible for it. She’d known he’d needed better care, but he’d waited for her and endured this. And Drathella.
“So, the queen’s agreed to meet me?” He snorted and wiped his chin with the back of his hand.
She closed her eyes. “If I tell you the truth, you promise not to freak out?”
“Promise.”
She groaned. He wouldn’t like it. “Brynn is considering a private dinner with you… under the stars...”
He coughed and covered his mouth. “A romantic private dinner?”
“I’m going to try to convince her that it’s a diplomatic meeting, but she’s not easily convinced when she has her mind set on something.”
He nodded and swallowed another piece. “And her mind is set on me?”
“Well, no. Not you, specifically. It would have been your brother if he had been captured instead. She just has this idea that she should be in love with her mate because our late sister was.”
“Well, if she decides on a romantic meeting, I’ll play along. You got me real food, a real room. Surely I can play into her and use that to my advantage.” He smirked and tossed another rind onto the pile in the center of the island.
Brynn was proving to be more difficult the closer they got to the hatching. Hiding for an entire molting, expecting a willing romantic dinner out of her captive human, the fermented drinks, the more frequent insults about Nida being human-like…
She glanced down at Rowec’s hands. His fingers, so much like hers, worked another piece of fruit. It was nice to have contact with someone who looked similar to her. It felt almost normal.
“Do you really think humans are bad?” he asked.
“That’s what I’ve been told. But now…”
“Now?”
She didn’t know what to believe. He was challenging everything she’d thought about humans. “Are they mostly like you? Or…”
“Mostly terrible?” He sighed and shrugged. “I think most are like me. We tend to take care of the ones that are terrible.”
“How?”
He winced. “It depends on what they do, but we’re not all bad, even if it looks it.”
She nodded. “Sometimes, and I’d never admit it to anyone else, but sometimes I… actually… sort of like being more human than Tialan. Less claw issues, my scales are subtler. I’m not as large or as tall, sure, but I like my size. I also like being a Tialan. I like having scales even if they’re small and few. I like being a Life Weaver, even if I’m terrible at it.”
He smirked. “I don’t think you’re terrible at it.”
She smiled, grateful she was able to do enough to save him.
He watched her, munching on a new piece.
“Most of my sisters hate that we need you, but they’re also scared we won’t find anyone in time and our sisters will die.”
“It makes sense, actually. I’d hate to rely on another clan for our survival.” He stood and motioned to the basin. “I need to clean up a bit.”
He twisted the knob and dipped his hands in to rinse the sugary juice off. He let the water slide all the way up to his elbows before he rubbed some over his face.
He returned to his seat, his cheeks clean and bright, and their eyes met. The jungle green had softened again.
She cleared her throat. “So, are you a leader in your village? Like my sister?”
He shrugged and helped a bloated little Raz back into his pocket. “Not really. We have a chief, but I am the lead warrior. My family was chosen to lead the warriors since we’re the strongest and my father was a great fighter. He brought peace to the clans.”
“Oh.” So humans did fight like the stories, but his family had also brought peace.
“It’s a big deal to us.”
She nodded. “But you must like fighting, right? You must be good at
it if your family was chosen?”
He filled his goblet with more water. The carafe was nearly empty. “It’s a lot of responsibility. A lot of stress. A lot of choices I don’t like to make.”
She’d heard that plenty of times from Brynn. Sometimes Brynn had muttered about her responsibilities under her breath. Sometimes she sat silent at dinner, staring off at nothing. “What kind of choices?”
He lifted an eyebrow and took a sip.
“What kind of choices do you have to make that you don’t like?”
He sighed and stretched back. The length of him extended into a gloriously strong torso.
She sucked in a breath to refocus.
“I have to train boys as young as four to start learning how to fight. I wish we didn’t have to, but the minute we become vulnerable, we’ll lose all we love.”
Her mouth fell open. “What?”
“Nothing.”
She furled her eyebrows. Her sisters only mentioned slaughter, cruelty; they never mentioned necessity. “No, what will you lose if you don’t learn to fight?”
“Everything.”
She wasn’t okay with killing, but killing to protect everything wasn’t what her sisters had described all these years. “You fight to protect? You don’t kill… for sport?”
“We try to only fight to protect, but sometimes that means fighting for space or food. Some do kill for sport, but like I said, we try to stop those.”
How had her sisters gotten this so wrong? How much more did she not know? “By everything, you mean family, friends…?”
He nodded.
More? Did he have a woman he loved back in his village?
Oh, how stupid could she have been. Of course, he had a real human back at his home.
“You have a partner,” she said. Ugh. Had she sounded as pathetic as she thought she had? “Not that I… I mean I was just curious how humans… you know.”
He shook his head slightly and set the goblet onto the stone counter. “I don’t have a partner yet. Assuming I make it out of here, I have a marriage with Etta to cancel.”
“Marriage? I don’t understand.”
“We promise to only take care of each other.”
She pulled her head back. “Only take care of each other? But what about the rest of your family? Your brother? Your other brothers?”
“No, no.” He waved his hand. “We take care of them, too. And I just have one brother. Humans don’t have hundreds of siblings.”
She nodded slowly.
“Marrying is more like saying you’ll make each other your first priority. You have children together. You live together…”
Oh. “You fall in love.”
“No, well, no.” He snorted. “Not in my case. In most cases, yes, you fall in love and choose to marry the other person, like your sister wants, but not me.”
“Why?”
He inhaled deep and slumped over the counter. “Because I’m the best warrior, I have to follow what’s best for the village. The chief’s daughter, Etta, has pushed for us to be together since we were kids, and it was arranged by our parents. I’m not sure she cares about me. I think she probably cares more for what I represent to our clan.”
She nodded. “I’m sure she cares about you.”
“I don’t think forcing me into a marriage is showing how much she cares…” His voice fell along with his gaze to her hand resting on the table. His index finger stretched out a tiny bit more than his other fingers, a mere fingertip from hers. “What about you? You’ll find other human men after your sisters are born, right?”
She shook her head. “No, we don’t have mates.”
“Ever?” His eyebrows lifted.
“It’s not for us. It’s for Brynn, and I don’t see many human men lining up to be with us, all things considered.” She glanced up and found him staring intently at her. Was he confused? Was he waiting for an explanation?
Her eyes roved over his body. Human eyes. Human arms.
So much like hers. And with him, she felt connected to something. She wasn’t an outsider looking in. Through him, she was looking out into a world she hadn’t even glimpsed before.
She bit her lip, trying to ignore the pounding of her heart. “You’re trapped like Brynn,” she mumbled. “Forced to do what’s best for your people.”
His fingertip barely touched hers. It was merely a few centimeters of skin, but she had become acutely aware of it. An odd feeling, an awkward and daring fascination, touching fingertips felt like so much more.
Her heart skipped a beat as it settled into the warm pulse of his.
“I’m trapped… like you.” His low tone, barely above a whisper, slowed her heart to a lull and pulled it to him.
His finger slid slowly over hers, nearly down to the knuckle.
She caught her breath.
“Maybe being imprisoned here won’t be so bad.” His eyes lifted to hers. “What happens when the ceremony is over?”
She blinked and found her voice. “Uh, well, once the sisters are born, I help raise them.”
He squinted a little. “And that’s it? Nothing else for yourself? You get nothing you want? You can’t leave?”
“I want to,” she said a little too loud. “I mean, I’ve thought about it, but it’s just like you said. My staying is what’s best for the group.” She dipped her head.
“But it’s not what’s best for you.”
No, it wasn’t.
He sighed through his nose. “We should make a pact. If you help me negotiate my release for after the ceremony, you come with me. I’ll help sneak you out. You can escape, go wherever you want.”
She blinked. But Ascara… and the others… His words hung in the air. Wherever I want?
“You have plenty of sisters who can help with the new ones after the ceremony, right?”
She nodded slowly. She had dreamed, she had wondered. Could it be a reality?
The solid edge of the counter stabbed her side. She had been leaning over and toward him. How did he do that? How did he lure her in so easily?
His finger slowly pulled away.
She’d hate to think how close she’d have been if there wasn’t an island counter between them. It was better this way. Let him complete the ceremony, get his freedom, and then maybe she could be free, too.
A clatter of metal echoed somewhere in the halls behind them.
She jumped up, practically leaping from the table.
He jerked back and crossed his arms.
“We need to go.” She urged him toward the back door. “They shouldn’t be awake, but we can’t risk them walking in here.”
He nodded, and they skirted back the long way to his room undetected.
His gaze lingered in the doorway to his room. At one point she thought he’d reach for her, but he didn’t.
She wanted to do something for him, give him something.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll have a surprise for you.”
He grinned. “A surprise?”
His smile was nice. Genuine. It made her smile. “Just be good and don’t make anyone angry enough that they throw you into a cell again.”
“I’ll try.”
She turned to leave.
“Nida.”
She stopped and glanced over her shoulder.
His hands were behind his head, stretching his chest and stomach, even under his dirty shirt. “Come back soon?”
She nodded. Not soon enough.
CHAPTER 10
Nida hurried through the halls. She had waited all day to see Rowec and had been distracted by a million and one things she had to do in the garden to prepare for the hatching.
And my possible escape?
She cringed. Was she really wanting to escape? That sounded so negative. She just wanted to leave, to learn the stories of the outside world for herself.
First things first, she would see Rowec, and better yet, tonight she’d surprise him. An entire durlo garden just for him.
This was going to be good. Great, even. He was going to love it.
She rounded the corner to the hallway with his room and found two of her sisters, Veridran and Crilla, standing guard outside.