Lydia
“Do you think I look okay?” I ask Scarlett for the hundredth time, turning this way and that.
It doesn’t take long to arrange a dance, but both Deus and I insisted we were sure the rest of the Sarkarnii settlement on Vorostor was back to normal, or at least as normal as Sarkarnii can ever be, before our celebration took place.
“Yes, you look more than okay.” Scarlett clucks like a great hen, not helped by the fact she’s pregnant with her second baby and is really starting to show.
Dexx looks at her like he’s about to burst with pride most days.
The same goes for all the Sarkarnii who have taken my friends as their mates.
The way they follow their every movement, take multiple opportunities to touch them gently on the arm or face.
The way they help with their babies, making them giggle, dealing with tantrums, or feeding or anything.
It is both tender and normal at the same time.
Sarkarnii males want to be involved with the lives of their mates and children in a way I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before.
“Doesn’t she look okay?” Scarlett asks my assembled friends.
“You look beautiful,” Kerra replies.
“Stunning,” Maggie says. “Far better than Deus deserves.”
Rosalie takes my hands and twirls me around. “You are as pretty as a picture, love,” she says. “Deus is not going to know what has hit him.”
I look down at the gown, a riot of orange, reds, and golds, like flames, and I’m still not sure.
“It’s not too much, is it?”
“Oh my god!” Maggie groans. “You can never be too much, Lydia. Now you’ve finally come out of your shell, I need to see you be too much every day for the rest of your life!”
I gaze at my assembled friends who all nod with encouragement.
“It’s true,” Gillian says. “I know I haven’t known you as long as everyone else, but you can never not be too much and don’t let anyone tell you any different.”
“Deus certainly won’t.” Maggie snorts. “He’s already too much.”
“He is.” I laugh out loud. “Very, very too much.”
“I can’t believe all the females have gone back to be his crew,” Rosalie says.
“Dyris told me they couldn’t imagine having another commander,” Gillian says, smiling over at me. “And knowing Deus has found his mate is even more important to him.” She puts her arm around me. “They respect him and they respect you more.”
“For putting up with Deus? You have my respect too,” Kerra says with a bark of laughter.
“He’s really not so bad, you know.”
“We know,” my friends chorus.
“You don’t need to convince us,” Rosalie adds. “We can all see how happy he makes you.”
“I think we’ve all heard how happy he makes you,” Scarlett says.
I feel my cheeks heat as well as the tears pricking at the back of my eyelids.
“What can I say? When Deus wants me, he wants me.”
“Don’t we know it.” Scarlett laughs.
I suppose I can’t help that Deus, now he has the green light, wants to mate me wherever we are, and that often includes other sectors, as the warlords have a much more open door policy, and he has been recruiting warriors.
And the fact he wants me makes me only want him more.
“It’ll only get worse after he dances for you.” Scarlett puts her hand over her baby bump. “Oh and once he’s knocked you up.”
“And once you are knocked up,” Rosalie says.
“And once you’re ready to be knocked up again,” Kerra adds.
“Basically, what we’re saying is these Sarkarnii will worship you to a standstill and then worship you some more,” Maggie says. “And by worship, I mean f-”
“THANK YOU, MAGGIE,” Kerra roars.
“It’s time.” Scarlett takes my hand. “I’m not going to ask you if you’re ready because I know you’re not, but what I can say is once you see him, you will be.”
Outside of the small ante room where I’ve been getting dressed, I can hear the sound of the drums beating a slow, steady beat.
My heart flutters like a butterfly in a window.
“I don’t…”
“You do.” Kerra has my other hand. “And you can. We believe in you, and more importantly, Deus believes in you.”
I nod as the door swings open, and I see the crowd part ahead of me. Deus stands in the clearing, the light filtering through the forest canopy, and behind him are all the other warlords. Deus’s jaw drops when he sees me, and all my fears about my dress vanish in a puff of Sarkarnii smoke.
Darax pokes Deus in the side, and he snaps his jaw shut again as the drum beat changes, speeding up and getting louder.
And then I have my great Sarkarnii warlord, hips swinging, tail lashing, stalking towards me, dancing to the beat, getting ever closer to me.
Because I belong to Deus.
He belongs to me.
And the universe belongs to both of us. Now and forever.