Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Olivia stepped forward and bowed low. Eun-Ji had told her that the bowing was similar in South Korea.
It was a sign of respect. You lowered your sightline and bowed as close to a ninety-degree angle.
In Vrex, the only difference was that you bowed only to the royalty.
With the Sisterhood and civilians, it was a nod of respect.
No one smiled in Vrex unless a joke was made, and those were hidden by a hand or a fan.
Lord Kaias spoke loudly and fast. Her mind worked fast, pinpointing main words and forming a context she wasn’t sure of.
No one from Earth was fluent in the language, it was why Olivia relied so heavily on her translator device.
It helped her learn the language in real-time and allowed the words spoken to her to slow down.
“I am Ol-via, my Lord,” Olivia said in Verexian. The words were slow and deliberate. “We are still new students. Please be patient.”
“Patience,” the male Vrex Olivia knew to be Lord Auryn sneered. He continued to speak quickly; his face didn’t hide his discontent.
“What is going on?” Brian asked.
Olivia sighed and turned to her boss. “Lord Auryn is displeased with us.”
“I can see that,” Brian snapped. He turned to Lord Auryn and bowed. “We mean . . . uh, what is the word for disrespect?”
Olivia sighed and bowed to Auryn, making sure her bow was slightly off. “There is only respect for Vrex, its people, and their beliefs. We welcome you, Lord Auryn, to our Heart Feast.”
“Just the Feast?” Auryn seethed. “No Heart Bindings?”
“Heart Bindings?” Olivia worked the words in her mind and then nodded. She smiled in recognition.
“What is a Heart Binding?” Brian asked, butchering the words.
Olivia sighed and repeated them slowly, taking the time to get the proper tone. “It is their version of a marriage.”
“Marriage?” Brian’s voice piped up in a mixture of confusion and fear. He whipped around to Eun-Ji and spedwalked to her.
“Please excuse Bri-ahn,” Olivia said, “he forgot about the Heart Bindings. But no, we will not have one as no one cares for one another in that way.”
“Cares for,” Lord Kaias let the words trail off.
Olivia looked at him, breathing slowly as she made her observations.
Like all people of Vrex, his skin tone was unlike that of humans.
His ember colored skin glowed in the sunlight, making it look like he was made of flame and daggers.
The bone crown that protected his head arched upwards and was shaped into various points, resembling a crown with horns.
His dark hair was shaved close, making the bone crown the centerpiece. Along his jawline was a beard.
Lord Kaias looked every bit as dangerous as the stories Olivia heard.
“Heart Bindings aren’t about a type of care,” Kaias said darkly. His dark eyes trailed down her body.
He stepped forward, his body eclipsing the sunlight, hiding her in his shadow.
She looked up at him, trying to discern what he meant, but his hard stare revealed nothing.
Kaias was still the statue of Vrex. Despite everything in her telling her to bow her head down and submit fully, a smirk started to form.
She dipped her chin slightly and shrugged.
Something flashed in his dark eyes.
“I don’t know then,” she admitted.
Like some Earth languages, Vrex had many love words.
Each one is a different degree of emotion.
When she tried to understand it, it reminded her of the difference between a crush, first love, and romantic feelings.
But from Lord Kaias’ expression, it seemed there was more to a Heart Binding than just an emotion.
Kaias said something, and she blinked. She frowned slightly, trying to dissect the word’s origin.
Every word had a root, from the oldest language to the most modern slang; a root word could be found.
Some were easier than others, but the puzzle still stood.
If you knew the root word of something, you could use the context.
It was a personal pastime of hers, dissecting words and finding their origins.
In her free time, Olivia had been developing a dictionary to help with communication issues.
She had been using the speech patterns of the children who came to learn from her.
Ambassador Cainai had also been helping with the more upper-class dialect.
From her experience, when you spoke a language and could cross the threshold of class, you were nearly unstoppable.
Vrexian was a beast of its own. Its root words were deeply ingrained in its mythologies. There was a level of supernatural to it that sometimes had her wondering about Earth’s stories.
“What did you say?” Olivia asked. She leaned in closer to him, listening for the tonal shifts of consonants and vowels.
Kaias spoke again. The words were the same, but she still struggled to pinpoint the context.
The way the words came out of his mouth was like a storm.
They rumbled through his chest and out of his lips.
It reminded her of the deep heaviness German or Russian sometimes had.
But Vrexian had a sharpness to it. Like an Italian mother sharply reminding her children not to slam the door.
Kaias sounded angry, but Olivia knew enough from the children and Cainai that the more powerful the citizen, the more direct their words sounded.
The children were soft and playful, like a song.
Ambassador Cainai and the Sisterhood were somewhere in the middle.
The military, when Olivia passed them, sounded loud and overbearing.
Kaias, though, had demand interwoven in his speech patterns.
“I apologize, Lord,” Olivia smiled softly. She bowed her head to show respect. “My language does not have many words for care. It is only love.”
“Lo-v?” He said the word tentatively.
“L-uhv,” Olivia repeated the word, taking time to sound it out, “in my language, we use that word for the feelings we have for our parents, children, and friends.”
Lord Auryn said something that made Kaias straighten. Kaias turned and spoke to his Second; his words were clipped and direct. Olivia couldn’t understand what was being said between them, but there was a simmering aura of something dark. Auryn continued to argue with Lord Kaias.
One word that crossed Auryn’s lips sent a chill down her spine. Kill.
Lord Kaias grabbed the other male’s neck and pulled him close.
Olivia could see the muscles along his arm go taut with the pressure he was putting on Lord Auryn.
Kaias hissed out his words, demanding and straight.
They dominated the space. Lord Auryn’s eyes narrowed. He seemed ready for the challenge.
“I understand,” Auryn spoke clearly.
Lord Kaias sighed and lowered his arm. He turned to Olivia, unapologetic for the scene that erupted in front of her. Lord Auryn hissed and rubbed his neck with a hand before walking away. He wandered to a guard posted near a window. The two men whispered amongst each other.
“You should be careful,” Olivia said.
“It is not your place to speak,” Kaias clipped.
Olivia looked up at him. “But it is.”
Kaias frowned.
“I am to speak for the humans,” she explained, “they do not know your language and you do not know ours. I am learning and know the most. I speak for all.”
“You do not speak for me,” he retorted.
“I will say what I see,” Olivia said. Where did she find the courage to go against a ruler, she didn't know. Perhaps it was her American upbringing. “And what I see is a man biding his time.”
She nodded to Auryn to emphasize her point. Kaias hummed in recognition. Anxiety began to drill itself into Olivia. He was right, the politics of their world wasn't her place, but the High Sister and Ambassador Cainai spoke fondly of the ruler. She trusted their judgement.
“I do not need a woman to tell me what my eyes can say,” he snorted out.
“But you need a person you can,” she paused, unsure of the word in Vrexian, “trust.”
“Chu-rust?” Kaias asked.
“It means strength and truth,” she tried to explain, “you need a person who can be strong with you and speak truth. Someone who doesn't want your name. A friend.”
“Hmm,” he nodded slowly, “I see.”
Lord Kaias turned to look at Olivia. His eyes darkened as they locked with hers. Her heart skipped in her chest. He was unmoving, a statue. It was completely different from her anxiety-filled self.
Olivia couldn't look away from him. She didn't want to. The alien male in front of her was interesting. More interesting than any human man she had dated or known. She wanted to chip away at the shield Kaias had surrounding him to find the person she heard about.
“Are you that friend?” He asked.
Are you that friend? The question was a simple one, and yet Olivia felt he was saying something more. She didn't know how to answer it. Not because she didn't have the words, but because she didn't know his motivation in asking. Could she be a friend he could trust?
She could, though she didn't know how much help she would be.
Slowly, Olivia nodded. “I can be that friend.”
Kaias hummed again. It rumbled from his chest, like a giant cat purr. He nodded once and walked away, leaving Olivia to stand and wonder what had just happened.
She glanced around the room and caught sight of Eun-Ji.
Her roommate moved her hands, asking what had happened.
Olivia shrugged and replied, confused about what transpired.
Brian caught sight of them and shook his head, disappointed that they would use sign language.
The women looked at each other and smiled.
Olivia shook her head and watched as Kaias walked to the High Sister. They spoke in hushed tones. The older woman wrung her hands together as she spoke. She glanced at Olivia and then back to Kaias. He didn't look in that direction.
From his stiff body language, he seemed angry. The High Sister leaned closer to him and babbled. The wringing of her hands became rushed and more fervent. Olivia wondered if the Lord was upset with what she said. Anxiety spiked as she worried about apologizing.
As the translator and interpreter, her position was vital. Without her, it wouldn't be just her group that would suffer in Vrex, but any group that followed would have problems. And then there was the politics involved with anything.
Olivia instantly regretted her unsolicited need to poke and prod.
She should have left Lord Kaias alone. An apology, even if she didn't offend him, was the best course of action.
Olivia thought through what she could say to him when he returned.
The words flowed through her mind as she tried to find the correct combination that wouldn't offend him further.
The High Sister's hands stopped wringing. A slow smile crept across her face, and she nodded. She looked at Olivia and waved her hand to her. Hesitantly, Olivia crossed the room towards them.
The room seemed to contract with each step.
It was as if she were in a movie, and every step to the High Sister and Lord was a step towards a shift in her reality.
She looked at Kaias, trying to discern what was going on, but his face remained placid.
It was aggravating as much as it was intriguing.
How could one person reveal so little in their face?
The High Sister enclosed Olivia's hands in hers. “Lord Kaias says you are willing to be a friend to him.”
“I did say that,” Olivia confirmed, unsure what else to say. “I can be his friend.”
The High Sister nodded. “We will have a Heart Binding today.”
The pit of her stomach dropped, and she turned to Kaias.
“What?”
“You and I will be Heart Bound,” he answered. “You say I can chu-rust you, and I've chosen to do so. It is best this way. After tonight, you will be Vrex, and I will be human. We will be both.”