Chapter 35
Holly
Pacing up and down her bedroom, brows furrowed, arms crossed, Holly thought back over the last day, trying to figure out what was wrong.
Why had Romival pulled out?
She wouldn’t have given it a second thought at all if he hadn’t already told her what that meant. But he did and now she was worried about it.
Did he not like her anymore? Had he changed his mind about having kids?
Even if the probability was super low. She wasn’t foolish enough to think it was zero.
Not considering he was still coming inside her, even if it was a reduced amount and the swimmers had a time limit.
After all, no birth control was perfect, right? Not even biological ones.
But even with all that, he still wasn’t going to risk it? Had she disappointed him somehow? He hadn’t seemed to change his mind about wanting her for his mate, but was he no longer interested in breeding with her weak, human genes?
“Knock, knock.”
She stopped, turning to her open door to see Scarlet standing there, wearing her healer’s uniform, hair pulled back in a simple tail. She had either just gotten back from or, since it was still early, was just about to go to work.
“Just coming to check on you. You okay?” She asked, stepping slowly inside as though waiting for Holly to ask her not to do so.
“Huh? Why wouldn’t I be?”
Scarlet frowned. “Because you were just poisoned?”
“Oh! Yeah. Right.” Holly looked away from Scarlet’s raised brows, uncomfortably scratching the back of her neck. “I’m fine. Everything seems to be working just fine.”
“Uh-huh.”
Holly shifted uncomfortably under her stare. Scarlet didn’t say a word, but her patient silence was somehow more compelling than if she had asked outright.
“I think I made Romival mad somehow.”
“Doubt it.”
“You don’t even know what I did!”
“Do you even know what you did?”
Holly opened her mouth, but no words came out. Insecurity choked her and Scarlet closed the last of the distance between them, her expression softening.
“I don’t know what you’re reading too much into, but I already know you’re wrong. I promise, he’s not mad at you.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because he sent me to come get you.”
“Huh?” That was not what Holly had been expecting her to say. “Romival sent you?”
“Yeah. He needs to see you about something.”
“What?”
“I didn’t ask. You ready to go?”
Holly looked down at her clothes before shrugging and nodding.
She had already bathed and changed after her morning yoga session before choosing one of her deep, emerald dresses.
One of the super comfy ones that covered her from the high neck down to the bishop sleeves to the floor length skirt.
It made her feel simultaneously like a regal lady in a flowing gown and also a couch potato in a super comfy blanket dress.
“Sure, let’s go,” she said, shrugging before falling into step beside Scarlet. “How about you? How are you feeling after the whole poisoning thing?”
“I didn’t get as big a dose as you all did, so I wasn’t affected as badly.”
“I swear, Scarlet, you stole ten other people’s luck when you were born.”
“I was one of five humans out of billions that got kidnapped by aliens. That’s good luck?”
“You’re going to be the first alien trained human doctor and there’s no doubt in my head we only managed to stumble upon a king of a nice species because of your luck somehow.”
Scarlet laughed. “Well, that’s certainly a theory. Though, I suppose, you’re right. I am quite lucky that I get to study alongside the highest ranked healer on the planet as part of groundbreaking research. And to think, I was just going to be an ordinary nurse.”
“I bet you could stand on top of a hill in a thunderstorm holding a lightning rod and still not get struck.”
Scarlet laughed again which set Holly off as well.
“So, where are we going?”
“Just down the hall here,” Scarlet pointed ahead.
Holly tried to remember what was down this way, but then Scarlet took them downstairs – which was a really cool spiral stair escalator that was fun to ride – and Holly got confused.
She didn’t know this area quite as well.
She tended to stay in the living quarters for Atem and his family since the rest of the palace was used by the Firsts to do their business.
It was like Atem had an office attached to his home that just happened to be a cool, square pyramid in the jungle.
Still, this hallway looked kind of familiar.
However, Holly didn’t realize what it was until too late. Scarlet gestured for her to proceed her into what she immediately recognized as the antechamber that led out onto the wide balcony. The same balcony that Atem would deliver his speeches from.
Only this time, the girls, Atem, and Romival were all there. And everyone was looking at her with grins on their faces.
“Nope!” She turned to run, but Scarlet had already cut off her exit. She grabbed Holly by the shoulders and turned her right back around and marched her forward.
“You’re doing it,” Peony said, laughing from under Atem’s arm around her shoulders.
Holly whimpered in fear even as Romival was stepping forward to enfold her in his embrace. She immediately latched onto him, heart pounding.
The domini, as a species, were big into telling stories.
Poetry was incredibly popular here. And not the artistic kind recited at a cafe in an upscale part of town while someone gently played a piano to set the mood.
It was more like the long recitations of epic stories, like the Iliad or the Odyssey.
But it didn’t even have to be proper poetry, it just had to be a story.
And their favorite stories were those of heroism and great deeds. But not made up ones like superheroes. They wanted the real deal. Even better than that, they wanted the real deal from the person that actually did it.
“Don’t worry, Holly,” Atem said, touching her shoulder as Romival stroked her back. “I’m going to do all the talking. You just have to stand there.”
“But why?” She asked plaintively, the whine clear in her throat.
“You have saved my mate and very likely my pup. If I do not honor that properly, it will be seen as an insult towards you. I will never be accused of not respecting my sisters or not giving proper due where it’s owed.”
“Why do I have to be involved in this?” She grumbled into Romival’s chest, knowing exactly why but hating that it was happening. “You guys tricked me here.”
“Just a little,” Romival chuckled, petting back her hair. “And only because we wanted to spare you the nerves of the walk.”
“You just have to stand there, Holly,” Peony promised. “Weren’t you the one who told me that facing your phobias was the quickest way to get over them?”
“Fear of doctors is actively detrimental. Stage fright is perfectly normal.”
“I will be with you the entire time, vi Vakara,” Romival promised. “You can squeeze onto me as tight as you want.”
She was already taking him up on that. Her grip only got tighter when he offered his arm instead then followed Atem out onto the balcony.
The open, press balcony – that’s what she thought of it as – was just beneath the canopy, and there was a large, open space in front of it upon which a huge crowd of domini had gathered.
They were almost all varying shades of purple and gray at the moment.
They tended to camouflage to their surroundings and those were the main shades of the forest. There were a few pops of color from those who chose to wear vibrant colors instead, but other than those random few, it was mostly a writhing, cheering mass of alien forest colors that only got louder when they saw their Dominani.
Holly was trying to keep track of her breath counts to keep calm as she held onto Romival so tight, even her dull claws had to be hurting. But he kept an impassive smile on his face as he escorted her to her place beside Atem.
Holly wasn’t sure if it was an alien thing or a domini thing or even just an Atem thing, but there weren’t any secrets between the leader and his people.
They all already knew what had happened.
That the humans had been poisoned, that the human Adassani almost had been as well, and that one of the other humans had saved her.
Rumors and gossip had absolutely no filter out of this palace and Atem made no attempt to stop it.
So, they all already knew the story, but they were eager to hear it from him directly.
And Atem spared no details. He also had no idea what modesty and humility meant.
Halfway through his recounting, the story of eating a cupcake, feeling sick, then stopping someone else from eating it had turned into a Shakespearean level drama.
He was describing how the breath froze in her lungs, how her eyes could barely move, but how, through sheer determination and love for her sister, she forced herself to rise!
Atem was a good storyteller. He had the entire crowd hanging on his every word. But the fact that they kept looking at her meant that Holly could barely suck in air.
Why was this even a thing?! Did they not have stage fright on this planet?! Or introverts?!
“Holly,” Atem turned, his voice still projecting but now directing his words at her. “What you have done for me, for me, is a deed I cannot overlook. My dear sister. You already had my respect and love, but now, I am indebted to you in a way I cannot repay.”
He saluted her, fist clasped to his heart. She stared at him through wide eyes. She saw him try to force down a grin and she could just imagine the look on her face.
“You have asked nothing from me. You tell me that a clan does not trade favors, they only give them away. Therefore, I will not insult you by seeking to repay you. Instead, I shall offer you a gift.”
He reached out and gently pried one of her hands off of Romival’s arm. He lifted it into the air, brandishing her in front of the cheering crowd.
“To my sister Holly, for her honorable and giving spirit, I give the name Tiriista Con Domana!”