Chapter 8
Havali
Scarlet was passing on his warning to the most flighty and adventurous of the humans. Alanna, he knew, had wasted no time in exploring Calvitorum, so she was probably the one most at risk of running off by herself into districts he hadn’t vetted yet.
His female was caring and concerned for her friends.
And stunning.
At his recommendation, she had dressed up a bit. The area they were going to wasn’t formal, but it was important on this, their first outing, for them to look their best. Like they belonged. And Scarlet seemed to have an impeccable sense for what looked good on her.
The dress she had chosen was a pale sort of green with yellow filigree designs along the hem.
It was gathered at the bust but flowed freely to her feet.
Golden chains curled around her arms and more gold decorated her hair, wrists, and ears.
She looked airy and delicate and beautiful.
The green made not only her dark red hair more vibrant, but it even brought out the brightness of her brown eyes.
She even carried herself with a certain regality.
For all that Peony outranked her, there was something so comfortable and common about Peony that she never really lost. Alanna often spouted off some nonsense or another that he did not understand - aura was one of her favorite words, but it was in her own tongue and had no translation into modern Domtri.
The other humans seemed to indulge her without actually contributing to her strangeness, so he followed their lead and did the same.
Scarlet, however, was elegant and proud and strong.
She stood with the confidence of someone that had made their own way in the world and knew exactly where they belonged.
Even seated and watching with amazement as the Rohil District passed them by, she still managed to look like a queen surveying her own lands.
Beautiful and powerful and confident.
Was there any better combination?
He pointed out a few things to her as they approached their destination.
The main shopping center, the market where food was purchased, a recreational facility, a museum - places he thought she might be interested in exploring.
Places that he had hacked his way into the video surveillance systems so he could keep an eye on her.
And the other humans too, of course. But mostly her. For her safety. That’s why he was going to be staring at her from afar without her knowledge.
He was a despicable male no matter how hard he tried to justify it.
The Coalition Memorial was relatively close to the entrance they had emerged from.
It was a scenic area, meant to celebrate the union of all the various species.
Stone garden plots filled with flowers from the homes of each species created a spiral path, going in order from the center outward from the first Coalition species to join all the way to the last. The spiral design allowed new species to be added.
And each time a plot was filled a new, empty plot was added as though to remind everyone that the Coalition, like the monument, was never finished.
The monument itself was a massive slab of polished stone, bright white in color, with three faces angled slightly towards each other in the center of the spiral.
The backside of it was a fountain over rocks that had been polished from the water’s flow after a couple centuries, while the front had the names of each species and their home planet written in Standard.
The letters were hand carved then set with hand cut gems from the home planet made into the shape of the letters.
Only the first face and half of the second were filled with names.
Like the plots, there was room for more as the Coalition grew.
All of that, Havali explained to Scarlet as they stepped out of their hover and began walking down the spiraling path.
Atem and Peony led the way while Tuvo and Alanna brought up the rear.
Just as he had planned, there were combots floating in the air a respectful distance from them, but there was no doubt that they were recording every twitch of their fingers.
And the humans performed as requested. Scarlet especially was exceptional.
Peony was a bit too morose and anxious. Already missing her nest. She was trying, but she hadn’t brought one of her blankets with her – despite them telling her that she should, and that people would understand and that it did not look childish. She was already uneasy from the separation.
Alanna was a bit too excited. Not overly so, at least, not compared to her normal, but she wanted to investigate every flower bed and constantly asked Tuvo questions the poor warrior had no way of knowing the answer to leaving him flummoxed and frustrated at his inability to help.
His Scarlet was perfect, of course. She asked questions without gawking, she admired without being awed, and she walked with casual, easy grace, even when she caught sight of the bots recording her for the news.
“They don’t bother you at all?” Havali asked as they continued their leisurely stroll.
The entire point of this outing was just to be seen seeing things, so they weren’t in a rush.
Except maybe Peony who kept biting her lip and looking backwards even as she insisted to Atem that she was fine and that she could stay out just a bit longer.
Havali gave it another quarter mark before Atem just scooped her up and walked her back to the hover despite her insistence.
“What doesn’t bother me?” Scarlet asked, admiring a pitcher shaped plant with fronds that weaved hypnotically in the air. None of the plants in the monument were dangerous, but some did move in ways that could be considered eerie.
“The combots. Knowing you're being recorded.”
“Oh, that? I’m used to that.” She smiled at him. “My mom used to sign me up for beauty pageants all the time. I’m used to people staring. I don’t really like it, but it doesn’t bother me.”
“Beauty… pageant?”
“It’s like a contest to see who, among those who sign up, is the most beautiful.”
“That’s a very odd competition. Beauty is subjective.”
“They’re judged by a panel. It’s not just one person.”
“How do you measure a completely subjective thing? And why would you even want to? It seems like a good way to make people feel ugly if they weren’t chosen.”
Scarlet laughed like he had said something silly. “Yeah. It really is.”
“You agree? But you did it anyway?”
“I didn't have a choice. I was a child and my mother signed me up.”
He knew there was a look of horror on his face, but he couldn’t seem to remove it. “You subject children to competitions of beauty? They’re children.”
“I know.”
“That’s… And who is judging the beauty of children? Who decides that some children are not beautiful, but others are? That sounds detrimental to the children.”
“Oh, it absolutely was. I had an eating disorder by the time I was eleven.”
She sounded so upbeat about it. Like she was discussing something that didn't even happen to her.
An eating disorder? Like, when Hattie had been turned off of food?
Scarlet had been so miserable doing these things, she had begun harming herself in such a way?
It must be a human stress response and he could not imagine doing such a thing to children.
Scarlet caught the look on his face out of the corner of her eye and she smiled at him reassuringly. “Don’t worry. I quit doing them pretty soon after that. My mom was angry though,”
“Your mother sounds terrible. Forgive my candor.”
She broke out into laughter. “Yeah, she kind of was. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her I had applied to nursing school. The idea that someone with natural beauty wouldn’t use that to their advantage and instead wanted to work?
You’d think I told her that I had signed up for a class that would teach me to flap my arms and fly. ”
“Yet, she wanted these beauty competitions for you anyway?’
“I think she wanted them for herself, to be honest. But since she couldn’t have them, she channeled them through me.”
“That is even worse.”
“Yeah, we haven’t spoken to each other in a couple years. It wouldn’t surprise me if she hasn’t even noticed that I’ve been missing for months now.”
This was the first personal thing Havali had learned about his female. And while he didn't like what he heard, he couldn’t help but be excited. Scarlet was opening up to him. He was beginning to see, and therefore learn, more about her.
Most interesting though was that she didn't speak with sadness or longing about her own mother potentially not noticing her absence. It was like she didn't care one way or another.
Though, if her mother was the type to allow people to tell her child she was ugly and ascribe her worth to that, he could understand her apathy.
He was hungry to learn more, but before he could think of a question, Scarlet snickered.
“I think Atem has had just about enough.”
Havali checked and, sure enough, just as he predicted, his Dominani was gathering Peony up in his arms and walking her away from the monument.
The pregnant human had buried her face into his neck, her cheeks strangely red.
It was the only camouflage reflex that humans possessed, and the color didn't even match with anything around them.
“We’ll be going back ahead of you,” Atem said to the four of them. “Havali, you have another hover?”
“On standby and waiting. You can take the one we rode here since we’re in no rush to hurry back.”
“I’m so sorry,” Peony muttered into Atem’s neck.
“Hey,” Scarlet reached out and stroked her arm. “You’ve nothing to be sorry for. You did great. We don’t want you stressing yourself anyway, remember?”
“Yeah. You’re right. I know. See you guys later.”
“Watch over them well,” Atem said to Havali and Tuvo, giving them firm looks. His mate might come first, but that did not mean he ignored the safety of his sisters.
“I’ve got things well under control,” Tuvo promised.
Scarlet waved her hand at their retreating backs – a human signal he understood to mean ‘farewell’ – though they couldn’t see it. Once they were gone, she sent him a grin.
“A spare hover?”