Chapter 15 Shiloh
SHILOH
The others arrived bright and early the next day.
Three men on shuldu, making their way down the freshly shovelled path towards the saloon.
It was extra cold today, and the sky was bright and incredibly clear, just like the morning I’d first arrived on Zabria Prinar One.
The sunshine made it easy to see the men, even when they were far away.
The one in the middle wore a warden’s uniform, just like Warden Tenn’s.
That had to be Warden Hallum. He had cool yellow hide, like lemon yellow paint tempered with the tiniest dab of silver.
His long black hair was tied neatly behind him, and sat ramrod straight in the saddle of his massive black shuldu.
It really was a gigantic creature. Larger than any other shuldu I’d ever seen.
Which, until that moment, had only been Foxitt.
But it was also larger than the shuldu the other two men rode on either side.
“Who’s who?” I asked it generally, as all four of us were standing outside the saloon, ready to greet the newcomers.
But I kind of hoped that Rivven – who was standing directly behind me – would answer.
He’d been oddly quiet, even for him, since our kiss last night.
It made me nervous. Like maybe I’d made some kind of mistake.
Maybe kissing was a no-no before marriage here.
He hadn’t tried to stop it. Hell, he’d been an extremely enthusiastic participant.
The way he’d backed me up to the window sill and lifted me, pressing between my thighs with his enormous, hard cock…
It was the stuff of wet dreams.
“The one in the middle is Warden Hallum,” Tasha answered, dragging me back to the present moment and out of my memories of last night. “On the left is Xennet. Dorn is on the right.”
Like Rivven, both Xennet and Dorn were shirtless on their steeds.
The sun illuminated every line and curve of hard muscle in their torsos.
Xennet was the leaner of the two, his skin a bright, springlike green and his glossy hair the colour of Old-Earth lavender.
Dorn’s colouring spoke of warmth, with rust-red hide and brownish-red hair.
His hair was much shorter than any other Zabrian male I’d met so far.
All three of them wore boots and hats and rode with obvious expertise. Once they appeared in the distance, it didn’t take them long at all to reach us.
“Greetings, Shiloh!” cried Xennet.
“Morning,” Dorn grunted.
They both dismounted under the watchful eye of their warden.
Warden Hallum gave off completely different vibes from Warden Tenn.
I quite liked Warden Tenn. He was gruff and sometimes edging into grumpy.
But I sensed deep kindness in him. Sometimes, playfulness emerged, usually directed at his wife, whom he so obviously adored.
If anyone were going to bend a rule to help one of his men, I had no doubt it would be him.
Warden Hallum was another story entirely.
There was no arrogance in him that I was aware of, but there was still a sort of imperious power in the way he held the reins, controlled his seat on his mount.
His eyes remained a cool, implacable grey, with hints of bright silver at the centre, but no white.
Even Warden Tenn’s eyes had shown white a few times over the course of the days I’d spent here, usually when looking at Tasha.
From what I’d gathered so far, never showing white in your eyes was a sign of great restraint and control, prized among the Zabrian people.
I decided I didn’t particularly care for that cultural standard. I liked when Rivven’s eyes went bright and hot when he looked at me. It felt earnest and honest and true.
They’d burned like lanterns last night.
I wondered what – if anything – would turn that cold and straight-spined warden’s eyes white?
I supposed it didn’t really matter. He wasn’t in the running to become my husband.
So I turned my attention to the two who were.
“Hi, guys,” I said with a nod and a smile. “I’m Shiloh. It’s good to meet you.”
Rivven made a sound behind me then. I twisted to give him a questioning look, but he was merely frowning over my head at the others.
“I have a gift for you!” Xennet announced. “The book that the good Tasha wrote informed us that human females enjoy flowers!” He shoved a light green hand into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out…Well, I wasn’t exactly sure, to be honest.
“What the blazes is that, Xennet?” Dorn asked, leaning over to look at the dark pile of stuff on Xennet’s palm.
“Well, it was a flower!” Xennet said with feeling. “But it is winter now! I tried to make this one last as well I could, but no matter what I did, it kept getting more and more dried out. I’m afraid, the time in my pocket has made it rather…crumbly.” He held his hand out towards me.
“Oh. Um. Thank you, Xennet.”
I put my own two palms together below his, and he dumped the pile of flower dust onto the cupped surface my hands made.
Finally, Rivven said some actual words to me.
“You do not have to keep that.”
“It was a thoughtful gift,” I replied. I smiled and made sure Xennet saw me put the dust into the pocket of my jacket. He looked absolutely thrilled by this, his eyes burning bright white.
“Shall we head inside?” Tasha asked. “It’s chilly out here today!”
“Oh. Inside? I thought…” I risked another glance back at Rivven. His expression was more serious than I’d ever seen it. His eyes were on me now. Very white. His jaw tense.
“I thought we’d do our usual routine,” I finished lamely.
Of course, I wouldn’t get to just monopolize Rivven outside all day like we’d been doing before.
I’d been really enjoying my time with him, working on the pond, but there were other people to hang out with now.
It was selfish to think it, but I almost wished that the snow had kept Dorn and Xennet away for another few days.
Not that I didn’t want to meet them – I did.
But it turned out I wanted alone time with Rivven more.
“We can do whatever you wish,” Rivven said softly. “We can go to the pond today, like always.”
“A pond? What will you do with a pond this deep in the winter season?” Xennet asked, producing a little treat from somewhere on his person to feed to his shuldu.
“We’ve cleared it off. To skate on it,” Rivven answered.
“Well, we will just come along, too,” Dorn said.
Rivven’s frown deepened.
“I did not make skates for you two. Only for us.”
“Us?” I repeated. “You made me skates?”
His eyebrows rose, like my question had surprised him. “Of course I did. Why else would I have spent all that time clearing the pond? If not to skate with you?”
“I thought…I thought it was for you! Because you loved skating!”
Rivven’s mouth softened, and he gave a quiet snort. It was a wordless response, but it spoke volumes.
It told me that he did very little just for himself.
But that he’d do a hell of a lot for me.
“Then it is decided!” Xennet exclaimed enthusiastically. “We will all go to the pond. And skate with Shiloh!”
“I told you,” Rivven growled. “I don’t have skates for you.”
“Then we can slide around on our boots!” Xennet said, undeterred.
Dorn made a noise of agreement.
“I’m afraid that I’m going to be sliding around, too, Rivven,” I said with a sheepish smile. “I’ve never been skating before. And I don’t have a clue what to do.”
“I’ll tell you what to do,” he promised in a low voice. “You just hold on tight to me.”