Chapter 6 #3
“Look,” Trakan says, patting something belted at his hip. “Just a little precaution, that’s all. We don’t know that they’re friendlies.”
“They are mesakkah, just like us.”
“And wars have been fought by mesakkah against other mesakkah. Just having blue skin doesn’t make you a pal. You should know that.”
Curious, I watch as Mardok’s face grows cold. His expression is so awful and bleak that my heart hurts for him. What has happened? But he speaks again. “You’re not shooting anyone. This is a friendly visit.”
“And it’s wise to be prepared,” Cap-tan says, and gestures at me. “Even she is armed.”
Mardok looks over at me again, his gaze on my knife. His eyes are slits, and I cannot tell what he is thinking, but it is clear to me that he is not happy. He glares at the others in his party and then moves to my side, protectively. “Lead on, Farli.”
“Is all well?” I whisper to him.
“All is well,” he tells me, and there’s grim determination in his voice. “No one will ever harm you while I am breathing.”
I chuckle, because he sounds so very determined.
I love it. I open my mouth to speak, but I see something in the distance that makes me pause.
It is a row of my people. They are too far away to make out most of them, but I see Pashov’s one lone horn, and Raahosh’s crooked ones.
I see Aehako’s hulking form and the tall, proud stance of my chief. They carry spears.
All hunters. All males. No one else. And they are not approaching to greet us.
Oh no.
I can imagine the panic going through their minds.
The last time a ship came, it tried to take away the humans.
I scan the line of them again, and I do not see the fierce Leezh next to Raahosh, which means she has been told to wait below.
I bet she did not like that much. “I should go talk to them.”
“Why?” Mardok asks, moving to my side. “Is everything all right?”
“They think you are the enemy. They are ready to protect their mates.” I turn and put my hands on Mardok’s shoulders. “Let me go and speak to my chief and reassure him that you are not here to bother us.”
“I’ll go with you. To protect you.”
I give him a curious look, pleased that he is so protective but puzzled as to why I need protecting from my own people. “Why?”
“To show that I am not the enemy.”
Because he is my mate? Thoughtful but unnecessary. “Let me ease their fears. Wait here. I will speak to them.” I turn to leave, and he grabs my hand. I look back at him, surprised, and there is torment on his face.
“I don’t want this to be the last time we see each other,” he says, voice low.
My khui begins to sing wildly, and I smile at him.
“It will not be.” I squeeze his hand and then reluctantly let it go, our fingers dragging as we pull away, as if our skin is reluctant to let us part.
I am relieved that he remains behind, though the look on his face is clearly mutinous.
He does not want me to go. It fills me with warmth that he is feeling this despite not having a khui of his own.
Soon enough, I decide. A sa-kohtsk hunt must be done very soon.
I move forward to the line of my tribesmates, guarding the entrance to the gorge where the pulley and the rope ladder are. No one comes forward to meet me, which means they are more worried than I thought. “All is well,” I say when I am close enough. “I promise. They are not here to hurt us.”
Vektal rushes forward, crossing the short distance between us. He grabs my arm and drags me back toward the hunters. “Farli, what is going on?”
“It is fine, truly—”
“Hey!” snarls Mardok from behind me. “Don’t you keffing touch her!”
Oh no. Two of my tribesmates advance, spears at the ready. “No, wait. It is all right!”
“Move back, Farli,” my chief says. “Go stand behind the hunters. We will protect you.”
“Protect me?” Has everyone gone mad? “He is my mate!”
That stops everyone in their tracks. Everyone except Mardok, that is. He rushes to my side and pulls me away from the others, tucking me behind him as if to protect me from my tribe.
The others stare. Aehako starts to grin, and Pashov smirks. Bek just rolls his eyes.
“Resonance, eh?” Vektal says, looking between me and Mardok. “I am sure there is a good story behind this. Did he travel here to resonate with you? Or is he stranded like Georgie and her people?”
“He has a name,” Mardok says in a cold voice. “And he can understand everything you’re saying.”
“He and his people are like us,” I tell Vektal, moving out from behind my mate and approaching. “They did not plan to be here, and when I saw the ship land, I approached it.”
Vektal’s eyes narrow at me. “Why would you do such a thing? You know that the other caves that landed here—”
“I know,” I say quickly, putting my hands up.
I can feel Mardok growing tense behind me, and I need to calm everyone down.
“I stayed a safe distance away until I saw one of them come out. Then, when I saw they were sa-khui like us, I approached.” I clasp my hands and place them over my heart. “And I resonated to Mardok.”
My brother Pashov claps a hand over his brow and shakes his head. Someone else snorts with laughter.
“Just because they look like us does not mean they are not the enemy,” Vektal tells me, a stern note in his voice. He leans forward on his spear, still displeased with me. “What would you have done if they decided they would grab you and take you away?”
I laugh, because the idea is silly. “He is not stealing me. And besides, I have a khui. I cannot leave this place. A khui cannot be removed.”