Chapter Twelve #3
It should have been impossible. My life had been overturned, my future remained uncertain, and I was trapped on a strange planet with a male who alternated between infuriating and charming often enough that I wasn't sure which version was real.
Yet somehow I was enjoying myself, and it was because of him. It wouldn’t have been the same with someone more serious, or considerate.
And that was a dangerous thought. Very dangerous, considering I was essentially lying to him and planning to leave him at the altar.
I immediately reminded myself why I was here. This was the best place to learn more of the Morraki language, as well as their culture, in a way they weren’t allowing other Humans to do, and if I did well enough, I could trade the information to get my life back when I returned home.
The reminder felt weaker than they should have, but it was the best I could do.
Drazien noticed my sudden silence, pulling me closer to him as we exited the gardens and he led me somewhere else. He had a need to be constantly touching me, either with his hands or tail, and I’d grown used to it in a way that usually took much longer.
“What are you thinking about?”
I hesitated before deciding partial honesty wouldn't hurt.
“This wasn't what I expected.”
His brow lifted and his head tilted to the side as he studied me.
“Korvashan?”
I lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug.
“Korvashan, Morrakan, the injection… You.”
The last part slipped out before I could catch it, and Drazien’s lips curled into a smile. He seemed like the type who wouldn’t want to be what was expected, and might be disappointed if he was told he was.
“I just thought it would feel...”
Similar to Earth.
Like a typical assignment.
Forgettable.
I couldn't say any of those things. None of them were true, and the last part scared me more than I wanted to admit.
Instead, I shook my head and settled on the simplest.
“Different.”
His smile didn’t hold any teasing or arrogance like it usually did. He looked as if he was simply pleased with my response, as if different was the best thing I could have said of his home.
“It is easy to assume all other inhabited planets are similar to your own when it is the only one you’ve seen.”
The statement sounded oddly gentle coming from him, and I was forced to drop my gaze as I struggled with my tangled thoughts. Tricking him and then leaving had sounded so simple before coming here and getting to know him, but he wasn’t who I’d thought he was from the brief glimpses at the gala.
I hadn’t missed the way the other Morrak looked at him. He was given a wide berth, and while I caught a few stares, Drazien attracted just as many, as if his own people weren’t sure what to expect from him. It made me think he was more than just a high-ranking soldier.
Still, I didn’t want Drazien to start prying, so I asked the first question I could think of to turn the conversation.
“How many planets have you been to?”
Even though I was using it to distract him, I was interested in his answer. Humans were aware of the Morrak and the Qy’shaeuhl and a handful of other species, but I knew there had to be more out there.
He thought for a moment, and I was shocked when he replied.
“About twenty. Maybe closer to thirty, but only about half were inhabited.”
The possibility of that many other civilizations, with who knew how many languages and customs, was mind boggling.
I could spend every day for the rest of my life studying all of them and never learn even half well enough to claim fluency or understanding.
I was starting to think it might take most of a lifetime just to learn all there was about the Morrak.
Fortunately, before I could think of more questions to ask, an opening appeared to our right. We’d returned to the High Ledge, my thighs complaining about the stairs once again, but a familiar scent distracted me.
Leather.
Ink.
Dust.
My heart leapt and I froze as Drazien turned us through the doorway.
Before us were rows and rows of rolled hides and leatherbound books on shelves.
It looked like a maze from where I stood, tables and chairs interspersed amongst the bookcases, and even the climb up from the River Caverns hadn’t made my heart beat as hard as it did in that moment.
How had he known?
I knew my paperwork said I was a shipping analyst. It only listed three of the languages I could read and write. I had said I wanted to learn his, but how could he have guessed that their version of a library was something I would want to see?
Drazien let out what sounded like a long-suffering sigh as he tugged on my hand and got me moving again. I was too busy gazing around to watch where he was leading me, but anywhere within the room would be perfect to me.
“If you want to learn the language, I supposed you need to start the way all Morraki do. These are the archives.”
His expression suggested he did not share my love of learning and books, and I couldn’t help letting out a laugh.
It was the kind that couldn’t be held in, and for reasons I didn't understand, Drazien smiled back in an easy way that made me think this wasn’t going to be as torturous for him as wanted to make it out to be.