Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Selena
For the third time today, I sat in the café overlooking the terrarium. Tonight, it was bursting with people though the noise level was surprisingly low given how crowded it was. We had managed to secure a booth near the stage.
Glancing around I assumed the groups clustered in booths were what Xylo had called clans—a nestqueen and her nestmates.
The clans seemed to most commonly range from three to six people, those with the brightest coloring in the center of the group.
Both at breakfast and now at dinner, the group insisted I sit in the center—which fit with my assumption the center person was, in fact, female and the booth’s nestqueen.
Yes, those must be the nestqueens. The entire group's attention centered on them.
Xylo and Odelm sat to my right, Kaede on my left. We sipped our drinks as we silently ordered our meals. I finished first and spent the time admiring the males at the table.
I had noticed both Xylo and Odelm had coloring and patterns unique compared to the other males of their respective species.
Xylo’s skin pattern was much more elaborate and detailed than anyone else I’d seen even the princes.
I wondered why that was, but I was thankful for it. I would never tire of looking at him.
Odelm was gorgeous in his own way. I might call his coloring more feminine than other male Ulax.
In fact, as I studied him and glanced around the cafe, I realized his coloring was closer to those in the center of the booths—the nestqueens.
Perhaps that accounted for the preference for solitude I’d noticed he possessed.
He was an oddity to his species as much as Xylo and I were to ours.
I studied Xylo thoughtfully, his attention on his wristband.
His actions today had surprised me. He’d definitely lost the ability to fully control his vines.
When they’d explored me at breakfast this morning and again as he’d dried me off before dinner, he’d seemed almost in a trance, not conscious his vines were sexually touching me.
It certainly didn’t seem to be on purpose.
He’d been shocked and embarrassed when he’d realized what had happened.
I couldn't fault him if it were a biological instinct he couldn’t control.
Perhaps the tenuous court bond was the cause, and it would settle down when I permanently accepted him.
Glancing around the room once more, I observed many of the Circuli kept their vines and tentacles touching the nestqueen in the center.
I broke the silence at the table. “Xylo, can you explain a few things for me about the Circuli?”
“Oh, this is going to be good,” Kaede mumbled under his breath.
Xylo looked up from his wristband, a pleased smile crossing his face. “What can I explain to you?”
I tilted my head toward the rest of the room. “In the booths, are the lighter Circuli in the center nestqueens? And the darker ones surrounding them their nestmates?”
Xylo examined the room while Odelm’s body stilled, the pained look on his face quickly replaced by a blank stare.
“Yes. Those are nestqueens. The cafe is considered a more intimate dining room, popular among clans who want to dine together. The unmated tend to stick to bars and common mess halls, or if they venture in here, they dine together as a group. Like...” Xylo nodded toward a booth by the door.
He was right, that group of Circuli were all darker and talked animatedly though their tentacles and vines remained wrapped around their torsos. “Or they dine at the cafe’s bar alone.”
That explained why I’d found Odelm eating alone at the bar at lunch. I glanced at Odelm again, his expression still closed off. Turning back to Xylo, I noticed he’d closed his wristband and was waiting for my next question.
“Is touching each other with your vines and tentacles an expression of comfort? Like humans hold hands or hug?”
An awed expression crossed his face, and he exchanged glances with Odelm, who now looked at me with interest. Both males schooled their expressions as they stared at me.
“That comparison works. Humans are much more freely expressive when it comes to showing affection and giving comfort than both Wudox and Ulax. Typically, only nestmates use their vines or tentacles to touch their nestqueen. It brings them both comfort to have physical contact. Neither species holds hands, hugs, or even kisses. Those are things other species like humans do. I understand the concepts through my studies, but you are the first experience I—or any of the crew—have had with it.”
I blinked, perplexed. “What about the princes? I saw them freely touch one other.”
Kaede made a choked sound.
Xylo exchanged another glance with Odelm, whose expression was steely, before leaning closer.
“Unbonded males who have no interest in being accepted by a nestqueen—or who want to and have not yet been so honored—sometimes become close friends with one another. There is not the deep bond formed from the transfer of spores to one other as there is within a clan, but they open themselves up to one another mentally and seek each other for comfort. Males are asexual until they are court-bonded—at which time their bodies biologically prepare to mate and give their bonding spores to their nestqueen.”
Kaede coughed.
We leaned back in our seats as our meal was delivered to our table. I peered up at the servers and smiled in thanks.
Picking up my spork, I scooped a bite of the nut stew and blew on it impatiently.
I was starving, and it smelled delicious.
As the rich, hearty taste proved a match to the wonderful aroma, I made a small noise of delight.
It certainly beat the monotony of the nutrition bars the Yaarkins had usually fed me.
In fact, everything I had experienced so far had exceeded anything I could have imagined.
“Selena. What are your plans aboard ship?” Kaede questioned between sips of the meal beverage he was drinking with a straw, his face still hidden behind the visor that covered his eyes and the dark green cloth that hung from it.
Taking another scoop of the nut stew, I thought the question over.
“I don’t have specific plans, I’ll figure it out as it comes.
Whatever Xylo says is okay to do, I guess—if he thinks I shouldn’t do something, I won’t.
The only things I have scheduled are my daily morning check-ups with the healers and swimming lessons with Odelm whenever he is free.
Other than that, I am hoping to explore and meet others.
Xylo said exercise would be good for me, and Odelm said swimming was easy on the joints and relaxing. Why?”
Kaede tapped something into the armband with his black-gloved hand. “I need to be aware of your schedule so I can ensure I have you well protected at all times—both outside and inside the ship. I will make sure I always have an eye on you.”
I choked on my soup, gasping as I banged on my chest. “Including when I’m asleep?” I rasped.
“Of course.” Kaede shrugged.
Odelm interjected, “It is Xylo’s job to protect her. Even if it is only him at the moment, the nestbed is designed to provide the nestqueen protection. You should not have to protect her in her bedroom with Xylo there.”
“But I slept alone in the guest room at the infirmary last night.”
“You started a court bond with him and didn’t have him sleep with you?” Kaede asked as he looked between Xylo and me. “Are you planning on rejecting him after all?”
“I didn’t know until Odelm explained it to me earlier. I just needed some time alone to think after learning I was pregnant,” I murmured, embarrassed. Turning to Xylo, I grabbed his arm, and he looked down at me with concern. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
He gave Odelm a heated glance. “Odelm should not be intervening in something he knows nothing about. Selena, I understood your need for space. I knew you had just escaped the Yaarkins, your life had been turned upside-down. Then you heard about your pregnancy in the worst way possible. You are human and had no way to know details of our society or culture. I did as you bid because I did not want to pressure you in your delicate state.”
I closed my eyes and leaned forward, resting my forehead on Xylo’s soft mossy shoulder.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I don’t know what I would do without your patience and understanding support. I’m sorry if I inadvertently hurt you, Xylo. I was not intending to reject you. I just want you to know that.”
His hand slid into my hair, cradling my head against his shoulder as a vine wrapped around the wrist on his arm. A moment of silence fell upon the booth.
“I know you mean no harm, Selena. You have been through a lot, and we are from very different cultures. It will take time for us to learn of one another,” he whispered.
“So, are you going to tell Selena about her new room assignment?” Kaede broke in.
I jerked away and turned toward Kaede. “What new room assignment?”
“Oh, but Xylo should tell you the news since supposedly you are his to protect.”
“Jealous?” Odelm taunted from across the table.
He snapped his armband closed with an audible click and leaned back in the booth. “Just making an observation.”
“Wait. Prince Z’fir was serious when he said they were giving me Prince V’dim’s Royal Suite?” I gasped.
“The princes gave her one of their Royal Suites?” Odelm asked, his voice laced with confusion and shock.
I turned to Xylo and eyed him, awaiting confirmation.
He shrugged. “Yes, it is true. There are no vacant rooms available on the ship with a nestbed in them. All the vacant rooms are single housing. It was assumed since you were able to court bond with me, you may accept me fully—and perhaps others before we arrive at CEG HQ.”
Wait. They actually thought I’d be accepting more males before we arrived at CEG HQ?
I still didn’t know what to do with the one I had.
The connection with my children’s Aldawi father and the new court bond with Xylo were already too much to process—not to mention my pregnancy.
Adding any more males was ridiculous. It would only add more stress to my life.
Letting go of Xylo’s arm, I fell back in my seat, took a steadying sip of my drink, then leaned back and closed my eyes.
Xylo’s vine was still wrapped around my wrist, squeezing in comfort as I tried not to let everything I needed to do before we arrived at the space station—and I gave birth—overwhelm me.
“Okay, one day at a time. I have a lot to think about.” I glanced at Xylo. “And I think there are a lot of things we need to discuss. When can we?”
He gave me a gentle smile. “We can start tonight before bed if you want.”
Returning his smile, I whispered, “I’d like that.”