Chapter 38
Alex winced, an apologetic smile twisting her lips as she slowly turned toward her mate who was waiting expectantly, coiled at rest behind her. Her smile slowly grew into a shameless grin.
“Now let’s not over-exaggerate,” she teased. “You make it sound like I am contemplating throwing myself over rather than just exercising a healthy amount of curiosity.”
Therxian’s eyes narrowed, and he huffed a small crackle of sound that told her in no uncertain terms exactly what he thought of her curiosity.
That might have offended her a tiny bit if he hadn’t followed up by affectionately gathering her up into his arms and wrapping his wings around her as if she were the most wonderful and treasured being to have ever walked the planet. It was a bit hard to be mad at that.
“Maddening,” he grumbled. “A small flightless creature running around an archaic Seshanamitesh palace, and she thinks I am worried that she might take unnecessary risks. This is your nature. Of course, you will take risks, and I trust your competence. What I don’t trust is that there is nothing here which might try to harm you or snatch you from me. ”
Her nose wrinkled, but she hid her smile in his embrace as he started forward. If he wanted to carry her back to their nest, she wasn’t of the mind to object. He was worried that she might get eaten and be unable to escape it without him there to carry her off to safety. How sweet... and practical.
Tipping her head back, she rested her chin on his chest to smile up at him. “You know, that did occur to me. I was pretty vigilant while looking for creepy crawlies that might try to eat me. Encountering the vawenda while marooned on the surface made me a quick believer in being a safety girl.”
“Vawenda?” he echoed, a look of concern crossing his face as he rounded the wall and carried her back toward the entrance. “When did you have an encounter with a vawenda... and why was I not told?”
Alex pursed her lips as she fought back a smile at the note of outrage in her mate’s voice.
“That would be when my flyer crashed. You know—the incident for which you treated my burns. Apparently, being stranded in the middle of the desert puts you on the menu for every nearby predator. Having some kind of alien caterpillar-centipede thing trying to eat you really puts your place in the cosmos in perspective. I’m just glad that it didn’t have the ability to climb up the wreckage after me. ”
A rattling hiss escaped him, and his wings tightened around her reflexively. “A vawenda is nothing to laugh about. It is not a harmless, venomless creature safe for a human to play with. You are vulnerable to everything on this planet. Prey,” he rumbled unhappily.
“Yeah, I get it. Without a weapon, I’m pretty puny...
hence the scurrying away,” she reminded him with a chuckle.
She tapped him playfully on the chest, charmed despite herself.
How can she not find his stubborn need to protect her adorable?
“I didn’t tell you that to make you paranoid, Therxian.
I told you that so you could rest assured that I will remove myself from a dangerous environment and do whatever I need to do to keep myself safe. ”
His red eyes narrowed on her, studying her upturned face, his gavo flaring slightly.
He sighed heavily and his gavo flattened as he reluctantly loosened his grip and set her on her feet, though he did not release her from the circle of his wings.
She didn’t mind. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she kind of enjoyed a bit of the overprotective caveman treatment so long as he was capable of being reasoned with.
“You are resourceful,” he admitted as the tip of his tail traced the curve of her back, sending a shiver through her. “I trust you to take care of yourself, but that does not mean that I will not worry.”
“Of course. Moreover, I will do one better and take care of you, too,” she informed him cheerfully. “I have your back, Therxian. If anything tries to harm you, I will either kill it or make sure that you are dragged to safety”
His expression grew thoughtful, and he inclined his head in acknowledgement. “I trust that you will, ashlava.” His mouth suddenly hitched with a smile. “If nothing else, watching you slaughter insectoids reassures me that you will not miss.”
Alex giggled and thumped him on the chest with her opposite fist, remembering belatedly that she still clutched the scroll. Therxian blinked in reaction, and his eyes drifted to it curiously.
“What do you have, hithana?”
Shifting a bit, she held it up between them. “Just a little something I found. Actually, I was going to ask you about it, as my translation skills are non-existent. I really didn’t expect to find anything down here.”
A puzzled frown tightened his mouth, but he took the scroll and cast a glance as if actually seeing their surroundings for the first time.
“Speaking of finding things... how did you find me down here?” she asked.
“I tracked you,” he explained absently as his eyes swept over the water falling into the pool. “Once I determined that you were not in the royal nest, it was not difficult to track your scent trail. It seems that you found the royal baths.”
“Royal baths?” she echoed. “But there is a bath in the royal nest—”
He dipped his chin in disagreement. “The queen’s bathing chamber is for private use, but the baths are not for cleansing, but for soaking.
These in particular were for the use of the royal family and the court as invited.
It is more of a social activity. The water meets here with a hot thermal steam and is pooled to regulate the temperature so that it remains at a stable and very comfortable level. ”
Her mouth rounded in understanding. “Oh, that kind of bath. Now that you mention it, I think there are some places on Earth that still have them as cultural legacy sites. So that ledge is a sort of communal area?”
Therxian’s eyes lifted to the massive stone lip overlooking the pool, and he snapped his gavo.
“Correct. The royal family and guests would recline there, enjoying the view of the bath from above while they relaxed by the table. Though it seems that it would have originally been in a more central position.”
“I see,” she mumbled. “Well, it does seem that someone has been enjoying the baths here somewhat recently. There is a whole stack of these by the table up there.”
Her mate’s wings slowly unfurled from around to provide the necessary space to open the scroll.
Alex immediately missed their warmth but bit her tongue to hold back her protest. Whatever the contents of the scroll, it was more important than her need to cling to her mate like a leech.
And it seemed that Therian found the contents of interest too, judging by the way his gavo slowly rose as he studied the intimate image.
“An Uralial male and a Seshanamitesh female,” he murmured, a note of surprise in his voice.
“Yeah, I thought that was a bit strange. Buosoa related some pretty disturbing history regarding the Uralial and Seshanamitesh relations. A female Seshanamitesh with an Uralial male seemed pretty... well... taboo.”
He murmured in agreement. “Correct. At first glance, I might have assumed that these were the same figures, except that their gender is quite clear. The text below appears to be a quote.”
“A quote?” Alex craned her head to look curiously at the scrawling text. It didn’t make it any more legible to her, but now she was really invested. “What kind of quote?”
Therxian cleared his throat, his gavo twitching.
“If you insist,” he muttered. “It says: ‘The fruit of love is strange but sweet//How I yearn to taste it endlessly from the mouth of my lover.’ Below that it says: ‘If only I could possess the courage of Luwai to seek the path illuminated by my hearts.”
“Who is Luwai?” Alex whispered.
He dipped his chin, his mouth tightening.
Apparently, he was just as puzzled as she was.
“It will take some research. It may be nothing, but I am curious as to who might have left this. Access to the lower palace is heavily restricted. Perhaps Luwai is a clue that may point out who had ventured down here.”
“It hasn’t been all that long ago. I’ve seen more dust in the corners of your nest than I’ve seen on that thing,” she pointed out, and his gavo snapped again in agreement.
“Which makes the timing curious,” he rumbled. “The condition of my nest is due to it being abandoned for many revolutions. This has been here for far less time.” He craned his neck to peer up at the ledge. “You said that there are more?”
She nodded. “Yes, there are probably a doz—eeeyah!” she shrieked, her stream of words fragmenting into a cry of surprise as her mate snatched her up into his arms and launched them into the air.
The flight was short and far more expedient than taking the ramp.
The platform was clearly originally intended for the flightless Uralial.
However, seeing Therxian on the ledge as he bent over the pile of scrolls clarified the sheer size of it.
It was easy to imagine an entire family of Seshanamitesh of similar size lounging around a table while others played in the pool below.
It just seemed wrong that all that remained was a pile of scrolls and remnants of a forgotten feast that had long since rotted away.
His hand skimmed over them, hovering over them, but he withdrew it with a sigh.
“I will return to examine these later. For now, let us return to the nest. I am certain that you are hungry. I brought the morning meal that Jathella delivered to me.”
“Food?” That piqued her curiosity. She was indeed hungry.
But... she cast a reluctant glance toward the steaming water.
It really did look inviting, and she really had missed having her mate all to herself.
Breakfast could technically wait a little longer.
She drew back a step, her fingers toying with the zipper of her flight suit.
“It happens that I’m hungry for a little of something else. ”
He glanced over at her with confusion. “You have not even looked at what I brought. How do you know that you are not hungry for it?”
Alex drew her zipper down slowly, the movement drawing his gaze.
“Oh,” he breathed, and the scroll clattered forgotten to the table. “Yes. We should stay a little longer and enjoy the bath to satisfy other... hungers.”
Alex chuckled and drew it down her belly. Smart male.