Chapter Eleven
Taryn
The view of Morrakan from above was jarring.
Old pictures of Earth were mostly blue, with broad patches of green, and the white of clouds scattered across the surface. Now it was more blue and brownish-grey, but there were still some spots of green here and there.
Morrakan was just red.
It reminded me of Mars. From orbit there were no large bodies of water visible, only endless stretches of rust-colored land.
There were slashes of burgundy shading into black, and a few pinkish-purple patches that seemed like clouds, but it was so monochromatic that the excitement I’d experienced over seeing a new place morphed into disappointment.
Was it due to Vorrashan, the red dwarf Morrakan orbited, or something more?
There had been a section in the information I’d received with details about Morrakan. That had seemed the least important thing to worry about at the time, so while I knew a bit about my new home, most of it was going to be a surprise.
“Are you ready?”
Rhydek and I had fallen into a wary truce the last few days of the trip, where he spent part of the day doing whatever he did while I napped, but returned every few hours to see if I needed anything. He was gruff about it, but it was almost sweet.
Dipping my chin, I reached for my bags, but his soft growl made me pause long enough for him to grab them first. While I’d felt better with each passing day, some of the weakness and aches lingered, so I chose not to argue that I could carry them.
My duffels looked more like purses or messenger bags on his larger frame, and I ducked my head to hide a grin at the thought of Rhydek with a man-purse. His perpetual frown would have assured no one would have teased him about it.
I followed him from the room, sparing a last glance behind me before the door closed. Just when I had finally grown comfortable in the space, I had to leave it for somewhere new, and part of me didn’t want to.
“What’s your home like?”
It seemed a safe enough question as we walked to the lift.
Rhydek barely turned his head, gold eyes cutting sideways as he pressed the buttons to take us down to the hangar so we could board the shuttle.
“I rarely go to the meyr’kal my father left me in Kaorr. I’m too busy with the council and training new warriors.”
My brows pinched as I frowned at the side of his face. Either he hadn’t understood what I was asking, or he was being purposely evasive.
“Where do you stay most of the time?”
He glanced at me again before straightening his head to stare at the closed doors.
“I have quarters similar to Kael’s in Korvashan. You’ll see them shortly.”
When the doors opened and he strode out I sighed and let it drop. He’d been tense since we’d awakened several hours ago, and I had to assume it was due to me.
Did he have family waiting for his return who would disapprove of him mating a Human?
He’d been almost as unwilling as I, so it was easy to believe that he’d only done it out of necessity, and even if his family disapproved, they would understand that.
Right?
Or was it a lover?
That thought made my steps hitch, but his longer legs already meant it was hard to keep up with him, so I had to hurry down the corridor.
Why hadn’t I considered that before?
After our spat over the available requirement, I’d begun to hope we could come to have a harmonious relationship, even if it wasn’t love. But if there had been someone he was attached to and I was coming between them, where would that leave me? How did the Morrak view mistresses?
And maybe more important, why did I care?
Huffing, I shoved the thoughts into a box and pretended to cram it into the back of my mind. I knew it wasn’t something I could just forget about, but I wasn’t going to create problems when there might not be any. It wouldn’t be long before it came out if I was right.
Seeing the other women again for the first time as we boarded the shuttle was a bit of a shock.
The bathing pool had always been empty when Rhydek took me down to use it, and while I’d gotten used to seeing the new markings on my body, for some reason it hadn’t crossed my mind that they would have some now too.
We had all introduced ourselves before we left Earth, but it took a moment to remember their names.
Sabine was from the Caribbean, and her new amber crescents looked beautiful on her dark skin. She was holding hands with the Morraki who had chosen her, a smile on her face as he spoke in low tones.
The other woman, Corinne, had chaotic silver slashes that pulsed towards red, as if she were struggling to control her emotions as she sat next to the other Morraki. It could have been fear of flying, but the flat look in his eyes when he met mine for a brief second sent a chill through me.
I checked my markings, relieved when they only seemed slightly brighter than usual. They had grown more obvious since I first noticed them, but I didn’t think they stood out as much as the other two’s.
Smiling at the women as I passed them, I walked to the last row and slid into the seat against the window so I could see more of Morrakan as we descended. We were the last to board, so once the air lock sealed, the hum of the shuttle’s engines increased.
I didn’t get a chance to see the ship we’d been on for the trip from Earth, but I got a wide view of my new home as we angled towards it. It still appeared as if it was one large landmass.
“Do you not have oceans?”
The question slipped into the silence of the shuttle before I could think better of it. Cheeks warming when I heard Rhydek’s huff, I tried to ignore my embarrassment as he answered.
“One. Zhalvok. It is poison.”
I turned to him with my lips parted around another question but chose to swallow it. I didn’t know if he meant it was polluted the way the oceans of Earth had been, or if it had always been that way, but it was something I could ask later.
The shuttle moved so fast it was hard to see much as we moved through the atmosphere and across the surface towards our destination.
Most of it seemed to be a blur of red sand, with darker cliffs and crevices bisecting the dunes, although there were a few pops of color that were there and gone too fast for me to name.
Throughout it all, I didn’t spot a single building until we were slowing, heading towards what looked like a black fortress perched on the side of a ravine.
Cursing myself for not reading more of the information I’d been given, I craned my neck to see farther, but the shuttle turned, leaving me staring at nothing but a massive black wall.
The shuttle settled with barely a bump, the hum of the engines fading away with the hiss of the airlock opening, as if the pilot were in a rush to get us off. Perhaps he was, but I wasn’t the only one slow to rise after peeking out the windows.
“The winds are not strong now, but Vorrashan is. Remain in the shadows and move quickly.”
Rhydek’s warning made me swallow, especially when another glance outside showed people I thought were Morraki, but I couldn’t be sure since their entire upper half was wrapped in what looked like a giant pink sheet.
They wore goggles and gloves, leaving none of their flesh exposed, and I cursed myself once again as anxiety took root in my chest.
It seemed to be protocol for Rhydek to exit first since the other two Morraki waited for him to pass, and my back crawled when it felt like their eyes lingered on me.
I followed as close to him as I could without touching, and it was a good thing since once I stepped out of the shuttle I was nearly knocked over by the wind that slammed into me.
Gasping, my throat caught fire as I inhaled sand while trying to catch my balance. I took a stumbling step to the side before Rhydek’s tail was around my waist, his fingers encircling my neck from behind.
Eyes watering, throat and lungs burning, I only resisted for a blink before letting him pull me into his side. He pressed my face to his ribs as if he were trying to merge us together, moving too fast for my legs to keep up, but he had no trouble dragging me along as I struggled to breathe.
The wind stopped as suddenly as it started, but Rhydek didn’t release me. Instead, he pulled away, using his grip on my neck to bend me forward.
“Turn your head.”
Coughing and blinded by tears, I had no choice but to trust him and comply. A drop of warmth on my temple was the only warning before water poured across my face.
It was a struggle not to fight when it almost seemed as if he were trying to drown me atop everything else, but he kept the stream focused on my eyes, and after a moment I was able to calm myself and open them enough for the water to rinse the sand away.
The stream of water slowed to a trickle and when I pushed against his hand, Rhydek allowed me to straighten.
“Better?”
I nodded even though I was still blinking grit and water from my eyes.
“Then drink.”
He shoved a metal bottle into my chest, my hands coming up automatically. The coughing had eased but I wheezed with each breath, my throat still burning, and I chugged the rest of the water despite wanting to chuck it in his face at the tone he used.
As if I’d done something stupid and this was my fault.
There was muffled coughing behind me, and while I didn’t want the other women to have experienced what I had, it was validating that I hadn’t been the only one affected by the conditions outside the shuttle.
Once the burn in my throat had eased to something more bearable, and I’d run out of water, I passed the bottle back to Rhydek, unable to help the glare I knew was on my face.
“You said the winds weren’t strong.”
Arching a brow, he glanced over my head before meeting my gaze again with a lift of one shoulder.
“They’re not.”
He turned away before I could process that, my lips parting as my jaw dropped. If the wind could almost knock me over and he didn’t consider that strong, how bad did they get?
“Come.”