Chapter 3 #2
Now that we were down here, the markings on these people were plain to see. Everyone had them, visible wherever skin showed. The patterns varied from person to person, but they did nothing to hide them. If anything, these marks were meant to be viewed. I wondered what they meant to them.
Rezor’s marks were particularly striking. He shrugged off the heavy coat he’d been wearing to reveal a bare chest that was so fucking ripped, my mouth went dry. The marks covered his chest and back, and showed up on his arms.
We were brought to the largest building in the settlement, a structure that rose three stories and was built into the side of a low hill. More guards stood at the entrance. Their gazes shifted through shades of blue and green as they opened heavy wooden doors.
Inside was warmer, lit by some kind of bioluminescent panels set into the walls.
The main chamber was circular, with a high ceiling and what looked like a council setup.
A semicircle of carved wooden seats faced a central platform, and every seat was occupied except for one, which was soon taken by the older, silver-haired female with braids who had been among the group who had found us.
The council members were mostly older. Their features were more weathered and the marks on their visible skin looked more elaborate.
They turned as we entered, and the conversation that had been happening in low, urgent tones stopped abruptly.
Their eyes shifted colors rapidly to a rainbow of reactions I couldn’t begin to interpret.
Rezor moved to stand before them, his posture formal. He spoke in their language, gesturing to us. I caught fragments through my translator, words that were starting to make sense.
Crash. Survivors. Sky people.
Those last words made several council members lean forward. Their gazes landed on us with sharp interest.
The older female with elaborate braids stood.
She had the bearing of someone used to being listened to, and when she spoke, everyone else fell silent.
Her eyes were a clear blue and her voice was unwavering as she addressed the chamber.
Her words came fast, passionate, but my translator was starting to keep up.
“…three who fall from the storms, just as the prophecy foretold…” something “…signs have been building for cycles. The sanctuary will face its greatest trial, and we must…”
“The prophecy is not…” something “…of anything,” a large male interrupted, his voice harsh.
He had the build of a career soldier and scars that backed it up.
His eyes flashed red with obvious anger.
“These are intruders. Unknown. Potentially hostile. We should…” something “…them before they bring disaster upon us.”
That didn’t sound good. I set my jaw and hoped my translator finished learning their dialect.
I could see Mierva and Baleck listening intently, likely doing the same thing I was, but without the translator device to assist. Poor Zara.
The translator implant gave her terrible headaches.
She’d take the time to learn a new language to avoid using the device more than she had to.
If she were here now, she’d be in agony.
“They crashed in…” something “…mountains,” another voice argued, this speaker’s eyes were a cautious yellow. “Injured. Vulnerable. What threat could they pose?”
“The threat of change,” the soldier said flatly. “The threat of everything our ancestors built being destroyed by outsiders.”
The debate escalated, voices rising, accusations flying.
I looked at Baleck and Mierva, saw my own confusion reflected in their expressions.
We were standing in the middle of a council chamber while people argued about whether we were going to destroy their civilization, and we couldn’t even defend ourselves.
My temper, which had been simmering since the crash, finally boiled over.
“Do you mind?” I said loudly, cutting through the argument. The translator in my head was working frantically, trying to convert my words into something they’d understand. “How about we start with basic hospitality?”
The chamber fell silent. Every eye turned to me, the colors shifting in a wave of surprise.
Rezor’s gaze snapped to mine. Those pale eyes deepened to a vivid purple this time. His expression showed clear surprise that I’d spoken.
Too bad. I’d never been good at keeping my mouth shut.
“We crashed,” I continued, words coming out stilted as the translator struggled with the unfamiliar grammar.
“Not attack. Not invade. Crash. Accident.” I gestured with my bound hands to Mierva.
“Injured. Cold. Need help. And you…” I looked around at the council members, letting them see exactly how unimpressed I was.
“You argue about prophecies while she suffers. Do you have a doctor or healer who can treat her injury?”
The female with the silver braids, who was being referred to as Zelana, stared at me with eyes that had shifted to an interested gold. Something that might have been approval crossed her features.
The soldier looked furious, his eyes flashing between red and black. “The sky creature interrupts. Such disrespect. We should—”
“We should show them the courtesy we’d want if our positions were reversed,” Zelana interrupted. She addressed Rezor directly, her tone formal but pointed. “Lord Rezor, what do you propose?”
Rezor was still looking at me, his eyes shifting to that impossible fuchsia. His expression was unreadable, but something in the way he held himself made that heat flare in my chest again. After a long moment, he turned to face the council.
“They will remain here,” he said, his voice carrying absolute authority. “Under guard. Under my supervision. We will learn who they are and why they’ve come. And then we will decide their fate.” He paused. “After we’ve treated their injuries and shown them the basic decency any visitor deserves.”
The emphasis on that last part was clearly directed at the hostile council members.
“If they prove to be a threat,” he continued, “I will deal with it. But until then, they are under my protection.”
Zelana nodded, satisfied. The soldier looked like he wanted to argue more but subsided with obvious reluctance. The other council members murmured among themselves, their eyes shifting through uncertain colors, but no one challenged Rezor’s decision.
He turned back to us, his gaze finding mine again. Those fuchsia eyes held mine for a beat too long before he spoke. “You understand my words?”
I considered, then rejected, the idea of explaining the translation device. It wouldn’t go over well with this crowd, who distrusted us enough as it was, so I just nodded. “Some of them.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Good. You will be housed in my compound. Fed. Given medicine for your wounds.” His accent was thick, the words carefully chosen. “But you will be watched. And if you prove me wrong about you…” He let the sentence hang, unfinished.
I met his stare, refusing to look away even as those fuchsia eyes made my pulse race. “We’re not your enemy. We just want to survive long enough to find our friends.”
Something flickered across his face. “There are more of you?”
“We are part of a crew of eleven,” I replied.
“Our ship was caught in the storm and the captain ordered us to evacuate in escape pods. There are four pods.” I glanced at my two companions, who looked a little surprised that I could communicate as well as I was.
They didn’t have implants. “We don’t know the fate of the other three. ”
“We saw no other crashes,” he said. “If these other…pods crashed, they did not land near my territory.” Then he turned and gave orders to the guards so fast that my translator couldn’t quite keep up with them.
The bindings at our wrists were removed and we were escorted from the council chamber, down a corridor, and into a bunk room with four separate beds.
It wasn’t a huge space, but it had simple, comfortable furnishings, and it was clean and warm.
Real beds piled with blankets and pillows.
Windows that looked out over the valley.
The walls were deep brown and the colors reminded me of autumn in the northern hemisphere of Earth. It was almost unbearably cozy.
I collapsed onto the nearest bed and let out a long breath, every bruise and ache making itself known now that the adrenaline was wearing off.
“Well,” Baleck said dryly, settling Mierva onto another bed with careful movements. “That could have gone worse.”
“Could have gone better,” I muttered, already cataloging the room’s features. One door, two windows, guards outside. Not ideal for escape, but at least we weren’t in a cell.
Mierva closed her eyes, pain etched in every line of her face. “We need to find out if anyone else survived, but if they did, they aren’t in this region.”
“Not according to Rezor.” I pressed my translator again, making sure it was set to continuous learning mode. “First, we figure out where we are and who these people really are. Then…fuck if I know.”
Baleck scratched his head and reclined on the bed at the far wall. “I wish I had one of those translator devices. My head aches from trying to parse their words with Destran.”
“Thank the stars one of us has one,” Mierva added. “Cleo can communicate with them. That will make our lives better.”
I winced. “I’m not the one who should be talking with anyone, especially that arrogant ass of a leader they have,” I muttered. “My implant would be better served in the head of a communication specialist.” I nodded toward Baleck.
Baleck shrugged one shoulder. “Just keep calm and you’ll be fine.”
“Calm has never been my specialty.” I ran my tongue over my dry teeth. “I’m way too hotheaded.” Mouthy little bitch. Thoughtless shit. Biggest disappointment of my life.
I shoved away the words that haunted me whenever I felt unsure, or vulnerable, or less than in control, and tried to focus on the positives.
We had shelter. And we had the attention of a not insane leader, who seemed at least willing to listen, even if his fuchsia eyes made my pulse race in ways that were deeply inconvenient.
Through the window, I could see the valley spreading out in the fading light. Somewhere out there were answers. Maybe even a way to fix our situation.
I just had to survive long enough to find them.
And avoid being alone with Lord Rezor, because being around him made me feel acutely unsure, vulnerable, and not at all in control. I didn’t need those dark voices in my head right now, not when my life, and those of my friends, depended on me keeping my head cool and my mouth shut.