“No, not once they understand what we are…what you are. They’ll never dare to separate us once I’ve proven that I am worthy of a mate.” He smiles reassuringly.
“You don’t need to prove anything to anyone. I know you’re going to be an amazing mate.” I smile, wishing I could touch him.
“I am proud you see me as such”—his grin is sadder than my own—“but there is one last test to the Great Proving. I must defeat another hopeful in combat—to prove that I can properly protect a female.”
“And you already did! You saved us both from that exile. I mean, you barely knew me, and you saved me from the whale monster when I arrived here.” I try to talk some sense into him. There’s nothing left to prove to me.
“Ah, the scripiat…” he mutters. “Unfortunately, it’s important in my culture that I prove it to the others as well. Knowing you’re here for me when I return will make my victory all the sweeter.” He looks at me like I’m made of stardust.
“Kitaico, let’s just tell them about the mark—they’ll have to understand.” I don’t want to keep it a secret anymore. I want to show the elders. We can convince them we belong together. It is essential, despite what his culture says.
“No, we do this the right way—with honor. You are worth any hardship…Lena. This is a small thing to you, but an important one to me.”
“Okay,” I gulp down my anxiety, forcing myself to trust that Kitaico understands his culture more than I do.
Suddenly there’s a whirring noise as a door panel slides open. A large group of ornately dressed elders enters the narrow hallway between the cells.
Chancellor Hirouz is at the head of the pack.
“So, we meet again, Lena.” The way he says my name has me wanting to recoil from him.
“Kitaico was awake earlier and telling us about how you miraculously came to be in his care. Fallen from the sky like the Great Mother?" His tone shows that he doesn’t believe a word Kitaico said. I don’t know how my alien thinks I came to be on his planet. We never got the chance to talk about it.
“More like unceremoniously dumped from a Deenz transport unit,” I scoff.
“The same Deenz the fi’len scum have waged war with?” he asks, like I have any bearing on current events.
“No idea! The fi’len were always nice though. Certainly nicer than our slavers,” I say.
“You are a human from Earth, yes?”
The sound of my home planet’s name makes my chest well with longing.
“Yes,” I breathe.
I feel terrible that my gut instinct is to ask if they could take me home…back to my grandmother. But I don’t want to leave Kitaico, and I know that he’ll never be welcome on my planet.
“The fi’len queen is a human, and her king has made it his mission to destroy the Deenz entity—making war for us all,” the chancellor says saltily.
“Sorry that my kidnapping has inconvenienced you,” I snap, then realize they could just as easily put me back in the scaley purple hands that I was before. “Are you going to return me to the Deenz like some kind of lost property?”
“No, we would never harm a female, regardless of how strange you humans appear. From the information we’ve gained from Kitaico and our planetary security—you are not a state threat.”
“Great, so let us out of here,” I plead with the group of austere dignitaries.
“Patience, we are here to do just that.”
With a click of the fancy broach, the orange laser bars of my cell buzz into nothingness. I step into the hall and wait patiently for Kitaico’s own bars to drop. But they remain in place, light burning bright as ever.
My mate’s camouflage shifts quickly, a sign of his nervousness, I’ve learned.
“And Kitaico?”
“Still needs to discuss some matters with the council. Do not fret, no harm will come to either of you as long as you comply.” The chancellor glares at me, as if expecting me to act out.
“It’s alright Lena, we’ll meet up shortly, okay?” My mate gives me his most earnest face.
“Okay.” I wrap my arms around myself. I’m in awe at how quickly we’ve come to rely on each other.
A guard arrives and is told to escort me to the jewels.
The jewels?
Despite my curiosity, I keep my mouth shut. My outbursts so far haven’t helped.
I trace the swirling lines I know are under my bandages. The guard, a different one than from before, must pick up on my apprehension.
“You have nothing to be worried about, human. To be a female on the Korlyan Moon is to be treasured. So few of them remain.” His words are kind, but he keeps his eyes straight ahead and his voice neutral. Maybe he’s just trying to remain professional?
“Thanks,” I whisper.
I look back over my shoulder at my mate before we walk down the unassuming corridor for what feels like miles.
Will they keep their word? Will I see Kitaico again?
I stare at my feet as I listen to the rhythm of our steps on the shiny stone floors. Abruptly, we stop, my nose nearly smashing into the guard’s back as we do.
“What is your purpose here?” a stern voice says in front of us.
