Page 49 of Serpents of the Night

“You said you have a comm... may I use it?”

The medic’s friendly expressions shuttered. “Why would you wish to use my comm, Lori?”

Lori lifted her bare wrist in response, noticing for the first time that her TRS, gloves and even clothes had been removed. Someone—likely Sara—had changed her into a loose, clean gown woven of some sort of natural fiber. “Mine was taken when I was in the shinara.”

Sara shook head. “That’s unfortunate, but even if you had yours, you wouldn’t be allowed to use it.”

“What?” Lori stared at the other woman in shock. “But why? You just said...”

“I don’t make external comms from it,” Sara gently clarified. “It’s not allowed. Those of us who still have comms just make use of them to listen in on what we receive through them. I’m sorry, Lori, but I can’t allow you to use it.”

“But...” Lori protested.

“It is our law,” Sara stated firmly. She sighed and glanced back over at the table. “There is broth being kept warm for you. The solar charger on the warmer still has a few hours on it but don’t let it wait too long. I will check on you a bit later to see if you can handle something more substantial.”

Opening the curtain, Sara stepped out, leaving Lori staring after her. She still had so many questions and she needed to explain about her mates, but it seemed that the medic was not in any position to help her, and Lori had pushed a little too hard.

Her jaw hardened stubbornly. Well, she would just have to find someone who was. In the meantime, she would glean what information she could from the medic and learn what she could of her surroundings to see if there was anything she could utilize to signal for help. Even if she could get ahold of Raza colony, Eddie would help her get ahold of her males.

One way or the other, she was getting her family back.

Chapter 40

Lori squinted as she stepped outside. The sunlight still hurt her eyes a little after being in the shinara so long, but it was steadily getting better as her body recovered. She drew in a deep breath and smiled for what felt like the first time in days. She hadn’t had a reason to smile since she had been forcibly separated from her mates by Queen Zathexa’s orders, but it was hard not to with the smell of growing things and the perfume of flowers blooming, mingling with the faint scent of water in the air. Tipping her head back, she shielded her eyes to look up at the large, emerald green voosheth flying overhead, its neck sack expanded fully as a sing-song trilling filled the air.

Sara walked over to her side and smiled as she also glanced up at it before looking over at Lori. “Amazing, aren’t they?”

“I’ve seen something similar, but in the deep caverns near the shinara they are much smaller and of a duller color,” Lori admittedly as she dropped her hand and looked over at her.

“Really?” Sara’s eyebrows rose with interest. “I didn’t realize that life forms were so diversified across the planet. I always assumed that the deserts were barren of life outside of the monstrosities that dwell below the sand and patches of flowers in the spring. I never imagined how Seshanamitesh could live so deep underground in such a place.

Lori shrugged. Most humans thought that. Even at the colony there were many who believed that the Seshanamitesh should be grateful to escape the caverns and join them there without realizing that they were mostly doing that to benefit their mates.

“The caverns have their own beauty. I never did get to see the underground pools that Kehtal wished to take me to, nor did I see the gardens in the upper caverns close to the surface that benefited from the channels that let in sunlight and air so that the plants grow with the help of the condensation that collects there. But,” she said slowly, “I have seen a room filled with blooming galthie flowers, glowing beautifully and filling a cavern with light. I have seen the golden, giant dishana flowers spilling their luminous pollen everywhere during the festival, The Blooming. I have seen glowing crystal lanterns set up high, so that the vivid purple hue of the stonework of the shinara can be seen. And all kinds of lifeforms fill the shinara, much of which I’ve only heard of.” She shook her head. “It’s a different world down there but it’s not barren or dead.”

“Sounds beautiful,” Sara murmured, her brown gaze fixed on her.

Lori nodded distractedly, her thoughts drifting to her males. Were they still waiting for her or had their fate together changed entirely since Payeri returned to the shinara without her? Her heart squeezed painfully, tears springing to her eyes as she imagined Daskh and Kehtal exiled once more to the upper caverns to live out their lonely lives, and Slengral—he would be mated by his mother’s decree and ensnared by another female’s pheromones and song. Perhaps he was already reclined rapturously with his new mate among the cushions of their nest within the palace, his memories of Lori fading away more each day.

A wet path tracked down her cheek, and she swiped at it as she drew in a ragged breath, blinking rapidly to stem the tears.

“You miss your mate, don’t you?” Sara peered at her sympathetically. “If you don’t mind me asking—where is he? Seshanamitesh never abandon their mates.”

Lori rubbed her face and nodded. “They don’t,” she agreed in a watery voice. “But my mates... I was deceived and they were stolen from me.”

“Mates,” Sara echoed. “As in more than one?”

A weak laugh erupted from Lori at the other woman’s startled turn of phrase. It took her back to her first days back at the colony when the women there realized that mating an alien meant the potential of having multiple males to protect and love them.

“Three,” she whispered. “Kehtal, Daskh, and Slengral. They were so excited for our family growing.” She rubbed her hand over her belly where her nestling moved, sending gentle bubbles through her middle.

Sara whistled. “Damn, that is a lot of Seshanamitesh.” She chuckled softly, setting her hand beside Lori’s on her belly. “Among the Vehal, I don’t think anyone would even imagine having more than one mate. They are utterly devoted to each other. I didn’t think it would be so different in the shinaras below the ground than it is in the naras of the mountains.”

“It is a little different here,” Lori said slowly, her gaze drifting to a pair of Seshanamitesh. Seeing the size comparison of males and females of Zirnara had come as something of a shock. Unlike those of the caverns, the Vehals were evenly matched in size, the males being fuller and healthier in appearance than many of those having weakness bred into them that she had seen in the Aglatha. She tipped her head to them. “The males are smaller there and are mostly dependent on the females who take them as mates. Those who are unmated and of undesirable size and appearance are exiled to the upper caverns to hunt and provide in other ways for the shinara. As a result, when they came across humans, our small size and fragility worried many of the males enough that they started forming family groups with other males to protect their mates within the caverns. Something which even continues at Raza,” she admitted with a small smile. “I think the deserts immediately around Raza are enough to encourage the practice in their minds.”

“I see,” Sara chuckled. Sighing, she put her hands on her hips and stretched her back. “Colony Alpha is likewise in the desert but close enough to the mountain range that the Vehal were the first that we came into contact with.” She gave Lori a pointed look. “They defend their mountains quite fiercely, so that not even Colony Alpha has any idea of how different Seshana is at this altitude. Even drones sent to observe the area are quickly and ruthlessly brought down. And thankfully, due to the strange atmospheric conditions, much of the mountains are concealed in fog, hiding everything here away from view.” She turned to Lori and grasped her hand. “It is also why the laws are as they are here. We know that the colonies are still in communication with Darvel, some of them even feeling a loyalty to the Corp despite being left here to live or die however they managed. We do not want our mountains invaded to feed greed or even people wishing to steal to take what belongs to the Vehal.”

Lori frowned but didn’t object. It made sense that they would expend so much effort to protect their homes.

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