Page 75 of Romancing Rem'eb

Natalie just blinks and won’t look me in the eye. She touches the loom instead. “No.”

“Do you know how to make yarn? To spin wool?”

“No.”

Erm. “Want me to show you?”

“If you have time, sure.” She picks up the charcoal again. “I’m going to take notes.”

Liz comes by while I’m instructing Natalie. She carries a woven basket in front of her and eyes me as Natalie gathers up her “notes” and then scurries out of my hut before Liz can even greet her.

Liz doesn’t seem bothered, though. She gestures at the basket. “I wanted to drop this off. Hannah made you a smorgasbord of our dried herbs and what they’re good for. Maybe if that weird sickness rises up again, something in here will help.” She sets it down on the floor of my messy hut, which looks as if it has been pulled apart at the seams as we get ready. “And you know if you send for Veronica, her and Ashtar will be there as quickly as possible.”

“I know. I appreciate it.” I pick up one of the herb bundles from the basket, and it has a narrow leather band holding it together, with “Sea Grass—Headaches” stitched onto it. Another one has “Liidi—Burns” stitched in red. Smart. “This is great. His people have some metal-working and weaving abilities. I’m hopeful we can establish trade and fill in some of the gaps we have in our knowledge.”

“If we can, cool. If not, it’s fine, too.” She studies my face, her hands on her hips. “You’re good with this, right? This was your idea to go with him?”

I stop admiring the herbs and glance up at her. “What? Yes.”

“Just checking. And if they pull any funny business, come back and we’ll have, like, Ashtar melt the tunnel to their caves into sludge so they can’t come back. Or something. We’ll figure it out.”

That’s surprisingly defensive. I give her a smile, confident. “It’s going to be fine. Rem’eb thinks his people are hungry for change and I think our arrival will be just what they need.”

“I hope so.” She pauses again. “I feel like I need to make an Anakin and sand people joke here, but it had better not come to that.”

“Sand people?” I ask, puzzled. “Anakin?”

She just shakes her head at me. “I’m so sad for you that you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“Knock knock,” calls a voice at the entrance to my hut.

It’s Flor. Wow. I’m popular today it seems.

“Eh, I was just leaving,” Liz says. “We’ll see you guys off in the morning. Until then, if you need anything else, just speak up and we’ll make it happen.” She pauses again and gives me a searching look. “This is really brave of you, by the way.”

Is it? I don’t have the time to ask her what she means, because she ducks out, and in walks Flor. She’s got a hefty not-potato root with her and holds it out to me. “I brought this. Everyone says you’re packing goodies for a feast for Rem’eb’s people, and what’s a Not-Hoth feast without not-potato, right?”

Oh, a feast. Is that what they think all the food is for? I guess I’m far more mercenary, but a feast is a good idea. It’ll seem friendly and welcoming, and show them the kinds of foods we have to offer if we ever want to set up trade. I take it from her and set it with the herbs. At this rate, I’m going to be so laden with gifts they’re going to have to tug me along behind Rem’eb on a sled. “Thanks, Flor. This is perfect.”

Flor keeps smiling, watching me closely. She doesn’t leave once it’s handed over, and I can sense she’s waiting to ask me something. It’s obvious from her antsy body language. “So I’m just going to ask,” she blurts out after a moment. “You’re not leaving because of me and I’rec, are you? Because you know you’re welcome here and it’s absolutely not personal and we’d love for you to stay.”

I knew this was coming. I shake my head. “It’s not you guys. I promise.”

“You know you’re one of us and I would hate for you to feel like we ran you off.” Her eyes are worried as she sits down across from me. “I know things have been weird since you returned, and trust me, they’ve been weird for me, too.”

“It’s okay,” I reassure her. “You and I’rec honestly seem perfect together. He listens to you in a way he never listened to me. And I don’t miss him. I think I had an idea in my head that we’d end up together since it had taken so long for both of us to resonate, but I know now that I was just waiting for Rem’eb. I love him, and I want to help him fix things with his people.”

She doesn’t look convinced. “If you’re sure…”

“If the tables were turned, wouldn’t you want to help I’rec with his people? They’re his family.”

Flor’s worried smile changes to a confident one. She reaches out and clasps my hand. “Family can be chosen. You know you’re family here, too, right? And if things don’t work out below, I hope you’ll come back. And even if they do work out, I hope you’ll visit.”

I smile and squeeze her hand and I feel strangely, completely at peace. “Absolutely.”

Chapter

Thirty-Six

---