Page 5 of To Quench Her Thirst

“Exactly, lovely one.” He nodded. “I extended the invitation for you to view the first—the Choosing Ceremony. The Quenching Ceremony is much more secretive, I’m afraid.”

“How fascinating! I wish I could see the second ritual, too,” Addie said wistfully. “Though I suppose I probably wouldn’t be allowed,” she added, not wanting to give offense.

“Well now, you never can tell.” Lx Sambla gave her a charming wink. “I might be able to get you an invitation. I’d need to speak to the Council of Aged Ones though.”

“Oh, would you?” Addie squeezed his arm with excitement. She absolutelylovedlearning about new cultures, which meant that her job always felt more like fun than work. The Vargans were turning out to be such interesting people—she couldn’t wait to write a paper on them and hopefully get it published inXeno-Anthropology Quarterly.

“For a lady as lovely as you? OfcourseI would.” Sambla put a hand over the one she had laid on his arm and squeezed her fingers possessively. “In fact, I’ll introduce you during the pre-ceremony feast tonight. I’m sure the Aged Ones are going toloveyou. Now let’s get you inside and dressed for the feast, shall we?”

He nodded at someone Addie couldn’t see—a hidden guard presumably—and the dull silver gates parted and swung soundlessly open.

Arm-in-arm they strolled inside with Drago bringing up the rear like a thundercloud that might split open and pour out a storm at any moment, Addie thought. Then she reminded herself that she was ignoring the big warrior and focused on looking around the castle she found herself in instead.

Inside the Palace of Sheelash was even more like a medieval castle. The rough stone walls, covered in tapestries woven in dark jewel tones, soared upwards to a high, vaulted ceiling. The designs on the intricately woven rugs were difficult to see since the lighting in the palace was all candlelight and torches placed in wall scones at varying intervals, but Addie did her best to make the pictures out.

Most of the tapestries seemed to depict a large insect with many legs, like the pin that Lx Sambla wore at his throat. Addie thought it looked a little like a spider with a fat, segmented body. But it had a strangely human head and face. Its features were pale and it had long, blonde hair almost the same color as the Ambassador's. Its eyes were big and dark with blood-red pupils that stood out, even in the dark cloth of the tapestries.

“This is lovely art you have on your walls,” she ventured, hoping to get some information.

Lx Sambla didn’t disappoint her.

“Ah yes—that is Sheelash herself. She who lives forever in our hearts and is reborn afresh each year,” he remarked. “Since this palace is her home, most of the art here depicts her in all her glory. In fact, I am a descendant of hers,” he added.

“You are?” Addie asked doubtfully. Unless Vargan biology was much different from human biology she didn’t see how the charming ambassador could claim the Spider Goddess depicted in the tapestry art as an ancestress.

"Of course—you can tell by my hair color. Only true descendants of Sheelash have it," he said, pointing to his head. "It is a sign and symbol of our ruling class. Though of course it's not nearly as beautiful as your own lovely flame-colored hair," he added, meeting Addie's eyes and giving her a warm smile.

Addie felt her cheeks getting hot with a blush.

“Oh, thank you,” she said, smiling back shyly. It had been a long time since she’d had a guy pay so much attention to her andshe couldn’t help feeling flattered. Also, so what if he thought he was descended from a spider lady—or a lady spider, depending on how you looked at it. Lx Sambla was definitely the most charming man she’d ever met—the exact opposite of her grim and grumpy Protector.

They passed through the long stone throat of the palace into a smaller and more intimate room. There were various low, comfortable-looking couches and armchairs scattered around, as well as shelves of books and lamps which emitted a warm, golden glow.

“Ah, the Library.” Lx Sambla smiled warmly. “I understand, my lovely one, that you’re an academic,” he remarked to Addie.

“Oh yes—yes, I am.” She nodded, blushing again. “I’d love to read some of these books. If I’m allowed,” she added. “The Translation Bacteria I was given aboard the Mother Ship should make it possible for me to understand them.”

“But of course you are allowed! Pick any one you like” Sambla made a sweeping gesture with one hand that encompassed the many bookcases around the perimeters of the room. “Every book here has something to do with the lore of Sheelash. So in a way, every one is a holy text.”

“Really?” Addie looked around in surprise. There were hundreds—possiblythousandsof books here. The Vargans must be extremely devout in their worship of the Spider Goddess, she thought. It was a good thing that Sheelash was just a legend—she wouldn’t want to meet the creature she’d seen in the tapestries for real!

“Yes, really. Please feel free to help yourself to reading material whenever you like,” Lx Sambla told her. “But for now, let me ring for your ladies so they can get you to your chamber where you can change for the feast.”

He picked up a small silver bell which Addie hadn’t seen earlier and rang it exactly three times—ding! ding! ding!

The high, silvery notes were still hanging in the air like crystal raindrops when four almost identical women came quickly into the room. They all had sleek black hair with a platinum blonde stripe down the center and all of them were tall and thin, like Lx Sambla.

Well, all but one, Addie saw. The fourth member of the quartet was considerably shorter—only an inch or two taller than Addie herself. She was also plumper—nearly plus-sized, especially compared to the other three who were almost anorexically thin.

“Here they are—your lovely ladies,” Lx Sambla said, gesturing proudly. “This is Teeza, Peeza, Leeza, and Sparki.” He nodded at them in turn and they nodded back at the mention of their names. The short, plump one was Sparki. She gave Addie a friendly wink that made her smile back.

She’s the one,she thought to herself. Whenever she studied a new culture, she always tried to find one person to get especially close to so she could interview them and pick their brain. She had an idea that the short, friendly Sparki was going to be the person who gave her an inside view of the Vargan culture.

“Girls, this is Lssa Addison, an emissary from the Kindred Mother Ship,” Lx Sambla went on, continuing with the introductions. “She’s a very important person and she’s going to be meeting The Council of the Aged later on, at the feast. Please take her to her room and be sure she’s dressed appropriately.”

“Hello!” trilled the four ladies-in-waiting, coming to surround Addie.

“And here is where I leave you. For I, too, must prepare for the feast.” Lx Sambla relinquished Addie’s arm at last but made a great show of bowing over her hand. “I cannot wait to see you wearing our native Vargan style, my lovely one,” he said to her as he straightened up. “I’m certain you’ll look absolutelystunning.”

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