Page 48 of Mated By Twilight

“Absolutely not,” Sollit chuckled. “You deserve to be spoiled. And we’re going to do that. It makes us happy. Here. Open these two first.”

Tillos and Sollit picked up two matching boxes at the same time and put them in her hands. Leah could only laugh.

She tried to protest again. It was strange to receive gifts. Especially ones she didn’t deserve. She’d done nothing to earn these. Her church actively denounced gift giving as something that promoted selfishness and worldliness. She’d never seen her father give her mother a gift. Not for her birthday or a holiday or their anniversary. She herself had only received a couple gifts in her life. One was a holy book, one was new clothes when she’d far outgrown her old clothes, but her siblings didn’t have anything to hand down to her, and the other was school supplies.

No one ever showered her, her sisters, or her mother in gifts. It seemed like a waste to do it now. But the excitement in her males’ expressions made her keep her concerns to herself. She didn’t want to make them think she was ungrateful.

The boxes they’d given her were small. She could fit them both in one hand, which was convenient as it allowed her to rip them both open at the same time. Inside, there were earrings and ear cuffs. Two different sets. They’d gotten her the same thing, but slightly different.

And that was how it went for everything.

She’d get a short sleeved, short skirt dress in one style, and another one in a different style. Two pairs of pants in two different patterns. Two gold necklaces with two different pendants. Two lipsticks but in different colors.

Two of everything, but never the same gift twice. They also didn’t tell her who picked which gift. She didn’t know if one was buying two shirts, or if they both picked one shirt. As far as they were concerned, they both bought everything.

Halfway through, Leah was in the center of the bed, making a huge mess of the wrappings, surrounded by silk robes, fur wraps, gorgeous shoes, sparkling rings – an absolute gluttonyof gifts that made her feel like a queen. She’d been initially uncomfortable with everything, but as more and more of it kept coming, as she enjoyed each new thing she unwrapped, the deeper down that feeling was buried until she was giggling and exclaiming excitedly over each new item they brought her. It was too ridiculous to feel real, but it was so much fun as well.

Today had been the best day of her life. Bar none. She couldn’t remember ever smiling this much or feeling this light. Was this what it felt like when people received gifts? Why was it so frowned upon to give them then? She wanted to give Sollit and Tillos something right now just so that they could enjoy this feeling too.

Not that they appeared unhappy. They were beaming at her reactions. Each gasp, each delighted giggle, each time she held up a new article of clothing to herself, they shared a satisfied look. What satisfaction were they getting from this? She wanted dearly to know.

What kind of gift could she get them?

She was unwrapping more shoes – two pairs of pretty flats this time – when the door chimed announcing someone’s arrival.

“Go away!” Sollit yelled immediately, making her burst into giggles. She didn’t know why, as it wasn’t that funny, but she felt like there were bubbles popping in her belly, lifting her up so that she might soon be floating on the ceiling. And maybe because of that, everything seemed extra delightful, including his obvious desire to keep others away.

Tillos, however, actually went to the door console and asked who it was. Corvidair’s booming voice announced his presence. Sollit groaned, flopping dramatically onto the bed. Conveniently, his head landed right on her lap. He snuggled into her as she smiled,stroking his hair. It was super soft, an absolute pleasure to her fingertips. So much so, she was almost jealous. But not quite, because it was just nice to be able to play with it as he hummed in contentment.

As that was happening, Tillos was opening the door for their boss. He tried to get him to leave, but Corvidair insisted on barging inside. The room was big, but he somehow managed to make it seem small just by the sheer size of his presence alone. The muscular, flamboyantly dressed male took one look at her and beamed like his dreams were coming true.

“There she is! My new talent!” He boomed, all four limbs thrown out.

“She said no, Corvidair,” Tillos said, deliberately stepping into his path. “Leah doesn’t want to be on stage. You will respect that.”

“And I will,” Corvidair grinned, walking past him. “Just as soon as I’ve finished. You’ve got to let me have a chance to argue my case, pretty bird.”

Leah was in such a good mood from the date and the presents and feeling like a spoiled princess that even Corvidair’s threatening offer couldn’t bring her all the way back down. It was slightly sobering however, as the memories of her last performance tugged at the back of her mind.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled, still playing absentmindedly with Sollit’s hair. “I-I don’t really think I’m a good fit for the stage. My choir days were just school performances. That’s not really the same thing as singing professionally.”

“Ah, but your voice was just beautiful,” Corvidair moaned desperately. “It would be a waste to let talent like yours languish!Besides, do you know how much attention and credz I could make off of having ahumanfemale star in my show? And such a beautiful one at that!”

“You’ve already got Skara. She’s beautiful.”

“She is, but her voice isn’t nearly as good as yours. And besides, she’s on hersiri’iki. It’s this ratchi coming of age thing, and as soon as she’s done, she’s going to leave me. Which could be any day now! Are you really going to leave me without a beautiful, talented, female star?”

It was absolutely incredible how such a large, boisterous male could manage to pull off such a perfect set of sparkling, pathetic, bright golden brown puppy dog eyes. All four hands were clasped together in such a needy expression, she could almost hear the sad music.

Then, Tillos scoffed, grabbing Corvidair by the scruff and yanking him back. “Don’t even start. Skara’ssiri’ikiisn’t going to end just like that without warning.”

“It could,” Corvidair grunted through clenched teeth, giving Tillos a look like he was annoyed he was ruining his plan. Sollit was holding onto her, shaking like he was trying to stop his laughter.

“And Leah never asked to be in your performance,” Tillos continued, crossing his arms. “She was singing for herself, not auditioning. Leave her alone.”

“Never. Anyway.” Corvidair turned that winning smile back on her. “Listen to me, pretty female. We don’t have to make you the star of your own musical right away. The stage is scary, I get that. So, we’ll start slow.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Sollit warned from her lap, eyes sparkling. “Once he gets you, even just for something ‘small’, he’s not going to let you go.”

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