Page 22 of Scales of Time

The bird thudded to the ground but stood up again and chattered excitedly. Kris chuckled and patted her neck. “We can do it again. You can do more of the lifting.”

She was about to slide off when hands plucked her off the saddle and slammed her against a hard chest. Kris yelped and had to guess what had her.

She was being flown away from the barn at an increasing altitude. That narrowed it down.

“Essan?”

The deep growl was an affirmative.

She relaxed and let the energy expenditure do what it always did and knock her out. She would be fine in a few hours or days. There was no way to tell.

Kris could taste flowers, and the humidity in the air was heavy. She shifted, and the feeling under her was spongy, like moss. She used her body to get feedback before she opened her eyes. There was a sheet on her, no matter what else was going on, so she slowly grabbed the sheet and sat up, looking around her with curiosity. She was naked in a green house. All she needed was her grade twelve physics teacher demanding her homework, and she would know it was a dream.

There was a rustling nearby, and Kris held the sheet to her chest. Someone in a servant uniform walked toward her, jolted, and ran away.

Kris took inventory of herself. Prolonged burning always took a while to recover.

She felt the incoming footfalls long before she saw the scowling face of Essan when he came down the path through the trees.

She tried to speak, but her throat was dry. Essan stopped in front of her, and she shrugged and bowed as best she could.

He grunted and bent, grabbing her by her shoulders and hauling her upward. “Don’t do that again.”

She croaked. “Is bowing from sitting not allowed?”

He hugged her. “Yorness is worried but said you needed a lot of humidity.”

“I do. Is there some water around?”

He nodded. “You will be hydrated immediately. On behalf of the folk at the resort, I would like to thank you. There were a couple in one of the private areas that didn’t get evacuated. Thanks to you, they had enough time to make it through the maze of pathways to higher ground.” He wrapped the sheet around her and lifted her in a bridal carry. “You are a national hero. Does your body crash that way every time?”

“Only when the energy expenditure is excessive,” she muttered and croaked. “I always thought pyrokinesis would be easy, but it is like I was pushing the mud into place from a distance.”

He didn’t look at her as he stalked out of the green space. The shift to cold marble halls was jolting. The curving waves chiselled into the stone made it an interesting view as he walked. She had been hauled around by aliens before. The sheet was a nice addition.

“Why did you get me? I was at Yorness’s. I was home.”

“That is not your home. This will be your home.”

She barked a laugh. “Fuck that. You have an entire wing devoted to hoarding an alien collection. I don’t play well with others.”

“I don’t hoard. They are offered, and their pleasure all tastes different. A true mate is what I seek, and I feel that in you.”

“I am not wearing much; you are probably just in contact with my scaleless skin. Novelty is often mistaken for interest.”

“I will bear that in mind, and I will clear out my collection.”

She blinked. “What?”

“I am serious. I can taste it on your skin and in the energy you produce. Your body and mind sing to me.”

“I was hoping they would whistle.”

He blinked. “What is a whistle?”

“I can’t do it now, but after I have some water, I will be good.” She flexed her hands and went, “Where is my ring?”

“It melted off. Yorness has commissioned a new one, but the allergist has had time to create a protocol for your treatment.”

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