Page 17 of Flower of Seshana

Her mate gave her a sidelong look. “What makes you think the females fly? That would be too many wings getting in the way,” he observed cheerfully. “The male catches and holds his female, and he is the one flying as he penetrates her.”

“Catching?”

He waved that off. “It symbolically represents a time when males captured females and bred them in the skies as they returned to the Zir so that they were arriving to the nara with their females safely mated. There was no risk of a female being stolen by another male if she was already mated,” he added with a grin.

“I see.” That made a certain kind of sense. “So this reenactment is basically an official ‘carrying your mate home’ sort of thing.”

“Precisely,” Quillen answered. “You will just be saving us a lot of work since we do not have to chase you.”

She hummed quietly to herself. She assumed that meant that other males had to work for their females and her mates were just expecting her to pliantly wait until they carried her off. That didn’t seem entirely fair… and she admitted that ruffled her pride just a little.

“We are here,” Quillen announced. Alexandra wasn’t sure if that was for her benefit or Kethan’s but her mate turned toward her, lifting his tail so that the tip could flick gently along her cheek. “Close your eyes, hithana,” he gleefully instructed.

She lifted an eyebrow, amused by his antics, but closed her eyes, her hands held out so that he could safely guide her into the room. He didn’t take them but scooped her up instead, and her breath whooshed out in a yelp of alarm that terminatedwith a giggle as he hurried her inside and deposited in what she expected to be the center of the room.

There was a trace of stone dust and wood on the air, but it was a clean scent that spoke of newness, and she smiled as excitement welled inside of her. Although she had seen it after it had been freshly carved out from the stone and all rough angles, just being in the room—the room that was her official mating gift before the ceremony could begin—made it all very real to her.

“Open your eyes, hithana,” Kethan hissed.

Her eyes flew open the moment the words left his mouth, and she gasped in pleasure. Everywhere she looked she could see the same care to attention and detail that she had noticed throughout the rest of the nest. The walls were not merely smooth walls, but each one was lined painstakingly with shelves sculpted into them, and each shelf had delicate scrollwork carved into its edge so that the pattern seemed to run in lines of flowers around the room, interrupted only by the door and the storage area constructed in the far corner of the room for her specimen boxes. She made her way back to it, her hand grazing along tables and high-backed benches as she made her way between them.

It was… perfect. She couldn’t believe that they had worked so hard to make this special room for her. Not a bit of the work was hastily done—it all stood as a testament of their love to her. Even her specimen boxes were neatly stored away waiting for whatever may come in the future. And with plenty of space to spare. Emotion thickened in her throat. Although they had insisted that it was the males who provided the mating gift, she still felt bad that she had nothing to give them.

“I know what you are thinking,” Quillen hissed so vehemently that she glanced over her shoulder back at them. “Cease. You have already given us more than you understand.”

Kethan’s gavo snapped in agreement but his smile that he offered her was shy with uncertainty. “Quillen is right. This is our right to do this for you. There is only one thing we want—but only if you are willing,” he said. “Although the mating flight is tradition, I know that it frightens you. Because of that, I am content to just have the blessing ceremony.”

“But you want the mating flight,” she murmured, her heart clenching at the quivering snap of his gavo as if ashamed to admit it. Sweet, sweet male. Even after doing all of this, he was willing to sacrifice what he wanted most for her.

“He is content, so I will ask for myself.” Quillen sighed. “Hithana, will you fly with us?”

Alexandra turned toward her mates, her dress whirling around her legs with the quickness of her movement. She could not deny them something that was so clearly important to them. “The idea of being suspended between you guys in the air is completely terrifying, but… let’s do it.”

Kethan blinked blankly as if uncertain he heard correctly. “Does that mean yes?”

“It means yes,” Quillen affirmed as he hugged the other male with a happy trill.

Alexandra laughed as her males rushed to her and caught her up in their arms between them, lifting her up off her feet. She could do this. For them, she could do anything. And seeing their happiness was entirely worth the commitment.

She kept that thought nestled tightly within her heart as they darted out of the nest and into the air, Kethan’s wings folding at random intervals to send them tumbling joyously until she laughingly begged him to stop before she lost her last meal. Her mates had chuffed at that but had traded maneuvers for speed as they streaked across the sky. It took them little time to wing their way to their selected site. As expected, the Vahel had already gathered there, most of them reclining on rocky ledges or highin the trees. Quillen made a sound of distaste as they began their descent, still annoyed at surrendering one of his favorite collection spots to the nara, but he quieted at Kethan’s pointed look. They had unanimously agreed to this location because it had been the place where Kethan and Quillen had first made their intentions known—even if it had been unclear at the time—with nothing more than one of the simple red flowers that grew everywhere in that part of the woods.

Alexandra caught Quillen’s eye and smiled at him. “I love you,” she mouthed, and a pleased smile inched up at the corner of his mouth.

His eye closed in a wink and he broke eye contact as his chest expanded suddenly, and he shrieked as they dropped in a rapid glide through the air. Kethan’s voice joined his, the sounds rolling together, and they were greeted with a rising hum vibrating through the air from the nara below. She could almost imagine how it must have once been, a male returning with his captured mate and his triumphant shrieks as the nara greeted him and his female with the rise of their song. It rippled through the air, the sound so powerful and melodic that it was as if a primal song of life from Seshana itself had awakened.

Kethan’s wing folded and he abruptly shot down, giving her a close-up experience of falling as the ground rushed toward her at a dizzying speed. Her fingers dug into his arms, but she didn’t scream. She trusted him not to kill them. The flowers were in full bloom with twice as many blossoms welcoming them as they prepared to land.

But they didn’t. Kethan’s wings snapped open at the last minute to skim over the gathered Vahel before taking to the air again. She caught a brief glimpse of Gamay’s happy expression beaming up at them before the world dropped away once again. Alexandra gaped at the ground shrinking below her again and twisted back to stare at the male holding her.

“Are we not going to land?” she shouted over the air rushing by her ears.

Kethan chuffed. “No!”

“This is the blessing ceremony,” Quillen elaborated as he dropped beside them, his wings stretching wide as they beat the air.

Over and over they circled and dived toward the Vahel, the hum of song gradually growing louder and woven with joyous trills. She felt Kethan nuzzle her neck, and her belly grew heavy with desire as his breath fanned her ear.

“Are you ready?”

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