Page 5 of Flower of Seshana

Alexandra drew up short and blinked in surprise as she turned and peered into the darkness extended behind her.They live here?

“Mother would never turn either of us away from her nest,” Kethan pointed out a little too scathingly, earning a belligerent look of disgust from the other male.

“I am not being chased out of my own nest,” Quillen replied with a not too friendly hiss of his own. “If you dislike my presence, then you can leave.”

Kethan immediately puffed up with what she gathered was likely insult or some form of dominance—she wasn’t sure which.

“Alexandra requires shelter,” he snapped, his sharp teeth clicking noticeably with his vehemence.

Quillen growled in reaction. “Then—” he began, but Alexandra interrupted him with a shy laugh even as she wondered if she was crazy for getting involved at all in their argument.

“Actually, there is no reason for anyone to leave. I have plenty of practice being a non-intrusive guest. Ideally you will barely notice that I’m here.”

Quillen stared at her for a moment and glanced in askance at Kethan with an uncertain flutter of his crests. “Does she truly believe that we will not notice?”

Kethan didn’t answer in any kind of immediately obvious fashion, but she saw his ears move subtly to which Quillen responded with a soft hum as his gaze turned back to her once more.

“Seriously,” she assured them with her sweetest smile. “When studying at the Interplanetary University of Biodiversity and Cultured Lifeforms, I was crammed into a two-room dorm with five other females. We learned to tolerate being very close with each other.”

Quillen trilled again, his eyes brightening. She didn’t know what was up with him, but his focused gaze made blushes rush over her in response.

“The more the merrier,” she added as she forced a shaky smile to her lips. “I won’t take no for an answer. I refuse to be an inconvenience. If it is truly a problem, maybe I can go stay with your moth?—”

“No!” both males objected in tandem, drawing her up short in surprise.

“It is as you say,” Kethan murmured with a sweet trill of his own as he drew in close and gently nudged her with the lean bulk of his body, “the more the merrier. There is no reason to make things complicated when there is ample room.”

“Precisely,” Quillen rumbled softly. “Shall we show you to your room then? As it happens, we hollowed out a spare room for some reason, but you may find it comfortable. At the very least rest for a bit as you become accustomed to our nest.”

The tension eased from her as she met the green male’s hopeful gaze and smiled. He really was sweet in his own alien way with his eagerness to see to her needs. “A short rest would be welcome,” she agreed. “Thank you.”

Kethan shot the male a sour look but quickly snapped his crests in what appeared to be a silent agreement when his eyes fell upon her in the next moment.

“Come. Let us get you settled.”

The two large males glided ahead of her in creamsicle and peridot, making something within her tighten with an unexpected intrigue. They really were a captivating pair, so much so that she paid little attention to her surroundings as she followed them down to her room until they left her to her rest and so giving her plenty of opportunity to finally note the sparse accommodations, the most outstanding feature of which was a sort of pit-like bed in the center of the floor filled with furs.

She licked her bottom lip uncertainly as she looked at it and adjusted her glasses. “Well, I did insist.”

Chapter

Five

Alexandra was very aware of the fact that every movement she made was being closely followed by the two Vahel males sharing the “nest” with her. She still found the description for their home a little odd but didn’t dwell too much on it as it was perfectly likable. Despite being fashioned from a carefully carved out cave, it had all the charm that she would expect from a proper home even if its design and proportions were a bit unusual to her.She stared up at the walls covered with bioluminescent flowers in wonder. Kethan’s head tipped as he followed her gaze, his mouth curving in a small smile.

“Galthie flowers,” he murmured. “They grow in most caverns on Seshana. You would have eventually come across them in the cave systems I found you in, but not so numerous as you will find in a nest where we specially cultivate them.”

“They are beautiful,” she replied. “They kind of remind me of your crests,” she added, gesturing to the fanned plate-like webbing running down the length of his back and tail.

He glanced back at it and nodded. “My gavo and krishili markings. Many creatures have such luminous coloration somewhere on them. It is not the same for your home?”

She shook her head. “There are some things that are bioluminescent, but not many. And we have had so little opportunity to study the lifeforms here due to the priorities of those in charge that I don’t think anyone knows that such beauty exists. All we see is red sand,” she admitted with a chuckle.

Quillen chuffed in amusement as he settled on his coiled tail a short distance away. “The beauty of Seshana only makes itself apparent for those who knowhowto see.”

How to see? An odd comment, but she didn’t have the energy to try to puzzle it out. Instead, she settled on taking in her unique surroundings.

“Do you like the nest?” Kethan inquired with a disconcerted glance around, his crest and wings moving with subtle little snaps conveying his uncertainty.

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