Page 33 of I Married Amreth

Chapter 9

Ciara

Finally as ready as we could be for the morning, we exchanged our good nights, and I headed back to my house accompanied by my mate. I still struggled with the idea that he was mine. It wasn’t that I had an issue with it, but more that I didn’t really know how to go about it. For the first time, I realized just how awkward I actually was on the romantic side.

Amreth made a couple of attempts at flirting since his arrival, but he was also being cautious. It was a difficult balance to strike to avoid coming across as too bold, too soon. His earlier comment about disciplining me had skirted that fine line. The thing was that I couldn’t swear he intended for it to hint at kinky spanking. His people were all about disciplining misbehavior. Therefore, his words could have been totally innocent.

But then, I’d always been the oblivious type when it came to that. My traitor of an ex-fiancé flat out had to tell me that he was interested and was running out of subtle ways of expressing it before I realized he had indeed been flirting with me.

And now, my romantically challenged self was going home with the total stranger that was supposedly the other half of me.

Had he been of any other species—except maybe a Temern like Kayog—I couldn’t swear that I would have been fine with him spending the night under the same roof as me this early on. Separate bedrooms didn’t mean anything if the person was a psycho or the type not to respect boundaries. But Amreth inspired trust with an intensity that defied logic.

To my surprise, halfway across the courtyard towards my house, Amreth gestured for me to wait a minute and headed towards the gate, waving at Enre, the Kreelar guard sitting on top of the small tower at the edge of the gate. Enre leapt down the three meters, effortlessly landing with the grace of a cat. He approached us with a calm demeanor laced with curiosity.

“Sorry to disturb you, but I must run an errand to my ship,” Amreth said.

I gaped at him before quickly schooling my features. Enre narrowed his dark brown eyes at him with a hint of suspicion.

“Why?”

“If I am to stay here, I need clean clothes and a few of my personal items,” Amreth replied matter-of-factly.

The Kreelar studied his features in silence with an unreadable expression. His eyes slightly glowed. It always freaked me out when they did that. To my utter annoyance, when I questioned Aku about their powers, he told me that such knowledge was irrelevant to the pursuit of my task here. When I challenged that notion, saying that a better understanding of their powers could lead me to make certain associations that could help identify and resolve the problem faster, he flat out shot me down. Apparently, those wretched friends of his confirmed that giving me that knowledge would not help their cause.

Considering the occasions under which they used that ability, I strongly suspected that it allowed them to read the emotions or intentions of their target. I didn’t believe they could read minds. More than once, they’d been genuinely taken aback by something we said or revealed. If they could read minds, they would have known ahead of time what we were preparing to say or do.

“That is a decision for Aku to make,” Enre said at last.

“Of course,” Amreth replied graciously.

Although now wasn’t the time to shower him with compliments, I gave him a grateful smile that he was showing so much consideration and being so cooperative. Technically, as he wasn’t officially a prisoner, he could have snuck out and then attempted to return discreetly once he’d been done with whatever was calling him back to his ship.

I would have hated that. I couldn’t tell whether he could have pulled it off, but after my ex-fiancé’s betrayal, I had some trust issues. Any act from him that would even remotely hint at him being loose with his word would significantly undermine whatever relationship we could have.

To my shock, less than ten seconds later, Aku walked through the gate into the courtyard. By the way Amreth narrowed his eyes, I knew the same question was crossing his mind as to whether Enre used some form of telepathy to call him. That could explain the glowing eyes.

“Enre says you want to leave?” Aku asked in a non-confrontational manner, confirming my suspicions.

“Notleave,” Amreth corrected. “I just need to get fresh clothes and personal things. When I came down, I did not expect to remain here.”

Aku pursed his lips while giving him an assessing look.

“Listen, I’ll be flying to a nearby village with Ciara in the morning. If my intention is to escape, it will happen regardlessat that time. Your ‘friend’ says I can be trusted, and I have committed to see this through. So if you are going to trust me, it needs to start now. I didn’t come here to play games.”

“Our people are wary of strangers. You coming and going so soon will only make them even more uncomfortable,” Aku argued.

“Amreth is an Obosian,” I interjected softly. “His word is his bond. If he says he will return, then you can count on it. Your friend has been right about everything so far. Why doubt them now?”

To my surprise, he gave me a strange look before casting an even stranger one on Amreth. I would have given lots of credits to get a hint as to what thoughts were crossing his mind.

“It is notmytrust you need to earn. You both already have it. My people are dying. They need someone to blame. You just happen to be the closest thing that they can turn on. Please be swift and be discreet.”

I gaped at him, robbed of words. Of all the things he could have replied, I had not expected this.

“I will,” Amreth said, snapping out of the same stupor I felt first.

He glanced towards the northeast where a series of low mountain ranges could be seen on the horizon then turned back to face me.

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