Page 30 of I Married Amreth

Ciara chuckled upon seeing my expression, her own face taking on an air of commiseration laced with a hint of mockery.

“Someone isn’t vegan?” she asked teasingly.

“Definitely not,” I replied in a grumpy tone. “Our Nundars make the most delicious gastronomic dishes one could dream of.”

“Nundars? What are they?” she asked with curiosity.

“We call them our familiars. They are a spiritual species of hermits who require living with an Obosian to thrive. They are highly intelligent and possess extremely powerful psionic powers. They feed off emotions but are also extremely sensitive to them. Negative emotions greatly distress them, which explains their need for isolation,” I explained.

“Why do they thrive around your species specifically?” Ciara asked.

“Like my people, they mainly feed off emotions. Obosians naturally constantly emit a certain energetic aura that we can deliberately expend more of as needed. Therefore, around the time we reach maturity, we will be surrounded by young Nundars in the hope some of them will like our energy. Those who do will choose us as their patron and move in with us in the section of our dwelling reserved to them.”

I deemed it wiser to skip the part where that selection occurred during the wild weeks when young Obosians reached their maturity around the age of eighteen. Prior to that, we were basically asexual. But once that moment occurred, we practically became rabid and were thrown into an orgy with other teens our age while we worked out our unbridled libido with everything and anything that moved. Young Nundars would supervise, making sure we kept hydrated, fed, and rested during that time when our minds were completely addled. Seeing us at our most uncontrolled and primal state helped them better assess if they could see themselves serving us for the rest of their lives.

“Isn’t it a bit invasive? It sounds like you could end up with a lot?” Ciara asked carefully.

I snorted and gave her a reassuring smile. “They truly are not. Like I said, they enjoy living in isolation. You will be lucky to see them even once a month. Normally, you’re only aware of their existence because they take care of all the chores aroundthe house, including cooking, cleaning, and doing the laundry. But as they can sense our presence and state of mind, they know exactly how to make themselves scarce and only show up if they feel that we want to speak or interact with them.”

“Wow, invisible and efficient helpers, who cook great food and take care of all the house chores? Sign me up!” Mehreen said, her voice dripping with envy, although her tone remained playful. “About that introduction to your brother…”

We all snorted, and my mate shook her head with false severity at her colleague as if she was a hopeless case.

“So it’s true then that Obosians are like Incubi,” Ernst said pensively.

“To the extent that we feed off the emotions of our partners, yes, we are. We don’t need it, but it sates us far more than regular food. However, we do not drain the life force from our mates when we do so. They’re not negatively affected in any way,” I said teasingly.

“Well then, you’re all set,” Mehreen said with exaggerated enthusiasm. “No need to torture yourself with all that bird food,” she added, waving at the mostly vegetarian meal on the table before casting a meaningful glance at Ciara.

“Hey! I’m not food!” Ciara exclaimed with false outrage.

“Technically, yes you are,” I said with a shit-eating grin. “Or rather your emotions are.”

I silenced the part that her pleasure would be the most succulent feast I would ever indulge in when the time came.

“But fear not, Ciara. I shall never feed without your express consent,” I said in a reassuring tone.

Apparently determined to cause as much mischief as possible—although without any malicious intent—Mehreen further playfully needled my mate in a clear attempt to make her blush.

“Seeing as you two are soulmates—not to mention that you are every shade of hot—I’m sure Ciara will be more than happyto grant you that consent,” Mehreen said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “By the way, are we to assume that you’ll be sharing Ciara’s house?”

Ernst bit the insides of his cheeks to keep from laughing while my mate gasped in disbelief, still stuck on that first comment. Mehreen was growing on me. It was strange as my people tended to be on the stiffer side. I also unfairly assumed that scientists would be boring and stuffy. A part of me suspected that her humor was also a coping mechanism for the stressful situation they’d been thrust into.

“Uhm… according to Aku, we are indeed meant to share her dwelling. I challenged him, saying that it was highly inappropriate. He informed me that there was a guest room, so it should be a non-issue. But if it was truly problematic for either of us, then he would provide different accommodations for me,” I explained, factually.

“Wow!” Ciara whispered, looking at me with a hurt expression that took me aback. “Do you find it that dreadful to share a house with me?”

I recoiled and gaped at her. “What?! No, not at all. I just found it extremely presumptuous of him to assume you would be fine with it.”

Her shoulders relaxed. “Did he tell you why he wanted us to share a house?”

“He said we were soulmates,” I replied calmly.

“Which is accurate,” Mehreen said with an obvious tone.

“Yes, but how does he know?” I challenged before glancing at my mate. “I doubt either you or Kayog told him.”

“Their friend did,” Ciara said with certainty before scrunching her face in frustration. “I hate that our memories have been wiped. I just know that their friend claimed that we all play an important role that will lead to the success of our efforts.”

---