Page 41 of I Married Amreth

A shiver coursed through her, and her hand tightened a bit more around my shoulder for a split second before she looked at me with an air of wonder.

“See? It’s not so bad,” I said gently.

She scrunched her face, then peeked warily below before closing her eyes and burying her face in my neck again. I chuckled and tightened my embrace around her before kissing the top of her head. I loved the soft and bouncy texture of her hair. It was like rubbing my face on a cloud.

For all that, my mate stole a few more glances at our surroundings as we flew, and her fear gradually subsided as the beauty of the landscape increasingly retained her attention.

“Flying is one of those things that I would be devastated to lose,” I said wistfully as I spread my wings wide to glide over an air current. “It’s the feeling of total freedom, of being in complete harmony with the world. Sometimes, I will just do wild acrobatics in the air for fun. My brother and I used to chase each other, issuing ridiculously dangerous dares to see who would veer off first as we barreled towards a rock wall, or down a cliff.”

“Why do I have a feeling it didn’t always end well?” Ciara asked with a disapproving tone.

“Because it didn’t,” I confirmed with a chuckle. “It’s a good thing we have an accelerated regeneration on top of access to some of the best medicine available. I might have brokenmore than my fair share of bones because of reckless behavior. Reining in the wild antics of younglings once they get a true taste of speed can be challenging.”

“So how do you learn how to fly?” she asked, peering at my wings over my shoulders as I resumed flapping them. “Do they kick you out of a shuttle or drop you off a cliff?”

I snorted and shook my head. “Parents usually are the ones trying to stop the little ones from trying to fly too soon. Some reluctant children need a bit of coaxing to get going. But for most of us, the need to imitate our parents and elders is just too strong, not to mention the instinctive urge to just flap our wings. The only thing that keeps us from flight early on is the weakness of our muscles.”

“Meaning you try to take off but can’t flap hard enough?”

I nodded. “We’ll rise a couple of centimeters and fall right back down. Needless to say that our surroundings get rather roughed up in the process. You’ll find that dwellings with younglings tend to be very minimalist in their décor.”

She chuckled. “Does that mean we will have to pad every surface in the house the day we have kids?” Ciara asked teasingly.

A powerful longing exploded in my chest at that thought. I definitely wanted children. Since we’d just met, that obviously had not been a discussion between us, but it pleased me beyond words that she appeared to be not only open to the idea, but even thinking it was a foregone conclusion that we would.

“It may not be a bad idea for certain things. If they are half as rambunctious as my brother and I used to be, it would be a wise course of action,” I confessed, unrepentant.

“I have a hard time picturing you—or any Obosians for that matter—as troublemakers,” she said with an amused expression. “You all always seem so proper and disciplined.”

I laughed. “It’s the quiet ones you should be the most wary of. Do not be fooled by that stuffy expression my people project. We’re just like everyone else with our sense of humor, mischievous behavior, and vast emotional responses, including diva tantrums as humans like to describe them. We just tend to do it behind closed doors.”

“Okay, now I totally want to see you having a full drama queen melt down,” Ciera said, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Deliberately break the law, and you might get your wish,” I said teasingly.

To my surprise, she didn’t respond with a dismissive huff as I expected. She sobered and studied my features with surprising intensity.

“No, Amreth. I don’t think that would do it. In truth, I believe only deep and devastating pain would ever cause you to lose control. But I have no doubt you will berate me until my ears fall off.”

“That, I most certainly will. Why do I have a feeling that you are plotting to deliberately push my buttons?” I asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

The smug and shameless grin she gave me was all the answer I needed. Unable to resist, I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She smiled and lifted her face to press a kiss on my cheek. My heart melted further, and I gave her a gentle squeeze before looking back down at our destination.

I gestured forward with my chin. “This is it, Jaln Village. We should land in the next five minutes.”

Ciara nodded, although I didn’t miss the tension that returned, stiffening her back.

“It will go well, and we won’t be alone,” I said reassuringly. “Enre is already there, waiting for us.”

She smiled, its stiffness indicating that she was still apprehensive about the greeting that awaited us. I used a bitmore of mybakaanto soothe her. However, I needed to be careful with how much of my calming aura I emitted as it could either make her groggy or greatly aroused. Under the circumstances, neither would be ideal.

As I began my descent, I assessed the village. Its size was comparable to Bryst, maybe even slightly bigger. It also appeared to be older, with a clear evolution from some of the older buildings to the newer ones. As in Aku’s village, a series of houses had been separated from the rest of the village by an inner courtyard. I was beginning to suspect all the tribes had been forced to erect that separation to isolate their members who became ill once the disease began to spread.

Heading towards the open area that served as the village square, I altered my vision to assess the overall state of mind of the villagers. I would have hoped for far more blue halos, but the overall shade of yellow was pale enough to express wariness and not hostility. At least, as far as the majority of the people were concerned. A non-negligible number of them thankfully radiated an aura that usually reflected relief and even anticipation. Only one Kreelar had all my senses on high alert. They were angry. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say whether that anger was aimed at us or at something completely unrelated.

To my own relief, I spotted Enre in the middle of the square waving at us in greeting and making sure we had seen him. Before our departure from Bryst, Aku confirmed through their radio system that all was well and that we were expected.

It bothered me to no end that Ciara still felt nervous—if not a little scared—as I landed in front of Enre. He was standing next to a Kreelar female with a potent aura of authority. She appeared to be older than Aku, and closer to my own age of forty-six. Like most of their females, she was tall, fairly muscular—but not in a masculine fashion—with light grayish beige fur and stunningblue eyes. Like Aku, a circlet adorned her forehead marking her as the leader of the tribe.

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