Page 64 of Fighting Gravity
“Ik’kama krost Fehjor,” she said to me, tapping her fingers on her forehead.
“She said ‘Fehjor bless you,’” Rhone said.
“What’s Fehjor?”
“The god of protection,” he said, rolling his shoulders like he hated saying anything to me that wasn’t harsh or mean.
“Ok,” I said. “Well… how do I say thank you? Or you’re welcome?”
“You don’t. You give her the blessings of your god.”
“But I don’t believe in God. Or any gods.”
Rhone shrugged. “Then say ‘Mali kashe’sha kam beli eshohn.’”
“Mali kash…”
“Kashe’sha.”
“Kashe’sha.”
“Kam beli eshohn.”
“Kam beli eshohn.”
Looking at the woman, I could see her eyes light up a little. At least as much as nearly black eyes could light up. Her whole body seemed to relax and the fingers she tapped on her forehead now fell to her chest and she nodded once. Confused, I glanced back up at Rhone, who inclined his head at her and then stepped aside to usher her out of the room. Once in the hall, Rhone took the lead again and we made our way toward the boarding ramp on the bottom floor.
“What did I just say?” I asked softly.
“You said ‘My soul blesses you.”
“Oh. Why?”
“There are many gek who do not follow the gods or pray to them. When they want to express gratitude, they extend blessings from their soul.”
“Well… that was nice of you.”
He sighed heavily. “Lin is just trying to protect her son. Her daughter was already taken from her. She does not deserve to lose two children over the crimes of her spouse.”
“She told you that?”
He nodded. “While you were sleeping off your injuries, I was obligated to find out who she was. She informed me of her situation and I looked into it.” Looking down at me, his expression hardened like he was remembering who he was speaking to. “But it is not your concern. I will take them to the embassy and my hands will be clean of them.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Lin and the boy. The boy had not taken his eyes off of me so I smiled at him. He shied away, getting closer to his mother, and all I could think about was the horrors he had seen. It wrenched my gut to think someone could put a mother and her young child in an arena full of monsters. My fingers curled into fists and I turned back around, Spike’s skinny, disgusting face flashing before my eyes.
“Why has your pulse picked up?” Rhone asked.
I blinked, shaking my head. “I hate that you can sense that.”
“I can sense a lot.”
Somehow, I felt like he was talking about something more intimate, and wrinkled my nose.
“So?” he pressed.
“I’m just pissed. Spike should have been castrated.”
“Spike?”
