Page 69 of Sway's Peace
Sway’s gaze moved to her, and though his smile itself didn’t change, the softness in his black eyes did. She was coming to realize that she couldn’t judge his expressions by his smile, but she could always see his true feelings in his gaze.
The farasie group had gotten a lot closer in that short interaction. They were walking quickly. Not like they were in a hurry, but their steps were eating up the ground fast. And as they got nearer, Grace got a better look at them.
Farasie came in a rainbow of colors – blue and pink and purple and yellow and green. Their feathers were all bright and pretty. Females were only a single color, while males had long crests and tails in a variety of colors. This group was also dressed in their traditional attire, which was revealing and open, amounting to little more than a bikini for some, with sarong skirts and bare chests and minimal jewelry to disturb their glorious feathers.
But the males of this group all had their crests partially up, and their tails partly spread. Not like they were displaying anything, but more like they were comfortable. Sway was never that comfortable, and she had yet to see him display his colors. And it certainly wasn’t happening now. His crest was tight to his head, his tail as thin as possible, as he came to a halt beside Tanin – Garnet and Grace flanking the two males on their other sides.
Grace cocked her head. Certain she heard something. Singing…?
No. Whistling!
It wasn’t super high pitched and ringing like her own human whistle would be. It was softer, more melodic, but still unmistakably a whistle. A bright, happy sound coming from the welcoming party as they closed the distance.
And in the front, just a step ahead of the others, was a male with bright, teal colored feathers. He was tall and handsome, with long, perfect feathers coming off his eyelids. His black eyes sparkled with joy, his lips pursed, his whistle joined in with the others. His tail and crest were up enough that she could see the bright colors of the feathers there – purple and blue and gold bleeding together in a beautiful display of joy and welcome.
All of it aimed, she realized, at Sway.
The welcoming party came to a halt, but the teal male didn’t stop until he was right in front of Sway, putting his hands on his shoulders. He was still whistling, but it sounded less musical this time.
He wastalking, Grace realized. Their language, the farasie native tongue, wasn’t spoken, it was whistled.
After a moment, Sway whistled back.
And though the sound was rough from disuse and hesitant with uncertainty, it was somehow more beautiful than the heavenly orchestra that had come to welcome him.
Chapter 17
Sway
It had been a very long time since Sway last heard his mother tongue. The whistle based language of the farasie people was unique in the Coalition. It was incredibly difficult for those who weren’t born to it to learn, and without the proper throat and mouth shape, it was practically impossible for anyone else to speak, even if they could understand it.
Sway had been speaking Standard for the majority of his life. The last time he heard his mother tongue was before he left his home planet with his parents. The Master hadn’t been a farasie, and there had been no other farasie on Rik-Vane. Since running into one of his kind out in the world was already rare, and practically impossible when Sway rarely left the Humility, he hadn’t had a chance to speak his home tongue so long, he wasn’t even sure he remembered how.
But when he heard the chorus of voices singing to him, all the old words and tones came rushing back. It struck hard, like a stake straight through his heart. The unfamiliar words, the unfamiliar tones, meanings lost to him after too many years, but he still knew them.
It was a song of welcoming. One specifically used to welcome someone back home. It was a sound of celebration, of rejoining, of delight. A call to one who was lost. A song so sweet and beautiful, it dragged over his heart like the ragged claws of a ferocious beast.
Then, the lead male stepped forward and put his hands on Sway’s shoulders. He was smiling at him so happily. Like Sway might have been a long lost brother of his.
“Welcome back, lost one,” he whistled to him. “You are back among kin. You are safe. We are overjoyed to bring you once more into our arms.”
Sway swallowed. It took him a moment to even rememberhowto whistle. And when he finally did, the forgotten words dragged only slowly up from a distant part of his brain, he was dismayed at the sound of his own voice. Rough with disuse. Like ground glass rubbing against stone compared to the clear bell tones of the others.
“Thank you,” he croaked, so ashamed of the sound of his own voice, his crest ached from the force of it being pressed against his head.
But the lead male only looked more delighted. Like he was pleased by something. “I am Vweet, second of the Song. I am honored to sing with you, brother.”
It was a warm, loving welcome. The kind that, surely, he should have dreamed about. So, then, why did it feel so wrong? So alien? This male called him brother, sang to him in his mother tongue, while more of his kind looked at him with such joy in their black eyes. It was perfect. They were perfect.
Buthewas not, he realized. He didn’t feel like a lost soul being guided back into the arms of kin. He was an imposter, a broken piece that no longer belonged, jagged and stained. Their bright colors, the high, proud crests of the males, the happy smiles on the faces of the delicate, slender females…
These were his species, not his people. And that realization was disconcerting.
“I, er, I’m with Humble Delivery,” he said switching back to his speaking voice, the harsher consonants of Standard feeling much more comfortable in his mouth.
Vweet didn’t seem displeased as he easily switched to Standard as well. Though, doing so did not end the musical whistle completely. It was like he was still humming as he said, “Yes. You wouldn’t believe how delighted we were when we heard you were amongst the crew. Why did you not seek us out sooner, brother?”
“I didn’t know you existed,” he said, leaving it at that.
