Page 89 of Cozy Prisons
Nataly gave a little cheer. “Great! Is the ship Talin? I’m so tired of only having jol to eat. I can’t wait for some jorjuk stew or tolk.”
“I agree,” Daxus said. “And flatbread. It’s not really a meal without flatbread.”
Palathum just barely kept herself from saying something about the only reason they had so much food was because of Nataly. That would be followed with gratitude and a question about whether Nataly was having intuitions about anything. It was hard, but she kept all the questions locked inside.
“It’s one of the resupply ships I contracted with,” Palathum explained.
“Do they know about us?" Daxus asked.
Palathum sounded a negative rattle. “No, we’ll have to pretend to be owners and pets, as is expected. There are two Talins on the ship that were traveling to settle here, so we’ll have more help to keep the humans safe from the crew's attention.”
“I have a question,” Nataly said, stepping out of Daxus’s embrace to put herself in front of Palathum. “Are we still going to that other planet?”
Palathum could hear the worry in the human’s voice. “That is still the plan, but we could go to my family’s property on Talarian instead if you’re concerned.”
Nataly shook her head. “Starting fresh on another planet sounds great. No offense, but I don’t want to go to your homeworld.” She put a hand on her neck where a collar would rest.
About half the humans hated wearing the collars, even though they could take them off at will. Only a few of them had them on when everyone evacuated. Palathum already had an elaborate lie to tell the ship’s command about why the humans weren’t wearing the collars that were required by law.
“Does the place have a name yet?” Daxus asked as he drew Nataly back against him.
“Kalor,” Utharium answered for her.
He sounded an approving rumble. “That’s a strong name.”
“What does it mean?” Nataly asked.
The three males all looked at Palathum, but her eyes were focused on Nataly.
“It’s a word in old Talin,” she said. “It roughly describes the way a group can work together like individual cells in an organism, but it also means a strong community.”
“Kalor,” Nataly repeated with a beautiful smile. “It’s perfect.”
Nataly’s smile suddenly disappeared, and her eyes focused on Palathum’s belly. She blinked a few times, then her gaze jumped back to meet Palathum. A wide, happy smile appeared on the human's face.
“Congratulations!” she cheered. “Grace isn’t the only one!”
Utharium sounded a questioning rumble. “Why is she congratulating you?”
Nataly’s expression fell, and her hand came up to cover her open mouth. “Oh shit, I'm sorry, Palathum! I thought you knew. It felt like you were already aware.”
Palathum deliberately didn’t look at Utharium as she answered Nataly. “I did.”
The silence from Utharium was deafening. She didn’t dare look his way.
Suddenly, he was in motion. He grabbed her up, cradling her against his chest like many Talins did with the humans, and walked away rapidly into the nearby woods.
Utharium
So many emotions raged through him that they created a cacophony in his body, which he was desperate to calm.
The first step was to find a place where he and Palathum could be alone. Once they were far enough into the woods that he couldn’t hear anything from the encampment any longer, he stopped and set her down.
She stood before him, tall and proud. It was almost as if she was ready for a fight, but that wasn’t his intention at all.
“You’re pregnant?"
She answered with an affirmative rumble.
