Page 23 of Kazzon's Human Bride
“I see. Does your family live near you?”
Unease settled over him, but he couldn’t blame his little bride for being curious. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, seeking to calm himself before he replied. “No, my parents, as well as my three older brothers, live on a compound in the neighboring city of Machorr.”
“Oh. A compound?” Her eyes widened a bit further.
“Yes, but I prefer to live alone, rather than on my family’s compound.” Members of the ruling class usually lived on huge compounds with their entire extended families. Kazzon, however, preferred the safety of solitude. When he was alone, he wouldn’t see the many lies that passed between others, particularly his relatives.
To his surprise, a look of understanding filled Caylee’s eyes. “You like to live alone because of your power,” she said. “I imagine it would be overwhelming to live with your rather large family and constantly see the… black mist. Um, I mean, not that I’m saying your family members lie a lot, I-I don’t even know them, but—”
“You are correct, little human,” he cut her off and forced a thin smile. Her perceptiveness stunned him. He hadn’t expected to discuss such deep personal matters with Caylee on their first night together. It wasn’t like him to open up to another soul, particularly a female he’d just met, but he got the sense that she understood his pain due to some very personal reasons of her own.
“Tell me about your family,” he said, both wanting to change the subject but also wishing to learn more about the female who would belong to him forever.
She stiffened and he sensed her hesitation. “Well, my parents both work in the Trade Office. You know, they negotiate trades with other dome-cities and coordinate travel between them when a Leader must visit another city. My brother, Wilson, is just about to finish school and then he’ll join them working in the same office. He’s only fifteen but he’s very smart and he’s skipped a few grades.”
At the mention of her brother, Kazzon remembered that he would need to make sure the equipment and technology Wilson had used to create a palm print for Julie was confiscated. He couldn’t allow such technology to remain in the hands of the humans. He sighed and pushed this thought aside for now. Tomorrow, he would take care of the matter.
“Do you miss living with your family?” he asked. “Or did you like living in Julie’s old house all by yourself?”
She settled back into his embrace and her eyelashes fluttered against his chest every time she blinked. Her breaths continued to tickle him, and he stroked her hair slowly, patiently, while he waited for her answer. It didn’t escape him that she’d stiffened again. Apparently, he had touched upon a difficult subject. But he didn’t withdraw his question, for he wanted to better understand his little human bride.
“It’s complicated.” She emitted a deep sigh. “I don’t like living alone and I do miss living with my parents and brother, but sometimes when I visit them, certain things happen that make me think maybe I really prefer to live on my own. Does that make sense? I mean, my parents’ marriage has suffered in the last couple of years. They’ve been having difficulties and when I still lived with them, I always ended up being the mediator—it was either that or listen to them scream at one another for hours. I didn’t like that, and I don’t miss it.”
“And your brother? Does he act as the mediator in your absence?”
“No, and I think that’s why they’ve been struggling more lately, because I’m not there to defuse their fights. Wilson stays out of it and he spends most of his time in his room.”
He felt her swallow hard and a shudder moved through her. His chest tightened and he snuggled her closer, wanting to comfort her. Though the topic of their conversation was partly painful, he realized he hadn’t spoken to another person in such a manner, one on one, for this length of time in years. But no black mist floated up from Caylee. She was talking about herself and her family and sharing some of her secret pains, and she spoke only truths.
“It is not your responsibility to fix your parents’ mating union, little human,” he said in a gentle tone. “Nor is it your brother’s. I hope you do not blame yourself for the difficulties they are having.”
She relaxed slightly in his arms. “Thanks for saying that. I-I know you’re right and my friends have told me the same thing over the years, but I can’t help feeling guilty that I’m no longer there to help them on a daily basis.” She paused and sucked in a rapid breath. “And now that I’m leaving Earth, what will happen to them?”
Kazzon caressed a hand down her back, unsure of how to respond. On Tarrkua, divorce wasn’t an option. His people mated for life and never strayed from their mating unions. But he knew this wasn’t the case on Earth. He’d heard that on Caylee’s planet, divorce and infidelity were common. Were her parents unfaithful to one another? Did that explain their difficulties?
“Your parents will forge their own paths,” he finally replied, hoping his vague response satisfied her. “You and your brother are not responsible for their happiness.”
A long silence stretched between them. At first, he thought she might’ve fallen asleep, but her soft voice soon drifted to him, as gentle as a leaf riding a light but steady breeze.
“Do you like being an ambassador?” she asked.
“It is the job I’ve been ordered to do.”
“Yes, but, do youlikeit?” Curiosity tinged her voice and she cast a brief glance at him, her wavy golden locks gliding over his chest with the movement.
“I like helping my people,” he replied honestly, “though sometimes my position as ambassador requires tasks that I find uncomfortable. Socializing and attending gatherings, for instance. Your Leaders insisted I take a tour of New Leesburg with them and attend a banquet today. I would’ve preferred—”
“Solitude?”
He froze and looked at her, once more stunned by her insight. For the first time in forever, he felt as though someone understood him. He gulped past the sudden dryness in his mouth and nodded, even though she was no longer looking at him. “Yes, solitude.”
He changed the topic to Caylee’s early years in the dome-city and they continued speaking into the early hours of the morning. Occasionally, he shared pieces of his own childhood with her, though he still felt guarded about his past. She knew he didn’t live in his family’s compound, but he hadn’t told her outright that he had little contact with his family.
What would she think if she learned he’d gone years without even visiting them?
There was a sweetness to her that roused him, an innocence that he wanted to protect. He didn’t wish for her to know the reasons he rarely spoke to his family, the lies he’d witnessed pass between various family members. He didn’t want her pity, and just because they were now married didn’t mean she had to know everything about him.
After a while, another period of silence fell. It was a comfortable silence, however, and he enjoyed holding her in his arms. He eventually shifted upward and arranged her so that she was cradled on his lap. She blinked at him, wide-eyed, and her breath hitched.
