Page 25 of Bound By the Vori

“Like Frankenstein’s monster,” Zana interjected with a sage nod. The female shuddered as she curled her tail around herself.

“Exactly,” Kim agreed. “And unfortunately, our will to create and explore often outstrips our physical capabilities or what’s safe for us. Case in point, humans willingly come to Vora and yet there are many things here that can easily kill us—even something as simple as a beautiful, and seemingly harmless plant.”

Zana’s lips twisted in a grimace. “Whoever brought that in here should have checked that it was suitable to be in here first,” she said primly as she drew up another image on her data pad’s holographic display. She wrinkled her nose at what appeared to be a particularly gruesome zombie.

Brow beetling, Kim gave her a thoughtful look. “Or it could have been a thoughtful gift gone awry. There is no judgment on mistakes.”

A soft, contemptuous snort left Zana. “I would have expected Rykaal at the very least to be more careful if he was looking to give his mate a gift.” She paused and huffed. “Though he could have thought of me as well. I like gifts,” she mumbled a little dejectedly.

Kim withheld a sigh at the clear dodge though her heart ached a little in sympathy for the young female. “Zana, Rykaal, and Sijhord were both aware of what it was. They didn’t bring me the gift.”

A perplexed frown marred the princess’s brow, and she glanced over at Kim. “They did not?” A look of wariness crossed her face. “Are you suggesting that I did this?” She scoffed loudly and bent a look of contempt on Kim. “Why would I? I have no interest in gifting you with anything. If I did, it would be something to get you out of my way,” she growled, her eyes dropping once more to her datapad. As if suddenly realizing what she said, her eyes widened and shot back up. “Not that I would try to hurt you,” she quickly amended, her brows knitting anxiously.

“All right,” Kim soothed, noting the fluster in the female’s voice. If she was too embarrassed to admit it, Kim wasn’t going to pressure her. “Shall we return to our zombies then?”

When Zana gave a far less enthusiastic nod, Kim wanted nothing more to pull her in for a hug and reaffirm that mistakes happen. But it was better to drop the matter and she wasn’t sure if Zana was typically hugged often now that she was on the brink of adulthood. It was such a difficult time for parents and their offspring, and Kim couldn’t imagine that being any less true among the Vori.

“Can you point out any other instances of human behavior, during the periods we have looked at so far, changing in reaction to fear of something within the human environment changing?”

To her relief, Zana’s expression cleared and became more thoughtful as she considered the question. “The Black Plague,” she said decisively. “Humans believed it was in response to a divine anger. Many images made of the divine at that time possessed a severe and angry appearance. I imagine this would also have something to do with the punishment of humans perceived as heretics to the common faith,” Zana added with another grimace. “Especially among groups who appeared less devastated by the plague. I imagine in a zombie apocalypse it would be like that—humans turning on one another, suspecting each other.”

“Yes, quite probably,” Kim reluctantly agreed.

The female sighed. “Humans assign blame too quickly without sufficient evidence. It is no wonder that you have a history where you have hurt each other so often.”

Kim felt a stab of guilt. Perhaps there was something to that, but she wasn’t trying to accuse Zana of anything. But if it was not the princess, that left a more chilling possibility. Someone had intentionally put it there intending real harm. Although human reactions to the plant’s hairs varied, a good portion of those exposed to it died. The plant had a high chance of fatality that could not be ignored coming from an adult. So, if Zana had not put it there, then who did?

Twenty-Two

Despite her unease, nothing else had happened in the few days that had passed since returning to Evath, and the true culprit had not yet revealed themselves. She was incredibly anxious and suffered a few nightmares. She hated the fact that her pursuer haunted her in her sleep. She hadn’t yet alerted her mates either. They would go ballistic, and she wanted to keep the upper hand for the time being just in case her attacker slipped and showed his hand. Given that everything seemed quiet on the home front, she also had some small hope that whoever it was had perhaps given up. Whether because they got bored or were simply too frightened following their failure, the more days that passed, the more likely it seemed that there would not be a repeat attack.

No news was good news. Right? She was inclined to think so. The scare with the gyori was fading from her thoughts but was quickly being replaced with anxiety that she was pregnant. and her mates, while being attentive and affection in the ways of a loving male, hadn’t told her they loved her. She hadn’t pressed by smothering them in verbal love declarations. She wasn’t even sure how such things went on Vora or what the customs were in terms of that, and so she had decided to wait and follow their lead. She hadn’t thought she needed them because she had signed on specifically for the devoted and loving mate part, knowing it was a guaranteed happily ever after, or as close as one could get. Like a novelized fated mate but better. Going with the flow and adapting to an alien culture had seemed like a small price to pay. But now that she was pregnant, and more aware by the day that their family was growing within her, she was getting antsy and wanted the words.

At least the weather was cooling off. That was something. Vora had crazy heat even in the late summer that made southern Texas in the summer look pleasant and refreshing. So much so that there were many days Kim had to stay within the cool confines of the palace, thankful that the Matriarch was sympathetic to her limitations. Not that the Vori seemed to enjoy it any more than she did. Even the Matriarch seemed content to remain indoors as much as possible. It was only on the cooler days that they sat out on the sheltered balcony and enjoyed the spray from the fountain there.

The cooling air brought considerable relief. Even her mates seemed to be relaxing as the weather changed, and there was a light breeze carrying the distinct scent of rain in the air. It was the perfect time for a festival.

Although Sijhord and Rykaal hovered anxiously over Kim as they made their way down the crowded, festive street, there seemed to be a never-ending bustle of activity as flowers were carted everywhere. Tall baskets were carried by Vori, filled to the brim with all manner of flowers with intoxicating scents. And then there were the long trailing garlands with which it appeared that Vori males and females liked to decorate themselves. For all the high tech that was made very apparent from the numerous stores crowding the market, there was a certain archaic charm to the way they carried the flowers about in carefully woven baskets.

Kim eyed the colorful strands of blooms that hung in intricately wrapped loops from the Vori, some of the loops extending to an impossible length down the tail.

“What’s going on?” she asked curiously as she watched a particularly small male covered with numerous garlands undulate carefully down the road.

“Flower festival,” Rykaal supplied, his lips tipping with obvious pleasure.

Her brows rose with surprise in response. “I would have thought that to be more of a spring thing,” she observed with curiosity. Truth be told, there were so many flowers that she would have sworn that it was springtime if she hadn’t arrived on Vora in the late summer. “I don’t usually associate flowers with this time of the year,” she admitted.

Rykaal shrugged and gave her an amused look. “It does not bloom everywhere on Vora this time of the year. Only most places. The summer has the killing heat, and then everything flourishes and returns to life when the true rains set in.”

“Ah, tropical seasons. I didn’t think of it like that. I’m glad to see the back side of summer, that’s for sure. That heat certainly was a kicker,” she mused aloud and Sijhord grimaced.

“Yes, we know. We still likely have bruises from where you kicked our tails off you.”

She choked back a laugh and gave him a look of disbelief. “I did not.”

Her laughter bubbled out of her when both males gave her identical pained looks and nodded, informing that she had indeed done such a thing. Well, that explained why she had awakened the last few nights and found her mates coiled up farther away from her. At least there should be a lot less of that with the weather cooling. And with the decline of summer, it appeared that the true rainy season was underway, bringing a freshness with it as if everything were renewed and cleansed away. She admired the thick white blooms a nearby female was wearing with interest. Were those the ones that smelled so good?

“Did you want a garland?” Sijhord asked, his eyes skimming the crowd as if in search of the merchant with the best one.

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