Page 26 of Bound By the Vori

Giving him a startled look, she laughed. “And do what with it? Get myself killed tripping over it?” She craned her neck with fascination at the festivities that seemed to be going full tilt around her as Rykaal led them through the excitement. Her eyes widened as a street performer to the left of them suddenly blew out a stream of fire like as if they were an ancient dragon. She jumped a little as the flame blasted through the air to the delighted gasps of the crowd. “Where are we heading, anyway?”

“To find a place in the vorubal,” Rykaal explained as he nodded to a slightly raised hill with a stony structure laid out that resembled an ancient amphitheater. “We can find a comfortable place to sit there and enjoy some of the performances.”

Sijhord nodded with obvious enthusiasm, though he licked his lips as he continued to scan the crowd. His eyes lit up and he changed direction quickly, taking Kim along with him, that she squeaked in shock. “That sounds like an excellent idea, Rykaal, but we should take a little something with us, I think.”

Rykaal grunted impatiently, but he changed course with them even if he frowned at Sijhord the entire time. “They have vendors everywhere in the vorubal. What do you believe we cannot get there?”

“Ormi!” he said happily just as a small stand came into view with several vats boiling over high heat.

Kim gave the vats a curious look, her nose wrinkling slightly at the overpowering sweet smell of them. What were they doing, boiling honey?

“What is that?”

“Ormi,” Sijhord repeated as he held up a finger to the vendor for his order.

Kim’s eyes widened as she watched a metal ladle full of holes dip into the vat and resurface. The liquid honey-like substance streamed off what appeared to be small crunchy bits that were immediately poured into a giant papier-mâché cup roughly the size of a small popcorn bag from the cinema. Dusting the treat with some sort of powder, the vendor handed it to Sijhord as her mate transferred the credit.

“This is ormi,” he said as he tipped the bag for her inspection.

Her nose twitched. It did smell good. There was a caramelized scent to it, kind of like the cracker jacks that she and her cousins ate by the box full when they were kids. There were little, slightly elongated, crisped lacey bits that intrigued her. Were those thin bits of batter? She contemplated snagging a piece when Rykaal cleared his throat.

“I do not think you will enjoy that. Humans are generally put off by ormi from what I understand.”

She gave him a surprised look. Why? She was practically salivating. She hoped that they were as tasty as they smelled.

The sound of a tray hitting the counter near her startled her hard enough to take her mind off the tasty little snack and her eyes fell on the contents and then rounded. There, laying roasted on the tray were dozens of large insects that vaguely reminded her of cicadas except their wings were larger and apparently held up well in the roasting as they were lace crisps exactly like what was in the cup that Sijhord was holding.

“Oh, Lord,” she whispered. She had nearly eaten that.

Sijhord followed her gaze and grinned. “They are not as good when they aren’t coated within the syrup gathered from their hives,” he oh so helpfully informed her.

She swallowed thickly. Okay, so basically overgrown cicadas that were Vora’s version of honeybees, roasted and cooked in their own honey. She was actually horrified by the concept, but the scent continued to tickle her nose, enticing her. Damn, why did it have to smell like Cracker Jacks?

Sucking her lips in as she tried to avoid any temptation to try one—because she just couldn’t get past the fact that they were bugs—Kim turned to Rykaal and gave him an awkward smile.

“So… the vorubal,” she drawled. “They aren’t going to have bug snacks, are they?”

Her big mate grinned down at her. “Vendors do not go into the vorubal with ormi because they tend to be too messy to handle in large amounts there. You will have plenty of other things available.”

Kim breathed a sigh of relief though part of her was still annoyed that she was being taunted by the delicious smells of something not within her definition of edible. Leaving Sijhord to his munching and little slurps of obvious pleasure, they headed toward the large amphitheater. Somehow Rykaal managed to snag a flower crown as they passed one particular flower vendor and plopped it on her head.

The large white blooms filled her nose with a heady sweet scent that just teased on the edge of being a familiar jasmine. She sniffed happily at it, wondering just how much richer and complex the bouquet likely was to the more sensitive scent receptors of the Vori. Although jasmine wasn’t a scent that seemed to get as much attention on Earth as something like roses, peonies, or gardenia, these blooms, while not the only ones being carted around, seemed to be the favorite of the Vori. The white blooms dominated the garland chains while many of the humans seemed to be crowned with a variety of blooms as they mingled among the Vori.

Finding a comfortable place to sit in the lower part of the vorubal’s structure was surprisingly easy. Kim would have wagered that the entire theater would have been filled by people. Instead, many seemed to come and go along the wide perimeter that was designed in a way to allow comfortable mingling among those passing through and brief stop-ins, keeping the majority of the vorubal open for those family groups sprawled in intimate patches along the enormous steps. From a distance it had looked like any other ancient open-air theater with marble steps upon which people could sit. And it was very much like that except for the fact that the “steps” were wide enough for Kim to lounge fully with her mates without having to worry about slipping off the edge.

And, as Rykaal promised, all manner of vendors traversed the inclined designated walking and slithering areas. There were all manner of pastry puffs, fried meats, and little candied nuts and fruit. Not a single insectoid treat in sight except for those slowly dwindling within Sijhord’s cup. Kim cursed her curiosity and her terrible sweet tooth.

What if she just nibbled on one? Just the edge of a wing perhaps? It wasn’t like there weren’t people who ate beetles on Earth. And what about the deep-fried scorpions and tarantulas that she’d seen mention of on the Food Network’s Travelling Foodie series? She didn’t have to commit herself to really getting into the meat of the ormi.

She chose to wait until Sijhord was engrossed in an operatic sort of music performance before she dipped her fingers into the cup, pinching a roasted and candied ormi between her thumb and finger before lifting it out. The nutty-sweet smell filled her nose, making her stomach rumble with delight despite the misgivings running through her head. She cast a quick look over to Rykaal and saw that he was watching her with an amused expression on his face.

Her lips twisted in a grimace of a smile in reply because she really couldn’t believe she was about to do this. Rykaal’s smile grew, and his big body shook with silent laughter. But it was Sijhord’s chuckle in her ear that made her freeze and glance up into her mate’s sparkling red gaze.

“I just want a tiny taste, not the whole thing,” she explained.

He dipped his head in acknowledgment and waited, watching, as she brought it to her mouth and very gingerly nipped off the edge of the wing between her teeth. The satisfying, slightly salty crunch of the wing caught her by surprise. The moan that came from her even more so. It has a caramelized, nutty flavor like cracker jacks, but it was even better like someone had dumped a bunch of chocolate into it. Like a brownie drizzled with caramel and topped with walnuts. That was what it tasted like.

“How? How does this taste like the crispy parts of a brownie?”

---