Page 56 of Unfinished

R’kash looked down at the inediblevaakifruit on the floor. “You expect me to use that instead?”

“Why not?” Jesthi asked. “You just burn them when you’re finished,” he said, tipping his head toward the spoiledj’lessifruit R’kash held behind his robes. “You might as well, or…you could just claim your mate. Then you wouldn’t need to milk your venom to get through the day.”

R’kash’s crown feathers flared out around his face as he snapped his head towards Jesthi. “Stop.” He hissed at his friend. “You know exactly why I can’t. I can’t bite her when this lie still stands between us.”

“What lie?” Jesthi asked.

“I have not yet told her it was you and the others who corresponded with her. She still believes it was me she wrote to for those six moon cycles. I’ve been too much of a coward to tell her otherwise.” His nails dug into the poisoned flesh of thej’lessifruit. The sticky juice smeared his scaled fingers. “Her presence here has been…indescribable. She’s more than I ever could’ve imagined. Every time I go to tell her the truth, I’m paralyzed by the thought of losing her.”

Jesthi frowned. “Does she need to know? None of us will tell her unless you wish it.”

He looked at his friend and inclined his head. “I appreciate your loyalty, Jesthi, but yes, before I could ever give her the claiming bite, she’d need to know everything. I won’t bind her to me when dishonesty stands between us.”

“I’m sorry, R’kash. It was not meant as a lie. Surely she’ll understand. Perhaps you should tell her during the festival.”

R’kash tried to picture it ending in any way besides her leaving him, leaving Evathi, behind, but he couldn’t. She would be so furious, and rightfully so.

“I can’t. Not yet—I can’t, Jesthi. I can’t bear to take the chance. Not today.”

* * *

Sienna stoodin front of the wall that’d turned into one long floor-to-ceiling expanse of mirror. She didn’t recognize the woman looking back. Sure, the individual features were the same ones that’d made up her face for as long as she could remember, but taken altogether, looking at her reflection right then was like staring at a stranger.

The pale green fabric of the dress was heavy and stiff, and it gleamed like satin. She smoothed a hand over the intricate embroidery. It was covered in Veesha’s flowers, and she wondered if such motifs were common in this region or whether R’kash had requested that specific design. The pendant resting just below her neck was too much. The stone was brilliant and large. Her mother would purse her lips and call it gaudy, but Sienna couldn’t help but love the way it looked against her skin.

“If you’re to stay on Xithilene, you must have your own.”

He wanted her here. Maybe he wasn’t ready to consummate their relationship quite yet or to talk about the claiming bite again, but the pendant in her hand was physical proof that he wanted her to stay. A bright, warm feeling rushed through her chest, making her giddy with excitement. She spun in front of the mirror, admiring her outfit before she lifted up the skirt and laughed at the sight of her practical athletic shoes peeking out.

In the end, she kept the shoes on. The harvest festival would be in the fields, after all, but she put on a pair of gold chandelier earrings and pulled part of her hair back before she touched up her makeup, adding eyeliner and mascara and a swipe of lipstick. When she looked at her reflection again, she felt like her face finally matched the dress. Before she left the room, she walked over to the low table in the sitting area and plucked out av’tushlistem from the vase she’d placed there the other day. She worked it into her hair so that the flowers peeked out above the left side of her face. Then she left R’kash’s room behind and headed for the festival.

She was used to Evathi being quiet and still. Even during the mornings when visitors would come to make offerings in the sacred grove, it sometimes still felt like she was the only one walking the temple’s halls. As soon as she stepped off the last ramp, she could hear them—Xithilene voices. She followed the sound to the archway into the courtyard.

The paths were filled with people, mostly adults, but plenty of children were present as well. She looked for R’kash in the crowd, but the only handsome priest wearing red in the courtyard was H’viss. She stepped through the archway and walked inside the open space. No one noticed her at first. They were busy admiring the gardens or talking excitedly amongst themselves, but then she looked up, straight into the gaze of a man whose bright red feathers were fully extended above his head. His entire body seemed to vibrate as he pointed at her.

“Daughter of the Lady!”

She knew the Xithilene had been told that only some humans were descendants of their Lady’s people, but that didn’t seem to matter to the crowd in the courtyard. That single shout was enough to have every head turning in her direction. If she’d thought the stares from R’kash’s priests had been intense that first day, they had nothing on the way the people here looked at her now. Awe mixed with excitement, even flashes of hunger, if she was reading their emotions correctly. Several adults lifted their hands and made gestures similar to the blessing motions R’kash had told her about. A small boy approached before his parents could stop him and rubbed the hem of her skirt between his fingers before darting away.

It’d grown uncomfortably silent in the large garden. Sienna licked her lips and tried to find a path through to the fields, but every way was blocked. There had to be over a hundred people inside the courtyard.

“Sienna, let me escort you outside.”

She looked to the right and saw Jesthi’s familiar face. His feathers lifted a bit when he got his first glimpse of her in her Xithilene dress, but then he held out his arm and smiled.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready,” she replied as she set her arm over his. “It’s packed in here,” she said as they started to work their way through the visitors.

The people made room for them, stepping back to the edges of the path and bowing their heads as they passed.

“The harvest festival is always grand, but we’ve never had as many visitors as this year. People have been talking about Veesha’s presence at the temple, but you’re a surprise, especially looking the way you do now. Wait until they learn that you’re R’kash’s mate! There is much cause for celebration here at Evathi.”

Jesthi nodded to people as they passed, doling out little smiles like candy. He even greeted a few people by name. Sienna wondered how many from the crowd knew R’kash personally and what they must think of her. Suddenly all the old doubts and fears seemed to creep back into her mind. One of her hands clenched around the folds of her skirt. She could feel the raised embroidery rub against the palm of her hand. Sienna closed her eyes briefly, trusting Jesthi to lead them.

New world, new life,she told herself. She’d promised herself there would be no more room for fear going forward. She exhaled and opened her eyes, and then she smiled out at the watching crowd. She could do this, and she would.

“Where’s R’kash,” she asked quietly. “Why didn’t he want to escort me?”

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