Page 18 of Unfinished

Sienna’s gaze skimmed over the table, only vaguely registering the multiple dishes laid out in front of them now. A serve-bot wobbled slightly as it pushed against her outer thigh. She felt breakable, like she might splinter apart as soon as someone shattered the spell again and spoke, but lighter, too, free as a leaf caught in the wild autumn wind.

“You’re serious.” She hadn’t expected her father to be the one to reply. He frowned, but it was his professor's expression, the one that said he was considering something carefully, slowly weighing the scales of judgment.

“Of course she’s not,” came her mother’s frantic whisper, but her dad lifted his hand and held it palm out in front of Lark’s face.

“Ssh. Breathe—yes, just like that. Breathe, honey.” He turned his head back towards Sienna. “Six months of communication? Is that right? Will you have any sort of occupation there? What arrangements is this man making for your arrival? Does he just want some insta-mom for his child? Where’s the mother in all of this?”

Sienna could’ve done with the reminder to breathe, too. She sucked in a thready inhale, feeling a bit dizzy from the round of questions. She’d anticipated them from her mother, but not her dad. She glanced from face to face at the table. All in all, everyone was remarkably calm, at least on the surface.

“Yes, since June—six months,” she said. “He makes me really happy. He supports me and cares about me very much, and yes, I can have a job there if I want one. I can find my own, or if I prefer, he told me that I can help organize events at the temple. I should receive specifics on my journey to Xithilene shortly now that our relationship is under final approval by the Mate Portal officials.”

“June? That’s when things ended with Edgar. Are you sure you want to risk traveling to another planet on something that might just be a rebound connection?” Theo’s big hand clenched on the artfully folded napkin beside his salad plate. “You don’t have to do this. It’s not like going to Mars. Xithilene is…it’s ages away. What if you change your mind once you’re there? Do they let you go home or is that it? Daily messages may sound romantic, but that’s not how you really get to know someone. You can still back out, Sienna.”

“Your brother’s right. Those aliens could keep you there and force you to stay with this man. They control all travel to and from their planet. None of our people could get there on their own if the Xithilene didn’t allow it. Humans don’t have that kind of technology. Our ships aren’t capable of that kind of travel.” Her mother actually looked worried—for her. Her fingers scratched and groped at the tablecloth. “You shouldn’t go. You belong here,” she whispered, eyes fixed on her empty plate.

Sienna’s throat grew thick, swollen by the emotions that’d crept up on her. In her mind, in her transport ride daydream, it’d played out differently. She’d imagined telling the truth would lead to her moment of triumph, but here she was, out of her depth and knocked off balance.

“I used to think that, too,” Sienna said. She forced herself to sit up straighter and look each one of them in the eye. “What I feel for R’kash isn’t a rebound-fueled fantasy. I don’t expect everything to be perfect, but we do have a connection.” She held her father’s gaze. “Although I know it’s important that I treat Veesha well, and that he hopes I’ll grow to love her, R’kash cares about me. If he just wanted a nanny, he could hire one. He has—a tutor, at least. This isn’t a whim.” Sienna couldn’t bear to keep looking at them all. “I’m sorry. I should’ve said something months ago, but I was scared.”

Her father cleared his throat. “That’s good then. The tutor.” He nodded, eyes darting across the dishes scattered over the table. “Good,” he muttered.

“Enough about me. It’s Thanksgiving—let’s eat,” said Sienna.

The meal was a quiet one, punctuated by the whirr of the serve-bots and the light scrape of silverware against plates. It wasn’t an unusual dinner for her family. Sienna hoped R’kash wouldn’t be disappointed when he met her. None of the Prescotts were effusive people. She was working on it, but if he expected her to be able to win Veesha over with her warmth and charm, he might find her lacking.

Theo was right. There was still time if she didn’t want to risk it. Sienna could stay here, within the distant walls of the city-state where she’d lived her entire life. She could reject him before he’d get the chance to turn her away first. Sienna set down her fork. She’d barely eaten and was tired of the pretense. Her appetite had vanished.

She hugged both of her parents before Theo walked her back to the front entrance later that evening. Her mother felt even smaller in her arms than Sienna had remembered. Her last Thanksgiving, last dinner out on the town, last visit home. Each day would mark a new last until she’d walk aboard the alien ship bound for Xithilene.

12

“It wasmy right to choose a birthstone for her.”

Jesthi’s crown feathers shifted, but he didn’t show any other weakness in the face of R’kash’s anger. “You’re correct. Normally, we wouldn’t have interfered with your choice, but all of us here at Evathi care deeply for Veesha. Every priest wanted to contribute towards this gift for her, but it wasn’t our right to decide without you.”

R’kash’s rattle rolled lightly in his throat in acceptance of the apology. “Can I see it again?” he asked, extending his hand for the short birth chain.

The chain itself was simple, almost plain, but it was intended to be. He’d replace it several times as Veesha grew older. The stone that Jesthi placed over the center of his palm, however, was one of a kind. It was difficult to find beautiful stones in the exact color of his eyes. There was too much orange in them to compliment most of their red toned gemstones, but this jewel seemed to burn from within, the perfect reflection of Veesha’s bright gaze. His own birthstone was not nearly so good a match.

“It’s perfect.” The gold setting that wrapped the stone was warm beneath his fingers. “I still should’ve been there with you.”

Jesthi dipped his head, but a slight grin played across his lips. “I’m glad you approve.”

R’kash tucked the birth chain away within the folds of his priest’s robes. “Is this what you’ve all been keeping from me when you claimed you were planning for the harvest festival?”

He expected Jesthi to hiss happily, to see his grin broaden into a full smile.

Instead, Jesthi shuddered and his hands clenched on air as he seemed to wilt before R’kash’s eyes. “No,” his head priest said, head still bowed. Jesthi’s fingers curled in towards his palms and extended, curled and extended again, the movement growing more frantic each time he repeated it.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” asked R’kash. “Tell me!” he ordered when Jesthi didn’t speak.

Villith and H’viss strode forward through the half-open door to his chambers, and R’kash wondered how long they’d been listening. Neevish and Ivekth soon crept along after them, as if they hoped to melt into the other men’s shadows. Jesthi’s hand shook as he retrieved a portable record-tablet from a pocket within his robes. H’viss stepped forward and took the device from the other priest, activating it and fussing with the screen before he turned towards R’kash. He stood there watching R’kash, as if he were waiting for a signal he should proceed.

“You have something to show me? Show it already then,” R’kash said. He could feel his dark crown feathers lifting. He didn’t like secrets. He never had.

“We did it for you,” said Villith. He was the only man in the room who dared to meet R’kash’s gaze head-on. “Before you rage against Jesthi and the rest of us, remember that. We meant well. I don’t think any of us truly thought it would go this far, but now that the time is upon us, it must be due to the Lady’s blessing.”

R’kash had never cared for games and puzzles either. “Jesthi, explain.”

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