Page 19 of Unfinished

Jesthi had been at his side since the first day R’kash had arrived at Evathi. He felt ill, and his stomach twisted and churned. The one thing he had believed with all of his being was that his men were loyal, that he could trust them as he would himself.

Jesthi held out a hand. At first, R’kash lifted his own, his body preparing for an arm clasp even as his mind spun. He dropped his hand when he realized Jesthi was waiting for Villith to give back the tablet. Someone needed to start talking, and soon, or R’kash was going to break apart. None of the men surrounding him had ever truly seen his anger, but he was well on his way to showing them what it looked like.

“It was after Veesha arrived,” said Jesthi. “That’s when I first had the idea. You seemed so lost, so forlorn. We could do nothing as you suffered. You shared your longing for a mate of your own, and I wasn’t planning to do anything about it, but the more I considered it, the greater advantages I saw.”

R’kash watched the tendons in Jesthi’s throat work, visible even beneath the thicker scales protecting the front of his neck. Just what had he done? How bad was the secret contained within that tablet?

“We made you a profile,” Ivekth said, glancing at Jesthi for approval before he stepped further away from R’kash. “For the Mate Portal. A human woman is coming to Evathi in a few day cycles’ time to be your mate.”

R’kash’s right knee gave out beneath him and his hands reached for purchase at his sides and behind him.No. No, it couldn’t be true.“Do you find this funny? Is that why you were watching Jesthi while you told me? Is this outrageous story meant to distract me? Why?”

“No—no, brother, my priest,” said Jesthi. This time his fingers stroked over R’kash’s scales, yet he still failed to clasp their forearms together. “There is no story, only the truth. It has been difficult to conceal this for so long, but I knew if we revealed what we’d done earlier, you would’ve put an end to it, and Villith is right. The Lady’s hand must have guided us. Sienna will be a perfect mate for you, and it is too late for you to prevent her journey now. She’s already on her way to Xithilene—to you and Veesha.”

R’kash couldn’t speak. Shock rooted his feet to the tiled floor.What? How? What had they told the woman?She couldn’t possibly have decided to make the long journey to Evathi based only on a summary on a record-tablet, however flattering a description his friends may have provided.

“Why? Why would she ever agree to come here? Why?”

“Each of us has written to her as you. Almost every day-cycle since we first considered her as a possible mate, we have exchanged messages with Sienna,” said Jesthi.

“We’ve shared images and told her all about Evathi and Veesha, about you, and she has been generous with herself in return. She is kind and giving. She will be an ideal mate,” added H’viss, stepping closer to stand at Jesthi’s side. “She will be a mother for Veesha.”

He had to leave his rooms. He couldn’t stand there a moment longer and listen to his men.

“Veesha had a mother—L’eesha! You can’t just replace her. The child will know the difference.” R’kash moved, striding through the assembled priests, pushing his way to his still open door. “We will discuss this later,” he said as he looked back. The tablet was still clutched between Jesthi’s long fingers.

R’kash snapped and lowered his crown feathers, hurrying towards the ramps that would lead to the ground floor. He needed to get out, to feel the north winds on his face and drink in the pale sun. He needed time—peace, if it could be found in the fields. He just couldn’t be among their hopeful faces right now. Not when they told him such things and expected him to be happy.

The harvest waited to be reaped, yet the air already bit against his scales with cold. It was that mountain wind, pulled down from the purple shadowed peaks in the distance, bracing and wild. Maybe his men were wrong and it wasn’t too late. He could contact the Mate Portal authorities and explain the misunderstanding. This wasn’t what he’d meant when he’d spoken to Jesthi of matehood. He’d never expected it for himself. Hazy, tempting dreams may have infiltrated the lean hours of his mornings from time to time, but that didn’t mean he was worthy of such things—companionship, passion, adoration and love.

R’kash hissed, long and low. The thought of it hurt, that just maybe, this human woman could be something to him, but he quickly put it aside. His men had lied to her. They must’ve, or otherwise she would never have agreed to come to Evathi. They could not have been honest. Even their own women refused to come to such a lonely temple. A gods-touched woman from another world would like it even less.

He breathed in that chill air and let its iciness coat his lungs and smother the small, hopeful places within him that still dared to thinkmaybe.

A mate was not for him. And a human woman? He couldn’t even fathom it. Not here, not now.

* * *

Sienna rubbedher eyes as the last of her luggage spilled out from the transport onto the hover-pallet one of the airport workers had brought to the unloading area. He handed her the leash for the pallet as soon as he had all of her bags settled.

“Safe travels,” he said, already turning away before she’d had a chance to slide her wrist through the strap.

She hoped he’d remembered to actually activate the hover function. Sienna gave the leash a slight tug, and the base of the pallet ended up nudging the back of her knee. Luckily, she kept her footing. It wasn’t a sure thing—her legs were feeling a bit wobbly. Today was the day; she was headed to Xithilene.

Her fingers twisted the fabric of her long coat as she walked towards the departures wing. She lifted her free hand to wave her comm device in front of one of the automated readers lined up along the entrance. Her destination and flight information flashed in bright yellow text in the air before it vanished, and her fingers clenched harder.

Gate 42*, Bite of the Fa’asath, departure in 63 minutes.That ominous asterisk probably meant a more personal security check further on. From what Theo had told her about his travel for work, most flights didn’t require any more than for passengers to walk through the entrance gates since the threat-containing droids would restrain anyone who tripped the alarms, but the Mate Portal representatives had already warned her there might be physical checks for humans boarding a Xithilene spacecraft.

As she made her way towards a separate hall for gates 36-42, Sienna found herself looking at the other people hurrying through the airport and wondering who else might be on their way to number forty-two with an asterisk. No one else seemed to have brought half the luggage she had on her hover-pallet. Hopefully she wouldn’t have a problem when she reached the ship. The Mate Portal materials hadn’t given a limit for the amount of baggage. It wasn’t Sienna’s fault that she’d gone a bit overboard on her holiday shopping. For all she knew, this could’ve been the last time she would ever browse the city’s Christmas displays and markets. Anyway, it was better to be prepared.

She kept moving, working up a sweat beneath her winter coat. Suddenly the leash for the pallet went taut, and she almost stumbled when it didn’t float along after her. Sienna must’ve gotten a finicky one. She couldn’t see anything blocking the hover-pallet, so she turned forward, gave it a firm yank, and promptly smacked the metal edge into the backs of her legs—again.

“Ow!” she cried with a hiss. A supercilious man in a suit looked down his nose at her and sniffed. Granted, given that he was so much taller than her, it would’ve been hard for him to look anywhere but down.

She glanced left and right, looking for signs to indicate how much further she was going to have to walk. That last whack against her thighs must’ve jolted something out of place inside the hover-pallet, because it’d started making a low whining noise, and each tug on the leash seemed to elicit less of a response. Ah, there, gate 39. 42 couldn’t possibly be too much farther.

The hover-pallet dropped to the floor with a resounding clatter only a few steps past number forty.

“Where are you heading?”

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