Page 25 of Unfinished

“What? No. I find you incredibly lovely.” R’kash hissed lightly. “What about me? Am I satisfactory to look at? Is my appearance too strange now that you’re here beside me?” He teased, but he still found it incredible how she’d welcomed his embrace without the slightest hesitation. He’d seen images and vids of human men. His features were harsher, everything about him hard and forbidding while they were composed of soft edges and gentle smiles.

He observed with wonder as Sienna’s face shifted color to a warm pink. “Very satisfactory,” she whispered under her breath before she looked up at him. “No, you don’t seem strange to me. You look like your pictures,” she added with a grin. “I’d wondered. You hear about humans tricking each other with altered or false photos, but you’re just how I pictured you. The Xithilene men aboard the ship were more startling. Most of them had green scales and some of them even had wings.”

“You have no objection to wings, do you?” he asked quickly.

“No, not at all. They were just a bit shocking to see in person for the first time. You’re worried about Veesha, aren’t you?”

R’kash brought them to a stop near the platform where a transportation pod should soon arrive. “Yes. Wings have only recently been accepted in the north. I still fear for Veesha and the difficulties she may face in the future. Her mother suffered more than she should’ve because of her differences.”

Sienna made a small sound in her throat, and her fingers tightened around his hand. “Maybe someday you can tell me about that. I know you were reluctant to write about how Veesha came to Evathi, but I’d like to understand. Please be patient with me. I’ve always wanted children, but I’ve never taken care of them myself, and I know our cultures must be very different. If I make mistakes, let me know.”

“I’ve read all of your messages more than once. Our cultures may differ in some areas, but I don’t doubt that you wish to make Veesha happy.” He couldn’t resist lifting his free hand to her face. He held his fingers gently against her cheek. “You are too good for me. I don’t deserve a mate like you.” There—a truth amid his lies.

“Don’t say that.” She leaned into his touch, her eyes closing before she glanced back up. “We don’t love people because of some arbitrary scale that says they’re good enough. I care about you deeply, R’kash. I think you’re amazing. You don’t have to earn my love.”

“A pod approaches,” R’kash said as one of the sleek silver vehicles rushed towards the platform.

He couldn’t formulate a response. The weight of his deception felt immense enough to crush him. He had no business holding out his arm for her or assisting her inside the pod once the disembarking passengers had moved aside, yet he couldn’t force himself to stop.

It didn’t seem to matter that he knew it was wrong—R’kash was going to take this gorgeous, perfect human woman to Evathi, and he wouldn’t speak one word to dispel her illusions. He’d read her messages, had spent the last night half-dreaming, half awake, as tangled visions of her face had swum in his mind. It would be easy to love her, easy to lie.

Before he was ready, the pod lowered to a stop in front of Verkissat’s massive transportation center. He gathered Sienna’s many bags, holding the tech-enhanced ropes that tethered them in his right hand as he offered her his left.

“This is where we’ll board the temple’s flyer. Allow me to help you, lady,” he said as he led them to the now opening pod doors.

He’d caught others looking at her in the confined space of the pod, unable to tear their eyes away from her startling form. The other men and women riding with them stepped back to make way for their exit. He’d thought humans were almost common in Verkissat, but it seemed they still held the power to entrance the Xithilene here. How much worse would it be at Evathi, where none of them had ever seen a human in person?

“Do their stares bother you?” he asked once their feet were firmly on the walkway.

She glanced up at him with her lips slightly parted, her eyes round and wide before more of her musical laughter filled the air. “Were they staring? I was too busy looking out at the city to notice.” She smiled, the movement of her mouth so easy and effortless he knew she must do so often. “No, it doesn’t bother me. If you’d come to my city, it would’ve been the same. We’re all fascinated by the unusual, aren’t we?”

R’kash inclined his head. “I’m pleased that their attention didn’t disturb you. There are far fewer of us at Evathi, but none of us have ever met a human before. You’ll have to forgive my fellow priests if they have trouble looking away or ask questions you find intrusive. Tell them if they’re upsetting you—tell me,” he added, meeting her eyes. “I wish to make you happy.”

She smiled again, fleeting and soft this time. “I want to make you happy, too. Between the two of us, I think we’ll accomplish it.” She leaned into his side, pulling their forearms tight against the warmth of her body as she rested the side of her face against his upper arm. He’d never dared to imagine a woman touching him so casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He couldn’t quite relax, as if his body knew it might end at any moment.

They entered the transportation center, and it was only a short walk until they reached the tunnel that led to the section where their flyer was parked. It was more difficult to manage Sienna’s many bags in the narrow hall, and he winced as he heard them hit against the walls. He pulled their leading strings tighter, winding them around his wrist to bring them in closer.

“The flyer will seem very small compared to a Fleet ship, but it’s completely safe.”

“I don’t mind. The ship was too big for me anyway. It was far too easy to get lost,” she replied with a grin. “Will there be a view? I’d like to see Xithilene while we’re in the air.”

“There can be. We’ll control the settings. Part of the flight will take us back into suborbital space to reduce our travel time. You may find it more pleasant to keep the walls opaque for that portion of the journey. It can be unsettling,” he said, recalling his harrowing experience from earlier that morning and how disorienting the rapid ascent had seemed as he’d watched his progress towards the heavens. The trip to Verkissat was the first time he’d experienced suborbital flight himself, and he would do his best to prevent Sienna from undergoing a similar ordeal.

He slowed his pace, letting himself fall behind so that she could be the first to step out onto the wide, open area where the small-class ships were parked.

“Oh, wow,” Sienna said so quietly he almost missed it.

R’kash followed her out, glad to be out in the open again. Verkissat was lively and exhilarating, but it left him feeling trapped after living in the northern plains for so long. Even the air here was stifling, hot and heavy as he pulled it into his lungs.

“We’re over there,” he said, tipping his head towards the temple’s flyer. “It’s the gold one.”

Sienna turned her head and gave him an indecipherable look before her lips twitched. “It matches your scales,” she told him, and his hand tightened further over the luggage strings. He’d probably be able to see their impression on his palm if he were to check.

“Does that please you?” he asked.

Her expression softened. “It’s wonderful.”

He bowed his head and gestured for her to proceed him again. Soon he was opening the door to the flyer and urging Sienna to enter. Getting her luggage aboard was considerably more challenging. He almost fell when three of the lines tangled and the hard-sided rectangular containers twisted, getting stuck sideways in the opening. A forceful tug had him stumbling back when they released. R’kash straightened Sienna’s items and set them down near the back of the passenger area.

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