Page 40 of Unfinished

Veesha’s eyesreally were the exact shade of R’kash’s. The little girl was staring at her hard enough that it would’ve been difficult for Sienna not to notice. Sienna tried not to smile as she took another bite ofj’lessifruit. She nudged the tray with the rest of the fruit and pushed it across the table towards Veesha. Her small, scaled fingers immediately snatched up two more slices.

Faseeth, the tutor, sat to Veesha’s right. He had a skewer with a slice of fragrant grilled meat in his hand, but he was currently waving it in lazy circles instead of eating. He took a sip from his chocolate as his eyes shifted to hers. His feathers lifted in a way that clearly asked “what are you looking at?”

Sienna shrugged her shoulders. “Do you like it here?” she asked.

He took his time setting down his big bowl of chocolate before he tilted his head to the side. “Planning your escape already, lady?”

“What?” She knew she must’ve had a dumbfounded look on her face, but really, what was that supposed to mean?

“This can’t have been what you imagined. The excitement of an alien planet, a world with tech far superior to your own species’ advancements—you certainly won’t find much of that here.”

She glanced towards the wide archway that led into a cavernous kitchen. R’kash had gone to fetch something, but for now, it was just her, Veesha, and Faseeth at the table. The other priests had already started on their work for the day—apparently the harvest waited for no man—or Xithilene.

“I thought we had this conversation once already. I told you, I’m here because I want to be, and I found exactly what I expected. Sure, our tech may seem old-fashioned to you, but I came from a massive city-state. I wasn’t exactly roughing it—my life was perfectly comfortable. Comfortable, but lacking. I don’t need more excitement than this right here to be happy.” She picked up her chocolate and shot Faseeth a haughty look, pulling on her decades of experience with her mother to achieve it. “I hope you really have Veesha’s best interests in mind. Maybe you should start by having some respect for her father.”

Low, hissing laughter gliding on the air made goosebumps rise all over her arms. “Thank you, Sienna, but Faseeth is just naturally contrary. Don’t let his impertinence disturb you. I’m not easily insulted.”

R’kash set one large hand over her shoulder before he sat down beside her, sliding a bowl in front of her. “I noticed you enjoyed our fruit the most out of all the offerings yesterday. These arev’ahissberries. Ivekth took out the glider to the forest a few days ago to pick them. They’re one of Veesha’s favorites, aren’t they,k’vasha,” he said, giving the little girl a warm smile.

“They certainly look appetizing,” Sienna said as she reached for one of the large oval-shaped yellow berries. “Which do you like more,” she asked Veesha, “these berries orj’lessifruit?”

Veesha looked up at her cautiously. Suddenly she smiled and pointed a black nail down towards the tray R’kash had brought.

Sienna bit into her berry. It started out sweet like pineapple, but had a tart finish.

“Do you like it?”

She almost choked on the second half of the berry. It was the first time Veesha had spoken to her in English. Sienna patted her chest, trying to compose herself. “Yes, it’s very good. What will you be doing today, Veesha?” she asked.

The little girl turned her face towards R’kash, orange-red eyes bright and beseeching.“Jumping practice?”

Did she even want to know? Sienna glanced at Faseeth, but he seemed undisturbed. “Is that a typical activity for a Lisseethi child?” she asked quietly.

Faseeth’s tongue flickered out with a brief hiss. “Yes. I’m not winged, but my older brother is. We had plenty of trees to practice on in the home forests, though.” He shifted his focus to R’kash. “Where have you been taking her?”

“The sandy hills by the river.”

Veesha’s wings lifted up above her shoulders and spread out behind her. Faseeth leaned to the side to avoid a collision and looked at the girl fondly, his own feathers shifting. “Is that destination programmed in the temple glider’s nav-system?”

“Yes,” replied R’kash, “but it’s an hour’s journey. If you choose to take her in the future, I wish to be informed.”

Faseeth bowed his head sharply. Then he lifted his skewer and bit off a big section of his meat.

“I have duties before we can go jumping,”R’kash told Veesha.

“What should I do while you’re occupied? I don’t want to get in the way, but I don’t really want to go back to your room either,” Sienna asked. She rolled another one of thev’ahissberries between her thumb and forefinger.

“You can come with us,” Faseeth answered. Both the tutor and Veesha stared as they waited for her response.

“Sure, I’d love to,” she replied.

“I won’t take long,” added R’kash. “When I’m done with the morning blessing and offering sessions, I’ll take you and Veesha to the river. I think you may like it.”

“That sounds good. Don’t worry—I don’t expect you to drop all of your responsibilities. I came to Evathi to make a new life here. I’m not expecting it to be like a vacation the whole time, although I did appreciate everything you all did to welcome me yesterday,” she said with a smile for Veesha and Faseeth. She wished Jesthi were around to hear her gratitude, especially since she had the distinct impression that he’d been the one to plan most of the festivities.

“Are you finished, Lady Sienna?” asked Faseeth.

Sienna looked down at her empty bowl of chocolate. “Yes.”

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