Page 46 of Unfinished

It sat directly on the ground, and R’kash helped her step over the low side wall to take a seat in the front row. Veesha followed him around to the back as he stowed away the package H’viss had brought them from the kitchen before they left. It all felt very romantic. A picnic by the riverside, a scenic drive through the countryside—she’d have to remember to take some pictures and vids to send back home. She’d done nothing more than send off a quick message to her family and friends letting them all know she’d arrived safely, but they’d be expecting to hear more soon.

Veesha’s surprised laugh as R’kash swept her up in his arms pulled her back to the present. He set her down right beside Sienna and then stepped inside himself, turning his head to smile at her.

The glider had no roof or side windows. It was entirely open, with only a transparent windshield curving around the front of the craft to provide them any protection from the elements. There was no glare at all from the material, and if she hadn’t been able to see the edge of the windshield, she wouldn’t have known there was anything there at all without reaching out to touch it.

R’kash lifted his hands to the seemingly blank jade-colored panel in front of them, and a screen came to life beneath his fingertips. He started tapping away, serious mien back in place, before he looked their way again. Veesha tilted her head to the side and her wing pushed against Sienna’s arm as she watched him.

“Remember the rules, Veesha. No standing or leaning over the sides, or the safety nets will activate. Do you understand?”

Sienna slid the arm she’d let rest over the side of the glider back onto her lap, and she heard R’kash’s choked hiss.

“Not you, lady. That won’t trigger the safety protocols,” he told her, an amused little grin lifting his lips as he set his hand over the control screen again. “Ready?” he asked, but he didn’t wait for an answer before they lifted straight up into the air.

They didn’t go very high. She’d been worried she’d experience the same stomach-churning vertigo the flyer ride had given her, but they were only maybe fifteen or twenty feet up from the ground, and they were moving slowly enough that she could clearly make out the terrain below and ahead. The windshield protected them from the worst of it, but her hair was still whipping behind her in a tangled mass. It’d be a pain to deal with later, but the exhilarating ride was worth it.

Sienna laughed happily when R’kash made the glider swoop down and up again and Veesha shrieked. She was smiling and tapping her hands on her lap as the petite feathers on her head waved up and down.

“I’m having fun, too,” she said, leaning down closer so Veesha could hear her over the wind.

The little girl just smiled.

When Sienna looked down, the grasses bent beneath the cool wind, and the bright afternoon sunlight made them shimmer like an ocean of gold. It was breathtakingly beautiful in its vastness. Something about Evathi set her soul at peace in a way she’d always been searching for.

Small, slim fingers curled around her pinkie. Veesha was watching her, feathers perked up like an inquisitive cat tilting its ears. Sienna gave her a smile and turned back to the scenery, but the little girl didn’t let go.

“Do you see the trees in the distance?” R’kash asked. He lifted two fingers held together out in front of him, pointing slightly to the right. “The river is just beyond that thicket.”

Rangy, willow-like trees grew high above a dense swathe of brush. The colors fit the spare aesthetic of the plains—silvery sage green, darker shades of the same color like washed out pine needles, and slender bands of deep jade that accented the harmony of the other muted shades.

“Where are the dunes?” she asked.

Veesha pointed this time. “There.”

Sienna’s gaze followed, and she could just make out a line of blue peeking through the brush and foliage. As they drew nearer, the treetops swayed above them as R’kash took the glider through a break in the vegetation. Ruffled blue flowers hung like small trumpets from the weeping branches, and each breath she took filled her nose with a bright, sweet fragrance.

When the river came into view, she gasped. The water reflected the crisp blue of the sky, shimmering like a curving mirror as it cut through the land. It was broad, and the far bank steep, leading up to a series of low, rolling hills that she guessed must be R’kash’s dunes. He’d decreased their speed, and the glider floated slowly over the water. Now that the sound of rushing wind no longer filled her ears, the river’s voice grew louder.

Veesha was still holding her pinkie, and her little fingers tightened to the point where Sienna almost lost circulation as R’kash pointed the front of the glider towards the low hills ahead. She could see the sandy dirt now, the slopes of the little dunes held in place by the scrubby grasses bracketing the sides. A few slabs of ochre colored rock lay angled along the shoreline.

They passed over the place where water met rock and continued on until R’kash brought them down well past the first band of hills. She could see why. The swells and dips here were modest as the land transitioned back to the even stretch of grassy plains ahead. Veesha would be able to run and play without encountering the risky looking drop-offs closer to the riverside.

The glider settled onto the ground. R’kash’s fingers skimmed over the controls, and then the screen turned opaque and blank again. He reached for Veesha first, lifting her over his side of the glider and setting her down before he turned to her.

“Wait there and I’ll help you out,” he said as he stood and swung himself over the edge.

R’kash walked around the front of the glider as Sienna stood up. He set his hands on her waist and lifted her up like it was nothing. She let her hands slip around his neck so that her body slid against his as her feet meet the ground.

“Thanks,” she said, her voice feeling a little thicker as she ignored the need to press her cheek against his chest. Heat pooled low between her legs as she breathed in the clean scent of his scales along with the crisp northern air, but she knew it wasn’t the time or the place to indulge in the rapidly growing attraction that hummed between them. It was always there, even when it felt strained and abrasive like that first day on the flyer. It lay banked and waiting, ready to rekindle at the slightest contact.

His face was in her hair again. She could feel his lips moving soundlessly, but then he quickly lifted his head and released her.

“We should see to Veesha. It’s mostly safe here, but sometimes she gets distracted and goes too far into the bigger hills,” he said.

“Of course. That’s what we’re here for, after all.”

He lifted his hand towards her cheek and caught a thick lock of hair between his fingers before the breeze whipped it free.

“That’s not the only reason we’re here, lady. In my messages, I promised to show you Evathi. I didn’t only mean the temple itself. Can you hear the heartbeat of the Lady in the pulse of the waters? Is the peace here sacred only to me, or can you feel it, too?”

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