Page 67 of Unfinished

The air became cooler, and the brick walkway scuffed against her shoes. They kept walking, and she pressed her arm more tightly against his for support as he led her along the curving path. They continued until he finally brought them to a stop, and she thought they surely must’ve reached the center.

R’kash lowered his hand. “Open your eyes,” he told her.

Sienna looked up and her lips parted. She turned around slowly, not wanting to miss any of it. “Oh, R’kash—it’s amazing. It’s so beautiful.”

The entire courtyard glowed. Orbs like the one on their Christmas tree, except several times larger, lit up every corner of the large garden. Twirling lengths of ribbon and trim had been tied to the branches of the trees and the larger shrubs and plants. Golden chains were strung like garland from plant to plant, and the large green and red beads from before seemed to float across the sky like they’d been tied to invisible strings and fastened above them in the very center of the courtyard. She didn’t know if they used a similar tech to the light orbs to achieve the effect, but altogether it was breathtaking.

“It pleases you?”

Sienna took a break from looking up to reach for R’kash and give him a tight hug. “Yes, I love it. How did you get all of this decorated so quickly? It didn’t look like this yesterday.”

“The others helped. It would’ve been impossible to complete it on time alone.”

She tipped her head back to watch the slowly drifting orbs and take in all of the little details. “Thank you, R’kash. This was a wonderful present.”

“You’re welcome, Sienna,” he said before he leaned in to kiss her forehead. “You’re welcome.”

27

Dear Sienna,

It pains me to read about your difficulties with your mother. Now that I know I’m a father, I’m always worried about making mistakes. I must say and do the wrong thing so often. It scares me to know that when Veesha grows up she might regret that I was the one who lived. I only remember my own parents a little. Their faces are no longer clear in my mind, but it was no one’s fault. It’s the way of the priest clan to train initiates early, but I’ve found myself wondering if it wouldn’t be better for me to ignore our traditions and seek them out before it’s too late. I won’t tell you to forgive your mother, but I will say a blessing for you both.

R’kash deactivated the tablet,his throat tight. It only took him a moment to know which of his men had written that message. He could still recall that conversation with Jesthi, the one where he’d shared those doubts and fears as they’d walked the roof together and his friend had told him that Veesha would never forget the shape of his face, because Jesthi knew that R’kash was determined to make a home for her. They’d made an offering together that evening and let it burn, the smoke from it a dark plume in the molten red sky.

Even then, had Jesthi been praying for Sienna? For him?

He pressed his fingers against his forehead, resting his elbows on his desk. Every word Jesthi had written was the truth. A truth R’kash would’ve never knowingly shared with a near stranger, but is was true nonetheless. Maybe he’d been looking at everything backwards. R’kash couldn’t imagine a life where he would’ve ever joined the Mate Portal Program on his own, but he couldn’t find it in him to pretend any longer that he regretted what his men had done.

They’d been right from the beginning. They’d blessed him beyond imagining. Sienna was the mate he’d never dreamed could be real, the answer to desires he would’ve never dared to voice. He’d never before felt such joy in his life.

He would still tell her what his men had done—he wouldn’t keep the truth from her indefinitely—but he realized now that the truth looked different than he’d thought. Even if he didn’t always see himself the way his men did, the person they described was real. They knew him, they cared for him—the person in those messages really was him, even if he never could’ve written the words himself.

R’kash rose from behind the desk and walked back to their bed. She waited for him, a soft smile gracing her lips even in sleep. He’d wait until her Christmas had passed. Then he’d tell her, and he’d pray to the Lady that Sienna would understand.

The next morning, R’kash placed five more presents beneath Sienna’s tree, one for each of the men who’d brought her to Evathi.

* * *

It was Christmas Eve.The morning didn’t feel much different from any other, but as the sun slipped lower towards the horizon, Sienna’s excitement grew. Tomorrow, they’d wake up and it would be Christmas. Everyone else seemed to be caught up in the anticipation, too. Veesha had been running to the tree each morning to see what new presents had appeared, and she’d caught R’kash’s priests admiring the lights in the courtyard more than once since the night R’kash had showed them to her.

All in all, it felt like Christmas.

“What are you smiling about,k’lallsa?” R’kash settled his hands over her shoulders and kissed her cheek. Then he lowered his mouth to her neck. Her back arched and her head tipped back before she pushed him off.

“Not now!” she whispered. “Veesha and Faseeth are supposed to come soon. We were going to make these cookies that smell good to hang on the tree.”

“You’re planning to hang food on the tree?” he asked, and his warm chuckle teased her throat before he planted one more kiss below her ear and stepped back.

“No. I had good luck with the pie, but our ingredients are too different to really bake. These cookies aren’t meant for eating. You just add spices that make them smell like real cookies. I did make sure to bring some cookies with me though—they’re over there on the center table.”

R’kash walked over to inspect the offerings. There was nothing too fancy, only cookies and a few candies she could buy at any grocery store since she’d known whatever she brought had to last a few weeks.

He picked up a little gingerbread man with red sparkles and raised it to his mouth. His tongue came out to scent it first before he bit down and then made a sound of mingled shock and disgust. His eyes widened and he shifted the cookie to the left side of his mouth behind his fang, finally managing to take a real bite. He swallowed it down quickly before rushing to the counter to get himself some chocolate.

“It wasn’t that bad. Now you’re just being dramatic,” she said as he gulped the chocolate like it was water.

R’kash set down his cup and flicked back his robes. “I wasn’t being dramatic. That was like eating a slice of brick. Your people offer that to children?”

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