“I said hold still. It will take a moment to finish.”
“I can understand you.”
“Because I am using simple words. Once the rune is complete, you will be ready for complex conversation. Now hush and let me work.”
Olivia was justifiably floored. She’d wondered how the marking behind her other ear had worked, but she’d been unconscious when it was put there and had doubts as to the veracity of the whole “special pigment” line the alien women had shared with her. Speaking with Harper, as well as not understanding the Raxxians, had proven it was the real deal. But now? Experiencing its application and function like this in real time, this was the final confirmation that they’d been telling the truth. She just wished she’d paid more attention to the other things they’d said and hadn’t dismissed it as mystical mumbo jumbo at the time.
“How comes it, Nijello?” a new voice asked. An older and decidedlyfemalevoice.
“Almost done, Your Excellence.”
“Good.” The voice’s owner stepped in front of the seat, the two men flanking on either side giving slight bows.
“Excellence,” they said in unison.
“Arkness. Rykker. I see you brought a new female into our midst.”
“We found her in the southern wilds,” the taller one replied. “Her translation rune was damaged.”
“She tripped a game trap, but that didn’t cause the injury,” the shorter one added. “We discovered her together at the same time.”
The woman’s left eyebrow raised slightly. “Is that so, Rykker? Well, that is most interesting.”
“Um, excuse me? Can someone tell me what’s going on here?”
The woman leaned forward, kindness but also firm control in her gaze. She was a leader of some sort, clearly, and one who expected to be shown respect.
“Sorry for my tone,” Olivia quickly added. “It’s just, after the whole Raxxian thing, I’m a little on edge.”
The way everyone in the room reacted at that word was telling. The carnivorous aliens were apparently very much disliked around these parts.
“Raxxians, you say?” the woman asked, her expression softening to one of pity more than anything. “That would explain your lack of the other runes. Though I do see some markings I am unfamiliar with. They do make a habit of taking from the outer worlds.”
“Runes?”
“As required by the Dotharian Conglomerate. The translation rune with which we are speaking being the most basic of them all, and typically the first a person receives.” Shereached out and grasped her by the chin, turning her head to look behind each ear. “Nice work, Nijello.”
“Thank you, Excellence. May I apply the salve?”
“You may.”
The woman released her grip and shifted her gaze back to meet Olivia’s while the old man smeared something sticky behind both of her ears, covering both the old and new tattoo.
“It is very unusual for one to possess two translation runes. But as your old one was damaged, it was decided the rules would be bent for your situation.”
“Uh, thank you?”
“As for the rest of your runes, the Skrizzit will apply them once you have rested.”
“What’s a Skrizzit?”
The woman chuckled. “Nijello here is our Skrizzit. The one trained in the application of the runes and keeper of the pigments for the process.”
“What process?” Olivia asked, her head suddenly becoming a bit foggy as wooziness started creeping over her tired body.
“Ah, I see the medicated healing salve is kicking in.”
“The what?”
