Wasn't it serendipitous that he was also smitten by a redhead?
Another coincidence that wasn't really a coincidence?
22
ELUHEED
The party swirled around Eluheed, festive and bright and utterly foreign to everything he'd known for the past millennium.
He stood with a plate of food in his hands that he'd barely touched, watching Tamira and her friends laugh and mingle with remarkable ease with members of this lovely community. The village was truly an oasis, a testament to the idea that sometimes extremely diverse peoples could coexist in peace and contribute to the mutual prosperity of their combined community.
It was unusual for Earthlings, but then most of these people were a mixture of an alien species with humans. The descendants of the gods, who somehow lived in harmony with the Kra-ell, who'd shared their planet of origin but very little of their values. Still, the glue that bound them together was survival. Both cherished life and neither revered death like the Sitorians on his home planet or the followers of darkness on Earth.
These people had built something remarkable—a community, a family, a sanctuary hidden out in the open. They celebrated together, mourned together, and protected each other.
Tamira leaned on his arm, her warmth a comfort against the chill of the approaching evening and that of his thoughts.
"You've barely eaten anything," she said. "Is the food not to your taste?"
"The flavors are a little too intense," he admitted. "I'm also not that hungry."
"You look worried." She slipped her hand into his, threading their fingers together. "Talk to me."
Eluheed looked at this woman who had become his everything in this alien world he'd been exiled to for over a millennium. Her dark blue eyes held nothing but love and patience.
She knew what was troubling him. She just needed him to share with her what he intended to do about it. The clan had the resources to help him, but to ask for their help, he would need to reveal the truth about himself.
"It's obvious that they have the resources," he said quietly so only she could hear him. "I just don't know how to go about asking for their help without revealing things I'm not allowed to reveal. The oath I took was sacred. Breaking it could have severe consequences."
"Keeping it has consequences, too." Tamira turned to face him. "Your charges, whoever and whatever they are, are depending on you, and you're the only one who knows where they are, the only one who can find them. If you don't act because you don't trust anyone enough to help you, they could be trapped thereforever. That's not going to serve them or you or whoever you've given your oath to."
Her words, well-meaning as they were, were like punches she was delivering to his gut, each one landing exactly where it hurt most. She was right, of course. But that didn't solve the problem of the oath he had taken, which pressed down on him like the mountain pressing down on his charges.
He felt powerless to lift either.
"I'm trapped," he admitted. "I'm doomed if I do and doomed if I don't."
"You're just letting fear paralyze you. At some point, you need to take a leap of faith and believe that you were brought here for a reason."
It had occurred to him that his encounter with this other breed of immortals had not been coincidental. He could see the pattern that had led him to this moment, every obstacle serving to bring him a little closer to this village, to these people.
Eluheed took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling a decision crystallizing, taking shape, becoming real.
"I'll talk to Kian," he said.
Tamira's eyes widened. "When?"
"Right now. I'll request a meeting." He looked across the lawn to where Kian was standing with his family, looking relaxed and approachable in a way he hadn't looked during any of their previous encounters.
Tamira rose on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "That's very courageous of you. You make me proud."
"I haven't done anything yet."
"Reaching a decision is the hardest part." She gave him a gentle push. "Go before you lose your nerve."
Eluheed nodded and began making his way across the lawn.
The crowd parted easily around him, people stepping aside with polite smiles and curious glances. He was still a novelty here, one of the newcomers from Navuh's island, and he felt their eyes tracking his progress with interest.
