No. No.No. Come on, Alana. I take a deep breath. If I start to spiral out now, I'm going to cry and what help will that be to anyone?
Mavyx pushes off from the wall and stalks forward, his eyes locked on me the whole time and I'm reminded that I'd puked my guts out in front of him during the early hours of this morning. I will him not to mention that lovely little piece of information as he approaches, throwing him my best stern, I-mean-business-face. It's the expression I used to wear when fighting for employee rights and facing down scum-bag bosses who were only out to squeeze every buck out of good, honest, hard-working people. Right now, I'm silently asking Mav not to press me for anything. I'm not in the mood, and this is not the time, or place.
He halts his advance, stopping just where Chastity is still lying on the ground, nursing a sore head. He breaks eye contact with me briefly to glance down at her, his brows furrowed at the sight.
"You better not be here to offer us any more of that evil squirrel juice," she groans, and I can't help but laugh at that.
Mavyx fixes me with another stare, his eyes dropping to where I'm wearing a lingering smile on my lips. His mouth opens and he takes a breath like he's about to say something, his expression still confused. But whatever he was about to say doesn't come. He just stands and stares, until I feel my smile faltering a little. Why does this frustrating idiot make me feel like a teenager at her first dance?
Chastity removes the arm that had been slung over her eyes and squints up at the Second Spear. "Something got your loincloth in a bunch, or are you just here to stand over me while you drool at Alana all day?"
Mavyx coughs, his skin-stars flaring up a little like he's flushed.
"There is a Temple ceremony this day," he barks, shifting his weight from one foot to the other while his tail twitches behind him. "Zarriko's males are-" his eyes shift from me to Tessa, and Skye, laid out on the ground, "-welcome." The way he grit out that word made them sound anything but. "As are all females," he finishes, his gaze back on me, his tongue sweeping over his bottom lip.
***
The short flight from village to the Trixikka's temple is awkward as hell. "You are still sick?" Mavyx murmurs low to me while he carries me bridal-style as he flies. I close my eyes and take a huge lungful of air before answering.
"No, I'm fine," I say as brightly as I can possibly muster.
Mavyx only grunts and I don't think he believes me.
The gathering is a large one, what with the other tribe here too, but there's an undercurrent of mistrust as Zarriko's tribe stand at the back, observing the proceedings. Toward the front, the younger Trixikka boys, some as little as maybe six or seven sit on the ground cross-legged, their cute little faces lighting up when all us girls sit down beside them.
"What I wouldn't give for some sunglasses and coffee right now," Skye whines beside me.
"And some Advil," Chastity adds.
"Yessss."
I chuckle at their whimpering and catch sight of Mav standing beside Rynn and Serena, watching me while they wait for everyone to arrive and settle. Half of me wants to flip him the bird, but then again, he does cut a fine figure, standing there all brooding and intense - so the other half wants to march on up to him and climb him like a damn tree.
Neither half of me wins however, when Rynn steps up in front of everyone and starts the ceremony, the whole crowd ushered into a silence.
We've seen this a couple of times before, now. The mighty High Spear says words of thanks to the Goddesses, asks the Trixikka to present the weird egg temple with offerings and then some of them line up to be told 'no son for you today' by the floaty-ball-thing that talks.
I try to be respectful, but in all honesty, I'm not feeling that fresh today. I could do with something to settle my stomach, a nice hot bath, and a nap that lasts two days straight.
It's an effort not to grimace when two Trixikka hunters bring a kill to offer up to the temple - one of those purple deer-like creatures they love to eat here. Only this one is headless and hog-tied.
"What do you think is really in there?" Tessa leans over to whisper.
"Hm?"
"The temple," she says, nodding her head at the strange structure. "What do you think is really in there?"
I turn to her and furrow my brow. "Uh... Goddesses? I don't know?" I don'treallythink it's 'Goddesses', but I don't really care all that much either. "I've not given it much thought."
"Hmm," she hums, cocking her head and squinting up at the temple. "Yours looks exactly the same as the one at our tribe. Except ours is by a waterfall. Did you check for any strange symbols or writing on it?"
"No? Should I have?"
"Ours has some," she says, still assessing the giant egg-temple. "It says Royal Xaviann Conservation."
"...Okay?"
Tessa nods her head to herself. "I'm going to find out what the hell is really inside those things one day, and I'll bet you anything it's not Goddesses."
