But just when Zarriko was on the brink of ordering his Protectors to fly Aloryk back to Rynn, I begged him to let him stay a while.
I don’t know why I’d done that.
I’d come to this tribe just to get away from that man, after all.
But the thought of Aloryk walking all those miles to come and find me, only to be turned away…well, I just couldn’t stand it.
Zarriko reluctantly let him stay, much to many of his tribemate’s disgust, but as a prisoner, not a guest. For now, at least. He entered Zarriko’s land ‘with hostile intent’, so apparently they can’t just let him walk around freely.
Which I understand - he did come barging in with a dagger to one of their throats, after all. But to keep him tied up? Now, that’s some bullshit right there.
“His wings are still healing,” I insist, standing outside the hut they are apparently keeping Aloryk in. The guard gives me a hard stare which makes me feel defensive somehow. I fold my arms and cock a hip. “Why are you guys keeping him tied up anyhow?”
“The High Spear wishes it.”
That is all the answer I’m apparently getting out of this one. I think he’s one of the ones that is still pissed about the whole Goddess-not-Goddess thing, so that checks out.
“I know he didn’t make the best first impression-” the Trixikka guard raises a brow, “-but he won’t hurt anyone, I swear.”
The huge male tilts his head to look at me. “Why are you so concerned when he is not even your mate?”
That-
That stung.
But I get it. To these guys, their heart-stars are king. They mean a hell of a lot, plus some more.
And Aloryk doesn’t have any.
AndI won’t acknowledge… ‘us’.
Side-stepping the question, I make a move to enter the hut, “can I just-” only to be blocked by a wall of twinkling muscle. “Will you let me talk to him? Please?”
All I get in response is a slow shake of his head and a twitching tail behind him.
* * *
I’ve been pestering Zarriko almost all day about letting me see Aloryk.
I’ve got to admit, he’d started strong with his refusals, but I’m pretty sure I’m wearing him down. I know technically, nothing has changed in the status of mine and Aloryk’s relationship since he showed up, but I just can’t stand the thought of him being held prisoner and tied up in there. They say that it’s because he’s dangerous, but that’s just not true - not to me, anyway.
So I’ve pretty much spent a good few hours following the High Spear around and petitioning him to let me go and talk to Aloryk.
“For the love of God, will you just let the girl go and see her man?!” Sophia groans from her nest-bed in the roundhouse.
Zarriko sighs. “I cannot just-”
“I will let you wash me if you let her see him…. All over.”
The High Spear seems rendered silent by that prospect - so much so that where Sophia had been laying down, staring at thewoven-leaf roof, her head now pops up just to check that he’d heard her offer.
Zarriko stares at his mate, swallowing so thickly, I can hear it.
“Did you hear me?” Sophia asks. “You’ve been wanting to take me up to that waterfall and bathe me since I woke u-”
“I heard you,” he says, a hunger so evident in his eyes, I feel like I’m intruding by just being here. “You-” his tail flicks and his skin-stars start racing down his chest and abs.
Uh-oh, I know what that means.
