“You okay, Ro?” Gia’s fingers landed lightly on my arm.
I turned to look into the concerned gaze of my new friend. We had woken up on the island at about the same time and had been inseparable ever since. She was the social one of the two of us where I remained silent, quietly wallowing in separation anxiety over my twin.
“I’m good. Just need a minute to adjust to our new surroundings.”
“If you’re sure, I’d like to follow the girls to the medic bay,” Gia said as we watched the girls be carried out of the invisible bubble craft by a steady stream of Valosians eager to offer assistance. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m sure.” I put on a brave front to cover my rising anxiety. “Go ahead without me.”
Gia left me where I stood just outside the wavy distortion of the invisible craft. It had been like traveling inside a high-tech soap bubble; the hull and even the floor of the craft were invisible. I’d stared down in awe of the churning sea we had crossed and then at the thick vegetation of a silver and blue jungle.
Without realizing, I searched the sea of silvery faces milling about for the one I shouldn’t seek. He was what they called a bedmate to another. They were suited to each other, both techies, both extremely smart with IQs that far exceeded mine.
Bedmate or not, there he stood, off in the distance, as promised. His eyes fixed on me. He said we would see each other again and there he was. Of its own accord, my hand lifted in greeting. The Huren tech returned the gesture, flashing his silver palm and gifting me with a rare smile before striding forward.
I still couldn’t put my finger on what it was about him that put me at ease. Maybe how he was always so focused and quiet. Gentle and careful in his movements as if he knew how lost I felt inside without my sister and didn’t want to frighten me.
His very presence was like a Valium for my anxiousness. I had no reason to trust him any more than I did anyone else. He was a stranger on an even stranger land, but I found myselfeased in his company. Grief stricken, my melancholy over being separated from my sister for the first time in my life always lessened when he was near.
“Greetings, Rowan.” Zikkar tipped his chin at me. “Welcome to the city of Huren.”
“Thanks.”I’m so glad to see you,I wanted so badly to say. My face flushed and I knew my cheeks were twin rosettes. The curse of having pale skin and strawberry-blonde hair, every emotion expressed itself in shades of red.
“May I escort you to the palace? A room has been readied for you,” Zikkar offered in his kind and gentle way.
“Where’s Rose?” I blurted, hating the jealousy that always sank me whenever I thought of the two of them together.
“With her spirit mate, Wynnter. Working on developing a long-range weapon to protect the city.”
I blinked stupidly into the perfect features of his intelligent face. “Right. I knew that.” I had seen the evidence of her mating in the softly glowing shawra in the center of her chest when she had come to the island to wait during the battle for the city.
“They bonded just before the battle with the Gretolics.” Zikkar explained matter-of-factly what I already knew. I detected no grief from a broken heart. “You look surprised.”
“Well,” I nervously tucked an errant strand of hair behind my ear, and Zikkar’s eyes immediately went to the rounded tip. I suspected he found my appearance as intriguing as I found his. “I just thought the two of you were an item.”
“I’m unclear of your meaning.”
I grinned, having forgotten the translators we had plugged in our ears couldn’t decipher between literal meanings and slang. “I meant, I thought you two were together.”
“Not since she awakened Wynnter. Rose was not fated to be mine. Her spirit was destined for another, so I stepped aside.”
“I’m so sorry, Z.” The lightness of my heart contradicted my empathy.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Rose and I remain friends, and she is with the male the Spirits meant for her to be bonded with.”
“That’s big of you.” Zikkar wrinkled his brow, so I added, “Generous. It’s generous of you to not be angry or bitter that she chose another.”
Zikkar shrugged and extended his elbow for me to take. “Rose was not meant to be mine,” he logically explained, guiding me along the path leading to the palace. “There is a spirit mate for each of us; sometimes we must be patient and wait for the one who speaks to our hearts.”
“You really believe all this soulmate business?”
“Don’t you?”
I wanted to open my mouth and deny what he wholeheartedly believed, but the proof was all around me. Couples with softly glowing designs paraded by, hand in hand. The truth of their bond etched over their hearts.
“I guess I can't argue with what's right in front of me,” I admitted. “It's just...back on Earth, we don't have definitive proof like your matching shawras. A lot of relationships end in heartbreak.”
Zikkar's expression softened with understanding. “I can only imagine how difficult and uncertain matters of the heart must be without the guidance of the Spirits. But perhaps that makes the connections you forge even more meaningful, choosing to give your heart without the certainty we are afforded.”
