“How can we thank her for everything she’s done?”
When V’dim rolled to his side, shock crossed his face, passing through their connection. Z’fir hadn’t noticed his coloring had started to return, he was no longer almost completely white like a newborn female Circuli; he was a light blue.
Glancing down at his hands, he was taken aback by his own tan coloring.
“How?”
“Does it have to do with Selena’s Oetsae?”V’dim slowly leaned against the pillowed backboard, using it as a brace to lift himself. Standing, he carefully unfurled his tentacles as if afraid of further injuring them. “How is this possible?”
“Please don’t wake my host, for she needs her rest after an eventful few weeks,”Euouae cautioned, materializing beside the nestbed with his hands behind his back, studying them.“While you slept, I took some energy from the ‘night lamps,’ and some of what Selena had left, to heal what I could for you both. Your health is very important to Selena, and her worries only add to the stress she is already feeling.”
“But how?”Z’fir glanced at the Z’s sleeping form and Selena wrapped up in his embrace.“She isn’t even touching us… and I didn’t feel a thing.”
“It was a combination of a few things.”Euouae began to pace around the nestbed like a professor or mentor about to start a lesson.“Each of your mating spores are inside of her, permanently binding you to her. This is how your body knows hers, why you can’t be without her for long. Not only did it allow her body to adjust, but it gave me the molecular information I needed to heal you.”
“But how did you heal us without our knowledge?” V’dim stood, shakily approaching the golden Oetsae, his tentacles drooping behind him.“Should we be afraid of you?”
“Why would you fear me?”Euouae cocked his head to the side.“You are a part of Selena, as I am. You have nothing to fear, as long as your intentions toward her are pure.”
“You rescued her from the cosmic embrace, which we greatly appreciate”—Z’fir joined his bondmate, tangling one vine and one tentacle together to show his support—“but you also healed us without any direct contact—”
“Your bond thread was enough,”Euouae interrupted, glancing toward where his host lay with her Shadow.“She strengthened the connection by forming a clan network. Through that network, I sent enough energy to heal you.”
“But that’s impossible...”Or at least, he had believed it was. He had never heard of such a thing. At times like these, he wished Xylo were awake to share his knowledge. The Master Scholar was known for his expertise on other species, especially those within the CEG, but until they had met Selena, he hadn’t been needed often.“Our nestqueens cannot.”
“Your nestqueen isn’t Circuli. She was a product of the Yaarkins’ Project: Adapt experiment, as you know. I am part of an ancient species with telepathic strength equivalent to the Nyaviel, but I specialize in energy healing.
“If you didn’t question how Kaede’s Oetsae teleports him or how the orbs in Destima’s construction robots work, then you shouldn’t question my abilities, either.”Euouae peered out of the window, watching the first sunrise begin to light the waterfall’s mist.“Selena is my host and has graced me with the ability to live. I am hers. If I can make her happy, I will—just as I will do anything in my power to protect her.”
Chapter Seventeen
Selena
Sunlight beamed through the waterfall, lighting the nestroom comfortably.
Zirene and Kaede had run off to do their duties after breakfast, leaving me to enjoy myself with my recovering Circuli princes. I didn’t question them, knowing my Shadow had a lot to deal with, especially since he was planning on moving the Aldawi capital to Lunkai soon. Kaede, being Kaede, needed to do something other than lazily relaxing with me while outsiders were roaming about my villa.
Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes at his overprotectiveness.
Oeta had vetted my ambassadors, and they had passed. I didn’t understand why all the extra security was necessary when they had already proven themselves, but I knew better than to argue. After what had happened to me, my security team would rather be safe than sorry. Still, what was the difference between letting my guests roam my villa and the rest of Destima? As long as they stayed out of high-security areas and minded their own business, everything should be okay.
I knew my ambassadors had slim chances of changing the Assembly’s minds on outsiders. Recalling how they had treated me, I suspected they would pass even harsher judgment on them, considering they came from the same galaxy as the Yaarkins. The war was still fresh in everyone’s minds, and news of outsiders so deep in our galaxy would cause havoc.
Following my reinforced bond threads, I checked on my recovering Circuli princes, wondering why they had been silent lately.
Eyes closed, Z’fir stood on the rainbow grass with his back turned toward the suns, petal wings spread wide as though catching the sunlight. His vines dipped into the stream, probably taking in some water.
V’dim floated by on his back, eyes also closed, tentacles lazily drifting behind him.
They both seemed to enjoy taking in the elements. When they had awoken this morning, I was surprised to find their coloring had already improved overnight.
“It’s because I healed them,”Vowels interrupted my thoughts.“I took your enthusiasm earlier in the day about my abilities as permission to help them. I decided to use my surroundings to heal them as much as I was able to.”
“You healed them?” Scrutinizing my nestmates, I did a double take when I realized how much better they looked since I had woken them just yesterday. They had only regained a little of their normal coloring, and their movements were still slow and shaky this morning, but I would rather have them in this condition than the disaster last night.“How long do you think it will take to restore them to health?”
“It all depends on how much energy is freely available around me to use,”Vowels replied, his voice sounding hopeful.“I won’t take from other living beings, unless they give freely, but if I am provided more of your fully charged night lamps, I should also be able to heal your Favored before the harvest festival. If they are worse off than their records show, it will take longer, because I have to expedite the growth of their appendages.”
“What harvest festival?”
