When they departed from the docking bay after the vessel was secured and they took their first look at the vast expanse of Luxiria, Beks gasped beside him.
He wondered what his home looked like to her.He’d come home to this view many times throughout his life and while it was always a beautiful sight, it was a familiar one.
The sky was shades of peach and pink as the twin suns began their ascent, heralding a new span.The docking bay was high up on a cliff of one of thefacev, the Luxirian mountains, which overlooked a deep valley.Thefacevsencircled it and the black sand that covered most of their planet glimmered and reflected the suns’ golden light.
Beyond that, Lihvan saw the Golden City.Carved out of the tallest and most prominentfacev, it was home to the Prime Leader and his mate, and the central hub of their culture.It was a terraced city that stretched long and wide.He saw Vaxa’an’s dwelling at the very top, his own dwelling was just one terrace below, as was most of the Ambassadors’ temporary homes.
Still, even in all of its beauty, Lihvan ached for hisKroratax.
“Is that…” Beks trailed off, eyes wide as she took in Luxiria.“Is that the Golden City?The one you told me about?”
“Tev,” he murmured down to her, his hand clasped in hers.A purely human gesture, but it seemed to comfort his female, and he would soak up her presence for as long as he could.
She went quiet and then said, “It’s beautiful, Lihvan.I—I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this.”
“My dwelling is on the second terrace from the top,” he told her, pointing.Even from this distance, he could make out his door, even though it looked like a speck.“We will rest there this night.”
Before the inevitable tomorrow, he thought.One last night with hisluxiva.It would never be enough.
“Which direction isKroratax?” she asked quietly, the question surprising him.
He turned and pointed across the vast valley, beyond the plains of theRavrax’tor, and the forests ofJaraxalla.“That way.”
Beks went quiet and Cruxan came up to them.
“Vaxa’an wishes to see you, brother,” he said quietly, in Luxirian rather than in English.Very few were allowed to call the Prime Leader by his given name and especially in the presence of others.“He wishes to meet your female as well.”
Lihvan shot him a look.“You told him about her?”
“Yes,” he said, completely unapologetic.
Now, Vaxa’an would look at him with pity and knowing.
Lihvan clenched his jaw, but nodded.“At his dwelling?”
“Yes.There is a hovercraft waiting for you.”
He jerked his head in a nod and led his female away.His body was restored and he felt his strength in every bone and sinew of muscle, but his mind was heavy and sluggish.He wished to take his female to his dwelling and selfishly keep her there, yet he could not disobey his Prime Leader and close friend.
Perhaps Vaxa’an would be able to help him clear his mind, to help him accept what was coming and help him mentally prepare.
Beks let out a little squeal of surprise when he sent power flowing into the hovercraft, raising it off the ground, sand billowing beneath them.
Once she got over her surprise, she clutched his arm and peered over the side.They weren’t far off the ground, but they would be soon.
Her eyes twinkled and a smile lit up her face, excitement making her cheeks flush.“This isamazing.”
Lihvan’s brow furrowed and he froze for a brief second.Because for a moment, he thought about the possibility ofconvincingher to stay.Would she come to love Luxiria as much as he did?Could she?
He was out of options and it was his only choice.If only he could show her what her life would be like on this planet, with him…perhaps she would choose him, just like how Vaxa’an’s mate, Kate, had chosenhim.
Determination flowed in him.For the first time since he’d woken in the medical bay, he felt hope.
It would be the most important battle he had ever waged, but his Beks was worth it.And if there was any possible way that he could convince her to stay, to be with him, to bear his offspring, and accept his love…he would give it everything he had.
Lihvan had never lost a battle in his entire life span.He didn’t intend to start now.
* * *
