"Yes," she said with a smile. "It is blessed news should your union bring offspring to the clan. And I've already agreed to your mate's terms that your identity remains secret until we are certain no one will harm you again. It was his only stipulation for allowing you to stay with me. Of course, practically, I am granting him a stay as your mate, but he must remain on Bina, aside from approved visitations within the clan. His species would not do well on the mainland; the moon’s rays would not suit him when amplified by tarnpul. I won't have my son-in-law shrivel up before giving me offspring to dote over."
I blushed at the idea and absently placed my hands over my stomach with yearning.
Before I realized it, Yueril was entering the room and kissing my forehead. I didn't know how long I had stood there daydreaming of what kind of offspring we'd have together. Would they be more like Yueril, with scales and a tail? Or would they be more like me with bright loh, and five fingers? My eyes grew wide… would they be bald with scales? I shook my head. The idea of not having any hair at all was odd to me, but Yueril was more than fine without a single hair on his body. And what a body it was, I thought as he scooped me into his arms.
"What thoughts are stirring in that head of yours?" he asked.
I didn't want to worry him with thoughts of offspring we may never have, so I frowned, unsure what to say before I settled on avoiding the question all together. "Are you sure you're alright with your crew leaving without you?"
"Belder is a fine commander. They will survive without me," he assured and then placed his large hand over mine, which was somehow still resting on my stomach. "Our future will survive too."
I smiled at that. It was the best way to think about things. I had a future now, with him, and a very important mission to figure out the next steps with the nanotechnology that saved our lives for now, but for how long? Whatever happens, we'd face it together. Lifting his hand in mine to my lips, I whispered, "The fate of the stars are here. Small stars fade with the eye. Large stars destroy the sky. We break under pressure and electrify. Our future will survive."
Chapter eighteen
Yueril
"Youneedtotakea break," Hazel insisted. Her voice echoed in my implant, a sign that the technology was degrading over the years of exposure to the moon's radiation. It made sense why the estrelds didn't use the technology themselves and kept their planet isolated. Their queen, whom they called Almder, has maintained her desire to avoid diplomats that have found their way out to the far reaches of the galaxy.
"It's almost ready. The krelins have already took trade ships full of Ordin without supplying the hewve lard, nectar, or rekol rock. They are changing trade demands, and your Almder may not be planning for an invasion, but one will come. They act like this planet is already theirs."
My breathing hissed out in more of a wheeze as I made sure another satellite was finished for launch around the moon. I assured myself it had nothing to do with my frustrations at the Almder's lack of action. The net circuit was almost completed.
"She's right, I can finish this up," the young male named Loric said with a stoic demeanor. He was a serious sort of youngling but had advised with the Almder on my behalf to make this defense system a priority. "Almder told me that your room was designed to repel the moon's radiation. You'll shrivel up into a worm if you stay out here much longer."
"That is an exaggeration," I assured him.
"You still promise that you won't return to the great rock if you train me in combat?" Loric lifted a brow ridge at me as I scratched at my dry scalp scales.
"The only rock you're returning to is the one where you remind our offspring that she is not to moon bathe on the tarnpul anymore. She is as stubborn as you are," my treasure complained, though I could hear the way her tone changed like her mouth was smiling as she said it. Hazel's green skin had been fading over the years, starting where the loh on her feet were removed, turning pink. Less and less radiation was being converted by her delicate loh jewels, which made me wish to work faster to protect her. As strong as she was, she would not be able to fight as she used to. Another surge like she gave her father could be her last.
"Yes, the tarnpul is dangerous when not treated properly," I agreed. "I'll remind her that tarnpul can drain radiation as quickly as it gives it if she isn't careful." I returned my attention to the blue jeweled estreld, only half my size, yet so grown up. "You can train with Faith. You two are the same cycles, and perhaps you can remind her of the dangers of untreated tarnpul."
"She made my whole arm go numb last time," Loric complained.
"All the more reason to train. It's best to avoid the tincture oil near her scales, and it'll better prepare you for defending yourself against krelin musk."
"How am I supposed to win if I can't touch her?"
"A krelin's musk is only useful in close proximity. They use their wings to blow it into your face before it can dilute itself within the air's radiation. They must be close, just like you must touch the oil for it to numb you. You're still young, but there is no shame in using tools to even a duel."
I handed him the tarnpul pole I carried around, it was treated to repel radiation, and the boy flinched as he grasped it, but he didn't drop it. He nodded and pressed the button on its center to collapse it to a smaller stick the size of my leg, larger than his own small frame. It would grow with him.
He still seemed confused by the gesture, and I smiled at how he still maintained his composure. He'd be a fine warrior one day. "If it repels the radiation around it, then it can be swung to deflect a krelin's musk. It also makes sure that when you are training, you are not relying on your loh's radiation, but on your own strength. It gives you an advantage that you can train to defeat someone without your loh, while others will struggle to do something they have not yet trained for."
"Are you trying to kill Almder's favorite youngling?" Hazel interrupted my guidance for the youngling from my implant, that had yet to break the communication connection.
"He won't die from holding tarnpul, and he can train to hold the pole and stop it from interfering with his loh, just as our daughter should do before she goes moon bathing again."
"Remind him that he shouldn't carry it with him all the time. Only for training. He still needs the moon's rays to be healthy and grow strong, and if you've given him your pole then it would repel too much of the radiation from reaching his loh. I'll go to the market to buy another one for you. Ezra won't be pleased that you've given it away. It was a gift, you know."
"Now, it is still a gift," I dismissed her worries. We both knew that living on Estreldez was difficult for my species, and like my time in the deserts of Trillume, I was seen as a savage by much of the clan that knew of my existence.
"Almder says that the net you're building could damage our moon's ability to fuel our planet's rocks with nutrients," Loric said while flipping the condensed pole up in the air and failing to catch it when it returned to the ground. He frowned and tried again.
"To create something is an act of destroying what it was before. Even this tarnpul we've used to build these satellites, will never be the same. For you to live, there are rocks and plants that are ground up into mulch. If the krelins attack, then it is a price your planet will pay to survive."
"They will," Loric grunted about the krelins, as he thrust the pole forward like it was a sword.
