"I have before."
"And that worked out so well for you," Dhomhes replied.
Fiviel shifted, and he stomped his leg on the ground.
"Enough," the other male said, then glanced at her. "Forgive them, miss. They suffer from too much personality."
"And you don't, Stron?" Khalzin asked, but he had a smile on his face.
"You like my arrogance.”
"Occasionally." Khalzin put his hand on Janae's shoulder. "This is Janae. We are in Courtship."
"Moving right along, are we?" Dhomhes asked.
"It is what we are here for," Khalzin replied.
"Nice to meet you," Janae said. "Stron, Fiviel, and Dhomhes.”
"And you are quite attractive, congratulations. Khalzin is a decent male. He will respect you," Stron said.
"Thank you," she said. That was encouraging to hear that from his friend. On her world, it would have been, so she was going with it here on this world.
Fiviel nodded. "Yes. You are quite lovely," he said.
She shook her head. "Why do you say that? I am not lovely," she muttered.
Khalzin stared at her. "Why do you think that?"
"I am plain. Ordinary. And certainly not worth such praise.”
"You are beautiful. You took my breath away the moment I approached you.”
"You were just mad I was ignoring you."
This made the others laugh.
"The truth reveals itself," Stron said. "You never could stand a female who did not admire you."
"That is not--" Khalzin replied, grinning.
"Where are they going?" Fiviel asked, his voice carrying over the others. "Do we not get to select our females?" He glared at Khalzin. "Did you cause a problem already?"
"Well, that solves our dilemma of whether we have to go through with this," Dhomhes said.
"Why do you say that? Don't you want to be here?" Janae asked.
"We are here because we choose to be," Fiviel said, glaring at Dhomhes.
Janae glanced back at the ship. "Oh, there are plenty. They decided to separate us into smaller groups. Not to overwhelm you, I suppose.”
The women had disappeared inside, and she wondered if she would get to see what happened with Adryel. Which group was Adryel in? Her hair would be easy to spot if she didn't bundle it up like she said she might.
"I hope not," she muttered to herself.
"What do you hope not?" Khalzin asked.
"Sorry, I was muttering to myself."
