“I have a smaller size that might be a better fit for her head since she doesn’t have horns,” the vendor said eagerly, his accent so heavy it took me a moment to make out the words.
“Let’s see that one, then.”
The vendor hurriedly but carefully unpacked one of his crates. A wave of homesickness hit when I thought of how similar our Christmas craft fairs were, with vendors behind rows of tables selling beautiful handmade items.
“Arrazyl,” I murmured softly, moving close to his side. “You know I can’t pay for these.”
“I’m paying.”
“But why?” I gazed up at him.
“Consider it an apology gift, for my captain stepping out of line.”
I smiled teasingly. “Do you often give out apology gifts to your captives?”
He grinned, a flash of white teeth and fangs against silver skin. “Not usually.”
With the help of the attentive vendor, I put on the necklace and head piece. It was made for someone with horns and draped interestingly over my head and around my ears, with a delicate chain draping from one side of my face to the other over the bridge of my nose.
Arrazyl’s eyes flashed with approval. “Vorpyr jewelry suits you.”
“Indeed.” the vendor kept looking me over. “I’ve never had my work displayed on another species before. This is wonderful.”
“I thought everyone could sell their wares on neutral planets.” I had heard that they were massive gathering places of all sorts of beings, and everything was sold there, while shipyards repaired ships and recharged their cores for a long flight.
The vendor looked nervously at Arrazyl, as though he might not be allowed to speak to me. He gave him a flick of his wing.I still hadn’t figured out what all the precise movements of their huge wings meant, but that was definitely a “go ahead” motion.
“That’s true, but I don’t venture off planet. Vorpyr aren’t always welcome by other species.”
My brows furrowed. “Why is that?”
“We have a history of defending our planet…aggressively. So we’re given a great deal of respect and a wide berth by others. Plus, other species don’t always seem to be comfortable around wings and horns.”
“Hmm.”
“Come, the games are going to begin soon and I need to leave you with Kyvar since I will be participating.” Arrazyl said.
“Oh, ok.” I turned back to the vendor with a smile. “It was lovely speaking with you.”
He puffed up his chest and beamed.
We left the vendor in high spirits and made our way through the crowds to the edge of the platform. “What games are you participating in?”
He flashed a playful smile. “You’ll see.” He wrapped his arms around me and hopped into the air, flying us up to the top of the cliff where even more vorpyr were milling about. There was an air of excitement and many males and a few females seemed to be doing something like warming up. Stretching their wings and backs. They were so occupied they barely even glanced at me. It was a nice reprieve from the open stares I’d been getting all day.
When we found Kyvar and Tatiana, he was shielding her with his wing, both from the sun and the stares she was getting.
Arrazyl smirked and said something to him in vorikaan. Kyvar rumbled in his chest and responded in a snippy manner. Arrazyl laughed.
I stood next to Tatiana as Arrazyl strode through the crowd, which parted for him like water around a rock.
“What is this game he’s taking part in?” I glanced around curiously, but didn’t see anything that would indicate a game to me. No balls, nets, tables with chess boards or someone on a stand with trivia questions.
“It’s a competition, not a game. There are several feats of strength they need to show and hurdles they need to get through. Whoever gets through it all to the finish line first wins.”
“Do many get injured during this competition?”
“Oh yes, it’s quite physical.” He saw my expression and a mischievous glint entered his eyes. “Don’t worry, the Vorazyr has more prowess than any of these young males. Besides, he has to do well so he can impress you.”
