Chapter 1
Kayla
“How’s your bowl coming along?” Hai inquired while glancing at the monstrosity I held in my hands.
“What do you think?” I quipped.
Hai physically recoiled, and I laughed. She doesn’t hold back one bit and I like that about her. Honesty combined with kindness makes for a good friend, and I’ve found that with Hai.
“I mean, they say practice makes perfect, right? Maybe in your case, practice will make…tolerable.”
I laughed again at Hai's attempt to make me feel better about the clay pot I’d been working on. Drondia, one of the elders of the dekes, was the unofficial clay pot maker. She knew where to find natural clay and how to fire it to make a solid piece of pottery.
Hai and I have been trying to make decorative clay bowls for the women to put their jewelry and trinkets in.
Hai had chronic fatigue syndrome and I have congenital heart failure. Meaning neither of us could move around as much as the others, but we had worked together to figure out things we could do thatwould be helpful for the dekes that wouldn’t require much movement on our part. Decorating clay pots was one of those things. Hai was much better at it than I was, though, she wasn’t good, she was just better.
I looked down at my objectively ugly clay pot and wondered aloud, “Do you think the guys will ever force us to do more work than we do now?”
“No,” Hai said with a reassuringly confident tone. “They’ve never asked any of us to contribute. We just keep offering to help out.”
“That’s true.” But I was still worried that if either Hai or I had a flare up, would the guys respond poorly to us laying in bed for days on end. Would they look down on us? Would they believe us if we said we couldn’t physically get up and do anything?
The dekes had only had one bad disease, and that was the Stiffness. It was a quick disease that caused its victims to become rigid shortly before they died. They didn’t have any illnesses that caused people to feel weak or gave them chronic pain.
“You’re still thinking about it, aren’t you?” Hai interrupted my thoughts.
“Maybe,” I frowned down at my bowl.
“Even if they try to make us do more than we can handle, the other women will stand up for us. We’re a tight-knit group now and with Gabby mated to Tarak, there’s even less to worry about.”
I nodded my head in agreement and continued my attempts to etch a pretty pattern into the clay.
“Good morning.”
I knew that voice. The sexy low, gravelly tone of the dryad shifter irritated me to no end.
“I brought you both some tea.” He handed us both a wooden cup of hot tea, wooden cups that he’d made. Drovo had made so many things for this dekes and yet he couldn’t finish this one project for me. It hurt. I didn’t want that fact to hurt but it did. Hence, our once cordial friendship had spiraled into one bickering match after another.
“No Lumod this morning?” I asked.
“I may have bit his head off last night,” Hai interrupted before Drovo could respond. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t come around at all today.”
Hai looked forlorn, and I wondered what had happened between them.
“I was wondering if you would allow me to get one more measurement today. I'm very close to finishing the seat of the device.”
I couldn’t hold back my eye roll. He’d measured me at least two dozen times for this damn chair, and every time he made a prototype, it was off.
“No, I’m busy today.” I wanted that damn device he was working on, but I’d lost hope that he’d ever finish it. Lately, I resorted to arguing with Drovo every chance I got. It was better than feeling sad about his broken promise.
“What if I promised this would be the last measurement I needed?” That was new. This was the first time he’d indicated he was so close to being done.
“Fine, I’ll be around later,” I grumbled.
“Great! I’ll be in my workshop waiting for you,my little luna moth.” He gave me an arrogant smile.
“Don’t call me that,” I called behind him as he walked away, but the long-legged Sirret was already gone.
