Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Do we need to bring anything for the ride there, and can I help feed and get them ready?”
“We can do anything you want, Selina. Just say the words.”
Right.
Maybe I’m still getting used to that.
The trip back to the city takes us through a market where, for the first time, I begin to see a bit of the diversity in the people of the city. A jeweler with eyes the color of burnt orange and skin a scarred green is one of the only who calls to us that makes Bothaki stop the carriage. Leaning in the doorway of a shop made of stone, he leans forward a bit to bow to Bothaki and I. “Prince,” he greets kindly.
“Aro, I’ll be visiting you soon,” my mate says.
“I’m already working on something I think you’ll like.”
Bo chuckles when I give him a little nudge. I can see inside to the forge melting gold beyond the beautiful offerings in the windows. Ropes and links made of gold. Jewelry of all kinds, their precious stones glittering and casting colors.
“Later,” Bo tells the man who nods back, and then we’re off again.
It takes us a while to make it through the busy center but when we reach a stone wall that eventually leads to a gate, I understand why Bo took us this route. He helps me down from the carriage, and hands off the restless Kahlas to a waiting Hallan who promises to be there when Bo gets back.
Beyond the gate, standing on steps carved into the stone, are Bo’s parents and his sister. Vabila and Jozay wave from higher on the steps, closer to a door that appears to lead into the structure from a private, rear entrance. Nowas meets us at the gate where he greets me the same way he did when I stepped off the ship, and then does the same to his son.
“I heard someone say something about a hunt,” he tells Bothaki.
“I wondered if a little creature named Vabila would get that news back to you in time.”
“Don’t call me a creature!” his sister shouts from the steps.
“In time,” his father scoffs, unconcerned about the tift between his children. “My Kahlas are already down in the stables waiting and ready. Let’s go, son.”
Bo reaches for me from between the twisted wrought iron of the gate until I find his hand, and he call pull me in for a kiss that makes the rest of the world disappear.
“Enjoy your time with the Minas,” Bothaki whispers against my lips.
“I’ll still miss you.”
He kisses me again.
“Mmm. You better. I’ll be waiting right here to take you home when you’re done.”
“Will you?”
“Of course.”
He lets me go then, grinning and watching me take the steps up to his sister two at a time as the purple cloak billows out behind me. Meanwhile, once I do get to the top, I turn back in just enough time to see Nowas pull Bothaki away. Still, he looks back to seek me out as Vabila and Jozay hurry me through an open doorway with the promise of food to fill my rumbling stomach and a day full of fun things ahead.
I can’t wait.
A part of me just can’t wait to be back at home, in bed with Bothaki again, too.
Well, it’s all about balance.
Or that’s what I’ll tell myself.
*
We take our first meal of the day late on a terrace that overlooks the High Royal Court’s center. The laughter of the children down below keeps Vabila and Jozay standing from their cushions every so often to return to the terrace edge where they wave and toss down treats and other sweets for the little hands to take and shriek with their glee.
“A little bit of sweetness is all it takes to make a child happy,” Bo’s mother says with an indulgent smile and another wave to the kids. She returns to the small table just big enough for the three of us and the triple-tiered platters of prepared options for food. Sitting on the cushiony pillow, she gestures to the food.
“Have you had enough?”
“I shouldn’t eat more,” I say.
I have eaten enough, but my eyes are bigger than my stomach. And that’s more the problem than anything else.
Vabila laughs. “Worry not, you’ll work it all off.”
Well …
Jozay offers me one of the flat, thin pastries that I particularly liked, and grins. “Feed my grandchild.”
I can’t really say no to that.
Vabila calls for the Hallan male who enters the alcove to clean the short table of our remaining meal. One is just fruit of various kinds, sliced, diced, and some with skins. Another of breads and pastries with tart creams and sweet frostings that made my mouth water when I tried each one. The last, an offering of small boiled egg-looking globes that have a similar, but better, taste surrounded by a fried meat that I also tried and loved. On another table nearby, he clears the pitcher of water, teapot of tea, and the remaining cups.