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)
All at once, everything makes sense. Nowas’ displeasure. The distance between him and my mother, and the closeness between her and Vabila. Once crowned, the king cannot leave Hallalah. A good portion of my older brother’s young adult life was spent traveling the universe as much as he could, much to the displeasure of many, just because he knew he would never get the chance to again once he took his rightful place whenever our father decides his duties are done. Without even needing to have been a part of that conversation between my parents and sister about the trip to Earth that would not include my father, I can imagine how it went, and I am grateful they went ahead and had it without me there.
“I can’t send an army big enough,” my father grumbles. “And there’s already a small one there, if you can imagine it!”
My mother’s expression softens as she glances back at her mate. “You’ve always trusted me when I told you that things are happening exactly as they should—don’t you trust me now, Nowas?”
“As you and our life have taught me,” he replies, still watching the window instead of properly joining the rest of the room, “just because fate happens as it should doesn’t mean it won’t also hurt once it’s finally been said and done.”
His words flare the phantom pain I still sometimes feel where my eye used to be. A reminder of part of my own sacrifice for the happiness in which I constantly live.
Now.
In that moment of losing it, however, I could only dream of what could have been. Thankfully, those injuries have healed.
“I assume you’d rather we didn’t bring this to Selina’s attention at the moment,” I say, reminding them all of my current priorities.
What good would telling her about any of this really do? Not so close to birth, anyway. Once we get past that, I’m sure Selina would appreciate the news of her mother’s incoming arrival, and the rest of the unfortunate circumstances. The books, on the other hand, I plan to keep a secret for a while longer.
My mother and sister nod.
My father finally looks back at me, and his smile is fond. “Oh, don’t worry your mate about the earthling trials. She needn’t concern herself in this time over a world she can no longer help from here.”
“We’ll tell her when we’re going to leave,” Vabila adds quietly. “I’m sure this will be challenging for her, too.”
Yes, I bet.
A new mother without the females she has bonded with the most throughout her pregnancy. More than ever, my mate will lean on me.
And I will be there, her pillar … for eternity.
EIGHTEEN
“Are you ready for your first riding lesson?” Bothaki asks.
I look up from my plate of pickled fruit, my current craving, with a joke already on the tip of my tongue. “Oh, do I need lessons in riding you?”
His head falls back with the laughter that bellows out of him. I will never grow tired of seeing him like this. Utterly happy. He’s been anxious lately, ever since the Mina told him the baby will come any day now. He’s trying to make sure every little thing is prepared when I, his mother, and his sister have been telling him, there really is no preparing for all of this. The baby will come when it wants, whether we’re home or in the market. At the palace with his family or lazing near the river. I, on the other hand, am just waiting to meet my child, to hear their fate spoken by a Mina a few days later at the crista ceremony.
“You need no lessons on riding me, at all,” he says, coming to kneel before me. “The saddle I was having made for you to ride the Kahlas has been finished. But if you’d rather wait until after birth to ride …”
“No. I want to ride now,” I quickly interrupt him. “I’ve been waiting too long already.”
Although I’ve ridden in the carriage many times, I’ve been waiting to ride one of the Kahla. I was told it wasn’t advisable to ride while pregnant without a saddle if I wasn’t skilled in riding, so Bothaki set out to have a saddle made. It took a little longer since it had to be made to fit my size, his animal, and because Hallans don’t ride with a saddle except for children who are still learning.
“Finish eating and we’ll leave. There’s somewhere I want to show you.”
“Ah, another hidden spot, huh?”
He’s shown me so much of Hallalah, places he hid from his parents as a child and drove them mad while they searched for him. The gardens, the plains, all the shops he frequents, and made sure to buy any and everything I’ve even smiled at. I’ve learned through our exploration that he was also educating me on their people, and the land. How the majority of the population gathers to live between the city full of light and technology and the mountain, while maintaining their need for the connection to the planet itself. Hence the densely populated forest mountainscape surrounding the palace, court, and city. It can be discerning to go from the hustle and bustle of one side to the quiet simplicity of the other at first, especially when you go from one to another all in the same day, but it doesn’t take long to settle in.