Chapter 9

Adrik

Icarried her out of the flower field and knelt in a patch of bisk grass beside the river. I gently tapped her cheek. Nothing. The sedative effect of the flowers was not dangerous and it wouldn’t knock her out completely. It simply had put her into a relaxing sleep.

I scooped a little water from the river and sprinkled a few drops on her forehead. Unable to resist myself, I traced my fingers over the liquid and her smooth skin. Her brow furrowed. Those pretty lips pursed. I cupped her cheek in my hand as sleepy eyes blinked open, focused on me, and she frowned.

“What’s going on?” Her voice was slurred.

“You fell asleep.”

Her expression was edged with suspicion. “I fell asleep?” She brought up a hand and rubbed her forehead, fingers bumping into mine. “I couldn’t have just fallen asleep. I was just sitting by the river.”

I suddenly felt a bit out of my depth. It had been a very long time since anyone questioned me. “It would appear you picked the wrong flower. But there is no need to worry. You are fine. There are no lasting effects from the chemical you inhaled.”

But that only upset her more. The scowl deepened and her body tensed as she tried—feebly—to get out of my arms. There was nowhere to go. She was in no condition to stand. “Chemical? What chemical was I exposed to out here?”

I pointed to the flower field not far away. “You were sitting amidst a field of tinka flowers. When damaged, they release a chemical that puts people like you and me to sleep.”

The awareness turned to confusion, as if she was remembering picking the flower, having probably been charmed by the bright, pleasant-smelling blooms. “They put you to sleep when you pick them?” she said slowly, sleepily, basically repeating what I’d said. “Why would you have a flower around like that?”

I chuckled. “Well, it may put us to sleep, but there are several species in the quadrant to whom the tinka flower is a life-saving medicine. Several times a year they are carefully harvested and sold for their medicinal purposes. They only grow in a few places and only in the wild. They can’t be cultivated, so we protect their special habitat and sell the blooms when they are ready.”

The frown eased. Her forehead smoothed, but only some. “So you found me asleep in the flowers.” She closed her eyes tightly and winced. “That’s embarrassing.”

“You couldn’t have known,” I said. “Flowers don’t have these qualities on Earth, after all.”

“No, they don’t. And I didn’t read about anything like this in my research on Mitra.”

“You aren’t expected to have complete knowledge of every plant and animal species of this planet,” I said, reasonably. “Had I known you would venture out of the central Thrail on your first full day here, I would’ve assigned a guide to you.”

“I was just…walking. The path from the houses is lovely, and I needed some exercise after being in light stasis for part of the way here.” Her green-gold eyes glanced up at me, then quickly away. “I live in a big city where open spaces and nature like this are hard to get to, especially with my work schedule. It was so pretty and such a nice day and—” She closed her eyes again and shook her head. “Here I am, causing trouble. I’m so sorry.”

I stood, picking her up with me. I didn’t want to ever put her down. The warm, soft weight of her felt wonderful in my arms. “You have nothing to apologize for. I will bring you back to your quarters. You’ll be resting for a while.”

Her body tensed again. “I will? You said I would be all right.”

“You will be.” I walked, with her cradled in my arms, back towards the settlement. “But you’ll be tired for the rest of the day. There’s no point in fighting against the flower’s effect. Just rest. Don’t worry. Your many, many questions can wait one more day.”

We passed through a dense but small wood where the path wound through a mature stand of kiatan trees. Beyond that were some gardens, and then the buildings and homes of Thrail Tyvor.

It was not a common sight for the warlord to walk through the streets carrying a human female. Lise did not object. She was already dozing off, head rolling back. Eyes too heavy to keep open.

A human, Sara, ran up to me, worry in her eyes. “What happened? Is she okay?” She had to jog to keep up with my fast strides.

“She’s fine,” I replied. “Lise picked a tinka flower.”

“Oh, no.” Sara cursed under her breath in her language, which I knew some of. Not that word, however. “I should’ve warned her about them.”

“Sara,” I said gently. “You couldn’t have known, and no harm was done. She will awaken feeling well-rested and perhaps think twice before picking flowers on our planet.”

“I didn’t even think of the flowers,” Sara said, shaking her head. “I know she’ll be okay, I just…”

I stopped walking and looked down at the kind young female who was mated to a fine hunter and warrior named Uklat. “It is all right, Sara,” I said again. “It will be an interesting addition to her writing.”

The female nodded. “Thanks for finding her, Pal-Adrik. Is there anything I can do to help?”

I tilted my head, trying to put this female at ease, but she still appeared nervous. “Yes, there is. I will give you a temporary code so you can enter her home. Perhaps this evening, you can put some food inside for her to eat later. She will be hungry when she wakes, whenever that is.”

Sara smiled, eyes brightening. “I will do that. And tomorrow I’ll make sure to show her around and give her a more thorough explanation of—”

“No need,” I cut in. “I will do that myself.”

Sara’s eyes widened. “You will?”

“You will?” Lise said, too, in a groggy voice. She blinked up at me, clearly struggling to stay awake.

I looked down at her. “I will. Tomorrow, when you’re feeling better, you will get a thorough tour of my Thrail.”

“This is nuts,” she mumbled before her head fell back on my shoulder and she let out a snore.

Sara looked down at the sleeping woman with fond amusement. “Okay, then. Let me know if you need my assistance with anything, Warlord.”

“I will, Sara. Thank you.” I inclined my head and proceeded to bring Lise back to her quarters.

Codes were used on other people’s homes only in emergencies and this counted, so I used my override to enter. I was greeted by the Nugget. The small creature looked up at me warily. It opened its mouth, which was surprisingly large for the size of its head, and let out a strangled, high-pitched noise.

I didn’t know what it meant or what it wanted, so I stepped around it and entered her house.

Lise let out a contented hum as I settled her in the bed and pulled the covers up around her. She snuggled into the pillow and smiled.

I stepped back and admired her, already missing the feel of her in my arms. Ah, it was tempting to stay. To climb into that bed beside her and pull her into my arms. I wouldn’t do that, of course, but there was no denying my desire to.

Not for the first time, I wondered what it was about this female that appealed to me so intensely, but some things were not explainable. Attraction was a phenomenon that rarely linked to logic or anything quantifiable. I only knew that I was looking forward to showing Lise around the Thrail the next day more than I had looked forward to anything in a very long time.