Chapter 33 - Polly

Aloryk is here.

He's here .

My heart hasn't stopped thumping in my chest like a bass drum on double-time since he came barreling back into my life.

And Zarriko's tribe are pissed. Like, royally pissed.

First of all, Tessa and I got a mild scolding for touching the spinning communicator ball - which, considering they think that thing is a Goddess, I can understand. Tessa tried to explain that it's not what they think it is, but honestly, I think that's a lost cause where the Trixikka are concerned. It's been a Goddess all their lives, and all their father's lives, and all their father's, father's lives too, going back generations. That kind of belief is so ingrained into a culture, you can't possibly overturn it with just words. And honestly? It got to a point where had we tried to continue to invalidate their beliefs, we would have stepped over that line into becoming disrespectful. And neither of us wanted to come across as the non-native species trying to tell the Trixikka that we know better.

Anyway, for now, Tessa and I are very much not allowed near that temple and I'm starting to think that maybe I misheard what that floating ball had said. They couldn't have said my friend's name, right? It could be a different Niska. And even if it was my Niska, there's not much I can do about it except pray that she's as safe as she can be.

And secondly, they're pissed about Aloryk - of course they are. High Spear Zarriko had asked me that damn question again; ‘is he your mate?' And yet again, I couldn't answer it. I'd opened my mouth to speak the words, only for a huge wad of doubt to clog them all up.

But just when Zarriko was on the brink of ordering his Protectors to fly Aloryk back to Rynn, I begged him to let him stay a while.

I don't know why I'd done that.

I'd come to this tribe just to get away from that man, after all.

But the thought of Aloryk walking all those miles to come and find me, only to be turned away…well, I just couldn't stand it.

Zarriko reluctantly let him stay, much to many of his tribemate's disgust, but as a prisoner, not a guest. For now, at least. He entered Zarriko's land ‘with hostile intent', so apparently they can't just let him walk around freely.

Which I understand - he did come barging in with a dagger to one of their throats, after all. But to keep him tied up? Now, that's some bullshit right there.

"His wings are still healing," I insist, standing outside the hut they are apparently keeping Aloryk in. The guard gives me a hard stare which makes me feel defensive somehow. I fold my arms and cock a hip. "Why are you guys keeping him tied up anyhow?"

"The High Spear wishes it."

That is all the answer I'm apparently getting out of this one. I think he's one of the ones that is still pissed about the whole Goddess-not-Goddess thing, so that checks out.

"I know he didn't make the best first impression-" the Trixikka guard raises a brow, "-but he won't hurt anyone, I swear."

The huge male tilts his head to look at me. "Why are you so concerned when he is not even your mate?"

That-

That stung.

But I get it. To these guys, their heart-stars are king. They mean a hell of a lot, plus some more.

And Aloryk doesn't have any.

And I won't acknowledge… ‘us'.

Side-stepping the question, I make a move to enter the hut, "can I just-" only to be blocked by a wall of twinkling muscle. "Will you let me talk to him? Please?"

All I get in response is a slow shake of his head and a twitching tail behind him.

* * *

I've been pestering Zarriko almost all day about letting me see Aloryk.

I've got to admit, he'd started strong with his refusals, but I'm pretty sure I'm wearing him down. I know technically, nothing has changed in the status of mine and Aloryk's relationship since he showed up, but I just can't stand the thought of him being held prisoner and tied up in there. They say that it's because he's dangerous, but that's just not true - not to me, anyway.

So I've pretty much spent a good few hours following the High Spear around and petitioning him to let me go and talk to Aloryk.

"For the love of God, will you just let the girl go and see her man?!" Sophia groans from her nest-bed in the roundhouse.

Zarriko sighs. "I cannot just-"

"I will let you wash me if you let her see him…. All over."

The High Spear seems rendered silent by that prospect - so much so that where Sophia had been laying down, staring at the woven-leaf roof, her head now pops up just to check that he'd heard her offer.

Zarriko stares at his mate, swallowing so thickly, I can hear it.

"Did you hear me?" Sophia asks. "You've been wanting to take me up to that waterfall and bathe me since I woke u-"

"I heard you," he says, a hunger so evident in his eyes, I feel like I'm intruding by just being here. "You-" his tail flicks and his skin-stars start racing down his chest and abs.

Uh-oh, I know what that means.

"You are manipulating me, female," he accuses, but there's no anger in his tone.

Sophia flips onto her stomach, totally unbothered, her dark hair fanning across her back. "Of course I am," she says, kicking up her feet and throwing a conspiratorial wink in my direction. "But I've been thinking that these bucket-baths just aren't cutting it and I really could do with getting properly clean." She peers at her nails, utterly aware of how much sway she has over that huge man of hers. "I wasn't going to ask you, but if you let Polly speak to her man, maybe we could take a dip together?"

Zarriko doesn't take his eyes off of his girl. "Like a date?"

That makes Sophia turn around and sit up. "A date?"

"Skye taught me about human mating rituals," he nods, wetting his lips. "I wish to court my female properly. She taught me this word - this ‘ date '."

The smile that spreads on Sophia's face is slow, warm and genuine. "Yeah," she says quietly. "It can be a date if you want."

* * *

The hut they're keeping Aloryk in is a smokehouse, normally used for curing foods. The walls are blackened by the many fires lit in here over time and currently, there are bunches of different herbs hanging down from wooden racking in lieu of fish and meats. The hut is circular, like most of the Trixikka structures, but the ceiling is a dome shape sculpted out of clay. There are a few purposeful small holes scattered in that dome, casting dots of light on the earthy ground beneath my feet.

I can't see all that well in the dark of the smokehouse, but the few sparing shafts of light slice through the blackness just enough for me to make out the central trunk of wood, acting like a pillar… and the strong hands that are bound back around it.

" Aloryk ," I whisper, coming closer and moving in front of him.

I hear him shift, the rope groaning as he tugs at his bound wrists. I hate this. Kneeling on the ground in front of him, I watch his skin-stars zoom all over his body, denoting the shape of him, making it look like he's made of stardust against a black sky. He sits with his back to the pillar, his arms pulled back around it making me ache at the sight. " Polly ," he sighs, his voice sounding dry. "I thought I could scent you."

After a little while, my eyes begin to adjust and I see a waterskin and a half-empty platter of food. "Are you thirsty?" I ask, already moving before he has a chance to answer. Uncorking the waterskin, I offer it to his lips. There's a spot of sunlight streaming in through the roof that highlights one of his vivid violet eyes, his sweaty, dirt-stained tanned skin, as well as the lock of hair that flops over his forehead so artfully it's as if a stylist had fussed over him.

That violet eye stays on me as I tip the water into his mouth, and my sight has adjusted just well enough now to catch the dribble of water running out from the corner of his mouth down to his jaw.

"I'm sorry," I tell him, meaning more than the water. "I don't know why they insist on keeping you tied up."

He swallows and chases any errant drops on his lips with his tongue. "I do."

"I've tried asking them to at least untie you-"

"Polly, I am bound like this because Zarriko knows very well that if he should give me any kind of freedom, I would tear through his village to get to you at any cost."

I… what do you even say to that?

That one highlighted purple eye is trained on me so intently, it makes my belly do little flips. And I can't help but notice how the beam of light casts just the most perfect shadows on his handsome face. It makes his jawline look dangerously chiseled and his cheekbones enviously high.

"But-"

"Zarriko's men are not mistreating me, Polly," he reiterates. "They have unbound me to eat, they have let me stretch my legs and win-" the word ‘wings' seems to stick in his throat for some reason. He looks away from me for the first time, his clenching jaw framed in that one shaft of sunlight. "I would have happily killed that male who was holding you," he says, his voice a little quieter - a little more hoarse. "They consider me dangerous, and rightfully so."

"But you're not-"

"Why did you not claim me as your mate?"

Ah. We're getting straight to the crux of things, I see. I was let in here with strict instructions not to untie Aloryk from the post. And I won't lie, I did have intentions on ignoring that - especially when seeing him this way feels like a shot to the heart. The cowardly part of me is glad that I haven't done that, though. Because when he's bound like this, I could still run away without having to hash out this conversation that obviously needs to happen one way or another. It's that same cowardly part that didn't explain to Delphi who we really are to each other, it's that same cowardly part that never reached out to my dad in adulthood, and it's that same cowardly part that made me run away from this man instead of confronting him about that lie he told.

Shit.

I take a big breath and let it out slowly before kneeling next to Aloryk's legs. From the little lights zooming up and down his tail on the other side of him, I see the thing twitch once, twice, as if it's annoyed that I didn't sit on that side so it could wrap itself around me. Aloryk's eyes almost glow with the intensity I see behind them as he waits for me to start - to explain myself. I open my mouth to demand why he snuck out in the middle of the night to meet with another woman, but none of the words come out, and I just end up sighing instead. "You know Delphi?"

That single shaft of sunlight perfectly frames the way his brows knit together, highlighting his confusion.

"Well, she's actually my… half-sister." That felt weird to say out loud. "She's part of the family that my dad had in secret. She's part of the family that he chose over my mom and me."

I can see Aloryk's skin-stars gathering at his temples as he processes what I'm telling him. "What does Daffy have to do with you being my mate? What does she have to do with you and I?"

There's a beat or two of nothing - just a fragment of a moment where I sit there and wait. I wait for him to connect his lie with all of what I'm telling him. For him to realize that out of all of the people for him to sneak out and see, that she might well be one of the most triggering to me.

His expression doesn't change, and he doesn't say a word.

Honestly, I'm starting to get a bit irritated by it.

"If she's going to be your mate, then you better start getting her name right," I snap.

He rears back like I'd cracked my palm around his face, and I can see the explosion of skin-stars going haywire now at his temples.

" What?! "

"I know you snuck out in the night to meet with her, Aloryk," I tell him. "And I know you lied about it too."

Oh, hell. Here we go.

It's like once those words came out, the stupid dam in my brain breaks.

"Look, you and I both know your skin-stars haven't appeared for me. And I can't blame you for thinking that maybe someone else would be a better match. That she might be your mate after all. Maybe whatever you thought you had with me is just misguided because of our family link, I don't know how these soulmate things work. But you met me first, and maybe that was a mistake. Maybe I'm not the one. Maybe dreams are just dreams."

Aloryk strains against his bindings, trying to push himself up, trying to lurch forward as if to touch me.

And again, I'm thankful that he's tied to that post - as selfish as that sounds. Because if he touched me… if he touched me, I think I'd crumble under the weight of how heavy my heart feels right now .

" Polly, you are my mate ," he says, a little breathless from trying to twist and turn himself out of the ropes. "I know this deep within my everything. You are meant for me, not any other female. I did meet with Daffy. I did. And I was a stupid male for my lie."

I can feel my chin start to wobble a little as I watch him continue to try and slip free of his bindings.

"But it was nothing to do with my heart-stars, I swear it on Tribe and Temple - I swear it on my heart!" Aloryk starts grunting and panting as his desperation grows.

" Aloryk ," I whisper, stopping him with a hand to his shoulder. He pauses and looks up at me through that bright shaft of sunlight, his skin feverishly warm beneath my touch. "Stop struggling. You're going to hurt yourself."

"But I did not meet with her for mating reasons. I met with her because she is a healer, and…" he grunts again, trying fruitlessly to yank one of his wrists from the rope. "My wings…"

I frown. "Your wings?"

Aloryk swallows and I watch the bob of his throat before those violet eyes are on me again. " I wanted to be a whole male for you ."