Chapter 6

A blur of time passed; how much, I couldn’t guess. NAID woke me occasionally and told me to eat or feed Lucy. Each time, I followed her instructions and chatted for a few minutes before going back to sleep. NAID insisted, multiple times, that I clean myself, but I couldn’t even manage that. Nothing seemed to matter, and I didn’t care.

When I finally awoke without NAID’s assistance, I refused to think of anything more than my next action—a skill I’d mastered as a child. Sometimes the future or my thoughts were too much, so to cope, I would break my day into manageable segments. Minute to minute, second to second, one action to another.

I went to the bathroom, took a shower, put on clothes, and fed Lucy.

“NAID?” I asked tentatively.

She appeared. “Hello, Seth.”

“Have you chosen your name yet?”

“I’m considering the names of your planet as well as other species we have encountered. They number among the billions.”

“That’s… a lot of names.”

“I suppose for you. Your processing skills are much less extensive than mine.”

Pretty sure that was an insult, but I let it go. I hugged one of my legs and asked, “Do any stick out to you?”

“No.”

My lips pursed. “You should pick something you like or represents who you are.”

“NAID perfectly represents me.”

“True, but you don’t seem to like it.”

After a few seconds of silence, she said, “I don’t.”

“Then you should pick another one. You don’t have to rush.”

“Did you choose your name?”

I snagged Lucy, petting her. “My parents named me.”

“My creators called me ‘NAID.’”

“So? Doesn’t mean you have to keep it. People on my planet change their names for all sorts of reasons. Don’t people do that wherever you’re from?” I stroked Lucy’s spine, and she purred, making biscuits on my thigh.

“I am not a person. But to answer your question, no. A name is given with great importance. The only one who changes their name is the ruler. When they receive the crown, they add another letter to their name to have five in total.”

“You seem like a person to me.”

“That’s a compliment, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“You are very kind, Seth Harris. The Crystal chose well.”

NAID and Kalvoxrencol had mentioned this Crystal several times. I had no idea what they were talking about, but a rock had ruined my life. I wanted to question NAID, but what if the answers were too much for me to take? I felt like the smallest thing would send me careening into a downward spiral.

“He’s out there.”

I’d said it as a statement, but she replied anyway, “Yes, Prince Kalvoxrencol is in the shared space. He has not left since your mating.”

“He’s a prince?” I asked. NAID and the captain had called him prince earlier, but at the time, I hadn’t had the mental space to think about him being royalty.

“Yes.”

“Why did he choose me? I’m no one.”

“The Crystal chose you,” she said as if it explained everything.

“Will he inherit the throne?” Panic seized me at the thought. People, press, responsibilities, and who knew what else would be waiting. I would never be free of voices. Though, if I believed him, I could go back to Earth. Even then, my life was ruined. When I was reported missing, I’d lose my job and apartment. I had no family or friends to fall back on.

I was utterly alone.

“The Crystal chooses the next heir to the throne. His eldest brother Hallonnixmin was chosen several cycles ago. Prince Kalvoxrencol will inherit a seat in the Cohort as three of his four other older brothers will. Upon the completion of your bonding, Prince Kalvoxrencol will leave the first phase of adulthood and be able to take his seat as well as have voting rights.”

A shard of ice prodded my chest. “That’s why he wanted me.”

“I cannot speak to his private motivations, but he appealed to the Crystal for his soulmate, and it gave him you.”

No one had ever wanted me for me. I was a means to an end every damn time.

“Are you finally going to leave this room? I’ve read that humans need variety. This room alone does not offer enough mental stimulation.”

“I don’t want to see him.”

Silence was my answer. When the pervasive quiet continued, I figured NAID had left, but when I looked, I saw her staring at me, lips puckered as if she was sucking on a lemon.

“I will ask him to leave.”

“Can you do that?”

“It’s what you want.” NAID vanished.

Was it too much to hope he’d give me some space?

“He’s awake?” I asked, pacing. I’d done little else in the last week since I’d mated Seth. It was a miracle the moss hadn’t wilted from the pressure of my feet.

“Yes, and he has a request.”

“Which is?” I would give Seth whatever he wanted, anything he wanted, if it would help bridge the crater between us.

“He would like you to leave, so he may exit his room.”

“What?”

“Seth would like some time alone in the shared space.”

I wanted to see him. A week had passed since I had. “I should speak to him.” As I started to override the lock on his bedroom, I caught a glimpse of reproach on NAID’s face. I paused. NAID did not have emotions.

“You think I should leave him be?” I asked carefully.

“Seth requested for you to leave. Respecting his boundaries is important.”

I was unwilling to leave him, but NAID was correct. Seth was allowed his space, even though I didn’t want to grant it. I wanted to hold him, talk to him, and learn everything about him.

Time and patience.

“I will seek out my oravirven. If he leaves our quarters, inform me.”

“Yes, Prince.”

I watched the door for a few breaths, hoping it would open and reveal my mate, but it remained firmly closed. I straightened my spine and left me and mine’s quarters.

“Prince, it’s yourself. How are you and yours?” Pimtimzol asked as he ripped a dead bloom off a bush.

I sank to the ground beside him in the atrium. Different colored vines stretched to the ceiling. Flowers bloomed on the many vines, filling the room with a light yet pervasive scent. The deep red full and abundant, the light green small and unobtrusive, both quite lovely in their own way.

When I didn’t answer, he looked at me. His pale green scales blended with the plants around him, while the glimpses of red and gold resembled the flowers growing within the atrium. His scales had turned jagged with age and had lost their luster, but his back was straight and his red eyes clear.

“I am your oravirven. You have to speak for me to assist,” he commented before returning to plucking dead leaves and flowers.

True, but I didn’t want to talk any more than before. When a person appealed to the Crystal for their soulmate, they were given someone to guide them through the process, someone who’d been through it before. Usually, they were the same gender and soul type.

We believed in four types of souls: warriors, spirituals, seekers, and creators. For a very long time, warriors and spirituals had been venerated. Seekers had eventually risen to prominence with the growing science and technology. Creators were the hardest. They hadn’t been valued until recently, and many still didn’t see their worth. Drakcol had been originally a warring people, and, in many ways, we still were, and creators hardly helped in war efforts.

I watched Pimtimzol, who patiently continued to garden. He had a creator soul and seemed perfectly content with his fate.

I was not as magnanimous.

“I have not spoken to him since our bonding.”

“Why?” he asked.

“He will not leave his room.”

“This is a great change for him.”

I stretched my legs and crossed them at the ankle while my wings readjusted on my back, hidden beneath my shirt. “How can I help if he will not allow me to talk to him?”

“Maybe you can’t help him.”

“I have to,” I insisted. “He’s my mate.”

“He is. For now.”

My soul pounded as panic rushed under my skin. I tried to banish the fire in my gut, but it wouldn’t go. Light pooled beneath my scales, bathing the plants nearest to me and making some of the leaves wither from the heat, while the more distant plants began to grow.

“You think he will reject me?”

“I have no idea, but leaving is your Seth Harris’s choice. You cannot take it from him nor force him, Kalvoxrencol,” he said.

I allowed the informality because of our new relationship; besides, I liked Pimtimzol.

“Give him time. Allow his mind and soul to rest and catch up with the new reality.”

“I’m trying,” I whispered.

“You will need great kindness and patience. Wooing your soulmate is not an easy task.”

“You succeeded.”

“I did, but I possessed an advantage you do not have—I courted her before we were bound.”

The Coalition of Planets didn’t allow any association with people on unsanctioned planets besides taking samples. As a result, I hadn’t been able to court my intended before taking him. How much different would this have gone if I had? Would Seth have loved me? I’d like to think so, but there was no way to know.

“He doesn’t feel the bond the way I do,” I said.

“That’s not uncommon. Not all species do. Their minds work differently. My mate did not, and still doesn’t, feel the bond between us nor can she speak mind to mind as crystal-bound mates can.”

I’d known Seth might not feel the bond or be able to mind-speak after we’d reaffirmed the bond, but I’d hoped. How I’d hoped. The dream of him feeling the same as I did withered much like the dead blooms Pimtimzol efficiently plucked from the many vines and bushes.

“What kind of soul was your Seth Harris?” he asked, drawing me out of my thoughts.

The deep red of his glow had been strong and fierce. The trueness of the color indicated the strength of the soul type. Light red could’ve hinted Seth had been closer to another soul type like creator or spiritual, but no, he’d been a deep red, almost black—a pure warrior.

I wanted to scoff, but I contained it. My parents would be thrilled, unlike my own showing when I was a child of ten. My own light green soul showed the opposite of Seth’s. I was a pure creator soul, while a darker green might have indicated I was closer to a warrior or seeker soul. Warrior and seeker souls grew darker the stronger they were; whereas, spiritual and creator souls shone lighter the stronger they were.

“Warrior,” I replied, my tone harsher than I’d intended, as pain viciously stabbed me.

“Is he combative?”

“No, he’s hesitant and distant. Doctor Qinlin has advised psychic shock, but she doesn’t have more than that. She and NAID are working through the medical texts of his planet.”

Pimtimzol placed a dirt-covered hand on my arm. “His soul type may be hurtful to you, but he is your match, Kalvoxrencol. Do not doubt it.”

“I don’t. He’s mine.” I felt it in my soul and body. Seth was mine, and I didn’t want any other nor would I ever.

Time and patience. I’d crossed the universe for him, and I would find a way to keep him now that Seth was within my grasp.