15. Chapter 15

Taking the elevator up to these rooms had surprised me, then again, I mused as cozy as the rooms in the dome were at the bottom of the sea, they weren't exactly the place you would expect a vissigroth to entertain noble guests.

It was somewhat intimidating to be in the elevator with two vissigroths, one I've only ever heard of and who was rumored to be the most fierce of all of them because of his planet, which was called the Icelands.

I was very interested in the human vissy though. I had heard rumors about her too, but us humans on Oceanus didn't have much interaction with the humans on other planets, so I had never really believed those rumors had disregarded them just as such. But here she was, in the flesh and definitely human.

I was so in awe of her and Vissigroth Darryck and their obvious love for one another that I didn't take in Myles's luxurious audience chamber at first. When the servants entered however, I took a moment to admire it. The audience chamber alone was the size of the entire dome below. A large, formal dining table that would easily seat forty people, stood in the center, surrounded by several seating arrangements ranging from sets of couches to chairs around smaller tables.

The view ahead of us was made from the same glass like substance as the domes and so was the ceiling, through which I could make out a transporter rising up into space, clouds and the sun.

Plants stood arranged throughout the area, adding color to the mostly white furnishings.

I felt tongue tied when Thalia linked our elbows and led me to the wide open terrace ahead of us. The transparent balustrade didn't do much for my comfort level when I stared hundreds of feet down to the ocean below us, at least not until I placed my free hand on it, to reassure myself of its presence.

"Has Myles treated you right?" Thalia asked as soon as we were out of earshot. "If not, I can take you away from here."

I stared at her dumbfounded. "You would do that?"

"Of course, we are sisters of sorts." She shrugged as if this was the most natural thing in the universe.

"I'm fine," I assured her. "He is treating me good. But thank you." I wanted to hug her, because her offer had completely taken me off guard.

"He can be a bit of a brute," Thalia added, "I suppose they all can. Just let me know if you need anything, alright?"

"Thank you Vissy Thalia," I said, truly touched.

"Just Thalia, please." She smiled and turned to look out at the ocean, "What a view, right?"

"It's stunning," I agreed. I had never been this high up before, and it truly was stunning. There was water as far as the eye could reach. Normally heights scared me, but for some reason, aside from a small nervous flutter in my stomach, I felt fine. Probably as long as I don’t look down , I wagered, deciding to keep my eyes trained on the horizon.

"You should see the underwater domes, they're even more amazing," I heard myself say.

"Underwater domes?" Thalia looked intrigued. "Zyn, you must show me. It sounds like we'll have some time."

Another space transporter emerged, this one coming in for a landing, and Thalia narrowed her eyes to make out its colors. "Oh, it's Duncayn," she clapped her hands. "Wait until you'll meet his wife, Kyra, believe it or not, she is actually from Earth!"

"From the real Earth?" I stared at her in disbelief.

"Zyn, she came as a sort of ambassador and ensnared Duncayn the first day she stepped foot on Leandar," Thalia grinned.

The woman who entered a little while later was also pregnant, but her eyes sparkled with an adventurous lust, that contrasted much with Vissigroth Duncayn's scowl.

"Thalia," Kyra moved forward and embraced her.

"I blame you," Duncayn snarled at Darryck who looked surprised at the sudden attack. Duncayn moved straight for the set tables and helped himself to some spirits.

"Don't mind him, he's grumpy because I insisted I come along," Kyra embraced Myles and Darryck as well.

"Pregnant seffies should not be gallivanting through the universe," Duncayn growled.

"I still don't understand how this is my fault if you can't control your vissy," Darryck said, earning him another box in the side from Thalia.

"If Thalia gets to go, so will I," Duncayn mimicked a female's high pitched voice and everybody, except me, laughed. I still felt too intimidated to join in.

"And who is this? Did you find yourself a human vissy finally?" Kyra asked Myles.

"She's my hostage." Myles answered dryly, staring at Kyra as if he wasn't sure how to handle her.

"Hostage, hmm?" Kyra held out her hand to me. "I'm Kyra."

"Niara," I replied, shaking it.

Everything after that became a blur, as more vissigroths arrived. Only one more stood out to me, Vissigroth Treyton and his also human vissy, Saskia, the fabled soap maker.

Interestingly it was only the vissigroths mated to humans who brought their vissies, leaving me to guessing if the others were mated or not.

"Let's leave the menfolk to their war talk," Saskia suggested. Kyra and Thalia didn't look too happy about the idea, but when I proposed we move to a seating arrangement by the balcony, they followed.

There we were still within earshot of the menfolk , but also had some privacy.

"So, hostage?" Kyra eyed me curiously with a hint of mischief.

"My brother, Nathan, got himself entangled with the Chrymphten," I explained, uncomfortable ratting him out, but at this point there wasn 't any protecting him and his idiotic behavior any longer.

"We got lucky he did," Thalia surprised me by saying. "Now we can lay a trap for them instead of them springing a surprise attack on us."

I hadn't really looked at it that way, but she was right and I dared to allow some hope to blossom that Nathan just might get out of this alive.

"I saw your soaps, they're amazing," I tried to switch the subject, a tad uncomfortable addressing Vissy Saskia even if she was a human.

"Oh they're nothing compared to the ones Saskia used to make," Thalia waved. "She made me a synnini once, because that's what Darryck calls me, and they were so much more detailed and the scent," she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Oh Courtney is doing a good job now with it," Saskia waved her hand.

"One of her sisters," Thalia leaned over to me, whispering conspiratorially, loud enough for the others to hear.

"But if you really want me too, I’ll make some for you Thalia," Saskia laughed good naturedly.

Thalia grinned as if that had been her goal all along, "Only if you don't mind."

A smile curved my lips as I observed these women that must have known each other for a while, their friendship was deep, easily noticed even during this casual conversation.

"Where is Brynn?" Kyra asked .

"With Garwayn of course, he, Myccael and Mallack are heading scouting units to en

sure the Chrymphten decide not to attack elsewhere," Saskia explained.

"Oh too bad, I'll miss her," Thalia seemed obviously disappointed.

Suddenly the men raised their voices, shouting erupted.

"That's mine," Saskia rose with an exasperated sigh, "I better see what's going on."

Astounded I watched the very petite woman charge one of the large vissigroths, who was shouting the loudest and seized him by the arm. Instantly his demeanor changed, he placed his arm around her, instead of waving it and smiled.

"Those two," Thalia shook her head amiably.

"Like you and Darryck aren't the same," Kyra mocked her gently.

"Darryck would have put one arm around me and pulled his sword with the other," Thalia responded dryly, making Kyra laugh.

We stayed silent for a moment, watched the men calm down, but Saskia stayed at Treyton's side.

Kyra returned her attention to me, "So, Myles, spill."

It was easy to fall into the same laidback banter the women had kept up so far and overlook how powerful and intimidating they truly were. I let my guard down some. "There's nothing to spill, really. He tries to flirt with me here and there and I keep my door locked at night."

"Why?" Thalia asked at the same time as Kyra said, "Very wise."

The two looked at each other and laughed, turning the men's attention on us for a few moments.

"You're not attracted to him?" Thalia regained her composure first.

"Well, yeah, I am, he's a very good looking man, but he's also… dangerous. I don't want to be another one of his conquests."

"Very wise," Kyra repeated.

"Just because he didn't tie the knot with Anna doesn't mean he won't settle down," Thalia scolded her friend.

"Besides Anna, these damn sirens have their grips in Oceanus's men so deep…" Kyra shuddered, "I really don't like those creatures."

"Who is Anna?" I asked experiencing a small wave of resentment moving inside me at the mention of her.

"Anna was on my team." Kyra divulged, "she envied my relationship with Duncayn and wanted to find that with Myles. Unfortunately Myles didn't ask her to stay when it was time to leave," Kyra shrugged as if that was the end of the story, but some prickling sensations in my heart made me aware that I didn't like the idea of Myles with another woman, especially not a human one.

"Anna later said that the men of Oceanus only want to be with their sirens and nobody else," Kyra intimated.

"I'm not too fond of the sirens either," I admitted, hoping to downplay my unease about this Anna.

Nobody seemed to notice though as our conversation turned to the sirens. Saskia too shuddered when she rejoined our group.