Chapter 23

Kayla

CW: abuse against an animal

Waking up in Drovo’s arms felt more right now than ever. There was no more confusion, no more awkwardness, just love, just mates, and I did love Drovo. I think I surprised myself with how quickly I had been able to admit that out loud once Drovo cleared the air about why he’d taken so long to finish my chariot, but that seemed like a distant memory compared to everything we’d experienced in the past few days.

If I were being honest with myself, I think I’d fallen in love with him that very first day when he handed me that perfect walking stick. It just took us a while to get back on the same page again.

Drovo groaned as he woke, and his arms tightened around my middle.

“Good morning,” I cooed.

“Good morning, my mate,” he whispered back.

Plans of staying in bed and cuddling for as long as possible danced in my mind when we were rudely interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Sorry to wake you, but breakfast is ready, and the priestess wants to see us.” Taylor’s commanding alto voice floated through the door.

Drovo and I roused ourselves from the furs and straightened each other’s clothing as if we were an old married couple going through the motions of everyday life. It was nice. With all the chaos going on around us, having a sweet but mundane moment was refreshing.

“Ready to head down?” I asked.

“No,” Drovo pouted, and it was so pitiful that I couldn’t hold back my laugh.

“I know how you feel, but we’ve got to go.”

“Alright,” he sighed and leaned down to kiss me one last time before we exited the room.

The table was set with steaming sweet bread, fruit, and strips of freshly cooked meat. They certainly weren’t struggling to feed themselves in the valley.

Maybe I could convince Drovo to ask the Priestess to let us keep our food for the winter. She seemed like a logical, kind elder who could be convinced to see our side of things.

“You crashed here on a ship? What kind of ship?” The Priestess questioned Taylor, looking suddenly very interested in our story.

“Umm, I’m not sure. Our planet has very primitive technology compared to what our captors had.”

“Why?” I cut in. “What do you know about spaceships?” I eyed her curiously. Only someone who knew about spaceships would ask what kind we crashed in. No one in our entire dekes had asked that question because they clearly had no idea about technology beyond what Drovo could create out of wood. So why was she asking about our ship? What did it matter to her?

“Come, eat,” she beckoned Drovo and I to come sit at the table. “I don’t know how long we have before Dameron will come knocking on my door.”

I sat down next to Drovo and took a bite of the bread placed before me, but I wasn’t ready to let the topic go. Something fishy was going on here.

“The elders said this offering will mark the three hundredth year since the goddess brought them here. They said their ancestors were praying together in a temple on their home planet Ozinda and then when they opened their eyes, they were here on Valo Prime. Is that entirely true?”

I let the or did they get here on a ship go unsaid.

Drovo furrowed his brow and looked at the Priestess suspiciously.

“It was by a miracle that the ancestors were brought to this planet. That’s all you need to know,” she said in an even tone, doing her best not to look bothered by the conversation.

“Kahina,” the acolyte began. “Maybe we could tell them.”

“Silence, Holey,” Kahina growled in a low tone. Holey snapped her mouth shut and shrank into her chair.

“When you are priestess, you may do as you wish, but while I am priestess, we will follow the old ways. We will not break from tradition.”

“Yes, priestess,” Holey bowed her head in reverence to the elder woman and her authority.

“How does the line of succession work for the priestess?” Taylor asked, diffusing some of the tension in the room.

“After a priestess dies, the acolyte takes her place. At the next full moon all the females of the dekes gather, each holding a token to represent themselves. It could be a rock, a bone, a flower, anything small. The new priestess gathers the tokens into a bowl then throws them on a sacred blanket. From there it will become clear who the next acolyte will be. Either there will be one token in the middle separated from all the rest or it will be the token that rolled the furthest down the blanket.”

“And that necklace you’re wearing, is it ornamental or is it a necklace for the priestess?”

I don’t know why I didn’t notice it before, but the Kahina wore a necklace with a thick cord holding up a metal pendant. Metal. There’s no metal on Valo Prime, so why was she wearing an intricately fashioned round metal pendant with strange geometric designs on it?

“This came from the old world. It is passed down to each new priestess upon the death of the last one.”

I was about to ask another follow up question when I heard the most distressing shriek outside.

“Jelly!” I flew from the table and ran out the door to find Scaron whipping my sweet bison.

“Stop!” I wailed and stood between him and my pet. Jelly was trembling, but as soon as he sniffed me, he rested his head on my shoulder. He knew I’d protect him, and I would.

Drovo was behind me in an instant, blocking me from Scaron and his whip.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Kahina came racing out of her cabin as fast as her legs could take her.

“Have you lost all your sense?!”

Before the priestess could finish scolding Scaron, we were surrounded by a group of hunters that were loyal to the Savrix. Dameron stepped out from behind a tree with a shrewd grin on his face and I realized this was all a setup to get us outside.

“What are you up to now, Dameron?” Kahina said his name as if it were a curse word that left a bad taste in her mouth.

“I do apologize for the mistreatment of this beast, but I had to get you all out here in the safest way possible.” He gave Drovo and Brexl a disgusted look and continued. “I have reason to believe these males are dangerous, and I have every intention of tying them back up for the safety of my people.

“Safety? These males do not wish to cause any harm,” Kahina spat out, as frustrated at the Savrix as I felt.

“You are the spiritual leader of this dekes, and I am its protector. If I say they are dangerous, they are,” he snarled back.

It was a standoff between the two leaders. No one moved. No hardly breathed.

“You may take them away, but I will check on them as I see fit,” Kahina relented, and although she’d lost this battle, it was still a wise choice. It made her look like she was still in charge, even though she wasn’t. It made me wonder if the priestess should win over some bodyguards of her own.

Scaron and a few other males I recognized from yesterday led Drovo and Brexl away. My heart lurched in my chest as Drovo looked back at me one last time before I lost sight of him through the trees.

“Curse that male,” Kahina hissed.

“Alright, here”s what we’re going to do.”