Chapter 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Glowing with post-coital bliss, the happy couple cleaned up and stepped out into the fresh air, breathing it in deep, their lungs feeling more alive than ever before as they savored the air now free of the stench of Gromm and his men's presence.

Floxxia saw them emerge and strolled over to greet them. Margot noted that it was only early afternoon. They'd been fucking all morning, but with the loss of time and sense that entailed, she really had no idea how long they'd been at it until just now.

Hours, apparently. Many hours. And yet, somehow, she was not only not sore, but she also felt like a million bucks. More, even. A billion bucks. Or a trillion. It was a look of happy bliss that the Skrizzit knew well.

"I see you two have properly consummated the Infala bond," she said with a broad smile. "My congratulations to you both."

"Braxxos, this is Floxxia, my dear friend. She's the one who gave me my runes when I first got here. And she's the one who helped when you were hurt."

He bowed deep, a hand on his heart. "You have my undying gratitude for all you have done."

"It is we who owe you our thanks. If not for you, we would still be captives. Worse, we would be returned for trial and execution."

"I appreciate that my actions helped you and your people, but in all honesty, that was not my intention."

"And I appreciate your candidness. I know you were here to find your mate. But that your quest happened to free my people? Well, let's just call that a very fortunate bonus, shall we?"

He chuckled, his eyes crinkling with happiness. Margot realized in her gut that he was not only amused but was truly enjoying talking with someone in a casual, friendly setting for the first time in longer than he could likely remember. He'd been on his own since he was a boy, and besides his time with her, he'd been all alone.

An idea took seed and blossomed almost immediately in Margot's mind.

"Hey, I was thinking. We should have a little freedom party. Or a going away party. Or maybe just a party for a party's sake."

Floxxia laughed loud and bright. It was a joy seeing her spirits restored and her true self shining bright. She'd maintained who she was as much as possible while in captivity, but this? This was a far more energized woman entirely.

"I was thinking something along those lines myself," she noted, waving over the others nearby. "And I wanted you both to be the guests of honor. And before you go objecting and saying it's really not about you, let me cut you off preemptively. We have skilled cooks among us. And musicians. And we would like to say thank you. Intentional or not, you are the reason we are alive and free."

It was Braxxos who stepped forward with a respectful bow. "We would be honored."

"Good! Then it's settled. We'll take care of it all. You two go enjoy yourselves."

"Oh, we have," Margot said with a wry grin.

"I'm sure you have. And let me tell you, my friend. Infala mating only gets better."

"Whoa, boy," Margot chuckled. "I guess I've got a lot to look forward to then."

Braxxos draped his massive arm over her and pulled her close. "Yes, my love, you do." He noted Floxxia's knowing wink and nodded to her, kissing his woman's head. "More than you'd imagine."

The party was both a feast as well as a musical celebration, the former prisoners displaying a shocking degree of skill in both the culinary as well as musical arts.

Apparently, when the coup occurred, Floxxia hadn't been exaggerating about the rounding up of pretty much anyone remotely involved with the deposed government. They'd targeted political figures first, but soon enough their net widened and spread, like an insidious cancer reaching throughout their entire society.

It was those peripheral individuals who were last in the crosshairs. But most of them had read the writing on the wall and run for their lives. The artists. The writers and poets. The musicians and great thinkers, all who'd merely been loosely associated with figures in the prior administration. With those people dead in the initial coup, cleaning up those connected individuals had become the final course of action.

These prisoners weren't political activists, Margot realized. They were just innocents caught up in something far larger than their lives, and they'd been rounded up one-by-one as a result.

Braxxos was talking with each and every one of them, a natural diplomat in the way he carried himself. He had an almost photographic memory, she discovered. Every person he spoke with, he somehow remembered not only their names, which was something she'd always had a hard time with, but also details of their stories, each of them discussed with true interest in his eyes.

He was reveling in this. The man who had thought he was perfectly content living alone in the woods had rediscovered society. And he was positively radiant in his joy. And his happiness was now her happiness, warming her heart seeing him shine like this.

And the food? It was amazing. Where Gromm's men simply made slop to feed the masses, these people actually took pride in their work. And, as the ship contained quite a few spices, though tasting the deceased cook's food one would never have known, an impressive variety of delicacies were whipped up from what was at hand.

Margot and Braxxos both tasted them with fresh palates, the flavors novel and interesting to mouths accustomed to other flavors. They ate and talked and laughed, enjoying themselves in what was for all intents and purposes almost a wedding party of sorts.

I mean, technically it's Infala bonding, which is minus the whole ceremony and whatnot. But it's still kind of the same, right? Margot mused as the night wore on. Works for me. And Braxxos is better than any man on Earth.

It was late when the festivities finally began to wind down, everyone quite full and many more than a little inebriated. A small group remained with the newly bonded couple, sitting cozily around a small fire.

"Where will you go?" Margot asked, snuggled up close to her man.

"We can't go back to our people," a fellow they'd met named Dorvian said, taking a long drink from a tall mug. "There are bounties on us there. Pretty much anywhere within the purview of our former government now that it's been taken over."

"So, what can you do?"

"Do? We give up our homes and seek asylum. None expected to be pursued as we were, but now that we know the extent they will go to capture us, we don't have much of an option."

Braxxos looked at the freed captives with a curious look in his eye. "I see not all are your people."

"No. Gromm captured anyone he could profit from, not just us."

"Then what of the others?"

Floxxia rolled her shoulders, sitting up a little straighter, her ever defiant grin shining bright. "We'll take them with us. There's plenty of room on the ship. But what about you, Braxxos? What do you plan to do?"

He looked at the smaller scout ships and smiled. "Me? I'm going home. Home with my mate."