18. The Jewels

"Just a few secondsof swimming and we'll be in the pod. Don't worry!" I tell my scared human mate.

She nods, drawing a deep breath into her lungs. The guard reaches out to assist her down into the water, but I bare my fangs at him with a hiss.

"Watch yourself," he says. "I'm only assisting the female, so we might avoid injuries. I have no desire to touch her beyond that."

The officer holds his hand up, revealing the same purple mating mark that Leeenuh is hiding.

"Be gentle with her. Restraints or not, I will kill you if you hurt her," I say boldly.

"Understood," he says, unsurprised at my protectiveness.

"Hey, I'll be okay, Kitaico. Take some deep breaths. I can handle myself." Leeenuh tries to reassure me.

So I do my best to stuff down the urge to bite out the guard's throat. He has a mate, and Leeenuh isn't scared.

We have bigger things to worry about right now, anyway.

I jump into the sea and make my way to the airlock of the secondary pod. The elders have already returned to their vehicle.

When I turn, kicking my legs to pivot in the water, I see Leeenuh. She's being held by the guard at arm's length, as he's trying desperately not to touch her any more than necessary. Her eyes are shut tight, and her cheeks are puffed large with air.

Once they've both made it all the way into the airlock, the guard depresses a button on the control panel. The hatch door clicks shut and saltwater rushes out of the chamber as the air is forced in. Leeenuh stumbles forward, adjusting to the pressure, and falls into my chest. I steady her, wishing my arms were free. But as she rights herself, I kiss her forehead, earning a stern look from the guard.

"Refrain from touching the female, hopeful," he barks as he opens the second hatch into the seating area of the pod.

He guides Leeenuh to a chair before shoving me into one facing hers.

The guard, blessedly, sits as far on the other side of the small cabin as he can.

"Kitaico," Leeenuh whispers, drawing my attention back to her, "is everything still going to be okay? I mean, I guess we don't need to worry about the exile now… but seeing you in cuffs has me worried."

She furrows her brow as I shift uncomfortably in my seat. My arms are behind my back, the position not allowing me to sit naturally.

"Trust me and try to let me handle things from now on." I know it has to be hard for her to contain her conversation. She's not been understood for so long.

"I…I'm just being honest. I don't think honesty can hurt us in this situation, can it? Are you mad at me?" she asks softly.

"No, sweet Leeenuh, you deserve to speak the truth…I just don't want to be separated from you. We need to explain—" I look at the guard, who"s now engrossed in something on his datapad, and lower my voice. "Your mark."

"I mean, it happened. It was an accident, but I'm not upset that it did. My experiences with other species in space haven't been good." She rubs the mark through the makeshift bandage. My blood pressure spikes, thinking of anyone being cruel to the female across from me. How anyone could fathom doing anything but cherishing her is a mystery to me.

She is divine.

"But you, you are the exception. At first, I wasn't sure if I could see myself"—she mouths the word mated before continuing—"to an alien stranger…but I know you now. I know that you'll care for me no matter what and that your lack of a mark means nothing. We belong together. I fought it at first, thinking it was a, er, chemical response. But it's deeper than that, Kitaico. I think this thing between us could work." Her eyes are wet as she talks.

"Do you mean it, Leeenuh?" Hope wells in my chest. Could someone as wonderful as Leeenuh be who I've been fated for?

"It's Lena," she says with a chuckle.

Lena.

I've been saying her name wrong this whole time?

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring dishonor to your name by pronouncing it wrong. Forgive me!" I drop my chin to my chest, embarrassed. How could I have not noticed?

She leans forward, using her index finger to tilt my jaw back up to hers.

"I like my name, anyway you say it. We're in this together, right?"

"Always."

I close my eyes as she presses her lips to mine. The heat of her body lets me momentarily forget myself. I moan into her mouth, searching it with my tongue.

Lena pulls away, and I hear a heavy foot thump on the floor.

"Enough, you disgrace the Proving, hopeful. Sleep now, before you shame your family name any further."

My eyes shoot open just in time to see the guard coming my way, tranquilizer gun in hand.

The guard pushes me back down into my seat.

"Stay put, female, he's fine," he says gruffly.

"Fine? He's fucking unconscious!" I yell back at him.

How in the hell am I supposed to let Kitaico handle all the talking while he's slumped forward in his seat?

This whole situation is fucked, but I've never let anyone push me around on Earth and I won't start now.

"Hey, noodle head!" I yell at the guard, who was returning to his seat.

He stops dead in his tracks. A sigh escapes his alien lips before he turns around. "Female, sit down and?—"

I cut him off, throwing a pillow from the chair at his head. The soft square hits him right between the eyes with a dull thud. With yet another sigh, the guard turns and aims the tranquilizer gun he used on Kitaico straight at me.

"What the actual fuck, are you going to shoot?—"

* * *

When I wake, I'm in what looks like a space-age prison cell. The bars are made of some orange laser light. I have a feeling that if I touch them, I'd get burned. I'm sitting on a cot and slumped against the wall. My shoulder stings when I rouse.

"Are you okay?" Kitaico's worried voice asks.

"Kitaico?" I scan the room, looking for my mate.

He's not too many cells down. He's sitting on his knees, looking directly at me when I find him.

"What are they going to do with us?" I ask, knowing that I probably should have kept my cool better than I did in the pod.

"I assume they'll want to question you, confirm you're not a spy…and then question me about, well, us," he mumbles.

"Will they try to separate us?"

"No, not once they understand what we are…what you are. They'll never dare to separate us once I've proven that I am worthy of a mate." He smiles reassuringly.

"You don't need to prove anything to anyone. I know you're going to be an amazing mate." I smile, wishing I could touch him.

"I am proud you see me as such"—his grin is sadder than my own—"but there is one last test to the Great Proving. I must defeat another hopeful in combat—to prove that I can properly protect a female."

"And you already did! You saved us both from that exile. I mean, you barely knew me, and you saved me from the whale monster when I arrived here." I try to talk some sense into him. There's nothing left to prove to me.

"Ah, the scripiat…" he mutters. "Unfortunately, it's important in my culture that I prove it to the others as well. Knowing you're here for me when I return will make my victory all the sweeter." He looks at me like I'm made of stardust.

"Kitaico, let's just tell them about the mark—they'll have to understand." I don't want to keep it a secret anymore. I want to show the elders. We can convince them we belong together. It is essential, despite what his culture says.

"No, we do this the right way—with honor. You are worth any hardship…Lena. This is a small thing to you, but an important one to me."

"Okay," I gulp down my anxiety, forcing myself to trust that Kitaico understands his culture more than I do.

Suddenly there's a whirring noise as a door panel slides open. A large group of ornately dressed elders enters the narrow hallway between the cells.

Chancellor Hirouz is at the head of the pack.

"So, we meet again, Lena." The way he says my name has me wanting to recoil from him.

"Kitaico was awake earlier and telling us about how you miraculously came to be in his care. Fallen from the sky like the Great Mother?" His tone shows that he doesn't believe a word Kitaico said. I don't know how my alien thinks I came to be on his planet. We never got the chance to talk about it.

"More like unceremoniously dumped from a Deenz transport unit," I scoff.

"The same Deenz the fi'len scum have waged war with?" he asks, like I have any bearing on current events.

"No idea! The fi'len were always nice though. Certainly nicer than our slavers," I say.

"You are a human from Earth, yes?"

The sound of my home planet's name makes my chest well with longing.

"Yes," I breathe.

I feel terrible that my gut instinct is to ask if they could take me home…back to my grandmother. But I don't want to leave Kitaico, and I know that he'll never be welcome on my planet.

"The fi'len queen is a human, and her king has made it his mission to destroy the Deenz entity—making war for us all," the chancellor says saltily.

"Sorry that my kidnapping has inconvenienced you," I snap, then realize they could just as easily put me back in the scaley purple hands that I was before. "Are you going to return me to the Deenz like some kind of lost property?"

"No, we would never harm a female, regardless of how strange you humans appear. From the information we've gained from Kitaico and our planetary security—you are not a state threat."

"Great, so let us out of here," I plead with the group of austere dignitaries.

"Patience, we are here to do just that."

With a click of the fancy broach, the orange laser bars of my cell buzz into nothingness. I step into the hall and wait patiently for Kitaico's own bars to drop. But they remain in place, light burning bright as ever.

My mate's camouflage shifts quickly, a sign of his nervousness, I've learned.

"And Kitaico?"

"Still needs to discuss some matters with the council. Do not fret, no harm will come to either of you as long as you comply." The chancellor glares at me, as if expecting me to act out.

"It's alright Lena, we'll meet up shortly, okay?" My mate gives me his most earnest face.

"Okay." I wrap my arms around myself. I'm in awe at how quickly we've come to rely on each other.

A guard arrives and is told to escort me to the jewels.

The jewels?

Despite my curiosity, I keep my mouth shut. My outbursts so far haven't helped.

I trace the swirling lines I know are under my bandages. The guard, a different one than from before, must pick up on my apprehension.

"You have nothing to be worried about, human. To be a female on the Korlyan Moon is to be treasured. So few of them remain." His words are kind, but he keeps his eyes straight ahead and his voice neutral. Maybe he's just trying to remain professional?

"Thanks," I whisper.

I look back over my shoulder at my mate before we walk down the unassuming corridor for what feels like miles.

Will they keep their word? Will I see Kitaico again?

I stare at my feet as I listen to the rhythm of our steps on the shiny stone floors. Abruptly, we stop, my nose nearly smashing into the guard's back as we do.

"What is your purpose here?" a stern voice says in front of us.

When I peek my head around my escort's torso, I see two more guards standing post beside a large door.

"To deliver this female to the care of the jewels," he says before stepping aside, leaving me awkwardly gawking as the two tentacled men appraise me.

"Female?" one says reverently.

"Yeah." I nod slowly.

"Compatible?" My head pivots as the other guard speaks.

"Um…" I'm not sure how to answer that question.

"Undetermined," my escort thankfully answers for me. "The Chancellor"s orders are that she be remitted to the jewels."

The two guards nod, stepping aside. They both turn and press some kind of key fob into the wall panels on either side of the door. There's a clicking motion, and it slides open.

The aroma is the first thing that hits me. Sweet fruity notes and toasted incense. This place is such a contrast to the nest I've spent all my time in.

The view is just as opulent. This place must be as expensive as it smells. In the room, there's a set of circled chaise lounges. Maybe fifteen, each tufted with fine fabrics in jewel tones.

And on each of those sits what I can only assume are the Jewels.

Female Andjin of all shapes and colors recline. Soft alien bodies are dripping with precious stones and gold chains. Curled between delicate head tentacles are thin gold rings. I assume their level of modesty must be akin to that of my clothing-hating mate when I see their bare chests. Everyone's nipples are adorned with what look like rings.

If I ever make it back to Earth, I'm going to have to tell Rachel, my tattoo shop's piercer, that aliens think nipple rings are just as hot as we do.

I realize I must be lost in awe as the guard nudges me with his knee to enter the room.

"Who is that?" one of the made-up females asks, her eyes dragging down my body judgmentally.

"Human female from Earth." The guard pauses and looks at me.

"Hi, I'm Lena."