15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Rain

“We’re going to be late!” Rain called to her sister, Cherish. Although the teenager lived in one of the enclosures, she’d taken over Rain’s room to get ready. That was marks ago, and Cherish still wasn’t finished primping!

“I’m almost ready,” Cherish yelled back. “Go without me if you're in such a rush!”

Rain rubbed her forehead and fought with her impatience. “You’re the one who wanted to live in the enclosure. We could’ve asked for a cottage with extra room for you, so you didn’t have to use mine.”

“Ewww, live in the same house as my sister and her boyfriend?” Cherish said with familiar disdain. “Gross! You guys are always hugging and touching. Besides, the enclosures are way more fun, but you have a bigger mirror.”

Rain vowed to have a bigger mirror installed in Cherish’s enclosure. “I don’t want you to miss the big surprise. All the Talins have worked really hard on it.”

“I don’t care,” Cherish responded. “Just go.”

Giving up, Rain turned to find Royal, her youngest sibling, patiently waiting for her attention. He was clutching two multi-techs to his chest and looking up at her with an anxious expression.

Rain’s irritation vanished as she took in the timid and kind child. “What’s wrong, Royal?”

“Can I bring both my multi-techs?”

With a smile, she knelt down in front of the seven-year-old. “Of course you can! I bet there’ll be tons of stuff that needs to be measured. What if one of the tables isn’t strong enough to hold all the food we’re going to eat? It’ll be your tool that tells us!”

Royal beamed. “You’re right! And I can lend Tamsin my newer one so she can help me check.”

“I know Tamsin would love to help,” Rain agreed, picturing the two children running around measuring the density of each table.

“I have a surprise for you!” Hes said, rushing into the room with an excited rattle.

Rain gave Royal a quick kiss on the forehead before standing up. “I know, and if we can get Cherish out of my room, we can head over to the tents to see it.”

Hes’s rattle of excitement changed to a rumble of confusion. “My surprise isn’t in the tents.”

Now it was Rain’s turn to be confused. “Isn’t that where we’re supposed to go for the mysterious event you guys have been setting up all day?”

Hes started up a loud purr. “That’s a surprise for all the humans, but I’ve arranged a special gift for you and your siblings specifically. It’s at the compound office, and we need to hurry.”

Rain was torn between leaving Cherish behind or suffering the aggravation of trying to hurry her up again. To her relief, Cherish’s twin, Wind, walked through the front door with his typical easy-going smile.

“Can you go talk to Cherish?” Rain asked. “We need to leave now.”

Wind’s smile changed to a grimace. “She’s still getting ready? I walked over with her hours ago!”

“Perfection takes time!” Cherish announced as she emerged from Rain’s bedroom. Rain was forced to bite her lip to keep from laughing. The black wrap she was wearing was startling due to its rarity. Talins didn’t like dressing humans in black; they said the dark color was far too stark. Somehow Cherish got hold of one, but what really caught Rain’s attention was how Cherish had decorated her skin.

The teenager’s face was covered in sparkly powder, and she’d drawn adorable patterns all over her forearms and the backs of her hands. It was actually impressive that the patterns on her right side were as good as the left.

“You look very nice,” Hes said.

“I do!” Cherish agreed with a little bounce. “Salin, Missy, Jas, and I all agreed this is going to be the latest fashion.”

Wind frowned. “A bunch of teenage girls get to—"

“We all must go,” Hes said, interrupting whatever Wind was about to say. “My gift to all of you is waiting in the compound office and our window to use it is closing.”

Curiosity kept Cherish from arguing, and soon they were all rushing across the compound to the empty office with Hes carrying Royal. The building started lighting up as soon as they walked in. Hes ushered them into one of the meeting rooms where a large wall display was already lit up with Talin script flowing across it.

“Does that say messaging in waiting ?” Wind asked. Unlike the rest of them, he’d been studying Talin script.

“Very close,” Hes said with an affirmative rumble. “It says messaging in queue.”

Setting Royal down, Hes unclipped his Ident, tapped it a few times, looked up to the new script flashing on the screen, then tapped one more time. The writing disappeared, the display remained black for a few submarks, then a familiar face appeared.

“Auntie!” Rain cried, delighted to see the woman who’d been a second mother to her.

“Is it really Aunt Georgia or only a recording?” Cherish asked Hes.

“I’m really real,” Georgia responded with a wide grin. “It’s good to see all your faces! Royal, I think you’ve doubled in size!”

Royal stood tall. “Hi, Auntie! I’m much bigger now!”

“I can tell,” Georgia agreed, then looked back at Rain. “I’d hoped to visit before now, but I’ve got to tell you, I’m having an awfully good time out here!”

“What’ve you seen?” Wind asked, stepping up so he could stand shoulder to shoulder with Rain.

“Tor said my message package would be transferred as we talk,” Georgia said. “It’s full of images and vids of all kinds of amazing things. The guys got me a capture so I could record anything I wanted. I’m also collecting some things for all of you, but they’ll be slow getting all the way back to Talarian.”

“I’m so happy for you.” Rain felt tears burn the back of her eyes. She was ecstatic to see Georgia living the life she’d only ever dreamed of. “Don’t come back until you’ve had all the adventures. See the universe and bring it back to us with your stories.”

“Do we have time to hear some stories?” Royal asked. “Have you seen rainbow skies? What about a dry ocean? Is there cloud wind?”

The child's strange questions made them all laugh. “We have a clear channel for up to a mark,” Tor’s disembodied voice said.

“If we only have a mark, then you better start talking!” Cherish said.

Hesarium

Although Rain and Wind both looked like they wanted to cry, Hesarium could tell his gift was a success. When the call was over, the siblings all hugged in silence, sharing a moment of happiness at having gotten to talk to Georgia.

“If I don’t eat soon, I might die,” Wind announced as he pulled away with a sniff and a quick brush of a hand over his eyes.

“Same,” Cherish agreed, then looked down at Royal. “What about you?”

“My tummy is ready to jump out my throat and eat you!” Royal declared dramatically, making them all chuckle.

“The tent will be open by now,” Hesarium said. “There will be plenty of food for everyone, even though we’re late.”

Wind picked Royal up and swung the little boy on his back. “Let’s go find food!”

“Yaaay!” Royal cheered as Wind led the way out of the compound office with Cherish right next to him.

Rain moved at a slower pace, and Hesarium matched her speed. Reaching out, she tangled her fingers with his.

“That was the best gift you could’ve given me,” she said.

“It was good luck that the transmission could happen tonight,” Hesarium admitted. “I’ve been trying for over twenty rotations to line up comm arrays and coordinate with Toreum and Varlum. The ancestors must have blessed us for it to happen in time for tonight's festivities.”

Rain pulled him to a stop. “I don’t have a gift for you.”

Hesarium let go of her hand to pull her small body against his. “You are my gift, Rain. Every submark of every rotation, you give me happiness. Nothing I’ll ever do will match how much you do for me.”

She sighed and snuggled close. “You’re so damn romantic.”

He started up a loud purr. “I’m only being honest.”

“Maybe we could talk Wind and Cherish into letting Royal spend the night with them in the enclosures,” she murmured. “We could have the cottage all to ourselves.”

“I have gifts for all three of them in the tent,” Hesarium said, as his rumble dipped to the sensual purr. “I’m sure that will curry favor with them.”

“If presents don’t work, I’ll threaten bodily harm,” Rain added cheerfully, making him sound a rumble of amusement.

Bending his knees, Hesarium lifted Rain up and cradled her against his chest. She nestled her head on his shoulder as he carried her toward the sound of voices and laughter.

For a warrior who had expected to live a life of duty, void of kindness and love, he’d been graced with more than he could have ever expected.