Page 34 of Ahelno
Leo began the rolling chords of the introduction, and I came in. “Ave Maria, gratia plena…”
I wasn’t Catholic, but I always sang this song with the reverence it deserved. It was a prayer, a praise, a blessing, and a pleading all in one.
Praise for Mary, who would carry Jesus in her womb, and a wish for her to pray for us, comfort us even until the moment we were dying. It was a song that made my spirit soar and brought me peace.
I let the song build in volume, then let it fade towards the last verse. I sang the final words softly, and Leo played the final notes. We had never practiced together, but it was a song he had clearly played a thousand times. I had probably sung it nearly as many. There were tears in my eyes as the moment of silence that accompanied a truly great and emotional performance came to an end.
This time, there was no “Pss Pss Pss” from the crowd. I looked out, and all the Ptexari were frozen. They didn’t move a muscle. They were silent statues scattered throughout the room. Leo stood up and took my hand.
“What’s going on?” he leaned in and whispered to me.
“I don’t know,” I answered. I was a little freaked out. The Ptexari were all facing towards us, but their eyes were closed, and they all wore expressions of smiling bliss. Some of the alien diplomats looked the same, although most were looking around the room at the frozen Ptexari, bewildered.
In a few moments, just before I had a full-on panic attack, the Ptexari recovered. They slowly opened their eyes, and their eyes locked on me. “Lumanela,” I heard many of them whisper. “Magic in her voice,” they murmured to one another.
I stood in shocked silence as more than a hundred Ptexari dropped to their knees and knelt before me. Many leaned forward and pressed their faces to the floor, as Dakleth had at our luncheon a few days ago.
“Oh, shit,” Leo said under his breath.
CHAPTER 37
Dakleth
Andie played her first song on the piano, and I was mesmerized. The melody, at first, was simple, and then picked up and became livelier and faster. She was indeed a master musician, and we all stood in awe watching her coax music out of the strange giant box.
“Now I see how she picked up the Y flute so quickly,” Kashtinela whispered to me. I had no idea she had learned to play a Ptexari instrument. There was so much about my mate that I did not know. I resolved to spend as much time with her as possible to rectify my deficit.
She ended the piece and dropped in a human gesture of gratitude. It was unlike the Ptexari bow, but was graceful and beautiful, no surprise there. The audience, mostly Ptexari nobility and interplanetary diplomats, were well-traveled and often difficult to impress. Yet we were all bewitched by the musical ability of this tiny human and the instrument we had never heard. Ptexari instruments could only play one note at a time. It would take five or six players to produce the type of symphony that Andie played on only one. I could see curiosity and speculation in the eyes of some of our court musicians. I had no doubt they would pester Andie for lessonsas soon as they could.
After a moment of stunned silence, the crowd burst into hisses of applause, except for one rhythmic clapping. I looked and saw an alien. He looked similar to Andie in features and build, but his skin, eyes, and hair were all dark brown, whereas she looked like the sun and moons. Andie practically ran to him, ignoring the audience. They said a few words, and then he opened his arms wide, and she flung herself at him. A growl started to rumble in my chest.
“Easy,” Kashtinela leaned in. “That is a human male named Leo. He lives on Coromonn and has been serving as a consultant to Father on how to build Andie’s piano.”
“Why are they clinging to one another like that?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Andie is always touching others without thinking of it. It was unsettling at first, but I gather that humans must touch each other quite often.”
“It is unseemly. He has his arms wrapped around her. She probably cannot breathe.” I began to stride over to them, but Kashtinela stepped in front of me.
“Let her be,” Kashtinela hissed. “I know it is hard for you to watch, but Andie has not seen any of her kind in over a year. Father brought him here specifically to provide her with human companionship, for a time. Do not ruin this for her or spoil it for Father.”
“How could he do that to me? Does he expect me to step aside and allow her to mate with some human?’
“This was planned long before you were released from the camps, brother,” Kashtinela said. “We expected you to be gone for seven more years. You have not witnessed Andie’s loneliness, Dakleth. She is doing better now, but Father has not told you everything. He did not wish you to be burdened.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you not think it odd that she is living in a hovel in the village instead of at your spacious estate? Your servants were cruel to her in those early days. Not only that, in her mind she had just been raped. She had no family, no friends, no one to turn to, and your own servants treated her as trash because they were angry you had been sentenced and sent away. Not to mention that she was kidnapped from her own planet and stranded from anything that felt or looked familiar. Father came and got her because she attempted to take her own life.”
I felt like I had taken a blow to the stomach, and my knees buckled. The light of my life had almost allowed herself to fade. This was what I had done to her. True, I had been despondent in the prison camp. It was hard labor, and the guards were not exactly kind. But it was nothing compared to how my mate had suffered. I had felt her despair through the mate bond, but I had not realized she attempted to take her own life. I watched her as the human male rubbed his hand down her back. My crest bristled, but I swallowed down my growl. I would not ruin this moment of connection for her.
“I did not suspect,” I said quietly. “She seems so happy and full of life.”
“She has found contentment, and I am happy for her. She is my dearest friend. I hope things work out between the two of you, brother. For what it is worth, I am sorry for this latest development. You may have a rival for her affections. But then, you have always enjoyed a challenge!” She grinned at me, and I smirked back. Challenge accepted.
Andie dragged the human male to my father to thank him, and eventually, they made their way up to the stage together. She explained that he would play and she wouldsing a human song. I narrowed my eyes at the male as he sat at the piano, but looked forward to hearing my mate sing. Ptexari vocal cords did not allow for us to sing. We could play instruments, but music did not live in our voices as it did for some species. Around me, I could hear murmurs of excitement at the prospect of a live singing concert. This was another rarity for the Ptexari.
“Have you heard her sing?” I asked Kashtinela.
