Page 46 of Ahelno
I had heard of the ruins and floating market, but I hadn’t visited. Finetta had shown me some photos and diagrams during our history lessons, and I had been meaning to go seeit. But I didn’t want a romantic relationship with Dakleth, and I didn’t want to lead him on. “Maybe Kashtinela or Leo would like to go with us,” I suggested.
“They will both be in meetings with my father and the Coromonn ambassador tomorrow,” he said.
“Why aren’t you in those meetings?” I asked.
“I said I was going to spend time with you, and they agreed,” he shrugged. Ugh, they were all conspiring against me.
“Ok,” I said. “We’ll go to the ruins and market tomorrow. Asfriendsand nothing more,” I emphasized, pulling my hand from his.
“Good, it’s settled,” he said. He sat back, picked up his fork, and took a bite of the steak. “Now, what am I eating, and why is it so salty?”
CHAPTER 42
The next morning, I met Kashtinela for breakfast at the Palace. It was nice to sit, just the two of us. The food replicator didn’t contain any breakfast foods, unfortunately. Still, there were bacon bits and shredded cheddar cheese, so I asked Selica, the Palace chef, if she could include those in an ovina egg omelet. She was pleased with the result and said that she would experiment with the other human food options in the replicator to see what she could blend with Ptexari cuisine. Her tentacles waved happily as I saw her studying the Earth ingredients. I don’t think I had ever seen her so excited.
Kashtinela tried the omelet and wrinkled her nose. “It is very salty,” she said. This seemed to be the general Ptexari consensus about human food. They weren’t wrong. I found Ptexari food in general lacked seasoning, but the Ptexari didn’t sweat like humans, so I don’t think they needed much salt in their diet.
I closed my eyes and hummed happily as I dug into the omelet. Kashtinela was pleased for me, even if she didn’t care for it herself. But she adored the cup of coffee I produced for her. I remembered how Camavel also enjoyed it. Bitter coffee seemed more pleasing to the Ptexari palate.
“I hear you are going to the ruins and floating market with my brother,” Kashtinela said as she eyed me from the side. “You two are getting along? The last time I spoke to you, you wanted nothing to do with him. You said you did not even wish to see him.”
“I’m making an effort, at least,” I told her. “We’re going to be attending a lot of the same events together. Your father will make sure of that. And one more thing - He was supposed to be in meetings with you and the Charonu ambassador, but he told me you all agreed to let him out of it to spend time with me. Traitor!”
She snorted. “He did not exactly give us a choice. He told Father he would give up his position and live in exile if we didn’t let him pursue you. I told him you were going to be impossible to convince. It would appear I overestimated your resistance.” She raised her eyebrow and took a sip from her mug.
“Thanks for the warning,” I said sarcastically. “But, I do need to learn to be in the same room with him,” I mused over my coffee. “Plus, I’m trying my best to forgive him for what happened. Intellectually, I know it wasn’t his fault, but my body hasn’t caught up. I still lock up involuntarily sometimes when I first see him. I need to get comfortable being around him. Exposure therapy, and all that.”
“And the male human, Leo,” she said. “Is he a potential love interest? Despite what he told my brother, I know Dakleth is jealous of his presence.”
“Leo respects my boundaries,” I said. “We’re just friends, and that’s all it will be. If he were moving to Ptekennan permanently, I’d probably explore a different kind of relationship with him. But he’s going back to Coromonn,and a long-distance relationship between us wouldn’t work at all. So I’m keeping him firmly in the friend zone.” I drew a box in the air with my hands.
“Friend zone. I have not heard this term,” she said. “It is an area for a male friend?”
“An imaginary area, I guess. It means that you think of them as a friend and nothing more.”
“Is my brother also in this friend zone?” she asked.
“I have no idea what your brother is to me. Right now, he’s barely a stranger. He says he wants to be friends, but I know he wants more. I don’t know that I can count on him to respect a friendship boundary. If he doesn’t, then I won’t be able to spend time with him, I don’t think.”
“I confess, I do not fully understand your human friendship and mating practices. I am glad to call you my friend. However, I do not wish to hug you or clasp our hands together,” she said.
“I know, I get it. And I’m glad we’re friends,” I smiled at her. “Humans love to hug our friends. I never realized how much humans touch each other until I came here. It makes me a little sad, sometimes. Not gonna lie, it’s been a difficult adjustment. It’s one of the things I’ve appreciated about having Leo around. I’m getting my hug fix.”
“Hug…fix?” she asked.
“That means I am taking all the hugs I can get from Leo in anticipation of the day he won’t be here to hug me anymore.”
“Ah, yes, I understand. I am sure my brother would be happy to help you with your ‘hug fix’,” she enunciated the words slowly.
“I’m sure he would, but I worry he would think it means that I’m interested in being more than friends.”
“You are more than friends. You are mates.”
“Ugh, yeah, that.” I could see this conversation wasn’t going to go well, so I changed the subject. “What about you? Why aren’t you mated yet?”
Kashtinela was quiet for a moment. “I am a daughter of the royal house. My mating will be arranged by my father.”
“Oh,” I said, “I hadn’t thought of that. Are you ok with it? Has he chosen someone?”
