AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There was something incredibly…otherabout him. I couldn’t place why.
“What is that song?” he murmured quietly without opening his eyes.
I kept my hand steady, pressing the cold cloth to his neck, though relief flowed heavy in my veins.
“A human song,” I murmured, watching his eyes flicker open.
Not a trick of the light,I thought, studying his eyes. Theywereglittering blue, the colors shifting in his irises, and my heart began to pick up pace in my chest.
“You know their old language?Yourold language?” he corrected, his voice paper thin but no less pleasing.
“No,” I admitted, swallowing, averting my eyes from his to focus on the cloth. “I’m sure I’m jumbling the words, but I memorized how they sounded. When I was…when I was at the orphanage, Correl had an old Halo orb. I found it in the cellar and repaired it so we could access the Quadrants’ databases. And we would play music at night, from all over the universe. The children always wanted to hear Allavari lullabies or Ernitian ballads. I was one of the only humans there, so I listened to my ancestors’ songs after they fell asleep.”
Lorik listened to me speak, his chest heaving with his labored breaths.
“It sounds beautiful,” he told me. “It sounds like you know the words, that you truly feel them when you sing.”
“Sometimes I wonder if we instinctively know our ancient languages. Like the words still speak to some part of me,” I told him, my lips curling in a small smile.
“It’s a nice sentiment.”
I nodded, chancing a peek back up at his glittering eyes, wondering if I should be afraid of them.
“Very few races now live on their home planets. Language is forever changed because of it,” I said. “Especially the universal language…that’s the only one I know. It’s evolved and changed over centuries. And though it’s universal, it’s different everywhere but similar enough to communicate at the travel ports. Our language on Allavar? It’s the universal tongue, yes, but it’s also littered with old Allavari and even Kylorr languages. Ernitians have a difficult time with it, I know, when they first come here.”
“Were you born in the village?” he wondered. “In Rolara?”
“Yes,” I told him. “It’s the only place I’ve known. Were you?”
He closed his eyes briefly. “No. Not in the village.”
“But on Allavar?” I prompted.
“Yes.”
“So secretive,” I teased gently, watching his eyelids lift and a familiar expression take over his features, though it was tired. I studied the ever-changing blue of his eyes. “Keep your secrets, Lorik. I’m not sure I want to know them.”
“And what secrets do you have, I wonder?” Lorik asked, his voice a soft rasp, drifting over my skin.
That I’m afraid,I thought immediately.So very afraid.Of dying alone in the Black Veil, of never knowing true love, of never having a family of my own, of having crushing regrets as I take my last breath.
“I have nothing to hide,” I told him. “I live a quiet life, and there’s no reason to keep secrets.”
“Everyone has secrets,” he told me. “One of yours for one of mine.”
I let out a gentle laugh.
“It can be anything,” he added, sounding tired.
“Don’t you think I deserve all your secrets after tending to you all day?” I asked. “I’ve seen you at your worst. What else can you be hiding?”
Something flashed over his face, a surprisingly intense expression, especially when he still looked like he was on the threshold of death’s door.
“But I’ll play along,” I told him, if only to keep talking to him. I didn’t want to admit how worried I’d been today. He hadn’t woken once. This was the first time since last night.
“I’m waiting,” he prompted after a lengthy silence.
“I’m thinking.”
