Page 71 of I Married A Syllen

“No fucking way!” Maeve whispered.

“Holy shit!” Mirella exclaimed, once again using that totally nonsensical expression.

The same shock was reflected on every face as we watched Athusa walk in a semi-trance towards Lily.

“By the Goddess,” he whispered, his gaze roaming over her face with wonder and disbelief.

Lily appeared to recover first, and a timid smile settled on her face. Athusa extended both his hands towards hers, palms facing up. Without hesitation, she placed hers on top. Their veris intertwined, and seconds later, they both flowered. The flowers in his leinis boasted a lovely golden color that matched his skirt. But the white petals interwoven in the puffy texture of Lily’s dark hair created one of the prettiest sights I had seen in a long time.

From the visions the Great Mothers shared with us during the Long Sleep, Lily had inherited the cloud-like hair texture of her dark-skinned mother. My fingers itched with the urge to touch it. But even without Mirella warning me not to randomly touch off-worlders, I wouldn’t have done so right this instant. You didn’t interrupt the magic of two souls finally finding each other.

“I am Athusa, Thesh of the Ungaro Tribe,” he said in a soft voice, still mesmerized by his female.

“I’m Lily Heixina, Xenobotanist with the UPO,” she said in the loveliest voice.

As I looked at the gentle way he stared at his soulmate and addressed her, a wave of shame crashed over me. I glanced at Mirella, who was staring at the couple with a wistful smile. Despite his near hatred of off-worlders—which was by far greater than mine—he had totally dismissed it to greet his soulmate with the proper warmth and deference she deserved. On our first meeting, I had shown nothing but displeasure to my Shevraya, simply because of her species. I would have to find a way to make it up to her.

“My Lily, it saddens me that we should meet under these circumstances. But I thank the Goddess for allowing our paths to cross,” Athusa said. “Once this matter is settled, I request the honor of courting you.”

“I would like that very much,” Lily replied with the most adorable smile.

His words further shamed me. To my surprise, Mirella slipped her hand in mine. I shifted my gaze towards her to find her staring affectionately at me. My chest constricted even as a wave of warmth spread through it. I drew her against me, and she came willingly. In that instant, I realized that I did not deserve her. She had left her entire world behind to do right by our people. And I had greeted her with coldness, suspicions, and the expectation that she would simply abandon her ways to embrace mine.

Thankfully, we were still very early in this relationship. Going forward, I would make sure to do better by her.

We quickly made all the introductions. To say my people were intimidated by the golden giant would have been quite an understatement. And yet, a single look in his eyes revealed the gentle soul that lurked within.

We gave Maeve, Lily, and Cedros a quick run down of the situation. Maeve frowned at the cave, clearly itching to go inside but also acknowledging something seemed highly suspicious. From the bag hanging on her hips, Lily removed a miniature version of the giant screens off-worlders often used to display images. She tapped on it at the same time Maeve prepared the snitches. As soon as she released them inside the cave. Honogratic—or was it holographic?—images appeared above the miniature screen.

This time, the snitches didn’t have to travel very far before my companion and I roared in rage. Haphazardly discarded in a pile in the center of the gutted underground, three-dozen queens could be seen still dormant, attached to a section of the tree that had housed them. For such a large segment to have been cut off, the tree had likely been killed in the process. Only elder trees, among the most nurturing of their kind, hosted queens.

How have we not heard their screams of agony?

And then it dawned on me. They weren’t here. We would have seen their desecrated remains. The off-worlders must have uprooted them before performing this sacrilege.

As one, our tribes rushed the cave only to have Cedros swoop in before us. Wings spread, he blocked our access.

“No!” Maeve shouted, running in front of Cedros to stop us as well.

“Move!” Athusa snarled, his hand hovering near his weapons’ belt.

I also burned to shove the golden giant out of the way. But aside from remembering the shadow flames he had breathed out on our first encounter, his mere intervention sobered me. The little voice at the back of my head screaming that danger lurked ahead overpowered my instinctive need to push my way through.

The queens need us!

And they did. However, whoever put them there would know we’d rush to their rescue… That we would rush into the dark space where the burnt scent had emanated…

“Athusa!” Lily called out, her voice thick with worry. “Stand down, please!”

Mirella and Lily also came to stand next to Maeve.

“You cannot go inside!” Maeve shouted above my fellow Syllens angry cries. “You were right about the traps!”

Those words struck us like a boulder to the chest. My companions froze while trying to rein in their anger and their need to go to the queens.

“Explain…” Orian challenged.

“Let me show you,” Maeve said, her palms raised in an appeasing gesture.