Chapter 14
Mizail
Staring off out the window, I smiled at the current outcome. The sandstorms had come to a halt and now the desert was back to its current state. The two suns in the sky had long since fallen and now the moon was out and at its brightest. Soon, Kaisen will be here to trade with my tribe and soon my mate will meet one of my buddies. Smiling, I hurried out of my house and further into town as the guards let me know that they sensed Kaisen near. It didn't take me long to get to my mate's house as I swooped down in front of her door before knocking.
"Hello, Mizail." She greeted me once she pulled the door open as we stared at each other. She was dressed in her performance clothes as usual. The red silky pants that puffed out around her small delicate ankles seemed to be her favorite. She also explained to me that the short shirt she wore was something called a bralette that she had little gold intricates decorating the hems of. She was even wearing her necklace that glowed a warm red in the light of the tribe. Ever since I saw her perform last week, I never missed a day of her performance. And since then, we've been kind of quiet towards each other but it never felt weird. It felt comfortable yet it also seemed as if Nuri wanted to say something to me but she hesitated.
"Hello, Nuri. I know it's late but I'd like to introduce you to somebody from another tribe. He just arrived." I smiled down at her as she nodded before closing the door of her house. That's when I noticed her hair and skin. Tonight, she had braided her long hair into one giant braid and laced it through with thin red silks that she called ribbons. It seemed as if the ladies and the kids had painted her with red and yellow patterns, mimicking our tribal markings. It looked beautiful with her skin tone. As I led the way down the path, one of the guards let something slip through their collective thoughts.
Great, another human. Like we didn't have enough work with the first one. That thought echoed through followed by a slew of curses before the blind was back over his thoughts. Just who did these guards think they were? I growled as I noticed Nuri looking up at me. "Are you okay?" She questioned as I slowly blew out the smoke that was brewing in me before smiling down at her.
"I'm okay. Just be careful around any of the guards and let me know if somebody causes you any trouble." I warned as she gave me this look before fiddling with her hands. "Is something wrong?" I inquired as the tip of her ears seemed like they were burning red. I've never seen her this shy before.
"I was just wondering if I could ho-" Before she could even finish her sentence, she took off running in the direction of the entrance as I watched her tackle a much taller human that was next to Kaisen. He seemed just as surprised at my mate's speed before he looked around, his green eyes locking with mine. I smiled and waved to him just as Nuri helped up the other human. It was another female but she was taller than my mate with shorter hair and darker skin. As I grew closer towards them, the guards greeted me as I glared at them. They were part of Dralnith's crew but they had courage to be standing in front of me. I turned my attention back to my mate, Kaisen and the new human. It was obvious that she was Kaisen's mate by the look he kept giving her.
"Kaisen! It's great to see you again!" I greeted while pushing my angry thoughts to the side. I'll deal with the guards later. I looked between my buddy and his mate, noting how they did in fact look good together before my eyes landed on my beautiful mate who held my gaze. What was she trying to ask me earlier? As that thought popped into my head, she looked away from me while her ears burned red again. "You also have a human mate too?" I questioned as my eyes never left Nuri before she pulled the human off towards her home. She had apparently grabbed her right arm that was missing her elbow down.
"Kaisen, I'm taking your mate." Nuri called over her shoulder as Kaisen's mate looked back at him while smiling and waving. Looking between our mates and my buddy, I looked at him with surprise on my face. He questioned me on my expression as I smiled and clasped his shoulder.
"That's the calmest I've seen my mate since I've brought her up this mountain. I was surprised when she took off towards your mate." I laughed while Kaisen looked at me with an odd look on his face. "Don't give me that look, friend. We don't get on like you and your mate. Nuri has a little kick to her. That is what I like the most about her." Kaisen just shook his head and smiled while I recounted all the times my little mate has shown any type of expression. I couldn't help but to laugh at all the times she's frowned at me. It was just too cute.
"What do you mean you're not like me and my mate? How are we?" My friend asked as I gave him a pointed look. Anybody with eyes could see how defensive he was with his mate and how she stayed close to his side even when she was in new environment. Even now as we stand here talking alone, he was still looking off in the direction where Nuri dragged her off to.
"You act like we're going to snatch her up at any minute now, Kaisen. When in fact, my mate actually snatched her up." I joked while shaking my head at him. If anything, my mate showed protectiveness over Kaisen's mate. She wouldn't let anybody touch her especially since she was fully healed up from her injuries now. "You also have that look on your face when you're watching her." I explained while dropping all playfulness when my eyes locked with the guards still standing behind Kaisen. When our guests leave, I will deal with the both of you. Don't run. I sent them as they quickly scurried back to their stations. As usual, I began to lead Kaisen off towards the trading center near my home.
"What look is that?" He questioned while catching up to me with his Sran in tow as I glanced over at him before looking back towards the path.
"Like a man smitten by his mate. Just like me." I confessed with a smile while opening the large doors for both him and his Sran to enter. With a different set of guards bringing in all the things Kaisen wanted to trade with our tribe, we got busy with our usual deals.
"This is something new that I'm still running tests on but it should work fine. I'll tune everything up if there's any problems." Kaisen explained while putting a large satchel down onto the table before pulling out his latest gizmo. "This is a telecommunicator that I've been working on for a several moon cycles now. I've finally got it right and working. With these, we'll be able to communicate with our allied tribes without having to make the trip over. This will also come in handy in case one of our people gets lost. As of right now, I have enough for the higher ups of the tribe but my dad is making more as we speak so he should be able to get the rest to you. We're hoping before the mating season."
"Kaisen, slow down." I laughed while staring at my smart friend. He had always been creating things with his lorno since he was younger. It's like it ran in their blood. "So, what you're saying is we won't have to travel to the Undergrounds or the Mirage or even the Black Ocean for trival things. We could just talk through these little gizmos?" I inquired while picking up a small circle leathery thing with weird dots on it.
"Yes. I made the Aloreans different from the rest since your tribe takes on three forms and you have talons." He smiled as I looked at him oddly. Where exactly were we supposed to put this on?
"Kaisen, you do know we have collective thought amongst our tribe, right?" I questioned as he nodded while looking at me like I was stupid. "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm only asking the right questions. Where would even place these things? They're so small!" I laughed as Kaisen shook his head.
"Mizail, bud. I know that the Aloreans have this sort of collective thought system that you can each talk through but not the rest of us including your mate. Have you even explained that to her?" He asked as that cut my laughter short. He was right though. I hadn't put too much thought into the fact that my mate couldn't hear our collective thoughts as we hadn't done the ritual yet. We weren't even that close. "Mhmm. By that look, I guess you haven't put much thought into that. Anyway, the telecommunicators will adjust to your form once you put them on. All you have to do is tap the dots on top and slip it on."
"These?" I questioned as he nodded. Hesitantly pressing the dots, I was surprised to see the leathery band expand enough for me to slip it onto my wrist as it formed on my scales. Kaisen took his time to explain how his new gizmos worked, how to take them off, and we even went out and tested them on my dragon form. Surprisingly, the band formed on my large wrist resulting in Kaisen happily cheering. After that was done and some of the telecommunicators were given out, I hurriedly led Kaisen over to the performing platform where our mates were putting on a show. I was taken by surprise when Kaisen's mate began to make flowers appear on the slab. In some way, she was like Nuri.
Once the show was over, I wasn't surprised when Kaisen went and hugged his mate while I approached Nuri. She looked up at me with that look on her face that made it seem like she wanted to ask me a question but didn't. "That was a beautiful performance, my mate." I smiled while gently moving a stray hair from her face as she pursed her lips together before turning away from me. Seeing how ears burned their usual red, I smiled and trailed behind her while leading Kaisen and his mate towards the square.
The usual pre-Mating season feast was prepared and awaiting us along with a good portion of the tribe. Tables filled with plentiful food from the hunts were surrounded by chairs which were occupied by plenty of the tribe who were either enjoying their own conversations and laughing or were watching us four and whispering. Nuri didn't seem bothered by them but Kaisen's mate did as I let out a threat through the collective thoughts as those stray eyes focused back on their own tables. I guided us towards our table that was centered in the middle of the tribe as I seated Nuri next to me while Kaisen seated him and his mate across from us. Taking my seat next to Nuri, I almost missed Kaisen's grateful nod as I nodded back to him.
We feasted on delicious dishes as I told Nuri about every dish she picked up. My lorna had let it be known to me that Nuri was curious about what she ate and the ingredients in each. She seemed hesitant to ask me but after a little while longer with me chiming in to everything her utensils touched, she began asking me questions freely. As dinner began to wrap up, Kaisen finally introduced me to his mate, Lilium. They were sweet together and they both seemed happy. I thought while guiding them to their hut near the entrance that I had the guards clean up for his arrival. As Nuri and I wished them a goodnight, they headed inside and closed the door as it was now just the two of us.
"Shall I walk you home?" I inquired while holding out my hand as Nuri looked down at it in surprise. "I do not wish to lose you along the way," I lied. She nodded while taking my hand before warmth quilted my entire body. How was she so warm for such a small human? "Are you cold?" That question slipped from my tongue before I even realized what I had said as she looked up at me.
"Yes."
"Wha-What?" I stammered as I was surprised by her words. She didn't say anything else before looking ahead as I released her hand. Just as she had turned to question me, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and my wing around the rest of her. "If you're not okay with this, let me know. I do not wish to make you uncomfortable." I quickly rushed out as it was true. I'd rather have her frowning at me than to tell me I made her feel uncomfortable. "I might not have warm blood flowing through my veins but I'll shield you from the night wind until we get to your house." I explained while looking down at her as she stared up at me in shock before nodding. Just when I had thought I made a mistake, she snuggled into my side as we walked. I could just go to sleep like this.