my depth. I guess I just want to make the moment special for him. After we drink, there is a fluttering of wings from the far side of the room.
Borak comes to his feet and holds out one hand to me. “Come, eat with my clade. We will share our good news together.”
The minute Chantel sees the gold chains on the outside of his uniform she lifts both hands above her head and says, “Thank you, Jesus.” My daughter always was lacking in military discipline, but I can’t complain since neither of us are service members anymore. Instead, I shoot her a frown, but it carries no real rebuke because I can’t stop smiling long enough to make a disapproving impression.
Lugon is sitting between Chantel and Molly. He doesn’t even need a chair. He’s tall enough to reach the table sitting with his haunches on the floor. “Greetings, Queen Juliet. You smell different today.”
Good lord, he’s picked up on the fact that Borak and I are rubbing one out every chance we get. I try to keep my voice low key. “It’s not polite to comment on how people smell. You know that, right?”
Korak leans around Chantel and whispers something in his ear. Lugon hisses out a stream of laughter. I’ve never seen him do that. My best guess is he’s trying to be discrete. “Humans are strange creatures.” Thankfully, he shuts up when Eltran drops a huge slab of meat onto his plate. I’m guessing Lugon didn’t give up meat like the rest of them. He just narrowed his meat choices to something that tastes better than those Moltan warriors they chowed down on before.
Within moments, Borak’s sons have filled our glasses and we’ve all settled down with food on our plate. Everyone seems okay with me being here, even Penelope. Molly gives me a smile and passes me a basket of some kind of flatbread.
Then everyone just kind of stops and puts their hands in their laps. Even Lugon stops nibbling at the edge of his meat, giving it one final lick before sitting quietly. Borak speaks up. “Since Queen Chantel joined our clade, we give thanks to the gods before our evening meal. Would you like to speak tonight, my queen?”
Sitting a little straighter, I try to think of something meaningful to say. “May the gods of both our people watch over our clade and guide us as we learn to live together in harmony. Now let’s eat.”
Borak’s eyes sparkle with amusement. “My stomach screams for food. I am glad you are not one for long orations, my queen.”
“If I loved long speeches, I’d have chosen Kryos instead of you. That man loves to monologue.”
Eltran’s pinchers crash down, clanking against his plate. His wings drop open by a few degrees before he speaks. “You are chosen, my sire?”
Taking a deep breath, Borak’s hand comes out to give mine a little squeeze. “Indeed, I am chosen by the queen of my heart. I am the most fortunate of males.”
Korak immediately speaks up. “My queen and I offer our congratulations. We wish you a long and prosperous mating.” I can tell by Chantel’s beaming smile she clued him in after our conversation earlier. Therefore, he wasn’t quite as shocked as his younger brother.
Molly chimes in, “Eltran and I also wish you many happy years together.”
Eltran seems to be struggling, but he finally gets control of himself. “I did not think older warriors mated, but I am happy to see how wrong I was about this. We welcome you to our clade.”
Now, I don’t know how to take Eltran’s comment. Everyone knows older warriors mate human women. Molly has an older friend that mated one of the healers, and I have seen at least a couple more once I got to know everyone on board. I finally decide that Eltran just didn’t think his own father would be chosen. Thank God, Chantel isn’t squeamish about me having a relationship. That would have really made things awkward.
Lugon looks from one the other of us before speaking. “I thought you were already mated.” He clearly doesn’t pay much attention to the details, but that’s okay.
Penelope immediately offers positive support as well. “Yes. Welcome. I know you’ll be really good for Borak.”
Again, I don’t know where that came from. “He’ll be just as good for me. We really do get along well.” I think she might be warning me to be good to him or something. I toggle back and forth between thinking