Adalia lifted a brow in surprise. "When can I take her to the tent?"
Now Qwinn felt uncomfortable with the thought of her dancing, at least with the others at the tent. His minds-eye produced a vivid image of one of the males wrapping himself around her as the drums slowed. Adalia cleared her throat, pulling him from his thoughts. "You may join us of course," she added, reading him.
"Unfortunately, I already have plans for her tonight. Perhaps tomorrow."
Adalia pouted slightly then curiosity got the best of her. "What are you planning?"
"I am going to take her on a tour of the palace." Alison smiled slightly at his words. He finally turned to her. "Have you eaten?"
She nodded. Without pause, Qwinn offered his arm to her as he'd seen humans do on the surface when they strolled the parks at night, unaware that he was on patrol. He hoped he was doing it right. She accepted his arm, handing her cane to Adalia, who followed closely behind. When he sent her a look over his shoulder, she straightened proudly. "I insist on coming. I can just imagine the quality of tour you would give her," she snorted.
Even her tease could not ruin his mood. They walked past the guard posted at her door. As they walked, Qwinn snuck a peek at Alison out the side of his eyes. He was amazed at how much better she looked. Within a matter of hours of her being healed, there was a healthy glow about her.
They continued down the hall and Qwinn couldn't help but feel proud about the fact that she looked so excited to be out of her room and he happened to be the cause of that.
"My room is farther down the hall and around the corner," Adalia said, smiling.
"There are so many rooms," Alison said in overwhelmed surprise.
"We will only show you the important ones," Adalia said.
The going was slow. Alison's legs were stiff from not walking for a few days. Qwinn did his best not to rush her as they walked. When they took the stairs, he offered to carry her, but she insisted on doing them herself.
With every step, she grit her teeth. He wanted to help her. He wondered if he should have healed her leg more than he did. He'd left the smallest of fractures, everything else was completely healed.
When they reached the bottom, he insisted they stop so she could rest. Though she claimed to be fine, he could see in her green eyes that she was thankful for the break.
They showed her glimpses into the kitchen, training room, hall to the laundry and the nursery where Alison had once helped.
Adalia filled her ear with all sorts of memories pertaining to each room, like the time she snuck into the laundry hall and dumped all of Qwinn's clothing into the purple dye, then into the green dye, creating a horrible array of splotchy colors. Or the time their father threw a celebration in thanks for the harvest and Qwinn ended up burning down one of the fields with a misfired flame orb.
"Those happened when we were much younger," Qwinn tried to explain to Alison, who smiled in amusement at the stories and his embarrassment.
When Adalia began to tell Alison about his stint as a dancer, he cut her off in Vidarian, warning her that this story could lead to something he didn't feel the need to tell Alison about yet, if ever. His sister sighed, but relented. They came to the inner courtyard garden and walked inside. Alison opted for a seat on the soft grass as Qwinn and Adalia kept telling her stories about when they were young and more playful.
"QWINN, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR people," Alison asked. It was almost strange to see him so relaxed around her. She felt as if she were participating in a rare event. He was always so busy and so grumpy. But today, she'd seen him smile, genuinely smile, a few times. Though she fought to keep her feelings at bay, she had to admit, he was very attractive when he laughed.
Qwinn folded his legs as he sat and met her eyes. "What would you like to know?"
"Well," there were so many questions. "How did you become King?" Adalia snickered at the question, and Alison continued to explain. "What I mean is, do your people vote or is it birthright?"
He seemed slightly confused by her question. "My family has been the royalty of these people since the beginning of time itself. When a male heir is old enough, he is bestowed with all the power of the Kings previous, all the way to the first Vidarian."
"You're related to the first Vidarian?"
He smiled. "We all are, but yes, my family is pure from his blood."
"But what about Adalia? Can a woman rule?"
Adalia smiled largely at her question and watched her brother closely as he answered. "A woman may not rule. It must be a male."
"What happens if you do not have an heir and you are killed? Who will rule then?"
"I will never be killed," he said seriously.
"Figuratively speaking."
Adalia tried to stifle a laugh as her brother groped for an answer while trying to contain his rising frustration. Alison suspected that no one ever questioned the king.
"In that case, when Adalia has a son, he will be the heir and eventually made King."
"Who rules in the meantime?" she asked, aware that she was annoying him.
"The council."
Alison thought it over. "I think Adalia would make a great Queen."
Adalia giggled as she bowed and Qwinn shook his head. "That's not our way."
Alison giggled with his sister. "I'm teasing."
Qwinn's eyes narrowed playfully as his annoyance washed away.
Alison learned a lot about the Vidarian's, sitting in the courtyard. She found out that girls are never born without a twin brother, but boys could be born without a twin sister. Even though, reasonably, there were more men in the Vidarian population, many did not mate with Vidarian women, which meant the people were not struggling from such odds. Also, a lot of the men became soldiers, who had little time for relationships because they became were soldiers until they were too old to fight.
Children grew at a rapid speed until they reached their fifty-year mark, which is considered their maturity, and then slowed dramatically to the normal Vidarian aging. Their maturity age looked the equivalent of a ten-year-old child.
The variety of shapes and colors of Vidarian's had to do with breeding with other races and species. The powers that many Vidarian's had also differ according to mate-selection. She was amazed to find that oddities in body form were the norm, if not welcomed.
Qwinn smiled at her. "Adalia and I are considered almost too pretty to be considered Vidarian's."
Alison couldn't believe her ears. "But…some are so….scary looking."
Adalia shrugged. "That's the way it has always been. Sometimes the child may have a abnormality that does not look anything like the parents. Oddities many times skip generations, as do powers."
Qwinn leaned back on his arm, smiling smugly. "I think humans look scary."
ALISON FROWNED SLIGHTLY. "YOUR MOTHER was human."
"And she looked odd."
Adalia rolled her eyes, intervening before someone got heated. "I think she was beautiful, just like Alison."
Alison smiled shyly. "Thank you…will you tell me about your mother?"
Adalia glanced at her brother to see if the subject was still sore with him. When he didn't react in anger, she cleared her throat. "She was younger than you are when she…stumbled across our people. She was sixteen in human years and according to our father, the most stubborn woman he'd ever met."
Alison sat back comfortably as she listened, thankful they were finally telling her something about the only other human down here. "How did they fall in love?" she asked.
"Father was charged with her safety and though she tried to run away, many times, he was patient with her. He showed her the ways of our people and taught her to speak Vidarian."
Qwinn leaned forward, engaging himself in the conversation. "She still longed for her home. My father loved her very much. One day he agreed to escort her to the surface. When the sun was set, he took her up. Her father spotted my father and grabbed his sword…"
Adalia picked up the story wi
thout missing a beat. "He chased my father away into the woods and took my mother to his house. When she tried to convince him that my father meant no harm, he thought her to be poisoned by our people!" She finished, as if the thought was unheard of.
"He struck her," Qwinn growled. "My father had been watching from the trees and spit phlass onto his face to protect her."
"Phlass?"
"Vidarian's have a thick… spit that covers the face and causes whomever to pass out, giving us time to run away."
Goosebumps grew on Alison's arms as she remembered her capture and the creature that spit on her. Adalia placed a hand on her arm. "We use that when we do not want to harm our adversary."
That did little to ease her anxiety. "What happened next?"
"My mother came back to him, willingly. She said she had realized she'd loved him all along and her father had grown cruel in her absence," Adalia finished. "Then a few years later, we were born."
"She sounds very brave."
Qwinn nodded. "She was a remarkable woman…" he paused. She could tell this was hard for him.
"I'm sure she would be proud of you if she were here," Alison said. She didn't know whey she said it, but she felt some need to comfort them both.
Qwinn nodded solemnly while Adalia wrapped her finger around a long blade of grass as she thought.
Silence hung between the trio. It seemed no one knew what to say, where to pick up the conversation. Finally, Adalia opened her mouth. "You remind me a lot of her. You could have been sisters."
Alison shook her head. "I am not brave."
Qwinn met her eye. "I think otherwise."
"Some people act brave because they want to be, other become brave because they have to be," Adalia added. "I think you have both qualities."
Qwinn continued to watch Alision and for some reason, she watched right back. Something about his presence at that moment calmed her, yet set her skin on fire. She felt as if she didn't have to be brave while he was around. She knew she was lying to herself, but she thought that perhaps he was beginning to like her.
The thought sent her heart skipping slightly. She had never been liked by anyone romantically. Everyone always said she was beautiful with her red hair and clear skin, but she had never grown in a friendship with someone to get to that point.
As the night went on, she found out that their society was similar to what the world used to be on the surface. They had royalty, others with high status were almost considered Lords and Dukes. However, the only person with power over the Vidarian people was their King. It was interesting to see that the Vidarian King did not rule in a dictatorship. Instead, it was a leadership.
Alison was surprised to find that Qwinn listened to his people and actually cared for them. It was unexpected since he always acted so hard. It made her curious as to why he was so angry and pushing people away to protect himself.
Since they were twins, she wondered if they used to act the same. Qwinn and Adalia were like night and day in their personalities, but from the stories they were telling, Qwinn sounded like he used to have fun.
She laughed as brother and sister tried to out-due each other with their stories. Alison knew, somewhere in the back of her mind that it was too late for her, she had let them in. She knew it because she felt comfortable around them. It was hard for her to keep them at bay when they were the only ones to ever bother to befriend her in her entire life.
As she watched them argue back and forth, she felt a yearning to be a part. She wanted to be a part of a family, to be loved.
She frowned at the ache that had suddenly taken residence in her heart. All of her life she had been strong because she had to. But now, when she should have to be strong, it seemed that those around her were willing to be strong for her.
The hand she suddenly felt on her arm shocked her from her thoughts. "Are you alright?" Qwinn asked softly.
She nodded and blinked a few times to focus. "I was just thinking." She met his black eyes and smiled reassuringly.
He studied her, starring deeply into her eyes. For a moment, she feared he could see the way she was drawn to him or hear the way her heart raced. She tried to control herself but the blush crept to her cheeks anyway.
Adalia watched her curiously. Alison remembered what she'd said about reading emotions. She cleared her throat and turned her eyes right to Adalia, covering her shyness with bravery she didn't feel. Perhaps Adalia had been right about her. "So, when do I get to dance in the tent?"
Qwinn's eyes widened slightly as Adalia smiled. "Do you think you're ready?" she teased.
Alison shook her head. "You said you would teach me more."
Adalia looked to Qwinn with a smug look. "When can we travel to the tent brother?"
Alison's curiosity about the tent increased as Qwinn narrowed his eyes at his sister. "Not tonight."
"We've still got all night. What do you plan to do to entertain her?"
WHY DID HIS SISTER INSIST on making his life harder? Truth was, he hadn't thought that far ahead. He had been enjoying his time with Alison. He could take her to the caves, but that was a trip he wanted to go on with Alison alone. He knew that no matter where he decided to go, Adalia would insist on tagging along. Then an idea hit him, a scary thought, but an idea nonetheless. He needed to gain her trust and introduce her to his culture, so he would do just that. "We'll go to town."
Adalia's eyes grew wide in surprise. "Are you sure she's ready?" she asked in Vidarian.
Qwinn didn't answer for a moment. "She will have to be," he answered back.
Alison shifted uncomfortably as they spoke.
"Yes, we will travel to town," he said in English for her benefit. She threw him a look of uncertainty.
He made a point of turning all of his attention to her. "I will protect you." He would have to. He clearly remembered when he'd taken her to the fort and the way his men had looked at her. For a moment, he was uncertain of his decision. There were many more eyes in town.
A wave of calm washed over him. He knew Adalia most likely had something to do with it. This was the one time he was grateful for her power. Alison would have to be introduced to his people eventually.
The servants held the reins to the Ou'tani as Alison climbed on, followed quickly by Qwinn. Adalia rode her own Ou'tani, a nervous anticipation in her eyes. This time Qwinn rode with soldiers on their outing. It was not that he didn't trust his people, but he had to be certain that Alison would be protected. She was, after all, the first human to come here since the war.
He urged the Ou'tani to a smooth gallop. He knew that even now, he was trying to delay the inevitable. Alison remained stiff in front of him. She was obviously nervous. He wasn't sure how to comfort her, so he left her to her thoughts.
The town came into view and Qwinn took a deep breath. Vidarian's were good people. He knew he was overreacting. The trip reached the outer lying houses. The few Vidarian's that were out in the streets bowed their heads then turned their eyes to Alison. He too watched her to see how she was reacting, though he could only see the back of her head. She was stiff, but from what he could see, she looked right back at the townsfolk.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Adalia watching the townspeople with a close eye. She was putting a calming vibe in the atmosphere.
No one reacted out of anger, which made him feel more at ease. They continued, heading right for the market place. Everyone was out in full force at this time of night. Business was well underway. Shop owners grew excited at the sight of the King and princess. Many rushed forward, holding their best items up for view.
A few paused at the sight of Alison. Qwinn stiffened as a few of the men narrowed their eyes at her. Alison gripped the saddle tighter at his reaction. He forced himself to calm, for her sake. He nodded toward the men, letting them know that he was watching them.
He slowed his Ou'tani, allowing all of his people to get a look at her. It made him extremely uncomfortable, but he would rather have the first sho
ck over with. His people hadn't always been this hard toward humans. The war had changed everything.
He could hear a soft buzzing lifting through the crowded marketplace. It took him a moment to realize the buzzing was actually whispering. His eyes scanned the crowd. Everyone was leaning to their neighbor and talking about what they saw. Finally, Qwinn's Ou'tani had to stop due to the crowd.
As they sat there, everyone's eyes on them, Qwinn felt as if he were on display. His people had never intimidated him before this moment. He urged his Ou'tani to its knees and he climbed down, determined to take back control of his emotions.
The crowd parted slightly, leaving a small clearing around the Ou'tani's. Adalia's eyes skittered across the crowd, no doubt searching for someone who needed to be calmed more than the rest. There was no way that she could control this many people, she'd need to be picky and smart about it.
Qwinn's heart was racing as he reached for Alison. It was almost funny to him; he'd been in battles with the most vicious creatures and had barely drawn a sweat, but now, introducing Alison to his people and them to her, he was reacting as if he were a child.
Alison's grip on his arm was strong as she climbed off, as if she didn't want to let go. He could see the fear in the way her pulse jumped in her neck, but so far, she was doing an excellent job at keeping it off of her face.
Once she was standing, her hand slid down his arm and to his hand, holding on. Qwinn's eyes studied her light skinned hand in his dark one. He had touched her before, but there was something about this connection that set his heart racing for an entirely different reason.
He cleared his throat and at the same time, his mind, focusing on the matter at hand. He turned his sights to his people, walking straight for a food cart. He walked slowly so that Alison could walk steadily. She gripped his hand tightly as they walked through the people, who parted for them, as if they didn't want to touch the couple.
Qwinn trained his black eyes on the man running the cart. The man bowed. "What would please you?" he asked in a thick Vidarian.
Arranged Page 22
