Harvest of Travel - Chapter 10 - A'mara Books

10

(Tharnday, cont.)

Hailu, X’lea – Leya Club

.
“What was that?!” Seri demanded as she joined the group of strangers. “You just chased my cousin out of here!” She looked squarely at the man Celna had been watching since their arrival an hour before.

The man still seemed stunned at Celna’s sudden departure.
He looked to the blue-haired man. “I was sure. Her untrained mind and everything.”

The purple-haired woman joined them. She and the blue-haired man grinned their sympathy to the man.

“Too much, too fast,” the woman said kindly.

“But she loved it,” Yavin said. “I felt it. Even when I apologized for all the attention on her, she replied that she wasn’t sorry.”

Seri scowled. They didn’t understand her cousin, immature in some ways, not as streetwise as she had been forced to become. Seri had always helped look after Celna.

“It’s okay, Seri. She’s fine,” the purple-haired woman reassured.

“But she’s run off and Tilo’s mad,” Seri said, feeling very worried. “His step-father has managed to distract him for training, but only just.”

The blue-haired man looked around nervously. “Where is that man?” he asked.

Seri’s stomach felt queasy. Tilo was beyond his normal jealous anger.

The man that had been the cause of this panic looked uncomfortable for a moment. He looked at the blue-haired man, perhaps communicating something telepathically.

He looked right at Seri. “I will fix this. Celna’s in danger and it’s my fault!” The man left at a run.

Seri stood staring at the doors, unsure what to do next.

The purple-haired woman took her arm. “She will be okay. He’s a good man, he will find her and keep her from harm.”

Seri nodded dumbly.

“I’m sorry, Seri,” Iyan said, joining them. “I thought I’d managed to defuse Tilo.”

Seri just glared at the man.

“He’s a man who belongs in jail before he hurts someone,” Seri retorted.

“No one goes to jail until they’ve committed a crime,” the blue-haired man said gently. “Even in X’lea.”

“I know. But that man is too much like his father, my parents have said as much for many years. He will land in jail one day. I just hope my sister doesn’t have to be his victim.”

“I understand,” the purple-haired woman said, stroking her back.

Seri fought back the tears of fear.

“Let’s practice,” the purple-haired woman encouraged. “You both need to be stronger.”

Seri nodded and picked up a shaze, determined to be more.

♥

Celna sat feeding the gulls her chips, occasionally eating one herself. She had just got Yavin out of her mind when the memory of his kiss came flooding back to her. Her lips tingled at the thought. And then she’d run away! What an idiot she was! She had only been staring at him since he came in. Of course he thought she wanted him; and she did! She wanted to get to know him – so much more!

She laid back on the wooden pier scolding herself. Maybe it was the fact that he had read most of her thoughts since they’d been around each other. Maybe it was the fact her thoughts were out of control that had frightened her so much. Knowing that he was attracted enough to initiate that kiss devastated her ability to keep her thoughts off him.

Celna felt his impression before she saw him. But it wasn’t Yavin. It was Tilo. Damn the day she met him! She scurried to her feet and tried to keep buildings between him and her. She had heard you could pull your leya imprint around you until you were but a shadow. She wondered briefly if that was something their visitors could teach her.

She pulled the leya close to her as she hid on the far side of one of the furthest shed. His imprint kept approaching.

Celna leaned against a door and surprisingly, it opened. She counted her blessings and went inside. She found a dark corner under a table and hid, pulling the leya close around herself. She hoped it would be enough.

♥

Yavin followed Tilo with ease. He didn’t seem to care about whether he was alone or not. His only purpose was to follow Celna, capture her… and… Yavin shuddered at the impression the man left. Celna was right to be afraid of Tilo, and Yavin, in his moment of lust, had made things worse.

Yes, he had meant to flush out Tilo’s feelings into the open. He hadn’t meant to create a monster out of the man.

They had reached the docks. He kept just back from the man, but he was also looking for Celna’s imprint now. She had been there, he could feel now. And this man was looking for her, like a predator.

Yavin felt a warble. Tilo’s pace increased, he had felt it too! He gave up on cloaking now and ran full tilt towards the man who threatened Celna.

A moment later, Tilo’s rage was focused on him. He threw leya blasts and walls as fast as he could.

Yavin focused on a shield until Tilo tired a bit. Then, he only defended, conscious of a local security camera that could see the whole thing. He reckoned that Tilo hadn’t seen it.

When shouts of security reached them, Yavin backed off instantly.

“What’s going on here?” the officer asked.

“He’s following me,” Tilo complained.

“I’m just looking for my friend – who is down here somewhere. She was afraid he might hurt her. Then, he attacked me,” Yavin countered.

“You’ve been warned before, Tilo. You’re coming with me for awhile. If what this man says is true, you’re probably going to spend a few weeks in Cooldown,” the man said.

“Use magna-cuffs,” Yavin suggested to the man.

“Thanks, sir,” the officer said, following the advice and putting a pair of leya-dampening magna-cuffs on Tilo.

Yavin breathed a sigh of relief as he resumed looking for Celna, following the warble he felt earlier. The warble led him to a small shed furthest from land of any of them. It was quite rickety, but had clearly weathered many storms. The door was locked, but a wave of a finger had the lock open.

“Celna?” he called as he went in. “It’s safe now. Tilo is in custody.”

He heard the releasing of a held breath, then saw her emerge from under a table. She was trembling. Next thing, she was in his arms, wrapping her arms around him. He kissed her hair repeatedly.

“I’m sorry for endangering you,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“I haven’t been thinking clearly all day,” Celna replied.

“And it’s still day!”

She looked up at him. He couldn’t help himself. He lowered his lips to hers and took another taste. She felt so good in his arms. “What have you done to me, Celna?” he asked.

“Only what you have done to me, Yavin,” she replied.

“I want… so much more!”

“I only met you today,” she protested.

“Yes, of course,” he said, feeling slightly ashamed for pushing her. “You need to know that I live on the road. We, uh, are hunted. We can never stop for long.”

He felt her disappointment. He wanted to offer her forever, but he couldn’t. He could only offer her right now and that wasn’t good enough. “Come, we need to get back, your cousin is worried sick.”

♥

Irola – A’mara Complex

.
“How did it get so late?” Peri asked.

Julleon smiled. “I guess we got carried away,” he replied. “Come, eat with us. See more about how we live.”

Peri accepted his offer and walked with him to their canteen, feeling slightly conspicuous. Still, she was only working on a report, she had to investigate all aspects of A’mara life.

The canteen was better stocked than the Parliament one, Peri noted with interest. Some things had clearly taken only minutes in a flash oven, but others had taken a lot of work, she recognized immediately.

“We employ several full-time chefs,” Julleon explained. “Although our members are perfectly welcome to cook for themselves in their own quarters, our founders felt that we should never have to worry about whether we eat or not when we’re busy on a mission or other task. We often donate our excess to the homeless shelters in the Understory.”

“That’s excellent! We never hear anything about that,” Peri said almost too enthusiastically.

“Yet another thing we have got right,” Julleon said, leading her to a table where they could look out into the atrium. “This is my favorite table in the whole place.”

“I can understand that,” Peri said. “Who takes care of the plants?”

“We have a paid gardener who takes care of it.”

“Next time I come, I want to sit in there for awhile – just to relax a bit.”

“Of course,” he replied. “I hope you can come back tomorrow. We’ve only just begun this project.”

Peri was struggling to keep her mind focused on this project. All she could think of was how it was such a good excuse to be with Julleon again.