Page 17 of Resisting the Alien Rider

Yesterday, I’d been so freaking happy to be on the road and heading towards my future husband that the time spent travelling had flown right by. Everything was pretty and shiny and happy and new and I was going to meet Oaken.

Today…

Today, I was struggling to get back to that happy place. Not because I wasn’t still excited to go meet Oaken – I was.

No. It was because of Garrek.

He sat behind me on Shanti like a big block of blue ice. He called the occasional command to Shanti or the bracku or Killian, but otherwise he didn’t say a word.

I hadn’t really noticed it yesterday. The discomfort of this silence, as taut and tangible as leather stretched between us.

I noticed it today.

And the reality began to set in. The reality that I could have days, or maybe even weeks on shuldubackwith this man and be stuck in depressingly awkward silence with him the entire time.

No, thank you. I’d rather not.

“So, Garrek,” I said brightly, ignoring the way I felt him tense suspiciously behind me. “Tell me about yourself.”

“No.”

Good one, Magnolia. Absolutely top-notch conversation so far.

“Alright. Fine, then. Tell me about Killian.”

I heard Garrek’s sigh over the clomping of hooves.

“He’s a young Zabrian boy, a convicted murderer in the eyes of the Empire, and a colossal pain in my tail.”

I snorted and shook my head.

“I think he’s lovely.”

“That’s because he’s been on his best behaviour around you so far,” Garrek grumbled. “And he’s calmed down significantly compared to when he first got here. You should have seen him when he arrived before winter. It took days just to convince him to sleep inside the house instead of the barn. I’ve still got the teeth marks in my hide.”

My eyebrows climbed in surprise. I twisted in the saddle, trying to see Killian. I glimpsed him at the back of the herd, looking so competent and calm atop his shuldu, nothing like the child Garrek was describing.

“Stop that,” Garrek grunted. He nudged me with the inner elbow of the arm holding the reins. “You’re going to fall off.”

“No I’m not! You worry too much.”

Garrek snorted, then muttered something that sounded like, “You have no idea.”

“Did Killian already know how to ride a shuldu when he arrived?” I asked.

“No.”

“No?” I craned my neck to look at Garrek, only to find his eyes already fastened on me. He shifted them away, but I let my own gaze remain on his face for a beat. His eyes were so often bright white that I hadn’t had a moment to really appreciate their true colour before now.

Zabrians didn’t have round pupils or irises like humans. They had dark eyes with veins of brighter colour that branched out from the centre. Garrek’s eyes were a rich and regal shade of deep violet. The brighter, lightning-like streaks were the most beautiful shade of lavender tinged with smoke.

“No,” Garrek reiterated, his eyes still aimed somewhere over my head. “I just said that. Is your hearing really that bad?”

“It’s not that bad. I heard you the first time. I was just clarifying.” I turned around in the saddle again. “He seems to ride really well. Who taught him?”

“I did.”

“You did?”

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