Page 6 of The Twelve Nights of Halloheen

“What wish?” Lakin asked Dalt instead of responding to Isla’s last comment.

Tisuran was quick to redirect the conversation with another question. “Isla, when do we plan to decorate the tree?”

Dalt was quick to follow his lead. “We need to find Zia and ask her where the natic gel is kept. Then you need to show me how the humans like to draw stars.” He looked at Tisuran and said pointedly. “Everyone’s busy, so you’ll be here alone unless you ping someone’s Ident Cube or information square for assistance.”

With those parting words, Dalt guided Lakin out as she animatedly described the stars she’d drawn as a child. Tisuran was suddenly alone with Isla.

“Should we hang up the plants?” he asked, to draw her attention away from the departing couple. “Or does that happen tomorrow?”

“We should hang some items,” Isla mused. “But leave the rest for everyone to decorate together as part of Green Night.”

“Then let us complete this task,” Tisuran said, hefting the bag of plant clippings onto the table.

“Sure!” Isla skipped over. She stood next to him, pulling greenery out of the bag.

Tisuran gave himself a moment to inhale her unique scent. He longed to rub the scent glands in his cheeks into her hair. Their combined scent would be heady and addicting. He was so entranced with her, it would probably only take once and he’d be scent-bonded to her for life.

The thought of touching Isla in any way made his mating shaft fill with blood and his flesh pouch grow tight.

This was going to be a long, torturous night. He wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Isla

Zia’s wide eyes and big, open-mouth smile clearly told Isla how impressed she was with the decorated communal building. She and Palforma arrived only moments ago and both of them had stopped in their tracks to admire everyone’s efforts.

Yesterday evening Isla and Tisuran had hung a few items, moved all the bigger pieces of furniture into a storage area, and set the yellow-leafed tree up on a table in the center of the room. At least the tree wasn’t red, like most of the other “greenery” they’d harvested.

This evening, the first of The Twelve Nights of Halloheen, everyone had gathered and cheerfully decorated with childlikeabandon. The few humans that hadn’t come from the Wimol human colony had enthusiastically joined the fun despite lacking experience with the tradition.

The result was a room embellished with every sparkly item, leafy plant, and bright fabric available. They’d made up for the lack of green plants by supplementing the decorations with green paper, paint, and fabric. The place looked better than any Green Night Isla had celebrated in the past.

As was tradition, both Zia and Palforma carried trays of food for the Green Night Feast. The couple unloaded their delectable offerings with the other potluck items on crowded warming tables.

Born deaf, Zia had the silent tapping language of the Norka downloaded into her Innercranial Translators. Everyone else had the same download, so they could all communicate, but Norka required a person’s hands to be free to talk. The moment Zia set down her burden, she started tapping rapidly.

‘This is amazing!’ Zia exclaimed, eyes sparkling and her hand movements big to denote her excitement. ‘I’m so glad you pushed to celebrate Halloheen. We have so much work to do, I wouldn’t have thought to bother with it.’

Isla blushed a little. ‘It’s not that big of a deal,’ she tapped back. ‘It’s not as important as organizing the domicile system’s maintenance or fixing the comms relay.’

It was Zia’s scent-bonded Talin, Palforma, that responded to Isla’s comment. ‘Don’t downplay the importance of happiness,’ he countered with precise hand movements. ‘Most of us are too focused on building and maintaining this colony. We forget that our spirits need sustenance as well as our bodies.’

During his time in the Talin military, Palforma had suffered a brain injury, leaving him with an inability to find his words and a stutter when he did manage to talk. He’d been quick to adopt Norka when Zia had introduced the language to him, finding hecould communicate far more eloquently with his hands. Many had considered him lacking intelligence until he learned Norka.

Isla was often jealous of Zia and Palforma’s relationship. Palforma was a warrior who thought himself worthless until Zia. With her leading the way, he found his value, and the two of them had even foiled a plot to kill a member of the Talin royal family!

Isla might not be interested in living that kind of dangerous adventure, but she did long for a partner who saw her as an equal and not some dingbat who needed to be kept safe from her own follies.

But then she’d remember relationships weren’t for her. Any male she partnered with would wantthingsfrom her. She couldn’t do thosethings. Never again.

‘…all the other nights?’

It took Isla a moment to realize Zia had asked her a question. She’d zoned out and missed most of her tapping. ‘I’m sorry, what?’

Zia grinned and repeated her question. ‘Will you do all the nights? Or only this one and the last one?’

Isla gave Zia a mock scowl. ‘We’re doing all the nights. What kind of celebration would it be if we only celebrated Green Night and Night of the Dead?’

‘Great! I’m looking forward to a full celebration!’ Zia said with her trademark soundless, huffing laugh. Isla loved that laugh, as it reminded her of their mischievous childhood adventures and pranks.

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