Page 59 of Essa

"Well, she certainly ensured I don't get you in too much trouble," Iddis says with a smile when he notices Adam and I entering the dining room.

We're wearing the same loose-fitting dark pants we were told to wear this morning. Unlike this morning, though, we're covered in more paint, and Essa took her time drawing intricate lines across our bodies.

When we left the room, Adam left his collar behind, and Essa didn't say anything about it. If he wants to wear it, he does, and after he enjoyed being the filling in our sandwich earlier, I think he needs to feel in control of something. Not that he should be complaining about losing control. He loved it, loves Essa and me. He's just too big of a baby to admit it now.

"I think you're just jealous," I tell Iddis, smiling at him to let him know there's no heat in my words. "We can mention it to Essa and see if she can talk Niivi into painting you some time."

"That's assuming she doesn't already," Iddis replies coolly, biting into some sort of fruit that looks oddly similar to the one I ate this morning that tasted like a sour candy dumped in toxic waste. My jaw hurts just thinking about it.

"Were you going to show us around, or are we just going to allude to sex for the next however long it takes the females to do wedding stuff?" Adam asks, his arms crossing over his chest but stopping before they rest against him to keep the paint from smearing.

He threatened to mess it up in front of Essa right after she finished, and we both knew he was a liar. Watching him be deliberate with his movements now isn't helping out his lie, either.

"I'm just here to kill time. We can do that whichever way you want," Iddis says, teeth sinking into the fruit again. "I was told to welcome you into the family. Niivi wants to make amends with Essa after so long apart and for stealing her fiancé."

I snort, unable to stop myself. Iddis quirks a brow in my direction. His long, dark hair shifts and the gold beads worked into his braids reflect the light.

"Saying Nivii stole you means you were ever Essa's to begin with."

"Was I not?" Iddis asks, his tone genuine in its curiosity.

I know he's asking in good faith. Short-fused Adam, on the other hand, doesn't like the implication that Iddis could be making, even though I'm almost positive he doesn't intend any implication.

"No, you fucking weren't," Adam snarls, his awkwardly almost crossed arms dropping to his sides as his hands fist. "If she wanted you as hers, she wouldn't have left, and she wouldn't have needed to bring us here."

Iddis kicks his feet off the table, the chains around his neck and wrists jingling as he moves to stand. He isn't insulted, which is good, but he looks even more intrigued. We don't know much about the man, and knowing Adam, he'll offer up more information than needed if he's upset. And when is he ever not upset?

"Interesting," Iddis says, stepping around the table and motioning for us to follow him through a different set of doors on the opposite side of the room.

Adam eyes him warily, not moving closer to him like this is some kind of weird stand off, one he'll lose because we aren't the highest on the food chain on this planet. I sigh and make my way over to Iddis because whether Adam likes it or not, he's our entertainment for the day, and I don't plan on sitting around in Essa's bedroom with nothing to do while we wait for her to return. Just as I suspect, Adam huffs his annoyance loud enough for everyone in the palace to hear, but he follows after us.

"So, if you're only here so Essa didn't need to face this alone, when did you begin your relationship with my ex-fiancée?" Iddis smirks as he asks, emphasizing the word fiancée as he watches for Adam's reaction.

I close my eyes, telling him in our mind over and over to let it go because Iddis is obviously trying to get him worked up. For what purpose? I have no idea, probably because it's easy and pretty entertaining. I know I enjoy getting Adam upset. Based on how they started their relationship, so does Essa

"Call her your fiancée one more time," Adam says through clenched teeth.

So he's just ignoring me now, great. I'm sure this only ends positively.

Thankfully, Iddis senses the strain I'm under in having to prepare to keep my partner from doing something stupider than threatening the head of a very wealthy household on a planet we're not from and barely know the customs of.

"Very well, I was just curious about your relationship, that's all. We're to be kin soon." Iddis's words do the trick, and Adam relaxes slightly. It's not enough for me to think he's still not thinking of a way to start a fight, but enough to know he's not about to start swinging.

"We met her a few weeks ago," Adam says, tossing out the fact like it's in any way remotely appropriate for a few weeks to be the amount of time for us to have signed away the rest of our lives to be with her. Havenths don't even have fated mates like some other species, so we can't use that as an excuse for why things moved as quickly as they did.

"Weeks?" Iddis turns around to face us, sees that Adam's telling the truth, and spins back around as he continues to guide us down yet another long hallway decorated with too many golden accents, painted depictions of what I'm assuming are other gods, and sparkling marble floors.

"Well, Essa was never one to shy away from rash decisions. I'm pretty sure she didn't even think about marrying me before she fled to the cosmos." Iddis pauses as he pushes open another set of double doors, leading us into an enormous library.

I have to blink a few times to take in its beauty. Floor-to-ceiling shelves are filled with row upon row of books, ladders stationed two on each wall except for the furthest wall, which is made of huge windows with curtains drawn back to show off the sandy landscape of the world outside the palace.

This side of the palace must face away from the rest of the oasis. Essa told us it was on the outskirts of the settlement, and most of the others under her family's protection lived in the nearby oasis.

All Haventh settlements are set up along various areas of fertile life somehow surviving in the middle of barren deserts. Little pockets of fertile land seemingly popped out of the sandy hellscape thousands of years ago to act as places for the Haventh to congregate.

Up until now, I hadn't seen much of the outside world, but looking into the barrenness out the windows, it's almost like looking out at the sea in how neverending it is, but instead of water, it's endless sand as far as the eye can see being baked by the dual stars at the center of this galaxy.

"I was envious of her for a long time," Iddis says, moving toward a section of chairs all centered around a table with a gameboard set on it. The gameboard resembles a chessboard, with dark and light colored pieces on each side. I wonder if he brings guests here often to play or if he set it up specifically for us.

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