Page 25 of The Naga Inventor's Clever Mate

“It was a shock to see her there, wasn’t it?” she spoke in something close to a whisper, as if she were afraid to draw attention to herself, or the subject. “But it will be all right. I don’t think they suspect anything.” She sounded wistful that time, a little sad, and I felt a spark of anger sizzle through my veins. I was causing that;shewas causing that. It wasn’t right, but I felt powerless to change it.

“Come, I’ll introduce you to Avrish and the others. They’ll be excited to see their first human.” I was certain that Min-Ji would happily let herself get distracted by talk and company. She thrived under those circumstances, and she’d win the hearts of any old Shaman who lived here in no time. That wouldn’t hurt our cause, because even if the Queen was here for healing, I wouldn’t put it past her to stir up trouble while she was at it.

That suspicion was confirmed not much later when we sat down in the meal area with Avrish. Class had let out a few minutes ago, and the little Shamans-in-training had all gathered around Min-Ji to ask her a million questions. They couldn’t understand any of her answers, as they had no translator implants, but she understood theirs and was game enough to pantomime and gesture to make herself understood by the curious horde.

“She’s sweet,” Avrish commented as she sat down on the bench across from me with a bowl of steaming, fragrant stew. She pulled out her familiar Rakworm ivory spoon and started digging in, speaking with her mouth full and grinning with twinkling eyes as she did. It was on purpose, because she knew it irked me when people ate noisily. There was no sign of the strict but animated teacher from earlier; now, she slipped into her warm and teasing persona. The one I used to watch with awe as she teased cool Altare. She was treating me as an equal, an adult, not a student. It was a very surreal experience, but one I got used to in a hurry.

“Good with the kids,” she added after an extra-loud slurping noise. When I failed to rise to the bait, she dropped the pretense and ate her next bite daintily. Avrish was dainty—except for her size compared to Min-Ji. Her face was delicate and as close to human in features as a Naga could get: no horn, tiny scales, delicate brows, and a plush mouth for smiling. “She's your mate, right?”

I ripped my gaze from Min-Ji, who’d managed to draw the younglings into a game that involved a lot of clapping and hand-slapping. It was accompanied by loud peals of laughter, and more than one elder had come out of their home, slipping away from their research to watch with amusement.

“How did you know?” I asked, not bothering to deny the comment. I did not want to hide it from Avrish, and I knew the female would not betray my trust. She was the kindest Naga female in existence, but I was willing to admit to being a little biased on that front. Avrish had definitely been my first crush as a youngling, but I felt only fondness for her and those past feelings. My feelings for Min-Ji eclipsed anything I'd felt in the past.

“It’s in your eyes. I recognize that look,” my former teacher responded with a laugh. She was, as Altare had once gruffly explained to a baffled young Corin, a throwback to older genes. I still did not grasp the concept of ‘genes’ entirely, something I’d missed out on when I had failed to show up for more lessons the next year. But I understood enough to know that he meant Avrish was more like a Naga female from before the calamities. That was why she had no horns, and why she was kinder, softer, and lacked a will to battle her rivals.

“The Queen,” I said, instead of explaining the convoluted difficulties of my mating. “Why is she here?” I could not imagine that she’d admitted to any sign of weakness to the Thunder Rock Clan, especially to her rivals. So, if she was sick, she’d come here under false pretenses.

“Officially?” Avrish queried, instantly understanding my real question. “To discuss the worry of disease brought here by the humans.” The Naga woman rolled her golden eyes as if she thought this idea was utterly preposterous, but it was not entirely untrue. If any of them had been sick, it could have been a threat. After months among us without any issues, though, that was unlikely. The other way around, like what had happened to Reid? That was a bigger concern and one that suddenly filled my mind with all kinds of horrific scenarios.

“Unofficially, she’s here because Artek discovered a mass in her chest cavity—her lungs, to be precise. He treated her, but it has come back, so he suggested she come here for further treatment.” Avrish snorted, and I knew it was because she thought that kind of subterfuge was stupid. A sign of weakness rather than strength. I agreed. If she were a good Queen, her people would want her to heal, not stab her in the back while she was down.

“I see,” I murmured. “And why did she bring Sazzie? I would think her daughter would be her biggest rival…” I really couldn’t see that. Sazzie was always a brawler, loud and vicious in her fights. I did not recall a single fight Zathar’s younger sister had ever lost. Then again, Zathar did say that Sazzie had been sympathetic to his mating with Vera. Maybe she wasn’t all bad…

“Oh? You didn’t hear? Sazzie publicly denounced any desire for the Thunder Rock throne. Apparently, her mother believes her.” I had not heard that, and it made very little sense to me, but it wasn’t going to be my problem. I had other things to worry about, like the Queen’s presence and keeping my mate safe, like making sure that Reid would get what he needed to heal.

I spoke with Avrish some more while we ate, but I made sure to keep a portion of food ready for Min-Ji so she could eat as soon as she tired of playing with the younglings. I loved how kind she was when she managed to entice and shy one into play. A youngling in the middle of molting and rather unfortunately disfigured by the process. That was normal, but sometimes the subject of teasing by peers. Even with the language barrier, she made that kid feel at ease. That was her power, which was the complete opposite of me in that regard. I loved watching her in her element.

Triff was having fun too, in ways a robot should never be capable of. The Naga younglings here did not fear him, and they were far quicker to adapt to his quirks than I had been. A bunch of them were playing some kind of tag with the beeping bot as it let them chase it around the teaching and eating hub at the center of the camp.

It was probably one of the calmest, most enjoyable afternoons I’d had in a while. Watching my mate have fun, my pet robot play, and being surrounded by mentors who came and went to catch up with me, I felt… accepted, at home, and welcome. Nobody said anything about how I shouldn’t be here or that I wasn’t a Shaman. It was almost as if I was one of them. But they couldn’t really see me that way, could they?

Then my beautiful Min-Ji derailed all my thoughts when, panting and smiling, she finally joined me at the table to eat some food. She was out of breath from a rousing game of chase, with smudges of dirt on her knees and elbows. There was even a smudge on her cheek. We didn’t have kids at Haven, though that would soon change. I hadn’t had a chance to see how good she was with them, but now I knew. My mate was the prettiest creature in existence—utterly perfect. My chest ached with how badly I wanted her.

Her hip brushed against my tail as she sat down and my sigils started to flare, a response more to the heavy emotions filling my chest than her actual touch. I reined them in with effort and hated that I needed to do that. “Hi,” she smiled at me. “Is this food for me?” Silently, I nudged the bowl I’d been guarding for her closer to her hands.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the hatch of the med bay skyship slide open, and my body went tight as a bowstring. Either the elders were finished with Reid and had come to bring us news, or it was the Thunder Rock Queen. I wasn’t ready for this afternoon to be over, but suddenly, it was.

Chapter 20

Min-Ji

I had never wanted to reach out and crawl into Corin’s lap as badly as I did right then. I held back because I knew that’s what he wanted me to do, but it felt wrong. He’d looked so happy moments ago, relaxed in ways I hadn’t ever seen him. Now, he was sitting ramrod straight, his scales whispering as they rattled along his spine with his unease.

I didn’t have to guess to know what had set this off: the Queen. Though my instincts shouted at me to reach out and touch him, to offer him silent support, I scooted away instead. My chest felt heavy as I did, and I felt tiny under the gaze of the pretty Naga teacher. Her golden eyes felt disapproving, like I’d done the wrong thing. I knew that; it felt wrong to me, too.

The two Thunder Rock Naga women paused on the gangplank as they exited the medical ship and gazed out over the camp. The younger female had so many scars all over her arms and chest that I wondered if she’d been in a paper shredder. She looked fierce, proud, and utterly fearless. But it was the Queen herself who struck fear inside my chest. Her face was pulled into the most vicious snarl I’d ever seen, and I felt tiny as a bug when her gaze landed on me—like dirt beneath her tail when she started to approach.

The Thunder Rock Queen was big and imposing, wider across the shoulders than her daughter, and definitely much stockier than Avrish. She looked like she could squash my head in her fist like a grape; her expression said she was planning to do it too. Corin rose and moved between me and the approaching thundercloud, his fists balled at his sides. My heart went out to him, knowing how that woman had altered the course of his life. She had held power over him that she had not deserved and had mistreated in the worst way.

Corin looked angry rather than afraid, and that anger struck a chord inside me. Yeah, that was the right response. Screw her! She had no right to this. When she opened her mouth and spewed her vile words, it only stoked the flames.

“Why are there humans here? I came here to warn you of their threat! I want them removed or isolated!” she shouted and flung out a claw to point my way. “Don’t just stand there, protecting that vermin, Corin. Remove her.” It was as if the direct order made him snap, jerking him out of his silent, simmering rage and bringing all that anger fully to the surface—years of bottled-up rage against her mistreatment, resentment over what she’d made him lose. But it wasn’t any of that he expressed.

“Do NOT talk to my mate that way, Asizza!” Corin growled in the deadliest, most bone-rattling sound I’d ever heard him make. His tail snapped out and curled around my middle, sigils flaring brightly to life for everyone to see. My stomach swooped, my anger vanishing like snow before the sun from the shock of this rapid turn of events. Never in my wildest dreams had I expected Corin to declare me his this loudly, and in front of the person he feared the most.

The Queen responded with an outraged yowling sound, her claws raising as she lurched forward. I thought she was going to attack me, but she reined herself in at the last moment, halting a dozen feet away from Corin, fire spitting from her eyes and her chest heaving. The angry Queen didn’t get quite the response she was looking for.

Behind me, Avrish ushered the young Naga away, helped by Altare, whom I hadn’t even realized was present. When he curled his tail around hers just as they ducked with their students into the nearest shuttle, his sigils lit up. That left us without the prying ears of children, but dozens of adults had slithered out from their traveling homes and research labs to witness what was going on.

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