Page 11 of The Royal's Bumblebee
“Good.” Billie gulped and she thrust her right hand at me. “W-walk me. Guide me and don’t talk unless you need to tell me to step up or down or something. I want a shower. D-don’t rush me. I want to go to my new home. That is what I want. To shower. Just, don’t make me go quickly. Or look at anything.” She was shaking and her eyes scrunched shut. “I-I want Hannah.” She whined and saw her starting to panic again.
“I am Prince Izule. I am a Royal, and I am your sponsor. I will see to all your needs.” I wrapped my hand around her shaking hand and she yelped at the contact.
“H-Hannah is my rock.”
“And I am a…mountain.” I have no idea why I said it, and I understood she wanted her sister, but I didn’t want her to ask for Hannah. I wanted her to seek comfort fromme.“I am unmovable and steadfast. I will never be crushed, and I will never fail to support you.” I held her hand, so small and wary of both the strength of my grip and the placement of my claws. “You have chosen me. I will be your mountain. Lean on me, Billie.”
I’m a hunter. I’ve never been one for poetry, but my verbal blunder seemed to have worked. Billie lifted her head towards me, her eyes still shut, but no longer whimpering.
“…you’re…my mountain?” Her voice was so quiet I barely heard it. The urge to wrap her tightly in my tail to comfort her was hard to resist.
“Yes.” I spoke firmly, truly meaning that. We stood like that, side by side with me watching her, and her eyes shut, for a good five minutes. I only realised I’d managed to succeed in comforting her at all, when her soft little hand turned in my palm to wrap around mine. The way she held me back felt significant. Like she was going to trust me to take her home safely. My hood widened and my chest puffed out. Victory. “You said not to talk to you while we travel, so I will say only this. If you need to stop, squeeze my hand and I will coil around you until you are ready to move again. Squeeze my hand when you are ready to go.”
Five minutes later Billie nodded and squeezed my hand.
???
End flashback.
It felt like I’d aged a year by the time we finally made it to the outer reaches of the grand palace. In reality, it took us an hour, but that journey was usually 10 minutes for me. Several serving staff came across out path and paled at the threatening look I gave them to shuck off, and quickly. I was elated when we came to the west wing exit. The wide stone path to my nest was large and strong enough for human vehicles to land on and deliver whatever Billie would need. To make my nest hers as well.
My relief was squashed when she whimpered and squeezed my hand with fright. I threw my tail around her to protect her in my coil, no matter how awkward it was to do so whilst holding her hand. I learned my lesson and didn’t dare let her go. She took some sort of comfort from holding my hand, and I wouldn’t take that from her again.
“W-what’s that noise?” She whimpered and I looked around for whatever she could be referring to. No one else was on the bridge. The canopy of trees around us didn’t have any birds in it. They knew better than to roost near an Ucfeni’s nest, unless they wanted to be a quick snack. I flicked my tongue out to scent the air to search for any sign of any of my kin, and tasted none on the wind.
Ah, that must be it. Above us the canopy rustled with the breeze.
“The wind in the trees.”
“But we’re inside the palace?” Billie gripped me and turned in my coil to hold my hand to her chest. “You said we were walking through the palace to your nest. Wind and trees? That means we’re outside. You-you didn’t tell me we would be outside.”
“I am sorry Billie.” I instinctively moved my upper body to act as a cover over the coil to shield her. “There is a short distance between the west wing and our nest. We are a minute away from the front door.” Much to my annoyance, a particularly strong gust of wind jostled the treetops and she dropped down in my coil. I lurched forward to follow her, so she didn’t end up dangling from my hand. I widened my cowl and blocked out as much light, and the outside world, as I could from my coil. “Take your time. No rush. You are in no danger. I am here.” My left arm wrapped around one side of my coiled tail and I prepared to wait for as long as she needed.
I watched Billie as she held my hand in both of hers, like it was her lifeline, and wished I could do something to ease her worry. I have never met such a frightened female. Not even a child. I felt like I was failing her and became desperate to dosomethingto soothe her. Then I thought more about her as if she was a frightened child. She told me I wasn’t to touch her without her consent, but she never said I couldn’t ululate. I took a few deep breaths before channelling it through the mood tube alongside my vocal cords. Ululating had many functions, depending on the force and frequency of the sound the Ucfeni produced. It can be more of a warning growl of aggression in the heat of battle, or a mourning call of grief at a funeral. Or, if done softly, the sound can come out as something more like a rumbling that our young use for comfort. Mothers often ululate softly with tenderness when their younglings are distressed. Ululating is always passionate. If an Ucfeni was ululating, you steered clear and did not interrupt. If it was between parent and child, or adversaries at war, it didn’t matter.
I was already rumbling with each inhale and exhale down at Billie, before I realised I haveneverululated at another my whole life. Nor has anyone ululated at me. My mother passed when I was too young for her to have done so. Maybe she did when I was hatching? Father never told me she did. He certainly never ululated me. It was instilled in me before my first proper shed that I was not to show any weakness.
Yet here I was. Ululating a soothing rumble at Billie.
“…are you…purring?” I shook my head. “It sounds like purring.” I couldn’t talk and ululate, but the fact she was talking to me had to be a good sign. I cleared my throat and stopped ululating to speak to her.
“Mammals purr. Ucfeni ululate. We have a specific mood tube beside our vocal cords. Normally it’s shut. We can open it and regulate how narrow it is to change the sound that we produce.”
“Changing the pitch and frequency?”
“Yes.” I nodded firmly. “I can growl, bark, howl or bay. Or coo. Like I did then.”
“Coo?” Bille cocked her head up at me cutely. “It sounded more like an engine rumbling than a bird cooing. It was a deep sound.” My neck scales darkened at the compliment, then I chastised myself as she had no idea that she’d flattered me. Another purpose of ululation is seduction, and the more baritone the sound the more masculine and attractive the male was considered. Females ululated too, but they aimed to be lighter and melodic in their tones.
“Be that as it may, it is called cooing when we ululate to give comfort.” My black tongue flicked out and tasted her curiosity. I was suddenly very glad for my previous plan to stock up on books and think about what my future human charge might want to know about us. “Have I succeeded?” She stared at my mouth and didn’t answer. “When you are ready, we are one minute away from the front door. And you can have the shower you’ve requested.”
“I do want a shower.” Billie turned to look through my tail and her hands still gripped my right one between them. “What’s out there?”
“We are currently on a bridge connecting the west palace ground exit to my nest.” I turned to look over at the home I personally designed with pride. “It is three stories high and designed for two occupants. Myself and my human charge. You.” I cleared my throat and returned my yellow eyes to look at her, when I caught movement out of the corner of my gaze. Slowly she stood and I helped her with the hand she still clung to.
“What does it look like inside?” Her eyes were closed she lifted her head out of my coil. I swung back just enough for her to have a comfortable amount of space, and without letting go of her hand. “So I’m prepared?”
“I had the ground floor built specifically for my human charge. It is, therefore, all yours. The entrance room leads to the social room. To the left is a human-style kitchen and pantry. To the right is your slumbering room and an empty room for you to do as you wish with.”
