Page 18 of 3 Secrets to Love (Romance Tales from the Quadrants #2)

Friends

It was my last night on Ma’an.

Though I didn’t know it at the time.

I had climbed up the rocky left bank of Galsana Falls to Pentor Point, the best view of the waterfall and the land below.

Nunki sat beside me, both of us with our legs hanging over the edge of the rock face.

He was always with me.

At thirteen-star cycles, we lived next door to each other and had spent most of our lives together.

I believed that would never change.

In a few star cycles, we would marry.

And in a few more, we would visit a doctor, and I would be inseminated with Nunki’s sperm plus some from two donors.

Because that’s how babies were made on my home planet.

“Do you want an eipa?”

Nunki opened a cloth, showing me the sweet and fruity pastry wrapped inside. Probably something his moema had sent along with him.

“No, it’s okay. You can eat it.”

As much as I loved eipaes, I didn’t want to eat Nunki’s. Though I was sure he would let me have a bite.

He reached into his sack and pulled out another cloth.

“I have two. Moema said to make sure you get one. She made them especially for you anyway.”

Of course.

She always fed me.

More so after my poepa died and my moema had been busy planning for his funeral.

Maybe she did that so I wouldn’t be sad.

The adults I knew on Ma’an were often sad when a relative died.

But I couldn’t be sad when it came to my poepa.

I barely knew him.

He was always at the Official Rotunda for important meetings, whatever that meant.

And when he wasn’t there, he traveled off planet to make trade deals with the governments of other worlds within the quadrants.

I guessed communication through the comm system wasn’t good enough, no matter how many times I had sworn I wouldn’t interrupt him if he stayed home.

He never used comms to talk to the governments of other planets, or to call home when he traveled.

When I did see my poepa, he came for dinner before he took my moema to her sleep pod and closed the curtain.

She would giggle and moan his name all night.

Then he left the next morning for several more lunar cycles.

I knew my l’sida’s poepa better than my own, and he owned a shipping business and made deliveries all across the quadrants. But he still made it home far more often.

My moema grieved with my poepa’s passing, cried a lot when she didn’t think I could see her. So, maybe I grieved, too, but for her. I wanted her to be happy again.

After taking the sweet treat from Nunki, I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“Tell your moema, thank you. She makes the best eipaes.”

Nunki’s cheeks turned red before he took my hand in his.

“We’ll be best friends forever, right?”

I nodded.

“Of course.”

I’d never doubted the idea.

Nunki being in my life remained an irrefutable fact, something that would never change.

We ate our eipaes, the only sound around us from the crash of the water hitting the rocks far below.

And when we finished, Nunki returned the empty cloths to his sack.

The sun still shined high enough in the sky we didn’t need to head home yet.

Though I still stood and climbed down the bank.

But my trek turned into a combination of graceful sliding and uncontrolled running. All the while, I hoped I didn’t lose my balance and start tumbling.

When I reached the bottom, without injuring myself, I turned around to see whether Nunki had followed me down.

He skidded down not far behind me.

I hadn’t realized how close he was until his body smacked into me and we fell to the ground together.

Somehow, he managed to wrap his arm around my neck to prevent my head from bouncing off the ground.

But his chin hit my mouth, shoving my lip into my teeth.

I tasted blood right away.

“Stars, I’m so sorry.”

He scrambled off me and pulled me to my feet.

“Are you okay? Is anything broken?”

I shook my head, licking the inside of my lip.

“I’m good. Are you okay?”

He wrinkled his brows before pulling down my bottom lip.

“You’re bleeding.”

I turned my head away, out of his grip.

“I said I’m fine. I didn’t hit my head, and no broken bones. Pretty lucky, I’d say.”

“But you’re bleeding.”

The side of his mouth curved up into a half smile.

“I could kiss it better if you’d let me.”

My brain froze, and I couldn’t do anything but stare at Nunki’s soft and plump lips.

I knew we would kiss on the lips one day, had to if we were going to be married.

But I never expected it to happen so soon.

And I didn’t want to say no. I looked forward to the day we kissed for the first time. Dreamed about it.

Unable to speak, I simply nodded.

With a lopsided smile, Nunki closed his eyes and leaned forward until his lips pressed to mine.

As a rush of sensations zinged through my body, I felt the pucker of his lips, heard the gentle smooching sound. But just as quickly, he pulled away. The kiss was over.

“So, did I make everything better?”

he asked, his cheeks tinted red again.

I nodded, sure mine glowed the same shade with the burning sensation in them.

“Where have you two been all day?”

I turned around to see Sakuunu hiking up the trail toward us, followed by Qamar.

Truth be told, I’d dreamed about kissing both of them, too.

But that information I vowed to keep from everyone.

Especially since I planned to marry Nunki.

Sakuunu bossed around every kid in the neighborhood like an older broepa.

Our parents seemed to believe he was a good influence on us, but they didn’t know about all the times he sneaked into the Official Rotunda to eavesdrop, and all the things he told us about what he heard.

And I thought of Qamar like a kid broepa.

At one-star cycle younger, he tried to act all tough, but with large, floppy, light-brown hair, innocent eyes, and chubby cheeks that hid the cutest dimples, he was simply too adorable for any of us to take seriously.

Most of the time, he followed us around because the rest of the kids in our neighborhood were much younger than us, or much older and preparing to be adults.

Nunki’s expression changed, and he glared at Sakuunu.

“We’ve been here, on our own, all day. What do you want?”

Sakuunu took a step toward him, purposefully standing tall and puffing out his chest, as if in a silent show of dominance.

I had no idea why, but they performed the act quite often around me.

It started around the same time I discovered the first pink strand in my hair.

Qamar reached us and shook his head when he saw the two older boys acting like blemars again.

The reptiles stood on their hind legs, puffing out their chests and circling each other to impress a possible mate.

But neither Qamar nor I knew why they suddenly started the display.

Qamar shrugged.

“We came because your moema wants you home. She says it’s important.”

I sighed. Everything proved important to my moema. But if I didn’t get home right away, I would end up with twice my daily tasks and no chance to spend time with Nunki for several days.

I latched onto his wrist and tugged.

“Let’s go. We’ll return tomorrow.”

After one final glare at Sakuunu, he followed me. And the four of us raced to our neighborhood together.

When we arrived, everything seemed different.

My moema, along with aubaes in the neighborhood, loaded crates into the back of a hovercart.

That meant someone was moving out.

And that only happened after someone’s poepa passed away and their moema had found someone new to get remarried to.

I didn’t know anyone else but me who had lost their poepa recently, but my moema hadn’t had any time to meet someone new.

I looked to Nunki to see if he had any explanation, but his eyes were wide and glassy as his bottom lip quivered.

Auba Draya, a neighbor, came up to me after she’d loaded her crate into the hovercart.

“You’re lucky to be leaving Ma’an. You will have so many opportunities available to you across the quadrants. We will miss you and your moema but be thankful for this freedom your poepa granted you. And don’t ever return.”

Leaving? Auba Draya wasn’t talking about moving to a new neighborhood but leaving the planet completely.

Never to return.

That was impossible. I had to stay to marry Nunki and have a family with him. How could I do that from another planet?

I clutched Nunki’s hand and started running toward his flat. If we packed his things, he could come with us.

Sakuunu blocked my path, grabbing my shoulders and not letting me go.

“Eta, don’t run away. This is for the best.”

“I’m not running away.”

I brushed my cheek, wiping tears away that had unknowingly fallen.

“I’m getting Nunki’s things so he can come with me.”

Pursing his lips, Sakuunu shook his head.

“That’s not possible. There are only documents for you and your moema. And if the High Council learns about your poepa’s arrangement before you take off, you won’t get a chance to leave.”

My chest tightened like all the air had been sucked from my lungs.

“You knew? You knew up at Galsana Falls why you were bringing me home and you didn’t tell me?”

“I knew you’d run off if I told you. But you have to go. It’s for the best.”

Nunki suddenly let go of my hand, hooked Sakuunu’s arm, and jerked him around.

“How dare you. You know how we feel about each other, and yet you’re okay with this? I thought you were supposed to look out for us. Isn’t that what you always say? Well, thanks for nothing.”

“Listen.”

Sakuunu rested a hand on each of our shoulders.

“I get why you’re upset. I really do. But, Eta, if you stay here, you will be forced to marry a councilman. Your mother, too. Your hair is already starting to turn pink. The High Council is already watching you. There will be no chance for you to be with Nunki. He doesn’t have a high status. You know this. You know how things work here. It doesn’t matter that you both want things to be different.”

Letting go of us, he took a step back.

“Your poepa arranged this opportunity for you to get off this planet, to have the chance to do whatever you want. Take it, and don’t return.”

“But…”

Nunki’s bottom lip quivered before he fell to his knees, burying his head in his hands.

Sakuunu kneeled in front of him and rubbed his arm.

“I know this is hard, but you know it’s for the best. And I promise we’ll find her again. But if she stays here, you have no chance with her. You know that.”

With red-rimmed eyes, Nunki looked up at the older boy and nodded.

I struggled to catch my breath.

I’d wanted Nunki and I to be the first to have a choice in who we marry, the first to change the system.

No one else seemed to believe that was possible, including my poepa.

I had to leave everything I knew behind for a supposedly better life with very little notice. But I didn’t want to.

I wrapped my arms around Nunki and tried to hold him tight, but he struggled out of my grasp. Stepping away from me, he shook his head.

“You have to go.”

Then he turned around and ran.

Before I had a chance to go after him, Qamar hugged me. I couldn’t push him away. That would have been too cruel. Crueler than the whole situation.

I hugged him tight, unable to control my tears.

“I’m going to miss you so much. Promise me you’ll grow up big and strong, okay? Don’t let anyone push you around.”

He nodded and handed me a pink-petaled flower—one that grew up at the falls—before turning around and heading home.

With his hands behind his back, Sakuunu dug the toe of his shoe into the ground.

“I wish I knew another way.

I really do.

But I’ve already heard the High Council discussing who your moema will marry next.

In a couple star cycles, they’ll be making arrangements for you, if they haven’t already decided.

Don’t give them the chance to force you to marry someone else.”

I chewed on my bottom lip, trying to halt the tears.

While I understood all the reasoning, I still didn’t want to leave.

My heart ached.

If I had to leave, I wanted there to be a way to bring my friends with me.

And Deyal.

Why wasn’t she around? I needed to say goodbye to my l’sida. How would she survive without me? Without us?

Deyal’s moema wasn’t from Ma’an and died during childbirth.

Unda Cha’ee brought her home and raised her as a boy until she told him she wasn’t a boy.

Most of the neighborhood accepted Deyal as a girl, but some did not.

And when she wasn’t off planet with her poepa, doing deliveries, I would no longer be around to tell those people off.

I clasped Sakuunu’s forearms, suddenly more concerned for my l’sida than myself.

“You have to look out for Deyal. Promise me you won’t let anyone hurt her.”

He nodded before pulling me into a hug.

“I promise. I will do everything I can.”

Then he kissed the side of my head.

“I’m going to miss you so much, Eta. I love you. As much as Nunki. Maybe more.”

I gasped as he whispered those words in my ear. I’d always thought he saw me as a little sida, someone he could boss around.

“But I know you can’t stay, and I don’t want you to return. Stay away from here. We’ll find you. I’ll find you. That’s a guarantee.”

After a quick squeeze, he let go and stepped away. “Now go.”

My moema suddenly arrived at my side and ushered me toward the full hovercart.

“We must leave at once. Before they find out.”

I didn’t bother to worry about whether all or any of my belongings had been packed.

I didn’t have much anyway.

And the only things I really wanted to bring with me were my friends.

Nothing else mattered.

I clung to the flower Qamar had given me, tears flowing down my cheeks in an unstoppable stream as we left the neighborhood behind.

Once we passed the edge of the inhabited land, the fall of night surrounded us.

An advantage to our escape, but it only added to the nightmare the evening had become.

When I finally saw light again, it shined from the shuttle that rocketed us off Ma’an under the cover of darkness.

When the shuttle stopped planet-hopping, we settled on the other side of the universe, the flower, my only reminder of my friends, dried out and crumpled in many pieces.

Somehow, I had to figure out how to start over on a new planet while holding on to the hope I would one day see those I’d left behind.