Page 30 of Redeeming Captivity (Human Pets of Talin #7)

Chapter 30

Lena

Lena stared at the jeweled lizard laying in the open doorway of the cabin. She’d almost stepped on the colorful creature.

“Why?” she asked Ruby. The lizard never got this close to the cabin. She much preferred the perch Tarquin made her. It put her high in the gilzin bushes which always drew the most bugs. He’d even installed a little heating pad so she was always nice and warm. After installation, she’d only ever seen the lizard leave the perch once, and that was to chase off a jub mouse. Lena couldn’t blame her, jub mice were stinky!

Setting down the empty basket she was holding, she scooped Ruby up and stepped outside to put her back on her perch, only to realize Ruby was on her perch.

Lena held up the strange lizard, noticing the slightly different jeweled pattern now that she looked closer. “Hello,” she said with a grin.

“Who’s this?” Tarquin asked, stepping out of the cabin to stand next to her.

“New friend,” Lena said.

“I guess I’ll need to make another perch,” Tarquin said with an excited rumble. He’d taken to tinkering and crafting as if he’d been born to it.

Not long after the other retired soldiers of Kalor helped them move in and clean up the garden, they’d helped Tarquin add a second building next to the cabin so he could have a shop. It was full of tools, bits and pieces of broken equipment, and items in various stages of repair. While she obsessed over decorating the garden, he would focus on fixing, or breaking, items in his shop.

They spent many of their days like this. Other days they would hike in the forest, finding and collecting treasures for Lena to add to her collection.

Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined a life as good as this one.

“Today?” Lena asked, cradling the animal. The cold lizard let out a soft sigh and closed her eyes. She didn’t feel heavy enough, but after some time in their garden, Lena was sure the creature would put on some weight.

“If I start right now, I should have a perch finished by evening meal,” Tarquin agreed.

“What do you have there?” Kormin asked, stepping into the garden from one of three paths to their home. One path went only to Kormin’s, one went to their closest neighbor, Lasilum, and the third meandered deep into the forest. The third path they’d started themselves and kept building as they explored.

Lena held the jeweled lizard up as Tarquin sounded a welcoming rumble and answered Kormin. “It seems we have a new member of our garden family.”

“Is this one going to be as pampered as Ruby?” Kormin asked with an amused rumble, pointing to Ruby’s perch. Lena grinned at him, making the Talin sound another amused rumble. “You spoil those lizards. They wouldn’t know what to do if you ever left.”

“Never,” Lena said fiercely. This was her home now; she was never leaving it.

Tarquin came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and purred. She didn’t have panic attacks much anymore. Between having plenty of open space, the medication from the healers at the compound, and Tarquin’s steady presence, Lena did fine most days.

She still had the occasional nightmare. They’d affect her for days after, making it hard for her to even go inside their perfect cabin. On those nights they slept outside in the garden, with only the trees and sky above them.

Tarquin treated those nights like any other, as if they were outside for the joy of it and not because her fear wouldn’t let her be within an enclosed space. If she didn’t already love him with all her heart, that would make her.

Kormin walked closer but not too close. All the Talins of Kalor were respectful of her personal space and only ever invited her to hug them if she wanted to. No one here ever forced her to do anything. Not even if it was probably something she should do, like visit the healer more often.

“I found a cache of balb shells,” Kormin said, holding out one of the baskets they all used on Kalor. One of the men in the forest wove them, but no one would tell her who. She had a strong suspicion the Talin in question was dealing with some trauma and they were trying to let him be alone.

She could respect that, but still, they could tell her a name!

“Balb!” she exclaimed, pulling away from Tarquin to approach Kormin. Inside the basket was a bunch of deep blue, cracked, domed shells. The nuts inside had long ago been eaten, but she wasn’t interested in the edible portion. She wanted the pretty outside to add to her collection of colorful things.

“Thanks!” she said, accepting the basket with one hand while holding the lizard with the other. The moment she had the basket, he backed away and sat on one of the benches in the center of the garden.

Kormin had figured out that if he sat down around her it was easier for her to handle being around him. She hadn’t consciously noticed the actions or her reaction until Tarquin pointed it out.

It was another way the Talins on Kalor made her feel welcome and safe.

“I like what you did with the kilkick beetle wings,” Kormin said, pointing to where she’d strung a bunch of the molted wings together and hung them between poles around the garden. “I think I might do something similar but with nalbur thorns.”

“Good idea,” Lena said with an approving nod. Unlike their name, nalbur thorns weren’t actually thorns. They were long, narrow, parasitic plants that grew on some trees. They often turned bright purple when they died. Using them to decorate was a fabulous idea!

“You probably shouldn’t have said anything,” Tarquin commented with an amused rumble. “Now you’re going to be in a race with Lena to collect them.”

“No doubt!” Kormin said. “She comes up with the best ideas. Lasilum started hanging pici shells around his house after visiting here last time. Several humans at the compound have asked us to bring them items from the forest for the same reason.”

Lena beamed at Kormin, delighted that others liked the way she decorated. Although they’d been here long enough to have an established house and good relationships with the Talins living close by, Lena wasn’t comfortable enough yet to spend much time at the compound.

She knew the humans and Talins there really wanted to get to know her, but it was still hard to be around more than a few people at a time. Especially if she had to be around them indoors. Thankfully everyone was being patient with her.

She set the basket down and put their newest garden guest down in a nice sunny spot so both her hands were free.

‘Do you want some tlash tea?’ she asked, using the silent tapping language of the Norka she’d finally had one of the healers at the compound upload into her INT. It took a bit of practice, but once she got the hang of it, she wished she’d done it sooner. It was nice to be able to speak without trying to use her stubborn voice. She still practiced using her words but having this means of effortless communication made her feel dumb for being so stubborn and putting it off.

Tarquin never said anything about it. He let her delay until she was ready then helped her practice once she got the upload. She admired his restraint. It had to be hard to watch someone you love not utilizing a tool you knew could be useful.

She loved him even more for it.

‘No time for tea,’ Kormin said, tapping and speaking at the same time. He only tapped if she tapped first. She didn’t know why, but it must have something to do with trying to be polite and thoughtful, just like with always trying to sit down around her. ‘Even if you do make the best tlash tea on Kalor. I’m here to tell you that Sasina and Nularum are officially scent-bonded. There’s going to be a small ceremony tomorrow starting around fifth mark. I’m walking to Lasilum’s next to invite him.’

Tarquin sounded a startled rattle. ‘You shouldn’t need to deliver these messages personally. The compound could’ve informed us through our Idents.”

‘Most people were,’ Kormin said. ‘But I was asked to talk to a few individually.’

Suspicion hit Lena hard, making her grip her hands together tight enough to make her fingers ache.

“Why?” she demanded, her voice sounding harsh in the soft morning full of bird song and gentle buzzing of bugs.

‘Nothing bad!’ Kormin was quick to tap. ‘I’m here to tell you that if you want to attend, they’ve put together a space to observe the ceremony without having to be close to the crowd.’

‘That’s kind of them,’ Tarquin said. ‘What’ve they done?’

‘A small platform has been put into a tree,’ Kormin said. ‘With a slide-lift to make it easy to get up and down. The platform is only big enough to accommodate about four people total, so as long as you stay up there, only a few people can visit you at a time.’

Lena was touched by the idea and wanted to attend the ceremony. Sasina regularly hiked out into the forest to visit her, accompanied by the protective Nularum. Like her, Sasina was raised among Talins, but she never knew a moment of harsh treatment.

In some ways she felt closer to Sasina than the humans who were “wild-caught” and brought into the Talin Empire as adults. Though Sasina had one thing Lena would never have again, absolute trust.

None of the “wild-caught” humans looked at Talins they didn’t know with trust. Strangers were strangers and they weren’t given anything on faith. Lena was like that now. Everyone was met with wariness until they proved themselves.

Hopefully Sasina would never have to be like her.

‘Sasina would really like you to attend,’ Kormin continued. ‘She would never hold a grudge if you didn’t though.’

‘I’ll be there,’ Lena said, feeling confident. If the crowd became too much, she could simply tell Tarquin and they’d slip away.

Kormin sounded a loud, excited rattle, scaring off several birds. ‘Wonderful! Contact me if you need anything before tomorrow. I’ll be at the compound early to help with the preparations.’

After cheerful farewells, Kormin left. Lena turned to Tarquin, suddenly feeling excited.

‘I want to make Sasina and Nularum matching belts.’ She pointed to the one she was wearing. She’d made it using one of the looms the Simtee gave her. ‘Last time she visited, she commented about how much she liked mine. If I start now, I should just be able to finish before we need to leave for the compound tomorrow.’

Although it wasn’t common, she liked the Simtee style of clothing so much that she’d adopted it instead of going back to the wrap dresses so ubiquitous among the human pets. She also always wore a belt with a pouch and an information square tucked into the back. She refused to ever find herself anywhere, even on a hike, without the “essentials.”

She noticed that many of the humans added elements of the Simtee style to their own wardrobes. A set of matching belts in that style would probably make an excellent gift for the couple.

‘I think that would make an excellent gift,’ Tarquin agreed, then pointed to the basket Kormin brought. ‘While you’re doing that, I’ll make the new lizard a perch. What should we name her?’

‘She has a little more blue than Ruby,’ Lena said, scooping up the lizard from her sunny spot. She’d learned that the males were much smaller and looked like dirt to blend in. They only approached the females during mating season to avoid the risk of getting eaten. Actually, they got eaten during mating season sometimes, according to the literature.

When “that” time came around, Lena was determined that Ruby and this female would be very well fed so no little male ended up being a meal.

“Lapis,” she decided, the word easily sliding out of her mouth. Lapis didn’t react to her new name except to let out a long sigh and close her eyes completely.

Tarquin sounded an affirmative rumble. “Good name.”

Lena stepped into the garden and looked for a spot with a good number of bugs. Once she found one that had a little sun, she set Lapis down. The jeweled lizard immediately caught three without even opening her eyes. Satisfied the animal was content, Lena turned to Tarquin.

‘I’ll brew more tea, then we can both get to work,’ she offered.

‘And I’ll cook up a little food for you,’ he said, pointing to the firepit.

She nodded and moved into the cabin as he went to build a small fire. He claimed diemas was always best freshly roasted over a fire.

The inside of the cabin was colorful chaos. Drying flowers hung from the ceiling, and crystals hung in every window, casting colorful rainbows all around the room. A lot of the floor space was taken up with their nest, but every wall was covered in shelves and each shelf was filled with baskets of treasures. Shells, rocks, feathers, and scales were only some of the items to be found. Anything that caught Lena’s eye was tucked in her pack or belt pouch and brought back to the cabin to be put in a basket or decorate the garden.

Every time she looked around her space, she felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

The garden was the same. Only half the plants were edible, the rest were chosen for color or smell. Their garden was a showcase of practicality and beauty.

Going to the food preparation area, she spooned some of her own mix of powdered tea into a canister then set it under the flash heater. Pressing the canister up, the flash heater filled it with hot water. Fragrant steam hit her nose as she pulled the canister out from under the flash heater and put the cap on.

Grabbing a container of the black flatbread Talins had at every meal in her free hand, she walked outside to find Tarquin had finished roasting two diemas. Although Talins only needed to eat one meal a day, Tarquin would eat a few bites at each meal with her so she didn’t feel like she was eating alone.

Sitting on the bench next to him, she set the bread and tea down. He set the roasted fruit on one of the pieces of flatbread he handed to her and then turned his attention to the tea, sipping as she ate.

“It’s going to be a good day,” Tarquin murmured.

She hummed in agreement because every day was a good day.