Page 31 of Redeeming Captivity (Human Pets of Talin #7)

Bonus Chapter I

Lena

Sasina and Nularum’s ceremony was so beautiful that Lena almost wanted one herself. Sasina wore an outfit of royal purple and Nularum wore matching pants. It was hard to hear Sasina from high in the tree, but having the platform meant Lena could relax while she watched everything.

The entire thing was held in a green area at the compound with the tree-platform off to the side. There was even a small table laden with food waiting on the platform before she and Tarquin arrived. Lena was hungry, but she was determined to wait until everyone else was eating.

Although there were two of the backless chairs the Talins favored, they only used one. She spent the entire time snuggled in Tarquin’s lap, enjoying the feel of his loving purr vibrating against her back.

The ceremony wasn’t long, but it was sweet. Lena teared up a little.

Sensing her emotions, Tarquin put his mouth to her ear. “Do you need to leave?”

She shook her head and tucked it under his chin. He wrapped his arms around her and let her snuggle close. After the ceremony was over, everyone cheered then accompanied the couple to the far side of the seated area to enjoy the food piled high on the tables there.

Since they had their own food, neither of them had to leave the platform. Even though she was hungry, she was too comfortable to move from Tarquin’s lap.

“Permission to come aboard captain!” a human voice called from below, making Lena startle in Tarquin’s lap.

“Would it be okay for us to come up? We have food,” a Talin voice said. “And it’s only the two of us.”

“That’s Lakin and Dalt,” Tarquin explained.

“ The Lakin?” Lena exclaimed, excited to meet the woman she’d heard so much about.

Tarquin sounded a rumble of amusement. “Yes, that Lakin. I don’t know what stories you’ve been told, but I’m sure they still don’t do her justice.”

“Hello?” Lakin yelled again. “Can we come up? I have offerings!”

“Yes,” Lena whispered to Tarquin, letting him be her voice.

“No offering needed,” Tarquin said. “You’re welcome to join us.”

The slide-lift winded up and Lakin and Dalt appeared. Dalt made Lakin step off first before he moved off the small square pad.

Lena got off Tarquin’s lap, trying hard to keep her nervousness at bay. Being up above and off to the side of the crowd below helped, but now she was meeting strangers and one of them was a Talin.

But then Lakin practically skipped the short distance between them and shoved something at her. “I was told you like bright, shiny things so I brought you this!”

Lena wasn’t prepared and nearly dropped the heavy pouch. The other woman was grinning and watching expectantly, so Lena opened it. The moment she saw what was inside, she stepped back so she could pour the contents out on one of the chairs.

“What’s that?” Tarquin asked.

‘Don’t know,’ Lena tapped with excited, dancing hands. ‘Don’t care! Look how they shine!’

The pouch was full of finger-length sticks made of some kind of metal. They weren’t perfectly uniform in length or thickness, but they were all a beautiful iridescent turquoise.

‘Oh shit, I forgot you tapped!’ Lakin said, moving seamlessly into Norka. ‘I’m so sorry. I hope I didn’t upset you earlier by not using Norka.’

‘I can hear,’ Lena assured her. ‘But I have a hard time talking.’

‘Then I’ll tap and talk,’ Lakin said, doing both. She pointed to the pile on the chair. ‘Those are Galfic shards. They happen when a Galfic power crystal shatters. We were on a ship when it happened. They’re considered worthless, but I was told you liked colorful, shiny things so I asked if I could have some of the shards.’

‘They’re perfect!’ Lena said. Giving into impulse, she straightened up and gave Lakin a quick, fierce hug. Then she gathered the shards back up in the bag and tucked them away in a belt pouch. It wasn’t that she thought Lakin would try to take them back, but she always felt better when she had things packed away until she could put them where they belonged in her house or garden.

‘I really like your outfit. What’s that on the edge of your top?’ Lakin asked, pointing at the bits of iridescent blue shells Lena had sewn along a horizontal seam.

Lena explained the shells and where to find them since there was no name in Norka for them. Lakin said she'd like to see the spot and they dove into a conversation about all the spots on Kalor Lena had explored so far.

There was a natural lull in the conversation when Lakin leaned in close, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

‘Is it true that you blew up an entire building on Wulnum?’

Lena couldn't help but smile in the face of Lakin's blatant admiration. ‘I did, but it didn't really go as planned.’

‘It never does,’ Lakin assured her. ‘What about you using one of those ceremonial daggers to defend yourself? Was that truth or fiction?’

‘Truth,’ Lena admitted, feeling uncomfortable. She didn't regret anything she did on Wulnum, but taking a life was no small thing. Sometimes her nightmares were memories of the fight with Gaklum and the feel of that dagger sliding into his flesh. The spray of hot blood on her face. The fear, horror, and fierce satisfaction.

Lakin must've sensed her discomfort because she changed the subject. ‘I don't think I've ever blown up an entire building. You know, Zia turned off some grav pushers and made a building collapse. I'm feeling like I need to destroy something big to compete.’

Lena laughed at Lakin's declaration even as Tarquin sounded an alarmed rattle. ‘Please tell me you’re being humorous.’

‘If it'll make you feel better, sure,’ Lakin responded with a grin. Dalt sounded an amused rumble, but it didn't sound like a normal Talin. Instead of the normal glass-marbles-clinking-together sound, it was a little like muted glass breaking.

Tarquin told her that Dalt was disfigured from being tortured during the Braxin War. He'd managed to get free from his torturers and freed the few soldiers still alive. He might’ve survived, but it wasn't until he met Lakin that he came to terms with his past and accepted the choices he'd made as the best available at the time.

Lakin turned out to be full of stories. She spent most of her career working on various ships who helped refugees escape wars and blockades or slaves escaping their owners. Now she worked with Holian and the Prime Family against the Traditionalists.

According to Sasina, Lakin had boarded a Traditionalist ship by herself to try and help an abducted Holian. Dalt and Palforma managed to make it onto the ship also, but she didn’t know it at the time. She had to be one of the bravest humans Lena ever met.

‘I wish I was like you.’

Lena didn’t realize she’d tapped what she’d been thinking until Lakin gave her a puzzled look.

‘Why would you want to be me?’ Lakin asked. ‘I’m restless. I wish I could settle and make pretty things like you. I don’t know what it’s like to be at peace. I probably never will.’

Lakin’s expression was so wistful that Lena was truly shocked. The old saying was true, the nest was always fluffier in the other enclosure.

‘Aren’t you happy?’ Lena asked, casting a suspicious glance over at Dalt.

Lakin grinned at her. ‘Ridiculously happy!’ she assured Lena. ‘I like plotting, scheming, and espionage. I’m good at it. It’s only, I wish my brain could calm down. I look out in the forest and see a sea of green. You look out there and see endless wonders. I’m jealous.’

Lena thought about leaving Kalor and all the treasures waiting to be seen or collected. It made her chest constrict and her heart hurt. It was probably the same for Lakin if she thought about leaving her intelligence work.

‘My mother used to say it took all kinds to make a cohesive, successful community,’ Lakin mused. ‘I always thought that meant people willing to do different types of labor, but now I think it meant entirely different kinds of personalities. Dreamers and doers. We need both or we miss out.’

‘I’m not sure I agree,’ Lena said with a frown. ‘I don’t add anything to the efforts of Holian and you.’

Lakin arched an eyebrow. ‘Are you sure? I saw the beading on the bride's outfit, I think that came from you. And almost everyone here is wearing something you made. You see them as small tokens, I see them as visible signs of love and joy. Those necklaces and decorations distinguish our people from the Traditionalists in one of the most important ways.’

Lena was intrigued despite herself. ‘In what way?’

‘Unquestioning conformity,’ Lakin said, making Lena blink in confusion.

‘That makes no sense!’ Lena said with a laugh.

‘We conform to keep each other safe, but we still let each other enjoy the things that make us different,’ Lakin explained. ‘The Traditionalists are all about making sure everyone conforms but don’t care if they die. I’m not sure what I’d call that.’

‘Doomed obedience?’ Lena suggested.

‘Oh! Good one,’ Lakin exclaimed. She held up the platter of food Dalt had brought up and set next to them when they’d started talking. ‘Would it be rude to eat? I’m starving!’

Seeing the food made Lena remember that she was hungry. Before she could say anything, Tarquin moved the two chairs so they were facing each other.

‘Please sit,’ he tapped after he finished situating the chairs. ‘I’ll get you some food. You two eat and talk. Dalt and I will bring up two more chairs.’

Lena went up on her toes to give him a kiss. He had to lean over, and she took the opportunity to nuzzle his scent gland. The scent of caramel filled her nose. She made sure to coat her lips in bonding oil before dropping back down to her heels.

“Thanks,” she murmured. “Love you always.”

Tarquin sounded a deep purr. “Love you, my brave Lena,” he whispered. “Go visit with your new friend. I don’t think they’ll be here long.”

She grinned and took her seat, facing Lakin. ‘Tell me about where you’re going from here.’

Tarquin

“Two more chairs please,” Tarquin called down.

“Sure,” Kormin called back. He'd decided to stay close to their little area to make sure not too many people gathered under it at once. Grabbing a couple of empty chairs, he tossed one, waited for Tarquin to hand the chair to Dalt, then tossed the next one. “Yell down if you need anything else.”

Then he turned and went back to talking to one of the other Talins attending the ceremony.

“I’m not sure it’s wise to let those two make friends,” Dalt said with a humorous rumble as he sat down. “My human could find trouble in an empty field and your human seems to find that interesting.”

“I’d agree with you, but I don’t think we have a choice,” Tarquin answered, grabbing the second chair across from Dalt. The sound of talking, laughter, rattles, and rumbles filtered up from all the people enjoying themselves below. “I’d like to see you tell either of them that they can’t be friends.”

Dalt sounded a negative rumble. “I value my life more than that!”

The two of them talked amicably about life on Kalor and how everyone who relocated to Sorana was doing. Tarquin was careful to keep from asking Dalt anything about Jafinium or the current standoff at the border between Ossiso and the Talin Empire. Unless it was news of Jafinium’s death, he didn’t want to know, and everyone respected that. There were growing tensions, both at the border and within the military and government.

Several colonies had started petitions to be granted full clan rights and not the limited colonial rights. Tarquin was sure there was going to be armed conflict, the question was how big it would be.

He deeply hoped it wouldn’t come all the way to Kalor, but if it did, he and all the others were ready. Lakin and Dalt’s arrival came with crates full of goodies to defend Kalor if necessary. He also had a nicely stocked cave ready for him and Lena to retire to. They’d even made sure there was a perch and a supply of dried bugs for Ruby. No one would be left behind.

He might need to add more dried bugs to accommodate Lapis.

“You’re all safe,” Dalt said suddenly, his tone low and intense. “We’re working hard to keep the conflict far from here, no matter what happens.”

“I know,” Tarquin said, thankful to have such good people fighting on his side. A sudden thought made him sound an amused rumble.

“What’s funny?” Dalt asked.

“What if we drew the Traditionalists here and let Lakin, Zia, Lena, and Nalia loose on them? Think of the havoc they could wreak!”

“That might be a plan of last resort,” Dalt agreed with an amused rumble of his own. “The Traditionalists wouldn’t have a chance.”

Tarquin looked over to where Lena was talking with Lakin. “No they wouldn’t,” he said, thinking how the ancestors had blessed him. “I didn’t have a chance either.”

Dalt followed his gaze. “And thank the ancestors for that.”