Page 8 of The Royal’s Bumblebee (Operation Colonise #2)

Mountain

Izule.

On the inside, I feel like a tornado of petals from every kind of flora.

Bright and bustling with energy.

Finally, after so many years of wanting, I have been chosen.

It is a great honour to be a sponsor.

In our feudal history, when one tribe verges on the edge of collapse or is decimated from war or disaster, they can place themselves in the care of a larger tribe.

They are vulnerable and helpless when this happens, so it only occurs when there is no other choice.

They can refuse and face the jungle alone, of course, but those who come seeking a guardian are openly accepting that they are in need of protection.

A scenting ceremony would then take place to find a complimentary guardian.

The one chosen to be a guardian is greatly honoured to be chosen.

To be chosen is to display their prowess to provide, not only for themselves, but for another.

The more vulnerable the charge, the more prestigious it is to be chosen to protect them.

For the more helpless the Ucfeni, the more powerful and financially stable the guardian would have to be, to provide for them.

When humans arrived on Thelia, and after the initial concern and conflict that caused and an alliance was formed, our Ambassador had the idea to base our next moves on the scenting ceremony.

The word guardian became replaced with the word sponsor.

Scenting ceremonies became known as pairing parties.

Yet, it’s all the same.

The shining jewel of Orna holds many prestigious tribes of Ucfeni, and the most recent batch of reanimated humans have come before these tribes, vulnerable to both our jungle and the terms of the alliance made by their leaders with ours.

The most vulnerable of which is Billie Blac.

She not only smells like the sweetest nectar on my tongue, but she fled towards me when she was startled.

She has accepted my protection and openly professed that I and I alone would be the most suitable sponsor for her.

She referenced my appearance in a way no one ever has.

She likes my brown scales and the lack of attractive patterns.

She is comfortable in the wide coil of my tail, a testament to my ability to protect her.

I am the strongest of all Ucfeni, in Orna at least, and she has chosen me.

I asked her if she would prefer anyone else, and she said no.

Without hesitation.

My chest swells with pride and my cowl is wide with confidence as I wind slowly down the golden hall of the palace west wing.

I, prince Izule, have been honoured with Billie Blac’s protection and care.

She even defended her choice to her sister.

“All the others were loud.

He isn’t.

He promised not to touch me if he can help it.

And his scales don’t hurt my eyes.

He’s easy to look at.

He says where he lives we’d be alone so I wouldn’t have to worry about other people.

I can work quietly.”

The scales over my throat darken with a blush.

She said I was easy to look at.

Not only did Billie list why I would be ideal for her comfort, protection, and her work, but she said I was easy to look at.

Being a Royal I have been told I am attractive, even though it’s obvious I am not.

My attractiveness comes from my size, strength and ability to provide.

I am a Prince, after all.

But I am no fool.

I am not physically attractive.

False compliments about my appearance have always tasted sour on my tongue.

I have no bright colours or patterns. Even for a Royal, my scales are dull. Perfect for camouflage in the jungle with the dirt, of course.

I am the perfect predator, and my hauls when I hunt show that. Flattery over my skill I accept, but that isn’t the kind of compliments one gives the youngest Royal.

Especially when I am obviously bigger and stronger than all of my siblings. They would not think kindly on that sort of reminder.

That they are substandard hunters compared to me.

“He’s easy to look at.”

I flush again and peer around my cowl to look down my right arm at my new charge.

We are winding together, side by side, though it’s called walking for her kind.

Her eyes were shut and she tapped her left thumb and middle finger together.

Her right hand was in mine and she clutched me tightly.

Her pace was slow and any sudden sound of someone opening a door and crossing the corridor made her whimper and flinch.

She would dig her feet in and whimper about wanting Hannah.

Three times already I had coiled around her so she could feel the protection of my muscles and scales as a physical barrier to whatever frightened her.

The first time I did this I let go of her hand and she screamed for it back.

I didn’t dare let go of her hand again.

My charge is a genius with a vital duty to fulfil for her people, adding to the prestige of being her sponsor.

She also has very specific needs that must be met.

Her sister made that very clear in her initial objection to me.

I was offended by her openly challenging if I was worthy of Billie, but I am not so hot-headed that I didn’t see the root of her concern.

The act of escorting her from the hall to my nest alone showed that Billie needed a great deal of care.

I had never realised how noisy the palace was, until trying to escort her through it.

Flashback.

“We will go now to my nest. To our nest.”

The hall was empty now. Nice and quiet. I peer down with thick pupils in my yellow eyes and moving slowly to look into my coil.

I even flatten my cowl to look as none threatening as possible to her.

“I am a hunter, as well as a prince, so my nest is near the outskirts of the grand palace. So I can come and go more easily into the jungle. This will mean you will not be disturbed as you work by palace staff. Anyone who comes to our nest will do so with the specific intent of seeing us, and must have my consent to do so.”

“Good. I don’t like surprise visits.”

Billie nodded up at me through those circular glass panes over her eyes. “If I know someone is coming, I can prepare.”

She looked around my coil and curiously, she was tapping her thumb with the middle finger of her left hand. “I’m not ready to move yet.”

She sat with her knees bent and wrapped her arms around them.

“Tell me when you are and we will depart.”

I assume she wants privacy and I start to lean away from the opening of my coil.

“Hannah is my rock.”

I halt my retreat and incline my head curiously. “Th-that other Ucfeni hurt her.”

I wasn’t sure if there was a question there so I continued to listen. “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.”

Her voice broke and she started to tremble. Her weeping cut me deeply. So soon after becoming my charge she was distraught.

I have never dealt with a weeping female before and didn’t know what to do.

I wanted to wrap her with my tail and hold her, but I promised not to touch her unless she asked me to. She sobbed and I became restless. “I want Hannah.”

“I am here.”

I tried to remind her and rested my chin on the top ring of my coil. “Tell me what you need and I will get it for you. I will do it for you. Instruct me and I will act.”

“I want Hannah.”

She cried behind her knees and started rocking back and forth. “She’s my rock. I need my rock.”

“…”

I frowned. That was the one thing she couldn’t have. “You will have full access to your sister once the probationary period of her sponsorship has come to an end.”

That didn’t calm her at all. If anything, she cried even more. “…you can call her daily.”

Billie continued to cry. I was about to press my communication gem to call her sister, behooved to admit that I was more out of my depth here than I thought I would be, only to realise that wasn’t an option either.

“…not that she can answer at the moment…being that she’s currently receiving medial attention…”

I tried, and much to my relief and panic, Billie lifted her head from behind her knees to stare at me with watery eyes.

“…yes…I told her to seek medical attention.”

“Yes.”

I latched onto that with both fangs. “Hannah is doing what you told her to. She is injured and needs to recover. You want her to recover, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

Billie sniffled and returned to hide behind her knees. I chewed my gums together, unsure what to say next, so I didn’t.

I watched her patiently with my arms and chin resting on the top ring of my coil. I didn’t care if it took all day.

I would watch and wait for her to make the next move. The patient hunter in me told me this was the best course of action.

I was rewarded 10 minutes later when Billie took her glasses off and wiped her face on her sleeve. She locked honey eyes onto me and her scent became less acrid and sweeter on my tongue.

The relief that flooded through me at her improved mood would have been embarrassing, had anyone else been present to see the way the end of my tail started to flick outside the bulk of my coil.

“Hannah needs to recover. She needs that.”

“And what do you need?”

I ask, and wait patiently for her answer.

“I need a shower. I want a shower.”

“My nest has a luxurious hygiene room. I made sure to have it custom built to be suitable for a human to use, as I have intended on being a sponsor for quite some time.”

I lifted up to brace my hands on my coil and nodded at her. “If it is your want, you can shower as soon as we get there.”

“…you said it was at the outskirts of the palace?”

She sniffled, tugging at the hem of her sleeves as she looked at my mouth. Yes, my mouth. She doesn’t look me in the eye. Curious. The mouth of a predator is usually the last place you would want to look. “Is that far?”

“It is easily traversed through a central corridor. The palace has many levels and a network of corridors that connect to all four wings and all five levels. Normally, the royal family live on the highest level of all, but being a hunter, it’s better for me to be closer to the ground. My nest, therefore, has been custom-built onto the end of the lower west wing.”

“…no stairs, then?”

She whispered and I wondered if she was making a joke. I shook my head slowly at her and inclined my head curiously.

“We have no need for stairs, though we have had some placed in steep places where humans will interact with us. Like outside the palace to enter. To travel from areas of higher elevation to lower levels, we use travel baskets. To travel up to higher levels we slither around a spiral.”

Her eyes widened with interest and I elaborated. “Imagine thick polished wood, the girth of a tree, with poles sticking out at various angles. We can coil ourselves easily from pole to pole quickly and ascend upward. Usually around the spiral until we reach the desired floor.”

I twirled a finger. “I will show you such things, when you are ready. For now, I should like to take you to our nest.”

She didn’t move. “So you can shower?”

“Yes. I want a shower.”

Billie suddenly stood up and I swung my upper body back to maintain space between us. She darted her light brown eyes around the empty hall and nodded, like she was pleased it was empty. “Izule?”

My throat scales darkened at the intimate address. “I want to go to my new home.”

I nodded and carefully released my coil from around her. My tail slithered free of her and made a wide arch around us both instead. She tensed at being exposed and her scent was anxious again. “I-I will need help. To get there.”

“Of course. I am your sponsor. I will care for you and all your needs.”

“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 from me. “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 do something to 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 have never ululated 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.”

“I can make it into my office?”

I nodded eagerly at her. “And the shower?”

“On the second floor. We have a large dual hygiene room. It is large because I will use it often when I need to shuck off my old scales.”

She nodded to me, so I continued. “The top floor is my living area. My slumber chamber is there, as is my trophy room and reading room.”

“Reading room?”

Billie’s eyes were still shut but the curious smile on her lips filled me with pride.

“Yes. I have many books to reference if you ask any questions about my people’s culture, history or biology.”

“Okay. I want a shower.”

She tugged my hand in the direction of our nest. I released my tail from the coil around her and once I was steady, and led her silently to our front door.

I reached ahead to open it so she wouldn’t have to stop. Billie jerked to a stop at the change of sound underfoot.

“We are now inside. Humans get cold easier than Ucfeni, so I was advised to have carpet placed in for you.”

This was the big moment. Where my new charge saw the nest I had made for us. My scales itched with anticipation, and nerves, as I waited to see if Billie would approve…or not…

“Okay. We’re inside?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m going to open my eyes now.”