Page 6 of Family Found

The dena turned toward the door and nodded. I returned the gesture even if he wouldn’t be able to see. “Yes. I thank you and the dena for our rooms. They’re very comfortable.” I raised the papers. “I’m filing these on behalf of myself and my sentenmen.”

The dena, often silent, smiled. “I can hear it in his voice, Hove. He’s been called.”

Hove snorted. “You’re guessing, Dena.” He narrowed his eyes. “But is he guessing right?”

“He is.”

The dena clicked. “It was no guess. You can hear it in the voice, but you have to pay close attention.”

Hove sighed. “The dena knows many things, and I’m grateful for every wisdom he shares with me. We wish you well.”

The Raikengana in the room echoed the words, but fell silent when the dena tapped his cane on the stone floor. “Is your mate on Earth, Inkiri?”

I clicked. “He is.”

“The Lagasar has caught you, then.”

Hove took the papers I held out to him. “We don’t know that. We don’t know that the Lagasar caused all the mate calls we’re hearing about. Most of them go to Earth, in case you haven’t heard. It could be two things that have nothing to do with each other.”

The dena chuckled. “Hove, you always keep the less likely option close at hand. Remember to ask yourself why that is.”

Hove signed each of our forms, making them official. “I know why that is. It’s so I don’t forget to think about all options, not just the one.”

The dena’s smile stretched. “If you say so.”

Hove piled the papers to be properly filed by one of his staff later. “The dena is very wise, and I never tire of his corrections. When will you be heading to Earth?”

“Tomorrow. Vergis will take us.”

“Of course he will. That puts you at a great advantage with your Earth mate. Most of the others who are following their mate calls aren’t as close to someone from Earth.”

I kept my expression neutral. Either Hove was ignorant of Vergis’s feelings, or he was trying to pretend he was.

“I know, but at the same time, Earth is a big place, and…” My thoughts got tangled. In many ways, Earth was like Aër. They weren’t all one people. They had different languages, different customs. Learning about Earth was fascinating, something scholars spent all their time on. My knowledge was of only a small slice of it. If it wasn’t the slice my mate fit in, then I wasn’t sure Vergis would be able to help me.

The dena clicked the way a hangu parent might. “In the past, the koa always said that mate calls weren’t random, that they drew those who would be stronger together. You needn’t worry.” He inclined his head. “It will be good for the Raiken too to have protectors go to Earth. Maybe with them and their sentenmen and senfesmen, the Raiken itself can go there as well. Maybe then Hove can finally be a dena himself.”

Hove’s brow furrowed with annoyance. “I don’t wish to be a dena elsewhere, but the dena is right that you shouldn’t worry. A mate call is a joyous event, and more of them are a good sign for the future.” He leaned toward me. “Do you happen to know whether Fellisse will be able to stop by my apartment later? I would understand if you’re busy preparing, of course.”

I nodded. “I’ll tell him.”

“Thank you. If that is everything, please enjoy your last day here. Once more, Esaka is grateful for the news you brought back from your mission.”

I left then, though not before everyone present congratulated me once more. A mate call was special, but at the time, I had no way of knowing just how very special mine truly was.

Chapter 4

Inkiri

Later that day, when we went to soak in the baths, the fear of not being able to talk to my mate or understand his culture had faded, and I was eager. Like a kid on Christmas Eve, Vergis would say.

Vergis hadn’t joined us in the baths. He’d said he wanted to do some shopping in Esaka, though he’d not elaborated, and none of us had pushed him.

The baths’ vaulted ceiling made other Raikengana’s voices echo, but we had found a secluded pool in the far back. Where the walls met the floor, there was a spot here where the makers had used some dark green tiles that didn’t fit with the warmer yellows and oranges that made up the magic-imbued mosaic of the cupola above us. It was like they had run out of those or had wanted to use up the green. It was a small detail I had never noticed about these baths, no matter how often I had visited. Even so, as I watched, a shimmer ran through those tiles, like wind over grass, showing that they had magic just like the rest of the mosaic that glimmered with light.

“I’ll miss this on Earth,” Fellisse said, relaxing against the side of the pool.

I turned and looked at all of them. “Just one more time, so I can be certain you all have heard: you do not have to accompany me to Earth.”