Page 33 of I Married A Syllen

“So are the other tribes also sleeping?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yes. However, just like me, the Thesh of the other tribes and their First Warriors have also awakened to prepare the return of the others. Unfortunately, they’re facing the same issues.”

I recoiled, my eyes nearly popping out of my head in shock.

“Their lands have been drained as well?!” I exclaimed.

“Yes,” he said.

“And their queens?” I insisted.

“Also missing.”

My heart sank further, and I stared at him, crestfallen.

“This is deliberate,” I whispered to myself, anger and disbelief audible in my voice.

“Yes, it is,” he said, his voice hardening.

“I promise that we’ll do everything in our power to find them,” I pledged.

His face softened in that way that instantly had my toes curling. Damn that male was gorgeous!

“I know that you will, Shevraya,” he said softly.

I smiled timidly, oddly loving that nickname. I hadn’t missed the way he discreetly tried to touch my hair or rub his face against it. As much as it had stung hearing him say how he hated that I was human, I understood where he was coming from. I believed he was honest in claiming he would look at me as a person only, not as my species. And above all, I believed that he was sincere in saying that he didn’t doubt for a moment he would fall in love with me. Then again, beyond the fact that his physiological response confirmed it, Kayog had also said as much.

I was still pinching myself over the fact that this magnificent male was mine. This had been beyond destined.

Refocusing on my scanner, I frowned as I evaluated the readings displayed on the interface.

Judging by the sheer magnitude of the excavation, this had been going on for decades. I wouldn’t be surprised if it started right after—or before—the UPO passed the Prime Directive edicts limiting access to Syllen lands.

“Look here!” I exclaimed, pointing at the holographic display. “The excavation site is narrowing into a tunnel leading away from the orchards. I think this will take us to the entry point.”

Taelen looked at the image, then glanced ahead of us, an increasingly angry expression settling on his face. He muttered a series of words I didn’t understand but guessed to be swear words.

“What is it? What’s ahead?” I asked, worried.

“The Braxton Colony,” he said in a frosty tone. “It is where the invaders settled before we chased them away.”

My heart skipped a beat.

“You think they came back?!” I blurted out.

My mind was screaming that it was improbable. But this extensive excavation also shouldn’t have been possible.

Taelen shook his head.

“I highly doubt it. The land wouldn’t have allowed a new settlement,” he said pensively. “Before their departure, they took with them whatever we didn’t destroy, including their dwellings.”

“They took their homes?” I asked, taken aback.

“Yes. Their dwellings folded in on themselves in a very strange fashion. Then they took them inside their ships and flew away,” he explained.

“Ah yes, deployable buildings,” I mused aloud. “I didn’t realize they already had that technology readily available all the way back then.”

And he was correct. From a bird's-eye view, there wasn’t the slightest sign that a village or settlement once existed here. The wilderness had reclaimed the entire area.