Page 35 of I Married A Syllen

He gave me an odd sideways glance, as if I had said something silly.

“I’m well aware, Mirella. But I am blaming myself. Both as the Thesh and as your mate, it is my duty to see to your welfare. My focus on solving this issue has made me neglectful.”

It was my turn to look at him as if he’d said something silly… because it was.

“Not realizing I might be hungry isn’t you being neglectful,” I gently chastised. “And you were not the only one too focused on our investigation. It is my own body, and I didn’t even realize how hungry I was getting. So how were you supposed to know?”

“Fair, I guess,” Taelen said with a smile as he helped me back onto the Nordjarimm.

Despite that, I didn’t miss the troubled look he cast towards the cave entrance as we took flight. Taelen was taking a major leap of faith and putting a crazy amount of trust in me. In his shoes, I probably would have gone berserk and tried to bang my way through the reinforced doors. A part of me suspected that he might have done just that had I been anyone other than his soulmate. His physiological response to me had erased any doubt he might have had that we were destined to be together. That likely meant to him that I would never deliberately try to hurt him or his people.

That lit an even bigger fire under me to somehow come through for him. The challenge was that I couldn’t do much personally. After all, I was just a xenobotanist. Without Kayog putting the full resources of the UPO at our disposal, I would have been useless beyond being able to scan stuff and pointing at where actually qualified people could make a difference.

We landed on a gorgeous beach just a little over a five-minute flight. Taelen led me to one of the massive trees located about eight meters from the water. They had impressive roots that protruded from the ground. My gaze immediately zeroed in on the dragon egg-looking fruits hanging from the branches. They had a beautiful mahogany color.

Taelen placed his hand on the trunk of the tree, and his veris connected with some of the vines growing on it. To my shock, one of the main branches slightly lowered before dropping four of the strange fruits. If not for their ovoid shape and darker hue, they might have passed for tomatoes due to the similarly shaped peduncle and sepal petals at the top.

“Are you kidding me?! Did that tree just drop them on request?!” I exclaimed.

He chuckled smugly. “Yes, it did. But watch this as well.”

As he hadn’t pulled his hand away from the trunk yet, he clearly sent another request as three of the thicker roots shifted, the central one rising significantly from the ground to form a makeshift table, with the other two positioning themselves at the perfect heights to form benches. Taelen burst out laughing at my expression. I didn’t need a mirror to know I was making some sort of crazy face from bewilderment.

“Have a seat, my mate,” he said with a large grin.

Still blown away, I complied. He didn’t settle across the ‘table’ from me. After placing all four fruits on top of it, he knocked the stem of one of them on the hard surface. It emitted a popping sound. Then Taelen just grabbed the peduncle, twisted it like a knob, and the whole stem came out. He then extended it towards me.

“Drink. It will hold you while I go fetch our meal,” he said.

Although I instinctively took it from him, I gave him an apologetic look before running the scanner of my armband over it.

“Sorry, but we are not familiar with this fruit. I have to make sure it is safe for consumption for humans,” I said sheepishly.

He blinked, taken aback before a sliver of worry flashed over his features.

“You think our food might be harmful to you?” he asked.

“Probably not,” I said in a reassuring tone. “But it is one of the basic safety protocols that we must observe whenever we visit new worlds. You don’t drink and eat anything that has not been tested or at least scanned first. What is safe for you may not be for me. So far, we have catalogued at least thirty-eight plants and animals that are harmful for consumption unless prepared in a very specific manner before being eaten.”

“I see,” he said pensively. “We spend many years teaching our younglings what is safe or not to eat or hunt. But this is knowledge passed down from one generation to the next. I cannot even begin to imagine trying to figure all of that out on your own with no real guidance while on a foreign world. It explains why you’re so attached to your technology. We have no need for it as we do not seek to travel to other worlds.”

I nodded, unsure how to interpret his words. He sounded impressed by the technology and boldness of intergalactic explorers while also disapproving of them. All I was hearing was that we wouldn’t need any of this if we just sat our butts home, where we belonged.

But I belong to this world, with him.

“Good news, this is safe for me!” I said with a slight excess of enthusiasm to shift the topic.

He smiled, visibly relieved.

“Perfect! Paya juice is very popular among my people and is used in many recipes. It is also an excellent source of energy when you need a quick boost,” he explained. “But do taste it and let me know what you think.”

“Bottoms up!” I said, raising the fruit like one would a glass before taking a sip.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head when the wondrous taste of kiwi-strawberry juice exploded on my taste buds.

“Oh wow! This is amazing!” I exclaimed.

Taelen puffed out his chest, a wide grin stretching his mouth.