Page 63 of I Married A Syllen

“Unfortunately, I do have bad news to share with you,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “As Kayog and Ambassador Mares told you and the Great Mothers, we have set multiple rules to protect your lands and prevent people from intruding until your return. Sadly, someone broke those rules and strip-mined what I just discovered are the melia reserves under your soil.”

“WHAT?!” Athusa exclaimed, shooting to his feet.

A couple of other Syllens also stood up, the same shock and anger reflected on every face.

“Peace, my brothers and sisters!” Taelen exclaimed, raising his palms in an appeasing gesture.

He placed a hand on my shoulder so that I would remain seated like he was. However, I didn’t miss the subtle shift in his position, which would allow him to jump in front of me in a protective fashion should things escalate. But him staying where he was wisely kept things from spiraling, whereas him standing as well might have sent an aggressive signal.

“I share your anger,” he continued in a reasonable voice. “But my mate is here to help us get down to the bottom of this and hopefully find a solution. All of our clans have spent the past few days trying to understand what was happening with no success. In a few hours, Mirella was able to identify the source of our woes. Please cast your anger aside and listen to what she has to say. We cannot fight an enemy whose existence we know nothing about. Knowledge is power. Let us acquire the knowledge she holds.”

Despite a few disgruntled mutterings, Athusa conceded and settled back down, imitated by the others. As much as the Thesh of the Ungaro Tribe intimidated me, my initial thoughts of him being a bully were gradually fading. He was rightfully angry with my people. But he was still able to rein himself in and listen even though he didn’t want to. That gave me hope he could be reasoned with.

“Our elite investigators are trying to track down who did this, why they did it, and where the melia they have taken is,” I said in a soft voice. “I’m not sure if we can put it back where it was originally, but I promise that we will do whatever is necessary to rectify the harm that was done to your people.”

“Off-worlders are liars and manipulators,” Athusa hissed. “Why should we trust any promises you make?”

“Your anger is fair,” I said with as much empathy as I could muster. “You have had horrible experiences with off-worlders. And although for you it feels like only a few days ago, remember that more than 450 years have gone by since you went into the Long Sleep. My people have greatly changed and evolved since then. We’ve learned from our mistakes and endeavored to do better.”

“So you claim, Vakelia,” Athusa retorted with a dismissive gesture.

My heart leapt upon hearing this new pet name. If I interpreted it correctly, Vakelia would translate as ‘baby speak.’ While it could be perceived as condescending, the way he pronounced it held no disdain. It sounded almost paternal, even though we seemed to be around the same age. This gave me even more hope that he wasn’t a douchebag, despite his slightly abrasive personality.

“So is the truth,” I countered forcefully. “If we were still the evil people you had the displeasure of dealing with, you wouldn’t be here today.”

“Is that a threat, human?” Orian asked, her eyes narrowing at me in a slightly menacing fashion.

I shook my head and forced myself to keep a relaxed demeanor despite my pulse going into overdrive.

“It’s not a threat but merely a statement of fact. There are many things we could have done to prevent your awakening had that been our intention. We could have launched bombs from the sky, set your valley on fire, or used any of our insane technology to do you harm,” I explained in a tone I hoped wouldn’t come across as haughty or disrespectful. “Instead, we fought to protect you. Humans literally rioted in our main cities to ensure the sovereignty of your lands.”

“Why would humans do that?” Athusa asked, his voice dripping with disbelief.

“Because we have grown as a species. We’ve learned to respect life,” I said with conviction. “Nearly forty years ago, visitors to Mazeria could fly over your lands as part of guided tours about your lost civilization. Kayog made us realize your people were dormant and would awaken in the future. Large corporations tried to acquire and exploit your land. Kayog and countless others fought to prevent that. Those tours were discontinued, and strict rules were put in place to make sure no one else would trespass in the future.”

“But that didn’t stop your people from coming,” Orian argued.

“In the human cities, yes,” I conceded. “But we forbade anyone to enter your lands. For four years, I tried in vain to come to this planet. Every single time, my request was denied.”

“Why?” Athusa asked, this time with genuine curiosity.

“To protect your people,” I replied matter-of-factly. “Tourists are not allowed to visit anymore. Instead, we created holograms of your lands so that people can continue to visit your world virtually without intruding. Holograms are images created by our technology and that are so realistic that we have the illusion of being in the real place.”

“So what do you want, now? Why are you here?” Orian asked, her voice neutral.

“First, I want you to allow me to scan your lands, the same way I did in the Tekere Valley to confirm whether your territory was strip-mined as well,” I said firmly. “Then my next priority will be to find out where your missing queens are. I understand that the Galnir Tribe actually has one queen. If you let me get a small DNA sample from her, it would allow our technology to track their possible whereabouts much faster.”

“We do not want off-worlder technology on our lands,” Orian hissed.

“And we’re not going to force you to let us use it,” I replied gently. “But technology is what allowed the culprits to harm the land and steal the queens. This would speed up the process and is not intrusive. Only I would use it. You would not be required to stray from your principles.”

“The balance is off, my friends,” Taelen interjected. “If the equilibrium isn’t restored quickly, we will be forced into another Long Sleep before the rest of our people have even awakened.”

“The land will not survive another Long Sleep unless the balance is restored at once,” Orian countered. “Our people are hard at work doing exactly that and awakening the Kalrins.”

“You have a queen! Our two tribes have none!” Athusa snarled, waving in turn at Taelen then himself. “Without a queen, it is much too slow. Are you offering to share her with us?”

Her face closed off, and her back stiffened.