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I cleared my throat and flapped my hand at him dismissively.
“Yeah, yeah. That’s what I’m saying. If you can make me feel anything close to affection for you, then I’ll stop rejecting you and give this a chance. How’s that?”
He stiffened, his tail jerking.
“And if you can’t,” I continued, “which I already know youwon’tbe able to, you give me something I want.”
“And what is that, exactly?” he said.
I pursed my lips, the image of him on his mount flashing in my mind. It melted away, swirling until I was the one seated on the flying creature.
“I want to learn to ride the animal you came here on,” I whispered. I hoped that the intensity of my longing wasn’t too evident. I didn’t want to give him anything he could somehow use against me. Letting him know how much I wanted it made me feel too vulnerable.
But his next words shocked me.
“My braxilk, Togo? You do not need some twisted deal for that,” he said, cocking his head. “I would teach you to ride anytime.” The heat returned to his gaze. “I do not think you understand how fully I wish to fulfill your every desire.”
My stomach swooped at his words, and I broke eye contact.
“OK, well, thank you. I would like to learn.”
“Then you will have to come back to my mountains,” he countered instantly.
“Ah, there it is,” I said, my gaze returning to his face. For a moment, I’d thought he was actually being generous. But there it was. The other shoe. To get what I wanted, I’d have to go back with him.
“There is what?” he asked.
“The catch,” I said. “Using something I want to get your way. To force me to go with you.”
He inhaled sharply, his sight stars storming.
“You assume far worse of me than I deserve,” he uttered vehemently. “I am not doing this to force your hand. You may have forgotten, but I am a Gahn. I am the leader of my tribe. My people need me, especially during such turbulent times as these. I cannot remain in foreign territory any longer than is necessary. Besides, I do not know these lands well. If I were to take you flying, to teach you, I would only do so in the familiar peaks of my homeland where I know every valley, every shadow, every monster.”
I stared at him, trying to figure out how sincere his words were. Maybe I had been a bit hasty in my accusation.
“OK then. Maybe I was wrong about that,” I said, my voice softening slightly. “It doesn’t even matter anyway. I already agreed to go to the mountains.”
When his sight stars pulsed, I quickly added, “Withmy people. I’ll be at the new settlement.”
“When?”
“We leave tomorrow.”
He made a thoughtful rumbling sound, deep in his chest. Then frowned.
“And I suppose you will travel with your people, too?” he asked.
“Yeah. The shuttle.”
“Fine,” he snapped. “But once you are in the Deep Sky, you will only fly onmymount. Not some bizarre wingless corpse from another world.”
I wanted to bite back at him with a scathing retort, but that would have been pointless. Ididwant to ride a braxilk. Ididwant to learn how, to see what it was like, to find out if it would be anything close to the freedom and contentment I’d felt when riding back home.
“Fine,” I repeated after him.
“For once, then, we agree,” he muttered, his gaze narrowed as if he didn’t trust this new turn of events.
“Well, for once, you’re being agreeable.”
