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“Why would I need to check the rain?” He tilted his head back, eyes narrowed suspiciously on the clouds in the night sky.
Cordelia snorted, waving a hand. “Don’t worry about it, Ez. Hey, what’s that?” Cordelia pointed to a glowing image painted on the side of a building.
It was a grotesque image of a world burning, people littered beneath it, all of them lying prone on the ground. Were they supposed to be dead? They definitely looked like it. “Is this some other kind of Aragnokan custom I don’t understand?”
It was morbid. Unsettling.
Cordelia looked away from the image and back to Ezul, who seemed just as confused as she was.
“I’ve never seen that before, but I’ve only been back on Aragnok for a few weeks. Perhaps my father will know more.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Cordelia reiterated, suddenly very eager to return to the safety of Ezul’s home and far away from the disturbing artwork.
Cordelia stared down at her bowl of soup sitting on the table in Ezul’s dining room, wary about eating any of the contents floating about inside.
They’d been back home for roughly an hour, when he’d given her a brief rundown of the neighborhood before he’d gone to make her one of his favorite meals.
He lived in what she could only describe as a townhouse in the suburban portion of the city, set side by side with an exact replica of his house. There were no fences to separate any properties or patches of grass for front yards. Not even a flower bed.
The houses themselves were made of some sort of thick metal, all silver, with glass rooftops that worked like solar panels, soaking up power from the sun to provide electricity and running water.
The roofs stored so much energy that it didn’t matter if there was a solar eclipse for any length of time during the year; the homes were powered without interruption.
It sounded awesome at first, but now, as she eyed her soup with trepidation, Cordelia was beginning to regret that electricity had helped Ezul make this meal.
She didn’t know that she could be both grateful that Ezul had cooked for her and then grossed out by the contents, but she definitely was.
“This dish is a delicacy, Cordelia,” Ezul chided gently. She gulped as he slid the bowl closer to her, the porcelain of the dish scraping the tabletop. The soup sloshed, threatening to display the ingredients lurking within. “At least attempt the meal before you discard it.”
She nodded, grabbing a large soup spoon and sinking it into the bowl. Green leaves swirled around the dish as she sifted through the contents, desperately hoping to avoid the wormlike creatures Ezul had placed in there earlier.
They legitimately looked like worms with their little pinkish- brown, tube-like bodies. And it wasn’t just one or two worms either. There were dozens of them in the soup, just lying in wait.
After ensuring her spoon held none, Cordelia brought the broth to her lips.
A hot, salty taste hit her tongue. There was a hint of spices and, strangely, a chicken-like flavor. Cordelia hummed appreciatively, feeling bad for thinking this would taste terrible. She’d just filter the worms out and have everything else.
Ezul relaxed a fraction, beginning to eat his own meal.
“So what did those senators mean yesterday about you being punished for something? When Delilah was with me in the harem yesterday, she told me to claim we were mates so that you didn’t get into more trouble. I feel like I’m missing something,” Cordelia commented.
She scooped another spoonful of soup from the bowl, waiting for his answer while she ate.
“Ah. I told you that there were consequences if you were caught escaping the harem.” She nodded and he cleared his throat, clearly reluctant to tell her more. “They were going to send you to the mines to work off the remainder of your year.”
Her brows rose. “The mines? As in coal mines?”
“Yes. You would not be allowed to leave the mines for months at a time, and the work is grueling, oftentimes prisoners work for days without rest or nourishment. Some do not survive.”
“And you did something to keep me safe,” she surmised.
Ezul nodded. “I claimed that I stole you from the harem and took you to the woods to mate you, and that your mark had disappeared because you are human and your flesh heals.”
Her eyes softened as her heart leapt into her throat, spoon dropping into the bowl with a clatter. “But they could have made you go to the mines too. Why would you take the fall for me?”
“Because I could handle the mines. You, while strong in spirit, are physically too delicate to withstand the harsh environment there without some kind of conditioning.”
Tears pricked her eyes, blurring her vision. “I can’t believe you’d do something like that just to protect me.” Her voice was thick with emotion. And she’d been worried that he didn’t care about her? “What was your punishment?” she asked nervously.
