Page 33 of Adored By the Alien Warlord
Why had I kissed her? Why had I let her know my feelings? It only put her in danger.
“Tell me about yourself,” Maggie said. “What was it like growing up in the desert?”
I took a deep breath, memories flooding my mind, shoving aside my self-recriminations. “Life in the desert is different than here in the Veerenad city.”
“I lived in a city. I can't imagine living in a wide-open space. And the desert seems so stark.”
“It’s hard to see its beauty, but once you do . . . It will amaze you.”
“It must be harsh at times.”
“Too harsh. Too deadly. My clan are nomads, always moving with the seasons. Our homes are thick cloth structures with supports that can be packed in a short time. We travel light, carrying only what we need.”
“That sounds so free,” she said, wonder in her voice.
I nodded. “It is, in a way. But it's also stark. Lonely at times despite having the members of our clan around us. Water is precious, food can be scarce. From the time we’re small, we learn to read the land, to find hidden oases and edible plants in the oddest places.”
“What about your family?” she asked. “You mentioned a younger brother.”
I grinned. “Coovik is seventeen, and he feels he's ready to challenge the world like any other grown male.”
“Is he?”
“No, though I give him as much freedom as possible to make mistakes and learn from them. I take him hunting and show him how to survive. He enjoys traveling, but he longs for places my clan has never visited. The forest. The mountains. Even life near the sea.”
“Wanderlust. A few of my friends feel that way. They get their fix from traveling to far-off places. On Earth, we have vehicles that can take us long distances, some flying through the air, others along the ground.”
“Beasts? The Dastalon Clan raise enormous birds and fly from one location to another with them.”
“Ours are machines, metal things. They're not alive. They make a lot of noise, but they can take a person halfway across our huge planet in a day.”
I shook my head. “I can't imagine such a thing.”
“It allows you to go somewhere warm when it's cold where you live or vice versa. Or travel to see family or friends. People live far apart from each other. The machines that fly in the sky are called airplanes. We don't have creatures large enough to carry us, though weride in things called cars and trains on the ground. They’re also machines made of metal. They move swiftly, but they can't travel the same distance in such a short time as our flying vehicles.”
Such a wonder. I couldn't picture what she meant. One day, I'd ask her to draw them in the moist dirt along the shore of an oasis. Then I could better imagine what they were like.
“What about your parents?” she asked. “Mine died. A car accident.” Her voice choked off. “They were both killed instantly. Talia and I were left to raise ourselves, but we did alright. We were the same age as your brother, seventeen. Somehow, we survived, and many would say we thrived.”
“What would you say?” I asked.
She shrugged. “We did okay.” Her gaze sought mine. “You told me Talia’s safe, but I can't stop worrying. I'll feel better when I can see her. Touch her. We've rarely been apart. But tell me about your parents?”
My throat tightened. “They died two years ago. A sandstorm. They thought they had time to reach the oasis, but they didn't.”
“Oh, Davon. I'm sorry.”
I hesitated, shame burning in my gut. How could I share the burden I'd carried since then? I was a useless male, one struggling to prove his worth to his clan all while knowing I never would. Not completely. What I'd done couldn't be swiped clean like a mark smoothed by the wind across sand. This mark on my soul would remain forever. But Maggie deserved the truth. “Afterthey died, I . . . I left my clan. I wandered for a long time. There are parts I don't remember clearly.”
I couldn't look her way. I couldn't bear to see the disappointment I was sure she'd feel. A lost male rarely finds his true path again. For that, I supposed, I could feel proud. I hadn't left forever, just when my clan needed me most.
“You must’ve been frightened by their loss.”
Was I? I couldn’t remember. “I traveled for a long time, and I do not remember.”
Maggie's eyes widened. “You blanked out?”
I had to think about her words before their meaning became clear. “Yes, my mind was blank.”Iwas blank and for too long.