Foretold (Daughters of Saraqael Book Three) (22 page)

“Amber and Skye,” Sebastian said the following day when the group had traveled to the Lekwuesti homeland, “Caoilinn and I have carefully considered the candidates for pairing with you. As I have explained to you before, this pairing is one of very high prestige among our class. The Lekwuesti chosen to pair with you will be receiving an incredible honor.” He exchanged a smile with Caoilinn. “In fact, if we were not already paired ourselves, we would each have approached you already.”

Skye beamed a smile back at them, appreciating the compliment for what it was. She exchanged a humored glance with Amber.

“In the end,” Caoilinn picked up where her leader left off, “we decided to narrow the candidates down to those who were of an appropriate level of experience to pair with you. Then we considered your individual needs and personalities. And we determined that it would be best for you to select the Lekwuesti with whom you will pair from the candidates we have identified, since Olivia ultimately did so.”

Now Skye and Amber looked at their sister, who flushed and shrugged in embarrassment. She had paired with her Lekwuesti, Brenna, before she knew she was supposed to wait. In the end, her decision had saved her life. No one had ever argued that the pairing hadn’t been best for all involved.

“We have reserved one location for each of you,” Sebastian explained. “The candidates we have selected for you are awaiting your arrival. You will have the opportunity to meet with each of them and determine how they suit you. When you have made your decision, we will assist you with the pairing process.” He looked at Olivia. “As you are already paired, Olivia, you and James are free to explore our homeland.”

“We have a lovely park with lush greenery that might appeal to you,” Caoilinn suggested. When Olivia’s face lit up, she smiled. “I would be happy to show you the way.”

Skye watched Olivia and James follow the commander, their hands entwined. Since there was no one in the building they presently inhabited, there was no concern about someone seeing their obvious love for each other and getting bent out of shape about it. She was glad for that. She knew they had hardly had two seconds together to celebrate Olivia’s pregnancy over the past couple of days. Their joy over it radiated from each of them. She understood that their feelings for each other had to be minimized to prevent jealousy or other powerfully negative emotions among the Estilorians from emerging, but there was something to be said for simply being allowed to feel.

The Lekwuesti had gathered as a group to welcome them upon their arrival that morning, but had been ordered to disperse shortly thereafter. Thus, the walk from their current location to the spaces reserved for them was quiet and uneventful. Skye thought the Lekwuesti homeland looked a lot like a human suburb, and when they approached two roomy cottages with white-washed stone walls and thatched roofs, her initial impression was confirmed.

“Skye, if you and Caleb would please follow me,” Sebastian said, walking to the cottage on the left.

Intensely curious, she followed. Caleb was right beside her. Sebastian opened the door and walked inside. Caleb followed him, always the first through any door she had to pass through. She walked in after him when he gave her a mental nod.

There were no less than fifty Lekwuesti in the room. Her eyes went wide.
This is narrowed down?
she thought.

“I leave you to your decision,” Sebastian said. And after giving her a smile, he bowed and left.

Amber and Gabriel entered the second cottage behind Sebastian. As Skye’s had, Amber’s eyes went wide at the number of Lekwuesti present. Although the cottage was larger inside than it appeared on the outside, the number of beings in the space was more than a little overwhelming. And when about fifty pairs of lavender eyes turned in her direction, she immediately felt anxiety building over being the focus of so much attention.

Sebastian left with hardly a sound. The room bowed in respect to Gabriel. Amber noticed several second glances at him. Most of the Lekwuesti in the room hadn’t seen him since he returned from the human plane. The change in his eye color and the removal of his Gloresti pairing markings often caused such reactions.

“Hello,
kyria
Amber,” said a female with honey blonde hair and freckles. She bowed and crossed her right arm over her chest, a gesture usually only reserved for the elders. “My name is Elandra. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hi, Elandra,” Amber said resignedly. She thought,
What does
kyria
mean?

‘
Lady,’
Gabriel translated.
The Lekwuesti govern our social customs. It seems they’ve developed a title for you as my avowed.

Struggling not to wince over the special treatment, she listened to the next introduction, this one from a male named Samuel.

“It would be an honor to be paired with you,
kyria
Amber,” he said. “I would appreciate the opportunity to demonstrate my abilities for you. Perhaps I could create something for you? A piece of jewelry, perhaps?”

“That’s really not necessary, Samuel,” she tried to say, but another Lekwuesti stepped forward.

“I am Brucie,” said the dark-haired, dark-skinned female. Her voice was heavily accented. “I am so pleased to meet you,
kyria
Amber. I am particularly talented in creating delicious foods.”

Amber inclined her head. “Right. Hello—”

The next introduction came before she could finish. The beings in the room grew closer and closer as they started talking over one another to try and catch her attention. She could sense the growing urgency among the Lekwuesti in the back of the room who weren’t directly in her line of sight. Gabriel was standing behind her with his arms crossed, prepared to intervene if he found it necessary. Amber was on the verge of begging for him to put her out of her misery when a loud voice cut through the growing surge of introductions.

“Back off, you thick-headed dolts!”

The noise silenced. Heads turned. She looked up above the heads of the other Lekwuesti and spotted a round, dark, bald head making its way through the heavy crowd. Eventually, the large male reached her. Rather than introduce himself, he turned his back on her and spread his massive arms wide. Then he took two long steps back, pressing the horde several feet away from her.

“Hey, Blue—that is not fair!” one of the retreating Lekwuesti complained.

“What is not fair is mobbing
kyria
Amber when she obviously does not like crowds,” the giant argued in a voice as southern as Amber’s own. “You are all so focused on yourselves that you are failing to use your Lekwuesti sense.” He turned his lavender gaze to her and waved in her direction. “Her body language indicates she is highly agitated. Her tone and expressions tell me that she would rather be just about anywhere else but here. And you are all exacerbating those reactions.”

There were mutters of complaint and murmurs of agreement as gazes once again latched onto Amber. She forced herself not to roll her eyes.

“Now,” Blue said, again facing the crowd, “we can all introduce ourselves one at a time. And everyone else can wait their blasted turn.”

“It is not as though you are in charge, Blue,” Samuel asked. He looked highly affronted. “You are the oldest unpaired Lekwuesti for this very reason.”

That piqued Amber’s interested. “What reason is that?” she asked.

“His poor manners,” Samuel said. “He has not even introduced himself properly to you.”

There were more murmurs of agreement and quite a few sneers and shaking heads. She saw Blue acknowledge the oversight with a slumping of his broad shoulders.

Before he could turn and say something to her, she nodded. “Very well. Please, let’s get on with the introductions.”

It took over an hour. Her head was spinning with names and faces by the time they were done. It was really a waste, too, since she had made her decision so early in the process.

“Thank you for taking the time to introduce yourselves to me,” she said to the room when the last Lekwuesti had made her introduction and offered to create her a new wardrobe. “You each have much to offer, and my decision isn’t easy. I’d like to ask that you give me a moment to consider this in private.”

“Of course,
kyria
Amber,” they said, and began filing out the cottage door.

“Blue, I‘d like a word with you,” Gabriel said before the Lekwuesti strode out the door.

“Of course,
archigos
,” Blue said, his surprise evident. There were several glances in his direction as the last of the others shuffled outside. The door closed behind them. He turned to face Amber. “I would like to apologize for failing to properly introduce myself,
kyria
Amber.”

She waved a hand. “I understand the need for manners and protocol, Blue, but I’m a simple gal at heart. You were looking out for me, and that was more important at the time than extending a formal introduction.” He bowed his head in acknowledgement and thanks. She gave him a considering look and asked, “So, are you going to offer to show me your skills?”

He blinked at that. “I noticed you have not shown an interest in demonstrations. And the fact is, we can all do relatively the same things.”

She nodded. “The key is using your skills with an understanding of the being who you are doing those things for, right?”

“Certainly.”

“What do you think I’d ask you to create if I wanted a demonstration?”

“Something related to music,” he said.

She felt Gabriel’s surprise. “Why would you guess that?” she asked.

“You are wearing a serviceable but unadorned shirt and pants with functional boots. This tells me you are not focused on wardrobe. Your only jewelry is the ring on your left ring finger and you are not wearing any cosmetics and, quite frankly, you do not need them. You showed no real interest when food preparation was mentioned. You have said you are a ‘simple gal,’ which tells me you do not feel it necessary to be surrounded by pretty and elaborate furnishings. But when one of my peers mentioned having a good singing voice, you pursued a line of conversation with her.”

“You’re very observant, Blue.” She paused consideringly, then asked, “What do you consider to be the most important quality in a Lekwuesti?”

“Dependability,” he said simply.

Now, she grinned. He couldn’t have given a more perfect answer. “Blue, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership.”

And when she saw realization sink in and his eyes went wide with shock, she laughed.

Skye greatly enjoyed getting to know the Lekwuesti who had been chosen to meet with her. They were all polite and charming and falling over themselves to please her. While she certainly didn’t need anyone kowtowing to her, she could admit it felt kind of nice to be so thoroughly sought after.

Unfortunately, she was having the hardest time figuring out how she would ever decide who to pick. The problem was, there wasn’t anything to distinguish one Lekwuesti from the next. They all behaved in much the same way. By the time candidate thirty-seven walked up, Skye was quite anxious and wishing that Pavati wasn’t already paired with someone else. It would have made things infinitely easier.

Caleb had known who she would pick within a minute of walking into the room. She had watched him walk in, scan the group, nod and then lean against the rear wall of the cottage with his arms crossed over his chest. At first, she had been humored by his confidence. He thought he knew her so well that he could identify her future Lekwuesti in one glance? Sure.

But now she started wondering who he had seen that had so clearly made a mark. In truth, no one had set off any “I’m the one” tingles to her intuition. It was actually quite disheartening.

She watched the remaining Lekwuesti move to the front as the previous group shuffled to the back. Her smile had begun feeling false about ten minutes before. And when the first female in this group elbowed another female beside her to get the chance to speak with Skye first, something she had witnessed on several other occasions, she let the smile drop altogether.

Sighing, she shifted her gaze to the left and found her attention caught by a very young-looking female on the outskirts of this group. Her one-piece skin suit in eye-popping magenta with lavender zig-zags showed a delicate, waiflike figure. She wore lavender boots that went all the way up to mid-thigh and a wide lavender belt that sat low on her hips. An assortment of jewelry covered her ears, arms and neck. In contrast to the stylish outfit, she wore a nondescript white cap over her hair.

Skye went through the motions of listening to the Lekwuesti make their introductions and offer her all kinds of things. Then she waited for the waif’s turn. She was mildly surprised when she noted the three lavender markings around this Lekwuesti’s eyes indicating a second ability. She was even more surprised when she realized the Lekwuesti’s eyebrows were silver. She thought it made her face quite fascinating.

“Hello,” the waif said in a much quieter voice than her peers. Her eyes were alight with hope.

Then Skye noticed a few of the Lekwuesti around her talking behind their hands and staring. The waif’s eyes shifted uncomfortably from Skye’s when she realized she was being talked about. The hope in her expression died. That made Skye’s ire rise.

“My name is Evangeline,” the waif said in her soft voice. She gave Skye a hesitant smile. “I like your hair. It is very pretty.”

Although she wasn’t the first to say so, Skye sensed she was the first who meant it. “Thanks, Evangeline. If you don’t mind my asking, why is it you’ve got your own hair covered up?”

Once again, Evangeline shifted her gaze away as the beings behind her exchanged looks and nudges. Her cheeks filling with color, she said, “My hair is…unusual.”

“I see.” Skye turned and looked at Caleb.

Without a word, he pushed himself away from the wall and walked to the door. Opening it, he said, “Everyone out except Evangeline.”

The Lekwuesti directly in his line of sight took one look at his expression and hurried out the door. A few others balked and started to complain, but Caleb raised an eyebrow and once again crossed his arms over his chest. No one else uttered a word as they all filed past. He shut the door firmly behind them and then walked back to where Skye sat in a chair at a small café table. Pulling out the second chair, he waved Evangeline toward it.