“Confirmed.”
“Do we have any injuries?”
“Just you, I think, sir.”
“Well, everyone else still got to use telekinesis.” I looked down at my blood-soaked chest and wobbled a bit on my left leg, trying not to sound insulted. “Find me a doctor. I need some attention.”
Bravo Ilisa signaled to one of the other Farians and he began interrogating a soldier to find their medic. I would get some medical aid, then we would feast and prepare to hand over control to a new General and strike up a trade deal.
One of the proudest moments I would ever have would be telling my best friend Prince Axis by comm that I had succeeded in my mission of striking up the trade deal and, even more than that, I was bringing home my Destin, my soul, the love of my life, for him to meet. We still had a few days and few chores to complete on Vailstor, but it was wrapping up.
I looked down at Zaya and kissed her on the forehead. Her turquoise eyes glowed up at me in full adoration. “Then, my dear Zaya, I will take you to your new home…”
Twenty-One
Zaya
Cartari’s eyes were as warm as the sun on my back as he watched me tentatively walk into the gently lapping ocean waters. Tide was just going out and the shores were frothy with the foam of a graceful day. I couldn’t believe how bright the sun was, how aquamarine the waters were, how gorgeous the crooning gulls who swooped by overhead were when they soared, or how magnificent the dolphin dragons were as they leapt from their bay and splashed back down, firefins burning red sailing out behind them.
I giggled and wiggled my toes. “It’s so warm!”
The sun was already baking freckles into my shoulders and across my nose, bringing out melanin I hadn’t even known I possessed, a new way of being kissed that I had never experienced. We were going swimming in Cartari’s favorite cove on the Bristola Oceans, that he had sailed us to in a little sailboat. I sat in the bow, fearlessly tasting the salt spray on my lips and luxuriating in the sea breeze that wouldn’t freeze me within minutes of exposure.
General Truloy had successfully taken over Vailstor. Bravo Ilisa and some of the others had stayed to help navigate the trade deal and confirm the negotiation that would bring my friend, Skarde the Berserker, to Farian. As far as I knew, we would be the only two Vailstorans on Farian. He might bring a contingent with him, but I doubted it: he wouldn’t need anyone with him to handle the job he had to do (which was to ensure the trade deal went as the Farians promised). I would look forward to seeing him sometime soon. I also looked forward to seeing how the Farians adjusted to a true Vailstor warrior. But, for now, it was just me, marveling at the warm blue waters, the colorful fish, coral, and plant life, and my ever grinning Destin beside me.
Cartari had asked me to come back to Farian with him and I had jumped at it. We had gone back to my family’s village so I could say goodbye to my father and friends, but I had felt distant from them since they sold me to slavery to Blatson… I would miss some elements of my home planet, but I was on a new adventure, now… Cartari needed some time to heal from his fight with the General, but he was doing well already. Curans had a swift healing process, as was evidenced by the many scars on his finely carved body.
My Destin walked up behind me and placed his fingertips under my sundress’s slender straps. He slid them down my shoulders and off my arms, letting them drop low to my wrists. The dress fell over my breasts, stopping just before exposing them entirely. He leaned in and kissed my shoulder, my neck, my cheek, my jaw, pulled my head around to kiss my mouth, then whispered in my ear… “Are you ready to feel sun kisses all over your skin?”
The water brushed at our ankles, the softest caresses, and I wanted to feel more of it.
“Am I not already?”
“You need to be looking perfectly sun-kissed when King Kajo and Queen Daphne come to meet you. You are the perfect ambassador of Vailstor, my Destin. Strong, sure, sexy as hell…”
I turned and wrapped my arms around his neck, slipping my wrists from the straps as I did so, letting the dress fall from my breasts, exposing them to the sun, my nipples hard to brush against his bare chest. I carefully caressed his new knife wounds with my fingertips. They were still healing, but doing much better.
There was to be a grand celebration in two days time, to commemorate the trade deal, and welcome me to Bristola. Prince Axis and Princess Ceritha had been very kind, but mainly I just wanted to spend all my time with Cartari. I was consumed by him, captivated by him, a piece of him now. I was in the land of charzbos, but I was protected and honored as one of them.
“Will you come into the water with me?”
“How about we spend some time on this blanket in the sand first?” He waved his hand to an entire set up I hadn’t even noticed, with wine and a food basket and ample space for us to enjoy each other’s bodies.
I took his hand, firm and strong in mine, and moved him to the blanket, him still limping a little, walking out of my dress as we stepped out of the ocean. I let the light yellow garment wisp into a pile on the sand as we fell into each other’s arms.
Cartari brushed my hair back behind my ears and kissed my nose gently. Sparks fluttered in my vision, that same kaleidoscope of color and light that was the Destin connection, blinding me for
