Out of the Ashes (Maji 1)

“Nova.” He chuckled. “I am a prince, and to speak to me, you need permission from me.”

I stared at him blankly, and he laughed, loudly.

“I know you’d talk to me with or without permission, but my people will not. It is a sign of respect, just like the bowing.”

I scratched my neck. “I bet you think I’m pretty disrespectful, huh?”

“No,” he said. “I think you’re human and do not know the Maji way, but you and the other humans will learn in time.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet you’ll love whipping us into shape.”

Kol raised his brows.

I waved my hand. “Never mind.”

“Your words hurt my head sometimes,” he said and rubbed his right temple.

I snorted. “That’s nothing I haven’t heard before.”

“I’m sure.”

I stuck my tongue out at Kol and laughed when he made a play to grab me. I jumped away from him, but he caught me around the waist and pulled me back against him, moulding the front of his body to my back. I was about to pinch him to let me go when I felt the burn of eyes on us.

“They’re still watching us,” I murmured, knowing Kol could hear.

He cleared his throat and shouted, “Back to work.”

Everyone got moving almost instantly, and I smiled and patted the back of his hand that was rested on my stomach.

“Nice job.”

He grinned. “Thank you.”

I looked at the group of women to my right. “What do they do now?”

“When they reach their homestead, they will bathe and possibly sleep before the feast this evening. Tomorrow, they can choose their form of work and then explore the city with their assigned guide.”

I licked my lips. “This sounds like camp.”

“What is camp?”

“Just a place my father’s father used to attend when he was smaller. It sounds just like you described it.”

“We want to make this transition as easy as possible, Nova.”

I nodded. “I know, and I’m not going to fight anymore.”

Kol looked down at me with suspicion, and it made me laugh. He leaned down, and kiss my cheek before he straightened. We then returned our attention to Isa and Dash, who were still at odds with one another. Mikoh backed up and took his place by Surkah’s side, next to me. I hid a grin when Surkah stepped closer to Mikoh; he glanced down at her and stared at her face as her eyes were trained on his sister and her intended. Even though he annoyed me to murder sometimes, I loved the way he looked at her. His emotion for her was pure and played out on his face.

It was cute, and I wanted to tell him so, but commotion brought my attention back to his sister. I looked forward and widened my eyes when Isa slapped Dash’s hands away and bared her teeth at him when he reached for her.

“She’s definitely your sister,” I told Mikoh. “Your tempers match.”

Mikoh’s lips twitched. “Isa can be a lot meaner; I have the scars to prove it.”

“Why do you say that like it’s a good thing?”

“She is female,” he said as if that was the answer to life.

“So?” I pressed.

“So,” he continued, “she is spoiled. Not only mates spoil females, but brothers, fathers, uncles, and cousins do, too. Maji care deeply about our relations, and as females are so few, they’re greatly favoured. I’d do just about anything for my sister. She is a piece of my heart.”

Aww.

“That’s adorable.”

Mikoh grunted but suddenly groaned when a group of males and a lone female approached.

“Father!” Isa suddenly screeched when she noticed the group. “Send Dash away.”

Isa’s father, the male who led the group that approached Isa and Dash, laughed like she just said the funniest thing in the world. I wouldn’t believe he was her father or Mikoh’s either, but he looked just like Mikoh, just ten or so years older!

“He’s not going to help her, is he?” I asked Mikoh.

He snorted. “No. We don’t come between an intended couple unless there is concern a male cannot care for his female.”

“Mother,” Isa then shouted, her tone desperate. “He touched another female!”

Isa’s mother roared in outrage.

“I’ll have your head!” She swore and charged for Dash who, to be honest, looked like he was about to shit himself.

Mikoh had to scramble so he could run forward and grab his mother midair after she leaped for Dash when his brothers and father failed to restrain her in time. I watched the scene with wide eyes and made a note that a snack would only make it better. I was witnessing family drama … amongst aliens.

“This is fucking awesome.”

Kol, Surkah, Killi and Nero snickered, but none of them disagreed with me.

“No!” Isa cried when Dash approached her. “Stay away!

Dash took another step forward, and he growled. Isa whined in response, and I wondered if she was actually scared of Dash, or if she was just angry that she was losing this argument so epically. From the uncaring reaction of her family, I figured it was the latter.

“Mikoh, I need you,” Isa whimpered, but Mikoh turned his back on his sister as he returned back to Surkah’s side, and it caused her to wail. “Brother!”

She called for her other brothers who gave her the same reaction. I looked at Mikoh’s face, and the poor male was cut in two. He was respecting the right of Dash as Isa’s intended, but his obvious need to help his sister was proving difficult for him to fight. The longer she cried, the tenser he became. I jumped when Isa suddenly screamed, and when I looked back, it was because Dash now had hold of her.

“Do not be afraid,” Mikoh said, his eyes on me, and his back still to Isa. “She is not in pain or truly scared. She feels like Dash has disrespected her, and that is why she cries. She is trying to gain my brother’s and my favour by calling our names because she knows how deeply we care for her. She knows she can convince us to hurt him; she wants him to feel pain for hurting her.”

“She sounds mighty scared to me,” I said to Mikoh as Isa’s cries got louder.

“This is how our females express themselves,” Mikoh explained. “Do humans not behave this way?”

Like hyped-up drama queens?

“Not that I have seen,” I admitted.

“That’s odd,” Mikoh said, making me chuckle.

I looked back at Isa when I realised her cries had suddenly turned to snarls and growls, and I gasped when she suddenly struck out and hit Dash across the face. The impact of it sent a sickening noise through the air. I flung my hand over my mouth when I saw blood on his face.

“She’s injured him,” I said, stepping back into Kol’s embrace, my back pressing against his stomach.

Mikoh smirked and turned to watch the couple.

“Told you she w

asn’t scared,” he said.

“Well”—I swallowed—“she’s a damn good actress because she looked and sounded terrified.”

“We can read females very well. We knew she was not truly worried, just angry and upset. Her scent reeked of anger, not fear, so her sounds did not have the desired effect.”

Isa lashed out at Dash once more, and he did nothing to stop it.

“Do you all allow females to abuse you?” I questioned.

Mikoh laughed. “Abuse? Nova, this is the Maji way. Females will strike any male or female who upsets them.”

“That’s physical assault, Mikoh.”

“Not with Maji,” he said, shaking his head. “Look at Dash. Does he look scared of Isa?”

“No, he looks like he wants to calm her,” I said, noting how the male looked at the female.

There was nothing but worry in his eyes.

“Which is why he allows her to strike him,” Mikoh explained. “Males will allow a female to express her anger when it’s deserved through striking, but when he has had enough, he will end it. Dash knows Isa is upset with him for touching the human female, so he allows her strikes to relieve herself of anger. It does not hurt him; our males are very tough. The scratch she inflicted is already healing.”

Isa wasn’t striking out anymore, so Dash let her go and took a step back. Both of their breathing was laboured.

“My female,” Dash rasped. “My reason for life is you.”

Isa looked up at him, and without warning, she jumped on him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his hips, and she placed her throat in front of his mouth.

“Uh, what’s she doing?” I asked.

Mikoh yawned. “Apologising.”

I blinked. “How?”

“By exposing her throat to Dash,” he said like it was obvious. “It is symbolism. She greatly regrets her actions, and the scene she has caused, knowing it could reflect badly on Dash’s reputation since I, his commander, and Kol and Killi, his princes, are present. She offers him her throat, giving him the option to kill her. It shows how much she trusts him, and how badly she feels for what she has done.”

I stared in horror. “She could have just said sorry.”

“She is,” Mikoh explained. “This is how our females do that.”

“Seems a bit drastic to me,” I said with a shake of my head.