Out of the Ashes (Maji 1)

That’s nice of him.

“But I’m the only human female who has mated so far.” I frowned. “There are no other new families.”

“That is a technicality,” Surkah said with a wave of her hand. “Each female will eventually take a mate, so my father thought ahead and had large family-size homesteads built for them in advance. Each homestead has five floors. It consists of a large kitchen, a living area, a washroom for clothing, fifteen sleep rooms, and six cleansing rooms—each has a relief pod.”

It sounded like they built mansions and not just simple houses.

I raised a brow. “How far in advance were these homesteads built?”

“Construction of the human housing started five years ago,” my sister-in-mate replied.

I whistled. “Your father was certain Earth would give its women up, huh?”

Surkah grinned. “Pretty certain.”

“So each human woman will have a home of their own?”

She nodded. “Two thousand homesteads were built in a new brand-new section of Royal City. We weren’t sure how many would be needed. We hoped for two thousand females, but we’re overjoyed to have many more. Royal City is the name of our main city, in case you were wondering. It was named by the people. The human housing section is very large itself, so it has been given its own name as it’s now an official district of Royal City.”

“What is the new district’s name?” I prompted.

Surkah devilishly grinned. “Human Burrow.”

I almost instantly burst into laughter. “Is it really called that?”

“No,” Surkah tittered. “It’s called Harmony.”

I shook my head, amused. “I’ll live in Harmony with the other humans?”

Surkah shook her head. “No, you’ll live in the palace with the rest of us royals.”

Oh.

“Right,” I exhaled. “I’m a princess now.”

Surkah’s eyes gleamed. “You don’t like being a princess… do you?”

I swallowed. “I’m just scared. I really don’t want to mess anything up.”

“You won’t,” she assured me. “You can’t beat anything I have ever done to bring dishonour to my family.”

That intrigued me.

“What have you done to bring dishonour?”

“As of late?” she asked, her lips quirked.

I nodded.

“I snuck aboard the Ebony for this mission without permission.”

I felt like the floor fell away from beneath my feet.

I screeched. “You did not!”

“Oh, she did,” Nero mumbled to himself, earning a muffled chuckle from the male beside him.

“I did.” Surkah giggled. “My brothers, Killi, Arli, and Arvi were chosen by Mikoh to watch over me while he was away on the mission to retrieve our new females, and as usual, I was not asked what I wanted, so after Mikoh bid me farewell, my brothers escorted me back to our palace where I pretended I was tired and went to my quarters. While I was there, I changed clothing, left a note for my brothers so they wouldn’t think I was abducted, covered my face and body, and snuck out. The Ebony was still boarding goods into the cargo hold, so I slipped in there and just sat down behind a large crate and waited.”

I was fascinated.

“How did no male see or scent you?”

Surkah grinned. “I sprayed fotha essence on my coverings.”

“What is fotha?” I asked, perplexed.

“It is a repellent for tiny creatures that like to eat flowers in my mother’s garden. It stinks when freshly sprayed. The tail end of the Ebony was situated right next to a flower field that was recently sprayed with the repellent, so to the males stocking the cargo, the air would have just smelled like the fotha, not a female.”

I blinked. “You’re like an evil genius.”

Surkah devilishly grinned.

“Was no alert sounded when your brothers realised you were missing?”

“My brothers know never to interrupt my sleep cycle because I can be really cranky. I knew I had at least five to six hours before they would worry and enter my quarters to check on me. I also knew, according to Kol’s flight plan, that he planned to active warp on the fifth hour after takeoff. Once warp is activated, they wouldn’t have been able to return me back to Ealra. It would have cost too much fuel and caused problems with Kol’s schedule since we already knew Earth was dangerously close to imploding.”

I smiled widely.

“I’m really impressed,” I exclaimed happily. “This is seriously great.”

“I’m glad you think so.” She chuckled.

“How did Kol and Mikoh find out you were on board?”

She giggled. “A crew member was retrieving some goods from the cargo hold, and he happened to need the goods from a crate that was behind me. I had already removed my coverings at this point and stuck them inside an empty crate, so I couldn’t scent them. The male that found me is the youngest male aboard the Ebony. He is only thirty-five years old, and he froze with fear when he realised who I was. He stared at me then said ‘princess’ before he dropped to his knees, pressed his head against the cold floor, and begged my forgiveness for his making eye contact and speaking to me directly.”

I pouted. “The poor kid.”

The irony that I was calling someone who was twelve years older than me (even older in Ealra years!) a kid was not lost on me.

“I know.” Surkah grinned as she rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet. “I pardoned him so he’d stand, and then I ordered him to the bridge so he could have Mikoh come and fetch me.”

“Surkah!” I said, giggling.

“I know,” she beamed, pleased with herself. “He was in disbelief when he entered the cargo hold with my brother and Nero right behind him.”

I lifted my hand to my mouth and lightly chewed on my nails.

“What happened next?” I asked.

She blushed, and it only caused me to squeal with delight.

“Tell me!” I demanded.

“Mikoh spanked me,” she whispered, her cheeks aflame with purple.

I su

cked in a breath. “No!”

She bobbed her head, “As my intended, he has the right to inflict simple physical punishment when I endanger myself, and the cargo hold is very dangerous. I took the spanking even though it made me cry. Of course, my tears caused all three males to lose their anger and gain a whole lot of sympathy for me. They quickly began to fret over me like a child. Mikoh insisted I strike him to take my revenge for the spanking he gave me, but I didn’t, and it distraught him even further until he apologised over and over.”

I shook my head. “You have everyone wrapped around your little finger.”

Surkah only smiled, and it made me snort with amusement.

“Will you be in trouble when you disembark the craft?” I questioned.

I hoped not.

She nodded with a reluctant sigh. “Yes, but it’s not like I can really be punished. I already can’t leave the palace without an escort. My father will refuse me food for a few days as punishment, but the second I say I am hungry and cry, plates of food will be shoved under my nose. Being female on Ealra has its advantages.”

I cackled. “As I said, you’re an evil genius.”

Surkah beamed as she stared down the ramp before looking back at me.

“You bathed?” she asked, sniffing the air.

I grinned. “I have used the cleansing unit three times a day since that first day in the medical bay.”

“Why so many times?” Surkah asked, shocked.

I shrugged. “I’m making up for lost time, I guess.”

Surkah processed this then said, “Well, you smell wonderful.”

I laughed. “Thanks.”

“Are you ready to meet some of my family?” she asked as I moved closer to her.

“Are you serious?” I grumbled. “I could wait another ten years if I was given the chance.”

“It will not be bad, I promise. They will be overjoyed that Kol has mated.”

“Even though I’m a human?” I questioned.

“It will be a shock, so expect wide eyes, but Mother and Father will not oppose the mating. They’ll celebrate it.”

My stomach churned. “I’m scared they won’t like me.”