Chapter 13

 

 

“Good morning, NaOMie,” HonORa greeted the elderly villager while walking up the steps of the cottage. The female was sitting on the bench on her porch with a bowl in her lap. The female was blind but her other senses were super-enhanced. She sniffed the air then smiled in HonORa’s direction.

“Priestess HonORa, good to have you visiting with us again. Who is that with you?”

“This is my friend, Lizetta Bardo.”

“Is she a Morinian?”

“No, she is one of the Norad survivors. She and her brother are here to help out.”

The elderly female smiled. “Welcome, Lizetta. Why don’t the two of you come and sit with me while I open the pea pods. We’re making a stew and I need to have the peas ready.”

“May we help you?”

“Oh, I would be so appreciative of your help. My hands aren’t what they once were.”

HonORa grabbed a bowl on the floor and sat in a chair. She reached for a handful of peas and started to shell them. Lizetta sat on the floor of the porch at their feet to help.

“Are the Morinians settling in okay?” NaOMie asked.

“Yes. The cottages are perfect. I think they’ll fit in here.”

“What about you, Lizetta? How do you like our little village?”

“I love it. It reminds me so much of my homeworld, Norad, before it was destroyed. The lush greenery and fresh air. Our huts didn’t have running water or electricity, so this is far more advanced, but it feels like home.”

“Will you and your brother be moving here permanently? Or will you go back to Katiera?” NaOMie asked. HonORa was curious about that as well.

“I’m not sure. The rest of our people are still on Katiera. I like it here but my brother…he’s determined to seek justice.”

“I’m so sorry for what happened to your people. How are you dealing with everything, dear?”

“I’m taking it one day at a time. I’m grateful to have the chance to come here.”

“Well, we would love to have you stay. The Morinians are only here for a little while. Once a suitable planet has been found, they will be leaving. We’ll have plenty of space for all of your people to move here if they like it.”

“Wow, I hadn’t thought about that,” Lizetta said with excitement showing on her face.

HonORa noticed that even though Lizetta was kind and sweet, she was also terribly sad at times. She had hoped to have a private moment to talk to her, but so far they had been surrounded by people and things to do.

A group of four females approached the porch. HonORa recognized two of them; one was breeding and had a distended belly. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Priestess.”

HonORa introduced Lizetta. “This is my friend, Lizetta.”

“Welcome to our village,” they all said at the same time.

“Thank you.” Lizetta’s eyes kept roaming to the female who was breeding. The other female noticed and laughed, rubbing her belly.

“I know I’m huge!” She yawned then laughed again when one of her friends made a joke. “Sorry, I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately. The baby is way too active. I can’t wait for this little one to finally come out and make an appearance.”

NaOMie tried to stand up. “I need to go get another bowl to shuck.”

Lizetta jumped up. “I’ll get it for you.”

“That would be lovely, dear. It’s on the kitchen table.”

HonORa watched as Lizetta quickly walked inside the cottage. There had been something about the new group of females that bothered her friend. She wanted to know what that was. As she was about to go inside and ask Lizetta about it, she was interrupted by ZenIM’s arrival.

“Good morning,” he greeted them.

“Good morning, ZenIM,” they all greeted him in return.

“What brings you by, ZenIM?” NaOMie asked.

“I wanted to caution everyone to travel in groups or with security for the next few days.”

HonORa frowned. “Why? Are we in danger?”

“It’s an added safety measure to take. The arrival of so many shuttles didn’t go completely unnoticed. Once we ensure that there is no danger, the safety measures will ease up.”

“Well, we’ll follow your safety steps, ZenIM,” NaOMie assured him.

ZenIM looked relieved. “Good. I’ll continue to spread the word. Looking forward to the midday meal.” He walked off, going to another cottage.

“I think I’m going to go find my mate, he needs to know about the security measures,” the breeding female said. As she walked off, so did the other females.

“Are you worried, HonORa?” NaOMie asked.

“Honestly, I am a little. I’ve never been in danger before.”

“Of course not, you’ve spent most of your adult life in the temple serving the goddess. I might have been born without my sight, but I have survived a great deal in my life. I have learned that we have to trust that the goddess will take care of us.”

HonORa smiled at her. “You sound like my old head priestess back on Katiera.”

“Do you miss your family on Katiera?”

She shook her head. “I have been estranged from my family for so long, and I’ve made peace with it.”

“I’ve got the peas,” Lizetta said as she came out of the cottage.

“Wonderful. We’ll finish shelling these then take them to the big cooking pot near the center of the village to add to the stew.”

For the next few hours, HonORa and Lizetta helped the females of the village prepare vegetables and meat that all went into the most delicious smelling stew. Then it cooked for two hours. She helped serve bowls of stew to all the Morinians, and to the villagers and warriors. She couldn’t help but wonder where Zander was at.

“Do you mind if I go with a couple of the villagers to play just a few cottages down? If you need me, I won’t go.,,” Lizetta bit her lip nervously.

“Of course I don’t mind. You go ahead and have fun. Just don’t go off on your own. Remember the safety measures that ZenIM warned us about.”

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of going anywhere by myself.”

HonORa smiled as she watched the girl laugh at something one of the village girls said to her. It was so good seeing her act her age. She wished Zander was there to see it. He was such a good brother and worried over Lizetta. Sadly, he own brothers wanted nothing to do with her. They did everything their father told them to, even shunned their baby sister when she disobeyed their father. HonORa missed her mother sometimes, though she also followed the orders that her father gave out. No one went against him without there being consequences. The price she paid for following her soul was steep.

“This was a great turn out, but I don’t think all of the Morinians came,” NaOMie commented.

“Some must still be really shy. I can take a small container to hand out portions,” HonORa offered.

“That would be wonderful. We’re going to have leftovers, so I will have containers available for any who want to come by and pick up some more.”

HonORa found a basket and packed a few containers of stew and headed toward the Morinian cottages. Going from door to door, some opened up to her knocks, others remained inside. She left containers on the porch for those she knew were there but too afraid to open the door.

Walking back, she stopped just outside of her cottage and noticed that she saw movement inside of Zander and Lizetta’s cottage through the window. Going up the steps, she knocked on the door. A few minutes later, Zander opened the door wearing loose-fitting pants and nothing else. Oh my Goddess!

“Hi,” she said stupidly.

“Hello beautiful.” His smile lit up his handsome face and made butterflies bounce around in her stomach. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

“Hi,” she said, realizing too late that she had already said that. Grateful for the basket, she lifted it up. “I have stew. Would you like some?”

“Yes. I had been working on something and got sweaty, so I came back for a shower. I was hoping the food hadn’t been eaten up.” He moved back to let her enter. “Where’s Lizetta?”

HonORa came in and headed to the table. “She’s playing with her new friends.”

“She can’t go off on her own, it’s too dangerous.”

“She knows. ZenIM told us and I made sure she knew to stay in the group of friends.”

“Thank you. I know I probably am being too overprotective, but after what happened to her…”

Zander had his arms crossed over his chest in a relaxed position. HonORa put her hand on top of his. “You’re so good to her, she’s lucky to have you.”

The spark that lit between them before was there the moment their hands touched. He moved closer to her. “HonORa, you must know that I want you.”

Goddess, how could she fight these feelings he stirred in her? The answer was, she couldn’t fight it. “I have never felt like this before but…I want you, too.”

He kissed her and the rest of the world faded away.