I'd been all over this damn ship today. I was following after Prince Roan as his stride ate up the distance toward the area they handled communications --wherever that was. Esayr kindly matched my stride, but I was already nearly running to keep up and if it went on any longer I was going to be wheezing through my talk with the media.

In a second, Esayr had me up and in his arms. It didn't even seem to faze him and it certainly didn't put a dent in his speed. Truthfully, he was moving faster with me in his arms, "It would have been easier just to ask him to slow down." I murmured into his chest, hoping it was quiet enough that the Prince wouldn't hear.

I could feel Esayr's laughter rumble beneath my hands, "Or I could enjoy the feel of you in my arms again."

I laughed, "You're impossible." It's impossible that you're falling for him. That's what's impossible. And yet, there I was in his arms feeling for all the world like I belonged there.

When we got to the Communications bay there was a group of males chattering animatedly. I could barely understand any of it save a few singular words of Vallan thrown in sporadically. They were speaking another language. All of them turned as we entered.

Esayr set me down quickly, which was all well and good because it would have been awkward to have so many males staring at me while he held me. And they were staring. I tried to tell myself to just get used to the staring the first time someone on the ship met me. I was a novelty still at this point and eventually, I would become commonplace enough that no one paid me any mind. That is until you leave in 6 months. I felt my heart squeeze.

All of the males bowed to the Prince and then as one they picked up communication with him just as easily in that other language. It was quick, punctuated by sharper sounds than the lilting Vallan, "Another language?" I looked to Esayr for confirmation.

"Another one, yes. It's the widely accepted universal language for space-faring races. It tends to be the go-to language for those in communications. It is...not an easy language. Any race will find a lot of words unpronounceable because each new race brings their own words for things. It has gotten very muddled over time. The communications team is made up almost exclusively of males with Carabesk blood. It allows them to pick up languages and pronunciations more easily."

I looked to the group and spotted Vailen. The silver eyed communications lead that I was fairly certain had been referred to as another type of Val'Dornn, "I thought Vailen was Su--?"

"Sumase? Yes, he is. Our ancestries are not unique and anyone Vall' can present multiple different abilities for any ancestry they might have. It is some manner of dominance and recessive genes, but even we still haven't discovered why some abilities present and others do not in each generation. Addric and Kados are both very Urland and lightly Laoirian, they have a sister on another ship who presented as Sumase from many generations back instead despite the fact that their grandmother was purely Urland."

"Addric and Kados have a sister?"

"Yes, one of the only females in our generation and one of maybe 4 unmated Val'Kier females I have ever met. She traveled on our sister ship to a different sector in the universe. They speak every few rotations of your little planet. If I'm not mistaken they also have an older brother on that same ship as well, however, he was much older than them, so I never actually met him."

"Do your other friends have siblings? Your Riniere?"

"Kayle has three brothers, all of them on this ship. They are all remarkably similar as well. All of them share the same Ionina abilities, for the most part, there may be a few differences between them, but nothing large. They also all share the same Val'Dornn light gold hair. Hylar, Bask, and Lirin, are their names. I'm surprised they haven't tracked us down, yet. I have no doubt Kayle has told them about us."

"And Laene?"

"He has no siblings." Esayr looked like he wanted to say more but he stopped himself. When I pried he only mentioned that he felt it was information that Laene should speak about, not himself.

As I spoke to Esayr the conversation raged on between the communications lead and the Prince. They seemed to be debating something, or at the very least discussing something extremely important. At least ten minutes passed before they seemed to remember that Esayr and I were even there. As one all their gazes turned to us. Esayr placed a hand on the small of my back and lightly nudged me forward.

Prince Roan stepped aside, "It seems your media spokespeople are more aggressive than we originally gave them credit for. They are demanding to speak to you and know that you are well, Addison. It is lucky you found me when you did."

I felt my heart rate spike. I don't know if I can do this. And then, just as quickly, I felt Esayr's light comforting touch brush against my elbow. I felt my worries settle slightly.

Vailen inclined his head to me, he was the only one in the group I recognized. "Addison Kane, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." His English was fluid if a little lilting, but it made the language sound more beautiful. He inclined his head to me and flashed a smile. The fangs. I'd almost forgotten about them. They were much more noticeable in person than they were on screen, especially when he smiled.

Despite the mouth weaponry, he was nothing but lovely if a little formal. I'd never seen him out and about on the ship, so briefly I wondered how much of his time was spent on the job. I couldn't dwell on the question, though because he was waving me into another smaller room that held a viewscreen about the size of a reasonably sized television. "I apologize, but we decided it would be for the best if only you were in frame, Addison. It's a fear that your populace will feel that you're being intimidated if your mate is in the video feed with you." Reasonably, I knew Vailen wouldn't lisp when he talked because of those teeth, but it still came as a surprise that they didn't' hinder his speech at all.

"You probably shouldn't be in the room at all."

For a second --a brief second-- a look of suspicion crossed Vailen's features. Honestly, I didn't blame him. As a whole, humans were a shady bunch. But, he managed to smother it quickly, "Why is that?"

"I'm afraid I'll look over to you if they ask me questions. They'll think I'm being prompted and coached off-screen. Can you watch the video relay in the other room? I understand if you're worried about what I'd say. I would be too, but I'm certain any human will be suspicious if I keep accidentally looking at something off behind the camera."

He had the good graces to look embarrassed that he seemed suspicious of me, "Of course, I apologize. We can watch from the next room over, yes, and you are likely right about that. We didn't even consider that possibility." Vailen stopped as if he were considering saying something he maybe wasn't supposed to. Aside from him, it was just Esayr and me in the small side communication room. "Ms. Kane, I understand you had an unfortunate beginning to your mating, and Prince Roan has expressly asked us not to coach you in any way, but I would like to take a moment to simply say please. This...this means a lot to every single male on this ship. We are all counting on you to smooth over some of the mountains your governments have created. We are willing to climb any mountain, but we would prefer a more peaceful relationship with your homeworld."

I nodded, "I'm going to do my best, Vailen. Despite everything that has happened I do believe that you are good people, good males." Briefly, I considered the fact that these males could have come in and taken everything by force. They easily outgunned our tiny little backwater planet. And yet, they'd come here with the intention of letting women choose to offer themselves when they could have just taken what they wanted.

"Thank you." He and Esayr made to leave the small room, "I will place the communication down to your planet and will introduce you to your media spokesperson. The screen will show a countdown before the communication connects the both of you."

I sat down on the chair in the center of the room after they both left and held my breath. The nerves were back.

*****A/N*****

Got this bad boy up before midnight so I'm pleased. Also, fun fact, this chapter represents me meeting my 50,000-word goal for NaNoWriMo. Thank you so much for taking this journey with me. We aren't at the end of it yet, don't worry. We've still got a good chunk to go :)

Love,

Layla