Return of the Matka-Zem (The Sorain Chronicles) (19 page)

"
Give the place a chance, Val. It will be okay." Donna sat next to her friend and placed a comforting arm around her quivering shoulders. She really did not know what to say, and she was not even sure her words were true, but she had to do something to ease her friend's pain. "Just you wait and see."

"
I hope you're right, Donna." Valencia sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "But I'm not so sure."

"
Well, it can't be all that bad. After all, we were chased by the Glauc-tuko." Donna laughed and gave the princess a slight shove. They laughed a little more before growing quite again.

"
Did you see how that other Mlinzi reacted to me?" Valencia glanced at her with a sad expression. Tears threatened to flow again, but when Donna laughed, Valencia seemed to gather strength. "Like I'm some sort of god or something."

"
Yes, your majesty!" Donna stood in front of the princess and bowed in an exaggerated way that almost toppled her over.

Valencia began to laugh and they then laughed together wholeheartedly for a few minutes before Donna plopped back down beside the tall girl again.

"I'm so glad you're here. I feel so alone and we haven't even been here a day." Valencia grew serious and touched Donna's shoulder with affection.

The door squeaked open and the female Mlinzi entered the cabana. She hesitated at the door for a moment, as if summoning the courage to approach the princess. Straightening her shoulders, Alana
's face reshaped itself into a stern mask, before she strode towards the women. Alana carried an elongated pad across one shoulder, and as she squatted before the princess, she laid it upon the floor.

"
I made this for you to sleep on, Matka-Zem." Although her face was set in a stony expression, Donna noticed the woman's eyes were wide in awe as she looked at Valencia.

"
I'm honored by your consideration, Alana." Valencia placed a hand on Alana's arm in thanks and Donna saw the woman flinch at her touch. It was obvious Alana was uncomfortable in her presence.

"
It opens like this." Alana showed Valencia how to unfold the pad and then bade her to sit. Donna plopped beside her friend and received an angry glare from the Mlinzi. Although it was barely an inch thick, it was unbelievably soft and comfortable. As wide as a full-size bed, it cushioned the floor like a down comforter.

"
Oh my, this is soft. What's it made of?" She ignored the woman's glare and laid back on the mattress, arms above her head, reveling in its softness.

"
It's okay, Alana," Valencia said to the angry woman whose hand now rested on her knife. "Donna's my friend and she shows no disrespect." When the woman relaxed, the princess smiled at the Mlinzi. "I would like you to be my friend, too."

"
No, you're the Matka-Zem." Alana shook her head in protest and stood. "I'm a Mlinzi, here to protect you."

"
And you can't protect me if you're my friend?" Valencia asked in a stern tone. Donna bit back a snicker when the female Mlinzi narrowed her eyes and stubbornly raised her chin.

"
No." Before the princess could reply, Alana strolled away to stand guard by the door.

"
Well, she sure told you, didn't she?" Donna giggled as she sat up.

"
Yes, she did." Valencia laughed and pushed her shoulder into Donna's side, knocking her over. Their laughter died when Thane entered the building, carrying a dead animal that looked similar to a rabbit, already skinned and skewered on a stick to roast.

"
I see you two are still cackling like old women." Thane placed the stick over the fire and watched the carcass sizzle. He then removed some plants from his cloak and began to clean them.

"
You shouldn't speak to the Matka-Zem like that, Thane," Alana said, her voice showing shock and anger. Having chastised him, she went to get four bowls, utensils and a pot from the tiny cabinet. She filled the pot with water from her water skin before throwing some ingredients. She then placed it over the fire to heat.

"
You spend thirty days stuck in the middle of an ocean with these two and you would change your mind, Alana." Thane rolled his eyes.

Donna burst out laughing and Valencia joined her.

"See what I mean," said Thane.

"
She would be laughing with us, Thane," Donna exclaimed through her giggles. "Besides, we weren't all that bad."

"
I thought we got along just fine." Valencia smiled at her, then at Thane. Donna's heart pinched with sadness when the Mlinzi adverted his eyes and Valencia lost a little of her smile. "I enjoyed the trip, except when that octopus attacked us."

"
What is an octopus?"

Donna saw that Alana
's commitment to guarding the door wavered as curiosity overcame her.

"
It's a deep sea creature with eight huge tentacles with suction cups instead of fingers, a big bulbous head, and they don't have a skeleton so they can squeeze into incredibly small areas." Donna waved her arms as she described the beast that attacked them. "Oh and it has a beak for a mouth, right Thane? We almost became its dinner before Val saved us."

"
The Matka-Zem saved you?" Alana stared at Thane with disbelief. "I don't believe this. You are her protector, not the other way around." She snarled at Donna, "Who are you to speak such lies?"

"
She speaks the truth, Alana." Thane plopped the vegetables into the pot and began to shred the cooked meat into the boiling water. "This woman is an earthling, friend to the Matka-Zem, and the princess really did save us from the beast."

"
How did you save them?" Alana stared at her monarch in awe.

"
With Sora's Fire." Thane spoke before Valencia could respond. He smiled when his companion gasped in surprise.

"
Sora's Fire is a myth." Alana continued to stare at the Matka-Zem in disbelief.

"
If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it either." Donna saw Thane give an involuntary shiver at the memory. "Our Matka-Zem is very powerful indeed."

"
I really don't remember any of that." Valencia blushed when the woman continued to stare at her. Donna pushed her friend's shoulder to get her to smile again, and glared at Alana. The women broke their staring contest when Thane fill four steaming bowls of stew. Both Mlinzi sat on pillows across from Donna and Valencia and silently ate their hearty meal. The sound of the crackling fire mingled with the chirps and buzzes of the night serenaded the four while they quietly ate, each in their own thoughts.

Donna glanced around at her fellow travelers and wondered what they were thinking. Alana tried to keep her expression blank but could not hide the fact that she was awestruck. Being in the presence of the princess must be a rarity for the female Mlinzi. Of course, Valencia had been gone for ten years, but Alana
's reaction was far more intense than Donna would have imagined. She met Alana's eyes across the hearth and vowed to find the real reason why the Mlinzi was so awestruck.

Her gaze shifted to Thane, who stared into the fire, absently spooning food into his mouth. He was obviously in deep thought, for there was a slight frown on his face. His thick brows knitted into a scowl, and his yellow eyes dulled with a faraway stare. She could just imagine what he was thinking. Before Valencia interrupted their conversation on the yacht, Thane had confessed his love for the princess to her and not only explained about the bond between them, but share with her his dilemma. She made him promise to tell Valencia or she would. She didn
't fully understand what the problem was in the first place. To love someone so much that he was willing to end his life in order to set her free was honorable, admirable, and incredibly stupid, especially when Valencia cared for him, too. However, they were both too stubborn and blind to see it.

Looking at Valencia almost caused Donna to choke on her food. The princess looked amazingly beautiful with her tiny pout and sad, droopy eyes framed by a crimson halo of unkempt curls. Her huge, green eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she wallowed in her self-imposed misery. Donna did not know how to snap the princess out of her depression before it consumed her and she worried for her friend
's mental health.

"
So, Alana, how did you make that pad?" Not liking long quiet intervals, Donna broke the silence with a nonthreatening question. When her companions looked at her, she saw in their faces that they were thankful for her interruption.

"
It's from the pamba tree." As if her words broke a spell, Alana rose to her feet and began to collect the bowls. "There's one not far away. I can show you."

"
I'll help you wash those, too." Seeing a chance to get her friends alone together, Donna bounced to her feet and hurriedly pulled the willing Mlinzi out the door before Valencia could ask to come along.

Once outside, she took a deep breath in relief. The stress between her friends and the princess
's depression weighed heavily on her. "Boy I'm glad to be out of there," she said to Alana as they hurried down the stone stairs.

"
I agree." Alana inhaled deeply and forcefully blew out her breath. As they made their way to the tiny creek not far away, Donna saw red splotches of embarrassment flush the Mlinzi's cheeks.

"
You're very intuitive, earthling."

"
That's from years on the streets of San Francisco, Alana." Donna smiled at the female Mlinzi, who frowned at her unfamiliar statement, "Now let's wash these then show me that plant."

***

Flabbergasted at how fast Donna disappeared with Alana, Valencia stared at the door for a few seconds before she looked at Thane. With a frown on his face, the Mlinzi stared at her from across the hearth and she hurriedly lowered her eyes.

"
If we leave early we should reach the city by tomorrow night." Thane's voice was expressionless. Valencia refused to look at him.

"
Oh?" Valencia grabbed a stick and played with the hot coals. She could tell he was going to say something more and she had a feeling she was not going to like it. Silence hung in the air, then the Mlinzi took a deep breath before he spoke.

"
I'll escort you to the city gate. From there, Alana will guide you into the city."

The callousness of his tone made his words hurt even more than the fact that he seemed to be abandoning her.

"What?" Her heart stopped for a single beat before pounding hard inside her chest. She stared at him with unbelieving eyes. "You're leaving me?"

"
Yes." Thane's eyes were as callus as his words. "Alana is quite capable..."

"
So that's it?" Valencia interrupted Thane as a feeling of abandonment filled her with a mixture of anger and fear. "You're just going to drop me off at the front gate and leave?"

"
My duty . . ." Thane's words ceased when she bolted to her feet.

"
To hell with your duty!" she hissed at the Mlinzi as he rose to face her. Not wanting him to see her confusion and pain, she moved away into a darkened area of the cabana.

"
Why are you angry, Princess?" Thane's voice held a note of astonishment.

"
Because . . ." she answered and stopped before she could say more, as there was a quiver in her voice. She could feel Thane move towards her but she refused to face him. "Because I need you."

"
Valencia . . ." Thane closed the distance between them and gently grasped her arms. He tried to turn her to face him, but she shrugged him off to move deeper into the dark.

"
Don't do that!" Her voice was shrill to her ears.

"
Don't do what?" Seemingly baffled by her demand, Thane followed her to the far wall of the shack.

"
Say my name!" To her horror, she sounded like a spoiled brat, but she could not help herself. "You only say my name when you're nice to me."

"
And you don't want me to be nice?" Thane barked with a hard laugh. "You're such a foolish child."

"
I'm not a child!" Valencia spun around and glared at him with hatred in her eyes.

"
Then stop acting like one!" Thane snapped back as he stepped closer. "You're moping around like a toddler who didn't get her way."

"
I just want to be normal." Her anger vanished into despair and her voice cracked. "Not a freak."

"
Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Princess." Thane grasped her arms and gave her a firm shake. "You should be proud of who you are. Not ashamed."

"
I'm not ashamed, I'm afraid!" She tried to pull away, but Thane's fingers bit into her flesh. "I'm supposed to be this Supreme Being but I'm nothing but a big chicken." Mortified by her confession, she hung her head to avoid looking into Thane's eyes.

"
You're a silly woman." With a soft chuckle, Thane pulled her into a gentle hug. Feeling secure in the Mlinzi's embrace, she wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt him stiffen as she slid her hands up his back to press her body closer to his and laid her cheek against his muscular chest. After a moment, Thane sighed and tightened his arms around her, and she felt his chin rest on top of her head. The rhythm of his heart lulled Valencia into a state of contentment and his musky male scene filled her sinuses. She liked the mix of sweat and dirt, with a hint of smoke. With a deep breath, she filled her lungs with Thane's odor. Cocooned in the serenity of their embrace, they were in no hurry to break the contact between them. After a few minutes, the Mlinzi's soothing baritone vibrated her eardrum.