extreme, but I felt I needed to warn you
before we landed.” Her eyes shifted, and I saw Auro getting larger in the
window.
“We also handle relationships a bit differently. I believe human men
court the human women on Earth. They give compliments and flirt and then ask
the woman to marry them, yes?”
I nodded.
“Our race is driven more by instincts. That is what has kept us alive
over the years. We are part animal. Never forget that. On Auro, when a man is
interested in a woman, he doesn’t court her. The women here don’t have as much
of a say as what you’re used to, but,” She stopped me before I could protest, “Women
do have a say in the outcome. Let me finish.”
And I stopped and listened.
“When a man spots a woman he likes, he gets her attention and makes
eye contact with her. Eye contact, as you may have noticed, is very important
to us. It shows how dominate someone is, where they lie in the hierarchal
system.”
Oh geez. I’m stuck in the middle of some teen werewolf novel. Somebody
shoot me.
“The man must go through a trial before he can have the woman he
wants. When they make eye contact, and both the man and woman are not attached
to another person, it triggers a flight response that can’t be ignored.” A
faint smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. How she found this humorous,
I’d never know.
I asked, “What if you don’t want to run?”
“You don’t have a choice,” She answered matter-of-factly.
How could someone not have a choice? “Literally? Because I’m pretty
sure that’s not possible. No one can make someone else run.”
Before she could reply, she was interrupted by the speaker, “We will
be landing in 5 minutes, Samantha.”
She sighed and told me, “When we land, do not look anyone in
the eye. Keep your head down. I don’t need you running off into the mountains.
I will take you to the room you will be living in and explain everything else there.”
She turned around and strode back through the door.
Now I had more questions than answers. I looked out my window and saw
mountains looming. They were beautiful. One of the suns was distant, which gave
everything a warm, golden glow. I guess it would always look like that, though.
There were tall trees covering the mountain, and I noticed the flash
of a building off to the side. Not a building, a city. The top of the largest
mountain was covered in buildings. I could make out a cleared section that was
leveled off by a huge edifice. The edges were curved and it looked silver from
up here.
I saw large birds flying through the city. No, not birds. Winged
people, like me. I could see that some had wings that glimmered golden and
others had brown. What were they called? I searched my memory. Lullary. That’s
it! I pressed my nose up to the glass. They were so graceful! They mostly
glided on the air, occasionally moving their wings to keep airborne. I suddenly
longed to fly through the mountains with them.
Someone told me, “We are about to land. Would you like to bring
anything with you?”
I looked down at my strange outfit and remembered the ruined clothes I
wore upon entering the ship.
“Nope,” I replied without looking away from the window. We were
landing.
Part VII
John soared through the sky, wondering why his father sent such an
urgent message to meet him in the field. Although the Marshal was an ambitious
and dominating man, he was also very patient. The last time John had received
an imperative summon from his father was when there had a kirensighting
on their side of the planet.
John had just left the Tower to meet his dad when he heard the nearly
silent wings of another join him in flight. He glanced to his left and tried
not to show the annoyance at her arrival on his face.
“Hey, John,” Cynthia said, smiling at him demurely.
He kept his voice short and clipped. “Cynthia. I have business to
attend to, so I apologize for not staying to talk.”
Cynthia’s blue eyes widened
before we landed.” Her eyes shifted, and I saw Auro getting larger in the
window.
“We also handle relationships a bit differently. I believe human men
court the human women on Earth. They give compliments and flirt and then ask
the woman to marry them, yes?”
I nodded.
“Our race is driven more by instincts. That is what has kept us alive
over the years. We are part animal. Never forget that. On Auro, when a man is
interested in a woman, he doesn’t court her. The women here don’t have as much
of a say as what you’re used to, but,” She stopped me before I could protest, “Women
do have a say in the outcome. Let me finish.”
And I stopped and listened.
“When a man spots a woman he likes, he gets her attention and makes
eye contact with her. Eye contact, as you may have noticed, is very important
to us. It shows how dominate someone is, where they lie in the hierarchal
system.”
Oh geez. I’m stuck in the middle of some teen werewolf novel. Somebody
shoot me.
“The man must go through a trial before he can have the woman he
wants. When they make eye contact, and both the man and woman are not attached
to another person, it triggers a flight response that can’t be ignored.” A
faint smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. How she found this humorous,
I’d never know.
I asked, “What if you don’t want to run?”
“You don’t have a choice,” She answered matter-of-factly.
How could someone not have a choice? “Literally? Because I’m pretty
sure that’s not possible. No one can make someone else run.”
Before she could reply, she was interrupted by the speaker, “We will
be landing in 5 minutes, Samantha.”
She sighed and told me, “When we land, do not look anyone in
the eye. Keep your head down. I don’t need you running off into the mountains.
I will take you to the room you will be living in and explain everything else there.”
She turned around and strode back through the door.
Now I had more questions than answers. I looked out my window and saw
mountains looming. They were beautiful. One of the suns was distant, which gave
everything a warm, golden glow. I guess it would always look like that, though.
There were tall trees covering the mountain, and I noticed the flash
of a building off to the side. Not a building, a city. The top of the largest
mountain was covered in buildings. I could make out a cleared section that was
leveled off by a huge edifice. The edges were curved and it looked silver from
up here.
I saw large birds flying through the city. No, not birds. Winged
people, like me. I could see that some had wings that glimmered golden and
others had brown. What were they called? I searched my memory. Lullary. That’s
it! I pressed my nose up to the glass. They were so graceful! They mostly
glided on the air, occasionally moving their wings to keep airborne. I suddenly
longed to fly through the mountains with them.
Someone told me, “We are about to land. Would you like to bring
anything with you?”
I looked down at my strange outfit and remembered the ruined clothes I
wore upon entering the ship.
“Nope,” I replied without looking away from the window. We were
landing.
Part VII
John soared through the sky, wondering why his father sent such an
urgent message to meet him in the field. Although the Marshal was an ambitious
and dominating man, he was also very patient. The last time John had received
an imperative summon from his father was when there had a kirensighting
on their side of the planet.
John had just left the Tower to meet his dad when he heard the nearly
silent wings of another join him in flight. He glanced to his left and tried
not to show the annoyance at her arrival on his face.
“Hey, John,” Cynthia said, smiling at him demurely.
He kept his voice short and clipped. “Cynthia. I have business to
attend to, so I apologize for not staying to talk.”
Cynthia’s blue eyes widened
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