Part 20 (1/2)
”No!” Leith vehemently cut her off. ”J'Qhir has made his choice and I have to live with it.”
”Very well,” Nura conceded. ”Will you stay here a while after the conference is over? You may use the guesthouse as long as you like. When this spectacle is over and everything has returned to normal, Artilia is a tranquil place. I would so enjoy spending time with you again.”
”I'd like to, but I need to get back to Earth. Dad is ill and although he's recovering, I would like to see him and Mom. I've been away too long.”
”Of course. Perhaps later, you'l come visit me. Promise that you will.”
”I promise,” Leith said and meant it, but she knew it would be a long time before she ever wanted to travel in s.p.a.ce again.
A server appeared with a tray of tea and delicacies. Leith sipped the hot tea and chose a pink confection. The sweet, creamy morsel melted in her mouth, blending perfectly with a sip of the unsweetened tea. She waited a moment but neither caused the nausea to return. Suddenly, she missed the taste of cone nuts and fresh water and set aside the slender cup.
”Is it not to your liking? I can have something else brought.”
”No, it's wonderful.”
”To be perfectly honest,” Nura's voice lowered conspiratorially, ”I have Terran cocoa and chocolate chip cookies. I have them smuggled in every so often from that little cafe near the university.”
Leith laughed. ”Keep your stash. When I'm back home, I'l have Terran food again.”
”Now, what are you going to do about J'Qhir?”
Leith sighed. She should have known Nura wouldn't allow the subject to be dropped. ”Nothing. As I said, J'Qhir has made his choice. If he wishes to continue the relations.h.i.+p, then it's up to him to him to come to me.”
”Leith, you're giving him every reason in the galaxy not to come to you.”
”Exactly. If he does, then I'l know he truly wants me, that he doesn't come to me out of his over-blown sense of duty or honor or whatever the h.e.l.l it is the Zi feel.” Leith regained her composure and said more softly, ”I won't let him see me as an obligation, and that's exactly what he'l do if I go to him now.”
Nura nodded. ”I see your point. But what if he doesn't, Leith? What if he doesn't think you care?”
”If he cares, then he will come to me and ask me if I care. His duty should allow him that much.”
”I don't know,” Nura said softly. ”He is, after all, male.”
Later, Leith walked with her friend through the garden to the waiting aircar.
”You're welcome to stay as long as you like,” Nura offered. ”Meditating with the Arcs can help.”
”They've helped enormously as it is. I do feel better, calmer. I need to return to the guesthouse and get ready for the conference.”
”I wish you'd change your mind about staying afterwards. And I wish I could ask you to stay with me, but I live in my parents' home. They find humans emotionally unstable.”
Leith smiled. ”I really need to get home and see my parents. The guesthouse is very comfortable. I wouldn't want to cause you any more trouble than I already have.”
”No trouble, Leith. You are my friend. Artilians, too, know the meaning of obligation. On Earth, you took me in and helped me more than you'l ever know. Whatever I can do while you're here will never begin to repay what I owe.”
”Nonsense. You've done more for me than I can ever repay. But we are friends, and friends don't keep score.”
”You're right.”
”Will you be at the conference tonight?”
”And miss meeting your Zi? Never! Besides,” she added with a laugh, ”I am Chief Servitor of Security. I have to be there. You know, the Zi Tri-Council of Elders is in Katasa~ri. They arrived from their s.h.i.+p this afternoon.”
Leith felt a chill skip down her spine. J'Qhir would never do anything to go against the Council.
”You were always so careful in the giving of your emotions,” Nura said. ”As if the other person had to prove him or herself worthy.”
”What?” Bewildered, Leith puzzled over her friend's words. ”Why would you think that? I always felt lucky you chose me to be your friend.”
”And I would have done anything to be your friend. You have no idea you're so hard to reach? No matter. I am sorry that you're having difficulty with the male to whom you finally gave your heart.”
Leith nodded in agreement, but the implications of Nura's observation made her blink. They said their farewells, and Leith got in the open aircar. As it carried her from Nura's family's estate and through the streets of Katasa~ri at a leisurely pace, she pondered what Nura had said.
Had she really seemed so unreachable? Could Khris and even Steve have been right-to a degree? In the end, was her testing of J'Qhir and his motives merely a way to keep him at a distance and protect her own heart?
Until that moment, she had come to the decision not to attend the conference. If J'Qhir didn't want her, there was no need to torture herself by being near him but unable to be with him. On the other hand, it would be her last chance to see him. Perhaps he hadn't had an opportunity to contact her because of the Council's arrival. She'd give him the benefit of doubt and confront him with her presence, reminding him of what they'd shared.
She stared up into the lavender sky and sighed. Either way, she'd find out tonight.
Chapter 14.
”Leith!”
Everyone called her name except the one she wanted to hear.
As she turned to greet Drew, one of her sandals caught against the floor and nearly sent her sprawling. Drew threw an arm around her shoulders to steady her, and Leith smiled at him gratefully.
”These shoes are catching on everything. Maybe I ought to go barefoot like the Biian monks,” she whispered as several of the robed and hooded Biians pa.s.sed by.
”Sorry I'm late. I lost track of the time checking on the Rover. The repairs are almost finished.” He looked around at the crowded Hall. ”This has turned into a big event.”
”I don't understand how so many arrived so quickly. It's only been a few days and half the galaxy is here.”
Drew nodded toward a group headed toward them, and his arm tightened around her. ”Media reporters, headed our way.”
Leith leaned her head close to his. ”What could they possibly want with us?”
”Not us. You. Haven't you listened to any of the reports on LinkNet? You're a hero.”
”Me? Oh, no-”
”You opened communications with a people that has always been incommunicado. That's news.”
”But I didn't do anything. I just told the story that J'Qhir told me. Please make them go away, Drew.”
”I can't. Besides, you spent six weeks on a planet alone with a Zi. No, not just any Zi, but the Warrior of Zi. They want to know what that was like.”