Qil

Part I

Qin

I tried to conceal my shock. He was half Yuk and half Lyqa. He was the first half Yuk anything I had ever seen beside myself in the mirror. Despite being only half Yuk, he was taller and burlier than any Yuk I had ever seen and more handsome than any Lyqa. It was as if he only got the very best from both sides of his lineage. I felt a tinge of envy.

I watched him as he walked from his pod to the market and disappeared in the throng of booths, merchants, goods and shoppers.

I didn't even see the blow coming until the very last second. I was able to shift just enough for it to roll off my shoulder and not my temple. I moved with the momentum of my attacker, throwing him over my shoulder into the concrete wall. Prim, who usually manhandled me on the mat, crumpled to the ground and didn't move.

My commander nodded curtly at me and called up the next pair, as Prim was hauled away to the infirmary.

I went to the side of the mat and tried to follow the instructions as the other cadets sparred, but I kept glancing aside to the market, hoping to catch another glimpse of him.

Our eyes had met for the very briefest moment, or at least, I thought he was looking at me, but it was so fast I could not confirm it. I had to have imagined it, hoped for it.

The commander dismissed us after the last of the cadets finished sparring. The rest of the cadets walked away in groups, discussing moves, dinner, assignments or whatever. Per usual, no one included me in their conversations. For once, I didn't care.

I jogged to the edge of the market, hoping for another glimpse of him. At this end of the market, I stood on a hill looking down into the masses and had the best vantage point. When I spotted him, he was ducking into the door of a shop at the other end of the market. Although he was taller than everyone, it was still a miracle I spotted him, because the market was that jammed.

I though about entering the fray, but I knew he would be out of the shop before I could make it to the other end. Once I was in the cauldron, I would never be able to see anything at my stature.

Unlike him, I got the short end of the stick. I was a foot shorter that most Yuk. I was weaker and slower.

Qil

I felt it. I felt her, but I refused. I felt the hitch in my breath, the pull in the general direction. I smelled the faint scent of her. But I did not allow myself even a second to focus and hone in on what I knew I would find. I didn't want to know. I couldn't allow the Lyqa part of me to lead me, dictate my future.

I never imagined my second heart would ever beat. Even knowing it had happened for my brother Qim, I believed it was because he was always more Lyqa and our mother's son, while I was Yuk and my father's son in every way.

I felt the one beat. It startled me and I was fearless. Between fight or flight, I always chose fight.

But in this moment, it was fight and flight. It took everything in me and distance, which I immediately traveled with the speed my Lyqa blood gave me, putting space and the energy and scent of hundreds of other beings between me and what I wished to avoid with all my hearts, to will it away.

I sighed with relief when my second heart did not make a second beat. My mind raced with what it all meant. I had just stopped my second heart from beating. Would I fade away to an early grave? Was one beat enough to bind me irreparably to this being I did not know? My mind raced with implications.

I have to immediately get off this planet, my mind whispered one consistent thought.

I had to meet my contact as quickly as possible. We were not scheduled to meet until this evening. I hoped I could keep my second heart silent long enough to make my rendezvous, get off this planet and complete my mission.