Between Worlds

Chapter 24

The midday sun glinted off Nuuvatu's ornate golden gates as Malyn parked nearby. The landscape had been a chaotic mess when they'd first arrived, but the Talan wouldn't tolerate such disorder. They'd smoothed the ground and erected a cobbled stone wall around their city's remains. The gates were more gap than bar, but tall bushes lining the path beyond concealed the rest of the city.

Guards flanked the gate, dressed in gold and sheer white, each holding a golden spear. They could fight, surely, but their main purpose was decorative. Only Talan were allowed beyond Nuuvatu's gates, but they wouldn't miss a chance to impress, no matter how rarely anyone journeyed here.

Malyn took off his helmet and unashamedly set himself to the ritual of helping Tyla with his helmet and jacket. He kept his own jacket on. There was no point in removing it when he was about to leave.

As they approached the gate, Tyla took a moment to try to see Malyn through a stranger's eyes. From a Talan perspective, it was hard to describe him as anything other than 'plain'. Brown eyes. Brown hair that was always a little messy, and even more so after spending half a day in a helmet. Usually it was his easy smiles that drew the eye, but he had none of those today.

The male guard on the right side of the gate had none for them, either, his gaze a mix of hostility and haughty superiority as he watched their approach. It was incredibly disappointing to Tyla that attitudes like that had come to define the Talan reputation. They weren't all like that, but even the ones who weren't preferred to hide away and keep to their own. Tyla was one of only a few exceptions, and most of the others on that list only ventured out in some form of official capacity.

Tyla recognised the other guard by her golden hair, though it took him a moment to recall her name. Tieg. She was barely tall enough to reach Tyla's shoulders, and to Malyn she must have looked like a child.

She raised a hand in greeting. "Tyla. We weren't expecting you back."

She hadn't bothered with a translation spell for Malyn. He hadn't expected her to, but it still bothered him. He kept his own spell active as he addressed her. "Things have become more complicated."

Tieg's uncertain gaze flicked to Malyn before settling back on Tyla, her fingers twitching as she cast her own translation spell. "You know we can't let him through the gates, right?"

"I'm just here to drop him off," Malyn assured her.

She inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Will you wait for him here, or come back later?"

"Neither, this time, I'm afraid," Tyla said. "Look at me carefully."

For a moment, she just looked confused. Tyla knew she'd seen it when her back suddenly straightened. "Oh."

"With a human? Really?" was the derisive contribution of the male guard who'd been doing his best to ignore them up to that point.

Tyla stepped closer to Malyn. The guard hadn't translated, but his tone was unmistakable. "It was unintentional and I've come back to break it, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with him being spoken about that way."

The guard made a face but turned away, removing himself from the conflict. Any Talan would fiercely defend their bonded partner. Challenging that was unwise.

The attitude wasn't surprising. Many Talan thought themselves superior to humans and weren't shy about it. Even before venturing into the human world, Tyla had found it tiresome. What need was there for such comparisons?

He might have left the guards out of his business, except they needed to know. They might have to stop him at some point when he ran for these gates, desperately seeking Malyn. Tyla didn't yet know just how thoroughly his senses would abandon him, but after last night, he wasn't going to trust himself again.