Serendipity (Book 1 of the Dana Halliday series)

ALARMINGLY EDIBLE. BAD ATTITUDE. MR. HANDSOME.

Before I could retort, my shipmates left me, Adrian circling to the right and Flynt to the left. Through the crowd, I saw Lonavat's gold feathers completing the triangle as Adrian raised a hand and waved at him.

Everyone was too distracted by the melodrama at hand to notice a relatively small Earther and an even smaller Fenn preparing to interfere. Lirro and the other man had grabbed Novernyi's arms, but were not attempting to move her. She was screaming in rage at the white-feathered male, who railed back at her and looked ready to strike her again.

Adrian stopped halfway round the circle and looked to Flynt, who was almost behind the two men restraining Novernyi. He was close to the Sturv spectators, who all took about three steps back when they saw him. I supposed they'd never seen a Fenn before. Adrian made an ostentatious nod, said something I couldn't begin to hear, and put his fingers in his ears.

Flynt halted, ignoring the Sturv. He stood very straight, inflated his lungs, then—before I could think to mimic Adrian and cover my ears—let out a scream.

No, describing that as a scream doesn't do the sound justice. It was like a solid mass of noise against the eardrums, a blood-curdling, spine-freezing shriek. It didn't sound like anything of Earth origin, yet it triggered something primal in my brain. I suddenly felt alarmingly edible and quite a few links lower on the food chain, a rodent touched by the shadow of a raptor.

It was almost as if a bomb had gone off. The crowd erupted into a medley of startled cries, falling back from the circle as one. Then the collective volume dropped; even the uninterested folk filling the rest of the plaza were temporarily hushed.

Lonavat was one of the first to recover from the shock. He strode into the circle and faced the men accosting Novernyi. His feathers were raised in a crest, and he spoke in sharp, loud squawks.

"Release her," my Earwig translated. "Releaseher—to—mycustody. Iwilltake—responsibility—forhertransport." He glowered over at the Sturv, who didn't even have the courtesy to look ashamed, then at the white-feathered male. "And—Iwillthankyou—not—todisciplineher—withoutmypermission."

"It's maddening, isn't it?" came a soft voice near my ear, and I jumped about four feet.

It was Kleathanna, now mostly covered in a cape of silken fabric, a few shades rosier than her skin and embroidered in metallic black thread. 

"I'm sorry, Dana," she chuckled, still low. "I did not mean to sneak up on you. The Bruttar are a wonderful people in general, quite advanced and very selfless, but these mating customs are barbaric, aren't they?"

"I'll say." I turned back to the proceedings. The two other men had let go of Novernyi, but she didn't move. She was grinding her lips and glaring at her estranged husband, clearly fighting to hold her tongue. "Where's Gabe?"

"He'll be along." She continued to hover just over my left shoulder, disregarding the Bruttar around us. "Now, fill me in. I understand Prechoru and Arradan fairly well, but not Hannosk or Wossic. So, the woman is your friend's mate, but who is the handsome young one with the white feathers and the bad attitude? Is he—"

Mr. Handsome suddenly lunged at Vatya. He screeched out something that my Earwig missed, and the two men scuffled in a brief tangle of limbs. They broke apart, the red-scaled man holding aloft a handful of gold feathers. Lonavat put a hand to his head, his face contorted in unmistakable rage. Novernyi burst into loud caws of fury.

"Oh!" Klea let out a breathy gasp.

"What happened?" I hissed at her.

"That is a very insulting gesture. The young man challenges the validity of their marriage." She released a sigh that sounded sad and entertained at once. "How embarrassing for the both of them."