Khol (Rescued by the Alien)

6. Khol

Chapter 6

Khol

“ I ’ll prepare a meal,” I said, backing from the room. “You can get settled.”

Her shrill laugh rang out. “I don’t have anything to settle.” Her hand swept toward her body I was struggling all the time not to gape at. Her thin white gown barely covered her slender legs. And the way the wet fabric molded her frame kept drawing my attention. The light in her eyes when she looked at her youngling daughter made my heart spasm.

She was supposed to be my new mate. Despite believing I wasn’t worthy of one, the water spirit would say I should claim her.

No, no. I’d never do it. I didn’t deserve someone in my life even if I was so lonely, my heart had hollowed out to a blank, empty thing .

But even more, I couldn’t stand the look of distress on her face. This was something I could help her with.

“Tell the water spirit what you need,” I said. “What Flora needs.”

“How about dry clothing?” The words jerked out of her, followed by another laugh that was much too shrill. “Toiletries. A Christmas tree and the presents . . .” As with Flora earlier, water brimmed in her eyes. “The presents I had ready to place beneath the tree.”

“What is a griss-maas tree?” Could a shell be considered a present? I’d do anything to take away the sadness in her eyes, to make her feel better, even rush into the sea and collect an armload of pink shells if that would please her.

“Christmas is a holiday we celebrate where I come from. It has religious meaning. Mostly, it’s a time of year when we reset ourselves, where we remember the value of being with those we love and dream of world peace.” Her lips curved up before dropping downward, and she swiped at the wetness trickling from her eyes.

The water meant she was sad . Only now did I realize this.

“And how does a tree come into that?” I asked carefully. Could I help her with this? The water spirit would give her clothing and toil-ek-trees, whatever they were. I hoped they’d deliver those, that is. I’d ask them. If nothing else, it would distract me from the thought that the water spirit felt I should have a new mate.

“Part of the tradition is bringing a tree in from outside, though I used a fake one because I hate vacuuming up needles. They linger everywhere. I swear I still suck them up in June.”

She sucked up needles?

Confused but wanting to help her feel better, I nodded. Speaking about this appeared to be slowing the sad water flow from her eyes.

“We decorate the tree and then we put presents beneath it,” she said.

“This is griss-maas?”

“Christmas is the name of the special day. The tree’s just part of the way we celebrate, as are presents. I’d planned everything. Christmas was supposed to take place in a few days, though for all I know, it’s July and a thousand years later, so the days no longer matter. Robocops stole us from Earth, and they stole our lives along with it. I was picking Flora up from daycare when they grabbed us. They stuffed us inside a spaceship and brought us here, where they dumped us.”

I was beginning to understand. Not everything about griss-maas, but how the gods brought her and Flora here. I wanted to soothe Nancy’s sadness, because it was clear she was distressed. Like the other human women, she was stolen from her world—with a youngling, no less—and dropped here as if her own needs didn’t matter.

“Water spirit?” I asked, lifting my voice. “Could you give Nancy and Flora clothing?”

A pile of neatly folded items lifted up through the floor. When I first settled here, it was a challenge obtaining needed things. But after I channeled water from the stream, guiding it underneath my house, the water spirit heard me and responded .

Nancy gasped and reeled away from the pile.

“They’re for you,” I said.

She took a step toward them and tentatively lifted the first thing off the pile, shaking it out to reveal a pale purple tunic that would fit her perfectly.

“The water spirit tends to select colors that blend with our sea,” I said. The pants beneath the tunic had been made in a slightly darker lavender color. “You’ll get used to it eventually.” She’d have to. If nothing else, the island gods had made it clear they wouldn’t send the women back to their home planet. “The spirit enjoys purple, pink, green, and a few shades of blue. I’ve been unable to get them to give me anything in brown or black. Or yellow, for that matter, though that surprises me the most since the sunlight hitting the water looks that color.” I was rambling, something I did when I was nervous, but her uncertainty had spread to me, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it.

“You’re suggesting a water spirit gave me this clothing?” she asked, clearly skeptical.

“Don’t the spirits give you what you need on . . . Earth?” One of the human women also mentioned the name of their home planet, though I’d forgotten it until Nancy named it.

Why would they name their world after soil? It had been a great mystery since I heard the term.

I’d traveled with my clan to the gathering, where I’d seen other human women lying in pods, waiting to be delivered to their fated mates. I’d met those who’d already fallen in love with Zuldruxian males.

I just never thought they’d send one to me .

This must be a mistake, and they’d soon tell me and take Nancy away to send her somewhere new.

My throat choked off at the thought, but this was how it should be. I did not deserve a new mate.

“If our god or gods are watching,” she said, “they rarely make themselves known. Not even at Christmas, which is actually a holiday to celebrate a god.”

Interesting. “Here, the spirits, as I choose to call them, listen, and if they can help, they do.”

Her hand flicked out as if she was brushing aside my statement, but she’d soon see. I couldn’t believe her planet’s spirits didn’t do things for her like they would here.

“The spirit has gifted you with clothing,” I said. “And I’m sure they’ll help with everything else. Just ask.”

Nancy frowned. “Yeah. Sure. Tell me where the clothing came from.”

“I already explained. When you remove what you wear at the end of the day, toss the items onto the floor and the spirit will reclaim it.”

“If I’ve learned anything else in life, it’s that no one picks up after me. If I want something done, I have to do it myself, so I won’t be throwing my clothing onto the floor.” She stooped down and dragged the pile to the side and pawed at the wooden floor I’d crafted myself from trees I dropped and formed into boards. “I can’t figure out where the pile of clothes came from.”

“One day, you’ll become comfortable with this. Honestly, it took me time to accept it as well. I grew up with stone gods crafting meals and generating clothing for me. It took some time to get used to a water spirit.”

“This makes no sense,” she said, her forehead tightening.

“Others have said the same thing. As for griss-maas, I’ll help you with that.” I wasn’t sure the spirit could do this for her, and even if they could, I wanted to be the one gifting her with something she clearly needed.

Continuing to touch the floor, she absently nodded. “Okay.”

I backed out of the room. “Dress in something new. If you don’t like what the spirit delivered, tell them what you need, and they’ll do all they can to gift it to you.”

“Things like this don’t happen.” She straightened, her head tilting toward me standing in the open doorway, before her gaze shifted. Her gasp rang out.

“Look, Mommy. I’s a pwincess.” Flora danced into the room, dressed in a new, pale green gown that fluffed out around her ankles. The water spirit had covered the garment with tiny sparkling pink shells.

Flora pirouetted in front of her mother, who clutched the bedpost as if she worried she’d fall.

Nancy’s gaze met mine. “Water spirit?” she croaked.

I flashed her a smile and nodded. “Water spirit.”