Page 17 of Monster Married
I shook my head. “That’s okay. This is perfect. A little bit of this world, and a little bit of Earth, right?”
“Right.” Inkiri tilted his head. “Why would you need to give me anything else, Sadir, when I have you? You are the greatest gift.” He kissed me, briefly. “You are my mate and accept me. There is nothing more I could want, not in either world.”
“He has not sick, is?” the strange bagu asked. That one was dressed in black, a sleek and formfitting robe that complemented his dark blue coloring.
I looked at him. “You speak human? I mean, English?”
“Little,” he said. “You well is?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Just so happy it hurts a little.”
Which seemed to confuse him, but Lissir jumped in to explain in LaGuardia.
Inkiri clicked at me. “This is Hove, the, uh, first after the magistrate in English.” Inkiri ran a hand down over my throat, then cupped my neck. “I thought we should do this as soon as possible. I might have died when the Koa Esher attacked, and then you would’ve been left without the Raiken recognizing you as my mate. I’d have failed to take care of you even in death.”
Which—and that was so Inkiri’s fault—made me totally tear up again.
“I don’t want you to die, you know.” I buried my face in his chest.
He hugged me close and licked my throat with his rough tongue. “I don’t mean to. I want to be with you for a long time. Come, let’s get this done so I can find a way to make you smile again.”
“Start now?” Hove tilted his head. “Good. It simple. Mates of Raikenga are Raikenga, but may office only after tests.” He looked at Inkiri.
“That means you have the privileges all of us do, but unlike us, you are not eligible for any kind of public service unless you show you have the required skill level by passing whatever the relevant exam is for that position,” Inkiri said.
I nodded. “Don’t love exams. Where do I sign?”
“Almost,” Hove said. “For House issues, House of Livim rules apply first.”
Inkiri went on. “That applies to family issues. You remember my fathers? The ones I exchange cordial letters with?” I nodded. “My hangu father heads that House, and they have long followed Raiken rules for all but minor issues. So it’s mostly the same, but the House’s legal code supersedes the Raiken in all issues concerning the House.”
I’d get him to explain whenever I needed to know more. “Sure, whatever. Where’s the dotted line?”
Hove laid out a document, which had been printed. In English. There was one in the unfamiliar LaGuardia script too, but damn. They were printing stuff and doing translations. And they had cars. At this point in time, Aër sure seemed like a nicer place to be than Earth. And I was marrying someone from here. I guessed nothing was standing in the way of me emigrating here.
I looked the English version over, but it pretty much said what Hove had. I filled in my full name on both forms then signed. Inkiri did the same.
“Welcome to the Raiken,” Hove said, and Fellisse, Nokim, and Lissir broke out in hollering cheers. Even Vergis ended up clapping. And while I wasn’t completely sure it wasn’t a moor ghost, I thought he even smiled.
Inkiri pulled a thin scarf from a pocket in his very new and very shiny black clothes and wrapped it around my neck twice. Then he pulled out the brooch Nokim had made for me, the one I hadn’t dared ask about because I’d been afraid I’d lost it during the gunfight. The brooch was a cross between a phoenix and a kantik, the Aër bird thingy supposedly watching over lovers.
“Your old scarf was ruined.” Inkiri fastened the brooch. “So I got you this one. Pale green, to match your beautiful eyes.”
“Scarves are important, aren’t they?” I asked, tears threatening to brim over again.
Inkiri hummed. “Hangu with mates often choose to wear them. Not always. But only a mate should ever remove his hangu’s scarf.”
I didn’t care that he was still—after all my efforts to clarify about my anatomy—calling me a hangu, never mind that I so did not own a uterus. I didn’t care. I’d be his hangu.
I slung my arms around my monster’s neck and kissed him, the human way, but he ended up pushing my scarf aside and lavishing attention on my throat, and darn, I was so happy. I’d gotten hitched! To someone blue, new, and so not borrowed, but all my own.
When the others calmed down and started chatting with Hove, I gently pushed Inkiri back.
“Wait, hold on. Didn’t you say Houses were like ruling families or royalty?”
Inkiri nodded. “Maybe a little similar.”
My eyes widened. “And your dad rules his own House?”
