I swallowed. “Stretching my legs.”
Mikoh flicked his eyes downward, and I was thankful that the gown I was wearing was long.
“You have stretched them, so get back into bed.”
“Don’t give me orders.”
The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
Mikoh took a threatening step forward, and before I could think of anything else to say, I jumped onto my bed. Mikoh smirked at me and leaned his shoulder against the doorway panel. He watched me with obvious amusement while I watched him with fear. He was huge.
Seriously. Fucking. Huge.
He was taller than Surkah was, and she was the tallest woman I had ever seen. I fully assessed Mikoh while he was silent. His eyes were blood red with licks of silver streaking through them, his skin was a pale blue, and his hair was jet black. It was shoulder length; he wore it down today and it looked like a mess of waves. His uniform was black, and the armoured plates were a shiny black, which told me they were a solid material of some kind. He didn’t have a gun in a holster; instead, he had silver dagger blades strapped to the sides of his thick thighs.
He scared me to death, and he knew it.
“Are you tall for a human?” he randomly asked me.
I raised my eyebrows at the unexpected question.
“No, I’m not. I’m only five foot two. That’s on the short side.”
Mikoh nodded in understanding.
“You’re defective. I assumed something was wrong—”
“I’m not defective, arsehole.” I interrupted. “Some human women are as tall as Surkah—though I’ve never actually seen one myself—and some are shorter than I am. It is the same with human males. We all come in different shapes and sizes.”
Mikoh features hardened. “Your tongue is dangerously close to being cut off.”
I stared at him, not knowing how to respond to his threat, but then he laughed and confused me even more.
“What is your problem?” I asked. “Why do you hate me?”
He went quiet.
“I don’t hate you … I just don’t trust you.”
“You don’t trust me?” I spluttered. “I’m the one who was kidnapped by your people, and now I’m being held here and ordered to stay in this bed by you. Who shouldn’t trust who here?”
Mikoh lips twitched. “You’re fierce for such a little being.”
I narrowed my eyes. “If you call me little one more time, you’ll be sorry.”
This caused Mikoh to laugh. Loudly.
I heard a little commotion outside the room, and I watched as Mikoh leaned his head back and looked down the hallway to see what was making the noise. Whatever he saw caused him to sigh dramatically.
“It is too early for you to be growling at me, darling one.”
A ‘what’ did not make the sound, a person did, and I had a good idea of who that person was.
“I have tended to my other charges alone, yet I find you here. The daystar has barely risen, and you’re bothering Nova again,” Surkah’s voice bellowed in a low tone. “I don’t care that she is the only human who does not whimper in your presence. You can’t bother her just because she impresses you. You’re asking to be attacked by me, Mikoh.”
Mikoh is impressed by me?
He laughed gruffly. “I’m always asking for you to attack me.”
“You’re being improper, baja.”
“Don’t call me baja.” Mikoh all but snarled, his teasing manner vanishing in an instant. “I’m your intended!”
The bah-jah word, whatever it meant, seemed to piss Mikoh off.
“Step aside then, you insufferable male.”
Mikoh growled softly but did as requested. Surkah entered the room, wearing the same navy uniform she wore the last time I saw her. She smiled when she saw I was awake, and she crossed the room to the side of my bed.
“Your colour has returned to your face.”
Memories flashed through my mind and I felt my cheeks stain with heat.
“Yeah, um, sorry about the whole fainting thing.”
Normally, I prided myself on how tough I was, but even I could excuse my body shutting down in the situation I was in. Stress could do crazy things to a person, but to me, it rendered me unconscious.
“Do not apologise; it is my brother and Mikoh who should apologise to you for brawling in front of you when they know you are not accustomed to the Maji way and weak from blood loss.”
I waved my hand. “It’s okay.”
It wasn’t okay at all. It still totally freaked me out, but I wasn’t about to tell the Maji that.
“It’s not,” Surkah said with a huff. “We want humans to feel safe with us, and their behaviour did the opposite of that.”
I looked at Mikoh when he sighed from the doorway.
“Surkah’s right. I apologise, human.”
Surkah spun to face him. “What did you just say?”
“You heard me.”
“I did.” Surkah nodded. “But I want to hear you say it again.”
“Aggravating female,” he grumbled as he left the room.
Surkah turned back to me as the door closed, and she had a big smile on her face.
“That felt good. He has never once admitted that I am right about something. I am happy.”
I could see that.
“What’s baja mean? You said it to Mikoh, and it made him angry.”
“Oh, it literally means ‘older, wiser brother’ but it’s just a formal term one must use when addressing a male who is older than you. You never use it with your intended or mate, even if he is older, because it is not a romantic term. It diminishes his meaning to you if you use it. I’m supposed to say it to all of my brothers, as they’re all older than me, but I don’t use it all of the time. I get away with informal terms because I am the youngest and only female. I say it to annoy Mikoh when he annoys me. He hates it.”
That amused me.
“Is there a female equivalent to baja?”
“Yes, it is nona. It means ‘older, knowing sister’.”
No-nah. I liked how it sounded.
“Should I call you nona since you’re older than me?”
“No,” Surkah chuckled. “I am a princess, no one other than my family is allowed to address me without Mikoh’s permission, and if they do, they have to say ‘Princess Surkah’. For other females who are older than you, you should call them nona. It is very respectful.”
I had no plans of sticking around to use any of these terms, but I nodded either way.
“I don’t have Mikoh’s permission and I’ve spoken to you lots, am I breaking an important rule? Will he kill me?”
“No! Aboard the Ebony is different,” she chuckled. “I am a healer, and all my charges are female. I’m not allowed near males of any species; my hands are only meant one for one male’s body: Mikoh’s. No other male is allowed my touch, Mikoh would kill them otherwise.”
Holy. Shit.
“How are you feeling physically?” Surkah asked as her eyes scanned over me. “Be truthful.”
“Great,” I answered. “I feel well rested for the first time in a long time.”
“Are you hungry?”