The yanhiss worked quickly on yan-kanat, and seemed to do the same for his drahi. Her shivering finally ceased and she drank more greedily from the crock with each swallow of the liquid. The tension in her body loosened and she stopped rocking. A sigh escaped her that he hoped meant she was releasing even more of her tension.
“S’good,” she said, once she finished the drink.
The hiss at the beginning of her speech almost sounded like the flourish of his own language, but he still didn’t comprehend any of her words. He had to let her body language guide him.
“I feel good,” she said, stretching her arms with a low groan that sounded less like pain and more like relief, if he was reading her right. “Warm.” She rubbed her belly, the shells covering it making a soft clacking sound as they bumped into each other.
She smacked her lips and turned a heavy lidded gaze on him. “Fine. You got your way. Not like I could fight you.” She waved a hand languidly, vaguely gesturing in his direction. “Do what you will. I’m floating right now, so I don’t give a damn.” Her mouth gaped in an alarming way, baring two rows of nixir teeth that made him think of his trophy necklace.
He glanced over to where it lay, abandoned and nearly forgotten on the stone floor after she’d kicked it away from her. The thought of her teeth adorning that cord made him sick, and he realized that this female could have crossed any of the other boundaries and encountered any of the other Jotahas, and they would have killed her without hesitation. If she hadn’t activated his seal, he would have too, and perhaps even added her teeth to his necklace.
If she was attempting to show a threat to him by gaping her mouth at him, she seemed to give up after a few brief moments, lifting her hand to cover her mouth as her other arm stretched towards the cave ceiling.
Then she lowered both arms and turned her body to sit with her legs crossed in front of her, facing the stone ring. Her heels were tucked close into her body, concealing her seam from him.
Her gaze sought his as he sat across from her. “Well, what now, lizard-man? What are you, anyway? A reptoid? Some alien from outer space, hiding in our mines?” She made a soft sound, accompanied by bared teeth. It didn’t seem threatening—more like she was amused.
He let her ramble, not trying to discern a pattern in her mutterings. There seemed to be little point in it. The elders would have an answer for communicating with her when he brought her to the temple. He had to believe that.
“There really are lizard people, aren’t there? All those conspiracy theories are probably right, then.” She shook her head side to side, slowly this time, her teeth still bared. “Can you shapeshift? Take on a human face so you can infiltrate the governments of our world?” She closed her eyes and allowed her head to fall back, releasing another long sigh.
“Ah, I don’t even care right now. Whatever you gave me makes me feel so… relaxed. It’s like Ambien, only better. I don’t even feel tired. Just… mellow.” She lifted her head and turned her gaze back on him. “And I’m super warm, like I’ve been tucked into a bed with a big, fluffy blanket pile lying on top of me. This stuff is gold, seriously. You could make a fortune with it.”
He remained very still, though it appeared the yanhiss worked on her even better than on the yan-kanat. Not only did she stop shivering, but her body now sagged with relaxation. Though her words remained incomprehensible, her tone was far calmer, no longer rising with panic.
“I saw a man get his throat ripped out today.” She cocked her head, one hand lifting to stroke her own cheek, still reddened by her earlier furious scrubbing. “Or was it today? I wonder how long it’s been since we went into that mine.”
He remained silent, merely watching, content to let her speak as long as she remained calm and relaxed. He realized he couldn’t be impatient with his drahi. He couldn’t rush her into accepting her role. Perhaps, if one of the elder priests spoke her alien language, they could explain to her, but for now, he simply needed to earn her trust enough to lead her back to the temple.
“Matt was a jerk,” she said, blinking rapidly, “but he didn’t deserve to die like that.” She shook her head hard, as if to fling some thought from it.
Jotaha worried that the yanhiss wasn’t working as fully as he’d thought when the furry brows over her strange eyes drew together in an expression that mimicked a yan-kanat’s concerned frown.
“Beth left me. She left me to die like Matt.”
Then the tension that had slowly reappeared as she spoke dissipated, the yanhiss winning out as her shoulders slumped and her bared teeth returned. “Never mind. You don’t know what I’m saying, and probably couldn’t care less.” She gazed at him with her strange, dilated pupils. “Welp, let’s get this show on the road, as our Boomers would say.” She cocked her head to the side, her gaze still fixed on him. “You gonna probe me, or put an alien lizard baby in my belly?”
Whatever she was saying caused another shift in her demeanor, a slight, temporary return to her earlier distress. Like before, the yanhiss won out and she relaxed again, though her teeth baring expression disappeared, her lips now flat and closed.
“Wouldn’t be the first baby I had to give up,” she murmured, turning her gaze away from him to stare into the stone ring. She suddenly made another chuffing sound, and her teeth baring expression returned, though the upward tilt of her lips appeared shallower.
“This is good therapy, ironically. You’re not interrupting me when I’m trying to talk things out, not adding your own two cents or giving me advice I never asked for. In fact, you can’t understand a thing I’m saying, so you’re not even taking offense, and I don’t have to consider your feelings. And right now, I’m so damned relaxed that I couldn’t care less that you’re a reptilian alien that wears human teeth and bones around your neck.”
7
Sarah felt remarkably good, given her situation. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d been so free of anxiety. The minor blips in her state of serenity had barely lasted against the strength of whatever drug the reptilian had given her. The fact that she had been drugged should, in itself, be deeply disturbing to her. Instead, she felt sanguine.
The fact that he sat, unmoving, on the other side of the strange, glowing round coals, probably helped keep her anxiety down. Whatever he had planned for her, he apparently wasn’t in any kind of hurry. He watched her, his unnerving eyes following her movements whenever she shifted position, but he remained silent. He was listening, but it was clear he didn’t understand her, any more than she understood him.
Despite the drug, her mind still felt sharp enough to consider her situation, unlike earlier, where she’d been groggy and the surroundings had felt surreal, as if she was disconnected from reality. Now, she was more than aware of the cave, the coals that probably weren’t coals at all, but somehow still glowed and put off heat, the beautiful dress she’d torn that still constrained her, and most of all, her unusual new companion.
Though calling him a companion might be overly optimistic. She felt optimistic at the moment. When her earlier fears and horror tried to trickle through, she felt insulated from it, able to consider it, without suffering another breakdown.