Upon Wings Of Change

Chapter 39

I splashed around in the water of the small park while Taureen sat on a bench and watched me enjoy myself. Once I finished, he held up a piece of strawberry, and I flew over to land on his hand to gently take it. He was currently working on getting me to come to his arm without a spoken command.

I turned my head to examine the lady who was approaching us. She was looking at me in curiosity. She nodded a greeting at Taureen. "Good morning, is she yours?"

He nodded back respectfully. "Good morning. Yes, she is."

The lady looked at me in open curiosity. "She is pretty. I have never been this close to a fire lizard before."

"Thank you. It is very difficult to get close to the wild ones."

I glanced back at Taureen and tilted my head. The skin along his neck was slightly flushed, although I doubted that anyone else would have noticed. Is he blushing? Oh, I think he is... I think someone has a hidden crush...

I turned back to look at the lady, who was still watching me as if she had never seen anything like me before. I tilted my head as I took a closer look at her. I am positive that I have seen her somewhere before...

A glint of green from her ankle caught my eye. Now I remembered her; she had always been one of the watchers who had unfailingly shown up for the Morning Song. From what I recalled, she had always seemed quite nice.

I glanced at her wrists, but she had no jewelry there. Bracelets among the Kymari were the equivalent of serious courting gifts or marriage rings among humans. She had not accepted any suitors, at least at this point in time.

I could well understand Taureen's interest now. For some reason, there were about three males born for every female among the Kymari. Over half of the males would be bachelors for life. That made for some stiff competition for any available ladies.

I tilted my head cutely and trilled at her. She said, "Do you think I could touch her?"

Taureen spoke carefully, "We can try, but other than one child, I am the only one she lets touch her. She tends to give lots of warning if she is about to scratch though."

Taureen slowly stood up with me still on his arm, and he raised his arm up a bit higher in front of him. "Easy Tasha."

The lady slowly held out her hand towards me as I watched her. I slowly stretched out my neck, and she let me sniff her fingers. I gently bumped her fingers with my nose, and she moved her hand to gently stroke my neck.

Let's see if I can't give Taureen an opening if he is seriously interested in her. Perhaps he will focus less on me if he starts pursuing her. It was a doubtful thought though, as a bond animal handler in their society, I would always come first with him since it served their race's needs.

Taureen was still free to court women and marry, but any female knew that he would be unable to give them his full attention. For humans, this would likely be a turn off, but among Kymari, it showed that the male was extremely responsible if he was trusted with such a role. It also reflected the fact that he was capable of taking care of a creature perfectly, even to an Elder's high standards, and thus, would have no issues caring for children.

It gave Taureen a serious edge if she did consider him as a potential mate.

She gazed at me in wonder. "Her scales are so smooth."

I rubbed my head against her wrist and hummed, seeing if I could help Taureen charm her. At the moment, he was watching me in complete surprise. I grinned internally at his reaction. Then again, I had never reacted positively towards a Kymari before – and Taureen had to work for weeks just for me to drop my guard enough to wrestle with his hand. Soranto would have probably fallen over in shock...