“Okay.” Ezah tilted his head. “I will leave you to think about how you want to answer my question in the future. For now, you can answer another question.”
I gulped. “Okay, my prince.”
“Why did you eat the leaves of a dintai plant?”
Din-ty.
That was the Maji name for the sick plant. It didn’t have a direct translation, so humans heard it in the Maji language whenever the Maji spoke it. Nuni said it had a similar meaning to sick plant, so we just stuck with that.
“How … How do you know I ate it? Can you see what’s in my stomach because you’re a healer? Is that part of your ability?”
His lips slightly twitched.
“No,” he answered. “I know because Nuni found the leaves in your cookery’s litter pail.”
I felt my face practically scald with heat as I shrunk a little lower and pulled my fur blanket up a little higher.
“Oh.”
Ezah said nothing as he waited for me to answer his question.
“I … I … Oh, I’m so embarrassed.”
I gripped my fur and thrust it over my head. I was very aware of my burning face, but I was even more aware of the fluttering feeling in my stomach. I could hear Nuni’s and Nicah’s laughter in my head from when they both concluded I was attracted to Ezah. I was mortified, and I had no idea what to do about it, so I stuck with a strategy I knew best.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Please, don’t be mad at me.”
Ezah sigh was long and deep.
“Levi, I’m not angry, and I won’t get angry with you,” he assured me. “I just want to know why you ate the leaves, especially after Nuni told you they would make you sick.”
I groaned. He growled. I lowered my fur and sat upright.
“I chickened out.”
“I have no comprehension of what you just said.” Ezah squinted his eyes like it’d make him understand me better. “Chek-en-in. Is that a sound you make? Like how I growl? Does it mean you’re angry? Will you strike me?”
Give me strength.
“No, my prince.” I rubbed my chin. “A chicken is the name of a little animal on Earth that’s scared of everything.”
Ezah blinked. “So you’re saying you’re scared like a chek-en-in?”
I clamped my lips together to keep from smiling because how he pronounced chicken was … cute. Almighty. I thought something a male as big and fierce as Ezah was did something cute. I would have never attached that word to him, but it just fit. He was cute.
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying, my prince.” I nodded. “You told me to meet you on the hill after dark, and I chickened out.”
Ezah blinked, and bless him, he looked bewildered.
“You made yourself terribly sick because you were scared to meet with me?”
When he put it like that, it made it sound like he was a male to be feared, and though I was very anxious and skittish around him, I wasn’t truly scared of him … I was just scared of how he was making me feel since it was an emotion I had never felt before. When my mind made that discovery, it was kind of riveting. I was fully aware that I wasn’t scared of Ezah as a male, just of my change of feelings. This was a first for me.
“Not because I’m scared of you, my prince,” I hurriedly explained. “I just … I’ve never spent time with a male. Ever. Of any species.”
Understanding dawned on Ezah, and he quickly sat upright.
“You do not need to feel nervousness at all, Levi,” he assured me, looking positively horrified. “Like I said to you last night, I just want to learn about humans through you. I do not want to mate you. Not at all.”
Those words should have made me feel elated and put me right at ease, but my goodness, I felt my gut twist. He looked like he couldn’t tell me fast enough that mating wasn’t a remote possibility. I mean, I wasn’t thinking about that. I was just focused on realising that I did, in fact, have a crush on him.
“That’s … that’s great,” I said. “I feel much better now, my prince.”
“Not like a chek-en-in anymore?”
My tummy flipped. He was so cute.
“No, my prince.” I shook my head. “Not like a chicken.”
“That is a relief,” he said, his shoulders sagging. “Do you think we can be friends?”
“I … I think so.” I swallowed. “I only have two. Nicah and Nuni. Nuni is a new friend … I can try with you too, my prince.”
“This is good news.” Ezah nodded. “Very good. I do not have to worry about you eating dintai leaves now … right?”
I cringed.
“Right,” I said. “About that … can we keep that I ate the leaves between us? And Nuni? I’m very embarrassed. I think I nearly killed myself, my prince.”