“I haven’t been sulking.”
Nuni levelled me with a knowing look.
“Okay, fine, maybe I have been sulking, but Ezah has confused me beyond measure. He asked me to be his friend and help me learn about human women, then he gets angry with me in my own home after I helped save his auntie. I just don’t get him.”
“He’s a male.” Nuni snorted. “Understanding them takes some women a lifetime, and even then, they don’t get the full scoop.”
“The full scoop of what?”
“How their pea-sized brains work.”
I put my hand over my mouth and laughed.
“Seriously, though.” Nuni smiled at me fondly. “You need to relax. I know that’s very hard for you, but just breathe. You’ll feel better when you go and meet him tonight at your hill. What is that place called again? Nona Mai?”
I jolted as if her words touched me.
“Who says I’m going to meet him at Nona Mai after how cold he was to me?”
“I say,” Nuno tittered. “Don’t pretend you haven’t already decided to go meet him. You’re crushing on the guy hard. You also want to know what crawled up his ass the other day and pissed him off. You likely won’t ask him about it, but you’ll go and wonder all the same.”
I found myself glaring at my friend because she saw right through me.
“You notice too much.”
“Everything.” Nuni grinned. “I notice everything.”
I snickered as we continued to try to arm our own bows with arrows without needing to call a teacher to assist us. I had watched the males instruct us how to do it a dozen times, but my hands simply couldn’t do it correctly. It was safe to say that the possibility of becoming a bow woman was scratched off my list of potential jobs.
When Nuni announced she was going to swap bows, I was so focused on my task that I didn’t even look up.
“Do you need help?”
I looked up at the human woman who spoke to me and gave her a nervous smile. She had brown hair, ocean blue eyes, clear fair skin and an easy going smile.
“A little bit.”
She chuckled as she repositioned my hands until I had my bow armed. When I shot it, it didn’t go more than two metres, but that was successful for me.
“It gets easier.”
I looked at the woman. “I hope so.”
She laughed. “I’m Nova.”
“Levi.” I smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” she said. “If you need my help, just give me a shout. I have to return to my mate. He doesn’t like me too far away from him.”
I bobbed my head as she turned and walked over to a large Maji male with dark hair who looked like he planned to gobble her up.
“Do you know who that was?”
I jumped when Nuni appeared at my side.
“You scared me.”
She ignored me. “That was Princess Nova … the woman I told you who mated a prince. That’s him staring at her, Prince Kol. They’re the first human and Maji couple to mate.”
I was shocked. I stared at Nova, then at her prince, Ezah’s brother, and instantly saw similarities in his facial features.
“I can see the resemblance between him and Ezah.”
“Me too … He’s hot.”
I choked with sudden fear.
“They have super hearing. Don’t say that about a mated male … We’ll probably be lashed.”
“Honey.” Nuni nudged me gently. “They don’t beat women here, remember?”
Right. This wasn’t Earth.
“Yeah.” I shifted. “Sorry. I forgot.”
“That’s okay.”
Our attention turned when Nova grabbed a bow and a quiver from the racks. Within the blink of an eye, she released three arrows in rapid succession, and those arrows each embedded themselves in the bullseye of each target she aimed for. I was insanely impressed and began clapping, which made Nova smile in my direction. She turned to her mate and had barely lowered her bow when he suddenly invaded her space and kissed her, which made Nova laugh against his lips.
Prince Kol was really impressed by her bow skills, and I felt my face heat when I realised he was seducing her and luring her away from the training grounds with kisses, soft touches, and whispered words. I felt a pang of jealousy as I watched them go before I shook it off and focused on my own task.
“The princess should have shot her arrows last,” I commented. “We’re all going to suck at this, or at least I will. Are you an expert bow woman like her?”
“I can’t even throw a rock correctly, and I’m augmented, which says a lot.” Nuni sighed. “I’m certain I’ll accidentally kill someone here today.”
One of the males overheard Nuni’s words and moved her to the very end of the target row, so if her arrow went wild, no one would be close enough to get struck. I giggled to myself as I tried and failed six times to ready my bow with an arrow. I tried to repeat the steps Princess Nova had taken, but I couldn’t make it work. With a frustrated grunt, I kicked the soil on the ground.