Savage Seed by Ivy Sparks

24

Leslie

Kade was onlyout of my sight for five minutes during our preparations and while we gathered up the hunting party. He told me that in those five minutes he had gotten his father’s approval for the trip. He didn’t give any details. Had they argued? Had his father simply been happy to finally be rid of me? I didn’t know, and Kade didn’t tell me.

The party Kade chose was small, but impressive. Ria was included, of course, who I was happy to have come along. Next to Kade, she’d be the hardest to say goodbye to when the time came. Then there were the two warriors he seemed to trust the most, Novak and Llanos. And finally, much to my surprise, Dina… and Trag.

I didn’t bother to ask why he brought Dina. I was much too preoccupied with the inclusion of Trag. When I did finally pull Kade aside and ask him why that creep was coming along, all he said was, “Despite Trag’s many faults, he is one of our fiercest warriors. And…” He paused before continuing with an air of mystery, “I still have unfinished business with him. Business best completed outside of the village, in the open desert.”

I asked no further questions, confident in Kade’s ability to keep Trag the heck away from me. Kade hadn’t survived this long in the desert by being stupid, so I had to trust that he was right to bring Trag. Perhaps the sand tiger was a bigger threat than I thought, and we really needed as many strong warriors as we could bring with us.

With still plenty of sunlight to start our journey, the seven of us, fully provisioned and prepared for the trip, left the village. It was with sadness that I glanced back, smiling and nodding at the many faces that had now become so familiar to me.

That was when I spotted Kade’s father, the king, watching alone, silently, from a distance. Much to my surprise, he uncrossed his arms and reached his arm out, pointing directly at me. I stopped, squinting at him in confusion.

“Me?” I asked, pointing to myself. There was no way he could have heard me from the distance between us, but he nodded just the same, motioning with his finger for me to approach.

Kade had stopped, noticing our interaction. “Leslie, you can forget him. We’re ready and can be on our way.”

I frowned, looking back and forth between Kade and his father. “No,” I said at last. “I want to talk to him.”

“Leslie…” Kade started, the note of discomfort in his voice impossible to ignore. I turned to him, putting my hand flat against his massive chest.

“Do you trust me?” I asked.

“Of course,” he said without hesitation.

I nodded. “Okay. I’ll just be a minute, then.”

He sighed, but said no more.

I walked through the sand toward the king, a neutral look on my face. I wasn’t sure what this was about, but I was ready for anything.

I stopped in front of him and looked into his deep eyes that so resembled Kade’s. He reached out to me, and despite myself, I flinched. He paused, and after a moment, he took my necklace in his hand.

My necklace… I had almost forgotten that I had it on—that was how little it meant to me these days. It had been tied to my neck soon after I first arrived here, and that was where it stayed, forgotten, much like my mother seemed to have forgotten me.

He held the crystal in his right palm, turning it over several times with his other hand.

“Our world has suffered greatly,” he started, his tone grim. “Despite the Great Explosion, it was recovering. It would have been beautiful again. But then your people came.”

He looked at me, his eyes a mix of contempt and sadness. “These crystals—like the one you carry around your neck—are valuable. Not just to your people, but to mine. And many others, I suspect. But you outsiders… You’re blind to your greed. You care nothing of my people, or my world. You will take and take and take until there is nothing left, and then simply move on to the next world, leaving ours with nothing but death and sand.”

“Yeah,” I said. “My people are kinda known for that.”

The king looked at me, shaking his head in disgust.

“I’m just one person,” I started. “But I work in the mines. My father owns one and has some influence with the miner’s guild. I can’t promise you anything, but if there’s something I can do—”

He laughed, a bitter, spiteful sound. “You? What could you possibly do to save my world?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, to be honest. But if you have any tips…?” I was fishing at this point; unsure of what to say or do. But for whatever reason, the king’s stance and tone seemed to soften ever so slightly.

“These crystals,” he started. “They age. Few know that.”

Aged? I certainly didn’t. “Like, they’re alive?”

“Perhaps,” he said. “In a sense. The problem is, your people have no care for what crystals they mine. Young, old… Makes no difference to you. That was the same mistake the Xeki made, long ago.”

“Is there a difference?” I asked, fascinated.

“Oh yes,” he said. “Once the crystals have reached full maturity, they have done their part. They can be—and in many cases should be—successfully mined. The problem comes in not allowing the crystals to fully mature. Mining the young ones… They will deplete faster, slowing the growth of new crystals, destabilizing the entire system beneath the ground.”

“That’s amazing,” I said, my miner excitement taking over for the first time in a very long time. “Honestly, I don’t think any of us had any idea it worked that way.”

The king looked at me, sizing up my reaction. “You could… You could tell that to your people?”

“Of course!” I said excitedly, and I meant it. It wouldn’t be easy; anyone who had ever had to fight corporate greed knew that. But at least with this new information, there was a real chance I could make a difference. I had been searching for any way to mine sustainably, and the natives here knew the answer all along.

“Like I said, my father has a mine, and I promise you I can get him to change his methods. And if we can show others that the crystals are sustainable… Well, there could be long term value in it for everyone that way. I think there’s a real chance we can change things.”

The king looked over my head, out into the desert. He moved his head left to right, as if taking in a grand panoramic view of the world. Finally, he turned his attention back to the crystal in my necklace, still in my hand.

“I have noticed something. Your crystal glows slightly when you’re in my son’s presence. Do you know what that means?”

I shook my head. Though I certainly had my opinions, I was curious about what Kade’s father would say.

“It means you are fated mates.”

We looked at each other in silence for a long time. There was a sadness in the king’s eyes, and for the first time, I understood why.

“Ria took me to the Bazha,” I told him. “It’s beautiful. Your wife, the queen… It was hers?”

The king nodded, letting my necklace drop back to my chest.

“And she was your fated mate, right?”

Again, a nod in response.

“Then you must know how Kade and I are feeling right now.”

And finally, there it was. The thing I never expected to get out of this man. It lasted barely a second, but there was no mistaking it.

A smile.

“Go in peace, Leslie,” he said softly, before turning and walking back to his people.