11. Strategy
It was difficult to eat, not because the meat wasn't good (in fact it was delicious) but I couldn't look away from what was going on: four Yautja males were fighting against Ate'yo; they were much smaller than he, the biggest was as tall as me, while the smallest barely reached my shoulders; and yet, despite the physical difference, they pounced on him with determination and tried to sink their claws into his flesh, while Ate'yo grabbed and threw them to the ground one by one; I swallowed with difficulty another piece of meat and looked at Elise who was eating without much attention to the show; I couldn't help but ask
"A-are you sure...they're just playing?"
"Absolutely, don't worry, my kids love to have fun with their father after training" she replied smiling and stroked her belly "but to be honest, I couldn't wait to have another girl in the house; when my daughter will be born I hope she will be more quiet of her brothers" and went back to eating quietly. Yeah...her children; I still couldn't believe it and I continued to observe that "friendly" fight; now that I noticed, they all seemed perfectly normal: with the exception of one who had the skin of a very pale pink color, the others were all Yautja without deformation or human characteristics
"It wasn't easy" said Elise, perhaps sensing my thoughts "I had to make hundreds of checks, and at each birth I was forced to do a caesarean; our technology is advanced, but that doesn't mean that it's never painful" and then she showed again her bright smile "but it was worth it; Ate'yo and I wanted so much to have children, and in the end everything went well"
Our technology, not their; Elise was an integral part of this clan, and for her it was like being at home; for the first time I wondered if I would consider this place home; I thought about my mother, who now was certainly worried about me, and about my friends...but I thought also to Ne'veah; I wonder where he had been taken, in chains, all alone...I was distracted from my thoughts when Elise stood up from the couch and pronounced a series of incomprehensible words; the children stopped immediately to attack their father, and I saw Ate'yo that patted them on the head one by one, while Elise smothered them with tenderly kisses on their mandibles; I smiled seeing how the older children seemed a little upset and I didn't stop to follow them with the look until they left the room; it was time of conversation between adults. Ate'yo and Elise sat down on the couch in front of me and he put his arm around her shoulders; they were so tender...
"We have already received some information but we prefer to hear them from you directly, so speak freely" said Ate'yo
It was the moment of truth; I didn't know what would have happened, but they had been very nice to me and I would feel terribly guilty if I continued to lie; I took a deep breath
"I...I'm sorry, I lied, I'm not Ne'veah's mate" brief, clear, concise; as I imagined, a look of astonishment appeared on their faces, and I just wanted to bury me somewhere but didn't know if for shame or fear of their reaction; I saw them while they exchanged a puzzled look before looking at me again
"Why did you lie?" asked Elise, the tone calm but confused
"I thought...I thought that if I told the truth I wouldn't have been able to remain close to Ne'veah" I felt my cheeks burning, I was probably as red as a tomato; an unbearable silence fell for a few seconds before Ate'yo began to speak
"Do you realize that you're risking your life to defend a traitor?"
"...I...I failed, I didn't even try to think Ne'veah was a traitor, not after the time we spent together; and..." I looked at them both in the eyes "...and I'm not going to leave him like this, I don't want to lose him, and I'm ready to do whatever it takes…to be near him" I uttered those last words with an incredible difficulty; it was embarrassing, but it was the truth, after all I had risked my life in any time to get here and I wasn't going to give up now; I liked h...no, I loved him. To my surprise, Ate'yo erupted in what was surely a laugh, although a bit strange
"This reminds me a crazy Ooman of 10 years ago..." he said, and in response Elise punched him on the chest, puffing irritated; Ate'yo seemed really amused and I couldn't stop thinking that they were absolutely adorable; she turned to me
"I like your determination, Ne'veah is not a traitor; he was one of the pupils of Ate'yo, and we are absolutely sure that he would never do something dishonorable" to those words I was very surprised, but I had to use all my courage to ask
"What...what would he do?" Elise hesitated a moment before answering
"He killed two members of another clan" in a certain sense I imagined that she would say something very serious, but between imagine and hear it there was a big difference; in each case I shook my head
"If this is considerable as something dishonorable it's absurd and impossible, he would never do such a thing"
"He did it" said Ate'yo, and that statement was a shock for me, but he continued "what is important is to understand why he did it" and said this he typed a few buttons on the device that had on the forearm; a hologram of a planet appeared before me, a world that I didn't know; Ate'yo began a long explanation
"This planet, not very far from our own, is inhabited by a clan of Yautja with which we have had peaceful relations for many years; lately, however, this relationship hasn't been so good and we have reason to believe that they are interested in our territories; however, we spoke to some of their Elders and not everyone seemed willing to start a war; it was sufficient a pretext, an excuse to push everyone to fight" Ate'yo looked into my eyes, I knew immediately what he meant; he continued in the explanation "they told us that they had sent messengers to discuss about new peace agreements, but they claim that Ne'veah have attacked them and killed two of the three messengers, and then run away; our code requires that no Yautja can kill another, intentionally or not, without a valid consent of an Elder. Now the other clan asks revenge for the companions killed, and the only thing that can prevent a war is to deliver Ne'veah and let them kill him, but we believe that even if we did, this would not solve things"
I felt my heart pounding in my chest, the situation was more serious than I thought, and much bigger than me; yet the anger was stronger than fear: those bastards were using Ne'veah as a scapegoat for their dirty purposes, and that pissed me off like a beast; Elise started talking
"You know, Ne'veah was ready to die for our clan, the first thing he did was to come to us and warn us, saying that the other clan was going to attack" she sighed "but unfortunately when you get marked as a Bad blood no one is willing to believe you, and the only surviving witness was the third messenger of the other clan, which obviously accused Ne'veah of murder; we obviously couldn't reply, there were no witnesses in his favor, it would be like declaring war openly" her tone hardened "every Yautja on this clan is part of my family, and I can't see someone die unjustly; I and Ate'yo ordered to Ne'veah to escape and to take time to find an alternative solution. Sadly not all the Elders agreed with us and some have sent their warriors to look for him, and unfortunately he was captured; when we have heard it, we thought all was lost" a smile appeared on her face "but now we have you"
"...Me?"
"Generally..." said Ate'yo "a Bad blood tends to act irrationally, loses all reason, and in extreme situations, manages to kill everything that meet; no one would believe Ne'veah even though he was telling the truth, but your story can dispute the claims of the other clan and gain more time"
"...They couldn't believe it; after all I'm just a human..."
"You're not just a human" Elise interrupted me with a firm tone "you are much more than that, you're the key that could save him; take off immediately this stupid thought from the head, or you risk that your fears get the better" Ate'yo put a hand on her shoulder and she gave him a sweet smile, maybe she spoke from personal experience; in any case, there still remained a problem to solve
"Okay, you can still take some time, but the other clan will not wait forever; how do we prove that Ne'veah is innocent without giving them the opportunity to react?" I asked
"I was discussing with the Elders precisely of this" said Ate'yo "the best solution would be to send a team of experienced warriors to infiltrate in their base and discover the person behind all this; we are convinced that the real traitor is someone of their clan, even though we aren't sure who might be; if they believe that Ne'veah is still escpaing, probably their troops will continue to search and without the whole army the risk of being caught would be lower. Obviously for some Elders is crazy, why risk the lives of brave warriors and start a war just to save a Yautja? But they fail to realize that if we don't try something war will break out in any case, Ne'veah might be only the first of many excuses that will push both clans to fight"
"In other words if we can't convince them it will be a disaster" I said
"In short, yes" Elise said with a half smile. Damn, I was already quite nervous because the situation was critical, but she and Ate'yo were enduring a burden far bigger than mine: at risk there was the security of their clan and they were doing their best to protect each Yautja, including Ne'veah; I wondered if there was anything I could do to help them when Elise interrupted my thoughts
"Do you want to see him?" she asked smiling
"…Can I?" I replied, excited
"They can't deny this right to his mate; I'll take you to him, so the guards will not cause too many problems...if you want to see him"
"It's the only thing I want" I said with a happy smile; Elise nodded and turned to Ate'yo; a slight blush covered my cheeks and instinctively turned my head to avoid looking as they kissed, greeting each other
"If there are any problems, call me immediately" said Ate'yo, while Elise and I went out of the room. As the door closed behind us, she said
"The last time I asked for his help, he was about to cause a mass genocide, and just because someone still didn't accept the presence of a human in the clan" we smiled both amused and started walking down the hallway
"How is...live with the Yautja?" I asked
"At the beginning it's a bit complicated, but when you understand the way they think is not so difficult"
"And...with Ate'yo?" I asked a little hesitant; her face lit up with joy and gave me a beautiful smile
"He is my dream come true, I can't live without him" those words moved me deeply, their love was really strong; timidly I began to ask a few questions about that complex and wonderful world, while my thoughts were for Ne'veah; I couldn't quantify the love I felt for him, but one thing was sure: I would do anything to save him.