Desert Lily

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Kai

After eating, bathing and relaxing, we were finally able to get some much needed rest. But, it didn't seem to last long as the unwanted guests came pounding at my front door early the next morning. Tiredly trudging down the stairs, I made my way towards the door as Lily stood at the door in the living room, rubbing her eyes. I didn't have any other clothes to give her besides mine, so I just gave her one of my shirts. She looked good in it even though it hung near her knees.

"Coming!" I called as the banging grew louder before I threw the door open, ready to yell at the culprit. "Ahh, hello little one." I greeted while smiling down at my niece who was waving at me from my sister's arms. She had a toothy smile set on her peach colored face as she looked up at me. Her short auburn hair had been braided back into two large braids and she seemed to be wearing a blue fluffy dress.

"I came by as quickly as possible. Is it true you even found your mate?" She asked while trying to look past me as I leaned on the doorframe to block her way. Her light orange face was filled with excitement as her light green eyes looked past me. "Come on, let me see her. I need to see who finally grabbed your attention. Who's actually putting up with your ass." She laughed as her long light orange tail flicked around behind her. Just as I was about to yell at her, a soft warm hand touched my back as I turned to look back at Lily. She smiled up at me before peeking around the side of me.

"Hello." She greeted with a wave as the annoying guest gasped before waving back excitedly.

"Oh my goddess, hello! It's nice to meet you! I'm sure this Sfram headed man hasn’t talked about us but I'm this Sfram’s older sister, Sihea and this is my daughter Umi.” She introduced while pushing some of her short auburn hair behind her ear as Lily smiled at her before introducing herself. “Lilium? What a really pretty name! I heard about the townspeople treated you yesterday. You don’t have to worry about them, I’ll handle it. But, I really hope you like it here.” Sihea smiled as Lily seemed more relaxed around my sister than I expected.

“Thank you so much. It’s nice to see a friendly face.” Lily smiled back to her as I watched her. She truly seemed more relaxed than when we first met. Quickly looking back at Sihea, I finally noticed her horns.

“What’s with the decorations?” I asked as she just smiled knowingly at me. Sihea’s horns were exactly like mine but today, she had blue silk ribbons wrapped around them from the base of her horns to the very tip. She gently adjusted Umi on her hip before adjusting her white blouse. Staring at her clearly now, I hadn’t realized how dressed up she was. What I had originally thought was a white blouse was actually a white dress that fell a little below Sihea’s knees. She had matching white boots to go with it. “Sihea, what’s going on?” I squinted at her in suspicion as she just shook her head and smiled at me.

“Whenever you’re finished taking Lilium out on the town, stop by the workshop and make sure you’re both wearing comfortable clothes.” She stated while brushing down some of Umi’s hair before turning. “I just wanted to come relay that. Have fun and be safe! I hope to see you bith tonight!” She called while walking back down the stoney path before disappearing out the gate. Sighing, I turned back to Lily who was watching Sihea leave.

“There’s a lot that I don’t know about you.” She stated before turning and walking back into the house as I quickly followed behind her. I couldn’t tell if she was angry or frustrated.

“Lily? Wait, I’ll tell you everything.” I called as she slowly turned to look up at me with worry on her face. Was she not mad or frustrated? Why was she looking at me like that?

“It’s okay, Kai. I’m not mad, I was just saying that I’m finding out more and more about you. You sounded panicky just than.” She explained while gently touching touching my hand as I hadn’t realized that I came off that way. Sighing, I nodded before braiding my hair back as she watched me. “You know how to braid?” She asked as I nodded wearily.

“I started learning how to do it because my mom always used to braid mine and Sihea’s hair back when we were younger. I started doing that for my niece as well since she likes it. It is strange to you?” I inquired as she nodded at me.

“Sort of. The only people who braided my hair was my mother and my sister. It’s neat that you can braid.” She smiled before looking down than back up at me. “Can I ask you of a favor?”

“Sure, anything for you.”

“Will you braid my hair for me? I used to do it on my own but it’s a little harder to do now since you know.” She smiled while holding up her right arm that was hidden away by my sleeves as I couldn’t help but laugh at how cute she was.

“I would love to and I’m not laughing at your arm. I’m laughing at how cute you are.” I apologized as she pursed her lips together while rubbing her cheeks. “I’ll braid your hair for you than we can go and get breakfast in town.” I explained to her as she nodded before walking towards the bathroom.

“Let’s go, Kaisen.” She called when she didn’t hear me behind her as I quietly laughed and followed behind her.

[~~~]

Once we had gotten dressed and ready, we set out towards the town. On the way there, I couldn’t stop thinking about how soft Lily’s hair was. It was super easy to braid it the way she wanted but what made it even better was how happy she was when I finished. She wanted two large braids going back kind of like Umi’s but she want some of her hair around the front to curl out. I had never really did that hairstyle before but it was pretty and it looked really good on Lily.

I showed her around the town while pointing out the important places like the healer’s center, the square where we hold our celebrations, the chief’s house, and some other cool places I thought she might be interested in. We stopped and got something quick to eat at one of my friend’s eatery. Lily seemed to love it and the sweets before I took her to the healer’s center much to her surprise. I explained to her that even though I treated her fever and heat exhaustion back at the cave, I still wanted to make sure she was okay. This also gave her the opportunity to talk with one of our healers about getting therapy for her trauma. She was shocked when she found out that we do indeed have counseling and therapy for those who’ve been through traumatic incidents.

Once we had set her up for appointments, I took her to get something nice to wear which ended up in me getting plenty of clothes and footwear. Today was just a major shock to her. It was cute and fun.

Sighing, I stopped us in front of the building I had been putting off going to all day. Squeezing Lily’s hand, I smiled down at her as she looked at me with worry on her beautiful face. “This is the temple. We come here to worship our gods and goddesses, hold sacred ceremonies, and many other things including figuring out whether or not the person we’re interested in is truly our mate.” I explained as realization flashed through her eyes before she nodded.

“I understand. Shall we go in?” She asked as I stared down at her before pulling her into my arms. Though I wanted to relish in the moment, I knew that this must be done or else those lingering thoughts would remain in our heads. Pulling back, I held both our shoulders while looking down at her. Instead of wearing the outfit I had sewn up for her back in the cave, she was wearing a short, soft blue dress that was tailored to her shape that flowed out past her hips yet cupped around her breasts. The tailor had seemed more fascinated with dressing up Lily than she was with me being there. She even made Lily a pair of matching white flat shoes that had ribbons going up her legs in a cross stitch.

“Are you sure? We can always go home if you feel uncomfortable.” I explained as she shook her head with one of those smiles that didn’t reach her eyes. Nodding, I turned to look back at the large green building that seemed to stick out form the rest as they all matched with the jungle around us. Quickly glancing back down at Lily, I pulled the door open for her before we stepped into the building. Our fate soon to be altered by what the priests would say.