Amid the Clouds (Brave New World Book 1)

Chapter 24

I'd half expected Samuin to put me over his shoulder and fly me to the destination. "Is it close?"

"It is under the central tower of the palace, my Queen."

"Which is located...?"

"It is on another level of the palace.

"Then won't we get there faster by flying?"

"We will, but I cannot do it, my Queen."

I tried to keep up with his stride and train of thought while also taking in the impressive surroundings. I wished I could explore every single one of the artifacts from around the world displayed on the walls of the corridor.

"Why not? Is this a no-fly zone?"

Samuin shook his head. "Unless it is to protect you from danger, I cannot touch you, my Queen. Any scent other than your mate's on your skin, and my liege will be overcome by deadly rage."

"Um... What?"

"Any male risks death by my liege's claws and fangs, should he lay a finger on you. The mating bond demands it, it is... instinctive."

"Does it work the other way around?" Not that I was considering a mating bond could work in any way, given that it didn't exist. I was simply curious whether in this society women had equal rights to men when it came to cheating.

"Of course, my Queen. Although a human female's sense of smell is not strong enough, I have read that even the suspicion of her mate having been touched by another is enough to cause a fit of rage... Your scent did change towards strong anger earlier while I was talking about my liege's past companions."

I snorted. "You're implying I was jealous? Yeah, right."

Right?

"It matters not, my Queen. I still cannot fly you to the library."

He gestured for me to turn left into another corridor, this one with stuffed animals in glass cases placed along both walls.

"Oh..." I was surprised to finally find something in the palace that I didn't like. "What are these? Hunting trophies of gargoyle kings?"

"Animals from the ground that have gone extinct or are about to, my Queen. A memory of them has to be preserved. These specimens have been found dead by my brethren over the decades and, thus, no life has been taken to serve as a memory."

Another surprise for me there. I hadn't expected gargoyles to care about the environment on my world that much, given what a paradise they had up here.

"Samuin, can I ask you something?" I tried to keep walking and not get all science-crazed at the sight of a sabre-toothed tiger, right next to a dodo.

"Of course, my Queen."

"Why are you so invested in the ground? I get that you have to go there to find women, or you'll face extinction. But obviously you didn't need to stuff a Tasmanian tiger to win a woman over."

He finally smiled. Brownie points for me for managing to make the most serious servant ever give me two smiles in 24 hours.

"These creatures are here not because of the Gods-imposed search for our mates, my Queen. The ground may not be my kind's home, but it is where the missing pieces of my brethren have been living for generation after generation. This is why we consider the ground ours to care for."

There it was again, that mate myth crap. It seemed to be at the center of everything the winged guys did. I could understand if it were all about justifying abduction - okay, let's call it the seduction of women too horny at the time to say no. But Samuin here was talking about protecting an entire world for the sake of his species' souls.