Elemental Summoner 1, D. Levesque [ereader android TXT] 📗

his face and he doesn’t answer me right away, but instead looks away. Then awkwardly, he says, “I have a partner that is not human.”

“What?” Leeha says, her mouth open in astonishment.

I stare between the two of them, trying to understand. He looks embarrassed, and somewhat scared, and Leeha looks shocked. Then again, I try to imagine someone dating a person of color when slavery was normal a hundred years ago on my world, and maybe that’s what I am seeing—someone who knows it’s not allowed but does it anyway. And someone of another race who finds out another person is dating someone of their race, even though it’s forbidden.

“Can we drop it,” Bryan mumbles.

“No fucking way,” Leeha says with a grin. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

“She isn’t from around here,” he says cagily.

“Come on,” Leeha says, walking past me to get to him. She stands in front of him and looks up at him. “What’s she like? What race?”

Bryan looks away from her intent gaze, although the fact that she is pressing her assets into his chest might also be a factor.

“She’s a Rabini from the Plains of Ratha, near the edge of Lamar Forest. I met her when I was in my twenties and was on a mission to learn more about them. I lived there for a year the first time I visited, and was introduced to her by my mentor. When I went back two years later, I met her again, and it was like we had never been apart. Even though I had been taught when I was younger not to look at that kind of relationship as wrong, it still took a couple of years before I finally gave in. But truthfully, even if she had been human, I would have acted the same way since she was a woman.”

“You scoundrel,” Leeha says, “you got yourself a piece of tail! Literally!”

“Yeah,” Bryan says, blushing, but he is grinning as well.

“What? She has an actual tail?” I ask incredulously.

“Yup,” Leeha says with a chuckle. “Rabinis have fluffy tails. Felinis have long tails.”

“What about the hmm, lizard one?” I ask her.

“Ah, the Dragonis or the Lizardis?” Leeha asks me with a grin.

“Both?” I ask, now extremely interested.

“The Dragonis and the Lizardis both have large, rough tails as befits their races. They use it when fighting. And the last primary race on Boromour is the Mer, and they aren’t fishtailed before you ask,” Leeha says with a chuckle, and I blush, a I had been about to open my mouth and ask exactly that.

“We need to get going,” Bryan says, looking up at the sun and interrupting our talk about tails.

“What time is it?” I ask him, looking up at the sun as well, or really down at it, as it’s low in the sky.

“A couple of hours to sundown. So, 7 pm?” Bryan says.

“We need to go then since they will close the gates at 9 pm, and I would rather not spend another night outdoors. As much as I detest cities, there will at least be a roof over my head,” Leeha says passionately.

“Then lead the way,” I tell her just as passionately. I don’t want to sleep on hard ground again if I don’t have to. Last night Bryan had said no fire, since we were closer to humanity and we didn’t want to attract anyone.

Leeha turns around and heads off in the direction we had been walking, and I follow her. Knowing that I can have a roof under my head tonight, and maybe even a bed, makes me ignore the pains all over my body.

Once we emerge from the trees about an hour later, I get my first glimpse of the city, and I am impressed at its size. The walls are made of stone, with mortar keeping it together. They look to be about ten feet high, though the size is hard to tell from here because we are still about a mile away. On our right, I see the gates, and a line of people, not just humans, going in.

Once we get closer, I can see that humans are the predominant race, but I also see Elves. What really catches my eye are the other races, even if there’s only a few of them. I see a couple of Felinis, but whereas I thought they would have fur all over, it’s not true. They have cat ears above their hair and long tails, but the rest of them look one hundred percent human. I see both males and females walking into the city.

I also see two of what I assume are the Rabinis, with long floppy ears and bushy tails that make me grin in delight. The two Rabinis are a male and female couple, and they are with a human female who is well dressed and is walking behind them. Both are carrying baskets over their heads.

“Remember,” Bryan says from behind me. “You’re the master. I am your hired guard. They know by my crest that I am a soldier for hire. That is how we go everywhere, and my Order isn’t cheap, so they expect you to have money. You lead now. Once we are in the city, Leeha can direct you, as your slave,” he finishes.

Nodding nervously, I say, “Right. Here we go.”

We get in line, and I am standing behind an older man, who has a male Elf next to him. The older man seems to be in his late eighties, though in this world, if things are as rough as they seem, he might just be in his sixties. He is dressed well and has a cane to help him walk. The Elf standing with him is a young male, with long black hair hanging down his back. He looks back at us and nods to Leeha almost imperceptibly. The only reason I notice is I am looking at him. The Elf turns around quickly after he realizes I noticed the nod.

With Leeha and