"Out of place," she explained. "As in, there are the two of you being lovey-dovey and happy, and me hanging out by the bushes."
This drew a smile.
"You are not a third wheel by the bushes," Romas assured her. "You would be treated like a queen at my home. You're a guest, and if you happened to be hooked onto a good man, so be it."
"Hooked up with a good man," she corrected. "Thank you, but I don't need to be hooked up."
"You'll come," he said. "And I'll find you a man. My oldest brother Kisolm needs a woman. He might object to you, but I can convince him to take you."
He hadn't uttered anything so stupid in a long time, after she yelled at him for talking like that. She couldn't help wondering if Evelyn really understood that going to his home country would mean she'd hear this kind of nonsense all the time. She marched out of the room.
"Evelyn! That man is here!" she shouted up the stairwell, and disappeared into her studio. She flipped on her computer and tossed her shoes next to the couch. Her latest painting-- another seaside depiction of Fisherman's Wharf-- leaned against one wall, ready to be delivered to Kevin's shop. Several minutes later, Evelyn's footsteps sounded on the wooden stairs.
Kiera shook her head, perplexed by their odd invitation to stay with them. Evelyn made it sound permanent, as though Kiera would just pick up and leave for another country. Her gaze went to her desk, and she realized she didn't even have a passport. She might have to wait a few weeks just to visit.
She relaxed into the comfortable black desk chair in front of her computer, wondering if Romas had told Evelyn of the half a dozen kids he expected.
* * *
A'Ran l'Anshantuwei, the exiled dhjan-- king-- of the planet Anshan, looked over the three women before him, each a specimen of perfection to her people. He turned away from them, his gaze going upward and peering through the skylight in his spacious battle command center.
No one but the dhjan could understand that choosing a lifemate wasn't so simple. The dhjan nishani-- king's lifemate-- would complete the circle of Anshan's life force. Her presence would make the rivers run with water again and bring new life to the dying planet. If he were allowed to pick his mate, he'd have chosen long ago and saved his planet. But the planet chose for him, according to what his father told him long ago.