He looks so uncomfortable.

I’d get it done quick. Just a little peck. In and out and we’d never have to speak of this again.

I wetted my lips with my tongue, drawing Silar’s white gaze to my mouth. Before I lost my nerve, I darted in beneath his hat and pressed my mouth softly to his.

My eyes were scrunched up, so I didn’t see it happen, but I felt it. The spasm that rocked his frame, like I’d touched him with a hissing live wire. His shoulders jolted under my hands, his breath puffing out in a sharp exhale against my cheek. Worried I’d upset my new husband, I quickly released him and stepped back, heart going batty in my chest.

An apology was on the tip of my tongue, but even if I’d said it, Silar wouldn’t have heard it. Just like before, when he’d closed the window on me and walked away without a word, he spun on his heel and strode right out the door.

“What… Where…?” I threw my hands up and let them fall. “Is he always so abrupt?”

“Yes,” the warden replied simply. He leaned his hip against his desk, staring out the open door after my runaway husband. “That’s quite the custom you’ve got there.”

“You’re the one who insisted we do it!” I cried. “Do you think I’ve upset him?”

Maybe Zabrians had super sensitive mouths or something. Maybe I’d hurt him. Or done something terribly rude and offended him.

“Upset him? Silar? Empire, no,” the warden said, looking both surprised and amused. “You just knocked that boy’s boots off, is all. He’s likely gone to sort himself out before the ride home.”

“Why does that not make me feel any better?” I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose and shaking my head.

“Don’t trouble yourself over it,” the warden assured me, standing straight once more. “Silar is as solid as they come. Doesn’t open his mouth much, but he also doesn’t scare easy. Unlike some of the other fools I could name around here, he hasn’t got too much of a temper and he’s not overly sensitive. If he needs some space, he’ll just… do that.” He gestured at the open door with his tail.

“Alright,” I said, still not entirely convinced. But maybe the warden was right. Silar had left the room, but he didn’t seem to be running away on his horse without me, at least.

But he hadn’t come back yet, either. So what the hell was he doing?

The sound of the tap squeaking, followed by water running, caught my ear. Instead of going back to the window, this time I went outside, hurrying down off of the porch and around the side of the house.

The horse creature looked up, nostrils flaring at my arrival. I stopped short, giving it some room, not sure if it was likely to kick me or bite me or do any other weird alien horse things to my squishy, defenseless human body. I turned my attention from the animal to my husband.

Husband. I have a husband.

A husband who was filling up the bucket with fresh water, his back to me. I watched him, hands on my hips, sun soaking into my shirt, trying to figure out just what the hell he was up to.

When the bucket was full, Silar turned off the tap and then removed his hat and set it on the ground. Then, he grasped the big bucket by its sides, raised it over his head…

And turned it upside down.

The contents of the bucket dumped down upon him in a colossal, crashing wave. Unlike his shower before, he hadn’t bothered to remove his pants or boots. He stood, every bit of him but his hat soaked and dripping, the empty bucket still held high above his head. He would have been utterly still if it weren’t for the heaving of his back indicating harsh and rapid breathing.

“Cooled yourself off there, Silar?”

I whipped around to find the warden watching us both, my bag in his hands.

The sound of a bucket thudding to the sodden dust of the ground drew my gaze back to Silar who was now turning around to face us.

Silar gave an unintelligible grunt in response. He grasped his hat from the ground and settled it on his soaked head. He didn’t bother to rub or shake any of the water off his body. He just roughly mopped at his face with a big hand. When he let it fall, I gasped.

“Your eyes!” I breathed, pointing at his face before I could remember that it was considered rude, at least among humans.

Silar blinked his most definitely not white eyes. Before, they’d been so glowing and bright that it had just been one uniform whiteness across his gaze. Now, there was no white to be seen. His eyes were a deep, midnight blue, with veins of turquoise branching brightly outwards, like a bird’s eye view of tree branches or spokes on a wheel, splitting out from the centre.

“I told you. He was sorting himself out,” the warden said, crossing over to Silar to hand him my bag. Then, more quietly, just to Silar this time, he added, “You have one human month – thirty days – to keep her. After that, she can choose to leave you if she so wishes. Do not ruin this, you white-eyed fool.”

I felt oddly defensive of my new husband. This warden sure was bossy. And kind of rude. Just what exactly was his role here, anyway? Was he democratically elected? Because he was acting more like an overbearing babysitter than a government official who worked for the very man he seemed so keen on ordering around.

“One month for both of us,” I said loudly. “Right? After thirty days, Silar could choose not to be married to me, either.”

They both turned to gawk at me like I was stupid. Or crazy. Or both. And maybe I was, because I was supposed to be doing everything in my power to stay here and stay safe, not remind Silar that he could toss me out the moment our first month was up if he wanted.

But he could. Right?

I frowned. Why were they staring at me like that? Like I was the only chance at happiness Silar was ever going to get and if he lost me, he’d lose everything? Like he was some kind of charity case who’d be crazy to let me go?

I wasn’t exactly a prize, here. I was a boring, average human with a “halfway-decent” face, debt to my name, and a target on my back. Silar was a big, strong, golden-skinned cowboy with livestock and a house and a career. And a wagon! Couldn’t forget the wagon. He could probably do a hell of a lot better than me.

So why did it look like neither he nor the warden thought so?

This place is kind of weird…

But I guessed it was my place now, too. And I was going to make the most of it.

Starting with convincing my new husband to keep me around.

“Right,” I said, smiling brightly and squelching through the new puddle Silar had just created. “Now what? Are we heading… Heading home?”

The word got stuck in my throat. I hadn’t had a home since Mama had died. That empty apartment with the kicked-in door certainly didn’t count anymore.

“Yes,” Silar grunted. He hoisted my heavy bag with its cast iron contents easily, not with his hands, but with his tail. His tail had to be incredibly strong – especially considering how long and thin it was – to lift my bag up with so little apparent effort. He held it in place against the side of the saddle on his big mount, fingers flying as he tied it securely with leathery-looking twine, his forearms flexing and ribbed with veins.

“Safe riding,” the warden called as he walked back to the building, leaving us alone.

Feeling incredibly awkward, I aimed myself at the horse-thing.

“Hello,” I said quietly to it. “My name’s Cherry.” I lifted a hand, then drew it back. “Should I… Should I do something? Let it sniff me? Or pet it?”

Silar shoved a hand into a damp pocket and fished out a hard, round thing. Something like a seed or a nut – bright yellow.

“Here. Give him this.” He plonked the small, oval-shaped thing into my palm.

“Here, boy,” I crooned, trying not to look or sound nervous as I offered up my hand. What if it was one of those animals that could smell fear? Was that even a real thing?