Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
He gave Penelope a white fur pouch that matched his black one which he had filled with a few expensive little trinkets.
“Oh, and wear this,” he added. Reaching into the safe, he brought out a truly magnificent necklace made of beaten gold disks and rare rainbow-hued konga shells. He fastened it around Penelope’s neck where it rested like a shimmering jewel against the black fur of her suit.
“It’s beautiful!” She touched it reverently. “Is this worth as much as your ship, too?”
“At least twice as much, I’d estimate,” V’rex said, eyeing the treasure, which he’d lifted off a slave ship bound for the Badras Sector.
“But why are you having me wear it?” Penelope looked at him with wide eyes. “You don’t expect me to trade it for something, do you?”
“Not unless it’s absolutely necessary,” V told her. “But it shows our status and importance. A Fox’en male decks his female in wealth to raise his standing in the community. When they see us coming with you wearing that, we should get in to see the Chieftain with no problem.”
“So you don’t think we can just slip in and slip out again?” she asked doubtfully.
V shook his head.
“Nope, afraid not, sweetheart. We’ll have to go in as a mated pair, pretending we want to barter and then hope we can sneak off to look for the Eye when nobody’s looking. That’s a much better bet than trying to slip in undetected. The Fox’ens have an excellent sense of smell—they’d know we were there before we got two steps.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “You said we’ll go in as a mated pair—so we’re pretending to be a couple again?”
“I’m afraid so,” V said dryly. “Does that bother you?”
“No,” She shook her head and looked up at him from under her long eyelashes in a way that made his heart pound. “I…I don’t mind. After all, we have plenty of practice, don’t we?”
“We certainly do,” V agreed. Their gazes locked and for a moment he had to fight with himself not to gather her into his arms and taste her sweet mouth.
No, I can’t—we are Foresworn, he reminded himself fiercely. But for a long moment, he struggled with himself.
At last V was able to tear his eyes away from her lush lips. He cleared his throat.
“Are you all ready to go, sweetheart?”
“I think so.” Penelope looked down at the white fur pouch he had given her to wear. “What’s in this, anyway?”
“Just a few little ornaments and trinkets you might find useful if you have to barter,” V told her. He patted his own black fur pouch and nodded at her. “C’mon—let’s go see if we can barter our way inside the secret city under Ra’gar.”
He just hoped they could get inside and get the Eye before the Fox’ens were any wiser.
Ninety-Nine
There were guards standing just inside the huge crack which led into the mountain. The crack only went about a fourth of the way up the vast, craggy rock face and yet it was still as tall as a skyscraper, Penny thought.
The two Fox’ens looked, as Kat had described them, a lot like Arctic Foxes—though they were considerably larger, both standing over two meters in height. Their huge, fluffy ears added an additional foot, which made them almost as tall as V’rex.
They wore no clothing but they really didn’t need it because they each had a thick, furry pelt. The guard on the right had gray fur and the one on the left was brown all over with small white patches. When they saw V’rex and Penny approaching, they both snapped to attention and looked down their long, furry muzzles with alert warning in their large, liquid eyes.
“Greetings, worthy guardsmen of the Fox’ens of the Kin’kee Tribe,” V’rex said, nodding his head at them in a genial way.
Penny glanced up at him sharply. Had he said the kinky tribe? Was that really their name? But the big Hybrid was still speaking.
“We are but simple travelers, here to barter with your chieftain for the right to look upon the hidden city within,” he was telling the guards. “Would you consent to let us through?”
“I do not know…” The guard with gray fur spoke in a barking/growling kind of voice. “Many have wished to see the hidden city beneath Ra’gar but it is our tribe, the Kin’kee Tribe, who have claimed it for a home.”
“True. Yes, very true.” V’rex nodded wisely.
He appeared to think for a moment and then pulled two small, round balls that smelled very strongly of some kind of meat out of his black fur pouch.
“Tell me,” he said, offering one of the balls to the gray guard. “Have you ever sucked upon the balls of the Pon’quill people? They are tender and succulent in the extreme—they’re flavor is said to be unequalled anywhere in the known universe.”