“Retvik is here. The Cassids just want to do some tests, then we’ll be sending you through, alright?” Thitavee-En was doing his best to sound pleasant, but he knew that more than half the occupants in this room were rather angry and none of them were too sure what was going on.
“Thank you, Thita!” Arkay tried to be nice, but they both knew how uneasy everyone was. Tenuk smiled awkwardly, but Elksia was too busy eating a large bar of chocolate.
Thitavee-En moved out of the way and Retvik was led into the room. His fellow Dessaron all exclaimed in shock, as he waddled in, arms and legs chained together. The Ksa who had brought him in quickly fled, closing the door behind them.
“Retvik, what the heck?” Tenuk shouted. “They brought you here like that?”
Retvik nodded, then shuffled towards the one available seat and sat down awkwardly, his tail getting caught in one of the chains clinging to his body. He didn’t say anything though, and mindlessly stared at the wall ahead of him. Arkay got up and headed over to see if Retvik was alright.
“What happened?”
Retvik didn’t reply and instead looked elsewhere.
Arkay was about to ask again when he realised something was very different about Retvik. He glanced at Tenuk and Elksia, who had both noticed it too. Retvik wanted to ignore them, the same way he had ignored everyone else, but he’d have to crack eventually.
“Are you well, brother?” Tenuk pushed the question.
“No. I didn’t want to come. They forced me. They bribed you. I thought you were all better than that.”
There was a horrible sneer in Retvik’s voice, an anger none of them had seen before.
“Actually, I came here willingly…” Tenuk admitted. “Having the chance to meet other races sounds like a very good thing to happen. Considering what we’ve been told, they all sound similar to us. Apart from the humans…”
“Hang on, no one told me about humans!” Arkay blurted. But his surprise quickly faded. “There’s going to be humans there? Bet they’ll be the boring military ones…”
“Apparently!” Tenuk was doing his best to be optimistic. He knew none of the others wanted to take part in this so-called challenge, but he needed to keep their spirits up. “Retvik, why don’t you want to go? Apart from the obvious reasons, which I completely understand?”
Retvik didn’t know whether to answer or not. His heart was heavy, but these were his family, beings he’d spent a big part of his life with. They needed to know.
“I didn’t want to come because I wanted to settle down with Gath, properly. One of us working. A couple of…” Retvik trailed off. “Gath and I both thought we were in the clear, that we could go ahead and try again…”
“You’re pregnant!?!” Tenuk suddenly shouted, before quickly apologizing. He hadn’t meant to say that so loudly. It quickly occurred to him that he wasn’t exactly sure how long Rethan birthing stages were.
Retvik nodded glumly. “I found out on Tuesday. All of this won’t be a problem if we come back in under a month, but I can’t fight if I’m carrying an egg inside me and I can’t risk otoking while we’re away from home… And heavens forbid if we’re there for more than 6 months… A Rethan kid born in the middle of goodness knows where!”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Arkay cried as he rushed up and hugged Retvik. “You should have told them!”
“They would have sent me anyway!” Retvik growled. “None of them care. Not about me, not about my potential kid, not about any of you. like Photeianos said, it’s either the four of us or the entirety of the Rethan race.”
Tenuk and Elksia both sighed. They knew Retvik was right. Tenuk removed Retvik’s chains and threw them across the room, just as a couple of Photeianos’s Ksa came to do the same.
“Oh, uh…” the two Ksa hesitated. “It’s time. Come with us, please.”
Retvik rolled his eyes, and asked if the Ksa could give them a minute. The Ksa promptly waited outside, closing the door behind in.
“The reason I am keeping this quiet is because you three are the first to know. I didn’t get a proper chance to say goodbye to Gath. I… haven’t told him about the possible pregnancy because it’s just that right now. Possible. From prior experience, I could very well have it die before I reach the otok stage anyway… Just… don’t tell anyone. If anyone asks, I will tell them, but otherwise this is between me and you.”
Elksia, Arkay and Tenuk all looked at one another. None of them liked the idea of hiding Retvik’s new little secret, but they didn’t want to upset him further.
“Very well, Retvik,” Tenuk shrugged. “But don’t take your anger out on us if things go wrong.”
“That is fair. I will do my best to remain calm.”
Arkay and Elksia nodded in agreement. The two Ksa popped back in and asked if they were ready.
“Are you, brothers?” Elksia asked.
Retvik sighed. “Sure. Let’s get this over with…”