Druidess Found (Druidess Trilogy Book 1) by Machelle Hanleigh (interesting novels to read txt) 📕

just how excited she felt to attend the evening repast considering that back on Earth she was a recluse. She avoided group interactions whenever possible. In spite of all that, she felt excited. She knew in the back of her mind, that the excitement came from the possibility of seeing her dark warrior again.

She could hear the villagers outside making their way to the gathering where Shimani showed her the repasts took place. It was a clearing just outside the Queen's hut. There was a kitchen hut of sorts next to the Queen's. She learned from Shimani that this village was one of thirteen. It was considered the ruling village thus the name, Center Village. The other twelve villages each were led by Shanees who all did the bidding of the Queen. Apparently, there were going to be a few of the Shanees at the evening's repast. Shimani did not elaborate as to why, not that it mattered. It would be a while before she understood the inner workings of the villages and the Kahoali way of life. If she were permitted to be there that long. She had mixed feelings about staying. She knew her dark warrior could get her back home, assuming she could persuade him to take her back to her planet. She didn't know if she could. The fact that he didn't take her home when he saved her from the Agenors confused her. She didn't know what she felt about that. She didn't know if she should be angry with him or flattered. Since she found out there was a way home, getting home had become less urgent than before that knowledge. She still wanted to go home, but she also wanted to get to know her dark warrior, especially after their exchange that morning. She felt a pull between them that she wanted to better understand.

Kaily paced the length of her hut as the volume of the noise outside increased and her patience decreased. Where was Shimani anyway? She thought. Her impatience had nothing to do with a possibility of seeing her dark warrior again or so she kept telling herself. She finished getting ready a while before it was even dark outside. The shower felt refreshing and the cleansing paste, as Shimani called it, soothed and worked surprisingly well as a shampoo and body wash. She picked out a colorful dress that she hoped matched her green eyes and brushed out her auburn hair as best she could. In the humidity it didn't hang straight as she preferred, but neither was it frizzy so she guessed it would do. She was grateful to Shimani for bringing her more clothing. She missed her jeans, but the dresses were much cooler in the hot, humid climate of the village and surrounding area.

She continued to pace. She couldn't sit still. Where was he? It felt as if she'd been ready for hours, which technically, she probably had been. The Kahoali people didn't appear to have any means for tracking time, no clocks or anything like one that she found. She lived life by a clock back on Earth and it felt bizarre not to have one now. She couldn't tell the passing of time. All she could use to discern the passage of time was the daylight and darkness at night. At the moment, it wasn't full on night but close.

From the sounds drifting into her hut from outside the repast was well underway. Where are you, Shimani? She felt on the verge of making her own way to the repast when she heard a knock at her door.

"Are you ready?" Shimani asked after Kaily opened the door.

"Ready enough." Kaily said as if it didn't matter to her. She was proud of herself for being able to give that kind of reply. Although, the way Shimani smiled at her indicated that he knew the truth of how much she did look forward to going to the evening repast. Kaily gave him points for remaining wisely silent about it.

Shimani stepped aside to let her step outside, and then shut the door behind him. She wanted to ask him if a certain someone would be at the evening repast, but the words wouldn't come, and she couldn't ask it without showing more interest in the answer than she wanted to show. So, she asked him the first thing that popped into her mind. "Are you always in such a good mood?" Admittedly, it wasn't a brilliant question and perhaps came out a bit more rudely than she intended. She did appreciate Shimani's good mood and nature. Without him there, it would have found life far more difficult for her in the village than she would like to admit.

Shimani laughed. "Not always."

Kaily smiled, grateful Shimani was so good-natured with her and taken her question in stride. She noticed as they walked towards the gathering that the women wore headdresses. She subconsciously touched her hair.

"You look beautiful, Kaily." Shimani said pulling her hand away from her hair. "This is a special night with guests which is why the women are wearing headdresses. Most nights they are less formal and don't try to impress quite so much."

Kaily tried to take comfort in his words, but how was she supposed to fit in if no one told her these things. Of course, she wouldn't have known how to put one on in the first place, but it explained some of the matching scarf like cloth she found with the dresses. She found it curious how colorful the women's dresses were in comparison to the male's attire. The males wore various shades of tan to brown. "The males didn't dress up."

"We don't." Shimani winked at her.

Kaily smiled and shook her head. She tried to think of other things to say or ask, nothing came to mind. She was not very good at small talk or being around others. Shimani appeared to be okay with the silence which ensued as they walked towards the