The next day started out great until I opened the front door and found Altas standing there with a basket of food and flowers. I know I said we could meet in the morning, but not when the sun has just risen.
Give a girl a moment to wake up and eat.
"You're here early…" I muttered with a frown, not moving an inch from the door. Ahi and Xavier were inside prepping breakfast and keeping an eye on the door. "Could we do this a bit later? I just woke up."
I needed something strong to get this day started. Would be needing it to deal with Atlas, the queen and figure a plan for that new quest. Too bad I hadn't found any coffee in this world.
"Food… Eat…." Atlas held up the basket.
"Can see it's food, but you know that a female accepting food from a single male means she's accepting his courtship." I mused with a raised eyebrow. "Last I checked, we still needed to go over some rules first."
Atlas frowned at my words like he didn't know this. He turned away from me and growled out at something or probably someone in the hallway. My guess was the lizard guy.
Said lizard then appeared by the door, bowing in head, "Lord Atlas didn't mean to trick you into a courtship. He wants to say sorry for yesterday's…. misunderstanding. He got excited upon meeting you and scared you."
"I see… well you should apologize to Xavier and Rowan. They got iced in the process." I sighed. "Also is there a reason you're telling me this and not Lord Atlas?"
I didn't mean it in a bad way, but talking to Atlas now and thinking back yesterday, I noticed Atlas didn't speak much. Others would normally explain things, making me wonder if he had a problem speaking.
Or maybe there was a language barrier. Did different places have different languages in this world? Most beastworld stories had one common tongue and then beast speech.
Then again, he'd probably be speaking in another tongue for translation.
The lizard beastman glanced at Atlas, who nodded his head, before turning back to face me. "Well… It's hard for Lord Atlas to talk for long. He hasn't spoken for a long time and normally speaks in people's minds, so his throat hurts when talking aloud."
"You have telepathy?" I murmured in surprise, now understanding what Ahi meant by dragons having special abilities. "Can you speak to anyone in their mind?"
"No." The lizard beastman shook his head. "Lord Atlas needs permission from the person before he can enter their mind to speak."
"What about mind reading?" I asked, curious if dragons had that too.
I hoped to whatever gods were out there he didn't have that ability to. Otherwise, he knew exactly what I thought of him and most wasn't great for obvious reasons.
"No. Only the Beast God can do that." The lizard answered, much to my relief.
"I see… So, how does this permission thing work?" I questioned. "Do I say something like I give Lord Atlas to enter my mind?"
Yes. A voice suddenly said to me in my mind, making me squeak.
"Did you…" I muttered as I stared at Atlas with wide eyes.
I did. Do you want to revoke permission? The voice asked in my head. You can do that too. Just say you revoke permission and I won't be able to enter your mind again until you give me permission again.
"No, it's fine… I'm just surprised to have a voice in my head." I stated, trying to ignore the fact my words sounded a little crazy. "Guess this makes communication easier."
Are we going to discuss rules then? Atlas asked before holding the basket out again. This isn't for a courtship. It's an apology for scaring you. Gaven said females like flowers and these foods.
My guess was Gaven was the lizard's name. I glanced at the basket seeing there were various fruits in it along with protea flowers and a few others I couldn't name.
"Alright… I guess I can accept this then. But it doesn't mean we're courting." I stated as I took the basket. "We can discuss rules over breakfast. Have you eaten?"
Probably not the best time to have a courtship discussion, but it wasn't like I could chase him away. It was better to get it over with.
I have. Atlas answered.
"Well then come in and I hope you don't mind us eating." I finally moved back to give him some space to enter.
He entered the room and I turned my gaze to Gaven, who was still standing by the doorway. He realized I was waiting for him and said, "I won't be coming inside. Shall stay here in case you need anything."
"Suit yourself, but I'm closing the door." I explained, not wanting anyone passing through the hallways to look into the room.
He nodded his head in understanding and with that I shut the door. Inside, the three males were sitting at the table, Atlas on one side and Ahi and Xavier on the other side. Some food was on the table, making my stomach grumble.
Damn I was hungry, not bothering to eat yesterday. Just washed up and went straight to bed.
Walking over to the table, I set the basket down before taking a seat between Xavier and Ahi. They were quiet, but I could sense the tension in the air.
"Ahem… The basket is an apology." I started. "We're going to discuss courting over breakfast if that's okay with you. Also Lord Atlas, you need to apologize to Xavier about yesterday."
"I don't need an apology from him." Xavier crossed his arms. "He better just behave himself."
"Yes…. Will…" Atlas nodded his head.
"Guess it's onto rules then…" I coughed. "I normally have conditions for courting before I agree to a courtship. Both Ahi and Xavier have agreed to them. My first one is that you respect them both and any of my future mates. I don't want any fighting or harming of mates whether directly or indirectly. You have an issue, talk it out.
"Also you need to respect my discussion about mates. If you have an issue with my choice, we can discuss it. I don't plan to take a lot of mates, just a few strong ones, and will treat them all equally. At least I'll try to do that as much as possible…
"Anyway, my other condition is that anything that happens within this courtship stays amongst us. Even if we decide to part ways. We'll court for a period of time and if things don't work out, we part ways without any bitterness or harmful intentions. Can you agree to that?"
Atlas was quiet for a moment before he nodded his head. Yes.