Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series) by J.A. Hornbuckle Read Free Book Online

confusion as he eyed Tyshar over his shoulder.
“In some instances I noted they give deference by opening doors or
stepping aside so the female could pass first, but not
always.”
    “Yes, I noticed that as well,” Tyshar answered
on a sigh. “But I could find no rhyme or reason for it. Not all the
human males seemed to honor females, even those who appear to be
under their protection. And even some of the unattached males
occasionally deferred to human females.”
    “Interesting,” Rykhan breathed. “So would you
call it ‘selective protection’?”
    Tyshar shrugged. “I’m afraid I don’t have
enough information to qualify it yet.”
    Bronsyn advanced the recording until the view
screen showed Tyshar in a building surrounded by stunning displays
of the different shiny adornments humans chose to wear. After
handing the handful of gold pieces to an officious older man, who
placed the bits of gold on a antiquated scale.
    ‘I’ve never seen this design before, Mr. Rell,’
the man intoned before picking up one of the fancier campaign pins.
‘Do you know its origin?’
    ‘I believe it’s from a foreign war,’ Tyshar
replied. ‘I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it.’
    The man placed a single ocular-piece up to his
eye for a more careful study. ‘Stunning although I’m not familiar
with the design, the gold appears to be only marginally mixed. What
do you think, twenty-two karat?’
    ‘Yes, probably,’ Tyshar had answered and at
that moment in the playback, he signaled for Bronsyn to pause the
vid. “I had no idea what he meant.”
    “On Earth, their metals are rendered to their
purest state and then melded with others. Gold especially is too
soft to use without having additional metals added to it.”
Arbrynt’s voice was firm but held a note of disbelief at the
old-fashioned methods used. “Even so, the addition of the other
metals does not seem to reduce the value of gold unless it goes
below eighteen karats which is the English term for its purity.
Without the alloys, pure gold is twenty-four karats. Our insignias
at twenty-two karats mean there is less than 9% alloy in them.” The
other man turned to look back at the screen. “In other words,
Picari gold is very valuable.”
    “But he only gave me $2,300 for it,” Tyshar
exclaimed. “Should I have negotiated for more?”
    Arbrynt pulled out his own tresl and pushed some
buttons. “You only took 150 grams down to the surface, correct? So,
while the exchange was on the low side, you were not
cheated.”
    Tyshar let out his breath in relief. Bronsyn
gave his full attention to the warrior who had braved the first
encounter and assured Tyshar he had been successful in his first
sojourn. “Well done, Protector Rell.”
    Thumping a fisted hand over his first heart,
Tyshar gave a deep nod at Bronsyn’s words.
    The next few frames on the stream captured the
various signs that lined the streets, which had Gyard leaning
forward, studying intently. “There! That one! That is to show the
limit of the speed their transports are to maintain while they
travel. Also that one on the right? That is to show where they are
allowed to park.”
    “Tsiran !
How will we ever be able to travel unless we learn all of their
rules?” Laxon was not the only one intimidated by the sheer chaos
of the moving vehicles on the recording.
    Arbrynt rapped his knuckles on the table and
Bronsyn again stopped the playback. “I’m already working on a
solution, brothers. No worries. Just trust that I can work out a
program and traveling by vehicle will not be a problem when I’m
done.”
    Rykhan gestured to the bags bunched in the
middle of the table. “What’s all this?”
    Tyshar reached for the first plastic satchel.
“This, my fine warrior brothers, is what we will wear when we reach
the surface.” Every eye in the room was on him as he began to drag
out piece after piece of cloth. It was only then that Bronsyn
noticed how his warrior was dressed.
    When Tyshar left,