13
TILLYEverything about the Ba’ta’k ceremony was weird and foreign and yet, there was a familiar element to it. There was an officiant, witnesses, and something to exchange to symbolise our commitment to each other. I definitely saw the resemblance to marriage.
I stared at the silver material in my hands, surprised how it changed from hard and unyielding to something kneadable.
Valla gently touched my ear before she put the strange material around the shell. It felt weird to have something pressed on top of my ear but the intimacy was undeniable. Her soft but insistent touches, the concentrated look on her face, and the cold from the silver.
“Your turn,” she said gingerly, turning the side of her face towards me.
Her long, pointy ears were elegant and the tip made it much easier to s
