Chapter 12
Zul met Ursula in the studio again and joined her, Bran, and Gil at meals the next day, but the triad did not advance to the Rite of First Taste. Ursula agreed to proceed, but Zul noticed she was not altogether comfortable with doing so. Regardless of her words, she could not hide the trepidation and guilt she felt: the mental connection revealed those thoughts and feelings.
“You take a great risk,” Gil warned him as he and Bran made ready to leave for their deployment the morning of their departure.
“We are a bonded triad now,” Zul replied, keeping his voice quiet. “The Council Supreme knows and will end this latest deployment quickly, so we can get to the business of breeding more warriors for them.”
Bran nodded, early morning sunlight glinting off his golden horns. “You are a wise choice for our triad and our mate.”
Zul wanted to preen with pride at those words of praise. However, he had more self-control than that. He merely nodded and pressed his fist to the center of his chest in a gesture of solidarity and respect. “Glory and honor be yours.”
The golden and turquoise warriors thumped their chests with their fists and bowed their heads, then they turned away, heading toward the transport thatawaited them.
“I’ll never get over how those bricks fly,” Ursula commented as she watched them enter the vehicle.
Hearing her voice, Zul glanced behind him, surprised she had approached without him noticing. He chastised himself for such inattention and returned his focus to the departing warriors. When the door closed behind them, short, stubby wings fanned out, and the vehicle rose with a soft whine of unseen power. It hovered a moment, then shot upward into the cloudless sky and soon vanished from view. As the distance between them grew, the mental bond linking Ursula with Bran and Zul thinned and snapped.
Zul read Ursula’s pensive expression and interpreted her thoughts and feelings without the bond. He murmured, “You are worried.”
She sighed and nodded. “I always worry.” They turned to head back indoors. As they walked, she continued, “When I was a kid, one of my best friends had a dad who was in the military. I forget which branch. Anyway, he was deployed overseas and returned a few months later in a casket. I remember how devastated my friend and her family were. They moved away soon after.” She shook her head and sighed again. “I cannot imagine losing another mate or, God forbid, both of them.”
“I do not think you need to worry about that this time,” Zul said. “The Council Supreme knows about our triad. They cannot?—”
“Cannot?” she interrupted, her tone sardonic.
“Will not,” he corrected, “rescind the deployment orders, but they can and probably will redirect their service to a new assignment, one less likely to get one of them killed.”
“You almost make them sound conscientious and considerate,” she muttered. Scoffing, she added, “We know they are neither.”
Zul shook his head and agreed with her. “No, they are not. They use the military for their own aggrandizement, something I hope will soon be rectified.”
Ursula paused and looked at him, eyes narrowing. “You know something.”
He gave her a small, close-lipped smile. “I know many things.”
“Tell me,” she demanded.
He cupped her cheek with one massive hand, sweeping his thumb over the fine, silky skin. “I do not endanger innocents.”
Ursula stared at him, seeking a chink in his unyielding black gaze. Not finding what she sought, she took a step backward. He let his hand drop.
“You won’t tell me what’s going on, what Bran and Gil have planned.”
“I will not,” he confirmed. “I do not know the whole of it, only the intent.”
“That should be sufficient to tell me.”
“No.”
“You would prefer me ignorant?”
“I would prefer you safe.”
Ursula quelled the childish urge to stomp her foot. Straightening her spine and squaring her shoulders, she declared, “I’m going to town.”
“I will accompany you.”
His mild tone annoyed her precisely because he gave her nothing to fight against, no command or expectation of unthinking obedience. “There’s no need.”
