“He's not my suitor!” Lena hissed. Then she sighed. “What did he do?”
“He attacked me when I turned to leave.”
“He attacked you from behind? That dishonorable asshole!”
Vor's eyes went wide, and his lips twitched. “Yes, indeed. I thought the same. It was a coward's move.”
Lena cleared her throat. “Sorry. I don't like him. He was a rebel who fought against his own people.”
“What?” Vor leaned forward. “If that's true, what is he doing here?”
“He thought he was rebelling on behalf of Thaxvarien, but he was wrong. When Thaxvarien went to Icara to stop the uprising, Rallorival gave his allegiance to Thaxvarien and followed him back to the surface.”
“Interesting,” Vor murmured.
“Did he hurt you?” Lena didn't like the concern that trembled in her belly. She shouldn't worry about her captor.
“No, Lena. That was the miracle.”
She really didn't like the way Vor was staring at her. “What happened?”
“I held up an arm to ward him off. It was instinctual, as was my thought of self-defense. It was this arm I raised.” Vor lifted his metal arm. “As I bent it to block the blow, it transformed, the metal spreading and merging into a shield. His sword glanced off. Then I lowered my arm, and the shield became an arm once more.”
Lena blinked. Gaped at his hand. Looked up at Vor. “Impossible. That sounds like the beginning of a convergence.”
“Yes, General Caden said something similar. But I'm a person. People can't be converged, can they?”
“No. Well, I don't know. Thaxvarien converges living things, but only plants and the elements, not people.”
“So, it wasn't a convergence. It was a transformation.”
“Why do you think I had something to do with it?”
“From the moment I first held you, Lena, I've felt different. Not just my emotions, but my body as well. The tech parts of me feel as if they've been out of alignment. They worked, but not at their peak performance. Not until I held you. Being around you seems to—I don't know—recalibrate me. I feel more like myself around you. As if this was what I was born to be. And I'm not the only one who feels that way.”
Recalibrate? Alignment? This was insane. Lena shook her head. “I'm not even that good at converging. How could I align your tech parts?”
“You're special, Lena. I don't know how you do it, if it's the vibrations of your body or perhaps those in your voice, but you tune our bodies to their proper frequency.” Vor blinked and cocked his head. “Frequency.”
“What about it?”
He cleared his throat. “Nothing. It's just a conversation I had earlier. I forgot frequencies apply to sound.” He grinned. “It would make sense if your voice were the harmonizer.”
“Tuned by a tune,” she whispered.
“Exactly.” He held his hand out to her. “Lena, you saved my life today. Thank you.”
Lena laid her hand on his, and Vor gently squeezed it before lifting it to his lips. He kissed the back of her hand as heheld her gaze. Lena held his stare until she realized what she was allowing and jerked her hand away.
Vor held up his hands, palms out. “It was just a kiss on your hand.”
Lena folded her hands together, subconsciously rubbing the spot he had kissed. “Don't do that.”
Vor nodded. Then he leaned back with a sigh. “They want to meet you now.”
“Who?”
“My soldiers. They wanted me to tell you they're looking forward to hearing you sing again.” He chuckled. “You'll have them all wrapped around your little finger in no time.”
