Mwe sighed and surveyed the remaining occupants of the room.
Oeta had left to gather the cubs from Pavryn and Vikvez. Zirene was nursing an alcoholic beverage, keeping his focus on Selena’s sleeping form, the only movement from his agitated tail. Royak had been conversing with Mwe before he interrupted Xylo’s thoughts. The princes were silent, observing Selena as she relaxed between them, in a deep mental conversation with each other.
Now the room’s focus was on him.
“That is to be determined,” Mwe replied. “We do know that, for some reason, she is being targeted by an outside presence unlike anything I have ever felt before.” He studied Selena’s sleeping form. “Tell me. You both are bonded to her…” He tilted his head toward Zirene. “You three are permanently bonded with her, with both princes working toward that goal.” He pursed his lips and looked up, his lavender wings shuffling behind him. “Has anything similar to today happen before?”
“Oh, Stars…” Xylo murmured, his vines shivering as realization dawned on him. He looked down at Selena’s sleeping form curled up on Odelm’s lap.
“Xylo?” his nestbrother asked, concerned.
“Once,” he whispered. “It happened once—on the morning after Selena officially claimed me—the day Selena also established a court bond with you.” He glanced up at his nestbrother. “I felt a presence… something unfamiliar caressing my mental shields… and woke up with a great need to defend her from danger. There was nothing in our room, and she didn’t mention anything happening to her. I didn’t want to scare her and brushed it off as a bad dream or my body still adjusting to Selena’s claim. If I had known it wasn’t my imagination, I would have made a bigger deal about it.”
“How long ago was this?” Zirene growled.
Xylo paused and tried to calculate the days in his head.
“Twenty-three days… It was twenty-three days ago when Selena honored me with a second chance,” Odelm announced softly, looking down at Selena lovingly as he carefully brushed her hair with his agile fingers.
“If what you felt was someone reaching for her, we need to teach her how to send for help and defend herself from others. We don’t know what they want, who they are, or why they want her,” Mwe said grimly.
“Why not teach her before we leave?” Xylo asked. “We leave tomorrow night to arrive during daybreak onDestima. She said you invited us over for dinner, so why not do it then?”
Mwe closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, his magenta glow dimmed.
“Do you think it would work?” V’dim asked.
“It has to. She is connected to all of us. Who knows what will happen if they have their way?” Z’fir replied.
“But haven’t your mental shields improved since joining a court bond with her? Ours seem to be continuously growing,” Odelm said.
“Yes, they have.”
“We have noticed it has been easier to mute our crew’s chatter.”
“Then what is the problem?” Royak asked, confused.
“The problem is Selena’s natural ability is shielding. If someone was powerful enough to crack into her and Zirene’s chamber uninvited, then we need to help train her how to defend against any more attacks—and how to reach out to others.” Mwe opened his eyes and peered at Zirene. “And you need to start joining her in the dreamscape. Keeping yourself separate from her will only harm you both over time.”
“Selena and I have already discussed it,” Zirene growled, narrowing his amethyst eyes. “We will work on it once she is settled onDestima—where she belongs.”
“If Selena is being targeted on the space station, why haven’t you left already?” Mwe asked. “It would have reduced my time to try to get to know her better, but I would’ve understood the reason.”
“I can answer. These fools thought they could take her away from me through political means. Unbeknownst to them, she fully defended herself with no aid from those who stood with her on the floor.” He chuckled and swirled theXowynin his glass. “They drugged her and tried to have her create a scene, but it was Kaede’s quick thinking that solved that dilemma. If we changed our plans, it wouldn’t solve anything but would make us look like we are cowards.” Zirene raised his glass in the air and purred.
Xylo studied the part of the ceiling Zirene was focused onand saw nothing out of the ordinary. Was he slowly losing his sanity?
“No. We will let them try to target Selena once more. While they are scrambling to come up with their third attempt, my agents will find them.” Zirene toasted Mwe, took a sip, and sighed. “You see, you may be able to hear anyone on this space station, but my agents are hunting. They feel it’s an insult to their capabilities that Selena was drugged right in front of them on their watch, so now, they are out for revenge and—”
“To prove themselves,” Xylo murmured.
“Exactly. They don’t know what is coming for them.”
“And am I supposed to turn a blind eye—and a blank mind—to all of this?” Mwe demanded.
“They are not breaking any laws. We are within our rights to establish preventative measures to protect my citizens.”
“Our citizens,” Royak corrected as he held his hand up. “I know you meant nothing by it, brother. Selena is mine as much as yours by CEG laws.”
