He stepped away and waved an attendant over. Along with the two guards, one Ossiso followed Lorse at a discreet distance everywhere he went. Lorse ordered the attendant to move the mat from the closet to Myrum’s room. He gave very precise instructions on exactly where to put the mat, which wouldn’t matter because Amina would be sleeping in his bed with him.
After he was done giving instructions, he turned back to them, but this time he addressed Amina.
“Show me your hands.”
Amina blinked then pulled her hands out from where she had them grasped against opposing wrists inside her voluminous robe sleeves. Lorse didn’t touch her, but he leaned over to peer at them.
“They appear clean; that’s good,” he said, straightening back up. “Make sure you wash yourself thoroughly before you touch Myrum.”
Lorse turned back to Myrum. Amina made a face at his back for a micromark then returned to her blank expression and tucked her hands into her sleeves again.
“It pleases me that you have this human,” Lorse said. “I want you to be comfortable and happy.”
The attendant he sent off returned with the mat, and Lorse followed him back into Myrum’s suite.
“The ship you arrived in couldn’t have been comfortable,” Lorse said, standing unnecessarily close to Myrum. It was a fight to keep from stepping away.
“It was adequate," Myrum said.
“You deserve more than adequate,” Lorse said. “Please rest, and I’ll collect you for dinner. Tomorrow the entertainment begins.”
“Thank you Planetary Expansionist Lorse,” Myrum began, but Lorse made a hushing sound and moved even closer. They were almost touching.
“I’m Lorse to you,” he murmured. “You are Myrum to me.”
Myrum was stumped on what to do. He could see Amina’s unsettled expression out of his peripheral vision. He felt the same.
Lorse brought his hand up and placed it in the center of Myrum chest. “You did well coming back to me.”
With that, he turned and swept out of the room with the soft clinking of medals.
Chapter 19
Amina
It was clear Myrum was as perturbed by Lorse’s actions and words as she was. The moment the door closed, he turned to her with his arms open, but she was prepared for it.
“Sir, you seem tense,” she said, keeping her eyes down. “Would you like me to rub your neck?”
Myrum let out a confused rumble before cutting it off and replacing it with a rumble of agreement. “Yes, that would be good.”
Amina pointed to the Leemron couch. “If sir would sit here, that would make it easier for me to perform my duties.”
Myrum moved to the low couch and sat down. Unprepared for how much it would give to his weight, he sank deeply into the couch with a surprised rattle.
“Lorse wasn’t exaggerating; this is soft,” he said
It was hard, but Amina didn’t laugh. Keeping her expression pleasantly blank, she moved to stand behind him. He’d saidsomething about massaging between his backplates. Looking down at his spine, she wasn’t sure how that was possible, but then he bent his neck forward and the plates there separated enough for her fingers to slip between.
“Do remember that the bottom edges of those plates are sharp,” he said. “I don’t need you to get blood on me again.”
She gave him a little pat on the shoulder to indicate she understood and wouldn’t accidentally nick herself.
It was easy to slip the fingers of one hand between the top plates and unobtrusively move her hand into her robe. There were only a few ties in the front keeping it closed, making it easy to access one of the many inside pockets. She and Jossulum had worked out a strategy for item placements, and the detector was in one of the more convenient pockets.
The problem was, while she could activate without looking, she’d need to pull it out to read the results.
After turning it on, she kept one hand in her robe, as if that was a habit.
