“Oh!” The top of Gis’s mane fluffed up in excitement. “Yes, that’s excellent. We’re always having issues with the comms. We could feed a blank message packet to the system. He’ll try all kinds of things to get the message to play, giving us a little time.”
“That’s all we need,” Amina said. She patted the pocket Ruby was napping in. The last thing she needed was for the lizard to go missing unexpectedly.
“You should go back in there,” Gis said. He handed over the flask she’d be sent off to fetch.
“Right,” she said, taking it in both hands and bracing herself to be in Lorse’s presence.
No one even looked at her when she walked in. The tenth or eleventh course was being served, but she wasn’t sure which. There were so many!
She set the flask down in front of Myrum and risked a look at his face. His eyes were darting around, and he was making a constant confused rumble.
It was close, but she almost asked Lorse if she could put Myrum to bed because he seemed sick. She stopped herself in time. Myrum’s state was on purpose; of course Lorse wouldn't want him tucked away somewhere else when the entire feast was for their union.
The whole thing had been hilarious on the planet, then Lorse showed his dark side and nothing was funny any longer.
Moving around the table, she took her seat and tucked her hands away in her sleeves. Myrum sniffed the air as if trying tocatch her scent. She was desperate to touch and talk to him, but she couldn’t risk it.
Gis came back into the room and took a spot next to Sar, standing against a wall. Lorse was talking nonstop to Myrum about the significance of the color of the food. He fed a bite to Myrum, who managed to chew and swallow but was obviously having a hard time with even those basic functions.
Someone walked in. Amina peered around Myrum to see Nashie bowing to Lorse.
“Planetary Expansionist Lorse, a data packet from your parent has arrived.”
Lorse set down the food he’d been about to eat. “So soon?”
“It could’ve been sent before you sent your data packet this morning,” Nashie said, remaining in the bow. “Or it could be an answer. It’s unlikely but not impossible that Grand Soul Jishorn received and responded on the same day.”
Lorse looked annoyed. “That’s true.”
He tapped his fingers on the table while everyone remained still and silent, waiting for Lorse to decide what he wanted to do. Amina’s heart was in her throat. She looked over to see that Gis was staring hard at Nashie. He was probably scared to look at Lorse.
In a motion so sudden it startled several people, including Amina, Lorse stood up and let out an aggravated sound. He looked to his security.
“Ifor and Igad, stay here with my soul’s match,” he said, then moved around the table, kicking Nashie when she didn’t move out of his way fast enough. He barely brushed her, but she acted as if it hurt, probably to keep him from coming after her.
The other two security personnel were quick to follow Lorse.
Amina cursed under her breath. She knew there was a risk Lorse would leave a guard behind, but she hadn’t expected two.
Another member of the staff stepped into the room. “Protector Igad, one of the security satellites pinged, but not both. What does that mean?”
Igad tilted her head. “Which one pinged, Jul?”
Jul kept her head bowed as she spoke. “ST-0102 sent out a proximity warning.”
“That’s not good,” Igad muttered and looked to the last guard. “I need to go to the command room and see if this is significant. Be vigilant, Ifor. I’ll send Ilmed or Isal back to take my place.”
Ifor gave Igad a slight bow. “I’m sure one drugged Talin and a pathetic human won’t be an issue.”
Igad gave Amina a disgusted look. “That’s true.”
She left, and Amina breathed out a sigh of relief. The remaining guard moved to stand directly behind Myrum, which put her back to Amina.
That was helpful!
Pulling off her robe, Amina lowered it gently to the ground. She was about to take on a well-trained Ossiso; she didn’t want Ruby to get hurt in the fray.
Moving slowly to keep from making any sound, Amina stood up. Unsheathing her claws, her secret weapon, she went through the motions in her head. She only had one shot at this.
