“Aye.”
“What’s thematter?”
“I—” He sighed.
“What is it?”
“I don’t wish to argue soearly in our marriage, yet I do not want you to accompany me toKhan-Gor.” She bodily tensed. “’Twould kill me did anything happento you.”
“And it wouldn’t kill me ifyou got injured or worse?” She shook her head. “There is absolutelyno way you are going down there without me—and without Dari forthat matter.”
“Dari? The princess is nottrained in the warring arts.”
“Which is why she needsprotected, but she still must go. She’s the only one who knows whatthat damn tree looks like.”
“We have her description ofit. She needs not be present for—”
Kara held up a palm. “And what if thereturns out to be trees down there that are similar in appearance?Have you thought of that? Because I have.”
Isar sighed like a martyr. “Kara…”
“What? You’d prefer I stopmaking sense?”
“Aye!” he said honestly.“Aye, I would!”
She couldn’t stop the small chuckle thatescaped her. She absently threw a long red curl over her shoulder.“I promise to stay with Dari and concern myself with protectingher, but I’m going.” She jabbed a finger at his massive chest.“Quite frankly, if you aren’t here with me I’ll probably go insane.I need off ship for a while.”
He grumbled, but relented. “I forgot you arenot accustomed to such long space excursions. Leastways, my firsttime nigh unto drove me daft as well.”
Kara snorted at that.“Daftis puttingit mildly. Stepping out onto any land mass will suffice at themoment.”
Isar was quiet for a long moment. Karaprodded him to talk to her.
“I will allow you to go,”he said begrudgingly, “if you vow to me never to be removed from mysight.”
She ran her hand across his jaw. “I promise.But the same goes for you.”
“’Tis a vow amongst SacredMates?”
“It’s a vow.”
The deal had been struck. Kara could onlyhope Gio was proving to be as reasonable as Isar where Dari wasconcerned.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, on Khan-Gor…
Jana assumed herkor-tariform that shemight use her talons to skin the deadmuubeast. Once skinned, she wouldeat it raw—as she could do whilst in this form—that she might havethe necessary strength in her body to feed Vorik. Her sweet milkwas running low and her son was hungry.
A couple ofNuba-hourslater, aftershe was well fed and her son’s belly was full, she used themuubeast’s gut stringsand fur to piece together cloaks for her and Vorik as well as twopairs ofmuu-hideboots.The deuce of them were going out into the elements to find a methodof escape off this planet and a way back onto her own. Leastways,her scent was harder to track whilst in her humanoid form, yet shenoticed that her son shapeshifted only when she did. That meantthat Vorik would stay in his weaker, more vulnerable humanoidstate. ‘Tis why she needed the warmth that themuufur could provide themwith.
Jana refused to think ofYorin, no matter that she missed him. She could not and would notlive out her days with her son on this backwater planet; thinkingof Vorik’s sire would allow Yorin to speak into her mind and that…‘twould simply not do. He would try to talk her out of fleeing,mayhap successfully so, and she could never be happy with herBloodmate and his manyyennias was their barbaric custom.
‘Twould be difficult, sheknew, to stay away from him much less leave him altogether.Leastways, whenever her hourly need came upon her to mate with him,‘twas all she could do to not let her mind splinter again. Onlythoughts of her son, of wanting a better life for him, kept herfrom returning to Yorin’s lair with her tail a’tween herlegs.
Jana’s main concern was her parents. For acertainty they would love her and Vorik, would they not? Sherealized they would be angered with her for a time for running awayto Galis, but she prayed to the goddess they would forgive her andaccept her back home on Ti Q’won.
Finished swaddling Vorik inthemuufur, shepicked him up and cradled him in her arms. “You are my son, mybeloved. Leastways, if they cannot accept you then I will notaccept them.”
