“Okay, but like you basically are. You live together already. Just think about it. And after you do, I want all the details, ok?”
Cassie smothered a laugh. “I’ll be sure to tell you all about it.”
This seemed to satisfy Wreeta because they returned to more mundane topics for the rest of the training sequence. After everyone finished running, Cassie usually left with Örim, but he hadn’t arrived yet, so she stayed behind to watch their pulsar target practice. The others were functional shots, but S’samph was dangerous with the weapon in hand.
Cassie watched S’samph at his target until he holstered his weapon and went to correct everyone else’s form. She wasn’t sure if a weapon would make her feel safer, but it didn’t hurt to ask. S’samph was often inscrutable to her, but she suspected he would at least consider her request. She couldn’t spend the rest of her days waiting and waiting for something terrible to happen. She needed to feel like she was doing something, anything, so she’d pluck up her courage and ask S’samph. Thesame way she’d asked Örim for reading lessons all those months ago.
Still sweating from her unexpectedly intense run, Cassie rolled up her sleeves and grabbed a hydropod from the bowl someone had left on the table. When the members of the patrol squad left quickly to go check on a ravik sighting, Cassie lingered behind. She waited until everyone else departed before she approached S’samph with her request. Cassie accepted the additional hydropod he handed to her without a word.
“Do you have a question, Cassie?” S’samph glanced down at her from his great height. Cassie glanced quickly at his holster before making brief eye contact. She pulled out her datapad and started to write.
“Teach me, please.” She pointed at the pulsar gun. S’samph’s frill lifted slightly from his spine. Cassie couldn’t tell if the surprise was from the request or from her unexpected use of voice. She doubted it was the second, as the speaking device around her neck was obvious, but S’samph wasn’t going to tell her either way.
“You want to learn how to use a pulsar gun?”
“Yes.”
S’samph unholstered the weapon for a moment, glancing at it and then glancing at her. “Why?”
“The Avrit.” Cassie knew she’d spelled it horribly wrong again, but hopefully he was able to understand her meaning. “I want to kill him.” The addition was meant to clarify, but S’samph’s frill only lifted higher.
“Killing the Aviarist, if it comes to that, is my responsibility. You are under my protection as head of security in Laurus.”
Cassie crossed her arms. “Teach me.”
His frill lifted. “I suspect you will seek a different teacher if I tell you no.”
Cassie hadn’t considered the idea, but now she certainly would. She thought about who would likely be willing to teach her if S’samph refused. “K’kaen? Wreeta? I will ask.”
S’samph’s tail twitched. “K’kaen is a terrible teacher, and Wreeta would be worse. I should know better than to try to negotiate with stubborn humans.”
“So, you’ll teach me?”
“And your mate won’t wonder where you are? If you’re not meeting him for reading lessons.”
“We’re not mates.” They had barely defined their relationship yet, but the thought of calling him her mate made her whole face burn.
“As Eleri would say, it’s none of my business.” S’samph’s tail flicked again. “Fine. I will teach you how to use a pulsar gun. You can stay here with me after training rounds. I’ll find a null for you to practice with. Today stance. Watch first.”
S’samph pulled out the pulsar gun and fired with one hand at a boulder in the distance. He seemed pleased with his aim as the blast left scorch marks on the stone. Cassie watched the fluid motion of his form as he shifted his weight to better align with the target. He was about to fire another round when footsteps approached from behind.
“Why are you firing your weapon in front of our nest?” Eleri’s eyes were narrowed, and S’samph whipped around, his frill flattening against his spine.
“Cassie wants to learn how to use a pulsar gun.”
“I see.” Eleri crossed her arms. “Do you need to fire to teach her?”
“Probably not.”
Eleri laughed. “Don’t be a menace then. And if Cassie wants to learn, teach her properly. Don’t grump at her.”
“I do not grump.” S’samph’s tail curled around Eleri’s ankle, and Cassie looked away, getting the sense she was interrupting something intimate.
“Of course you don’t.” Eleri swatted his tail away with a playful movement. “I’m just here to let you know that S’kasia is looking for you. I’m also taking the rest of the afternoon off.” She lifted one of her eyebrows. This captured S’samph’s full attention for some reason.
“We’ll start lessons tomorrow.” He moved to his mate’s side and swept her off her feet to carry her toward their nest. Cassie waved awkwardly as she started to collect her things. Örim was waiting by the roadside as she crested the hill leading back up to the magtracks.
“Sorry I was late today. Some of the students’ questions went on longer than I was anticipating.”
