“Is there any way to look for some?”
“Not without returning to Feox, and if I do, they will kill me.”
“I don’t think I like your homeworld. Did you try to defend yourself somehow?”
“In what way? I was given an order that I disobeyed.” There really was no defense of his actions beyond his own moral rules of what was right and wrong.
He’d hurt and killed many in the name of his king, but he did not kill children.
He would not.
Regardless of what that did to him. His conscious was clear on the matter.
Jenny, however, was still curious. “And this king gave you that order directly? Or did it come from someone else?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Was it possible that the order was misunderstood? That you were supposed to do something else? That the order had been changed, either by accident or purposely?”
The idea gave him pause. He never truly thought about it. Had he been manipulated with the order? The order came in with an honest intention from the deliverer. He sensed no malicious intent upon delivery.
Did it come directly from the king?
No. “It came in through channels, as all orders come in.”
“Was it sent to you to purposely damage your standing, perhaps? You said yourself that the worst of your people are those who hurt females and children. This would have made you guilty of both. Could it have been some kind of set-up to remove you? Or even a test to see how loyal you were?”
“It is possible. Though I would think that those who knew me on the King’s Guard would have known that I would not assassinate a child.”
“Well, I’m sorry you had to run away from your world, but I am glad you’re here.”
“I am too.” With every moment they spent together, the stronger his desires to remain with her built.
“Good,” she said with a smile. “Because I’m getting used to the idea of us being mates. I’m not ready to give you up yet.”
He wasn’t ready to lose her, either.
While they sat so intimately on the couch, watching the blinking of the fancy tree, he knew he felt more content than he had in a very long time.
The faint sound of the wind and the storm that was moving through the area could be heard in the background, but it was otherwise peaceful.
“You know what we need?” Jenny said after a bit.
“What?”
“Some Christmas music.”
“How do we get that?”
“I’ll bring it up on my phone,” she said. She picked up her communicator and started tapping on the screen. “Right, I’ll have to connect to the wifi. Just a second.” She climbed up and got the card that Jeff had given her before.
In a moment, she was back and fiddled with her device, and soon sweet songs played. Songs about trees and magic and lights and having a wonderful Christmastime filled their residence.
She bopped her head back and forth to the music, and he could see how the music brought up her mood.
And then, in the middle of a song, a barrage of bells interrupted the music.
She sighed and picked up her phone. “This was what I was avoiding.”
