Page 28 of Slavic

Ileave the room before anyone can question my whereabouts.Mylong legs quickly eating up the distance from the helm to my personal quarters, the moment the door slides open,Iknow she is gone.Roaring,Ireturn to the hall wondering ifIwas in her place, where wouldIhave gone?GodofRuk, what if she snuck off the ship while we were on theNavale?

“Bikar, my mate is missing!”

“Yourouter door opened only a few ticks ago, so she can’t be far.Iwould check the med bay.”

“Frack.”Rubbingmy hand across my bald head,Ishould have known to look there first.Onlyevery other word out of her mouth has been about her sister.Myemotions and this drive to protect her from everything has my thoughts scattered.Ifind myself in front of the medical area without even remembering walking this way.Insteadof barging in likeIwant,Istep around its main door and enter in throughEinar’sprivate wing.

Walkingthrough the back entrance,Iapproach the primary chamber slowly, curious to see what she is doing.Istop just short of going in whenIhear her singing softly.Peekingmy head around the side of the separation,Ifind her sitting on the bed next to her sister, rubbing her hand up and down her back gently.Whenher voice quiets down she rearranges the heated covering over her a little and then turns to look right at me.

“It’snot polite to stareBigandGrouchy.Youare about as stealthy as a bull in aChinashop.Icould hear you breathing all the way over here.”

“Youneed to rest.”I’mforcing myself to remain whereIam.

“Yeah, yeah … growl … growl.Wedidn’t stay at that last place very long, and the ship moving is what woke me up.”Shelooksaway from me and back down to her sister. “IknowIhaven’t said this before but thank you for helping us.Ihave no idea what your plans are for us now, butIwould’ve lost her if not for you and the green giant.”

Herwords are soft, andIcan tell she is still scared.

“TheplansIhave for you little mate would shock the gods if said them out loud.Maybeit is a good thing that our mate bond is not completed, because you would run if you knew how muchIdesired you.”Thedoor sliding open halts my words.

Einarwalks in with two small containers in his hand. “Slavic, you may have to hold her.Iwill forever hear the screams of the others whileIinserted theirs.Falonhad to physically hold each of them, and the last one ran when she heard the screams of the others.Ofcourse, she ran right intoMurgulas he was coming out of the armory, then passed out the second his large hands grabbed hold of her.

Hepromptly handed her over toFalon, butIwas shocked that he stayed whileIinserted the translator.Heeven snarled at me when she whimpered slightly from the pain before waking back up.Falonwas distributing the clothing and a few other items he found on theNavalewhenIleft.Ihad a crate delivered to your quarters as well.”

“Sheis going to fight me,Einar.”

“Iwould expect nothing less from any female mated to youSlavic.Shehas to be tough for the gods to have given her to you.Thequicker you do this, the better.”

“Ido not see you running right over to yours with the intent to cause her more harm.”

“Mineis still sedated and will not recall the procedure at all, but in her condition,Ibelieve she deserves some kindness.Tryto explain what we are doing and hopefully yours will not fight us too badly.”

IapproachRubyslowly, taking the small device out ofEinar’shand, hoping she will recognize what it is.

“Donot touch that with your skinSlavic, or it won’t work.”

“IknowEinar.Imay not be a medic, butIam not stupid.”

Stoppingjust out of her reach, she looks up at me and then toward my hand.Imotion to my mouth, then my ears, before pointing back at the translator.Shejust looks at me likeIhave lost my mind.Despitemy repeated attempts to show her what this does, she only sighs wearily.

“IthinkI’vecovered the fact thatIsuck at guessing games.”

Imotion from the translator to her, and she frowns whenBikar’svoice comes over the speakers. “Slavicwe are in range,Murgulis waiting for you.”

Einarwalks past me toward the other female on the bed andIstiffen up when he approaches my mate, as she is still sitting on the bed next to her sister. “Wedon’t have all risingSlavic; hold on a tick.Shemight be more receptive if she watches me give this to her sister.”

Einarlooks up atRubybefore brushing her sister’s long red mane out of the way.Gentlyhe takes the translator out of the case with a pair of surgical tweezers.Theentire time myRubyhasn’t moved, but her eyes watch him intently.Theprocedure only takes a few seconds, and thankfully the sister does not move or seem to be in any kind of distress.

Whileher focus was uponEinar,Imove up right behind her so thatIcan easily subdue her if needed.WhenEinarstraightens up, she glances back at me.Hemotions to the one in my hand and then back to her.

“Letme get this straight.Youwant to put that in my ear?”

Bothof us nod.

“Ihad a feeling you were going to say that, and even though you are being patient, you’re really not going to let me say no, are you?”

Ishake my head, “Iam sorry little one.”Thewords come out even thoughIknow she can’t understand me.Iam hoping she will submit on her own, becauseIcertainly don’t think forcing her to cooperate will gain me any favors.

“Ok, let’s do this then.Rowanseems to be alright, so do it beforeIchange my mind.”

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