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“It sounds effective,” Kol said.

“Is there any change in Zahn’s status?” Vor asked, trying to be sure that he knew all the answers before he jumped in.

“He is still unconscious, but out of the healing chamber. The doctors assure us that with rest and patience, he will recover but it will take time,” Quin said.

“Let’s get started,” Jhan said. “I’m anxious to relax and have a bit of fun.”

“Fun?” Eula asked.

“Yes. Identifying traitors. Hunting them down, gutting them. Things like that.”

“Dear, Gods,” Eula said. “And you were such a sweet little male.”

Jhan laughed. “That was a long time ago, Mumum.”

Chapter 23

Zahn struggled to open his eyes, but only caught flashes of color and light before his lids slammed shut again. Lifting his lip in a snarl that didn’t quite come, he forced his eyelids to open once more. This time he was able to make a little more sense of his surroundings. Monitors, sterile looking walls… must be a medical facility. Trying to look far enough down his body to see that he had all his extremities, he was surprised to see silver hair, and a delicate, feminine arm lying near his body. It was Au'revele. His spirit soared, his desire to rise and declare that he’d destroy any who dared say she wasn’t his flooded his body. He tried to move, to sit up, then stand and claim her, but nothing more than twitches of his fingers and a leg resulted. Maybe it wasn’t the perfect time to rise from his sick bed and claim her, but it wouldn’t stop him from letting her know that he wanted her there.

He opened his mouth to speak, but only a raspy whisper escaped him after so many days of not using his voice. Lying there frustrated, his irritation growing he managed to turn his head enough to see her head resting atop one of her arms and the other arm thrust out near his hip. Channeling all his frustration, he targeted his own arm and after several tries managed to just barely lift it enough to hover briefly over her arm. He dropped his arm on top of her, his fingers slowly curling around her forearm like a vice.

Au'revele startled and sat up quickly, looking down at her arm to see that he’d awakened and taken hold of her. Au'revele looked into Zahn’s eyes, of which only one was focused on her. She smiled at him as she blinked away tears of relief. “Zahn… I’ve been waiting for you.”

He tried to focus on her a little more clearly, but in the end decided to just close his eyes.

“Yes, rest. Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here.”

Zahn slowly inhaled, filling his lungs properly for the first time in days, and it felt good. He was breathing. He was alive, and Au'revele was beside him. He had so much to say, so much to explain but there wasn’t a chance it would happen today. He tightened his grip on Au'revele’s arm. Didn’t matter. She wasn’t going anywhere. He’d tell her later.

Au'revele stroked the back of his hand with her other hand, assured that he at least knew who she was and wanted her there.

Zahn opened his eyes once more and did his best to focus on her.

Au'revele smiled at him.

He opened his mouth and tried to speak.

She watched him, the little furrow between her brows wrinkling up as she tried to understand him.

He tried again, and finally managed to push enough air past his bruised throat and everything in it for her to realize what he was telling her. “Mine,” he rasped, looking into her eyes.

Au'revele nodded and squeezed his hand with her free hand. “Yes. Yours.”

Zahn felt filled with the strength of 30 males. Au'revele had admitted that she was his. She’d accepted his claim, feeble though it was. He tried to speak again, but instead let his head fall back on the pillow, and was once again unconscious.

Au'revele’s gaze jumped to the monitors. Each was maintaining the levels they had been before, which indicated to the medical personnel that came and went that all was well. Assured that he just needed more time to heal, she settled in to do what she’d done since he was brought in and that was sit beside him, and let him know he wasn’t alone. She’d always be beside him.

~~~

“I had no idea this was so large, Zha Tahl. I assumed as everyone else did that it was a small group of warriors unhappy with the changes that will be taking place when Quin is appointed Sovereign,” Bart said.

Zha Tahl sat at a large conference table in his war room, scrolling through screen after screen of reports on the huge monitor mounted on the wall opposite where he sat. “I’ve been aware of some unrest since it was confirmed that Quin would take my place. But it was nothing new. There have been rumblings since we joined the Consortium. But even I had no idea the roots ran this deep. I thought a dozen warriors, or less, voicing their concerns, hoping for validation among their peers. There are always critics no matter what civilization it is, no matter how positive the changes could be, there will always be those who condemn the new ways simply because they’re not the old ways. This, though. It’s not just the warriors, it’s civilians, too. Thankfully, it’s a small percentage of the population, but it still exists. It cannot be ignored or it will fester until it spreads like an infection.”

“So Quin is right for not trusting certain of the palace warriors with the safety of your families.”

Zha Tahl sighed and grimaced a bit as he considered his answer. “It is never wrong to be too careful. So I fully agree with evaluation of our guard to determine who is truly loyal to us, who is not, and who has not decided exactly where they stand. Quin is also a new father whose son was just attacked. I am surprised there have not been more than the two deaths already accounted for. What Quin needs to realize is that there are still those who are loyal to us and to Cruestace and the changes she is going through. They would give their lives to protect us and willingly defeat an uprising against us and our way of life. That’s why those who disagree are still keeping to the shadows with their clandestine operations. And because of that, I do not think that those who wish to remove modernization and alliances from our future policies can succeed. But it is entirely possible that those loyal to Cruestace could be harmed during the process of overcoming those who wish to bring us down. And they will,as they’ve already shown target the weakest among us, because that is their easiest path to success as they see it. Make no mistake, though, Quin will find them. I have no doubt of it. Those committing treason will ironically be erased through the very violence and dominance they long to have returned to the Cruestaci way of life. They will cry foul when they are a victim of their own desires.” Zha Tahl huffed a sardonic laugh. “They have lulled themselves into a false state of superiority. They’ve forgotten who exactly Quin was before Vivian and the Consortium came into his life, but they will soon remember.”

“I hope the numbers are overestimated and it is still only a handful of warriors that we are talking about.”

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