Page 60 of Neverwylde 6
Her equilibrium was off. She hit the wall several times, until she was forced to use it to help keep her on her feet.
She didn’t get far until a burly reddish guard wrapped an arm around her and held her firmly against him. Kelen tried to fight him, but what little strength she’d had was gone. She couldn’t have gone much further, anyway. She went limp in his embrace and allowed him to carry her back to the medical bay.
When they arrived, D’har Stek was waiting for her. The man gave the guard a signal, and she was dumped onto the floor at the D’har’s booted feet.
“Ambrun, have the skint cover herself,” the man ordered in disgust in Seneecian.
Another one of those thin wraps floated down into her lap. Taking it, she drew it around herself twice and tied the two ends above her shoulder. But she remained on the floor. She would make no attempt to stand. Not in her weakened state, and not while she was here alone and unarmed.
But everything else was up for grabs.
“Where is my Confirmed?” She lifted her face to glare at the D’har. “Where is Kyber Nau?”
“We are in negotiations to have you returned to the outpost,” he answered in Terranese.
“Tell me where my Confirmed is!” she yelled at him. By his facial expression, she knew she’d hit a nerve. She even saw his ruff go up in response.
“You have no right to speak to me in that tone.”
“Youhave no right to keep me from my husband!” she shot back.
Stek growled. “NoSeneecian would take a skint for his Confirmed.”
“Then you must have shit for brains,” she countered. She struggled to get to her feet, noting that no one, not even Goolith, dared to help her up. She managed to stand, wobbling a bit until her head cleared, then faced the D’har. “I don’t care whether or not you believe me. If that’s going to be your attitude, then I demand to speak to the Triumvirate! Letthemmake the determination!”
Stek sneered. “You have no right to speak to the Triumvirate. You have no rights at all. The only right you have is to be returned to the outpost, which I agreed to do once you were well enough to be moved.” The D’har motioned to the guard. “Take her to the shuttle bay and have one of the crew deliver her,” he ordered in Seneecian.
All those lessons she’d been forced to sit through back at the Academy regarding Seneecian protocols came flooding back to her. Lessons she’d thought were boring. Lessons she’d never believed she’d need to call upon. And the one foremost in her mind whispered its warning.
Do not initiate a touch, or else it could be construed as an attack, a personal assault.
The Seneecian guard reached for her, but she slapped his hand away and took a step closer to the D’har, not touching but getting right up into his face. To her satisfaction, the man took a half-step backwards.
It was a small retreat. Now for a bigger one.
“Tell me, D’har Stek. I’m assuming that’s who you are, since you’ve never had the courtesy to introduce yourself to me. Tell me, what is the punishment for keeping a Confirmed couple apart? For denying a Confirmed from being with his or her mate?” She kept her voice low yet threatening.
“That is inconsequential and does not apply in this matter.”
Pursing her lips, Kelen nodded, then smiled. “Then that means it must be a substantial punishment. Answer me this, D’har.”
“I do not owe you any answers!” Stek almost roared.
Kelen ignored the outburst and continued. “Tell me, Stek. What are the proceedings to determine whether or not a couple who claim to be Confirmed are telling the truth?”
Stek frowned. Not giving the man the chance to think up an excuse, she pressed the issue.
“I demand that I be given that option! I demand for a special Council, or whatever the hell tests your people use, to be given to me so that I can prove to you that I am Kyber Nau’s Confirmed.”
“You cannot—”
“Do it, Stek!Allow me that chance, or by all your four gods, I will plead my case directly to Central Command, who will take it to your Triumvirate whether you want them to or not! I know Seneecian law! I know you cannot separate or keep a Confirmed couple apart, not even if one of them is incarcerated!”
It was part bluff, part gamble, but it was the only chance she had. By keeping her dark look directed squarely in Stek’s face, she hoped to overcome his resistance by sheer will.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Stek addressed the guard in Seneecian. “Take her to the Bridge and await me there.” With that order, he turned and hurried out of the medical bay.
