Page 57 of Of Songs and Silence

My nervousness doesn’t abate, though. The last place in the world I want to be is trapped in my room, trapped anywhere. Especially when I don’t know where Ari is, or if he’s all right, or if he’s getting a new assignment—

“Is there something else I can do for you, Kala?” Noa asks, confusion in her tone.

It’s interesting that Ari is so concerned with my safety all the time, but he has left one of the youngest soldiers I have yet seen to guard me. Her trident is bronze, something I have come to realize denotes a section of rank.

No sooner has the thought crossed my mind than a shadow falls over us, and Noa reaches for her trident, moving to stand in front of me with lightning fast reflexes. She may be young, but she is still a soldier, clearly very well trained. I don’t need to see around her to know who it is. The feeling on my skin abates ever so slightly, even before I hear the familiar voice.

“At ease, Lieutenant Noa. I’ll take over from here.”

The Warrior places a fist over her chest to acknowledge the order, but her cheeks light up in a pretty blush, her eyes all but sparkling.

Something ugly twists inside of me, and I try to stamp it down before she can catch wind of my thoughts. But of course, I can’t hide it from Ari. He looks from her to me, then back to her as though something is dawning on him.

It eases my mind slightly that he didn’t seem aware of her obvious attraction.

She turns to bow her head to me, then takes off down the hall with one last look in his direction. Ari gestures for me to go back to my room. Instead of staying to guard the door, he follows me in. I drink in the sight of him before I can stop myself.

My gaze rakes down his body, scanning him for injuries or any sign of where he’s been. Belatedly, I realize I know nothing about his life here.

Does he have family nearby?

A random villager he is visiting because he has been all but chained to me for the last several weeks? Have I been so selfish and focused on whatever strange pull exists between us, that I haven’t even stopped to consider his life before we met?

Does he have a girlfriend? A wife?

Bile rises in my throat, panic sending my pulse racing through my veins. A small twitch of his lips belies his amusement.

“Peace, Kala.” The words resound deep in my mind. “There is no one. I had business with some other Warriors. I’ve never had time for any other…entanglements, nor interest in them.”

Relief crashes over me in a wave, and his expression twists in a rare bit of mischief.

“And if I had been…visiting a random villager, I would have been gone a lot longer.”

Heat surges through me, my body starting to tingle for an entirely different reason when a new voice interrupts us.

“My, how I haven’t missed this,” Kane intones. “Shields, Kala, for the love of the seas.”

Now I see why Ari didn’t close the door. I rapidly throw my walls into place, turning to inspect Kane. He, too, seems unharmed, thank the stars.

“Did you find them?” I ask.

“I did,” he responds, shutting the door.

When I raise an eyebrow at him, he smirks.

“There might not be a blood relation, but you look just like the pretty, angry one when you do that.”

“Zaina,” I supply.

He nods. “She made some interesting threats. I couldn’t quite tell if she meant them.”

I can’t help but grin at that. Aika is the one who bluffs. If Zaina made threats, she absolutely meant them.

“Can you show me?” I ask.

He looks at Ari, who reluctantly nods. I narrow my eyes in confusion. Can he not do it? Danica didn’t make it seem like it was overly difficult, but then, she is more skilled with her mind than most Mayima I’ve encountered.

“It’s considered…intimate,” Kane explains. “And I don’t fancy being run through by our dear Commander’s trident today.”

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