Page 29 of Romancing Rem'eb

He looks as if he wishes to leave, which is precisely why I make him stay. I cross my arms over my chest and ignore my own fatigue. “Another garden? Tell me more.”

“Oh.” Tal’nef blinks at me. He adjusts his pack again, his tail twitching. “I do not know where it is, precisely. Set’nef said he found it in his wanderings and wanted my opinion on it. I have not spent time with my brother in some days, so I look forward to journeying with him. That is all.”

As he shifts on his feet, I eye him. “Your pack is enormous for a short journey.”

The smile he gives me is guileless. “We will leave extra supplies in the cavern for the seeding team if it is truly a good spot for a garden.”

It all sounds harmless. A journey into a deeper tunnel to explore a cavern that might be useful for farming the mushrooms that provide so much to our people? It makes sense. Teams regularly head out to the more distant caverns to harvest mushrooms and re-seed for the next harvest. We are always looking for places to grow more food.

But Tal’nef’s demeanor pricks my suspicions. Added with Set’nef’s uneasiness, and it makes me wonder what the brothers are up to.

Are they going to free the stranger R’jaal and his yellow-mane female? I know Set’nef the Wanderer is a quiet, lonely sort, but he is also a good male who will not hesitate to do the right thing. Tal’nef is younger and even more earnest than his brother. If I were going to free Tia, now would be the perfect time to do so. I could send her with the brothers and her suitor back to the surface…

The very thought claws at my spirit.

I…cannot let her go. Not yet. Not when I cannot think of anything but looking at her again, gazing into her eyes. Brushing her lips and tongue with my own in the strange “kiss” that was so pleasurable.

It is selfish of me, but I do not care. Tia is safe, hidden away. She is not threatened by Kin’far. After a few more days pass and we spend time together, perhaps…

I rub my chest again. Perhaps this anxiousness I feel at being apart from her will turn into something more.

“Good luck on your journey,” I tell Tal’nef in a gruff voice and head deeper into the village.

I contemplate returning to my home first, washing up and changing into fresh clothing. I should. I should sleep and eat something as well.

Yet I find my feet turning down the path towards my father’s dwelling instead.

I will visit quickly, I tell myself. Slip into the storage buildings behind my father’s large home and see Tia. She should be fed by my father’s men. He does not want her dead, after all. He wants her alive so we can resonate. There is no reason I should feel uneasy right now…

No reason except that I do not trust my father, or those he holds closest to him. If he listened to Cas’zor the Loyal more, that would be one thing. Instead, he lets Kin’far the Exile fill his ears with nonsense.

I slip behind my father’s house and my heart stops in my chest. There is no guard posted outside of the storage. I race toward the small building, knowing what I will find and yet I must see it for myself anyhow. The door to Tia’s cell opens with a single push and I stare into the now-empty interior.

Her bed is gone. The tube of light-moss that provided her reassurance, gone.

Tia is gone, too.

Is this part of my father’s plan? To lie to me and steal her away? If he has put her behind the wall…

Biting back a snarl, I race towards my father’s house. I burst through the doors, storming down the hall and into his private quarters. He is not seated near the fire this time, but sits at a dining mat alone, dragging a mushroom through a bowl of creamy sauce. He eyes me with distaste. “I told you not to return for a hand of days.”

“Where is she?” I snarl. “She is gone.”

“I know,” Father says calmly. “I moved her. I did not like that the rebels were sniffing around. She is in Cas’zor’s quarters. Did you know she cannot camouflage her skin? It is always that same shade of brown.”

Hot rage blisters through me again. He put her in another male’s quarters? Biting back another sound of outrage, I push through the house once more, heading for the back rooms, where Cas’zor moved in when he took the position of my father’s attendant. I burst into the room without knocking, nearly destroying the door in my haste. Inside Cas’zor’s room, I see Tia laid out on the sleep pallet. His sleep pallet.

And I see Cas’zor seated in a stool across the far side of the room, his arms crossed over his chest. He looks miserable, and thoroughly unsurprised to see me. “Chief’s Fist. I was wondering when you would return.”

“Why is she in your bed?” I all but growl at him as I bend next to the bed. The hour is not late and yet Tia is fast asleep. I touch her cheek to wake her, but she does not stir. Her mouth hangs open, limp, and a bead of drool slides down her face. Horrified, I look over at Cas’zor. “You have drugged her?”

“Your father did,” he says flatly. “I was very angry when I found out and insisted she be brought to my quarters so I could guard her.”

“Guard her against what?”

“Your father. He gave her such a large dose she has been sleeping for longer than I like.”

“Why did he drug her? She could not escape.” I pull Tia’s limp form into my arms, cradling her face gently. “She is not a threat.”

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