Page 7 of Warrioress

A look of surprise flitted across the other woman’s face, making her wonder what sort of martyr her people believed she was, but then Katiera smiled knowingly.

“Glad to see you joining the rest of us mere mortals,” she teased. “For these last few years, I’ve wondered if perhaps you had somehow reached divine levels of tolerance with the way you’ve been punishing yourself.”

“Punishing myself is a stretch,” Uma protested as she turned to her bag again. “Focusing on my duties and prioritizing it over other things in my life is more correct. And necessary,” she added in a clipped tone, leaving no room for her friend to protest or further conversation about the past.

Katiera was a good friend, but there were some burdens that she couldn’t share even with her.

“I know you had your reasons, especially after what happened. I’m just saying that if you ever need anything, anything at all, I’m here. I can share your burden, even if it’s just in a small way.” Uma nodded silently at the awkward offer, and her friend dragged in a shaky breath. “All right then, I’m going to go grab that bedding for you from my place. You know how my family believes I should have enough blankets as if I’m a one-person refugee camp in my apartment. I will grab your supper from a vendor on my way back, so you have something hot to eat.”

Uma met her friend’s eyes and gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you, Kat. For everything.”

Another smile flitted across Katiera’s face that belied the quiet and knowing sobriety in the woman’s gaze. She didn’t know the details of what happened, but she knew enough to not push even if it rested heavily in the air between them with the ghosts of the past that would never cease haunting her.

“Sure thing, Uma. I will be back shortly. Take it easy—you’ve been working most of the day getting everything set up not only here but in organizing schedules and tasks within the station for the next couple of weeks. You’ve more than earned your down time for the night.”

“I will. I need to take some food in to the Ragoru, but then I will be settling in for the night,” Uma assured her.

She watched as Katiera gave her a clipped nod and left before turning her attention back to her bag. Delving into it, she brought out the moment buried within it, her fingers running over the worn surface where she had touched it countlessly over the years. It was a reminder of her mistake that she wouldn’t let herself hide or escape from, not even for one night.

It was also a reminder as to why, despite her hopeful question she had posed, she knew that she would never be among those many women who deserved to be claimed as a mate. As if anyone could truly overlook her scars—because those on the surface ran even deeper beneath. Despite that, it also reaffirmed her commitment to the women of the citadel. She wouldn’t let some jealous assholes from the upper districts ruin their happy endings. She would deal with this triad because she had to, but she would investigate this matter and put in a formal request for a hearing once she had gathered enough evidence to keep this shit from happening again. It wasn’t the first time a triad had either been run out or removed from the citadel, though it had never happened before in her district or on her watch. It was past time to start dealing with it, rather than simply capitulating to the pressure put on them as other district captains had done.

It wasn’t going to be easy as much of the problem was ingrained in long held beliefs that were difficult to challenge regarding how many humans viewed Ragoru as unwelcome alien interlopers on their planet, much less in their citadels.

Her mouth tightening sternly, she set the memento beside the lantern and spun on her heel, leaving her quarters to feed said interlopers. Despite her assurances that she would rest, there was still much she needed to get done before Katiera returned and caught her working still. A tiny smile twitched at the corner of her mouth as she headed back toward the cold storage.

Chapter 6

Kam scratched his ear as he eyed the female settled into the wooden chair across from their cell, her arm propped on the table beside her as she appeared to be engrossed in reading the various sheets she steadily flipped through.

She was a creature of habit and routine, that much he could clearly see. She had given them a meal the night before without comment, and then returned dressed in the same black leather and cotton as she brought them even more meat before attacking a pile of papers stacked on the table next to her. She worked through them at a steady pace, only occasionally glancing their way as she maintained an even rhythm. The light rasp of the paper turning at measure had almost become relaxing to him in the short time since she had entered the room. Even foul-tempered Vrin had taken to watching her when his attempts to frighten her by ripping the meat aggressively with his teeth failed to disturb her.

As for the meals themselves... Kam hated to admit it, but although the meat was more plentiful than he ever had the opportunity to enjoy, he was becoming heartily sick of eating such a boring diet when he was accustomed to digging for tuber roots and mushrooms, or eating berries when they came in season. Or even dragging fat fish from the streams.

Then again, he was caged. He supposed that he should not expect his diet to be any more interesting than the day passing with nothing to occupy his time. For a male who was regularly very active patrolling his territory, the boredom was far worse.

Sighing heavily, he leaned against the bars and frowned when they groaned with his weight. What a pitiful cage. It was nothing like what the huntsmen had used when capturing his kind. He peered up at the anchoring of the bars above and was scrutinizing the weak construction when he felt eyes boring into him. He could have turned his head just enough to allow his secondary peripheral eyes to seek out the source, but he merely lowered his head and met Captain’s stare head on.

“What’s with you?” she demanded as she lowered the collection of pages and set them on the table beside her.

Kam’s ear twitched as an electric awareness ran up his spine, but he merely responded with a lazy smile. “Your cage is terrible,” he answered honestly as he gestured upward to where the bars were anchored into the stone. “I am trying not to break it.”

Her brow lowered as her lips downturned in a frown, but she glanced up to where he pointed. Her expression did not lighten but she did not respond in the flustered matter he expected from a human. Instead, she startled him by shrugging and picking up another enclosed collection of pages and began to flip through them once more.

“I appreciate your self-restraint,” she replied offhandedly without looking up.

Kam’s mouth parted in a grin. It seemed that the human was more amusing than he had anticipated after all.

“You should,” he countered, ignoring the flat look Vrin was giving him. Let the male dwell helplessly within his own thoughts. Kam was not about to turn down the opportunity to get some small amount of enjoyment out of their situation. “You should also be thankful that it is not Vrin over there who decided to lean against them. Not only does my brother lack self-restraint but he is heavier too and probably would not have noticed the problem until he fell through.”

Her eyes narrowed on him before flicking to Vrin and back again. “Noted.”

That was it? He frowned in disappointment, his ears tipping back when she failed to participate in his little game. He shifted his weight against the bars and poked his muzzle through the gap between them so that he could rest his brow upon the metal and stare at her. She responded by clearing her throat and turning sideways in her chair so that she was no longer directly facing him. The corners of his mouth hitched. That was more like it. She was not as unaffected as she wanted to pretend.

“Kam, what are you doing?” Laro asked in ragii from the same corner he had selected to prop him up since their arrival.

His lead was clearly exasperated, but Kam was not bothered by it. It was normal for the male to sound that way whenever he felt the least bit playful. Whereas Vrin had a bit of sadistic sense of humor, their lead seemed to lack it altogether.

Vrin rolled all four of his eyes and grunted with a wicked grin directed at Kam. “Can you not tell? He is flirting,” he pointed out dryly in the same language.

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