Page 58 of Victoria's Discovery

He’d been amenable to Vi’kail’s pursuit of her, despite his idiotic and patently false claim that he wasn’t actually doing so, because he could see the male was honorable, had a sharp mind, and had valuable knowledge of this world and its workings that neither Thegan, Thorn, or even Vee possessed. That he had experience as a warrior was obvious and meant he’d be able to protect her. A clear mark in his favor. But, aside from all that, from what Thegan had seen, Vi’kail had a temperament and perspective that would both compliment and benefit Vee.

And, yet, none of that mattered if his reticence was going to cause her distress.

If he could not learn trust and was unprepared to offer himself to her openly and honestly, then Thegan would have no choice but to chase him away.

It was not really his place to make such a call, being that he was not of her house, but Vee was too kind to do it. Thegan would cut off his own horns before allowing her to lose that kindness, and if taking on the mantle of her enforcer allowed her compassion to remain untarnished, then he was glad to do so.

That wasn’t to say his motivations were pure.

He was an honorable male, but he wasstilla male. There was no way in any of the six hells he was about to let Vi’kail’s idiocy jeopardize Thegan’s own chances with her. He knew damn well it was her compassionate nature that meant he had any chance of coaxing her to mate him.

He needed her to stay the soft-hearted female she was, so she’d forgive his own ineptness when it came to wooing her.

Watching Vi’kail watch Vee, Thegan decided he would offer the fool fair warning that he needed to either pull his head out of his ass or clear the field before he blundered all their chances.

While he was at it, he would question something Kix said during Vi’kail’s judging. Something about having a different name.

“Are y’all hungry?”

Glancing down at her question, he caught her eyeing the buffet of food with a frown and brushing a hand over her waist self-consciously. Perhaps his own concerns were playing a part, but that single gesture instantly held his full attention.

How many times had he noted, and worried over, how visible her delicate little bones were under her skin? Yet, he’d just assumed that was how her kind were supposed to look. Seeing that expression on her face, now, he began to worry he’d been wrong in his assumption.

Uneasy thoughts had anxiety tightening his stomach. Was she sick? Had the bastards that took them starved her? Did she need a healer?

Raising his gaze, he searched the room for the other females of her kind. It hadn’t occurred to him to compare her size or appearance against theirs before that moment, but he needed to know if she looked different.

When he spotted a grouping of them at a table near the rear wall, worry turned to alarm. They all had an underfed look to them, but none were as small as Vee. She was easily a quarter handlength shorter.

Njorl’s balls, she is shrinking!

Stammering an excuse that, even to his own ears, was unintelligible, he strode quickly to the buffet of food. Using his bigger size, he pushed through the line of people, grabbed two handfuls of plates, and began piling them with whatever he could reach. Which was a lot.

“What has sent you into a tizzy?” Thorn growled quietly a moment later, between offering apologies to the grumbling people Thegan had shoved aside.

He was not even paying attention to the different foods, if you could call some of the dishes food, as he filled the plates, yet neither did he pause his frantic movements to glance at his friend when he spoke. All he could see was Vee getting smaller and smaller. Would she revert to the kittling he’d first thought her? Gods’ wrath, what a horrifying thought. Not as horrifying as her death, of course. But enough to shrivel his balls, to be sure.

Swallowing a moan of horror, he barked, “She shrinks! And we have not been feeding her!”

What if it was too late? What if her shrinking could not be reversed? No. He couldn’t think like that. Hewouldfix her and that’s all there was to it.

“What are you going on about?” Thorn demanded sharply. “Have you finally lost your mind?”

Thegan jerked an arm in the direction of her clanswomen, sending bits of… well, he didn’t know what it was exactly, splattering onto bystanders. “See for yourself! Look at them. She shrinks from lack of food.”

“That is ridicu—” Thorn cut off mid-word and made a garbled sound of alarm. “Njorl’s balls!”

“I know! Hurry, help me carry these dishes to her,” he demanded.

Balancing three plates precariously in each hand, he turned and searched for her fiery hair among the crowd. Spotting her, he hurried to the table at which she and Vi’kail were seated, leaving the remaining four plates for Thorn to grab.

He was halfway there when he was yanked to a stop.

“Gods’ wrath, Thorn! We must hurr—”

“Wait! Do you remember when we were younger, and we found Sol’s bedsheets bloody?”

Glaring incredulously, he growled, “You wish to speak of thatnow?”

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