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“I think we all do,” Bart agreed.

Au'revele smiled at Bart, then just barely dipped her head in a sign of respect. “I’ll be on my way, Chairman. I’m anxious to reach Sirena Vivian and do anything for her that I can to ease her healing.”

“I wish you a good day, Au'revele.”

“And I you,” Au'revele said, flashing him a quick smile.

“I doubt it. I’m on the search for a particular shraler.”

“Oh! Yes, you might need the wish of a good day,” Au'revele said.

“I don’t suppose you’ve seen him?” Bart asked.

“No, I’m sorry. I haven’t.”

“Well, I guess I’ll be on my way, then. It might be a long day.”

“Good luck,” Au'revele said, before hurrying on her way.

Bart stood at the top of the third floor landing, looking out over the great room and all that lay below on the second and first floors. He’d not seen Mirilla since the morning she made it quite clear she didn’t want to be associated with him publicly. She was perfectly happy to keep him a dirty little secret, but stand proudly beside him was not at all in her plans. He felt a little guilty about his less than tolerant treatment of her since the moment he’d realized her stance, but at the same time felt justified. She was ashamed of him, and it hurt to realize that.

Shaking his head at where they now stood versus where he thought they’d be, he started down the stairs, forcing himself to focus on nothing more than the task at hand. Locating Kitty. Vivian hadn’t seen Kitty since the afternoon before she went intolabor, in fact, no one had. And since Kitty seemed to have an affinity for him, Vivian had begged him to see if he could find him. “Hopefully he won’t eat me when I do eventually find the stubborn creature,” he grumbled.

Chapter 16

“I’m going to bed, Bart. I’m not as strong as I used to be.”

“You could have fooled me. It was you who found Kitty today.”

Samuel laughed. “And it was you he was glad to see.”

“For about two minutes before he chased us off. Stupid feline,” Bart grouched, doing his best to rub his shoulder and lower back at the same time.

“You should be glad he was excited to see you. I am. It could have been a lot more of an issue if he didn’t like you. I don’t know what I was thinking trudging around out there calling for him,” Samuel said.

“Vivian needs to train him to be more careful.”

“I think he thinks you’re as strong as he is. I’m sure he didn’t mean to knock you down.”

“Tell my back that. And yes, he did. He was herding us away from the forest’s edge.”

“He could have really hurt someone if he wanted to. He didn’t want to,” Samuel said. “Can you imagine being the target of his anger?”

“I’d rather not,” Bart said.

“Me neither. At any rate, I’m going to bed. Vivian and Alexandrus will be home tomorrow. I want to be ready for them when they get here.”

“Good night, Dad,” Bart said.

“Night, son.”

Bart turned back to the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator he’d been searching through before his father came to say goodnight. “Oh, this looks good,” he said, finding a covered platter of olives and fruits and cheeses. He closed the door to the refrigerator and turned around, platter in hand as he tossed acouple of olives into his mouth. He stopped mid-chew when he came face to face with Mirilla. A very nervous Mirilla.

“Hi,” she said.

He made a show of glancing in the direction of the living room and the front door, then back toward Au'revele’s quarters.

“I came though Au'revele’s quarters again,” Mirilla said, knowing what he was getting at.

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