Page 30 of Bound By the Vori

“Okay, not quite what I mean. How do you spend time with her? What sort of fun things do you do with each other?” she elaborated. “I know Zana has mentioned enjoying the gardens. I’ve seen how much you enjoy it as well—is that something you’ve done together?”

Leiora shook her head. “When she was small, my mates rotated her care among them. She was the sole nestling who hatched from her clutch and was doted on. My males did well until she was old enough to be under the supervision of her personal guard, teachers, and a servant assigned to see to her needs.”

Kim bit back a groan. That was exactly what she’d thought. Of course childrearing was done that way. The males were responsible for everything dealing with the nest. Obviously, that included the potentially numerous nestlings as well.

“This is how it is done on Vora. You will see when your nestlings come,” Leiora said, tipping her head toward Kim’s belly, “your mates will sweep in to care for them. Especially your sentinel. Sijhord will be especially attentive.”

“Okay, and that’s great, but I wouldn’t want them doing it all.”

Leiora blinked. “It is only practical. They are larger, stronger, possessing quicker reflexes than even female Vori, and there are more of them than there are of you.”

“But that’s what makes it special,” Kim explained. “I want to be someone my children come to because I can do something that no one else can. Especially my daughters. I want them to know that I have their back, that I’m someone that they can trust their thoughts with, and laugh with. My mother worked two jobs, and there was nothing I missed more than having that experience with my mother. She did the best she could, but I miss it even now. I don’t want to miss a day.”

The Matriarch’s lips thinned. “I did not know my mother except knowing her as a ruler, as someone I was supposed to emulate. I longed for my mother’s time, but it was not how things were done and I understood that as I came into adulthood. I did not experience these things you speak of, and I dislike that I feel cheated of it when I hear it, even though my fathers were good males who were attentive when I was small. But this is the way it has always been on Vora, and it angers me that you would say such things and make me feel for even a moment that their love was not enough.”

“That’s not my intention,” Kim said slowly. “But if you are feeling the lack hearing it now, imagine what Zana is feeling, someone who’s spent recent revolutions exposed to other family models through the Web. She’s feeling that loss now, and as much as she may have told herself she wanted Rykaal, the person she wants is you.”

Leiora’s eyes widened, her crown coils tumbling around her head nervously. “I do not know where to even begin to be that person she wants.”

Kim smiled at her friend. “You are already that person, just be who you are—the friend I’ve come to find in you—with her.”

The queen’s eyes narrow faintly. “You are not trying to abandon me, are you?”

Kim laughed. “Not a chance. You’ve both got me still. I just want you to have each other as well. Maybe I can introduce you two to girls’ night,” she mused aloud.

Hell, Zana was nearly old enough. It counted.

Twenty-Five

Seldom did Vori outside of the palace make an impression on Rykaal but Dr. Vadal es’EtaliAgor counted among that small, exclusive group. The male possessed a certain quiet intensity to him that reminded him of his father, Ommi who was a hunter of few words but who possessed higher degrees of discipline and skill than most males within the Eshani Jungle. Perhaps it was because the male hailed from the Mothoo Jungle that made him feel as if he were a kindred male even though he only met him briefly in passing when he authorized Vadal’s access to Zana’s quarters. Still, he had believed that would be his sole interaction with the doctor. He had not expected to be called to the medical unit where the male was set up to work.

Even coiled up on the austere bench, and being of a considerably smaller size, the male was no less impressive than he had appeared at Rykaal’s first impression. At his entrance, Vadal’s lifted his eyes to meet Rykaal’s with an assessing look.

“I understand that you are Zana’s primary guard, Rykaal es’RygoliFer,” the male began, getting directly to the matter without any of the necessities that Rykaal found exhausting.

“I am. On days that I am off rotation another Elite Guard takes my place, but I oversee her care for the valkut hour for six days out of every cycle.”

“Excellent.” Vadal folded his hands on the table in front of him, giving Rykaal his full attention. “As you know, I was called here to assess if Zana requires a booster dose of the cure. This, of course, is important not just because she is the Matriarch’s heir but because she is the first female coming into breeding age who was inoculated in her youth. How her changing hormones are adjusting can tell us much about what to expect for other females in the future.” He paused, his expression tightening slightly. “Of course, even with the addition of human genetic material we will have a new generation of females that must be monitored.”

Rykaal had not considered that. As his mother birthed nothing but males, the possibility of having a female offspring had not even occurred to him. Was there a chance he would have to watch his own daughter struggle with the madness?

Vadal gave him a sympathetic smile. “It is a new and frightening world for all of us who are nesting.” He cleared his throat. “While my program analyzes the samples that I have drawn I asked you here so that I could have more insight into the princess’s mental state as far as your own observations.”

Throat working as he battled back the bile that had risen in response to the direction of his own imagination, Rykaal nodded quickly and gathered his thoughts. “She has been moodier and more possessive,” he admitted. “I did not notice at first, though it was frequently remarked upon by other guards that she was difficult. Despite that, there were no reports of aggression from the princess, nor have I ever witnessed any. Even when dealing with my mate, most of her hostility was vented in ways that did not endanger or harm anyone.” The corner of his mouth hitched a little as he recalled the way Kim had once described it. “My mate has aptly called it typical snide teenager excrement.”

Not the precise words his mate used, but it made its point.

Vadal nodded, making a note on his datapad. “I was made aware of that situation. She latched onto the strongest male with whom she had a bond and determined that made you desirable as a mate—and responded with anger when the Matriarch arranged your mating.”

The doctor slid his claws across the screen. “I do not see this as particularly abnormal. Considering that you were one of the primary males assigned to her care—and clearly very capable and possessing some affection for the female—her reactions are developmentally normal. In most situations the female would have eventually outgrown the infatuation and found a mate she would have a healthier relationship with, but given that this is the princess and she has a certain amount of authority at her disposal, her mother’s decision was a wise one. That your mate has not felt threatened by Zana is actually very important. In normal manifestations of the madness, she would not have missed the threat.”

He pinned Rykaal with a grim look. “There is a reason why Vori females have lived apart for generations. Even in clan compounds, nests are spread out with the females rarely interacting. Nonetheless, her reaction to your mate is a natural one, though I understand that there has been some question as to certain suspicious occurrences that appear to be timed during your absence or outside of your assigned shift?”

Rykaal’s lips thinned, and he nodded before giving a short summary of his memories of the days of those events and those preceding them. He did not like to consider the fact that it lined up so perfectly with times when he was not on duty, but it was a difficult fact to ignore.

Vadal sat back on his coils and sighed. “I assume the guards have been questioned?”

“They have,” Rykaal agreed. “I am sure that you have access to the reports or can gain them from Esheb. Each male, however, has testified at length to questioning that the princess did not meet with anyone outside of people she spoke to briefly in passing as she normally did. That tells us nothing because they also acknowledge that a message or transaction could have been carried out in such a way without their notice since it was within the realm of the princess’s normal behavior. Likewise, it was not unusual for her to climb to the top level of the vorubal to watch the sunset over the flower-filled streets of Evath. This is apparently something that she does every revolution.”

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