Page 28 of Bound By the Vori

The male shifted uncomfortably, sharing a look with one of the other males nearest to him. “It is just strange. All of the guards are remarking upon it, and some of the stoneworkers are also whispering and commenting about unusual it is that there was no sign of fatiguing in the stone work. Nothing that went noticed during the inspections, and it fell during the Flower Festival without warning. It could be ‘a freak accident’ as the humans say, but it is causing unease.”

The Matriarch’s frown turned more severe, and she glanced over at Kim. “Is this what you think as well?”

Sijhord watched as his mate licked her lips thoughtfully. “I don’t know,” she replied. “Like you, I want to believe that it was a terrible accident, but I can’t say that there isn’t a whisper of doubt in my mind. But I also know that there is likely no way that we will ever know for certain, so I do not see a reason for an alarm to go up and panic every human who lives here with the speculation that someone deliberately tried to harm them. Encouraging caution while upgrades are being carried out may be enough unless something comes up to show that people are truly in danger here.”

Lips pursing, the Matriarch nodded reluctantly.

“There is another thing that concerns me,” Inkol rumbled as he returned to the gathering and took sentry to the left of the Matriarch. “Zana was there during the Flower Festival, and she had been seen near the vorubal earlier that day.”

“We all know this, Inkol, but she was well protected,” the Matriarch said with a patient sigh. “She had guards with her to look after her. I doubt that any harm could have come to her or that anyone was trying to drop the vorubal on her. Zana is far too wily to be caught like that.”

“Wily, among other things,” Inkol agreed. Sijhord frowned at his tone as Kyvel suddenly straightened from where he was coiled nearby and hissed. “Perhaps it should be noted that just days ago, while her normal primary guard was out of the city, her second rotation primary guard admitted to taking Zana to the vorubal to enjoy the sunset. This being just a handful of days before the festival.”

“What are you suggesting?” the male snapped.

Inkol frowned over at him. “That we not be blinded by sentiment and realize that this may not be about the humans, but one human in particular.” He gave Kim an apologetic look and sighed heavily. “I do not like it either. I love her as much as any male here, but there is a history of madness. Is that not why Dr. es’EtaliAgor is on his way to inspect her? We should consider isolating her from the human completely until he has had an opportunity to examine her.”

Kim gaped and shot to her feet, startling Sijhord though he curled the tip of his tail gently around his mate’s ankle to remind her not to go far in her outrage. “That’s absolutely unnecessary,” she objected. Her eyes flew to the Matriarch. “I’ve seen some progress and believe that Zana is really opening up to me. I can’t really believe that she’s suffering from any kind of madness or that she would actually do something like this. If—and that is a big if—someone is targeting me, I don’t think it would ever be her, and I really don’t see any reason why anyone would do this much less Zana. She—”

“Is attached to the old ways,” Inkol reminded her gently. “Had she not already presumed that she would mate among the guards at her discretion as her forebearers had done? It is not her fault, but is something that she was conditioned by our world to believe. And if she needs an additional booster of the cure as she approaches adulthood, it is possible that it is making it more difficult for her to adjust to the changes that are coming to Vora. She has a recent history of showing hostility toward you. We cannot discount this or take it too lightly. To make sure that she cannot do anything further, she must be isolated within her rooms.”

“You’re talking about putting her on house arrest,” Kim objected.

She shook her head in disgust and looked to the Matriarch for help, but the other female sighed wearily. “I must agree with Inkol’s suggestion. He does not make it to be cruel, but he has

good points and we must proceed cautiously. Your tutoring with Zana will be canceled until after the doctor arrives and can conduct the examination.”

“What about Zana? She’s going to be locked in her room alone for likely days. I can’t just not show up,” Kim protested.

A warm smile curled the Matriarch’s lips. “I thank you for your consideration of my daughter’s feelings. I would not suggest that you do so. I will accompany you so that she understands the grievousness of the situation.”

Kim’s shoulders dropped in defeat, but she nodded. “Very well. When does Dr. es’EtaliAgor arrive?”

The Matriarch raised a brow at her guard.

“Three days,” Inkol rumbled. “He had some things to attend to before he traveled to Evath.”

Sijhord’s arms wrapped around Kim as she leaned into him and sighed. “Three days just to get here and that’s before he begins his examination. That poor kid.”

His mouth tightened as her sadness and disappointment bled into him. He would do anything to protect his mate and nestlings but why did this feel so wrong?

Twenty-Four

Kim accompanied the Matriarch to the nestling wing. They entered a corridor she had never been down before, a tablet she had spent much of the night before working on since the Matriarch had made her decision tucked under her arm. They walked in silence together until they arrived at the large door that marked the entrance to the princess’s private quarters.

The males guarding the door bowed respectfully, but Rykaal’s gaze held a wealth of love as it slid over Kim before he turned toward the keypad. Setting his hand against it, he paused for a moment and then spoke quietly into what had to be a speaker system before pulling away and returning to his post. The door slid open to admit them. Kin glanced back unhappily as Sijhord stopped at Rykaal’s side and they nodded to her encouragingly. Drawing in a breath, she followed Leiora into a room that was far lusher than the small area set aside for their studies.

Decorated in a mixture of brilliant greens and vivid oasis blue, stepping inside the room was like walking into a jewelry box. The heavy gilding and carving everywhere only emphasized the fact. And that the room, while beautiful, did not look like something that belonged to a teenage girl. It boasted elegance but there was nothing of the princess’s personality, thoughts, or dreams anywhere within the room. It was lush and opulent, and well-manicured plants filled the corners of the room, softening the harsh edges of the technology peeking out from behind them, but it was incredibly… empty.

Zana peered at them curiously and set down a novel from Earth—an Emily Bronte paperback, which Kim was shocked to see—as she rose from her nest of cushions. “Mother. Kim. What are you doing here?”

Kim’s heart tugged with sympathy that the girl seemed shocked to see her mother visiting her rooms. “Oh, we just thought we’d stop by and see how you were doing.” She made a show of looking around. “This is quite some place you have here. I honestly expected to see fashion models of Kaidava pinned up around here.”

The female blushed a little, her gaze sliding discreetly away. “That would not be appropriate for the rooms of the heir of the Matriarch of the Western Continent,” she dutifully recited, and Kim grimaced.

Damn, that was sad. The girl was obviously a romantic at heart and was trying to hide it behind stiff formality. No wonder she was miserable just waiting to reach her majority so that she could actually find some pleasure and comfort. Kim glanced covertly over at Leiora to catch how she was reacting to all of it. To her surprise, her friend seemed to find nothing at all wrong with Zana’s response and instead smiled warmly.

“Spoken like a female who shall one day be Matriarch,” Leiora replied as she turned slowly in place to look around the room. Had the female never been there before? “Your taste is lovely as well. Rykaal had informed me that you had decorators working in here to get it to your exact specifications.”

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