Page 100 of Stripped By the Alien

"I saw a chance and I had to know if it would work," she says, but she’s still looking at me as if she’s trying to find an opening for attack.

"You could have just asked."

She shrugs. “I wanted to see for myself. Pretending is fine, but it’s useful to feel the impact, too.”

“Fair point.”

The chamber falls silent except for the distant pulse of the Beast.

Nora wipes sweat from her forehead and studies me. "The Inquisitor thinks I'm causing problems for you."

I had wondered how long it would take before she brought him up. "The Inquisitor says many things. It’s impossible to know what he actually thinks. He’s just trying to make sense of what he sees."

"Am I causing problems?"

"You’re an unusual presence," I admit. “But the Queen knows that I’m her best Chief Harrower, and those must be unusual. She allows me some leeway.”

She watches me for another moment. “Will she keep allowing you to keep me around?”

“I don't know. It will probably be up to the next Queen.”

Normally Nora would keep pressing, but today she doesn't. Instead she attacks again, and this time she's faster.

I defend automatically, but it takes me several exchanges to understand what's different: She's anticipating me. The next time I reach for her arm, she ducks before I've fully committed to the movement. My hand closes on empty air. An elbow impacts my ribs.

I stop moving. “You predicted that.”

Nora stops too, with a satisfied little smile on her face. “I’m starting to learn how you fight. And you always lead with that side.”

She's right. I do, and I have for years. Most opponents never survive long enough to notice.

We begin circling again.

"You know," I say, "you still can't beat me."

"Beating you isn’t the point here."

"Then why are you taking this so seriously?" I ask.

Finally she says, "Because Sophia won't have you. She’ll only have me."

“She will?” I ask, strangely resenting the idea. Does she think I’ll fail?

"If she's alive, she's been surviving without a giant alien harrower protecting her. If we're going after her, then I need to be useful when we get there. You will protect me, not her." There’s a set determination on her face, one that I’ve seen on Harrowers before a mission. “And someone should protect her.”

For several moments neither of us moves.

Then she attacks again, and I defend without thinking. A grab, an escape, a strike, a counter.

The rhythm carries us across the chamber. All the while my thoughts keep returning to the same thing. Sophia won't have me.

Nora is training because she expects danger. She thinks that there are situations where I won't be able to protect her.

The Inquisitor's voice returns uninvited. You must remove obstacles. The sooner, the better.

The next exchange ends with me catching both of her arms again. This time I hold her in place. "What are you preparing for?"

She meets my gaze. "For whatever happens next. You said you don’t worry about that. But I have to."