Page 75 of Cheating Fate

“You shouldn’t fear your shadow,” I continued. “And you are his, in more ways than one. You’re the one person he should always be able to count on having his back and not trying to stab it. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand,” Tharek said, still visibly reeling.

I took a couple of steps closer and rested my hand on his shoulder.

“This is not a game, Tharek,” I said in a gentle but firm tone. “You will play an important part in this war. You have to start acting with that mindset. Vahleryon will need all of us to lead us to victory. Be his safe haven.”

“I will be,” he replied, lifting his chin with a determined expression.

“Good. And if you really need to try to kill someone, attack me,” I added with a taunting expression.

He huffed. “You’re a Braxian. Your people are immune to negative psionic powers.”

“Exactly,” I deadpanned. “Now get to work. By the time we return from Dantor, I will expect significant improvement.”

He nodded and watched me walk away with a silly grin on his face. Rhadames gave me both a grateful and approving glance. He bowed his head in thanks before approaching his younger sibling. Zhara stared at me with a mix of admiration and embarrassment as she hastened to my side.

“What you did for Tharek was amazing,” Zhara said sheepishly. “He really needed that.”

“And what you did was terrible,” I said sternly but in a hushed enough voice that no one would hear as I marched towards a more discreet section of the training grounds. “Don’t ever do that again.”

Zhara flinched and chewed her bottom lip.

“I’m sorry if I upset you. But you were being quite harsh with my little brother,” she said in an apologetic tone.

I stopped next to one of the equipment storages, which hid us from view, and turned to face her.

“If Ghan had been the one doing what I just did, would you have challenged him the same way?” I asked.

She flinched again and shook her head.

“No,” she said with a small voice.

“Would Lee have intervened with him the way you did with me?” I insisted.

Once again, she shook her head.

“I cannot be Vahl’s First Officer only when it suits you, or if what I have to say aligns with your views,” I said in a serious but non-aggressive tone. “You cannot undermine my authority like this. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re essentially the Titan Queen. People look up to you. I don’t expect you to just agree with everything I do. But if you have a problem with it, we discuss it privately.”

Seeing her hugging her waist and bowing her head hurt my heart. I hated that my words were upsetting her. At the same time, we needed to set certain boundaries early on to avoid bigger problems later.

“In the future, unless Vahl is about to murder innocent people, I will shush in public and take things up with him afterwards,” I continued. “You must trust me to know what I’m doing, just like I trust you with healing.”

“I’m sorry,” she said in a miserable tone. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you, Zhara. But this did upset me and hurt my feelings,” I said gently. “This whole dating thing is new for both of us. We’ll have plenty of disagreements in the future. But as part of Vahl’s leadership team, we must always present a united front. I’m sure your parents have had plenty of fights, but they never hash out the serious stuff in front of you and your siblings. And they don’t undermine each other.”

“You’re right. I didn’t think and just reacted,” she said sheepishly. “When it comes to my siblings and those I love, I can be rabidly protective. That doesn’t excuse what I did. But I promise to keep myself in check going forward.”

“That’s all I ask,” I said with a smile.

“I’m going to fuck up a lot, right?” she said with self-derision.

I chuckled. “Actually, I’m probably going to fuck up way more than you will. A physical relationship is far more challenging than a long-distance one. But we’re soulmates. So long as we openly communicate and actively strive to separate our work and personal relationship, we’ll be fine.”

“Agreed,” Zhara said, carefully wrapping her arms around me.

I drew her into my embrace to make it clear all was well. She melted against me.