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Kael was really in no mood to defend himself, especially not to some sniveling Captain wannabe. But he stood anyway, avoiding looking at Aric out of fear that the very sight of him might make his blood pressure explode.
“I am of no offense to the council today or any day,” Kael said in an even tone. “I have shown where my loyalties lay. They are with the King and the King only.”
He went to sit, and then Aric pulled out his ace card.
“Then why did you hire a human to work in your estate?”
The council began to howl with disapproval. Kael grunted and soared back to his feet.
“It is of no mind for young fools such as you,” he hissed at Aric, feeling himself begin to see red. “Now, stop stalling the true matters of our people and sit down.”
His response garnered some applause, while others were not pleased. Kael didn’t care. The smug grin on Aric’s face was ready to send him into a tail-spin.
“Order! Please return to your booth, Officer Aric!”
Aric had done exactly what he wanted. He had planted a seed of doubt among the council members. And he had done it using Kael’s dead mate and new nanny as his weapons.
He was the scum of the planet, and Kael wanted to snap his neck off his torso and kick it into oblivion. But he couldn’t. Any act of violence against an officer would result in banishment indefinitely unless it was done in defense or as a court-appointed battle.
Kael could feel the King staring at him throughout the proceedings. He hoped that Aric’s meddling hadn’t raised any questions in his mind. That was the only opinion that really mattered to the Captain.
That, and his daughter, Suki’s.
SEVEN
SARAH
Kael was attending a council meeting for the majority of the day, making it the first time Sarah had truly been left on her own in the manor. She returned to the kitchen and spoke to the chef, whose name she finally learned was Allan, to get more briefings on what was expected of her. She was also thirsty for some knowledge on Kael, his position, and most of all, that profound loss of his wife, whom he had so far only referred to as Suki’s mother.
“She usually doesn’t come out till half day,” Allan said, finishing up the prep for breakfast while Sarah leaned against the island he was working on. “It’s been that way ever since she lost her mother.”
Sarah’s heart felt like it had been punched into oblivion. The memory of her own loss was raw and one of the many reasons that drove her to escape her own planet. It felt like someone was trying to carve a new body along her insides, leaving the hardened paste of the old one to break free into a new life. It was a part of healing, she knew, but it was also sheer agony.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sarah whispered. “How long ago did it happen?”
Allan hesitated, halting his speed cutting and gazing up at Sarah, who wondered if she was stepping over the line. His eyes weren’t as golden as Kael’s. They were dimmer, more like fossilized amber.
“I’m sorry,” Sarah said, waving her hands in front of her face. “I shouldn’t be asking you any of this.”
Allan shook his head, looking mournful. She let him speak in a way that was reverent and serious, which seemed to be the natural way of the species she was learning so much about.
“It’s really no matter. It happened two years ago. A sudden accident. The Captain never talks about it. Suki will speak of her mother, but I know it pains him to even mention her.”
He returned to chopping a legume that looked like a fusion of mango and dragon fruit. Sarah knew the feeling all too well … the way grief spread like a virus, infecting all family members with a weight no one is really ever prepared for. She sighed, leaning her chin against her palms.
“Grief is strange,” she began. “It’s like an emotion with so many other emotions buried under it. Ones without names. Where I come from, very few people know how to handle it. A lot of people never speak of it again while others can’t stop.”
Allan continued chopping and nodded in agreement. “Our kind, too. Drakonians honor their dead, but once the ceremony is over, it’s back to life. There is no more time left to weep.”
Sarah wondered how long Allan had been working for Kael and his wife, figuring perhaps he was experiencing his own form of loss as well. She crawled her fingers along the countertop.
“Hey, Allan. I understand. I lost someone, too. It really sucks.”
He stopped cutting again and looked up, tears swelling over his amber eyes.
“Thank you,” he muttered.
Before Sarah had a chance to comfort and reassure him, they both heard a bang at the front door followed by heavy footsteps. Allan immediately stood up straight and returned to his robotic demeanor.
