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Anger at the man who had chosen another over her sparked inside me, because he had obviously hurt her in the process, even though part of me was grateful to him, because otherwise I would have never met Chrissy.
"So you decided to stay in the Forces?"
She shrugged. "It was all I knew, and after a time, the Forces became my family."
How lonely she must have been. I stood to fold her into my arms, and she snuggled right in.
"It doesn't matter anymore though, because I wouldn't have you if those things hadn't happened," she voiced my earlier thoughts.
"Still, I'm sorry you got hurt."
She looked up and our eyes met. "I'm glad I did because you are so much more than Mike ever was. To think I might have died without ever knowing you…" She didn't finish, just shook her head, and I kissed her because that was exactly how I felt. I just wished she hadn't gone through the pain before meeting me.
Notmuchhappenedduringthe Dark Sea crossing back to Grymburg. We didn't see any more wharosses and had to contend with only one of what Kendryx assured me was a minor storm that shook the boat ferociously and made me sick for a few hours.
For a moment, Kendryx thought I might be pregnant, and the look of joy on his face caused such guilt in me, I confessed to the bar implanted in my arm that would prevent pregnancies until it was removed.
His face darkened when I told him, but it didn't take long for him to see the wisdom in it, at least until we were done with the human threat on the Vandalls' lands. After that, I promised him I would take it out, feeling the first longing to hold our child in my arms.
That feeling only grew when we returned to Grymburg, and I saw Damaris holding her son and Alahna expecting her first child. The looks of yearning Kendryx gave Murtagh, Damaris and Vandor's child, were hard to miss, and I wished for nothing more than to give that to him.
It was funny. I served in the Terran Forces for so long that I thought a career there was all I wanted, but now I realized that it had just been some kind of mind control on their part. It was easy to appeal to a competitive nature to make you keep going and forget your original dreams. It didn't help that I was damn good at my job, but now my priorities began to change once again, and I was okay with that.
What I wouldn't have been okay with was sitting at home like Damaris, who would soon have to watch Vandor leave with us as we prepared to return to the Vandalls' lands one more time to settle the score with the Terran Confederation.
The initial relief after Kendryx's and my return wore off the next day, after a long feast Alahna and Damaris planned and executed for us.
The feast, however, was like nothing I had ever seen or been part of, and I had been part of some raucous soldier partying, or so I thought until that night.
Brogan had even invited more of the Vandalls to join, a fact none of the Thyres seemed very happy about, but I understood the wisdom in it. If these men were about to fight together, they needed to learn to trust each other.
I knew Kendryx was uneasy about Uthar's presence. He had never told me what exactly happened to his brother, only that he was killed in a battle with the Vandalls. This wasn't easy for him, and my heart went out to the man I loved.
The feast continued until the early morning hours and once the males, all but the warlords and King Uthar, had filled their bellies with alcoholic beverages, they actually seemed to be getting along with each other, enough that I thought they would be able to fight side by side.
I sat on the raised dais with the warlords, their mates, the khzar, and the Vandall king, which gave me plenty of opportunity to observe the rest of the feasting men and women.
Music began to play after we ate, and Brogan reluctantly followed Alahna to the floor that had been cleared for dancing.
"Brogan might be a lot of things, but dancing is not his forte," Vandor observed, snickering.
"Let's see if you can do any better," Damaris challenged him, and to many snickers, he followed her, looking just as downtrodden as Brogan.
"Come on, let's show them how it's done," Kendryx laughed and took my hand.
"Kendryx, I have no idea how to dance like this," I protested.
"Neither do they." He laughed. "Just follow my lead."
He placed a hand on the small of my back and pulled me close, making me wonder if this amazing man would ever cease to amaze me. With his one hand around my waist, he slowly swayed me this way and that in rhythm to the music, and I allowed my body to relax and follow him just like he had suggested. It felt freeing to let go and allow him to take the lead. Thoughts left me as I listened to the plaintive, alien music that was alluring and gave me goosebumps.
Soon, his feet began some complicated-looking steps, but I had no problem following him. He was a born leader on the dance floor and… no, I wouldn't think about anything but this moment, I told myself.
A tall Thyre woman approached Gryck and lured him to the dance floor. She was followed by one of the human women Alahna had told me had been given to Brogan as a tribute—something that still sat ill with me—and, to my surprise, she invited Uthar to dance. The king of the Vandalls looked startled, and I barely suppressed a snicker when I remembered how averse Vandalls were to contact with members of other species.
Still, Uthar held his own surprisingly well, even smiled at the human woman, who looked smitten with the Vandall king.
A good feast is not a feast without a good fight, but the two men, both Thyres, who got into a tiff, were quickly separated by Cassair, Brogan's second-in-command, and taken away.
