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He found himself loath to join them. Instead, he lagged behind as he did his best to ignore the pang of regret that grew stronger as the distance increased. He’d meant what he said. He would be alone for the rest of his life. Raenia was the female he’d been fated to love. No one could replace her. So why did it feel like he was making a mistake?
6
Jody’s thoughts tumbled around the inside of her head, all tangled up with each other. Vixi’s ploy to bring the three of them together had blown up like a supernova. Instead of building trust and connections, she’d driven a wedge between Sulat and Tariq. Worse, her interest in them was now out in the open, despite all her attempts to hide it.
She’d assumed neither of them would be interested. Re’veth, had she been wrong there. Well, half wrong at least. Sulat was certainly interested. Tariq clearly wasn’t, and that was a problem. This was her fault. She shouldn’t have had anything to drink. She shouldn’t have agreed to walk with them. She should have left the moment they arrived and Vixi confessed her plans.
“If wishes were sunshine, we’d always have light,” she murmured to herself. It was one of her father’s favorite sayings, and she’d said it to Jake many times when he was a boy. He liked it as little as she had when she was his age, but it was as true now as it had been back then.
“I have never heard that expression before.” Sulat’s deep voice caught her by surprise and she flinched.
He took her by the arm to steady her, the strength in his hand tempting her to lean into him even more.
“It’s something my father used to say to me. I didn’t even realize I’d said it aloud.” She made an airy, dismissive gesture with her free hand.
“You did. And now I want to know what you were wishing for.”
“I wasn’t. Well, not really. I was just sorry about how this evening ended.” She noticed he hadn’t let go of her arm yet and gently withdrew it from his hand.
His green eyes caught hers and held her. “I do not regret any part of this evening, save for the way my anrik behaved. I need to speak with him, and then I will explain things to you.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. I understand. The female you were fated to love joined your ancestors far too soon. That changed your lives in profound and permanent ways. I have some idea how that feels, Sulat.”
Her divorce wasn’t the same as the loss Sulat and Tariq had suffered, but it was the only point of reference she had.
He nodded but said nothing else as they approached the door to the prince’s private wing.
Two more guards stood on either side of the double door. It looked like ornately carved wood, but Jody had learned that it was actually made of metal plates so thick they could withstand significant force without buckling.
That information had arisen during her first tour of the palace. When she asked why such measures were necessary, Phaedra had gone uncharacteristically quiet for several long seconds before answering, “Because not everyone agrees with what we are trying to create here. Tyran and Braxon left the empire for good reason, and so did many of those who joined the diaspora.”
“Many, but not all?” she’d asked.
“Not from our perspective. Some are spies and troublemakers deliberately sent here. Mostly they report to the empress or one of the various factions that makes up her court. We were prepared for them, but others here want this colony to fail.”
“Like the Liq’za? The ones who believe in racial and cultural purity?”
Phaedra had gathered her hands protectively over her rounded stomach and nodded. “Exactly.”
Now, Jody needed to get past the guards and the same door to get to their patient. Everything about the two in her way, both in stance and expression, told her that would not be easy.
“Good evening. We are the healers the prince requested,” she said.
One of the guards, a female, unfurled her wings in a blocking gesture and gave Jody a visual once-over before answering. “You did not register at the gate as you were instructed.”
“Because the prince asked us to make our way here as quickly as possible.”
Instead of answering her, the female turned to Sulat. “You and Healer A’Nir are known to me. Send the human back to register the three of you, and I will permit the two of you inside to attend to the prince.”
Jody hadn’t intended to push back, but the words that came out of her mouth were not the ones she’d planned on. “The human has a name. I am Doctor Clark, and I am also one of the prince’s healers.”
She reactivated her filters before anything else slipped out, and her next words were more in line with her original plan. “Please let us pass. The prince is waiting.”
Again, the female guard ignored her to speak to Sulat, though this time she included the newly arrived Tariq in her address. “The prince is so ill he requires three healers? Why was I not informed?”
“The door slid open at that moment, revealing an agitated Prince Tyran standing on the other side. “You were not informed because this was supposed to be a discreet visit, Captain Doni.”
The female immediately spun to face Tyran and saluted. “My apologies, Highness. Your healers were told they could pass.”
