CHAPTER TWELVE #2
But Jai did neither. Instead, he remained the same midnight black.
He wasn’t even attempting to appease me.
That wasn’t something I’d ever come across before.
I was aware that, technically speaking, I hadn’t actually given him an order.
I’d suggested that he choose between brown or purple.
But most dimari – hell, all the dimari I’d met in person – had been eager to please their masters, and had jumped on any opportunity to adjust their behaviour to something their masters liked better.
“Jai, stand up,” I said to him, looking him in the eye.
He did so immediately. “Sit down,” I said next, and he did so.
Based on that response, there was no issue with the bonding compulsion.
A bonded dimari shouldn’t be capable of disobeying a direct order from their master, and Jai hadn’t even attempted to resist – which was as things should be.
But Jai was most certainly not only capable, but willing to disregard suggestions.
But rather than blaming Jai, I was now sure this was something to do with the training the Eumadians had forced him through, and as such, I knew that disciplining Jai for his behaviour would only be compounding whatever negative associations he already had.
A moment later, though, I stopped and took a look at my own behaviour.
Jai had been waiting in the conference room for nearly three days before I’d claimed him, and given that I worked right here on this base, from his perspective, there was no obvious reason why I’d taken so long to collect him.
And then, within five minutes of meeting him, I’d bailed and left him here while I went off to take care of other business.
Dimari typically needed immediate affirmation and reassurance from their masters, and I’d failed miserably to provide much of either, regardless of the fact that circumstances had been beyond my control.
Dimari or not, he would be within his rights to be feeling a little resentful about that.
“I’m really sorry about the less than ideal circumstances at the moment,” I said to him.
“This week seems to have been nothing but a series of emergencies, so I’d love to be spending some proper time with you at the moment, but unfortunately, I’ve still got a couple more urgent meetings this afternoon.
So I’m going to get Kade to give you some more information about me and the base and where we live, and then this evening, we’ll all head home together and at that point, if you have any more questions, you’ll be more than welcome to ask them.
You can ask Kade whatever you like as well…
Hang on, I don’t think I even introduced you,” I said, realising that the two of them hadn’t even met before we’d had to leave to see Cole.
“Kade is my bonded dimari. I’ve owned him for-”
“He’s a combat specialist and you’ve had him for nearly two years,” Jai interrupted me, looking entirely unimpressed.
I froze, holding my breath as I fought back the automatic anger and indignation at his interruption. Dimari did not interrupt their masters.
“I guess Soka already gave you the rundown,” I said, managing to keep my tone even.
About two seconds later, the anger evaporated, and I decided we had a much bigger problem than Jai just wanting to change a few of his routines or being upset about interruptions to our schedule.
This was open defiance, to the extent that a dimari was capable of defying his master.
But that wasn’t a problem I could solve while sitting in the middle of the base’s cafeteria.
I finished the last few mouthfuls of my meal in record time, then set the bowl aside.
The ongoing pressures of my job, though, meant I was going to have to step firmly into my role as ‘master’.
“Kade, I need to go and meet with Henderson, and then the Alliance Parliament. I need you to take Jai back to my office, scan his body shape and order him an appropriate selection of civilian clothes, and order a standard civilian comm for him. I also want you to give him a thorough rundown on our normal routines, where we live, and a brief history of the Alliance.”
“Yes, sir,” Kade said, diligent as always.
“Jai, you are to follow Kade’s instructions for the rest of the afternoon, until I come to collect you both.
You’re allowed to go anywhere within the base with him, but not outside the base.
I’ll likely be a good few hours dealing with the Parliament, so if it gets late enough to be time for dinner, you can both come back here to get something to eat. Kade, any questions?”
“No, sir,” Kade said. He’d slipped easily into ‘mission mode’, the way he did when shit was hitting the fan and we needed to get things done. At home, he’d have been far more likely to express concern over my sudden change of mood or suggest alternatives to my plans.
I deliberately didn’t ask Jai if he had any questions.
If it was anything urgent, he could ask Kade, and if it was anything complicated, I didn’t have time to answer it now anyway.
“All right, then, I’ll see you later.” I stood up and headed swiftly out of the cafeteria, making a concerted effort to organise all the details in my head about what I needed to tell Henderson.
The sooner I got this mess with the Vangravian female out of the way, the sooner I could start solving whatever the hell was going on with Jai.