Chapter Thirteen
Drazien
I’d guessed that Elaina would like the archives, but I should have known bringing her there would be a mistake. Not because she couldn’t read Morraki, but because she was voracious when it came to acquiring new information.
The moment we entered, she transformed. The slight hesitation she'd shown when questioning me before disappeared. Even her scent shifted, brightening in a way that reminded me of the first time she'd seen the River Caverns.
Curiosity and excitement shone from her. The kind I'd seen in scholars and strategists that drove them to obsess over problems until they were solved.
Unfortunately for me, Elaina couldn’t learn the entire Morraki language in a day, although she was determined to try.
“...and this?”
Her finger landed on a section of text written in blood on the softened hide. My gaze traced the symbol before climbing her finger to her small hand, then up further.
“Drahl.”
“And drahl is stone?”
“Yes.”
I was only partially paying attention to what she was asking, most of my attention focused on her rather than the words. I’d planned to use the time in the archives to scope out the best place to hide, to set my trap, but I hadn’t moved from the seat across from her.
She immediately pointed to another word.
“And this one?”
“Thara.”
“Thara. When we arrived… you said the black wall was… Veyr-drahl-tharvek.”
My tail tightened around the leg of the chair I sat on. I could practically see her thinking, and she remembered things remarkably well. We'd only been there a short time, yet she'd already begun identifying recurring symbols and roots.
Even Morraki children didn’t make connections as fast as she had.
“Vek has to be a suffix that changes the meaning of thara in some way. It’s in other words too. Is it…”
Her pause was a bit longer before her eyes widened. The candle on the table reflected from them, bringing out the green flecks amidst the pale brown.
“Protection? Protector? Like a shield?”
A smile tugged at my lips, making an answering one spread across her face. She knew she was right before I confirmed.
“Yes, tharvek is shield.”
The way she glowed was dangerous.
“So Veyrdrahl’tharvek has to mean blood, stone, shield. The fortress is called Bloodstone Shield.”
My shaft twitched at the way she grinned when she looked up at me once more. The desire to make her look at me like that was distracting, and I had to turn my head away to break the hold she had over me.
“You are insufferable.”
Her scoff had me facing her once more, unable to fight my own smirk at her outrage.
“What?”
I leaned back in the chair, crossing my arms over my chest. If she could have seen beneath the table, seen what she did to me, that expression would have changed into something else, but soon it would make her smile just the same as when she translated a new word.
“You enjoy being right.”
She scoffed again, rolling her eyes before focusing on the text once more. I missed having her attention on me, but I resisted the urge to pull the scroll away.
“You should be familiar with that feeling.”
I snorted. The jab should not have pleased me when I’d expected a meek, compliant omega, but I found I enjoyed her spark.
Before I could linger on that thought, a strange growl echoed around us. Elaina froze, eyes widening as if she were shocked before she placed a hand over her stomach.
Her cheeks flushed as she let out a short laugh, confirming the sound had come from her, but it was nothing like the other growls she’d produced when irritated with me.
“Sorry, my stomach seems to think it’s empty.”
Realization hit and I leaned forward. I hadn’t realized how much time had passed as we sat amidst the dust archives.
“You are hungry.”
She opened her mouth and I knew she’d planned to deny it, but another growl interrupted her.
I raised a brow and her eyes narrowed. The argument lasted three heartbeats before she gave in with a huff, not a single word exchanged.
Standing, I took her hand and tugged her to her feet.
“Drazien.”
I shook my head and pulled her towards the exit.
“You need food.”
She sighed and looked over her shoulder at the open scroll on the table. There were betas who cleaned and straightened the archives who would put it away, so I wasn’t worried about leaving it there.
“I can survive another hour.”
I arched a brow at her again.
“Omegas become irrational when hungry.”
Her expression darkened and the glare I remembered returned. I enjoyed it just as much as the smile she’d bestowed on me before.
Ignoring her protests, I led her through the tunnels. The archives had hidden her for too long, and if the rebels were going to target her, they needed to see her coming and going from there. If she stayed without emerging, it defeated the purpose of showing her the city.
The thought left a sour taste in my mouth. My instincts were resisting the idea of using her as bait, but strategy demanded difficult choices. The safety of one did not outweigh the good of many.
I guided her back through High Ledge, taking a different route than before. We didn’t know who was involved in the prior attacks or how many rebels there were, so they needed multiple opportunities to see her.
Her pace was slower than previously, but I assumed it was her reluctance to leave the archives.
I tried asking her about the scent of each tunnel we traversed but gave up as she grew quieter and each response took longer.
Humans weren’t used to walking around and climbing stairs the way we did in Korvashan.
I’d been warned she would be slow and need time to adjust.
We descended the back stairwell and then the Markets stretched before us once more, crowded with activity as preparations for Khavren continued. Crimson banners hung from the columns and stalls, colored lights lined the walkways, and music drifted through the cavern from somewhere ahead.
The atmosphere buzzed with anticipation. Outside of Zha’Khorr Valryn, Khavren was one of the few celebrations observed on Morrakan, and everyone participated.
Elaina's gaze moved constantly, taking in every detail, every color, every face. It was more pleasing than it should have been that she was interested in it all.
I led her toward another food vendor, and her attention shifted to what was on offer. The vendor greeted me by name since it was where I frequently ordered my meals, and my lips twitched at the look Elaina gave me when she caught it amidst the words she didn’t yet know.
The female was only a beta, but it was in an omega’s nature to be suspicious of others around the alpha they had chosen prior to bonding.
Claiming a mate was the only way to assure they were truly theirs, and with the Human’s habit of changing mates almost as often as they changed their clothing, a Human omega had to be twice as suspicious.
The thought of Elaina being territorial had me grinning as I ordered enough food for both of us. I was tempted to further her suspicions to see what she would do, but another customer came along so I took the tray and carried it toward one of the open seating areas.
Elaina reached for one of the pastries as soon as we sat, but I moved it first. Her hand closed on empty air, and she blinked at where the food had been resting a moment before.
Lifting the pastry towards her mouth, I watched her brow furrow and her lips flatten as she planned to deny me.
“I can feed myself.”
Smirking, I continued to hold it in place for her to taste.
“I am aware.”
She crossed her arms, glaring at me. I waited, smile in place, ready to spend the rest of the day locked in place if necessary. Elaina had a stubborn streak, but I was patient.
Eventually she sighed, the sound carrying her resignation as she leaned forward and took a bite. Satisfaction surged through me, the instinct to take care of my omega appeased by the simple act of feeding her.
I wanted to feed her other things, but that had to wait. I couldn’t have her delirious with hunger instead of paying attention to what I planned to do to her body.
I offered her another piece, and then another.
By the fourth bite, she stopped pretending to protest and simply accepted the food, stirring a purr from my chest. It wasn’t the first time I’d purred for her, but with her omega hormones fully developed, the response was stronger than it had been while she was more Human.
Movement nearby caught her attention, but it was only another Morraki shopping. I would never let Elaina be in real danger while she was with me, but she continued to watch the people around us, frown growing between bites.
“Do you not like it?”
She had enjoyed the sahlak earlier, so she should have liked it stuffed inside the veythra.
She hesitated before shaking her head, then subtly pointed behind my right arm.
“I think I've seen him before.”
My gaze followed hers to a warrior inspecting an emblem at the stall behind me. It was nothing unusual for the Markets.
“Are you certain it was him?”
It was rare for two Morraki to have the same skin tone and luth’rein unless they were related, but there were many brothers in Korvashan. Male births had outnumbered female for generations.
She hesitated again before shaking her head as she ducked it.
“Not certain, no.”
I shrugged and offered her another bite.
“The city has many people.”
Her expression suggested she wasn't convinced. While the entire point of dragging her around Korvashan was to attract attention to her and try to catch the rebels, the warrior didn't appear threatening, and I hadn’t noticed him before.
The matter slipped from my thoughts as I continued to feed Elaina, her eyes growing drowsier with each bite. Eventually I stood and ordered her to stay where she was so I could fetch drinks.
Her eyes narrowed, her mood having soured since leaving the archives.
“I wasn't planning to run away.”
My mouth stretched in a grin as my tail curled behind me.
“Good.”