Chapter Twenty
Drazien
Holding her hand had become as natural as not stepping on my own tail, but I wasn’t sure it was as useful. It prevented me from grabbing my weapons as fast. Twining tails was much more practical, but since Elaina didn’t have one…
I looked down at our joined hands once more. The tension in her shoulders had eased as we walked through more of the Khavren displays, but not enough to hide the worry clinging to her sweet scent.
She still believed she'd overheard a plot.
I wasn’t sure she was wrong, but I’d lied to her anyway.
Despite the fact that I was parading her around for the exact reason of provoking the rebels into an attack, I couldn’t help thinking she'd misunderstood.
She was picking up Morraki fast, but it just seemed too unlikely that the rebels happened to use words she recognized, right behind the tent she was waiting beside, at the exact moment she was there alone.
Unless they wanted her to overhear, and their real plan was something entirely different.
Those two ideas sat uneasily beside one another, taking up too much space in my mind as we slipped between other Morraki enjoying Khavren activities.
I usually spent the festival at the Veyr’vokkar arena, participating in the challenges, but that hadn’t seemed to be a good idea with Elaina there.
It would have been too easy for someone to snatch her while I was fighting, or, just as likely, for her to grow bored and wander off.
“Come.”
I tugged her gently back toward the entrance to Korvashan.
“We're leaving?”
There was disappointment on her face even though it would have been the smarter idea. Still, I had enjoyed watching her explore, and I didn’t want the night to end on the sourness of our disagreement.
“No, but we will return to the walls of Veyrdrahl’tharvek so they may protect you from the wind.”
There was still tightness around her eyes, but she seemed relieved. Whether it was because she got to continue to explore or because she wouldn’t be trapped alone with me underground, I wasn’t sure.
I scanned the crowd as we walked, taking note of every alpha we passed.
Not because I believed any of them were rebels, but because there was a chance it was possible.
I had no doubt that the rebels truly were watching and likely planning some way to take or hurt Elaina, but the Khavren festival was too crowded.
There was too much risk that other Morraki would get involved.
Still, the mission hadn't changed.
Only my feelings had.
Music echoed between the walls of Veyrdrahl'tharvek. Warriors shouted as they competed in contests of skill and strength, and smoke from cooking fires drifted through the dry afternoon air. Every instinct told me the festival remained exactly as it appeared to be.
Crowded, but safe enough. Impossible to attack without witnesses and collateral damage.
Yet I kept my gaze moving. Doorways, booths, blind corners. Vendors, competitors, shoppers.
It was habit. Nothing more. Warriors needed to be aware of their surroundings, and an alpha with his omega doubly so.
Elaina remained unusually quiet beside me. Every stall we had passed before had drawn interest. Questions.
Now she barely glanced toward them. She watched people instead, and that made me more uncomfortable than I wanted to admit.
Did she trust my protection so little?
“You are thinking too much.”
She looked up, brow furrowed.
“What?”
“I can hear your thoughts grinding together.”
Huffing, she shook her head.
“No you can't.”
Grinning, I let my tail wind around her waist and pull her closer.
“I can.”
She rolled her eyes and looked away, showing a bit more interest in things other than the Morraki we passed. I wanted her to be comfortable amongst my kind, not looking for danger behind each thavren. It was one of the reasons I didn’t want to tell her about the rebels.
“At least smoke doesn’t come from my ears when I think. Your brain is so dry it catches fire when two thoughts pass each other.”
Startled, I threw my head back and laughed, the sound catching the attention of those around us, but I ignored them. As much as I loved irritating my rethari, I loved it more when she used her claws to scratch back.
A smile tilted her eyes before she pulled them away again.
“I didn’t realize making an observation would make you bray like an ass. If anyone hadn’t been aware of us before, they are now.”
I didn’t understand the reference to a backside, but I knew it was unflattering, yet it was the second part of what she said that held my attention. Her worry still lurked, and I wasn’t sure how to ease her mind.
We wandered deeper into the crowds. Many were beginning to head underground before the night winds picked up, content to continue their carousing in the Cavern Markets or the other areas set up for Khavren.
The festival went on night and day, and there wouldn’t be a moment of quiet in the public areas until it was over.
I purchased food for us that she accepted absently, taking small bites while her attention remained fixed on the moving crowd. She tried to look everywhere at once, being far too obvious. It was impossible to notice anomalies if you didn’t take the time to absorb what was happening.
A warrior approached from our left and slowed when he noticed Elaina. His nostrils flared and his gaze lingered too long, so I stepped between them, but he dipped his head and continued walking without challenge.
Elaina placed her palm on my back, making my tail arch before I turned to her.
“You don’t have to do that.”
I frowned, not understanding why she was telling me not to show them she was mine.
“He looked too long, and he scented you.”
She sighed and lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
“People look. I’m different. It’s understandable.”
My growl was quiet, but I knew she heard it.
“They do not look because you are different, they look because you are omega.”
Her frown beneath the thavren was obvious and matched mine, although she managed to control her voice better than I did.
“They're just curious.”
I bared my teeth for a moment before forcing myself to calm. There was a steady pulse beneath my skin from the effort it was taking to control my kethra, and the base of my spine was beginning to ache from keeping my tail stiff.
“They are male. Alpha. They would take you if they had the chance.”
She laughed and shook her head again, but I was glad she finally seemed to relax, even if it made no sense.
“You sound like an overprotective father. Good thing they don’t have a chance.”
Something in my chest warmed even as my shaft stirred at her words. The way she looked at me suggested they meant more than simply not having the opportunity to take her.
“It’s instinct.”
She didn't argue. It wasn’t an excuse if it was true.
The path we walked narrowed where several rows of stalls converged.
Movement slowed all around us as people browsed and families crowded around performers balancing burning poles or tossing fire.
They were the perfect conditions for someone to get close, and while I didn’t think the rebels would attempt assassination the way I would have in the situation, I didn't like it.
No warrior responsible for protecting someone would have.
“We'll go around,” I said, directing her towards a more open area.
Elaina nodded. There was no teasing or argument, and while I appreciated it in the situation, part of me tightened.
Her eyes never stopped moving. Left, right, up the walls, and over her shoulder.
She was on guard the way I would have been in an unfamiliar city, but it wasn’t her responsibility to watch for danger.
We had nearly reached a quieter area when she suddenly stopped, the tension on my tail almost pulling me backwards.
“Drazien.”
Her voice barely carried above the crowd, the tone of it making my hackles rise.
“What is it?”
“The blue one.”
I frowned, not understanding.
“What?”
She didn't look at me, keeping her head straight ahead even though I saw her eyes dart to the side.
“His kethra. The blue streaks.”
I was already looking for him when she said, “Don't turn,” but I didn’t see any Morraki with blue kethra or a luth’rein that looked like streaks.
“What did you see?”
“An alpha. He was staring at me, and when I met his gaze, he snarled. His kethra flashed almost green, but then he ducked behind that stall.”
I still didn’t see anything.
“Where?”
Her breathing had changed, growing faster, although it was deep and not panicked gulps. I followed her gaze to the game she was staring towards, but there were too many people shifting between us and it for me to see if anyone lingered beyond the tent wall.
I forced my shoulders to ease. It was possible he had been looking at something else. Perhaps a rival in the game, and she just happened to be in his line of sight.
“Let’s keep moving.”
She finally looked up at me, but her nod was hesitant. I could tell she was uneasy, but there wasn’t anything I could see that was an obvious threat.
We went another hundred paces, perhaps twice that, when I noticed the absence of children in the area. Morraki were not a prolific people, omegas were too rare and beta fertility too low, but there had still been children visible all day, their high-pitched voices carrying above the others.
Here, there were none, and a circle of open space had opened in front of us between merchants selling weapons and armor. It was subtle, almost invisible, but it seemed too coincidental. Crowds naturally flowed around obstacles, but this felt deliberate.
My pulse slowed and I cocked my head, tipping my ears to check all sides. There were warriors approaching from our front, a pair behind us, and more lingering in the stalls.
It was too coordinated.
I released Elaina's hand and pushed her to the side where a clump of dakrethin and the wall of one booth created a corner I could protect. I loosened my tail but kept it around her waist, and her fingers curled around it.
“Drazien.”
“I see them.”
The seemingly random people were exchanging glances, as if trying to decide what to do since I hadn’t followed their plan.
“No, right!”
Her voice was sharp and I jerked my head in the direction she indicated. A cart rolled toward us far too quickly. No beast pulled it, and no one appeared in control.
The heavy metal wheels bounced over the uneven stone of the path, yet still seemed to gather speed as it hurtled directly toward the narrow lane we'd been walking down. It couldn’t have been an accident. Someone had released it, and the safe corner I’d put Elaina in was suddenly a trap.
Time slowed. People around us yelled and scattered, except the warriors who’d moved to block any escape.
My stomach lurched at the thought that she had been right, but I didn’t have time for guilt. I turned and caught Elaina around the waist as I slashed the tent wall with my tail to shred the fabric before yanking her through.
The cart thundered past where we'd stood a heartbeat earlier, smashing into the dakrethin and caving in the side of the stall. Canvas collapsed over us, but I was already moving towards the back of the booth, pulling one of my knives to cut through the fabric faster.
The area had dissolved into chaos. Warriors shouted as vendors scrambled to hold their tents upright or straighten tables that had been knocked aside.
Behind us, the four warriors who had stopped to make sure we had no clear path glared, but only for an instant, then they disappeared into the panicked crowd.
This had been planned. It was no accident, but a deliberate attempt by the rebels, and I’d almost let them win.
I started to lunge after them, but Elaina’s fingers tightened on my arm.
“Drazien?”
I looked down into her green and brown eyes.
They were wide, her breathing fast and shallow, but she was watching me for what to do next.
Trusting me to decide how to react, even after I’d dismissed her and told her she'd misunderstood because I’d been too arrogant to think the rebels would attack now. Here.
I forced the thoughts away and dragged her farther from the stalls. There was another row not far away, but I needed a moment to think.
I’d almost failed.
Her thavren had gotten lost when the booth collapsed atop us, and I took a moment to examine her as I pulled mine off. There was no blood or obvious injuries, and she must have been able to tell what I was thinking because she shook her head.
“I'm fine.”
The words were quiet, but they loosened the fist in my chest.
“Good.”
I wrapped my thavren around her head, leaving a smaller gap around her eyes and fluffing it higher on her head to make her seem taller. I wanted to do more, but it was the only thing I had.
She reached for my hand as I pulled away, but I caught both of hers instead. I knew I was holding them far tighter than necessary, but my heart was racing and my blood thrummed in my ears.
She studied my face for a long moment before nodding.
“You believe me now.”
It wasn't a question, but I didn’t deny it.
“I was wrong.”
The admission scraped my throat raw, but it was better than the alternative.
“I should have listened.”
Silence settled between us. She had every right to be angry at me, to blame me for what could have happened, yet all I saw on her face was concern.
She finally looked back toward the damaged booths and the vendors trying to right them. The dakrethin had been split open and knocked over, the smell covering any chance I might have had to identify those who had thought to trap us.
“I didn’t want to be right.”
Swallowing, I forced myself to loosen my grip on her. While we were mostly out of view, there was a bubble of open space around us that was making my skin itch with the need to find cover, but she needed reassurance first.
“I know. I’m sorry you were.”
“I just...”
Her voice faltered before she pushed on.
“I wish you had trusted me.”
Those words hurt more than the realization that the rebels had grown bolder. More than almost failing an operation, and the knowledge that someone had nearly taken her from me right out in the open despite the warning Shaevrin had sent us.
Because I hadn’t. Not truly. Even though it was precisely what I’d been watching for, I hadn’t believed she’d been the one to overhear the rebels and give the warning, because I had been too certain they wouldn’t endanger other Morraki, and that I would be the one who spotted them.
The mission suddenly seemed insignificant beside the failure to keep her safe.
I looked back toward the shattered merchant stalls where others were helping the injured and cleaning up the mess. The rebels had escaped, but that could be corrected.
Elaina's trust...
That would be far harder to recover.