Page 5 of Kranow (Brides of the Mylos #4)

Gundar wanted to throw something. The Council had gotten their way and Marley Sampson had made an appointment to be matched. The relevant media personalities had been contacted and arrangements had been made for some apparently famous human female to come interview Marley and observe her filling out the match forms and waiting to see if she was matched. All Gundar had to do was talk to Kranow. That had not gone so well.

Kranow stared across the conference room table. “ No. ”

“ No? But this is your perfect match and the whole reason you joined the Bride Fleet, ” Gundar pointed out, though truthfully, he did not blame the man. Marley Sampson very well might be sorry but the enormity of what she did and the personal fall out as people recognized her would make things very uncomfortable and more than a little tense.

“ If she was my perfect match, then she ’ d not be a criminal, ” Kranow ground out. “ Not one who does things like this. It ’ s not as if we ’ re talking about someone who stole in order to have food to eat. ”

Gundar nodded. “ I understand. I ’ ll ask them to remove your profile from the database, then. Do you request reassignment? The odds of you being matched again are practically non-existent. ”

Kranow closed his eyes, an expression of deep regret crossing his face. “ It ’ s all I ’ ve ever wanted. A family, you understand? I- I think if I cannot be matched, then perhaps it is best if I do go elsewhere. ”

Gundar did know. Sachuu had shown him the male ’ s record. Kranow had been orphaned at age three when the bride colony ship his family resided on was attacked by Moravian pirates who were interested in taking the ship. Moravians were ruthless scavengers. They stole ships to use as their own, retrofitting them with a hodgepodge of mounted guns and using the shuttle bays to store their smaller attack craft. They usually killed the males on board and sold the women and children on the black market. Kranow ’ s father had died trying to keep the pirates from exiting the main shuttle bay into the main corridors of the ship. His mother had resisted as they ’ d broken into their quarters, smashing a ceramic vase over the head of one of the pirates before being shot by another. He ’ d been raised by his grandparents, cherished as all Mylos children were, but there were notations that as he ’ d matured, he spoke often of wishing he ’ d had brothers, of wishing to be the same kind of wonderful mate and brave warrior that his grandparents had told him his father was, and that he ’ d been highly motivated to raise his profile in order to garner one of the limited places within the Bride Fleet. Gundar sighed, saddened. “ All right. I will take this under advisement. ”

He ’ d dismissed Kranow then and sat for several moments pondering the clusterfuck this whole business had become. He was still seething when he arrived home for lunch.

Darla sat the plate of sandwiches onto the table. “ You going to tell me what has you looking like a thundercloud has taken residence up on your face or you just going to sit there and stew? ’

“ Stew? You think me staying home to prepare the evening meal will relax me? ”

Darla snorted. “ No, it means are you going to keep whatever ’ s bothering you to yourself and stress yourself out. Or, you know, you could maybe tell me what it is and figure out while explaining it to me or I can offer a suggestion or something. ”

He picked up a sandwich and took a bite from it, chewing thoughtfully. He knew his mate. She was not going to leave this alone, and sooner or later she ’ d no doubt discover the Council ’ s hopes for Marley Sampson. He swallowed. “ You remember the Human Right female Sachuu caught? ”

Darla frowned angrily. “ You mean the one who hired those goons who kidnapped Melissa? I sure as hell remember her. Why? She escape custody? ”

Gundar shook his head. “ No, she was sent to stay with her sister while on house arrest and undergoing therapeutic rehabilitation. ”

“ Okay, but what does that have to do- oh no. You don ’ t mean to tell me part of her rehab has something to do with her coming here, do you? ” Gundar nodded silently. “ You can ’ t do that! ” she shouted. “ Melissa might come in contact with her and what then? And what if she ’ s just pretending to be all better? ”

Gundar let her rant. It wasn ’ t anything he hadn ’ t thought himself, until he ’ d read the message Marley had written to be handed to her match, should she get one. The remorse had come through and he couldn ’ t help but feel it was genuine. Marley had not tried to excuse her behavior. Instead she ’ d explained her state of mind and her own failings with brutal honesty. Gundar did not know if he could forgive and forget everything she ’ d done to his friends and others, but he did feel that she deserved a chance to better herself and make amends. He reached into his jacket and tapped the screen of his tablet, pulling up the missive. Without saying a word, he slid it across the table to Darla before resuming his meal.

Darla eyed the tablet as if it were a snake but picked it up to have a look. She read it with her lips pursed. Gundar could tell the raw emotions poured into words affected Darla as much as they had him as anger was replaced with sorrow upon her face. She finished reading it and sat the tablet down next to her plate. “ She ’ d still be under supervision and having to go to therapy, right? ”

“ Yes, until such a time as she is deemed unlikely to reoffend. ”

Darla sighed. “ What would she be doing? Just house arrest or what? ’

“ The Council thought she could fill the spot for elementary school teacher here. She is an experienced teacher with the right educational qualifications. ”

Darla ’ s eyes widened. “ You ’ d definitely need to run that by Junrig and Melissa first! Not only did she organize Melissa ’ s abduction but Melissa ’ s kids would be among her students. ”

“ There ’ s more, ” he sighed heavily. He told her about the whole talk show and Bride Scholarship application thing and that as it happened, they already knew she had a match. A match that refused to look at her profile and preferred to be removed from the register of hopefuls in order to avoid being officially matched.

Darla listened intently. “ I see. He refused even after reading her letter? ”

“ I didn ’ t show him, since he was refusing. ”

“ You idjit! You should have had him read it before accepting his decision! Right, first off, you have Xero contact him and explain that he needs to read it and think about it for at least a day before you ’ ll accept his refusal. Her having her own Mylos to love and be loved in return could be the thing that keeps her on the right path! Then you speak to Junrig, and let him and Melissa read it and about the whole teacher idea the bright sparks over at the Council came up with. Have Sachuu with you when you do. I ’ m sure Melissa will feel much better about the whole thing if she knows about the supervision and what steps they are taking to keep strict tabs on her and stuff. ”

Gundar leaned back in his chair, chagrin filling him. He ’ d been so wrapped up in his own emotions that he ’ d not really come up with a plan on the best way to handle it. If he had, he ’ d have thought of Darla ’ s suggestions himself and things would no doubt have gone a lot smoother. “ You ’ re right. I will have Xeranos contact him once we finish our meal and speak to Sachuu and Junrig before I return to the bridge. But, remember she is applying for the scholarship. She no doubt will choose to take her advance classes while remaining close to her sister. ”

“ Unless Kranow changes his mind. ”

“ Yes, unless Kranow changes his mind. ”