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“Yes.” She frowned. “I know our rags and beater truck made it seem that Morlie and I didn’t have anything.

” She lifted a shoulder. “And we didn’t.

Except I kept my parents’ wedding rings after they died.

In the Dispatch, you don’t want to let on that you have anything of value.

I kept them hidden in the jacket pocket. ”

“Hm.” He continued to stare at her.

Kai went on, “Since Tana cleaned and repaired it. She must still have the pieces.”

“What kind of jewelry were they?” Now, there were small, yellow flames in his eyes rising higher and higher.

Tilting her head to the side, Kai tried to decipher why Aodh was showcasing such an elevated level of curiosity. “Gold. They were gold bands.”

He nodded. When he blinked, the color became muted before fading away. “If Tana has your gold bands, she’ll return them.”

If?

Aodh began to dish up fruit onto her plate, followed by fresh bread, which she enjoyed eating in the morning.

“She has to have them.” Kai declared. “I hope they didn’t fall out of the pocket and get lost.”

“While we are at my office, I will have her come over, and you can ask after them.” Aodh served himself the same thing, including a pile of savory, ground goat patties.

“Thank you.” She smiled at him and started to eat.

She and Aodh were too famished after they’d exerted so much energy through the night that they didn’t talk while they ate. As soon as they finished, they headed out of the suite. Kai glanced at the window and noticed the sun had finally risen, turning the sky lavender.

They crossed the wide landing toward Morlie’s smaller place. When she started to open the door, Aodh swayed her to knock first.

“Aodh, she’s my sister. I’ve cared for her practically all her life.” She was trying to convince him that it wasn’t an issue that she walked in, no matter if her sister was still in bed or bathing.

“I know it is true, but she is still a young woman, not a child, and in this territory, Morlie is deserving of privacy.”

Kai gasped at his words. She wanted to argue against what he was saying. She and Morlie had shared rooms all their life, and as of recently, before they left the Wall, they had slept in the bed of their father’s truck together.

“Fine.” She huffed. Raising a hand, she knocked on the door. Rapping on it hurt her knuckles, even though it barely made a sound when she hit the smooth stone.

Aodh chuckled. He lifted her injured hand and kissed along the reddened knuckles.

Goosebumps ran up her arm, and heat spread through her body. She swallowed down the moan.

“Here, let me.” With the side of his fist, he pounded once. The booming sound was easier to hear as it shook the door.

It didn’t take long for the door to part a little.

Kai started to push the door with both hands to help her sister. But Aodh did it first, with one hand.

“Why so early, Kai?” a yawning Morlie asked.

Aodh may have had a point about Morlie being a young woman, but watching her rub her eyes, she reminded Kai of the innocent little girl Morlie had been before their parents’ death.

“I should have come by sooner and told you to get dressed. You could have eaten with us.”

“Why?” Morlie shoved a hand through her short curls as she leaned into the doorjamb, looking like she’d rather be back in bed.

Kai wondered how long the young people had stayed downstairs dancing. She felt a little guilty about abandoning her sister.

“Aodh wants to show us around today. If you’re up for it.” Kai assessed her younger sister, looking for signs that Morlie’s active night had set her back health-wise. She couldn’t see anything besides her sister being tired. Exhaustion made sense. Morlie had been sick for quite some time.

Aodh stood back, allowing them space to discuss.

“Not now.” Morlie glanced over her shoulder toward the window. “At whatever god-awful time it is.”

“Well, we can probably come back for you.” Kai glanced over at Aodh. “If it is not an inconvenience.”

“Not at all. If later is better, I can send Yeongi to get her in a few hours,” Aodh declared.

Morlie straightened up. “Actually. I don’t need anyone to come back for me. Eilidh invited me along with her and her friends later. After they finish their training or observation.”

“She did?” Kai was shocked.

Kai liked the thought of the young people going through training. She wondered if there was a way, once Morlie was better, for Aodh to let her sister learn a job here. She glanced from Morlie to Aodh, who was frowning, and then back to Morlie. “To do what?”

Her sister shrugged. “To hang out. Whatever young people do.”

Something Morlie had no experience with.

“Um.” Kai focused her attention back on Aodh. “Is it safe?”

Aodh nodded. “Eilidh will watch out for her. She knows to stay within the boundary of the territory.”

“Well then. Okay.” When her sister clutched the door with two hands and started to push, Kai called out, “But I want to see you at the evening meal.”

“Got it, sissy.” Morlie yawned again as the door moved slowly.

Aodh reached out, grabbed the door handle, and pulled it shut. He escorted her down the stairs.

“I’m not sure how I feel about Morlie running around without me close by.”

His hand rested on her lower back, right at the curve of her ass, as they walked out of the building. “Trust me, no one in my territory will harm your sister.”

“I trust you.” Kai hoped Aodh understood that protecting Morlie was of the highest importance to her, after that, her parents’ rings.

Kai knew she’d worry until she could speak with Tana and get the jewelry back.

~YH~

“Again!”

Kai gasped and clutched at Aodh’s arm. “Who is she, and why is she making your brother hurt those boys.”

She squinted a little but could not stop watching as Liekki stood in the center of a large grass arena with a big sword similar to the crossed pair on the wall of Aodh’s suite.

Every time one of the boys got to their feet and charged at him from any direction, Liekki merely shifted his step, avoiding the blow, and swung on them, his strike quick.

A vibrant strip of blood would appear as, time after time, the young men tumbled to the ground.

Only to have the tall, muscular woman with skin as rich as Middle Earth, garbed in a loose fighting dress with splits on each side that reached her hips, circle the perimeter of the sparing men.

Aodh chuckled as he slipped his hand over hers and then squeezed. “That is Khuzaimah,” he gestured toward the woman with a single, short, thick braid along the center of her head, barking commands. “She is our battle trainer. Very few are as skilled as she.”

“Stop charging. Stay on your toes. Think!” Khuzaimah growled.

“Okay.” Kai winced again as another of the young men ended up on the ground, this one with blood spilling from his jaw. “But these boys can’t win against someone so big.”

“They are not boys, little flame. Young adult Drahk, males and females, must enhance their skills.”

The boys looked to be around Morlie’s age, barely adults.

Kai didn’t see why it was important for everyone to train.

Where she was from there were only guards who kept order and maintained the gates to the Consumer Providence and the Wall, but in this territory, it looked as if they were training for war.

“But Liekki is hurting them. Can’t they fight against someone their size? ”

“No,” Aodh declared. “You can only become better when the challenger is greater. An enemy never sends out their weakest warrior.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Look, the bleeding halts as quickly as it starts.”

Kai stared at the young men anew. This time, she looked closer and paid attention instead of wincing at each attack. Aodh was correct. The wounds appeared and disappeared in a blink. Even when the young men limped away, they came at Liekki again in full strength.

“Watch.” As Khuzaimah marched into the fray, she reached behind her head and pulled up a massive broad sword, which appeared to have diamonds embedded above the hilt.

“ Laegdri ,” she rumbled the order in Drahk as she moved beside one of the young men and sank, matching Liekki’s stance. “ Laegdri .”

“Lower.” Aodh interpreted, his lips still beside her ear.

Shivering, Kai worked hard to keep focused on the scene instead of the heat coursing through her body in response to Aodh. She would never know how the man could make such a coarse language sound so sensuous.

Adding the new word to her minute lexicon of Drahk words, she studied the woman with a skin tone deeper than hers. She worried the woman would trip on the hem of her dress that brushed against the ground. “Wouldn’t it be more practical for her to wear pants?”

“It doesn’t matter for one as skilled.” Aodh patted her hand.

Sure enough, Kai observed the trainer’s graceful movements as she cross-stepped her feet but kept her gaze locked on Liekki.

With patience, Khuzaimah waited. When she did, her movements were meticulous and well-thought-out.

It forced Liekki to charge her. In a flash, she side-stepped and swung the massive, gleaming blade around at her opponent’s back.

Kai slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the outburst that would have come out, warning Liekki of the deadly strike.

Soon, Kai realized her alert would have been unnecessary because Liekki’s movements were just as agile, as his emerald gilded sword, instead of his flesh, clashed with the woman.

The woman is badass.

Anyone other than someone with Leikki’s level of skill would have had their spine cut in two.

“Phew.” Relief washed over Kai. Even if their kind did heal fast, she didn’t want to see anyone hurt so severely.

“Khuzaimah can train you if you’d like.”

Kai chuckled low, not wanting to disturb those in the practice area. “I don’t see a reason I would need to know how to fight at such a level.”

“Having a skill and never using it is one thing. Needing a skill and not having it is death.”