Without a Front: The Warrior's Challenge (Chronicles of Alsea Book 3)

by Fletcher DeLancey

  “You stood there looking lovelier than anything that has ever been in this room. Was I supposed to resist that?”

  Salomen shook her head. “I won’t argue with you. On that topic. But you—I mean, we have meetings starting in about twenty ticks, don’t we?”

  Tal sighed and stepped away. “Yes, we do. We should have left Hol-Opah earlier, but I couldn’t bear to go.” She picked up one of the bags and headed for the large bed at the side of the room. “Let’s at least get you partially settled.”

  Salomen followed with the second bag. “This really is gorgeous. Luxurious and elegant, but still…livable.”

  “Thank you. I like the space, I must admit. Base quarters are never this large.”

  “No joke. You could fit the top floor of my house in here. I’m guessing base quarters don’t have ceilings like this, either.” Salomen tilted her head back, examining the carvings adorning a wide strip atop the walls. On the high, arched ceiling, wood strips of different shades formed subtle patterns.

  “Not for anyone but the commander. There’s a benefit to living on the top floor.”

  The room was an open design, with living, cooking, and sleeping quarters separated only by visual space. All of the furniture was antique, but also comfortable and useful. When Tal moved in, she had sent quite a few pieces into storage that she was afraid to touch, much less sit or write on.

  The door opened into the center of the room, where a richly embroidered circular rug told the story of the Wandering King’s discovery of Blacksun Basin. To the right was her desk, placed to have a view out the windows, and beyond that, the kitchen area filled the inside corner. Her desk had a built-in recessed vidcom unit, but the room featured a second, much larger wall unit above the dining table, which sat in the opposite corner from the kitchen and under the first of the windows that marched across the outer wall. Half-height bookcases lined the entire wall below the windows, their polished wooden tops displaying various pieces of art that Tal had picked up in her travels. A sofa and a collection of chairs and side tables made a comfortable place to read or entertain guests—not that she ever brought anyone here besides Micah. She had too few inviolable places in her life, and this was one of them.

  The sleeping area took up the left part of the room, with the huge bed facing the windows and set on an equally large, plush rug. A hand-carved clothing organizer was tucked up against the head of the bed, facing toward the inner wall, its glass doors revealing a colorful assortment of clothes and blankets inside.

  Tal opened the organizer and cleared linens off two of the shelves. “You can keep some of your clothes here, but there’s more room in the closet.”

  “There?” Salomen pointed toward the arched doorway in the left wall.

  “Yes. The bathroom is through there as well.” Carrying the linens, Tal started off for the doorway before noticing that Salomen had wandered to the bookcases, where the only plant in the room held court.

  “What is this?” Salomen touched one of the orchid’s flowers and drew back in surprise when it changed color. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Is this—?”

  “A Filessian orchid.” Tal reached her side, still holding the linens. “It’s from the Caphenon. I have another in my office, with purple flowers that turn yellow. They both came back into bloom again last moon.”

  “How incredibly beautiful. And it smells divine.” Salomen touched the yellow flower again, smiling as the petal under her finger shimmered into a deep blue. “I read that the Gaians had an entire garden on that ship. Are you going to give me a tour when you take Jaros?”

  “I’ll give you a tour this nineday if you like. As soon as I’ve caught up on everything.”

  “I would love that.” She picked up the small box propped against the orchid’s vase. “Is this from the Caphenon as well?”

  “That’s, ah…” Tal swallowed. “They’re medals of valor. They belong to Ekatya.”

  Salomen looked from the red and silver medals to her. “Why did she leave them with you?”

  “She didn’t. She didn’t mean for anyone to see them. I’m just keeping them safe until she comes back.”

  Salomen returned the box to its place. “There’s a story here, and I want to hear it, but I’m guessing we’ll need more time than we have.” She turned to face Tal. “And surely you can feel that I’m fine.”

  “I can, but…part of me is still waiting for the second stone to hit.” And she hadn’t yet told Salomen the full truth. As irked as she had been at Micah for keeping Ekatya away, she was grateful for his foresight now.

  “There is no second stone. I’m not competing with a memory anymore. She has her tyree, and I have mine.”

  Tal nearly dropped the linens when Salomen took her mouth in the most possessive kiss they had ever shared. She was two pipticks away from canceling every meeting for the rest of the day when Salomen finally pulled back and smiled.

  “Hold that thought,” she whispered, then added in a normal tone, “So. You were going to show me the bathroom?”

  Tal stared at her while her brain scrambled to switch tracks.

  “Bathroom…?” Salomen prompted.

  Tal shook her head. “If you wanted to kill me, there are easier ways.” She turned, smiling at the sound of Salomen’s laughter, and led the way into the bathroom. “It’s a little larger than I need.”

  “Goddess above, an entire unit of Guards could use this!” Salomen stood in the center of the cavernous tiled room, looking around with awe. “How many guests does a Lancer usually sleep with?”

  Tal stacked the linens on a small table by the door. “There were some large parties in past eras. This one has been rather sedate, I’m afraid.”

  “Good. Let’s keep it that way.” Salomen went to one of the tall windows and looked out. “Best view I’ve ever seen from a bathroom. Is there a privacy screen, like on your transport?”

  “You don’t want to bare yourself to half of Blacksun?”

  Salomen turned her head and scorched Tal with a look. “Don’t talk about baring bodies when we have meetings in fifteen ticks.”

  “Why not? It’s only fair. And yes, there is.” She indicated the control discreetly embedded in the wall.

  Salomen walked past her, brushing an arm along her waist as she did so, and peeked through the doorway set in the wall of the bathroom. “Ah. A closet large enough for that Guard unit as well.”

  Tal followed her in. “As you can see, there’s plenty of room for you. In my younger days, I had entire housing units that would have fit into this closet. I couldn’t fill this in a lifetime.”

  “Oh, but what you do have is top of the pile.” Salomen walked over to one of the wall racks and pulled out Tal’s most formal suit. “I saw you wearing this at the funerals after the Battle of Alsea. And the one right after the Caphenon landed. You looked spectacular.”

  Tal sidled up to her. “If we didn’t have meetings, I could put it on for you…and you could take it off again.”

  Salomen let the suit swing back in. “Don’t tempt me.” With a look of warning, she strode past Tal to the main room. A moment later she returned with both bags.

  Tal raised an eyebrow at her effortless display of strength and wondered if she was even aware of how sexy that was.

  “At least unpacking won’t take long,” Salomen said. “It’s not as if I need to find space.”

  True to her word, she was fully unpacked by the time they left their quarters for the first meeting. Tal stole sideways glances at her as they walked down the corridor to the lift, marveling that she was actually here. The moon at Hol-Opah had been a complete departure for her, making it somehow easier to accept the radical changes that becoming tyree had wrought. After all, everything had been different then. But now she was back at the State House, settling into what used t
o be her normal life, and Salomen’s presence was a brilliant reminder of just how much had changed. Some of it she could have done without, but the rest…

  The rest was a gift so great that no amount of oil could ever convey her gratitude to Fahla.

  CHAPTER 11:

  Little spy

  Aldirk checked his wristcom and nodded to himself. Right on time as always. He knocked on the Lancer’s inner office door and heard the familiar “Enter.”

  The chair behind the desk was empty. He turned toward the conference table and stopped in his tracks.

  “Aldirk.” Lancer Tal smiled at him from her seat. “I would like to introduce Raiz Salomen Opah. Salomen, this is Chief Counselor Sunsa Aldirk.”

  Aldirk stared at the woman next to the Lancer, hoping his surprise did not show. Of course he recognized her. He knew all about her. Just this morning he had helped arrange today’s demonstration of her status to the media.

  What he didn’t know, and what had startled him into silence, was that she was a powerful empath. He had not detected anyone in this room prior to walking in. While that was normal for the Lancer, it was decidedly abnormal for a producer.

  After what felt like an embarrassingly obvious amount of time, he recovered enough to give her a short bow. “Well met, Raiz Opah. It’s a pleasure.”

  “Well met, Counselor Aldirk. And the pleasure is mine.” She offered what appeared to be a genuine smile. “I’ve heard a great deal about you. Andira says she couldn’t do her job without you.”

  “Well, I could,” said Lancer Tal, “but it would be much more difficult.”

  Aldirk had never heard anyone call the Lancer by her first name. “Thank you,” he said faintly. “I do my best.”

  Lancer Tal tilted her head to one side. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, no.” He forced his legs to move and took a seat. “I hadn’t realized we would have a guest at our meeting.”

  “She’s not a guest. That’s part of what we’ll be discussing.”

  “Ah, yes. The second phase of your challenge. I was unaware that you planned to include Raiz Opah in all of your meetings.”

  “She won’t be. But circumstances have changed. Salomen will be here for more than just the challenge moon. And she’s more than just my lover, this morning’s media show notwithstanding.” She glanced at the producer, her expression showing a startlingly open warmth. “She’s my bondmate.”

  “Your—” For one paralyzing moment, his brain cleared of all thoughts. “I, ah…I’m surprised. Your bondmate?”

  She nodded. “I received inclusion from her family today. And I know you’re more than surprised, though your front is perfect as always. But Salomen is the reason I asked you to research tyrees with the divine spark.”

  “Great Mother. I had no idea.” She couldn’t have mentioned this little detail earlier? He had never been so off balance in his entire professional life.

  “It happened very suddenly. We weren’t bonded until the night of the assassination attempt.”

  “Then I’m even more glad to welcome you back, and to meet you, Raiz Opah. You surely deserve a better place than the healing center to celebrate your bond. Though I’m five days late, may I offer my congratulations?”

  “Thank you,” they said in unison, and Aldirk felt as if he had dropped into an alternative existence.

  “This morning’s demonstration was just to throw the gossip mongers off the track,” Lancer Tal said. “Colonel Micah needs time to train Salomen’s Guards, so as far as the world knows, she’s just my lover. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier, but we had to keep this tightly wrapped, at least until I got out of the healing center.”

  He nodded, feeling slightly better. But still—that meant Miltorin had known about it before him! He must have, in order to work out this morning’s public relations stunt. And he was surely going to preen about it, the little zalren.

  “In the meantime, we have a bonding ceremony to plan,” Lancer Tal continued. “I want you to fly out to Hol-Opah tomorrow and meet with Salomen’s father and brother. They have no idea what to expect in a state ceremony and will benefit from your expertise.”

  “Very well.” Aldirk whipped out his reader card, taking refuge in the calendar. “What is your timeline for this ceremony?”

  “First decision,” the Lancer said to Opah. “What would you prefer?”

  “My preference is probably not going to be popular. The best time of the cycle for me to be focusing on a big event is right now. This is the quietest moon for us. Next moon we begin planting the winter crop, so that wouldn’t work at all. But the moon after is a possibility.”

  “This moon is impossible. Aldirk can work miracles, but even he couldn’t manage that one. We’ll be bringing people in from all over Alsea, and quite a few of them have schedules planned a cycle in advance. We’ll have to give more notice than just a few ninedays.”

  “Then it will have to be the moon after next.”

  “You’re sure that will work for you and your family?”

  Opah thought for a few moments. “Yes, it would.”

  Lancer Tal looked back at Aldirk. “Looks like we can plan it for two moons from now.”

  Aldirk was torn between relief at the two-moon reprieve and utter horror that he was being compelled to schedule a state bonding ceremony around a crop planting. “One moment,” he said briskly as he pulled up that moon. “Rosslin is the final moon before bringing the matter printers online; you have a number of appearances scheduled. But…” He shifted a few appointments around. “If we move two meetings and one appearance off the twenty-seventh day, we can—”

  “Wait,” Lancer Tal interrupted. She had a strange look of excitement as she pulled out her reader card and began tapping away. “Ah! I knew there was one that moon. Make it the twenty-third.”

  “That’s not a good day. You have five—”

  “Make it a good day,” she said firmly. “That’s the day I want.”

  “What makes that day so important?” Opah voiced Aldirk’s thoughts.

  “It’s a red moon.”

  “Oh, that’s perfect,” Opah and Aldirk said together, and now he was certain he had dropped into an alternative existence. Still… “It’s an excellent choice,” he added. “An ideally symbolic occasion. Of course, the ceremony would have to be at night.”

  “My thoughts exactly.” Lancer Tal turned to her bondmate. “How would you feel about a bonding ceremony at Whitemoon Temple?”

  Before Aldirk could object to the venue—Lancers were always bonded at Blacksun Temple—Opah unleashed a dazzling smile, and he knew that argument was already lost.

  “I would love it. Mother always wanted to go there, but she never made it before she got sick.”

  “Nashta will be there.” Lancer Tal rested a hand over Opah’s heart. “You carry her here, every day.”

  Aldirk was startled to witness such a gentle gesture from the woman he knew only as an impenetrable leader. Her front was as strong as ever, but anyone with a grain of ability to read body language could see her feelings for Opah. He couldn’t begin to understand how it had happened, but it was clear that Lancer Tal was actually in love.

  He redirected his attention to his reader card, stifling a smile. Lancer Tal in love! He would have to reassess his lifelong cynicism regarding Fahla’s attention toward individual Alseans. Apparently, she was still producing miracles after all.

  When they had worked through the bonding ceremony details, he turned his attention to the first item on his own list.

  “I had an interesting call earlier today, from someone I think you’ll wish to speak with. His name is Pendar Fall.”

  “Pendar called you? Here?”

  Aldirk nodded. “It appears there is a spy in Granelle.”

  “
A spy?” Raiz Opah asked incredulously. “Who is spying on whom? It’s Granelle! Everyone knows everyone else.”

  “And you will know this man, I’m fairly certain.” Aldirk checked his notes. “His name is Nessil Withernet.”

  Though her front was still perfect, Opah looked shocked. “I’ve known Withernet half my life. He’s no spy. He runs an equipment store in town.”

  Aldirk hadn’t intended to do this with Raiz Opah in the room, but it seemed nothing was going according to plan today. “Lancer Tal, I suggest you hear what Pendar has to say. He’s at home now, waiting for your call.”

  “Very well.”

  Pendar was indeed waiting, and his eyes widened when he saw who else was in the room. “Lancer Tal! Thank you for calling. And, um…Raiz Opah, well met.”

  “Well met, Pendar,” said Raiz Opah in an even voice.

  Pendar shifted in his chair. “I’m, um…I’m really sorry. About Jaros.”

  “Are you ever going to do anything like that again?”

  “No! I don’t even know why I did it then. It was just… It just happened. And I wish I could go back and fix it. I apologized to Jaros at school.”

  “I know. He told me. That was very well done, and I accept your apology as well. But I don’t think that’s why you wished to speak with the Lancer, is it?”

  Visibly relieved, Pendar turned his attention to Lancer Tal. “No. Did you hear about the spy?”

  “Only that there is one. I’m told you have a story for me.”

  He nodded vigorously. “I was in the Golden Scythe with my aunt and uncle for midmeal today—”

  “A family tavern in town,” Raiz Opah murmured to Lancer Tal.

  “And the vidcom was showing the news about you coming back to Granelle. They kept showing that scene with you and Raiz Opah in the transport doorway and then you talking to the family, over and over. And then I had to go to the toilet, and when I came out, I heard someone saying your name. So I stopped to listen, and it was Withernet and his bondmate. They were having midmeal in the back room, and they thought they were alone, and they were arguing. His bondmate—I don’t remember his name—”