Keeper of the Heart (17 page)

Challen’s lifemate, now, was a definite surprise. Prepared to dislike this female who had opened the planet to an invasion of sky-fliers, he found her to be gracious, soft-spoken, and he could not get far beyond the fact that she was an incredibly beautiful woman. He could no more resent her for being a visitor than he could his golden Shani.

When Falon finally had a moment to speak privately with Dalden, who had earlier been talking to a small group of visitors whom Falon disdained to even meet, it was to find that the younger man had left the room. “He went to see what is delaying his sister,” Jadell informed him when asked. “But keep me no longer in suspense. What happened with your female visitor?”

Falon’s expression turned wry. “Again I could not keep my hands off her long enough to find out who she is. Nor was I able to calm her fear for more than a few minutes.”

“You should have waited until you had more time,” his brother replied.

“Time and all other considerations cease for me when I am near her, Jadell. Likely I would not be here now, except she had still another machine come to her aid, if I can believe this one to be a machine.” He’d stopped by the thing called Corth on his way out the door and received a purely taunting smile. “I cannot even destroy this one because she
cares
for it,” he added in disgust.

Jadell grinned. “Console yourself that her machines can be left behind.”

“True—Droda save us, do my eyes deceive me?”

Jadell followed his gaze to the small circular bathing pool in the corner of the room. It was not the sunken pool which was amazing Falon, however, but the three huge
fembairi
stretched out around it. White, short coats, long sleek bodies, large, round heads with great blue eyes—and fangs— they were one of the most vicious flesh-eating animals on the planet, and they were nearly as large as
hataari.

Jadell wasn’t sharing Falon’s alarm, he was chuckling. “You were not here during the explanations, brother. The Ly-San-Ters keep those beasts as pets.”

“An unusual family, to keep predators as pets. Nor have I ever heard of a tame
fembair.”

“Yet were we assured these offer no danger.”

Even as Jadell spoke, one of the felines rose and started bounding toward the door. Falon looked in that direction to see the couple who had just arrived, and all he could do was stare. The woman was his Shani and she had her arm around Dalden’s waist, he with his arm around her shoulders. Both were smiling. And in an instant, Falon noted the similarities between them, their eyes, hair, skin tone, all identical. Even some features were identical. But before this registered completely, the
fembair
reached them and knocked the woman to the floor, following her down to half cover her body.

What Falon saw was his woman being attacked, and his instincts were purely primitive. He reached for his dagger and was halfway across the room when Challen stepped in front of him, the only one there who could have stopped him in that moment.

“Be easy, warrior. The animal belongs to my daughter. He is merely welcoming her home.”

Falon heard the musical laughter then that so warmed his blood each time he heard it. She wasn’t in danger. She was being welcomed ...

“
Your
daughter?”

Shanelle would know that voice anywhere, and the amazement in it had her groaning inwardly. She pushed Shank aside, enough so she could sit up to be sure, and sure enough, Falon stood there with her father partially blocking him from her view— until Falon bent to return his dagger to his boot, their eyes met, and the smile he gave her was positively triumphant. Her second groan was quite audible.

“What are
you
doing here?”

“Watch your tone, Shani,” Dalden warned her as he helped her to her feet. “You’re speaking to a
shodan.”

“A—no, he’s not. He’s a visitor.”

“Don’t let the color of his hair fool you,” Dalden said low, for her ears only. “He’s a Ba-Har-ani warrior, and
shodan
of Ka’al, one of the largest towns in that country.”

“A warrior.
A farden warrior!”
Her eyes swung back immediately to Falon with full accusation. “You let me think you were a visitor!”

Falon was still smiling. There wasn’t anything that could dent his present satisfaction in the way things had turned out. “You let me think the same, woman.”

Before she could get out another word, her brother whipped her around so she was facing only him. “You’ve already met Falon?”

“I wish to Stars I hadn’t, but yes, I met him soon after I arrived.”

“And you had Martha with you, didn’t you?”

“Of course, Dal, but what has that—?”

He let her go, turning to Falon. Outwardly, he appeared perfectly calm. Inwardly was another story.

“I would speak with you privately,
Shodan
Van’yer. Do you come with me—now.”

Falon remembered well enough what had been said to the brother concerning the sister—before Falon knew she was his sister. He knew Dalden meant to call him to account, but even that couldn’t jar his present delight. The woman Was not a visitor. She
was
going to be his.

Falon nodded, but Challen was first heard from. “What goes on here, Dalden?”

“A mistake in need of correcting,” Dalden replied evasively. “It will not take long.”

Challen let them go, assuming whatever the mistake was, it was being corrected in private to spare Falon embarrassment. But no sooner were the two young men out the door than the wall rocked as one of them was slammed into it.

“Someone must have tripped,” Tedra said, having come to Challen’s side to keep him from interfering, if she could. “And you hold it right there, young lady!” she ordered her daughter, who had also turned toward the door.

Shanelle made a sound of frustration, started to say something, caught her father’s frown, and shut her mouth. Closest to the door, she could hear the sounds of the fight going on outside it better than they could. She moved to Shank and buried her face in his thick neck, wishing she hadn’t let Dalden drag her out of her room after she’d already decided she wasn’t leaving it.

“Why do I suspect you know what goes on here when I do not?” Challen demanded of his lifemate.

“Now, whatever gave you that idea?”

“Woman—”

“Patience, babe.” She grinned up at him. “You get to make all decisions in the end, and you’ll have one to make shortly, if I don’t miss my guess.”

In the hall, Dalden rolled over and slammed Falon’s head against the floor. “She’s my sister, damn you! You wanted to make a slave of
my
sister!”

“Only when I thought her a visitor.” Falon broke the hold on his head and in seconds reversed their positions, though he didn’t retaliate in kind. “Will you listen now?”

“No, this time
you
listen. You will have her for lifemate or not at all. And if my father won’t give her to you, then I will have to challenge you, Falon. Do you understand why?”

“Certainly.” Falon grinned. “I would not have expected less of my woman’s brother.”

“She’s not your woman yet. Stars, you’re damn lucky I happen to like you.”

Falon laughed and helped Dalden to his feet. “Are we finished now?”

“No.” Dalden buried his fist in Falon’s belly. “That’s for whatever you did to make her fear you. I don’t want to know what it was—it just better never happen again.”

Falon had dropped to his knees from the unexpected punch. He would hate to see how the young man fought with men he disliked.

“Your sister chose me, Dalden, to gift with her first time. It was foolishness on my part that has made her fear me, but I know she wants me still. I merely need time with her to rid her of her fear.”

“Fair enough,” Dalden said, and this time helped Falon to his feet, though the
shodan
immediately moved back to arm’s distance now. “You do realize, however, that you will now have to join the competitions?”

Falon grimaced. “If I must.”

“It can only better your chances. You are
not
the only man who wants Shanelle. You may have a lot in your favor, but one of my father’s main concerns is that her lifemate be able to protect her as well as he can.”

“The concern of any father,” Falon agreed. “Very well. I would prefer it did I ask for her now, yet I will wait until the competitions are over.”

“You couldn’t tell he was a warrior by the look of him?” Tedra asked carefully.

Shanelle leaned against the balcony and stared out at the soft glow of gaali-stone posts lighting the city streets below. She didn’t want to talk about Falon Van’yer. A warrior. A deceiver, as far as she was concerned. Oh, Stars, she hadn’t thought this day could possibly get worse. That showed what she got for thinking.

But her mother wasn’t going to settle for silence. After that little scene in the dining hall, Tedra knew exactly who Falon was without having to be told.

“He’s built like a warrior, yes. I couldn’t very well miss that, mother. But he has black hair. Even Martha thought he was a visitor when I showed him to her.”

“The Ba-Har-ani are known to have dark hair,” Tedra pointed out.

“But that country is four months distant from ours by normal travel, and they haven’t crossed our borders in more years than I can remember. I’ve never even met a Ba-Har-ani before. And word of the competitions wasn’t likely to have reached them when they have no dealings with us or the Center.”

“Nor did it reach them. These Ba-Har-ani came here with your brother at your father’s request And I might as well give you the bad news now. Your father wants to see our two countries back on friendly and communicating terms. That’s going to give that young man an edge if he decides to ask for you, and I wasn’t blind in there, baby. He lit up like a vein of gaali stone when he realized who you were.”

Shanelle groaned audibly. “He’ll ask. But now I have even more reasons not to want him. I ought to leave the planet right away.”

“Now, don’t be hasty,” Tedra replied. “You might actually have fewer reasons and just not know it, or aren’t you aware that the Ba-Har-ani differ in a lot of ways from our warriors? Your Falon’s lack of control is one. And didn’t you say he’s emotional? But if you tell me there’s nothing there between you two now, that you no longer feel anything for him, then I won’t say another word.”

“Mother,
why
are you taking his side again?” Shanelle asked in exasperation.

“Because you chose him. Because I don’t want to see you make a mistake just because you’ve temporarily got cold feet. Because you weren’t the only one to arrive late tonight, and I didn’t see you limping in this time.”

Shanelle glanced away, wishing her mother weren’t so intuitive. “No, he didn’t hurt me this time. Between my bed attacking him and him almost attacking Corth when he showed up, there wasn’t much time for anything else.”

“There’s nothing like an adjustibed to give a warrior second thoughts,” Tedra said, straight-faced for about two seconds more before she burst into laughter. “I’m sorry. I just love it when these big guys meet up with technology. But I don’t suppose it was funny at the time.”

Shanelle raised a brow. “Are you kidding? He saved me from my bed, mother.”

“Oh, stop,” Tedra pleaded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Yes, well, it was that damn amusement that caught me off guard and gave him the final advantage—or it would have if Corth hadn’t shown up when he did. But that doesn’t change the fact that Falon wouldn’t leave my room when asked. He wouldn’t listen when I said I didn’t want to share sex. He even promised to break me of my stubbornness when I’m his. His high-handedness is insufferable.”

“Sure it is,” Tedra said with a complete lack of sympathy. “He
is
a warrior, after all, and that’s one way ours and theirs are obviously the same. And you’re used to that high-handedness, baby, in your own family. You’re just not used to it from a stranger.”

“And I don’t intend to get used to it. If I had known he was a warrior from the start, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I never would have gone with him.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Shani. When you get your socks knocked off, there isn’t much you can do about it, and I speak from experience. You would have tried him just for the hell of it. You wouldn’t have been able to resist the temptation. So we’d be having this
exact
same conversation, because that man got hit with the same thing you did, and by all accounts, he means to do something about it.”

“There isn’t much he can do if I’m not here,” Shanelle said stiffly.

Tedra sighed. “Let me tell you about a couple of the bigger problems I’ve faced in my life. One was having your father get me pregnant without my permission. And if that sounds funny to you, try and remember that people didn’t get in that condition where I came from. I was absolutely terrified of the very idea. No way was I going to go through something as barbaric as giving birth. I couldn’t even read the meditech’s report that would confirm or deny it. But Martha didn’t let me play the coward. She read the report and blurted it right out, even telling me the baby was going to be a boy.”