Keeper of the Heart (7 page)

“Oh, baby, never again.” Tedra leaned back to clasp Shanelle’s face, her aqua eyes devouring her as if she had never expected to see her again. “Twenty times I almost came to drag you home. I drove your father crazy. I drove myself up a wall worrying.” She laughed then. “But you’re here, you’re all right—you
are
all right, aren’t you?”

Shanelle laughed, too. “Yes.”

Tedra gathered her close again. “And you’ll stay that way. And you’ll stay here. No,” she whispered at Shanelle’s ear when she felt her stiffen. “You aren’t to worry. If I have to let you go, I will. I’ll even keep Martha on the Rover so
she
can take you out of here if necessary. But I will do everything in my power to ensure that it isn’t necessary.”

“Even if it isn’t a Sha-Ka’ani that I want?” Shanelle asked hesitantly.

Tedra leaned back again with a sigh. “You’ve made your choice, then? You’ve already met the one you want?”

“No.”

“Then we will worry about
who
he is after you’ve found him. Your father isn’t entirely closed-minded about this. He wants your happiness just as much as I do. But we’ll talk about this when we have more time.”

That comment drew Shanelle back to the fact that they weren’t alone, that they were in the middle of a crowd on a lane between arenas, and just now the center of attention. “Why is everyone staring at us?”

Tedra chuckled. “Well, for one thing, Corth charged right after you on that
hataar
you two were riding, knocking people every which way. You know you’re not supposed to leave his sight.”

Shanelle glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, Corth had caught up to her and was standing right behind them. “I guess I wasn’t thinking.”

“And for another thing,” Tedra continued, giving her another squeeze, “I think I can safely say we’ve just made a complete spectacle of ourselves. Let’s hope this doesn’t get back to your father, or
I’m
going to be in trouble for running off without an escort.”

It was Shanelle’s turn to chuckle as she looked over her mother’s shoulder and saw who else had just arrived. “Too late.”

Tedra groaned and said, “Farden hell,” before she glanced back to say defensively to her lifemate, “I was not about to wait for her to reach me once I had spotted her, Challen. It would be totally unreasonable for you to expect me to after her
nine months’ absence.”

“Best you remember whose idea it was for her to absent herself,” Challen told her.

“That’s right, run it into the ground, why don’t you,” Tedra snapped back.

“Woman, you are coming very close to challenge for no reason.”

“I am?” Tedra said with some surprise. “Then you aren’t angry with me?”

“Not when your impulsiveness is understandable. Now do you release her so I may greet my daughter properly.”

Properly was not to hug in public, and Challen began by merely looking Shanelle over from head to foot, lifting her face and studying it as Tedra had done. Then, to her immense surprise, she was drawn forward and engulfed in a warrior’s arms. Challen didn’t squeeze her, but she felt surrounded by his strength—and his love.

“Your mother has missed you,” he told her formally, but with feeling.

She grinned widely. You had to read between the lines with a Sha-Ka’ani male. It was rarely “I,” usually “a warrior,” or in Challen’s case, “your mother.” But she knew he was speaking for himself, and he knew she knew, and his own smile was incredibly beautiful.

He hadn’t changed at all in the time Shanelle had been away, but then she hadn’t expected him to.

In all the years of her life, she had never noticed her parents growing older, because they just didn’t look like they
were
growing older. But it was a known fact that the Sha-Ka’ani aged well. And Tedra, though not a Sha-Ka’ani, was still a Sec 1 heart and soul, and she had always taken extremely good care of her body, which in a good many cultures was considered a lethal weapon. Not in this culture, however, and not to her lifemate, who was just short of seven feet tall and had the strength to go along with such a large body.

Shanelle grinned up at her father now, craning her neck to do so. “I’m so glad to be home. And I thank you for the airobus. That was a wonderful surprise.”

“What airobus?” her father asked.

“Challen, I think we should get back to the pavilion now,” Tedra put in hastily.

“What airobus?” he repeated, looking down at his lifemate.

“All right, the one
we
bought her. That is why
we
sent her to Kystran, to learn how to pilot. That is what she wants to do, something useful—”

“Something her future lifemate is not likely to allow,” he calmly pointed out. “Did you consider that when you convinced me to let her go to Kystran?”

“No, but you obviously did,” Tedra grumbled. “Why did you agree, then?”

Challen put a hand to her cheek, suddenly grinning at her. “You can ask me that,
chemar,
after everything you did to get my permission?”

Hot pink cheeks, fortunately, went well with the blue of Tedra’s
chauri
and cloak. Only the cloak needed to be blue or white to denote whose house she belonged to, but she was honoring Challen by wearing all blue today, right down to her sandals. Now she wished she hadn’t.

She knocked his hand aside, but that just got a chuckle out of him. Her embarrassment was a subtle punishment for buying that bus without telling him. She knew it. She knew him too well not to know it. And she could only hope that would be the only punishment she would be getting. But a glance at Shanelle showed she was aware of it, too. Farden hell. That was all Shanelle needed, one more reminder that warriors were not the easiest men to get along with, when she had yet to experience any of the benefits of trying. And on top of that, to be told outright that her future lifemate wasn’t likely to let her fly ... She could kick Challen right now.

“You don’t know what her lifemate is going to do—or do you?” Her eyes narrowed the tiniest bit. “You haven’t made a decision without telling me, have you, babe?”

Both women waited anxiously for his answer, Tedra ready to blow a fuse if it was the wrong one, Shanelle merely with dread, and it began by being not at all reassuring. “When a decision is made, woman, you do not need to be told of it beforehand. But no, such has not yet been decided.”

Shanelle let out a sigh. That had been too nerve-racking. “Father, I need to talk to you about this decision.”

“This you may do, yet is the decision mine to make, yours to accept.”

Shanelle gritted her teeth. “I know that, but does that mean you won’t take heed of my own wishes in the matter? What if I make my own choice?”

“Then it will be my hope that I can accept your choice.”

Shanelle blinked. “Do you mean that? You’ll really consider my preference?”

“Certainly,
kerima
,” he replied gently. “Did you think I would not?”

No, of course he would. He loved her. He wanted her to be happy. But the key word was
if. If
he could accept her choice, then she could have her choice. If he could not, then she would have
his
choice. But that was still better than what she had been anticipating, that he would have made his decision before she found someone for herself, that it would then be
if
she could accept his choice.

“Stars, you people are absolutely depressing,” Martha chimed in with blatant disgust. “What happened to the happy homecoming?”

Tedra laughed. Shanelle’s frown was an exact copy of Challen’s upon hearing that.

“Mother, it gives me the greatest pleasure to give you back your computer.”

But Tedra stopped her from removing the computer-link unit from her waist. “Not yet. I’m sure you’re going to want to show those friends around that Martha told me about last night—”

“She contacted you last night without telling me?” Shanelle demanded.

“Well, I don’t know why she didn’t mention it, but yes, we had a long chat, and anyway, I’ll feel better if you have Martha with you in addition to Corth, and I’m sure your father will, too. With Martha there to whisk you out of any trouble— not that I anticipate any—your father won’t feel it necessary to send his warriors along with you. Isn’t that right, Challen?”

But Tedra was still looking meaningfully at Shanelle, and Shanelle finally got the message, the
unspoken
message. She didn’t want Challen’s warriors dogging her steps, not today. Today was the one day she could be anonymous, but not with a full escort that would point out how important she was. Only Challen hadn’t even heard the question. Looking at the computer link had drawn his attention to what Shanelle was wearing, and his frown hadn’t changed any.

“First she will take herself home to find the proper clothing. She looks like a visitor.”

“Give her a break, damn it,” Tedra replied impatiently. “She just got here. And so what if she looks like a visitor. A quarter of the people here are visitors. For once it doesn’t make any difference, and she
is
cloaked, which is all that really matters. You wouldn’t really make her waste all that time going home when she has guests to see to?”

“Your Martha could Transfer her—”

“You’ve
got
to be kidding,” Tedra cut in dryly. “You’d let her Transfer when it isn’t an emergency, when you hate Transferring?” Challen was looking completely chagrined by now, so Tedra added, “And her friends have caught up with her. You’re not going to embarrass your daughter over something so minor, are you?”

For that Tedra got a just-wait-until-later look.

Shanelle got her cloak adjusted over her shoulders to cover more of her outfit, which she understood she was to leave that way—at least until she was out of her father’s sight.

“The competitions will continue this rising and likely several more,” he told Shanelle. “You may view them with your friends, but Martha is to Transfer you to me if you have any difficulties with these warriors who do not know you. Is this understood, Martha?”

“Crystal clear, big guy.”

Shanelle’s friends did arrive then, along with the nobles from Century III, who arrogantly demanded Challen’s attention even before Shanelle could finish introducing her friends. So her mother shooed her off with a whispered “Good luck, baby,” a wink, and a grin.

Martha was chuckling as they left. “My Tedra was in top form, wasn’t she? I love it when she talks circles around that warrior.”

“You told her about my desire to be incognito, didn’t you?” Shanelle ventured.

“Sure I did. I told her
everything
, kiddo. You knew I would.”

Shanelle’s sigh was loud and long. “All right, Martha, if I have to be stuck with you for the rest of the day, try making me forget it.”

“Close your mouth,” Shanelle told Caris with a grin. “You’re about to drool.”

“I can’t help it, Shani.” Caris sighed. “Will you just look at the muscles on that warrior? They look like they’re going to burst right through his skin.”

The muscles Caris found so fascinating were indeed bulging, but then the contest they were watching was one of strength, where two men would clasp hands and attempt to push each other off-balance. Lines were marked in the grass about two feet behind each contestant, so each had a little leeway, but not too much. The one to be pushed over his line lost the match.

From where Shanelle and Caris stood, they were seeing more of one warrior’s back than the other’s, and this was the warrior who had gained Caris’s avid attention. But Shanelle wasn’t seeing anything out of the ordinary. She wanted to go and watch the visitor events instead, but Caris had dragged her over here first.

This wasn’t a contest for visitors. Visitors simply wouldn’t stand a chance competing against a warrior’s strength, and weren’t expected to. They could try competing with warriors if they were daring enough, but they had their own contests in marksmanship, dexterity, speed, and agility. The main event, the one to claim the most arenas, was naturally sword fighting. The champion sword-fighter had to beat all comers. The champion of the visitor events could then elect to fight the warrior champion with swords—or not, and likely not. So, in fact, there could end up being two champions of the competitions, and it was the general consensus that this was how it would end. Presently, all events were still in the process of eliminations.

Only Caris remained with Shanelle, and, of course, Corth, who was being silently inconspicuous. Cira had ridden up to Sha-Ka-Ra with one of Shanelle’s escorts and had already made arrangements to spend the day with him before their arrival in the city. Jadd was sticking close to Dren, both Kystran males feeling quite out of their element amongst so many giants, but they had found a fascination in the sword-fighting competitions, and so had been left behind at those arenas with Yari.

Caris was interested only in warriors, which was why they were still in this section of the park, which had few arenas for visitors. But Shanelle was clearly getting bored, so it was no wonder her eyes started to wander, first to the spectators on the opposite side of the large arena, then beyond to the line of tents that spread out to the edges of the park. A white one in front drew her notice because it looked like a miniature version of her father’s pavilion, so she was looking at it when the four men stepped out of it.