Alien Warrior's Wife (Brion Brides 2)(12)

“Up for another round?”





CHAPTER EIGHT

Narath



Having a gesha was an incentive like nothing Narath had ever known before. It was true what the commander had told him before they arrived to the battle on TD-17 – a warrior with something to fight for never truly stopped thinking about it. For Narath, it was Urenya. Of course he was still a proud Brion warrior, and it was his duty to serve his people as best as he could, but it had been overshadowed by his need to return to Urenya.

No one thought that was weird or out of line. That was what the fated couples were to the Brions. They took first priority in their lives, unless faced with the choice between them and the well-being of all Brions, but that was a hard situation to imagine.

So the absolute need to be able to outlive every possible battle had made Narath train vigorously even by his standards, up to the point where both the commander and Urenya had to tell him to slow down.

The conversation went easier with his commander.

Their spears were locked once more in a mock duel, nothing serious – they weren’t out to kill each other, but broken bones and fractures skulls, for example, were okay – and the commander was doing his absolute best to get Narath to lose his temper. That is, he looked as though he wasn’t even trying very hard.

Grunting, Narath drove him back, putting his entire weight behind it. It did send the commander stumbling back, but not before the bastard used his momentum to trip him over, and the end wasn’t far from there. Grudgingly, he accepted the commander’s hand.

“Will you ever give me a real fight?” he asked.

The only times these days he dared to speak to Diego that way was right after a duel, when his blood was burning hot with the fighting. Besides, that was usually the moment where he was most upset with his commander.

“Of course,” the commander allowed. “On the day you stop taking my mockery so seriously.”

That was fair enough. The arena slowly emptied of spectators, people returning to their duties after a showing that their commander was still, as predicted, the best of them. There hadn’t truly been any doubt about that, but Diego seemed to think it was best if the ship sometimes saw what they knew to be true with their own eyes.

“So how is the bound life?” the commander asked, surprisingly.

Narath didn’t know what he should say, truly. While the bindings were very sacred, they were also mostly private. But this was Diego, his commander – and his friend. Asking about another friend.

“It is better than I ever knew it could be,” he admitted.

It was true. A part of him had been worried, like Urenya also admitted, that after a while they would tire each other. That their lives would grow dull, or at least that they’d get used to one another, of which only the last part was true and in an utterly magnificent way. They did get used to each other, which meant they communicated on a level most bound couples did, almost without any words. Yet it didn’t mean dullness, not in the least. The fire of the Brion fated couples wasn’t one that died or simmered in time. It just got stronger and easier, until it was as natural as breathing.

Every time he walked into a room and saw Urenya there, his heart jumped, even if he’d been gone for a mere hour. That wasn’t even comparable to when he returned from battle, the relief at seeing her so great there were times when they’d barely made it to their room before passion completely took over. Then they repeated the night of their binding, again and again and again. He knew it was like that for her as well, it was clear to see. While his heart jumped, Urenya’s light blue eyes got that incredibly soft, kind look in them when she was looking at him, like he was the most precious thing in the world.

Of course, he was to her. It was a good feeling, the reason why he was resolved to always return to her alive. The thought he could ever be the reason those eyes got that sad, terrified look in them he’d seen after she’d lost her first gerion was unbearable. After realizing the reason Urenya always looked almost like that when he left for battle was that she was more afraid than the other fated couples she’d never see him return, he made an effort to always let her know he was safe.#p#分页标题#e#

“Hmm,” the commander agreed. “Sounds about right. So why does it seem you’re trying very hard to get out of that bond by working yourself to death in training?”

It felt so odd to be scorned for training too hard by a Brion general that Narath couldn’t help but smile, making Diego grin too.

“I get it,” the general said. “I do. But I have to tell you, Narath, you’ve got nothing to worry about. Maybe we’ll meet someone one day who is better than us, but that is not certain. What is certain for now is that although you clearly do not believe me, I don’t hold back much when dueling you.”

Narath grinned. That was a praise one didn’t receive every day, even if it was in the form of reprimand.

“You still win,” he pointed out.

“Of course I win,” Diego Grothan said. “But you at least make it hard for me.”

The same topic went… not badly with Urenya. He couldn’t say that. Everything was just so much more important with her.

She was so focused on her work she actually didn’t hear him enter. That earned him a moment of unguarded admiring, just looking at the way she smoothly moved between her work stations doing a thousand things at once as usual.

Then she looked up and there was the smile, lighting up the entire room. She dashed over to kiss him, pressing herself against him as she always did. He knew she loved the feeling of being in his arms. Selfishly, he thought it couldn’t possibly compare to how much he loved having her there.

“How did it go?” she teased, giving him a kiss and then slipping away as she still did when she wanted to drive him insane.

“I won, of course,” Narath responded without blinking an eye. “The Triumphant is ours now.”

Urenya laughed. Not at him, but at the ludicrous thought the huge battle ship could ever sail under someone else’s command while Diego still had the strength to lift his spear.

“He tells me you train too hard,” she said then.

“I can’t believe those words ever left his mouth,” Narath said seriously. “And why does he tell you everything?”

“I am a healer,” Urenya said, sending him a glare. “Everyone tells me everything.”

That was true as well. He couldn’t even begin to guess how many secrets, and confessions, and pleas for help Urenya heard in a day. Healers were guides through the Brion way. Whenever someone doubted something, they went to them. And on the Triumphant, that meant Urenya.

“Seriously,” Urenya pressed on. “When our Commander thinks you take your training too seriously, maybe it’s time to face the fact that you’re doing okay already.”

Okay isn’t good enough. I need to be prepared for everything.

“You learn new things all the time,” he argued. “Why shouldn’t I try to better myself?”

“I can’t over-exert myself by learning,” Urenya said, smiling. “Or, well, I can, but I don’t. Because I know when to stop and get rest. Why don’t you? Diego can’t watch you all the time.” The last one was a joke, but he heard the tinge of worry in her voice.

“What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer at once. This was one of the moments when silence conveyed nothing.

“I don’t want to lose you,” he said at last, slowly. The look on Urenya’s face was indescribable. “Even more so, I don’t want you to have to live through losing me. I have to return to you, always.”

She was in his arms before he could react, her head resting on his chest. He held her tightly against him, holding on to the moment that was just then and there, with Urenya safely in his embrace where she belonged.

She didn’t respond at once, just looked at him with eyes that told him all he needed to know.

“I love you for that,” she said then. “But I already know you will.”

“You can’t know that,” Narath said, although it felt wrong to doubt her certainty.

Urenya just smiled, back to her bright, teasing self.

“Oh, but I do. Diego would never put you in deliberate danger. So when he says you’re fine, you’re fine.”

He chuckled back at her.

“You mean the man I just beat in a duel? What does he know?”

Urenya kissed him.

“The day you beat him I will stop worrying about you,” she promised.

They joked about that improbable possibility for a while, the matter of the training resolved without them needing to point it out. Narath resumed his regular schedule – and never stopped returning to her.#p#分页标题#e#