Synnr's Hope - Kate Rudolph Page 0,22
a bowl in the center of the table, no one had been served.
“He was called into work,” Ortid scowled. Now that everyone was present, Ortid reached for the serving dish. At a more formal event they might have had a servant serving, but this was a casual family affair. For some value of family. “That group of humans you rescued has been causing paperwork nightmares at the Immigration Bureau.”
“Rescued?” Shodi asked. She daintily took the serving dish from Ortid but looked at Solan in fascination. “Who did you rescue? When?”
“That’s not something I’m supposed to discuss.” It was rude. True, but rude. And Solan had better manners than that. He didn’t need to look at his brother to feel his glare. “It’s a military issue,” he continued. “You know how the admiralty can be with the secrecy.”
Shodi laughed. “I’ve heard a thing or two.”
She had a nice laugh. Solan didn’t want to notice anything nice about her, but the pettiness was getting old quick in a man his age. He didn’t know how to continue the conversation, and he could still feel the clawing bitterness that wouldn’t disappear after two decades. He wasn’t sure he wanted it to.
Forgiving his father felt like admitting he’d done no wrong. That he hadn’t Matched and bonded while he was still married to his mother. That he hadn’t lied and snuck around and broke his mother’s heart and Solan’s trust.
Solan had never had a chance to ask him why, but this lunch wasn’t the time. Nor would Ortid’s wedding be. And what answer could his father give? He was clearly happy now. Whatever price he’d paid was long gone.
There was no use dwelling.
“And Mother is scouring the top families looking for a partner for Solan to escort.” Ortid barked out a laugh.
Solan hadn’t realized he’d stopped paying attention. “What?”
Ortid gave him a sympathetic wince. “Mother—”
“I heard what you said. Mother won’t be finding anyone for me.” He left it at that.
But his father didn’t hear the finality in his tone. “Are you seeing anyone? That must be difficult when your career takes you away for so long.”
Solan stared at the man. He could see the shape of his own eyes and nose in an older face and he hated the similarities. As a boy he’d wanted to grow up to be exactly like his father. But that had been a long time ago. “No partner would need to fear a betrayal from me. No matter how long we were parted. Or what else happened.”
Ortid made a growling noise in the back of his throat and his father’s shoulders sank. “Things weren’t as clear—”
He cut his father off. “We’re not talking about it. It was twenty years ago. I don’t care.”
Shodi tried to help her mate. “If you understood the power of a Match you’d—”
That was more than enough. Solan stood up. He couldn’t finish this meal. “I do have a Match, as a matter of fact. But I’m capable of exercising self-control. I’m sorry, Ortid. I have somewhere else to be.” He left without a backwards glance.
THEY HADN’T MADE PLANS to meet again, and Lena wasn’t sure what that meant. She’d assumed they would get that beer she owed him after their training session, but he’d run off almost as soon as they’d confirmed that their bond was the real thing. It was hard to take it as anything other than a rejection.
She’d briefly walked through Human House and talked to Zac for a moment until he had to run off on an errand that made his cheeks pink. She didn’t know what was going on there and didn’t care enough to ask.
The main sitting room was empty and that’s where Lena ended up. The walls were covered in books, but each of them was as unreadable as the next without Emily’s glasses. She really needed to look into getting a pair of her own... or figure out how to read the Zulir language. Besides English she could speak a little Punjabi and a smattering of Spanish—mostly curse words—but she didn’t have a head for languages. And if she had trouble with languages on Earth, there was no way she’d be able to grasp a completely alien one.
Still, Lena reached for a book and traced her fingers over the ink on the page. It didn’t suddenly make sense, but the shapes were kind of pretty. Staring at letters she didn’t understand only held her attention for a few minutes, and she got as excited