B00CH3ARG0 EBOK by Christie Meierz Page A

father following in their wake. Then he sat on the edge of the dais
next to Marianne as a hushed murmur of conversation began among the concert-goers.
    “Will she be all right, beloved?” she asked.
    He nodded. “That is the price of her gift,” he answered in a
low voice, “but yes, she will recover. She pushed herself to the limit of her
ability. You see the result.”
    He turned to the room and raised a hand to dismiss the
guests. As they began to drift toward the doorway, he assisted Marianne from
the dais.
    “Does that always happen?” she asked.
    He kept a firm grip on her arm as she stepped down – she
sometimes failed to take account of her body’s shift in balance, and he would
not allow her to fall if that should happen. “No, her fatigue is a mistake of
the very young and inexperienced. As an adult, she will be able to perform at
that level without exhausting herself.”
     She shot him a questioning glance as she headed for her
quarters, but he shook his head and didn’t immediately follow her, accompanying
Kyza instead. Confused emotions were reaching him through the parental bond he
shared with his daughter; she would need his help sorting through them. He’d
not expected Thela to have such empathic depth at such a young age, or he would
have kept Kyza away from the performance.
    He seated himself comfortably on the veranda of Kyza’s
quarters, where he could watch the moon rise over the far mountains. She
climbed into his lap, curling up and nestling against his chest. He put his
arms around her, reaching through the bond. She was even more profoundly
stirred by the music than he thought – some of the emotions she had experienced
during the performance troubled her deeply. He wrapped her senses up in his and
helped her to quiet and calm her emotions. The moon was visibly farther up in
the sky before she was soothed enough to drop into slumber.
    He waited until she was in a deep sleep before he rose from
his seat. Carefully, he carried her to her mat and laid her on it, covering her
with a light blanket. He watched for a moment to be certain she would remain
asleep.
    It had been too long since he had communed with Kyza. He had
allowed the poor excuse of a busy schedule to distract him from his
responsibility to her. With an almost inaudible sigh, he resolved to spend more
time with his daughter and left her to make his way to Marianne’s quarters. His
beloved was already asleep, but she stirred when he slipped under her blanket.
    She mumbled something and molded herself against his side. Then
her eyes slitted open, small whirls of jealous suspicion lighting up in her. “Where
were you?”
    “Kyza needed me,” he murmured, unperturbed. “She was disturbed
by the performance, and it had been too long since I last communed with my
daughter.”
    Surprise washed away the sleepiness and the suspicion, and
she shifted onto her side to look at him. Moonlight lit her face. “Is she all
right?”
    “She will be. It may take a little time for her to become
settled and peaceful again.”
    She ran a finger over his lips. “You’re a good father,” she
whispered. He smiled under her finger. She leaned over to kiss and nibble his
chin. “Cena says that we can resume behaving like ‘digger squid in warm water.’”
    He pulled her more tightly against him. “So she informed
me.”
    She pouted. “I wanted to be the one to tell you.”
    He grinned and set himself the task of erasing her pout.

Chapter Seven
     
    The Sural woke at first light. After extricating himself
from the tangle of arms and legs without disturbing Marianne, he washed, threw
on a clean robe and trousers, and mentally reviewed the upcoming day while a
servant brushed and knotted his hair. When his hair was presentable, he padded
into the sitting room, planning to start on his morning reports.
    The flashing light of Marianne’s comms unit met him.
    He took a seat at her desk, blocking the light from her view,
and pondered. After