Guardians of the Desert (Children of the Desert) by Leona Wisoker

partner—”
    Idisio’s face wrinkled into a stern frown.
    “Don’t judge,” Deiq said before Idisio could speak. “And I did try. To see if I could. But in the end, I couldn’t; wouldn’t, if you prefer.”
    He’d almost wrecked more than one of his carefully-arranged alliances while trying to hold to Onsia’s demands, but Idisio wasn’t likely to understand that, either.
    Idisio chewed his lower lip, visibly restraining more rude comments. “So you left her?”
    “Yes. With enough money to keep food on the table for the rest of her life, and some for her children.”
    “But you never really cared about her?”
    “I wouldn’t say that. She was a good woman.”
    “Did she love you?”
    “I doubt it. She was also very practical.”
    Idisio shook his head and began pacing, muttering to himself; at last he turned and said, “So what do I say? What do I tell her? She’s been crying. . . .”
    Deiq grimaced. “Of course she is,” he said under his breath. The entire conversation abruptly annoyed him; Idisio was far too young to be tangling himself up over a human he’d met just over a tenday ago. And his questions about love and caring were all human, and juvenile at that. “Tell her whatever will make her happy, Idisio.”
    Idisio’s grey eyes widened in shock. “That’s cold!”
    “That’s reality ,” Deiq shot back, standing.
    An uneasy shiver ran across his back. He closed his eyes, seeking out whatever had provoked that reaction. It only took a moment to see that Alyea had woken, and was not happy about something. Three guesses what , Deiq thought, but didn’t smile; Idisio could only take that expression personally at this point.
    He spoke without really paying attention to his own words: “Stop worrying about her so much, Idisio. She’s young, and lonely, and latched onto you as the closest thing to a kind hand she’s met lately; but you’ll likely forget about her within a tenday after we leave. Now, if you’ll excuse me—”
    He flicked a hand to release the wards, then stepped sideways, pulling on the shimmering power of the ha’rethe below their feet as he would pull on a rope. A moment later he emerged into the outer room of Alyea’s suite.
    All three kathain bolted out of the inner room a breath later, their expressions sullen and offended; spared him a brief glance, then dove into their room without pausing.
    Deiq pursed his lips against a wide grin, forced a sober expression, and went in to explain.

Chapter E i ght
     
    Alyea woke to someone breathing in her ear and hands—more than two—wandering over her body with far too much intimacy. Aqeyva-trained reflexes cut in; she shoved in one direction, kicked in another, then twisted around into a compact crouch atop the bed.
    Blinking sleep from her eyes, she followed the sounds of multiple thuds and yelps of aggrieved complaint to find the three kathain sprawled on the floor around the low bed. They stared at her as though unsure whether to be upset or shocked at the rejection. The strange white light of the oil lamps spaced around the room drew slanted almost-shadows across their expressions, making the entire moment surreal.
    Her initial rush of panic slid into anger. “What the hells !” she blurted.
    Then another detail came clear: they were all naked, and had been well on the way to removing her clothes.
    She yanked her garments back into place and snapped, “How dare you!”
    Their stares turned to bewilderment. They glanced at each other, then slowly climbed to their feet and moved into a huddle, the boy in the center. She couldn’t help staring at him; the dark gloss of his skin and the muscle beneath were far more adult than the still-soft angles of his face and hairless body admitted.
    Her gaze moved sideways, taking in darker striations along the lower stomach of the woman to the right and her equally hairless body: they had all been shaved. Even the hair of their heads was cropped shorter than any she’d yet