“Yes, carry this pack,” Marcus tossed Tegan’s pack to Sloane before turning and walking again.
“Why is this so heavy?” Sloane grumbled as he shouldered the pack.
“It has my life in it,” Tegan answered simply.
“You brought everything with you?” Sloane asked as he stepped up beside her and matched her stride.
“All of my hunting gear, yes.” Tegan smiled at her cousin, “I don’t need anything else.”
“Leonid will have trained you hard,” Marcus said as he studied her some more. “What about other teachings?”
“You mean school learning?” Tegan asked as they went down yet another corridor.
“Yes.”
“I had tutors,” Tegan smoothed her hands down her sides.
“You’re nervous?” Marcus commented. “In the office, your heartbeat never changed once. Now it’s racing. Why?”
“I thought I was getting a meal, but it seems I am getting an interrogation instead?”
“No,” Marcus then gave a mirthless laugh. “Maybe? I’m sorry. I have so many questions and I am making you uncomfortable.”
“Would you like me to tell you my learning and training schedule?” Tegan tilted her head slightly as she asked Marcus. “I don’t mind.”
“Let’s get you eating first,” Sloane said instead. “We had the most succulent beef for supper this evening and if we are really lucky, I’m going to get a roast beef sandwich.”
“We’re going there to feed Tegan, not you,” Marcus growled.
“Blythe will never resist me,” Sloane said confidently as he strolled ahead. “I’m a growing boy.”
“The only thing that is growing is his ego,” Marcus told Tegan.
Despite the last few unsettling minutes, Tegan laughed, appreciative of both males’ attempts to put her at ease.
* * *
“You kepther from me for eighteen years,” Salem stared hard at Leonid as the door closed behind the others.
“I did,” Leonid replied, unaffected with the tone and glare from Salem.
“You were never petty, Leonid. Cold, unfeeling and clinical, but never petty.”
“I did not keep her from you for spite,” Leonid answered coldly. “Celeste’s last words to me where not to tell you.”
“And as always, you could deny her nothing,” Salem snorted.
“I cared deeply for Celeste; this is not news to you.”
“You took her daughter.Mydaughter.” Salem rose angrily from his seat and crossed the room to a cabinet. Opening the door, he took out a decanter and two glasses.
“I did what her mother asked and now I have broken that promise to her.”
“Because it suits you.” Salem poured some of the liquid into a glass and tossed it back. “If Kateryna hadn’t summoned you, would I even know about Tegan?”
“I have no control over where the Great Council places her.”
“By the Ancients, you would have let them take the decision out of your hands so you wouldn’t have to.”