It angered me that he even suggested I take time away from my mate.
“You have centuries to look forward to with her, Ezah,” he had said. “Do not forget she is human. Nova informed me that human females like their space just as much as Maji females do. Give your mates time to miss you instead of shadowing them every minute of every day.”
“What is this talk, Father?” Kol had demanded. “There is nothing wrong with wanting to spend all of our time with our mates. My female carries my young. I always want her close.”
“You’re both Elites of the Guard before anything else,” Father suddenly roared, coating the hall in a veil of silence. Even my injured brothers behind us went quiet. “You both took an oath before the Most Holy to protect the people of Thanas on Ealra. Did you both lie?”
“No!”
“Then understand that separation from your females is good for you both!” he pressed. “If you’re both called upon for a mission this second, you would fail the people if all you could focus on was missing your mates.”
When he worded it like that, his outrageous message made sense.
“I am an Elite of the Guard.” I raised my head. “The people are my charge, and I will give my time, my heart, and my life to protect them. I remember my vow.”
“So do I.” Kol straightened. “We understand you, Father. We just don’t like it.”
Father smiled fondly. “You’re not supposed to. If every male was blessed with a mate, he would want to spend all of his time with her, but we as people are one. We rely on each member of the Guard to protect our society, our home, our very species. We are small in number, which means our senses always have to be unclouded, focused, and sharp as can be.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
“Good,” Father said, then waved his hand behind me. “Now, since you started this mess, you can spend however long it takes healing each of your brothers and your kin. I think his nose is broken.”
“It is, Uncle,” Nero hollered. “Because this imauni hit me for no reason.”
“No reason?” Nesi barked. “You pulled my hair.”
“I was trying to grab Ezah, and my wristlet got caught in your hair and pulled it.”
“Liar!” Remi snapped. “You laughed when you pulled it. I heard you.”
“Because Nesi squealed,” Nero argued. “How can I not laugh when he squeals like a female seeing a big cock for the first time?”
Father, my uncle, and the rest of my brothers who were involved in the fighting laughed when another brawl started back up. Both Kol and I groaned because we knew this meant more time away from our mates. It took twenty-five minutes to stop the second round of fighting and a further interval for me to heal everyone, including myself. Blood was everywhere. Aza swore Mother would send us all to meet Kuat for breaking so much of the room’s furniture, and we all agreed with him.
Father had left at some point during the healing, and when I was finished and realised he was gone, that was when he had called for me to come to the flight control chamber. I put the thoughts of the fighting in the feast hall behind me and focused on getting to my father because the quicker I finished with him, the quicker I could see my female again.
When I passed the warriors guarding different points in the palace, I didn’t bat an eyelid. I heard them move, indicating they bowed to me, but I moved too quick to visually catch it. The flight control chamber was on the third level. I didn’t stop my quick steps until I reached the room. I lifted my hand and knocked. The door opened seconds later.
“Father, everyone is healed and no longer fighting or pulling hair.”
My teasing smile fell from my face when I saw the dire expression on my father’s face. Someone must have been hurt … or worse.
“Mother?” I choked. “Is she well?”
“Your mother is fine.” He gestured me into the room. “Surkah is too.”
“And my mate?”
Father didn’t answer me, and that was when I realised Kol and Killi were in the room too. They were the first two males I healed after the brawl. Nine other males who worked in the flight control chamber were at their stations, but they were always here. It was my family’s presence and expressions that worried me.
“What is going on?” I asked, turning to my father. “What is it?”
“Calm.”
I growled with frustration before I could help it, but my father did not respond.
“We need to show you something,” Kol said. “Something important.”
When I moved over to the large viewing panel, I stared at the blank screen. I looked from the panel to my brothers, then my father and back again. My whole body tensed.