I looked at her sharply and laughed, too. “Fuck. Oh well. We will see if I remember for the next time.”
“We will see if she is worth remembering. You are sure you want her to come with us?”
“There is something special about Kajo’s Earthling wife, Daphne. I have spent some time with her, and she really is remarkable. I know they are bonded as Destin, so that makes a difference. But maybe there is something to be said for merging Curan and Earthling. And Vania was saved by Kajo’s magic. You have seen her training. She has changed. Rhone certainly went to great lengths to get Vania here. Kajo was nice enough to let me have Vania serve in my army. I would like to not waste a tool if it is taking the time to sharpen itself.”
Cassala nodded. “I can understand that.”
I rubbed my forehead. I was starting to get the split of a migraine behind one eye. Just in time for a nice night’s rest. I reached into my pocket and felt for my comforting little dodecahedron wooden box I carried with me everywhere. The inside contents were the most precious thing I owned… I would protect them beyond anything else… Just feeling the strangely shaped little box made me feel better. I breathed deeply… “Ok. Please let them in.”
Cassala whipped back her hair, slinging the battle-ax back to its spot on her back where it hardly ever left and opened the door to the council chambers. I didn’t look toward Aimer or the Earthling as they entered, just continued to gather the papers I had carelessly scattered about. I set them aside and cleared the table enough that the large map gracing its surface could be seen amidst the books, tablets, papers, scrolls, pens, trackpads, knives, and assorted drink settings. I rubbed my forehead one more time and looked at my roughly matted blonde hair. It was rakishly shoved to one side, and I wondered if it looked charming and impish or careless and slovenly. I hadn’t slept more than a handful of hours in the past few days. Aimer, Cassala, LeiLei, and a few others and I had been drinking, singing, laughing, strategizing, commiserating, late into the last few nights. We had been drinking… everything… I wondered if the Earthling could handle that. Could she handle everything we would throw at her?
For the first time, I really looked at her.
She had curly brown hair and deep green eyes, the kind that we painted onto children’s dolls because they were so alluring. Her features were tight and spaced properly, like an art student’s drawing: perfection. Slightly arched eyebrows and a pinpoint nose. Lips that were slightly pouting at the moment, the bottom lip almost too big for the size of the top one. Her hips were wider than her shoulders, and her ample breasts evened out the curves in a wandering rollercoaster that made me imagine ski-slopes in the winter that I would like to slide my body across. Her entire body rippled with muscle, finely tuned and athletic, not too overly wrought, but just perfect for the field of battle or for the tussle in the sheets.
Of course, I had no interest in her for this. She was just another tool to be used. Another weapon in my arsenal. Another sharpened stick for my shed.
But that body… My fingers curled into a fist as I removed the tactile temptation to touch her.
It was especially hard since her clothes were rain-slick soaked against her skin, sticking tightly in all the right places, pleasing to the eye as her breasts heaved in a discontented sigh as she waited for me to finish my all-too-obvious examination of her body.
I flicked my eyes up from her breasts to her slightly parted mouth to her searing green eyes and tilted my head slightly.
“It’s Vaneah, right?”
Cassala coughed a laugh to my left, and I realized my mistake.
No matter.
She could be insulted, correct me, let it go, or change her name for all I cared and be Vaneah for the rest of her life. At this moment, I only wanted to know how useful she was now--and in the future.
“My name is Vania.”
So, the correction route. Earthlings were not the best with cowing to authority, it seemed.
“Vania, yes. I’m Alpha Jase. You’ve met Commander Aimer. This is Commander Cassala. They are two of my Trio. I am sure you have seen them around.”
“I have.”
“Then you also know they are three of the best Curan warriors Farian has ever developed.”
“I have heard it is so, and Aimer has certainly demonstrated a little of that to me just today.” As Vania said this, she swept her hands out to her sides and motioned to her wet clothes. I nodded and smiled. So, Aimer was at least part of the reason Vania was wet. Goddess of Rain and our prayers for storms in the South might be the other part.
"Yes, Aimer is not to be under-estimated. You have, however, been making a name for yourself, as well. You challenge men and women well above your training: and win. You work hard, relentlessly. You seem to want to learn every weapon and style you can, and when you are not in the training rings, you are in the library studying tactics. Why are you so committed to the ways of war, Vania of Earth?"
Vania placed a slender finger against her chin and tapped it thoughtfully. A tendril of her chestnut hair curled around beside her pouted lips and seemed to point an arrow straight to her tongue as she spoke. I couldn’t help looking at it. It was bewitching. It was as if it were just inviting me to kiss
