“Ginny, can I ask you something?” Khujann said as they approached the gates. The Sahi Kalah stationed there bowed their heads as he passed, and he nodded to them in response.
“Khuj, you can ask me anything,” she said. “By the way, your language lessons paid off, your common tongue is flawless these days! Maybe you should try asking me in Elvish?”
“No. Papa won’t allow me to speak it, Ginny, you know that.” Khujann’s eyes narrowed as he looked at her.
“Yes, I do, but your Papa isn’t here right now, is he?” Her ice-blue eyes twinkled as she grinned conspiratorially at him. He matched her grin.
“No, no, he isn’t, in fact,” Khujann said in perfect Elvish. “How was that? You are ever the excellent teacher, Ginny.”
“It was perfect!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands with glee.
“Do I sound as good as Papa when he speaks it?” Khujann asked. Gin tried to hide the pain in her heart at his question before it surfaced in her eyes. Sath hadn’t spoken Elvish unless he had to since Kazhmere died. “What? What is that face for, Ginny?” Clearly, she wasn’t fast enough.
She smiled up at the young Prince. “It is so good to hear the language of my kind now and then and to be able to speak it. After too much Qatunari, I fear everything I say sounds like a purr.”
“No, your Qatunari sounds like a hiss,” Khujann said, poking her playfully and accidentally knocking the wind out of her. She bent over double, trying to keep her balance as she gasped for air. “GINNY!” He stopped and scooped her up, pulling her close to him in a hug that was doing more damage than good. “I’m sorry, Ginny, please be okay! Do I need to fetch Papa?”
“Just…not…so…tight…” Gin said, still gasping for air. “Can’t…breathe…” Before she could stop it, the spirit of her ancestors that gave her the power of the Nature Walker surged forward to create a shield between her and whatever was causing her pain. Khujann dropped her immediately, his arms blown off of hers with tremendous force.
“Ow…” Khujann shook off the stunning blow, and Gin looked up at him as she wheezed, sucking in gorgeous large gulps of air, and smiled. The smile faded—her eyes filled with worry as she searched his face.
“I’m sorry, Khuj, I hope I didn’t hurt you.” She looked around for his guards and saw him holding up a hand to them.
“I’m fine, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“It’s okay, you just have to remember that I’m a bit more fragile than you Qatu…and that you are a lot stronger than I am.”
“And that you can knock me into next week if I step out of line, right?”
“And don’t you forget it, your Highness.” The Prince grinned, blushing to the roots of his fur. “You are definitely not the cub that used to cling to my neck when I carried you around in Aynamaede,” she said as she tousled his fur.
“Hardly, I’m taller than you are, for a start!” Khujann said with a wry smile. “Ginny, Papa says that the wizard is gone and can’t hurt me anymore, so why do I still have all these guards?” He looked over his shoulder to see the quad following him as they always did, then looked back in the direction they were moving down the corridor to the grand front gate of Qatu’anari. “I get that I’m the Prince and all, but Papa worries too much.”
Gin rubbed the fur on Khujann’s arm. “He loves you, mahshuk, that’s all. You’re his only son, and with Kahzi gone, you’re the only heir to the throne. You are very important, don’t forget that.” Khujann grinned at her correct use of the Qatunari word for ‘sweetheart’ as Gin wrapped her arms around her own waist, hugging herself for a moment. “But you are right, with Ben gone, you are safer than you…”
“I told you not to mention his name,” Sath hissed from behind her. Gin froze in place, and then took a deep breath before speaking. “It is even worse that you call him by your affectionate little nickname for him.” How had she not sensed his presence? The last trip to Aynamaede must have left her more tired than she had thought.
“And I told you not to sneak up on me, Cat,” she said in Qatunari. Sath stalked around in front of the two of them, feigning annoyance, but Khujann saw through his father’s ruse. It was clearly all Sath could do not to break out in a huge grin, if only at the improvement in Gin’s Qatunari. She sensed his surprise through their bond and then felt it turn.
Gin, I didn’t think I COULD sneak up on you.
She felt his worry and was equally concerned. Was her tracking ability slipping? No, it was just fatigue. Gin tried to convince him to relax as Sath shifted his attention back to Khujann. “Papa, you need to speak to Ginny in her language sometimes,” the Crown Prince said, drawing himself up to match Sath’s height. The Rajah glared back at his son. “Don’t get mad at me, she wasn’t part of the wizard elf’s plan to take me, it wasn’t her!”
“It was BECAUSE of me, though, Khuj,” Gin whispered to him. Sath sighed loudly.
“Whatever,” the young male responded, still staring at his father. “She lives here with us and… Well, just think about how much you like it when she speaks our language rather than the common tongue! Unless you don’t care about making her happy…”
“That’s enough, son,” Sath
