Between Two Tiron (15 page)

“She‟s a true mate for our Alphas,” Medina affirmed.

Although Lina was grateful for the acceptance and support the other women were

showing, their help wasn‟t needed. She could take the woman if the need arose. She didn‟t think

the woman would ever go that far. Marge had been out for a little quick, easy intimidation.

If there had only been women within hearing range, she would have asked about Santir

discipline, but men were moving all around the camp. She had the feeling that any man who

overheard such a discussion beginning would rush to squelch it. With that kind of interference,

she wouldn‟t learn anything valuable.

She watched the shuttle sweep around as it prepared to land. It seemed that the time had

come for her to apologize. She would do it and she would mean the words. The explanations had

been informative. She did bear a little responsibility for the way things had gone.

The shuttle landed expertly at the end of the row of shuttles. Two tall redheaded men

strode out of the shuttle when the hatch opened. Their light golden skin gleamed in the bright

sunlight.

Jalan‟s body was built for speed more than power with its lean lines. He had icy blue eyes

and a handsome face. The taller of the two was Lido. Golden eyes blazed from his rough-hewn

face. The man was large and muscled, a warrior.

She saw that they still carried themselves with the same arrogance that she had observed

near the end of the trial. When they‟d lost the trial, they hadn‟t acted defeated. They had shot her

a hard look and marched from the courtroom. She should have known that they were far too

arrogant to merely be two lone Santir.

They smiled as they walked over to greet Shard. A hand wrapped around her arm and she

looked up into Kaleb‟s deep green eyes. She got to her feet without further urging. Kaleb led her

to Shard and the two redheaded Ardin where they waited in front of a tent devoted to the artifacts

that had been found during the search for this
thent’s
symbol.

The trial and its verdict had been public. Shard and Kaleb had decided that her apology

would be conducted in public as well.

“Lina, I would like to formally introduce you to Ardin Lido Orsal and Ardin Jalan Tavis

of Marich Thent. Jalan, Lido, this is Lina, our mate. She has something she needs to say to you.”

Kaleb briefly clasped each man‟s forearm in greeting before he made the introductions.

Lido‟s golden eyes moved over her face and a frown creased his brow. “She looks very

familiar.”

“Lina,” Shard prompted.

She took a deep breath.
Time to pay for the sins of complacency.
“I owe the two of you an

apology. I was so lost in the details of my own life and everything that was happening at that

time that I missed so much. I didn‟t even know you were Santir until the very last.”

“You owe us an apology?” Lido‟s rough, raspy voice made the query more of a growl.

“What is this about, Shard?” Jalan looked to Shard when Lina didn‟t immediately

explain.

“Just let her explain things.” Shard turned and narrowed his eyes at Lina.

She got the message. She hadn‟t yet actually apologized.

“I-I was doing some work for Central Command at the time and was off Mical more than

I was on it. I should have looked more into your situation, but I was swamped at that time. I

should have done more when I learned you were Santir, but, until that time, I associated you with

every other person who sued me hoping for easy money.” She looked at the slightly less

intimidating Ardin Jalan when she made her explanation.

“Sued…” Lido breathed. His eyes on locked on her face.

“Yes.” Kaleb nodded, his eyes sparkling as they turned to Lina. “Lina is L.C. Cadian of

Cadianco. She was born Santir, but was living as a human because she was alone. She has been

walking the edge for a long time now. She still has more to tell you.”

She knew that every eye in the camp was on her. They were all interested in the

spectacle.

“I tried to contact you when I realized that you were Santir. I wasn‟t going to try to buy

you out of the suit. I was going to try to explain things to you, show you that I didn‟t use your

image.” She shifted her weight nervously from her right to her left foot.

“What could you think to tell us to convince us that we were wrong? We saw the images.

Everyone has. What could you show us?” Lido sneered.

“If I had known of your situation, I‟d have done more than that. I wouldn‟t have missed

the money of a no-fault settlement. I‟m sorry I didn‟t try harder to make you listen.” For the

moment, she made no comment about proving them wrong. The look on Shard‟s face told her

that she had better get on with the apologies.

“We wouldn‟t have accepted a no-fault settlement,” Jalan denied coldly, his eyes and his

expression displaying his hostility.

“When I really thought about it, I realized that there were many ways that I could have

gotten to you, even if you were stubborn. I‟m sorry I didn‟t pay more attention to things. I‟m

sorry I let it go to judgment when I knew you were Santir.” She took a deep breath. Without

thinking hard, she knew of four ways to get to them with or without their approval.

“Do you think that anything you said would be of interest to us?” Jalan gave her a

contemptuous look. That man was still angry and still believed that she had used his image,

regardless of what the judge said.

“You never saw my part of the trial, my testimony. Your advocate was there, but because

I was working with Central Command, I was allowed to show my proof late one night before I

left early in the trial.” Lina laced her fingers together and looked up at the two men.

“You have proof of your claims?” Lido‟s mouth had fallen open in incredulous shock.

“Why couldn‟t we sense you as Santir during the trial?” Jalan narrowed his eyes.

“Yes, I have proof,” she sighed and took a deep breath. “As to why you couldn‟t sense

me, there‟s a specialty lotion that contains many of the same minerals as the
mina
stone. It works just like that stone without the giveaway of wearing a piece of gray rock as jewelry.”

Jalan‟s eyes turned to Shard. “Have you seen this proof?”

“No, we waited for you to arrive to gauge the worth of her proof.” Shard reached out and

took one of her hands in his. He gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled at her.

“A judge found it to be more than convincing.” While she appreciated the gentle

encouragement of his hand clasping hers, she couldn‟t stop herself from glaring at him in

response to his comment.

“Ah, but,
rao nari
, we have much stricter standards and are harder to convince than a

human judge.” Kaleb used the tips of his fingers to turn her face to his as he brushed his lips

across hers. “Show us your proof now.”

“I‟ll need one of my computers as well as the black box.” She looked longingly to where

Darik had disappeared into their tent. She could have used that time alone to collect her jangled

nerves. Taking a deep breath, she took the box from the man and carried it to a free table.

She opened the sealed safe and took out a large, bound, obviously old tome. She gently

placed it on the table and then took out a small red data chip. One of her slim, powerful

computers was brought to the table.

“I‟ll do it. I know what you can do with a computer.” Kaleb held out his hand in

imperious demand.

She frowned at the implication, but placed the red chip in his hand. “There‟s a file on that

chip named „Origin Character Development‟.”

While Kaleb was accessing the files, she reverently opened the book. She turned the

yellowed pages with care. She didn‟t want to damage it.

“What is this?” Lido asked, gesturing to the book.

“This is where I got the basic character faces for many of the characters in „Origin‟

including the two that you say were based upon you.” She found the first of the relevant pages.

“The file Kaleb is opening shows how I went from the one-dimensional sketches to the

three-dimensional versions and the differences I added for the game characters, in detail. I

learned early in my career to document my work.”

The first things she showed them were merely line sketches of Santir males, two of which

did resemble Ardin Lido and Ardin Jalan. She turned the pages of the book again and showed the

men drawings done in colored inks. The drawings were of excellent quality and detailed. The old

explorer who had owned this book had documented his encounters with a species unknown to his

people. Handwritten notes near each drawing told of the men and how they had greeted his

arrival.

“You‟ll want to look at these.” Kaleb set the computer down so that the others could look

at the images now displayed on the screen.

After they had finished inspecting everything, Jalan‟s eyes traveled back to the old,

cloth-bound book. “Where did you get this?”

“I found it in an estate sale. The family had been related to the explorer who did all the

sketches and notes.” She ran a reverent hand over the pages. “I was always searching for old

Santir artifacts. I had several agents who kept watch for anything that might belong to that time

period.”

“Have you found others?” Kaleb looked over at her and was struck by how much she had

longed for a connection to her people even as she kept herself apart from them.

“Yes, she has,” Lido answered before she could respond to the question. He pulled a

palm-sized metal disk out of the box.

Lina glanced briefly at the old clan Seal. “I found that in some old ruins on Denao.” The

sight of the Seal, one meant to be worn by the Ardin as a buckle or medallion, brought back

memories, both good and bad.

“Why did you take it?” Shard frowned at the sadness in her expression.

“My mother was a descendant of the Nairan clan. She was so proud of her affiliation to

it.” She remembered with a smile. She could still hear her mother telling the legends and stories

of the clan‟s proud history. “I wanted to give her something of it, something she could hold. I

began looking for one of the seals or a copy of it. I found some old references to it that led me to

Denao.”

The silence stretched. “What happened next,
rah’ki
?” Shard could tell by her expression

that this next part was not easy for her to remember.

“I went to get it. I told the elders only that I was going to get a gift for my mother. I was

afraid that if they knew that I was flying into Shifter-Protected Space that they would try to stop

me.” Her eyes saw nothing of the forest beyond their camp as old memories raced through her

mind.

“Something happened to her while you were gone?” Shard reached out and rubbed his

hand up her bare arm.

“It took me five days to find it once I arrived on Denao. I came back home, ready to give

my mother a piece of her history. She wasn‟t there. The elders had sent my mother to check

some of our contacts with two others.” She drew in a shuddering breath. Gods, this hurt. She

hadn‟t ever talked about how her mother had died.

“
Nari
, you don‟t have to tell us.” Kaleb brushed his fingers across her cheek.

She went on with the story, needing to get it out now that she was telling it. “They were

very young and inexperienced. It should have been a routine check. Something went wrong.

Their bodies were found naked, mutilated, days later. I should have been there. It wouldn‟t have

happened if I was there.”

“You could have been killed just as they were, Lina.” Shard‟s voice roughened. The heat

from his body seeped into hers as he stepped closer to her.

“I kept that with me for years afterward. It was the only link that I had to my mother. I

was carrying it the day that I was sent to find the missing woman. That‟s the only reason I have it

now.” She closed her eyes. After she had been separated from her group, it had started to remind

her of everything she didn‟t have. She had shoved it into the safe and tried to forget about it.

Kaleb‟s arm slipped around her, pulling her close, comforting her.

“So did my evidence pass the test?” She thrust her thoughts away from her mother‟s

death, away from her life before she‟d been on her own.

“We believe that you didn‟t use our images.” Lido stared at her for a few moments before

he gave her his answer. “I would like to look some more at that book.”

“But you probably did use their ancestors,
rao nari
.” Kaleb laughed at her frowning

expression.

“The resemblance between the pictures and Lido and Jalan is astounding. I‟m surprised

that even a human judge missed it.” Shard gave Lina a pleased smile and clapped Lido on the

back.

“He didn‟t miss the resemblance. My book has been authenticated as over three hundred

years old. I couldn‟t have faked it. With the documentation of my work, it was enough.” She

turned and glared at him.

Jalan stepped forward and smiled at her. “We accept your apology and you have ours as

well. We should have been much more watchful, more aware. There were a few instances in that

game that did mirror Santir history.”

“I tried to dilute anything that resembled our history to a point where it was

unrecognizable.” She frowned. If they had even thought that it sounded like it, then she hadn‟t

done enough.