Cherish by Lexi Ander

Author:Lexi Ander
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lexi Ander

Hopes and Desires

Zenon

* * *

The next morning Zenon was feeding the hatchlings when a vidcall came in. The ever-frowning Kiri was on the other end but as soon as he saw Zenon, his stern gaze softened.

“Zenon,” Kiri greeted, his gaze dropping to the two nests Zenon was perched between as he fed the chicks simultaneously. Those turquoise eyes softened even more, turning into pools of yearning that surprised Zenon. Perhaps he was not the only stag who wished for a different kind of life, one that included chicks.

“Good morn, Kiri,” Zenon replied.

Kiri’s gaze snapped up to him as if caught doing something he should not. Had someone chastised him for mooning over hatchlings before? “We need to postpone your visit,” Kiri said in a formal tone that wavered when his eyes dropped back to the nests. “Mountain clan leaders arrived early this morning to speak to us and the GIP. We knew they wanted to meet but did not know it would be this soon. We were taken by surprise and, unfortunately, we cannot put them off.” Kiri looked as if he wanted to say more but clamped his lips shut as his gaze turned stormy. Zenon discovered he liked how Kiri did not try to hide his emotions. It made him more approachable, even when his frown looked scary.

“The mountain clans are here?” He perked up. It had been years since he had seen Assembly Member Ishi. Was he still a leader for his clan? “This is excellent news. They declined to speak to the temple concetta after the shunning declaration nine months ago. They had accused a couple of the acolytes of being royal spies. They were wrong but refused to allow the concetta to prove differently. I worked with a couple of the clans during the early occupation. If the leaders of those clans are here, perhaps seeing a familiar face will help.”

The mountain clans conducted themselves differently than the GyrFalconi from the sky-cities. From his experience, they were more relaxed and full of sharp humor, but they were also highly secretive and suspicious of the motivations of the people in the sky-cities. Zenon suspected there was a history there that only the clans knew about.

Kiri’s expression turned thoughtful. “That’s interesting. I will let Coburn know. Perhaps we can find out why. In the meantime, we do not want to leave the rookeries without assistance. We selected ten young stags who claimed they helped their dahens with younger siblings. If you could pick them up and introduce them to the rookery liaisons—”

“Of course,” Zenon readily agreed, already making plans. “Let me finish with the hatchlings and talk to everyone about the changes. I am taking a couple to the Center for Batore Health this morning. I can herd the young stags while the batore meet with their doctors.”

Kiri wrote down the time Zenon would be at the municipal complex, promising to meet him with the stags before closing the vidcall with one last look of longing at the hatchlings.

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