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Alarak stood carefully as the door opened, deciding it would be appropriate to bow a little as the other Protoss entered. The new weight of Ri’kara’s gift made his nerve cord swing back and forth more than the movement would usually make them, as though it were making itself as obvious as possible.
“A bow, ‘Val’ka’?” The Matriarch let out an incredulous chuckle, allowing the door to close behind her, but keeping her distance as she always did.
He straightened, looking down into her green eyes, watching as they immediately fell on the brass clasp and upturned in that slight smug smile he hated; there was no need to grace her with an answer.
“… I require your aid, Matriarch.”
“Straight to the point, I see.” She tilted her head, scanning the room for a moment before leaning against the desk to left of him, arms crossed. “Not with your little shadow today, hm? A pity; I would have liked to meet her.”
The idea of Ri’kara spending even a day with the Matriarch had Alarak resisting the urge to scoff and roll his eyes. His aide would no doubt find a hundred new ways to get under his skin once she had taken her council, he was sure of that.
Still, he tried to keep his voice at least less curt than he wished to be. “I specifically requested that she take a day for herself. This is about her.”
All at once, Vorazun’s sarcastic demeanour melted away, and she leant forward a little with interest. “Oh?”
“There is a Nerazim. Her ‘friend’. He seems to have it in his head that she is his.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly, searching his face. “You don’t mean the Executor’s guard from that party?”
“… I do. What of it?”
Immediately, she scoffed, retreating right back into mockery. “Jealous, are you? If you want her that badly, you can put in the effort rather than trying to do away with your competition—”
Alarak snapped, glaring at her. “As though I would need you if that were my goal.”
She let out a soft laugh. “Your confidence is almost endearing, Highlord. Why don’t you tell me why you are so concerned with who might be pursuing her, then?”
For a moment, he closed his eyes, pushing down the anger threatening to bubble up from his chest. Of course she would misunderstand. But she hadn’t, not as much as he would have liked to believe.
He chose his next words carefully. “I do not care for any suitors she may have; that is not why I am here. This friend of hers has it in his head that she is his to an unhealthy degree, and I have reason to believe that he may hurt her should she do something he dislikes.”
At that, a brow raised, veil swaying slightly as her head tilted. “… Elaborate.”
“It is amusing you mention that party, Matriarch. You were clearly paying too much attention to antagonising me to have seen the disgusting way he looked at her. I did not just leave because I refused to dance for an audience; I am under no illusion that she entertained my rebellion in part because he would have asked her to dance with him and she felt she could not refuse.”
For the first time, he saw her uninterested mask slip slightly, concern flitting across her eyes. He took her silence as an invitation to continue.
“Obviously, that was a long while ago. This time, she begged for me to leave before he found us both. I did not listen; her guard was not with her, and so I hid to watch their exchange. Clearly his behaviour has escalated. She was…” He briefly remembered how wildly her emotions had shifted, and the cold dead stare she had on her face as Ialdir left. “Shaken is an understatement.”
She nodded; her whole demeanour had changed with his description, her eyes flicking back and forth across two points on the metal floor as she weight invisible options in her mind. It was relieving to know that she had decided to take him seriously. “… And she has not told anyone?”
“A friend of hers who had no interest in intervening; the only reason I know is because I did not listen to her request to leave. If I am to believe she will uphold her side of the bargain, then she will have told a friend who will actually help her by now.”
“Then why have you come to me?”
“I require her to be watched more closely, whether she is with me or not; I want to know exactly how often he tries to follow her. This is the best I can ask for; I promised I will not interfere directly, and I know I should not.” Alarak sighed, reflexively clenching both fists as though he could somehow manifest his armour. “If you must know, you are correct about one thing, Matriarch, I am jealous.”
He braced for the admission to bring out that smug smirk all over again, but it did not. Instead, she properly looked him over with an expression that he thought may have been respect and then nodded.
“I suppose I can have that arranged; I’ll send two of my own guards. Though…” She gave him a look. “This is for her, not you, you understand?”
“Of course. As though I expected it to be for me.”
She nodded again and stood straight. “What of her friends?”
“What of them? Obviously I am in no position to meet them. The only reason I know this one is because he has a habit of inserting himself where he sees fit.”
“… I suppose she has Tal’darim friends, Alarak. I can see their handling of the situation being… messy, to say the least.”
His eyes narrowed, waiting for her to explain.
She rolled her eyes at his silence and crossed her arms over her chest. “Should they deal with the issue the way that I believe they will, I’ll have it scrubbed. There is no sense getting them into trouble for protecting their friend.”
“… Of course.” Alarak bowed lightly. “Thank you, Matriarch.”
She bowed her head slightly and turned to leave. “Perhaps Artanis being so soft on you is working. For whatever good that might do.”
The door closed abruptly behind her, and he let out a soft, growled sigh, letting some of the tension leave his body.
Now to see if Ri’kara will keep up her end of things.