Chapter 17
Au'revele opened her eyes and gazed sleepily around Alexandrus’ nursery. He was sleeping soundly in his crib — finally. He’d awakened every other hour for the last two days, and everyone in the royal residence was dazed from lack of sleep. Au'revele had finally managed to talk Vivian into allowing her to take him into his nursery for the night so that Vivi and Quin could get some sleep. She didn’t know if it was the special Eschinian tea she’d prepared for him, or if it was simple exhaustion, but Alexandrus was finally asleep.
Having lain down near his bassinet to try to get some rest of her own, she wasn’t sure what had awakened her, and she was just about to fall asleep when she heard a sound that just didn’t fit. She lay still, listening to Alexandrus’ even breathing and deciding that it had to have been him. She closed her eyes and started to fall back asleep, but was suddenly awake again. It was more a feeling this time than a sound. She closed her eyes but remained awake, alert, waiting for anything at all to confirm her uneasiness.
The adjoining door between her apartment and the nursery eased open. That sound was unmistakable.
Au’revele’s heart jumped, but she remained unmoving, giving the impression of sleeping.
She sensed movement as whoever had made their way into the nursery, progressed carefully across the large room. She felt someone’s breath on her face as they leaned close to her, apparently trying to determine if she was near waking, then satisfied that she would not, backed away from her and made the worst mistake of their life. They reached for Alexandrus.
Au’revele screamed long and loud as she came up off the small bed and launched herself at the person who was so startled by her lunge toward them they stumbled back several steps, nearly dropping Alexandrus in the process.
Au'revele rushed the person, using her shoulder to knock the person backward as she fought for Alexandrus.
The person holding him fought her back.
Au'revele relied on instinct when she grabbed the person’s throat and squeezed with one hand while keeping her other arm around Alexandrus in case he was dropped.
The person holding Alexandrus kept fighting for possession of the child.
Au'revele’s nails scraped across the person’s throat as she released their neck and Alexandrus so she could better fight. Raising both hands quickly to their face, she went for their eyes, shoving her thumbs into both eye sockets before rearing back with one hand and punching repeatedly.
The person’s screams added to hers as they flailed their arms and fists toward Au'revele in return.
Alexandrus began screaming and Au'revele grabbed for him, snatching him away from the person now haphazardly holding him as they tried to strike back at Au'revele.
Au'revele turned her back to the person, as she tucked Alexandrus into her body, shielding him from the blows that rained down on her back as she dropped to the floor and curled herself tightly around the baby. Not once did she stop screaming, and with Alexandrus’ cries added to hers, she could barely identify the near deafening sounds suddenly surrounding her.
Orders being shouted could be heard from inside the royal residence, and the sounds of running booted feet thundered toward the nursery.
The blows Au'revele had endured stopped, but she didn’t even notice as she kept Alexandrus sheltered tightly against her body and just kept screaming.
Doors were thrown open, and as security forces ran from every direction, she felt powerful arms lift her fully from the floor.
She opened her eyes and peeked at the person holding her through her hair as she remained hunched around the child .
“Alexandrus!” Quin bellowed at her.
She didn’t speak, just held him out a little from her body so Quin could see him.
Quin simply turned and ran with both of them in his arms back into the downstairs residence where Vivian was screaming and sobbing for her baby.
Quin plopped Au'revele onto the foot of the bed and plucked Alexandrus from her arms, then quickly handed him to Vivian.
Vivian took him from Quin and sat on the foot of the bed beside Au'revele, hugging Alexandrus with one hand and Au'revele with the other as they both cried.
“What happened?!” Quin demanded.
“Someone tried to take him. I fought them, then suddenly they stopped and you were there,” Au'revele said between sniffling.
“Who?!” Quin demanded.
“I don’t know. It was dark, and I was fighting whoever held him. All I saw were dark clothes.” As she spoke she used her hands to gesture as she usually did.
Quin reached out and took one of her hands in his, examining them. “There is blood under your nails. Blood on your thumbs.”
“I tried to strangle them, then I went for their eyes.”
“Good. We will find them. You have done well, Au'revele,” he said, his voice growly.
“I don’t know if he’s hurt,” she said, her voice fading into tears.
“We’ll call the doctors, but I think he’s okay,” Vivian said. He’s already quieted down. If he were hurt, he’d still be crying.”
“I tried. I tried to keep him safe. I kept screaming and screaming and fighting. It felt like forever but I wasn’t going to stop.”
“From the first scream we heard, the whole thing was less than a minute, a minute and a half,” Vivian told her. “But you did it. You kept him safe, Au'revele. Thank you. ”
Quin was pacing back and forth in front of where they sat on the foot of the bed, his hand pressed to his implanted communicator as he rattled off information. “Bleeding. Most likely the eyes, and possibly the neck. Dark clothing. I want them dead! No exceptions! I don’t care who they are! And seal her quarters! No one gets in or out. Weld the damned door closed if you must. I don’t care if it never opens again!”
Au'revele watched Quin quietly as she tried to get herself under control, then she shared a look with Vivian.
Vivian smiled at her. “It’s because of you that I’m sitting here holding him. You saved him.”
Au'revele smiled shakily and reached out a hand to smooth over his shiny, black hair. “He’s okay.”
“He’s okay,” Vivian echoed.
~~~
Zahn had just gotten off duty and was stripping on his way to his cleansing unit when screams filled his ears. Without hesitation he ran as quickly as he could through his quarters, leaving his door wide open as he started across the corridor to Au'revele’s rooms. Li'Don and several of Quin’s security force were already going in with their weapons drawn, and he was right behind them despite being half naked, not wearing shoes and holding no weapon. Snarling and growling with every hurried step he took, he hesitated for only a second when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. The flash of dark clothing was just barely visible as its wearer quickly rounded the corner at the end of the corridor. Knowing from the screams he heard that Au'revele was alive, and that Li'Don and the forces ahead of him could handle whatever they found, he made a split second decision to go after whoever was quickly racing away from the area, and rushed off in pursuit of the person wearing the dark clothing .
His Psi engaged, he ran as quickly as he could and just caught a glimpse as the person rushed through the kitchen and out into a receiving area stacked high with dozens of crates waiting to be inventoried and put away by the morning shift. Despite the fact that he’d lost track of the person he was following, he engaged his senses and allowed his instincts to lead him on. On the far side of the receiving room, a brief whiff of fresh air focused him on a small side door. As he approached, he yanked it open, realizing his target had opened the door and slipped right out of it into the crisp nighttime air as he tried to determine exactly where that person had gone.
With his Psi engaged, his nighttime vision was as good as his daytime vision, and it only took a second or two to determine the shadows he saw in the distance were the dark clothed individual he was chasing and several other figures, much larger than the first, who were obviously aiding the first in their getaway. Zahn roared, bellowing his intent to attack as he ran faster, his arms pumping at his sides, his claws extended, his teeth elongated and sharpened and his horns and brow bones more prominent and defensive of his head as he willingly pursued battle.
Running as quickly as he could, he watched as one of those spiriting away the first target picked that smaller person up and began to run away with them, while four or five others turned to face him, welcoming him almost, as they raised their weapons to greet him.
In battle, Zahn was never one to disappoint and his angry moue shifted into one of near pleasure as he launched himself into the air, coming down with his fists pounding and his feet kicking perfectly timed impacts at anyone within reach.
Those he’d just attacked roared their own cries of battle as they counter-attacked, but Zahn didn’t hear them. He was so intent on taking out the enemy who attacked his female, he was aware of nothing but the feel of flesh giving way under his punches. The sound of bones cracking as his hands and feet made impact. The burn as one of his opponent’s daggers sliced through the taut skin of his belly .
Zahn didn’t even stop to glance down at the warm liquid that began spilling down his abdomen. Instead it enraged him even more and caused him to let go of any bit of civility he’d tried to hold onto while fighting. He released a roar that called the attention of any who might have been even barely close enough to hear, and set about introducing those he faced to death. Pure and simple, they’d attacked his female, and very possibly her charge — the youngling of his Sire and Sirena — and for that alone, they needed to die. Not be tried for their actions, he’d already decided death was their sentence. All that remained was the execution, and he would be their executioner this night.
A male grabbed Zahn from behind while another advanced from the front. Zahn used the hold of the one behind him to balance himself as he raised his feet up off the ground and kicked the approaching male so hard, it drove his nose up into his brain, dropping him where he stood. Slamming his feet back to the ground he reached over his own head and grabbed the male still holding him from behind. Throwing his own body forward, he dropped to his knees, bringing the male behind himself over his head to land on the ground before him. He lifted his foot and slammed his heel down on the male’s throat, roaring triumphantly as he both heard and watched the immediate gurgles of his opponent as he tried to breathe around his crushed trachea.
Another tossed his dagger back and forth, hand to hand as he slowly, calculatedly approached Zahn.
Zahn watched him disdainfully, his face showing a clear lack of foreboding of the opponent’s approach as he simply reached out and snatched the dagger out of mid-air, thoroughly sending his opponent off balance as his dagger was taken away from him with little-to-no effort on Zahn’s part. Zahn tossed the dagger into the air over his own head, then as he caught it, he turned and threw it with all his strength at the male who was running full speed at him from behind with his sword drawn, intent on removing Zahn’s head from his shoulders. The dagger pierced the male’s throat, leaving him unable to make a sound as his eyes rolled back in his head and he went down, clutching at his neck.
Zahn, weak from the blood spilling steadily down his body, swayed a little as he turned back to the one male still standing, only to find that the one male had turned into two as another of his cohorts rushed to stand beside him.
“You will die,” the new male threatened.
Zahn shrugged. “So be it. We’ll meet our maker together. My reward for fighting honorably will be to battle you endlessly for eternity.”
The newest male rushed Zahn, fists raised, attacking like his life depended on it.
Zahn fought back valiantly, actually knocking the male to the ground at his side.
The next male, angry that Zahn had taken his dagger, saw his chance to attack as Zahn laughed at his friend struggling to rise from the ground. He lunged for Zahn, using his shoulder to slam into Zahn’s already injured side, then drew back to slam the back of his hand into Zahn’s throat.
Zahn bellowed in pain, twisting his body away from impact and falling to his knees as he held his side, struggling to catch his breath as he fought off the darkness threatening to take him under. Zahn ground his teeth, and leaned his upper body weight on one hand as the other held his side. He lifted his hand from his side and looked at it curiously, stained red and sticky from his own blood. “That’s not good,” he grumbled.
“Zahn! Zaahn!”
Zahn, actually wobbling side to side as he fought valiantly to maintain his upright position, tried to turn his head and gaze over his shoulder at the voice that he was sure he knew. Multiple males ran at him.
“Zahn!” Li’Don bellowed again as he hesitated briefly beside Zahn. “How many?”
“Two, four, five?” Zahn answered, obviously confused as his body wavered unsteadily.
Li’Don and three of Quin’s guards who’d chased after Zahn once they were assured that the new Sire and his nanny were safe, took off again. “We’ll get them!” Li’Don called over his shoulder as they ran as quickly as they could to intercept the two males they could barely see in the distance.
“Hold them! I’m coming!” Zahn tried to yell after them, but only a very weakened rasp escaped him while he struggled to get to his feet.
“Zahn!” Kail called out as he and Rel got closer.
Zahn looked up at Kail almost drunkenly. “Ah, Kail. Look! I’ve killed them all!” he said with a chilling smile.
“Most of them,” Kail agreed. “But we have to get you to medical — now.”
“Most? Do you mean one lives?” Zahn demanded, finally getting unsteadily to his feet, his upper body leaning at a precarious angle as he searched for his still breathing adversaries.
“Two live, Zahn. Two were running away. They will not be long alive. Li’Don will find them, and if not, we’ll help track them after we get you to medical.”
“I refuse medical! I will end their miserable existence!” Zahn said, his chest heaving as he struggled to breathe, taking only two steps before he went down on his knees again. The hand he’d had pressed to his side since realizing it was covered in his own blood, pressed a little harder. “I must avenge my female.”
“Au’revele?” Kail asked. “She’s alive. She fought off the intruders and is safe, along with Alexandrus.”
“She’s safe,” Zahn said, smiling as he coughed and blood tinged spittle flew from his mouth and ran down his chin. “She is a good female. Tell her she… is… strong,” Zahn’s eyes rolled back in his head and he fell face first into the body of one of those he’d killed.
“Asl, I need help!” Kail shouted.
“I’ve got his feet,” Asl said, as he and Kail lifted Zahn into their arms and rushed him back inside the palace, through the kitchens and up the stairs toward the medical suite.
“Sire!” Asl said, as he activated his implanted communicator .
“Speak!” Quin answered immediately, waiting for word on those who’d tried to attack his son.
“Zahn has fallen!”
“He has not!” Quin shouted. “How?!”
“He chased and fought several males! Two are dead! But he was injured.”
“Is he dead?!” Quin demanded.
“We don’t know, Sire! We’re taking him to medical now. Rel is with Li’Don and the others of your guard searching for those who slipped away.”
“I’ll send in the palace guard to help,” Quin said.
“No, Sire. It is the palace guard Zahn was fighting. We don’t know who we can trust,” Asl said.
“Are you sure, Asl?” Quin asked.
“We are, Sire. Li’Don and Rel and several others raced to aid him, but two ran as we approached; Kail and I stayed to help Zahn. Li’Don and Rel and those with them gave chase. The dead and the two who ran were all wearing palace uniforms.”
“Protect him while he is treated. Tell the doctors if he dies, they may very well also,” Quin growled.
“It may already be too late, Sire, but we will not leave his side.”
“I’ll be there shortly.”
Quin turned to look at Vivian.
“Who’s injured?” she asked, her voice a whisper as she cradled Alexandrus.
“Zahn. He’s being rushed to medical, but it may already be too late.”
Au'revele covered her face with her hands, her eyes filling with tears.
“What about the others?” Vivian asked, blinking back her own tears.
“Kail and Asl are getting Zahn to medical. Li’Don, Rel and several of my guard are tracking some who fled when they arrived. I can’t even send the palace guards to assist because Asl has advised those Zahn was battling were palace guards.”
“Oh, my God. What do we do?” Vivian asked .
“I know certain of the palace guard are loyal, and I know those of my mother’s guard are as well. I’m taking you to her, and then I’m going to help track these traitors down. They will die. Each and every one of them.”
Vivian nodded, fully expecting Quin to go after them himself.
“I’ve got to speak with Bart, and then the guards stationed at our door, then I’ll be back to escort you to my mother’s quarters. I need you safe while I do what I have to do,” Quin said.
“I’ll get some things together for Alexandrus and myself so we can stay with her without you worrying about us. And Au'revele will be coming with us, won’t you?” Vivian asked, looking from Quin to Au'revele.
“If I’m needed, yes. But if not, I want to go to Zahn,” Au'revele said.
Vivian met Quin’s eyes, asking silently for him to take Au’revele to Zahn.
“I don’t even know if he’s alive,” Quin said impatiently.
“If it was you and me,” Vivian said quietly.
Quin sighed, but almost immediately he nodded. “Be ready in minutes Au'revele.”