Chapter 22
Mirilla arrived at the market just as the sun was coming up. She forced herself to stroll relaxedly past the marketing stalls that had already been set up for the morning’s customers. She was not a stranger to the stalls, often accompanying Jof Ta on his trips to buy produce for the palace, along with cookware and other various sundries for wherever they may be needed. It was very important to Jof Ta and herself to try to purchase produce that was locally grown, and goods crafted by local people, rather than importing everything. And lucky for them, Eula agreed. She wasn’t sure if she should let herself be recognized or not, so kept the hood of her cape over her head and her face in its shadow as she strolled. She’d heard tell that one could purchase anything in the market here, just as could be done in any market, but she wasn’t sure how to go about it, and who exactly she should ask.
So, she just wandered, pretending to shop with little idea of how to achieve what she really wanted.
After her third pass one of the stall keepers took pity on her. “Is there something I can help you find?” he asked.
Mirilla turned her head toward the male who asked if he could help her and pulled her hood more closely about her head as she shook her head quickly back and forth. Despite her better efforts, a strand of her peach colored hair escaped her hood.
The male looked more closely then surprised her. “Miss Mirilla. Is that you?”
“No,” she said, keeping her voice soft and hopefully not recognizable.
The male laughed good-naturedly. “Of course, it is. How are you today, Miss Mirilla. You’re here early. You and Mr. Jof Ta don’t usually come until after the breakfast crowd. You must be looking for something special. ”
She raised her face and looked him in the eye, preparing to speak, but then out of the corner of her eye she saw palace warriors at the far end of the market and clearly began panicking.
The old male, who was a personal friend of Jof Ta’s, had sharp eyes and didn’t miss her reaction to the warriors. He stepped round the table presenting the vegetables he was offering for sale and took her by the arm. “Come, sit in my stall and have some Litah.”
“I can’t. I need to go, An’ Der,” she said, even as she allowed him to guide her to his own seat beside the small fire he’d built for warmth against the morning chill.
The male’s eyes flicked toward the warriors, then to Mirilla’s. “If you leave now, it will be obvious and they’ll see you. If you remain here, seated as though you are selling vegetables with me, they may not notice.”
“You may get in trouble,” she warned.
“For what? Allowing a female to warm herself beside my fire?” he picked up a carrot like vegetable and handed it to her. “Eat this. It makes you look like you belong here, rather than just huddling.”
Obediently Mirilla began munching on the vegetable.
The old male took his time selling vegetables to several different shoppers, before he finally turned back to her. “Why are you here, Miss Mirilla. What’s happened?”
“An’ Der I need to get on a transport,” she answered. “Can you help me get on a transport?”
His eyes widened with his surprise. “What have you done?” he asked regretfully.
“Nothing. But some people think I have, and the only way to prove my innocence is to find the person who did the things I’m suspected of.”
“Do you even know where to look?”
She shook her head. “I suppose I’ll start searching space ports. Those that one could blend into most easily and not be questioned.”
“They’re not safe for a female to be frequenting alone. ”
She shrugged almost hopelessly. “It’s not safe for me to be here either.”
The male shook his head, then looked down the row of stalls before shaking his head again and mumbling as he wandered away. “Stay here,” he called over his shoulder.
After a little while he came back. He sold some vegetables to the few people that had waited for him to return, then he turned to her again. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I have to do this. I have to find my brother, only then will I be able to clear my name.”
“Your own family has you running for your life?”
“I believe so.”
“If you’re determined to go through with this, I have a friend who is leaving port today. But it won’t be cheap, especially if you expect him to keep you hidden. He says that all transports and vessels, even cargo vessels, leaving Cruestace are checked by the palace warriors before they can even seal their doors and power their thrusters.”
“I’m not surprised. But, if he can help me get away from Cruestace it will at least be a start. I will pay him.”
“He’s making deliveries to several of the ports. You can travel with him as long as you care to, but the longer you travel, the more expensive it will be because the greater the chance he’s taking.”
“I understand. I’m okay with that.”
He grimaced at her, clearly unhappy with her decision to move forward with her plans. “I’ll be right back,” he said as he went to the back of his stall and reached into the pocket of a heavy canvas apron he had thrown over a chair. He came back to her and held out his hand. “Here, take it.”
“What is it?” she asked, extending her own hand to accept whatever it was he was trying to hand her.
An’ Der placed a heavy metal object in her hand, then shoved both his hands into his pockets.
She gasped when she saw what she was holding. “I can’t take this! ”
“You can, and you will. It’s merely a memento of another time to me, but it might save your life. Take it. Bring it back to me when you return.”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever come back, but I’ll find a way to get it back to you — if all goes well.”
“Good enough.”
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“Wait for my friend to come tell me he’s ready and that his vessel has been searched so it’ll be safe to get you on board.”
Mirilla nodded and looked down at the very old Warrior’s dagger the old male had given her. At one time he’d been one of the Cruestaci military. As she watched him she thought to herself how funny it was that no one would ever expect him to be more than the old man who sold vegetables in the market, yet his entire life told another story. He’d been fierce, strong, respected just like the warriors in their military now. She watched him tending his customers, and thought for the second time since she’d made the decision to go in search of Mir’ Ahn that this was the right thing to do. The right people were being placed in her path to help her, and that couldn’t be just a coincidence.
~~~
Au’revele watched as the doctors removed Zahn from the healing chamber. He was still unconscious, but at least he wasn’t bleeding anymore, and his color was normal again. It didn’t make her feel any more secure about his recovery, though. He did not move, he gave no indication that he was even there inside his body.
“Are you sure he’s ready to be removed from the healing chamber?” she asked.
One of the nurses who was assisting the doctors smiled at her sadly. “The chamber has done all it can do. It’s up to him now. But he’s done much better than we expected. We thought he’d be in the chamber for longer than he was. ”
“Maybe we should leave him in there for a while,” Au’revele said, watching him lying on the bed, completely vulnerable, giving no response at all as they poked and prodded him, trying to get a reflexive response out of him.
The nurse smiled at her once more, then went about hooking up the monitors to Zahn and covering him after the doctors left. When she had him completely situated, she paused in front of where Au’revele stood for just a second and squeezed her arm gently. “He’s hung on this long. I really believed he wouldn’t make it when they brought him in. It’ll take some time, but I really think he’ll be okay now.”
Au’revele nodded, and looked over at Zahn again. “I’ll be here, no matter how long it takes.”
“I’ll bring you some food to nibble on when we go for lunch later.”
“Thank you, but I don’t think I could eat anything.”
“You have to take care of yourself. If you’re weak, how will you care for your male when he’s released from here?”
Au’revele didn’t answer, she just kept looking at Zahn. She didn’t want to tell them, or anyone else that Zahn wasn’t actually her mate — they might make her leave. And she wasn’t leaving, so it just made it easier to allow them to think whatever they wanted.
“Tell you what, at least drink some juice. I’ll bring you some from the stock we keep here for the patients,” the nurse said.
“I’ll try.”
“I won’t be long,” the nurse promised.
After everyone was gone and the room was finally quiet, Au’revele slowly moved closer to Zahn’s bed. She looked down at him, lying there so still, then hesitantly reached out and touched him. She closed her eyes and breathed out a relieved sigh. He was warm. She eased herself into the chair at his bedside and scooted it closer. She watched his chest rise and fall for a full five minutes before she decided that it was safe to take her eyes off him long enough to rest for a few moments. Au'revele leaned forward, placing her forearms on the edge of Zahn’s hospital bed, then her forehead on her arms and closed her eyes. She’d been sitting beside the healing chamber he was in for almost 24 hours, and with the trauma of Alexandrus being attacked, her own bruises, and then not knowing if Zahn would make it, she was completely wrung out. “Just going to rest here for a few minutes,” she murmured.
~~~
Alexandrus stared at his grandmother’s fingers as they pinched the air and moved ever so slowly closer to his tummy. The moment her fingers were close enough to him, both of his pudgy little hands slapped together, trapping her hand between his as he growled and tried to lean forward to bite her.
Eula laughed delightedly as she tickled his belly, resulting in uncontrollable belly laughs from him. Then the whole thing would start all over again.
Quin was sitting across from his mother with Vivian sitting beside him, curled into his side as they took advantage of the first quiet moment they’d had in the last day and a half.
Someone tapped on the door, then it was opened and Ban Lo stepped inside. “Sire, your warriors have arrived.”
Vivian sat up and looked at Quin. “Your warriors?” she asked.
“Lo’San sent help.”
“I am only here for the youngling!” Kol shouted.
“Kol!” Vivian exclaimed, standing up quickly from the sofa she sat on.
“Careful, Vivi,” Quin reminded.
“I’m fine,” she said, moving quickly across the living room to get to Kol.
Kol hugged her tight, turning her back and forth. “Vivi! It’s been a year!”
“It’s only been two weeks,” Quin grumbled. “Let go of my Ehlealah. ”
“Kol, you’d better come over here and greet me properly!” Eula said.
“Mumum! Look at you sitting there with a feral little fellow like he’s not going to bite you,” Kol said, snatching his hand back as Alexandrus leaned forward, clacking his teeth in Kol’s direction. Kol kissed Eula’s cheek and tickled Alexandrus’ belly but instead of a belly laugh, Alexandrus growled at him.
“He’s not as bad as yours are,” Jhan said, walking in behind Kol.
“I have two, and they’re older,” Kol mumbled.
“Jhan! I did not expect you here. I am very glad to see you,” Quin said.
Jhan and Quin embraced, then Jhan walked over to hug Vivian as he answered Quin. “When Lo’San explained what was happening here, there was no way I wasn’t coming.”
“Thank you for dedicating yourself to whatever it is that we find here.”
“Would you expect any less?” Jhan asked, returning to Quin’s side.
“Only that you’re always off on some new adventure,” Quin said.
“I’d have left it and come here,” Jhan said. He patted Quin on the shoulder and smiled at Eula. “And Mumum! Being a grandmother suits you.”
“I know! I’ve been saying that!” Eula said, offering her cheek for a kiss.
“Where do I pitch my tent?” Kron asked as he walked into the royal residence.
“Outside. I do not want to have to keep you safe, too,” Vor said, as he followed right behind him.
Vivian’s head shot up and she squealed as she rushed Vor.
Vor laughed as he caught her in his arms. “Sirena, I have missed you,” he said, setting her down and stepping back to perform a deep bow after slamming his arm over his chest to declare his loyalty once again.
“How are you here?” she asked. “I thought all your personal guard duties are over. ”
“He’s mated now! He can actually think straight again,” Kron teased.
“Oh, Vor, that’s wonderful! Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Sirena. We bonded a month ago, but we were with Li’Orani’s family on Pelori, so no one got word of it until we returned to the ship.”
“They didn’t even tell me,” Kron said.
“And he’s still complaining,” Vor said, playfully shoving Kron back a few steps. “But the wait was all worth it. If that was what was needed for Li’Orani to fully recover and find herself again, I would do it all again.”
“I’m so happy for you both,” Vivian said.
“Thank you, Sirena,” Vor said.
“And how is Ginger?” Vivian asked.
“She is wonderful. Happy and excited about everything she encounters. She is loving her life aboard Command Warship 1,” Kron said. His expression became pinched for a moment and he looked at Vivian, knowing she’d understand. “She wants me to bring her a shraler, though. I’m not so sure about that.”
“It might be easier than you think. I haven’t seen Kitty in days. I’m told that when Bart went to find him for me Kitty forced him away.They think he’s busy making little kitties.”
“We’ve stopped removing the shralers from the outer edges of the palace grounds when they happen to wander in through the barriers since we met and fell in love with Kitty,” Eula said.
“You don’t want to bring a shraler home,” Quin said.
“I might. It could be the perfect gift for my Ginger,” Kron said.
“And if we do have kitties, you could take one for Ada Jane,” Vivian said to Kol.
“Oh, no. No, we have enough trouble keeping Billy and Bob from taking the ship down.”
“How is Ada Jane?” Vivian asked. “I know she was struggling a bit with leaving her home behind.”
“Zhuxi is taking care of it and maintaining it for us, until we can find someone who wishes to live there and will keep it as she would have. She’s come to see that boys need to be surrounded by males who understand them. We are considering our next step with them in mind, but it will be among the Cruestaci one way or another.”
Quin was listening closely as Kol spoke to Vivian. “I may have ideas to add to those you’ve already got for consideration.”
Kol looked up at Quin and nodded. “I am anxious to hear them.”
Quin smiled at his friend, very happy to have him nearby.
“How is Ba Re’?” Jhan asked, almost hesitantly.
“He’ll be glad to see you,” Vivian said.
“Do you think so?” Jhan asked.
“He seems a little less stressed, more at peace with who he is and finding his place in things.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Jhan said.
“You should pay him a visit before we get started,” Quin said.
“I will,” Jhan answered.
“Good. Allow me to express how very thankful and very glad we are that each of you are here.”
“Oh, it’s not just us, Quin. We’ve brought Elite team two with us. We’ve got enough males to assign a heavy security detail to your family, and enough to break into teams to search for however many people you think escaped, and enough to conduct evaluations of the warriors suspected of being involved, and then have some left over to rotate in and out on shifts. Tell us where you want us,” Kol said, from his spot kneeling on the floor in front of Sovereigna Eula and trading growls with Alexandrus.
“My thoughts are this,” Quin said, “We have more than enough warriors on site and I’m sure would wonder why I called in my own people from Command Warship 1, when I could have simply moved males around down here to create teams for what I wanted. The problem is, as I told Lo’San, I find myself wanting to kill them all and start fresh because though I trust some, I am not familiar with enough of them to blindly trust them with my family. My father appointed those who work in the palace, and that’s fine. But obviously there is some dissatisfaction with the exchange of power from our Sovereign to me, and even with the alliances we’ve formed with other planets through the Unified Consortium Defense. He warned me almost immediately upon arrival that there had been some intelligence feeding back to him regarding just that. He thought it would blow over as did I, but it’s obviously more of a threat than we anticipated. So, I believe that if we mix within the palace guard, it shouldn’t take long before it will be relatively clear who is working with us, and who is not.”
“If I may, Sire, I feel Sirena Vivian and Alexandrus would be best served with her own guard in place.”
“I agree. We do have Yaghn and Var don, who were originally the Sovereigna’s guard, but have sworn allegiance to my Ehlealah. They can help. We’ve also got Ban Lo, who is the male that admitted you. He is the head of my father’s guard and over all palace security. Ba Re’ is working with Ban Lo on rotation. We’ll give Kail, Rel, and Asl the choice to return to her side, or to continue the search. At the moment they are out for blood and with the Sovereigna’s guard and mine combined here at home with Ba Re’ and Ban Lo, it only made sense that they should be out there among the palace guard searching for those who attacked. Meanwhile, they may learn something of who is loyal and who is questionable while they’re at it, just as we will here as Elite Team Two integrates with the palace warriors.”
“It sounds effective,” Kol said.
“Is there any change in Zahn’s status?” Vor asked, trying to be sure that he knew all the answers before he jumped in.
“He is still unconscious, but out of the healing chamber. The doctors assure us that with rest and patience, he will recover but it will take time,” Quin said.
“Let’s get started,” Jhan said. “I’m anxious to relax and have a bit of fun.”
“Fun?” Eula asked.
“Yes. Identifying traitors. Hunting them down, gutting them. Things like that.”
“Dear, Gods,” Eula said. “And you were such a sweet little male.”
Jhan laughed. “That was a long time ago, Mumum.”