Chapter 33
Atem
Atem roared in fury as he slammed his fist down against the wooden table. It snapped and buckled under the force. He was tempted to do it again and again. Beating his rage out against the helpless furniture until he felt better.
But he knew it wouldn't work.
Peony was injured. Temnavi was injured. He had a dead ratchi in cold storage, a Third Guardian that only made him angrier with her apologies, and the helpless guilt of knowing that his sweet, delicate mate had been forced to mutilate her own body to protect herself.
She was from such a sensual, weak species.
But she had earned the name Vora Vakara all over again today.
Someone had recorded the altercation on their combot. Atem had forced himself to watch, feeling simultaneously sick and proud of both of them. Temnavi had behaved with true bravery and determination for one so young. And Peony?
He didn't know how her body could be beaten so badly, ripped into pieces, covered in her own, viciously bright blood, and still have the strength to leap onto a full grown ratchi and rip through his throat with only a triangular piece of broken clay.
The people were clamoring to hear her story.
Meanwhile, Peony kept trying to escape First Healer's care.
She hadn't been exaggerating when she said that she was afraid of healers. Though she desperately needed the care, the old phobia on top of the scare she had just experienced was too much.
It got so bad that Donivi had suggested sedating her, but that made Peony near apoplectic.
The idea of being unconscious and at their mercy was worse than being aware of what was happening.
Donivi immediately used the threat of sedation to get her to agree to being treated.
It worked, slightly. She allowed him to seal her broken skin.
She also allowed them to scan her head since that had been hit at least once, but she became too panicked to continue when the ring tried to go beyond her neck.
Since she hadn't been struck in the chest or belly, Atem agreed to let the scan to stop there. The moment the ring retreated, she began to calm. Since she was no longer bleeding and promised to tell him if she began feeling poorly, he allowed it.
For now, she was resting in his room. Temnavi was in his own room, all of his friends gathering to admire him. He had been healed with much less drama than Peony and he was luxuriating in the attention and envy of his peers.
Atem would reward him for his actions later. For the moment, he was focused on trying to find out where the ratchi came from. He didn't waste time wishing Peony had left him alive so he could question him. He was only glad she had survived.
The council chamber was a beautiful space that had multiple alcoves that all served different purposes around the central space that contained the small side table he had destroyed. It usually did nothing more than hold trays of food or drinks and was thus safe to shred.
Tuvo said nothing, standing back and watching him destroy things with a calmness that only angered Atem further. Even if he had to reluctantly admit that one of them needed to be calm for this.
The other Firsts were all busy, leaving Tuvo alone to watch over Atem.
Donivi was keeping watch over Peony since she refused to remain in the healing center.
Atem had First Healer follow her here instead.
First Guardian Havali was working with Torvii to try to figure out where the ratchi came from.
First Voice was contacting the ratchi home world, Hr'ssri.
The fact that Peony had been targeted twice by them made Atem angry.
He didn't know if the second time was because of her or him, but he wasn't going to tolerate any further insults from the ratchi people.
He knew, on the whole, they weren't a bad species, but young males raging with hormones going wild were more likely to do foolish things and the laws on Hr'ssri were quite different. He wasn't feeling very forgiving or understanding today.
“Atem, I think it's dead,” Tuvo said dully, interrupting his rage fit.
Growling over the pile of splinters, the tip of his tail moving in stiff, jerking motions, unable to retract his claws, Atem shook with the desire to kill something.
His Peony, his mate, his Seerin Siria, had been in danger, and he had been unable to help her. She had been forced to hurt herself protecting his son and he had been marks away by the fastest hover.
He had failed her. As her Dominani. As her lovir. As her domin.
“I want his body burned,” he snarled, pacing across the room. “He does not deserve the honor of burial. Scatter his ashes to be lost by his ancestors and forgotten by his descendants.”
“It will be done as soon as First Scholar has learned all he can from it.” Tuvo grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to be still. “I have this under control, Atem. Go be with your female. Take her outside. The people deserve to hear her story. She deserves to tell it.”
Atem knew he was right, but it was not the cathartic violence he needed.
“As soon as I see to making sure the planet is secured from any other ratchi ships, and have tracked any that might have come in the last few greater turns, I will work with Havali to secure Calvitorum. We'll close the city to any other offworlders until we know who we can trust.”
It wouldn't be hard. Calvitorum, on account of the trees, didn't have a bustling space port.
The bigger cities nearer to the sea and out in the desert possessed those.
A few aliens still managed to get this far, enough that they weren't fully remarkable, but not so many that it was common.
And with his people watching out for them, none would be able to go unseen again.
Still, Atem was frustrated.
“And afterwards, I'll meet you down on the training fields.” Tuvo smirked.
“We'll beat each other bloody then. All right?
But your female must be taken care of first. She is not a warrior, yet she performed a warrior's deed today. You need to make sure she is safe and she knows it. That must be your first priority now. Trust your Council, Atem.”
He growled, frustrated, even knowing Tuvo was right.
He hated to leave others to overseeing things like this.
He wanted to do it himself. Make sure it was done right.
What if Torvii overlooked something important?
What if Havali made a mistake in securing Calvitorum?
He trusted Tuvo, but he had a great many responsibilities already.
And to make it worse, he also worried that Donivi might make a mistake in looking after Peony. What if she began to panic again and he was forced to sedate her and she refused to forgive them? What if she woke from her nap and needed him and he was still here trying to oversee everything?
This had never happened before. Atem had always been burdened with a great deal of work, but it never bothered him. He took it on eagerly, grateful and proud to serve his people as Dominani. It was a right and privilege he had sacrificed and worked for his entire life to have.
But for the first time, there was something else trying to take his attention. His heart needed to go to Peony, but he had so many responsibilities he had to fulfill.
“Atem, go,” Tuvo urged pushing him towards the door. “Trust your Council, you absolute novi. If we need you, we'll com you immediately, but we won't because we can do this. Now, go.”
It hurt to relinquish that control, to trust that things would get done properly, but he pushed it aside as he instead grabbed onto the yearning to return to Peony.
That holovid just kept playing on his head.
It began as the ratchi was throwing the barrier gate, his hand already grabbing Peony, and ended only when the crowd had converged on her, but her eyes were closed, and she wasn't moving.
Every blow, every claw mark, every cry of pain she made struck him harder than the physical blows would have if he could have taken them for her.
And yet, for her cries of pain to turn into a battle shriek made him so unspeakably proud.
He couldn't imagine that such a delicate, sensual species was even capable of such a sound, and it was certainly terrifying.
If he was in the dark forest and heard such an eerie scream, it would have set his nerves on edge as he searched for the danger.
He would have been then shocked to discover that such a small and weak creature had made it.
And for that same creature to cling to a massive ratchi's back and slash his neck open? He was gobsmacked. And so proud. And so angry that it had to happen at all.
If he had any doubts about returning to Peony, they were immediately allayed when he walked inside and he saw her curled up in the center of his bed, arms wrapped around her legs, eyes wide, shaking as she whimpered pitifully.
“Oh, vi Seerin,” he purred, crawling into the bed, pulling her into his lap. Her ball didn't loosen, but she did lean her head against his chest.
“Sorry. It’s just the post-fight freak out. That's all. I'm okay.” She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than explain anything to him.
“You're doing wonderfully, vi Seerin,” he promised, kissing her temple. “You are not a warrior, not a domini. It's natural.”
“I'm okay. Just... hold me?”
“Always, vi Peony. Always.” He tightened his arms around her, his tail around her ankle.
He clutched her close and held her until the tension finally began to bleed away.
From both of them. Her fear faded and his concern over the others diminished in the light of seeing her this way.
He had made the right choice. He would deal with any potential mistakes from his Council later, if there even were any. Peony needed him more now.
And as her male, taking care of her during times like this was his responsibility and right as much as ruling his people. And if the Dominani couldn't properly care for his female, how could he expect his people to respect him?
It was the better part of a mark later when she finally relaxed completely, her legs thrown over his thigh, one hand playing in his chest, the other playing his tail where it sat on her lap.
He amused them both by flicking it out of her grasp, making her chase it.
It was the sort of game younglings played with their parents, but he suspected that the innocent distraction was exactly what she wanted.
“Peony?” He called to her softly, pushing her dark hair from her face.
“Hm?”
“The people are eager to hear your story. If you're ready to tell it now.”
To his surprise, she didn't smile eagerly. The ability to tell his entire planet her story was a privilege any domini would literally kill for. Peony, however, looked nervous.
“I have to go out on the balcony and talk to them like you did?” She breathed.
He examined her, confused. “Naturally. The people in the market were all involved. Especially those that aided you and Temnavi. They will want to hear it from your lips. What is wrong?”