Chapter 39 #2
Karmen snagged my hand before I could move back to my chair, her eyes huge and shimmering with tears.
I dropped down to my knees before her, holding her hand, but saying nothing.
Letting her share everything she wished to get out.
From waking up without any memory in Chicago to meeting Eivind and then his sister.
Her terror when the sundogs hunted her down—only to reveal her Blood responding. Coming to her defense against Sepdet.
“I couldn’t keep it,” she whispered, searching my face, her fingers clutching mine tightly. “Sepdet tore his way out of his mother’s body and devoured her. I refused to risk it. I want no part of Ra to linger inside me. Ever again.”
I held her gaze without flinching and squeezed her fingers, willing reassurance to shine in my eyes, even as I cried with her. “What he did to you was an abomination. I’m glad you’re free.”
Her teeth chattered. “But am I? High Lord Amun said his Sun still burns in me. I embraced Sól’s power and felt Her burn everything away, but now I’m not sure. I’m bleeding so much. I just don’t know, and I have to be sure.”
I patted our clasped hands softly. “Of course, I completely understand. Dr. Borcht can run some tests and give you an answer. She may even have human medication that can help. I’ve trusted her with my care in the past.”
“Okay,” Karmen breathed out.
:We’re ready for Mala,: I said in the bond.
Immediately, my Blood opened the door and Dr. Borcht stepped into the room with her black bag. I moved slightly to the side so the doctor had plenty of room to examine Karmen.
“Your Majesty, I’m Dr. Mala Borcht,” she said with a formal curtsy.
“Before we get started, I feel you should know I have viewed some of your medical information already. Dr. Mason from Northwestern Memorial Hospital sent your blood work to my lab for additional testing.” She sighed heavily, giving me a quick look of remorse.
“I admit I would have told my queen about your medical history, but she refused to listen. She said it was your secret to tell, if you wished.”
Karmen’s gaze flickered quickly between Mala and mine, her eyes tightening slightly with accusation for a moment, fading to doubt, and then actual surprise. “And Smoak didn’t tell you?”
“I forbade it. I admit that I suspected, but it was your news to share in your own time.”
“I see you’ve lost a great deal of blood,” Dr. Borcht said. “May I examine you, Your Majesty?”
“What will that entail?”
“First, only some questions while I draw some blood with a syringe to take to the lab for testing.”
When Karmen nodded, Dr. Borcht asked, “When did the bleeding begin?”
“Maybe a day or two ago? I slept through the worst of it, but it’s definitely gotten heavier in the last few hours.”
“Do you know how many weeks or months you’ve been pregnant?”
“Honestly, not very long, though it’s hard to measure the passage of time when I’m not here. Sunzi got me out of Heliopolis immediately.”
Dr. Borcht looked up from her notepad where she’d been writing quickly. “As in the moment of conception immediately?”
“I believe so,” her alpha replied. “My sunfire was drawn to touch her in that moment, and we saw the initial spark.”
“Incredible.” She scribbled frantically. “So when Dr. Mason ran your bloodwork in Chicago, it might have only been hours, yet there were already increased levels of hCG. It usually takes at least ten days for us to be able to notice a measurable difference in humans.”
“Is that bad?”
“Not at all, just different.” A wry smile curved Mala’s lips.
“Please forgive my enthusiasm during this difficult time, Your Majesty. I’ve not had the first-hand chance to study hCG levels in Aima queens.
In fact, no one has since it’s been so difficult for queens to conceive for the last few hundred years. ”
Karmen’s shoulders tensed, her features smoothing back to the cold, untouched expressionless marble. Though I knew her better enough now to recognize it as self-preservation. No doubt she feared we’d attack her for eliminating a possible future queen.
I didn’t care how rare and precious Aima queens might be. I’d never condone any woman being forced to use her body in such a way, whether queen or not.
Mala pulled out a syringe and took several vials of blood from Karmen’s arm.
“If you were human, I’d be concerned about continued hemorrhaging after a miscarriage, but for an Aima queen, your special gifts are centered in blood.
I believe your body is doing exactly what it needs to do in order to purge itself of any incomplete particles that might be lingering in your uterus.
I’m going to give you some oral medication to take in a few days if the bleeding doesn’t stop on its own, and I’d like to take another sample of blood in a week to make sure your hCG levels are returning to normal.
Will that be acceptable with you, Your Majesty? ”
Karmen’s body didn’t betray her relief, but her voice quivered ever so slightly. “That’s it?”
“Honestly, yes, I believe so. Like humans, Aima gestate for approximately forty weeks, so it’s still very early.
Though if you’re still concerned in a few days, I can arrange some private time in my lab with a sensitive ultrasound machine.
We can examine every inch of you from the inside out.
I don’t think that’s necessary, though. Your body is taking care of itself as we speak.
Feed well and deeply. Rest as much as you can in a safe location.
If the bleeding continues after three days, take this medication and have your consiliarius update me. ”
She handed the Sunna consiliarius a card. “We can meet back here if that’s convenient, or I can come to you. With Queen Shara’s assistance, I can fly anywhere in the world in a matter of hours if your condition worsens.”
The woman on Karmen’s right dabbed at her damp cheeks with a handkerchief. “We’ll take very good care of you, Your Majesty. The staff is eager to welcome you home, and nothing will be able to reach you through the Sunna blood circle.”
“These are happy tears, not sad.” Karmen’s voice cracked and the tears flowed faster. “Tears of relief. I was terrified there might be some chance that Ra’s spawn had somehow burrowed itself deeper in me and that’s why I was bleeding so much.”
“Not at all,” Mala replied. “In my experience, if an Aima queen is bleeding, her body is doing the fighting it needs to do to protect itself. If you weren’t bleeding, I’d be more inclined to believe there was a slight chance the embryo was still implanted. Is there anything else I can assist with?”
Standing, I released Karmen’s hand. “Thank you, Dr. Borcht.”
“It’s a pleasure to be of assistance, Your Majesties. I’ll show myself out.”
“If you’re up to it, could you tell me about the Heliopolis attack?” I asked.
“A shining window-like hole opened up, cutting through the table. My Blood were frozen, unable to move or even speak, and I could only barely feel their bonds in my head.”
I nodded grimly. “That’s exactly how they attacked us in Kansas City. Only Soldiers of Light hopped through and tried to drag me back through the mirror.”
“They wanted me to come through, but they couldn’t reach out through the portal to me.”
“A limitation because they lost Ra’s power?”
Her alpha shook his head. “I believe it’s because the Keys of Heaven are with me, Your Majesty.
They were limited to working only with Greatest of Seer’s magic rather than sunfires, and none of the remaining Soldiers of Light carry sunfires either.
They wouldn’t be able to function long outside of Heliopolis, especially against us. ”
“What are the Keys of Heaven?”
“My sunfire can open any portal to any location as long as we have some visual or physical aid to make the connection. In Heliopolis, those were usually obelisks, but if we see a picture of a location, especially with a map, I can open the way there.”
“I can do a similar thing with water and trees, but yeah. I need to be able to visualize where I’m going.” Which only made me wonder if I’d experienced these Keys of Heaven firsthand. I stared at him for a moment, trying to imagine his Soldier of Light form beneath his human-looking body.
Straight black hair hung about his shoulders, some pulled up on top of his head in a simple knot.
His features carried weight and age with lines crinkling the corners of his eyes and bracketing his mouth.
A man used to command, likely a former general.
One skeleton looked very much like another, and the attack had happened so quickly, I hadn’t noticed any particular weapons or insignia that might help me identify them.
“Were you the one who opened the portal into my bedroom in Kansas City?”
“No, Your Majesty. Believe me or not as you wish, but my sunfire was very particular about when and how the Keys worked. We mostly used them to pass through areas of Heliopolis that were off limits even to other denizens.”
Only forbidden areas of Heliopolis? Or could he use these Keys of Heaven to enter my nest, for example?
If they’d been staying in a place where time didn’t flow the same as here, they might be able to access other realms entirely.
Even the ability to travel without worrying about passing through a tree or body of water would be highly convenient.
Karmen’s hair bristled like burning flames of light, reminding me that this man was her Blood to command. Not mine.
Rik didn’t touch me but his bond weighed heavier, a giant stone slab of unmovable strength and determination. If I wanted this Blood…
:No,: I said immediately. :I don’t. I’m not even sure that I could make Karmen my sibling even if I wanted to.:
The Sunna alpha gently smoothed his queen’s hair with long, soothing strokes of his palms. “What color was the portal of which you speak, Your Majesty? That will tell you whether it was sunfires or priest magic. You saw what the Keys of Heaven generate outside your nest.”
It felt like a hundred years ago, but I remembered exactly what the portal had looked like in my bedroom.
A window in the front, but from the side it looked like a silver, bubbled mirror.
The portal Sunna had used to come to us had been all golden sunfires.
“You’re right, of course. My apologies for doubting you, sir. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Sun Tzu Sunna.”
The name meant nothing to me but awe whispered through Xin’s bond. :He’s a famous Chinese military strategist who wrote The Art of War about a thousand years before Wu Tien established her dynasty.:
Whoa. Which made him several thousand years old.
Mehen huffed a plume of smoke through our bonds. :Which makes him almost as old and crusty as the general.:
:Not even close, motherfucker.: Unbothered, Sekh only laughed. :I was ancient when Sun Tzu was still a gleam in his mother’s eye.: