Chapter 16 Kian
KIAN
"All guests are safely aboard. We're heading toward Safe Harbor." Yamanu's voice came through the speakers of the war room, and Kian felt the tension in his chest loosen.
"Thank the merciful Fates." Wonder hugged his mother. "It's over."
It wasn't over yet, but it was certainly time for celebration.
"How is Navuh holding up?" Kian asked, not sure about the answer he wanted to hear. The male was their mortal enemy, but he was also Areana's mate, and she had pleaded for asylum for him.
"Still critical." Yamanu sounded tired. "Julian is doing what he can for him, but he's limited to the equipment he has in the medical bay.
It's mostly up to Navuh's body to repair the damage.
In the meantime, Julian is keeping him sedated, which is good for Navuh's healing and for the safety of everyone around him.
" Yamanu chuckled. "I can't help but feel like we've brought a live grenade on board the sub, and it is about to explode at any moment.
I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of suicidal empathy. "
"I'm not a fan either," Kian said. "And I know what you mean about Navuh. But my mother made a promise to her sister that we would do everything we could to save him and then grant him asylum."
"What?"
"Imprisoned, of course. I'm not about to allow Navuh into the village. He can rot in a cell in the dungeon."
Yamanu's released breath was audible. "I would prefer a sarcophagus in the crypt as his accommodations, but a retrofitted cell would do.
If he survives, that is. Julian has very little to work with here, and I bet that the medical facilities in Safe Harbor are not much better.
I don't think they even have a physician aside from those working on the exoskeletons, and I doubt any of them have taken care of patients in years. "
Kian exchanged a look with Onegus. That was an oversight that needed immediate attention. They were training humans on the island, and humans needed medical care, from simple maladies to emergency surgeries.
The nonverbal exchange was acknowledged by Onegus's slight nod, and then he was typing on his laptop.
"The Safe Harbor medical bay has the basics," Onegus said. "But that's not what Navuh needs."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Kian said, though privately he agreed with Yamanu.
It would be better for everyone if Navuh didn't survive the journey. A dead enemy was a non-issue. A living enemy who happened to be family was a very big issue.
"Has Safe Harbor surveillance picked up any activity on the island?" Yamanu asked.
Kian glanced at the bank of monitors displaying satellite feeds. "Nothing so far. It's dawn there now, though. They'll discover their leader is missing soon enough."
"And then all hell breaks loose," Yamanu said with grim satisfaction. "Though I have to credit my thrall for keeping everyone in the harem from having the urge to investigate anything. And my lucky socks, of course."
Kian shook his head.
Everyone knew about Yamanu's lucky socks because he credited them with every successful mission.
"I'm dying to take them off," Yamanu continued.
"They're soaking wet, and my feet are pruning, but I'm not risking it until we're clear of danger.
They'll come off when we reach Safe Harbor, go through a proper wash and dry cycle, and then go right back on my feet until everyone's safely in the village. "
Onegus snorted. "You're joking."
"I never joke about my lucky socks," Yamanu said with complete seriousness. "These babies have seen me through countless operations without a single casualty."
Kian caught Wonder's eye roll, but no one said anything. Superstition was harmless enough, and if it gave Yamanu a measure of confidence and comfort before missions, there was no harm in that.
"Can I talk to Tula?" Wonder asked.
"Not yet," Yamanu said. "She needs time to catch her breath and rest after this grueling journey. The poor girl is exhausted."
Kian stopped himself from reminding Yamanu that Tula was much older than him and that calling her a girl was not appropriate. But everyone thought of her as Wonder's little sister, and everyone also thought of Wonder as being twenty-one. It was confusing.
Disappointment flickered across Wonder's face, but she nodded. "Can you please tell her to call me as soon as she's up to it?"
"I will," Yamanu promised. "Right now, she's changing out of the wet clothes and taking a submarine shower, and then she will probably collapse on one of the cots. My bet is that she will sleep all the way to Safe Harbor, which is exactly what the doctor ordered."
Once the call ended, Kian turned to Onegus.
"The cell apartment in the keep is not safe enough to contain Navuh.
It needs additional security measures. I'm thinking a double-door entry system with room between them, kind of like the decompression chamber on the submarine.
That way, Areana can come and go without us having to restrain Navuh each time. "
Onegus nodded. "I'll get William and his genius team working on it. The clinic will need extra security measures as well. For the entry, I'm thinking of something similar to what you described for the apartment cell, and also a reinforced door for the patient room he will be staying in.
"The cell apartment is already small," Annani said. "A double-door system will make it even smaller."
Kian lifted a brow. "And the problem is?"
"It is too small for Navuh and Areana to share long-term. It will do for now, but I want something better for my sister. Something that is not underground." Her eyes held that particular gleam that meant she'd made up her mind. "Areana has lived underground long enough."
Kian felt his jaw tighten. "So, what are you suggesting? That we allow that monster in the village, give him a house with a view and hope for the best?"
"I am not suggesting that we give him free run of the village," Annani said with an exaggerated feigned patience. "I am suggesting that we find a solution that allows my sister dignity while maintaining security."
"There is no such solution."
"Of course there is. There is always a solution." Annani rose from her chair with her usual fluidity, every inch the goddess she was. "We just have not thought it through yet."
Kian pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache building behind his eyes.
"Mother, be reasonable. Navuh is a dangerous monster.
He hates you with a rabid passion. He's responsible for countless deaths, mostly human but also some of ours, for centuries of suffering. We can't bring him into the village."
"I want to give my sister something better than a cell," Annani said. "She is not the enemy. She is family."
"But she is mated to the enemy," Onegus pointed out. "True mates can't be separated. Where she goes, he goes."
"Exactly." Annani smiled as if Onegus had made her point for her. "Which is why we need to find a solution that works for everyone."
Kian stood, needing to do something with the frustrated energy building inside of him, and started pacing.
"You're asking the impossible, Mother. There's no way to secure Navuh adequately in the village without turning wherever they stay into a prison. And a prison is a prison, whether it's underground or has windows."
"It can be, in essence, but not feel like a prison to Areana. Just to Navuh." Annani smiled, looking at him with those ancient eyes that had seen empires rise and fall. "We need to think outside the box."
"We need to be practical," Kian countered. "The dungeon in the keep was designed for exactly this purpose. It's secure, monitored, and escape-proof. The apartment is nicely appointed, and it has served other couples well."
"Our clan is full of brilliant people, my dear son," Annani said, and there was steel beneath the silk of her voice now. "People who have solved impossible problems before. If we put our heads together, we will find a solution."
"Mother—"
"Kian." She stepped closer, and despite being significantly shorter, she somehow managed to look down at him.
It was a goddess thing, or perhaps a mother thing, the ability to loom regardless of physical stature.
"I am here today because of Areana's sacrifice.
Which means that you and Onegus and most residents of the village would not be here today if my sister had not volunteered to take my place as Mortdh's bride.
I owe her, and by extension, my clan owes her better than a tiny cell in an underground dungeon.
You can say whatever you want about Navuh, but he has kept her in luxury.
I hope she does not expect the same from me, but I intend to fulfill her every wish and desire.
Except one." Annani lifted a finger. "To let Navuh be free.
That is the one wish I cannot grant her.
Other than that, she can have whatever she wants. "
Kian closed his eyes for a moment, beseeching the Fates for patience. "What are you actually asking for? You sound like you have something specific in mind."
"One of the houses in the village," she said immediately, confirming his suspicion. "It can be a remote one. We can retrofit it with whatever security measures are necessary for Navuh, but we make it a home, not a cell."
"That won't be the luxury Areana is accustomed to in the harem, and it will require reinforced walls, unbreakable windows, specialty, extensive surveillance systems that will allow them no privacy, and around-the-clock guards."
"It is all doable," Annani said. "Expensive, time-consuming, but doable."
Onegus shook his head. "People are not going to like this. I know it is your prerogative to ask for whatever you want, Clan Mother, but usually issues like this need to be voted on by the council, and in this case, I believe it should be brought before the big assembly."
Annani surprised Kian by nodding. "We can do this. In fact, we should. I am sure my people would not deny me the wish to be near my sister. Not if we provide them with assurances that Navuh can be properly contained."
She was likely right. Her people would deny her nothing if she asked for it explicitly. Not because they feared her but because they loved her.
"We don't even know if he'll survive," he said.
"All the more reason to prepare properly," Annani countered. "If he dies, Areana will need comfort and support. If he lives but is diminished, she will need help caring for him. If he recovers fully, we will need maximum security. We prepare for all possibilities."
Wonder had been quiet during the exchange, but now she spoke up. "There's another consideration." Everyone turned to look at her. "The others rescued. The harem ladies, Tony and Elias. Where do we house them?"
"We will bring them to the village," Annani said without hesitation. "That is where they belong. The ladies are immortal, and the men have been exposed to them for too long to thrall them to forget that immortals exist. They will need to stay here with us."
"I just remembered something." Kian rubbed his temples. "Tony is Kaia's friend. He's a bioinformatician. Kaia might make use of him in her research."
"He will want to see his family," Onegus pointed out.
"We can arrange for that." Kian sat back down.
"Compulsion to keep him from revealing immortal secrets and a good story about some drug lord who kidnapped him to be a slave in his drug laboratory or something of the sort.
Then he comes back here and calls his parents once in a while, supervised, of course.
The question is what do we know about the other guy, Elias. "
"Nothing much," Wonder said. "Only that he's Tamira's guy and that he and Tamira came up with a plan of escape and invited Tula and Tony to join them when Tula revealed that she was pregnant. That makes him a good guy in my book."
"This is getting complicated," Turner muttered.
"It was always going to be complicated," Annani said. "We are integrating into our community a goddess and seven immortal ladies who have lived in seclusion for thousands of years. They will need a lot of help adjusting to modern life."
"That's eleven newcomers, including Navuh," Kian said.
"Navuh doesn't count as integration." Onegus crossed his arms over his chest. "He's a containment."
"He is family," Annani countered, and there was warning in her voice. "By marriage, by mate bond, but he is still family. He is also Kalugal and Lokan's father. Let us not forget that. We may not like it, we may need to take precautions, but we will learn to live with him."
Kian suddenly brightened. "I know what we will do. Navuh is Kalugal's father, and Areana is his mother. I'm sure he will want his mother to live right next to him. I'll task him with building a prison house for his father."
Annani smiled. "You see? You are already thinking creatively."
She walked toward the door but paused before leaving. "When you have the time, schedule a council meeting and the big assembly. I will present the case to our people."