Chapter 21
Myrum
Before now, Myrum wouldn’t have thought he’d be grateful for a talkative person. He’d worked with individuals who liked to converse about anything and everything and had always found them mildly annoying.
Lorse’s ability to talk without taking a break was covering for Myrum’s floundering brain.
After offering to become female for Myrum, Lorse didn’t wait for an answer. He talked about how he could hire all male staff and that would guarantee a sisort to female.
Myrum only half listened while Lorse listed the staff he could hire and that he could invite some of his currently male cousins to visit.
Even though he should be steering the conversation back to Lorse’s parent, Jishorn, something about Lorse’s touch had stirred vague memories.
“Did you feed me?”
He didn’t expect that question to come out of his mouth until he heard the words. Lorse paused and made a yes sound.
“You were so weak that I rested your back against my front and slowly dripped broth into your mouth. I was so excited when you were able to drink directly from the bowl.”
As he spoke, Lorse placed a hand on Myrum’s wrist. He gave a slight squeeze then drew back. Using both hands, he offered a plate of food.
“You look so healthy and vital now, but when I was first caring for you, you couldn’t even open your eyes.
It was as if you were an infant that needed constant care.
I had you put in my room so I could be there at all times.
I was so angry at your empire for taking you away from me, but now you’re here. The multiverse brought you back to me.”
As he spoke, Myrum’s unease grew. He wasn’t trained in diplomacy. He didn’t know how to respond to Lorse without either affirming that they had a growing relationship or upsetting him by denying it.
He didn’t realize he was spiraling until Lorse was forced to repeat his name several times.
“Myrum, are you well? Is the food not to your liking? Please, Myrum, speak to me,” Lorse said, touching his wrist again.
“I, uh, I think I need to rest,” Myrum said, standing up so abruptly his chair danced backward. The walls of the room were starting to close in on him. He needed Amina. The urge to rub his bonding oil on her was nearly overwhelming. He needed to fill his nose with their combined scents.
“Sir?”
He looked down to see Amina standing at his side. He reached for her, but she quickly ducked away from his attempt to pick her up. Instead she pressed herself against his side and drew his arm over her shoulder.
“Are you having one of your sudden headaches, sir? Let me help you to your bed,” she said.
“Headache? Oh, my poor Myrum,” Lorse said, his voice tight with worry. “I’ll have the medic sent to your room right away. You there, help him right now!”
Gis appeared at his other side and took hold of his free arm. Myrum let them guide him out of the room, trying to get himself back in the present as they walked.
Clinking medals.
Hands petting his head and chest.
Fingers forcing his mouth open.
Helpless. He remembered feeling helpless.
“Are you truly ill?” Gis whispered after they were in the hall.
“I can’t do this,” Myrum whispered back. Having Amina close to him was helping, but the panic was still there—looming and waiting to debilitate him as more memories surfaced.
“Shhh,” Amina hissed. “Don’t talk yet.”
Lorse trailed behind them as they made their way to the suite. He stayed close as Amina and Gis made a show of tucking him into the elaborate bed and drawing the curtains. Lorse spoke before they could pull the last curtain shut.
“Leave,” he ordered the two. Gis rushed from the room, but Amina hesitated.
“I told you to leave!” Lorse barked.
Myrum was about to reprimand Lorse for talking to Amina that way, but she sent him a quelling look. Right, they had parts to play, even if he was about ready to fill the outpost with his panicked rattle and roars.
“I most humbly beg sir to let me stay and prepare my master’s medication,” Amina said, keeping her hands tucked in her sleeves and her eyes on the floor. “It’s in three parts, and it’s the only thing that relieves his pain.”
“Then get to it,” Lorse snapped as he leaned over the bed. Myrum didn’t mean to flinch when the Ossiso reached for his face, but he hadn’t been expecting it.
“Oh, you must be in so much pain,” Lorse said, drawing back. “I’ll have some Ossiso yelish tea prepared for you. It’s good for soothing head pain. Rest, Myrum. We have plenty of time to spend together after you’re feeling better.”
Lorse turned away from the bed. “Human, come here.”
Myrum couldn’t see what Amina was doing, but he heard some rustling of clothing as she moved.
“Sir?”
“Care for him as if your life depends on it,” Lorse said. “When the medic gets here, stay out of her way but make sure she knows everything she needs to know to properly care for him. You will not sleep, eat, or rest until he is no longer in pain. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir,” Amina said in a voice so meek it was good Myrum’s chestbox felt frozen or he would’ve let out an amused rumble. “My master is my sole purpose in this universe.”
Lorse grunted. “That’s true. Maybe I’ll let you remain after all.”
With that, he swept out of the room.
The moment they heard the door shut in the main room, Myrum sat up and Amina rushed to his side. He grabbed her and tucked her tightly against his chest, uncaring that he’d managed to dislodge some of the curtains again.
She relaxed into his hold. “Myrum?”
“I’m fine,” he said, rocking while holding her.
“That’s a lie,” she murmured.
“I’m almost fine,” Myrum answered with an amused rumble. He heard the outside door open again.
“Lorse,” Amina hissed and tried to pull away. His sluggish brain refused to let go, but they got lucky. It was Gis.
“What’s going on?” Gis asked. “Does Myrum really have a headache?”
“No, but it was a good excuse,” Myrum said before Amina could answer him. “My brain didn’t survive my accident entirely intact. Sometimes I have moments where it feels like the walls are closing in on me and I can’t breathe.”
“You’re thrown back into the time you were trapped,” Gis said with real sympathy in his voice. “I’ve been speaking with the staff; they told me about your time here.”
Amina wiggled around in his grip to face Gis. “What did you find out?”
“Myrum’s escape tube floated close to one of the outpost’s sentinel satellites. Lorse sent a team to investigate, and they brought the entire tube back here without opening it. Lorse was there when they finally cracked the seal. They all thought Myrum was dead.”
“I thought I was too,” Myrum grunted.
“How did they realize he was still alive?” Amina asked. “Lorse doesn’t strike me as someone who double checks things like that.”
“Gilush is the medic here. She arrived just as Lorse was kneeling next to him to get his Ident. Myrum came to enough to say something and then went unconscious again. After that, Lorse cared for him as if he was a beloved child or spouse.”
“What did I say?” Myrum asked.
“No one knows,” Gis said.
“I’m surprised Lorse let Myrum leave,” Amina said.
“This was early in the Talin-Ossiso relationship. The Talin military was quick to send a transport ship to collect him. To show good faith, the Council of Souls sent several of our ships to accompany them. With so many high officials around, there was no way for Lorse to keep Myrum. Not unless he wanted to cause an interspecies incident.”
“That explains why he was so eager for Myrum to visit,” Amina said. “This would’ve been so much easier if Lorse was simply bored and looking for a guest to entertain him.”
“What do you think would happen if I simply told Lorse I wanted to leave?” Myrum asked.
“He’ll make you stay,” Gis said. “He’s a high-ranking official in the government, specifically in territorial protection.
After he finishes terraforming this planet and sells it, he’ll have more wealth than all his siblings combined.
No one here will help you escape, and you’ll have no ability to contact anyone else. ”
“Helmen would never leave without us,” Amina said confidently.
“Then she and her crew are dead,” Gis said. “I don’t know how he’d achieve it, but he’d destroy the ship and dispose of the wreckage. After that he can claim they left and he never heard from them again. Space is a big place, ships go missing all the time."
“Not that often,” Amina grumbled.
“In Ossiso territory they do,” Gis said.
“This is very bad,” Myrum said. “How long do you think it would take for Lorse to grow tired of me and let me leave?”
“I’m not sure,” Gis said. “Those I talked to said they’d never seen him obsessed like this.”
Guilt made Myrum want to sound a long, mournful rumble. “There’s only one solution,” he said, closing his eyes. “You and Amina need to leave without me. I’ll stay and hope Lorse grows bored with me eventually and lets me leave.”
He didn’t bother to tell them he might have already scent-bonded to Amina. He wouldn't be alive for long after she left, but at least his sacrifice would save her.
He was sure Lorse would catch them eventually, and he’d do something horrible to Amina. Perhaps even sell or gift her to another Talin. He couldn’t risk that happening to her.
To his shock, Amina laughed. Opening his eyes, he found her looking at him with affection. “Like that’s going to happen! We’re in this together. Besides, we’re getting married, remember?”
A surprised rattle came out of him. “I thought that was all pretend.”
“Yes, but I’m not ready to give up on my pretend future husband yet,” she said with a grin.
A chime sounded, making all of them jump.
“That’s the medic,” Gis said, rushing out of the bedroom. Amina scrambled out of his arms, but he managed to rub a little extra oil on her as she moved.
He laid back down, and Amina moved to stand a respectful distance away.
“Pretend to be drugged and sleepy,” she reminded him.
He grunted and closed his eyes as Lorse and the medic came into the room. He played his part by only mumbling if they tried to rouse him. The medic took a scan, which came out as inconclusive because they didn’t have the right program for Talin physiology.
“That’s unacceptable,” Lorse reprimanded. “Send for the correct programs using the comms, now. You’d better pray nothing is truly wrong with my Myrum or I’ll send you to work on the white planet.”
The medic rushed out and several more attendants walked in carrying parts of a bed. Without a word, they started assembling it.
“Don’t worry, Myrum,” Lorse murmured. “I’ll sleep in here tonight so I’ll be here to care for you until you feel better.”
Their ploy seemed to have backfired, and now no one was going to have a comfortable night’s sleep.