Chapter 55
Atem
His Peony was back, and the part of him that had been screaming in fear and agony finally released its hold on his heart as he sat with her in the back of Tuvo’s hover. Temnavi was sleeping across from him on the seat as Tuvo flew them back to Calvitorum.
Peony, his sweet life giver, was resting on his lap. Her head on his shoulder. Her nose in the crook of his neck so she could breathe deeply of his scent. His arms were tight around her, and he wondered if he could ever bring himself to let her go again.
He had only seen in her in the light of the hover for a brief moment before it dimmed while Tuvo flew off.
The sight made his gut roil with rage. He wanted to kill his enemies again.
He wanted to see their bodies burn and scatter their ashes to be lost by their ancestors and forgotten by their descendants himself.
Peony's hair was mussed and, when he went to pet it down, she flinched from the tenderness in her scalp.
Her thin, delicate skin was a harsh red, especially on her legs, where the sand had cut into her so roughly.
Her hands were stained with the darkened, blue blood of the ratchi she had stabbed, the same as Temnavi's face, while her wrists and sides were stained with her own red blood, now dried to be nearly as dark as his own.
His Vora Vakara once again displayed her ferocity.
She was dozing lightly now. She barely moved when he lowered his hand over her belly. Over their pup.
His hand remained there, the other clutching her close, through the rest of the journey.
Peony only roused once they were approaching the healing center.
Even then, she only came around long enough to adjust herself as he lifted her in his arms. He lowered himself slightly, allowing Temnavi to climb onto his back.
Though he was a bit old to be carried that way, the youngling allowed it this night.
Atem carried his family off the hover and inside the center.
And finally, after an impossibly long day, he was at peace.
Since Peony was sleeping so sweetly, Donivi scanned Temnavi first. The young boy had done some damage to his prime claw – the first claw to emerge on a youth – from using it before it had fully hardened.
It required some fixing. But Donivi told him that he should expect the other nine to emerge anytime in the next turn of the greater moon, exciting his son.
Atem told him how proud he was. Not just for his prime claw emerging, but for how ferociously he had used it.
In the times before modern medical technology, abusing a newly emerged claw before it hardened could result in permanent deformation of the way that claw grew, or the inability of it to grow at all if the damage was bad enough.
Such a thing wasn't a worry these days. It still would have hurt while Temnavi used the soft claw though, yet he had fought valiantly regardless.
When his boy was off the bed, Atem laid Peony down. She finally stirred, frowning when he stepped away from her.
“I'm here, vi Seerin,” he promised, backing just far enough away that the medical ring could begin its scan. “I'm not going anywhere.”
He was worried that her phobia would begin flaring, but it did not.
She put one hand over her belly and kept her eyes on him as Donivi ran the ring slowly down her body.
Temnavi was looking over the console at the information, asking First Healer a multitude of questions that the elder answered with incredible patience.
Atem kept his gaze on Peony until the ring reached her belly. Only then did he wrench them away to look at the holo of her body that was displayed above the console.
The pink tissue of her womb was throbbing with her heartbeat. The tiny, red light of his pup, highlighted near the apex, made his heart skip a beat.
He didn't think. His feet seemed to move without his permission as he approached the holo, entranced by the rapid fluttering that was the pup's heartbeat. Three beats. Like his own.
Donivi smiled at him indulgently, making the holo bigger for him.
“Scarlet says that the size of the embryo is so small, vi Adassani wouldn't be more than a tenday, maybe two, along if it were fully human.
But by our measurements, she likely was impregnated the first time you were together.
Until I see how fast the pup grows, I can't be certain who is correct. It even might be somewhere between the two.”
Atem couldn't pull his eyes away from the hologram.
From their pup. Displayed beside the organ, though he was looking at the words from behind, he could see how the DNA had already been read and half of it came directly from him.
His and Peony's DNA profiles were expanding beside the pup's – matching what parts of the genome came from who.
“Is it... is it female or male?” Atem asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Donivi smiled at him over the holo. “A male, vi Dominani.”
A single laugh of amazement escaped his mouth. He whipped around to beam at Peony who, herself, was smiling brightly as she covered her belly with both hands.
“A male,” he said, stepping closer to her. “Vi Peony, you're giving me another son. Temnavi! You shall have a brother!”
Temnavi roared his victory. “I'm going to teach him how to fight!”
Peony chuckled at the declaration as pride filled Atem's chest. He didn't get to have the honor of teaching a younger sibling combat, but Temnavi would. Thanks to his precious Peony.
He wanted to go out and yell the news to his people immediately.
But Peony came first. Their pup was healthy, safely protected by her womb – which, according to Donivi, was stronger than a domini female's.
Her body might have been tossed around and she might have been denied even water, but their pup remained strong and firmly in place.
Peony, by contrast, had suffered as her body surrendered its own nutrition to keep him healthy.
Her blood had thinned from a lack of iron, sugar, and fats. All of which Donivi had to replace using a bloodless injector. He ordered a cup of warm blood and watched her scan as she drank it to make sure that it wasn't toxic to her since their pup needed the mineral.
And, amazingly, her body had completely adapted to the new nutritional requirement. Most of the iron was successfully absorbed and while some was diverted for her own needs, the majority of it was delivered directly to their pup.
As she drank the blood and the rest of her metabolites and nutritional needs were balanced back to normal levels, Donivi was healing the abrasions to her skin, the bruising to her scalp, the lacerations to her wrists and sides, and the small bruises and scratches scattered all over that her fighting had earned.
Beautiful battle wounds.
She was going to be telling her story the moment the sun rose, and it was traditional to tell your story still wearing your wounds, but Atem refused to allow that.
Though none of her injuries were life threatening, he wasn't going to have the mother of his pup injured and pained for any longer than necessary.
Not even simple skin abrasions and minor bruising.
Once she was re-hydrated, her blood nutrients replaced, her wounds healed, and their pup's health secured, Donivi cleared her to return home.
She tried to stand on her own, but Atem wouldn't allow it.
He lifted her back in his arms, had Temnavi climb onto his back, and carried his family out.
Peony was dozing again, her face in his neck as she took deep, steady breaths while Temnavi was eagerly chatting in his ear about how excited he was to be getting a sibling and everything he was going to teach him.
He wasn't even pretending to put distance between them.
It was like he had never refused to call Atem father in the first place.
Atem's sisters were safe in his palace. His best friend and brother was waiting to fly them back. His mate was in his arms, his pup safely in her belly, his son clinging to his back.
All was right in the world.