Greetings all.
Finally have some time to relax after being ill and wrapping up a book. Learned a lot about WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War. Waiting for another survival book to start later in the week, so looking forward to that.
Hope the start of your week has been great! Here's the next chapter to Fell Dragon.
Pura was woken by the end of the week, much to his surprise because he remembered nothing of what had happened. He listened with growing concern as his family filled him in on what had happened.
“What of your son?” Was the first thing he asked of Viribus.
“Astec is fine. He has hidden on the planet. He communicates every couple of days.” said Viribus.
“What news from the planet?” Pura rubbed at his bruised eyes and grimaced.
“There was a movement to claim the palace due to the ‘death of the king’, that stopped quickly when news of your survival was reported. The Lizards were planning this for a while.” said his father gruffly. “I should have seen this coming. With your nephew the same age as the new princess, they must have seen our power move and wanted to nip it in the bud.”
“Technically Saita did not have her coronation She is not quite a Princess yet.” Chuckled Kiai as she sat on her brother’s bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Throbbing headache, and I am nauseous. Get me some water, please.”
Viribus handed him a glass, and Pura sipped at it considering his next move. He didn’t like being King, but he had been good at it. Once his stomach settled a little, he asked. “Did the whole family make it out alright?”
“Doran and you were the two worst injured.” said Furor. “There were a few broken bones. Karesh, the lucky bastard, got away with nothing more than a dislocated hip.”
“And the kids?”
The silence in the room immediately made Pura sit a little straighter, and he demanded. “Tell me!”
“The prince is fine, a sprained ankle at the worst.” Said Viribus. “The girl...she is not doing well.”
“She is in pain.” Said Kiai. “I heard her last surgery was this morning.”
“Stupid little thing should have stayed with Doran.” Hissed Viribus under his breath.
“Why brother, am I sensing guilt from you?” Asked Kiai slyly.
“Don’t you feel anything?” Demanded Viribus as his face grew hot with anger and embarrassment.
“Enough!” Said Furor. “Kiai, we are in a hospital, don’t tease your brother. You are not a child anymore.”
“Can I get some straight information?” Begged Pura as he prodded at his chest to gauge his own injuries.
“I couldn’t stop her from getting injured in the blast.” Admitted Viribus. “Her face was ripped to pieces, and she lost an eye.”
He then grinned. “She will look quite fearsome as she grows older. Astec will like her.”
Furor sighed and continued. “Looks like they were able to make a biomechanical replacement but with her genetics...”
“Father!” Warned Kiai.
“Shh!” Hissed Pura. “My head.”
“Didn’t they say the family should know!” Demanded Furor. “We all know.”
“Know what?”
“Saita is not normal.” Whispered Kiai.
“I’m going to need more than that to go on, dear sister.” Groaned Pura.
“Ah, you are awake.” Came a voice from the door.
Pura leaned forward to see his aunt and uncle in the doorway. They looked exhausted. Karesh was wearing what Pura could only assume was a hip brace and Myla a simple sling. Both had fading bruises on their faces.
“I asked the handmaidens to tell me when you woke.” Said Myla as she stepped into the room. “We are here to answer any questions you may have for us about Saita.”
Karesh grumpily hobbled into the room before pushing a chair closer to his wife. “Please sit still longer than five seconds.”
“I’m fine; you should lie down.”
“No one said anything about lying down.” Sighed Karesh. “You need to get some sleep.”
“I can’t sleep, too tired, too much…” She ran a hand through her hair. “Stuff in here.”
“Myla, are you alright?” Asked Pura.
“Just tired. I will sleep better once Saita wakes.”
“Kiai mentioned she was hurt.”
“We’re hoping she adapts, but we will see. No one could have foreseen this.”
“We should have expected it.” Said Furor. “What did you do with the Lizardling?”
“Saseric has left the planet without being harassed. It was proven that he had no part in the explosion.” Said Karesh, his voice laced in irritation. “I would have preferred to have kept him locked up but…”
“There was no reason to.” Said Pura. “So, he was here. Thought I imagined it.”
“All three children, who are sensitives.” Started Myla as she looked at Furor. “Must have been a handful.”
“They all still are.” Furor smiled lovingly at his brood but then shook his head. “But we are not here to talk about my youngsters.”
“No, no we are not.” Karesh slowly sank himself down in a chair, concentrating on his feet and knee position as he did. “You want to talk about Saita and what she is.”
“I almost didn’t believe it when Kiai told me. I still don’t believe it. A half-life…”
“Father!” Kiai snapped at him.
“Sorry, biological construct.”
Pura paled and clutched at the blanket. “What?”
He turned to his uncle and aunt. “What!”
The story was recanted once more, everyone paying close attention, except for Viribus, who obviously was bored of hearing this story again.
“And there you have it.” Finished Myla. “That is Saita.”
“What were you thinking!?” Demanded Pura. “If you believe the Lizards to be your biggest enemy, you are sorely mistaken. Her visage has been transmitted through the known universe now. Whatever made her will come for her, and you want her in our family! What madness!”
Pura looked to Viribus and exclaimed. “What say you to all of this? It was your idea to have your son bound to her?”
“I, as my son does, value strength and power. The girl should have died. She should not have been able to do any of the feats of strength I saw her do on the day of the explosion. Can you imagine the union between her and Astec? You want the human throne to stay in human hands I would take that prejudice, write it down on a piece of paper, roll it into a ball…”
“And I’m going to stop you there.” Said Kiai as she stood between the two brothers.
“We understand the prejudice and the danger we have placed everyone in, but it was not our goal.” Said Myla.
“She has saved my life, Aleux’s life, and most of yours.” Said Karesh. “We are not asking you to understand our motivations. We are telling you that she is our named daughter.”
Myla turned to Viribus. “And we don’t believe in prearranged weddings. If the children like each other then so be it but I will not force her to be with someone she doesn’t know.”
Viribus grinned. “Fair enough. Just know that I do not harbour the prejudices that my family does, and I raised my boy to be the same way.”
Pura sighed and rubbed his eyes slowly, his headache getting worse.
“Saita aside, what do you want to do?” Asked Karesh solemnly.
“Sleep.” Said Pura as he leaned back into his pillows. “And the time to think about all of this.”
“A goddamned biological construct.” He hissed softly. “Does she even know what she is?”
“She was the one who said she was wrong.” Said Myla. “We’re trying to break her of that habit.”
“How many manifestations does she have?”
Karesh and Myla looked at each other and shrugged before Karesh said. “She started with two, but now it looks like with enough time and practice she can learn the manifestations of others. She doesn’t even need incantations.”
“No one really does.” Said Viribus as he flicked a finger to the glass his brother had set down.
It exploded into millions of shards of glass which seemed to vaporize soon after the explosion.
“It is all about concentration.” He said. “There, no incantation, no mantra, no little song, and dance”
“And you know what people call you.” Said Pura with a grimace.
“Fair enough.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” Said Karesh. “The entire royal family was attacked, you included. What are you going to do?”
“What are you going to do?” Countered Furor.
“This is not my planet, and Myla already has placed a ban on all lizards, their goods, and allies. They will not get to set foot on this planet until much further in the future. At this point, I don’t give a damn who sits on the throne in our homeworld…”
“We cannot let the Lizards get away with this.” Said Pura shook his head. “This is a declaration of war.”
“Are you sure?” Viribus grinned. “You have always been such a pacifist.”
“Would you like the Cold Bloods to get another chance at killing you?”
“Not really.” He rubbed at his forehead where the cauterized wound still showed.
“Myla. Karesh. Will you stand with us?” Asked Pura softly.
“Of course, my King.” Said Karesh solemnly.
Myla was signing some documentation when a handmaiden whispered in her ear. “Doran wishes to speak to you.”
“I will be there in a few minutes.”
“He sounded somewhat irate.”
“You removed his catheter, so why should he be irate? And why hasn’t he gone home? He is eating solids, and all his internal wounds have healed.” She grumbled as she set aside the paperwork. “Actually, don’t answer that. The least I can do is go look in on him. He has been keeping Aleux and Saita company.”
Though that said, she was somewhat annoyed. She had had a lot of work since the explosion. There had been so many killed and even more hurt. Her councillors hadn’t deliberated for more than a day before agreeing to what Pura had asked of them. It wouldn’t be official until his family arrived back on the homeworld, but once it was the humans would unite once and for all against the lizards. It brought Myla no joy. She was a healer, a scientist. She didn’t want war. She had never wanted war, but it was clear now that the Lizards wanted nothing more than to destroy her family, and for that, she would not stand.
When she stepped into Doran’s room, she let out a theatrical sigh and said. “What?”
Doran inclined his head and said. “I didn’t want you to miss it.”
“Miss what?”
“My head hurts.” Mumbled an exhausted voice.
She spun to see Saita sitting up and rubbing her face. She looked exhausted but finally awake.
“Oh my god!” She came round to the girl’s right side. “How do you feel? Are you hungry? How is the pain?”
“My face feels funny.” She gently rubbed over the dressings and flinched. “Itchy and burny and something else.”
“Tingly?” Offered Doran as he swung his legs from the bed and grinned.
“Yes, that.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
“What do you remember, sweetie?”
“Everything. I found Karesh, fell asleep, woke up to the old man talking to me, then slept a while and now I am awake again. I heard you talking to me a few times while I slept.” She shrugged. “And pain, I felt a lot of pain. I know Jarah tried, but it hurts.”
She covered her right eye and smiled a little. “It isn’t my eye, but I am like the Warrior Queen.”
“What Warrior Queen?” Asked Doran. “I don’t recall a Warrior Queen.”
“She isn’t human.” The girl grinned. “I will be just like her one day.”
Then, it was as if Saita recalled something, and she looked around hurriedly. “Where is…”
“Everyone is alright, Saita, everyone is alright.” Myla hugged her, trying very hard to stem the tears.
Saita took the hug and even wrapped her arms around Myla. “Good because I am fine.”
“You won’t always be so lucky, Saita.” Said Doran sternly.
“Then I will have you to protect me.” She grinned.
“Even I got pretty badly hurt, girl.” He said as he lifted his shirt to show the marks. “No one lives forever, and if you keep going the way that you are you will end up losing more than just an eye.”
“Oh, hush now.” Said Myla as she continued to hug the girl. “I’m just happy you are awake.”
“Hmm.” Saita pushed Myla from her and rubbed her face again. “I’m still tired.”
“You are healing. It is normal.” Said Jarah as he came into the room. “You look well, a little pale but well.”
“Jarah! I heard you a lot while I slept.” She looked genuinely happy that her doctor was there.
“I was wondering if you would like me to check on your new eye now that you are awake.” Jarah pulled aside his mask with a grin. “I’m very curious about it myself. Megan says that it went well, but I’d like to see it for myself.”
Before Myla could say anything, the girl nodded her head, practically begging the doctor to remove the annoying dressings.
“Sweetie, I don’t think you are ready…”
“While I have the courage to look at myself in a mirror let me.” She said softly.
Somewhat taken aback by this Myla allowed Jarah in to remove the dressings. She had to hide her surprise at the swollen, jagged wound on her face. She was sure it would heal in time but that momentary half gasp she hid poorly made Saita look up at her in concern.
“Look at me, Saita.” Said Jarah as he twisted her chin to look up at him. “It is going to be bright, and colours may be a little strange, but once your brain interprets the information from the cybernetics it should even out to what your left eye sees.”
“Okay.”
Removing the last patch of dressings Jarah simply nodded his head and said. “Open your eyelid, let’s have a look at Megan’s handy work.”
Saita blinked a few times and mumbled. “Everything is fuzzy.”
“It will be like that upon waking from now on.” Said Doran as he stood behind Jarah. “It should clear quickly.”
“I heard, while I slept, that you too…” Saita stopped as if realising that this was perhaps too personal a question to ask.
“Many years ago, my left eye was taken by an assassin, couldn’t even see the difference, could you?” He smiled.
“No.” She focused on her bandaged hands. “It is better now.”
“Chin up, let’s do some tests.” Jarah set a finger before her. “Follow this.”
After a few minutes of Saita following his finger with her eyes, Jarah removed a small penlight from his pocket and flashed it into her right eye. “Good, good, reaction is as good for the right as it is for the left. A little slow with reacting to movements, but the new muscles will need to exercise to get that corrected. How does it feel Saita?”
“My face hurts.” She said softly. “The eye is itchy.”
“A slight irritation, most people do not reject biomechanics, but in your case, we will need to keep an eye on it. Let’s give it another day before we start to worry. In the meantime, I brought you your usual mixture, which will allow you to sleep as peacefully as what you have these last few days.” Jarah pulled a small plastic baggie from his pocket. “You must also be starving.”
“Too tired to be hungry.” She said as she leaned back and closed her eyes.
“And she is out.” Said Jarah after a few minutes. “Exhausted, this must be draining on her system.”
He touched the series of silken stitches down her face. “It looks bad with the swelling of the second surgery, but it will improve.”
“She is scarred for life.” Hissed Myla. “Look at her!”
“She is alive Myla.” Said Doran softly. “We are alive. I sure as hell doubt I would be standing here if it were not for her. So, what if she is scarred? Are you planning to marry her off to someone who overlooks who she is because of a facial scar?”
“But the trauma!”
“Need I remind you that we are missing at least thirteen years of her life, I think that trauma trumps this one.” Said Jarah. “Your reaction made her react. Now, if you were any other mother, I would have been telling you off. However, you are my Queen, so I will refrain, but please realise that she is still learning, and she will pick up on body language queues. She looks to you for guidance, and if you look at her as if she is damaged, she will start acting on it. You need to be strong for her as she was for you. Understood?”
Myla sighed and rubbed her face. “Yes, yes.”
She then took the blankets and covered Saita. “I will sleep easier knowing that she is conscious again. Karesh and Aleux will be thrilled.”
“I’d like to keep her for a few more days, but she should be fine to go home after that.” Jarah turned to Doran. “I saw the paperwork clearing you two days ago. What are you still doing here?”
“I’m not leaving until she does.” He said stubbornly as he lay back on his bed. “You will need to get security to throw me out if you want me to leave.”
Jarah sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Fine, then you make sure she takes the pills when next she wakes. I would prefer for her to get as much natural sleep as possible. She will need it in order to heal.”
The Butcher put the pills on the table that separated the two beds now. “I’ll get the kitchen to send up some sandwiches so she can eat before taking the pills.”
“I will do that. She is in capable hands.”
_____________________________________________________________A slightly smaller update this week, as the next section starts to get long and I don't want you all to sit here reading for an hour.
I hope you all have a great week. Remember, if you want to be added or removed from the read's list just let me know and I'll handle that for you.
See you all on Friday!
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|Part 13|Part 14 - You are Here|
|Part 15 - Updated Friday|Part 16 - Updated on Tuesday|
