Rayne's Return (Hearts of ICARUS Book 3) (11 page)

“Yes, Prince Garen explained that to us,” Landor said in response to Kyerion’s questioning brow.

“Excellent,” he said.  “We’ll return to the
Triskele
and make some
sasuna
for her, a drink specifically designed to return her to full strength and health as quickly as possible.  We’ll bring over enough to see her back to normal, which should take no more than five to ten days provided our instructions are followed.  She’ll need to consume the drink several times a day at regular intervals, and it won’t hurt her to eat as much food as she can also.  Do not be alarmed to find that when she’s not eating, she’s sleeping.  That’s perfectly normal.”

“The
sasuna
will contain whatever she needs to prevent further nosebleeds?” Con asked. 

“Yes, it will,” Kyerion replied.  “You shouldn’t have any trouble getting her to drink it.  Once her body gets the first or second dose of nutrients, it’ll set up a craving for more.  When her craving begins to slow, then stop, you’ll know she no longer needs it.  She indicated that she enjoyed chocolate, so we’ll use that to flavor the
sasuna
to make it more palatable for her.”

“Thank you, Kyerion,” Landor said.  “Is there anything else we should know?”

“I’m afraid so, yes,” Kyerion said.  “It concerns her reaction to pain.”

Landor frowned.  “What do you mean?”

“Have you seen her react to pain?”

“No, we haven’t,” Landor replied after thinking about it carefully.  He looked at Con and Ari, who both nodded their agreement.  “However, just between us, she has the ability to shield herself, something we’ve just discovered, but haven’t spoken to her about yet.  When her shield is up we cannot feel her true emotions, nor can we scent her.”

“Don’t worry, Rayne’s secret is safe with us, as is yours,” Kyerion said.  “I’m quite glad to know about the shield since it explains why we didn’t sense any pain from her, either.”

“I don’t understand,” Landor said. 

“We found damage that should have had her in constant pain ranging from mild to severe in several different areas of her body, and yet she displayed very little sign of it.  When we asked her about it, she said that she had some discomfort and weakness in certain areas, but no real pain.  Even so, we should have sensed, or smelled some level of pain coming from her, but we didn’t.  Her shield seems to explain that.”

“Did they do something to her so that she no longer feels pain as she should?”

“If they did, we could find no sign of it, and we looked very carefully.”

“What do you think the problem is, then?”

“We think she’s become dissociated from pain to what may be a high degree, which isn’t good.  Pain tells us when something is wrong with our bodies.  Without it, she could become seriously ill or injured and she wouldn’t know until the pain became excruciating, which could be too late.  You’re going to need to keep a close eye on her and pay attention to what she says.  For example, if she complains of discomfort, or weakness, or dizziness, take it
very
seriously.”

“You can’t heal whatever is wrong?” Ari asked.

“No, I’m afraid not,” Kyerion replied. 

“This isn’t a physical problem,” Kirk said.  “There’s no point in trying to talk to her about it, either, since she has no memories yet.  When she does remember, you can try discussing it, but go slowly and don’t push too hard.”

“You believe something traumatic caused this,” Landor guessed.

“Absolutely,” Kirk nodded.  “Try to imagine what it would take for your mind to switch off your ability to see, even though your eyes are perfectly healthy.  What horrors must you witness in order to force a self-preservation response that drastic?”

“I don’t think I want to imagine anything that horrific,” Ari said quietly.  “I especially don’t want to imagine Rayne suffering to that degree.”

“I don’t blame you in the slightest,” Kyerion said.  “But for Rayne’s sake, you can’t afford the luxury of hiding from it.  She needs you to keep tabs on whatever her body can no longer tell her.”

“We understand, and we’ll keep a close eye on her,” Landor promised. 

“What about her voice?” Ari asked.

“To be honest, that also baffles us,” Kyerion admitted. 

“Why?” Landor asked in surprise.

“Despite all of the physical damage she suffered, we saw plenty of evidence that whoever had her made every effort to keep her alive.  And yet her throat, including her vocal cords, has been cut.”

“Were you able to correct the damage?” Landor asked tightly, trying hard not to put images to Kyerion’s words.

“Yes, to some extent,” he replied.  “It’s an old wound so there’s scarring, which made it impossible for us to restore her voice fully, but she can speak above a whisper now.”

“I don’t understand any of this,” Con said, appalled by all they’d just heard.  Seeing the scars on Rayne’s skin was one thing, but they’d had no idea of what lay beneath them.  He almost wished he still didn’t know.

“Neither do we,” Cade said, speaking for the first time.  “Rayne suffered a very great deal, that’s obvious.  But the scars on her skin do not represent the worst of her wounds.  When her memories come back, she’s going to need you three to be
very
strong.  She won’t have the physical or emotional resources necessary to deal with three mature Klanaren males going into blood rages every time she remembers a bit more of what happened to her.”

“We can’t promise to never go into a blood rage,” Landor said.  “But we can, and do, promise to make every effort not to.  Rayne is our
berezi
, and she comes first in all things.”

“No more could be asked of any male-set,” Cade said, nodding.

“If…
when
…we soul-link with Rayne, it should erase all of the damage done to her body, correct?” Ari asked.

“Hopefully, yes, though you know as well as we do that there are no guarantees,” Kyerion replied. 

“Of course,” Landor said.  Each time a male-set converted their
berezi
they kept a record of the process so that others might know what to expect.  There wasn’t a single unmated male-set who didn’t read each and every report submitted to the ever-growing database.  “Kyerion, why do you think there are scars on Rayne’s ovaries?”

“I believe they’ve harvested her eggs,” Kyerion replied, relieved that Landor had gone back to that subject rather than hide his head in the sand.  “Not just once or twice, but many times.  As often as they could, is my guess.”

“This grows worse and worse,” Con growled.  “Who are these Doftles, and what were they trying to do?”

“Two questions that we’d all like answers to,” Kirk replied.  “We searched for a way to speed up the return of her memories, but like her pain response, we could find no physical cause for it.”

“How is she right now?” Ari asked. 

“She’s healed, but tired and weak.  She needs time to recover from the healing itself, though we bore as much of the burden as we could.  She should sleep for a few hours.  By the time she awakens, you will have the
sasuna
we promised.” 

“Thank you,” Landor said.  “We appreciate your efforts to heal Rayne more than we can say.”

“We’re glad we were able to help her,” Kyerion said as they all stood up.  “We understand that you must go alone on this mission to Buhell, and that stealth is vital.  We would have you know that, while you’re gone, the
Klanaren
will not be sitting idle.  We will seek out and neutralize whatever spies we can find, and we will do so quietly and carefully so as not to endanger your mission.  We’ll also begin preparations for whatever is to come.”  Then Kyerion, Cade, and Kirk raised their fists to their hearts in a warrior’s salute.  “Silent stalking, Brother Warriors,” Kyerion said as they bowed.

Landor, Con and Ari returned the salute solemnly.  “Silent hunting, Brother Warriors,” Landor replied. 

***

Rayne woke up to the sound of her name.  She checked her shield almost without thought, relieved to know that it remained in place even while she slept.  She knew it was Landor who’d spoken her name by his scent and his voice, and she was not disappointed when she opened her eyes to find him kneeling at the side of the bed. 

“Hi,” she said, her voice soft, but no longer a whisper. 

“Nice voice,” Landor said, smiling. 

She returned his smile before she could stop herself.  “What’s going on?”

“We’ve got your new room ready for you.”

“Thanks,” she said.  “What time is it?”

“It’s dinner time,” he replied.  “The plan is for me to take you to your room where we’ll all have dinner, and then let you sleep for the rest of the night.”

“Sounds good to me,” she said, pushing the covers back.  “I’m starving.”

“That happens when you sleep through lunch,” he said, sliding his hands beneath her. 

“Maybe I should walk,” she said just as Con entered the room.

“Not yet,” Landor said, lifting her into his arms.  “Tomorrow is soon enough for that, after you’ve had some real food, one or two of the Tigrens’ special drinks, the
sasuna
, and a good night’s sleep.”

Con opened the door for them, then closed it before hurrying ahead so he could open another door not far from the master suite.  Landor carried her to the bed where pillows had already been arranged for her.

“Bathroom first, please,” she asked quietly.

“Of course,” Landor said, changing direction.  He set her down in the bathroom and left, closing the door behind him.  A few minutes later she opened the door and he hurried to pick her up again.

“The food smells wonderful,” she said after Landor set her down on the bed.

“Give us just a moment to get a plate ready for you,” Con said from the table where he was helping Ari unload two large trays. 

“I’d like to sit at the table if you don’t mind.”

“Of course,” Landor replied, pleased by this small sign of her growing strength.  He picked her up again and carried her across the room to the table.

“I think I could have managed a few steps from the bed to the table,” she said.

“You can start walking tomorrow,” he said, lowering her to a chair.  “After you’ve recovered from the healing session.” 

“I’m holding you to that,” Rayne said, watching the men arrange the food on the table, fill glasses with juice, set out plates, utensils and napkins.  Once they were all seated with heaping plates of food in front of them, and a tall glass of what appeared to be a chocolate shake next to her juice, silence fell while they ate enough to take the edge off their appetites.

Rayne wasn’t sure why, exactly, but she had the strangest feeling that, aside from the egg that morning, this was the first real food she’d eaten in a very long time.  She ate slowly, taking her time and enjoying each bite thoroughly, but she still felt full far too soon. 

“Rest a bit,” Landor suggested, watching as she set her fork down with a wistful expression on her face.  “You really need to drink that glass of
sasuna
before going to bed tonight.  Two would be better.”

“I’ll start with one,” she said, reaching for the glass and taking a sip.  “This is good,” she said, then took a larger drink.  When she set the glass back down, she saw the worried expressions on their faces.  “Don’t worry.  I’d drink every single one without complaint even if they didn’t taste good.” 

“Good,” Landor said, “Because they want you to drink four glasses a day minimum.  Six if you can manage it.  We brought in a chiller and stocked it with
sasuna
, so you’ll always have plenty on hand.” He gestured to a corner of the room near the table and she nodded after spotting the chiller.  “You also need to eat real food three times a day.”

“Wow, that sounds like a lot,” she said, eyeing the tall glass doubtfully.  Then she shrugged.  “So long as there’s no need to drink them fast, I should do okay.”

“How would you like a little good news?” Landor asked.

“Good news is always welcome no matter its size.”

“This is Con’s news to tell.”  Rayne looked expectantly at Con.

“The
Armadura
is now fitted with Blind Sight,” he said.  “It’s been thoroughly tested, works perfectly, and no one knows about it save your parents, the Tigrens, and Khurda.”

“That
is
good news,” Rayne said, then frowned.  “Are you certain that Khurda will refrain from telling anyone about it?  If the little blue thugs get so much as a hint that a Jasani ship even
has
Blind Sight, they’ll scramble every single one of their space stations and we’ll never find them.”  She gasped softly as she realized what she’d just said.

“
Little blue thugs
?” Con asked.

“Yes, that’s what I called them,” she said, trying not to think about her answers before saying them.  “They never told me anything about themselves, so I just thought of them as
little blue thugs
.  Someone else was surprised by that too, but I can’t remember who.”

“Are these
little blue thugs
the Doftle?” Landor asked.

“I think so,” she replied, then nodded once.  “Yes, that feels right.”

“What was that about space stations?” Ari asked. 

“Oh,” she said, her eyes widening in surprise.  “That’s right!  I wasn’t
on
Buhell.  I was on a space station orbiting Buhell.”

“Why a space station?” Con asked. 

“Security,” she said, once again saying the first thing that came into her mind.  “If anyone gets too close, they just move.  With Blind Sight, they can never be found.”

“They have Blind Sight too?” Landor asked.

“Yes, they do.”

“Then how will we find them when we get there?”

Rayne opened her mouth, but it seemed the answers had stopped coming.  “There must be a way, otherwise this is all for nothing, but I can’t remember what it is.”

“You will,” Landor said without a trace of doubt in his voice.  “We’ll just have to be patient.”

Rayne nodded and sipped her drink again.  She put the
sasuna
down and picked up her fork.  “I think you should consider checking your crew for Controllers.”