Tani's Destiny (Hearts of ICARUS Book 2) (24 page)

Chapter
6

Lariah Dracon waited so long for the vid terminal to connect her call that when Glory Tigren appeared on her screen it startled her a little.

“Hello, Lariah,” Glory said, and Lariah knew from the expression on her friend’s face, and the tone of her voice, that she didn’t have good news.

“What is wrong?”

“Tani lives, my friend, do not fear so.”

Some of the tension in Lariah’s shoulders eased.  “Thank you, Glory.  But something is wrong, I can tell.”

“She’s in a very deep sleep right now, one too deep for me to pull her out of safely,” Glory said.  “I’ve seen this sort of thing before, and believe her to be in a healing sleep.”

“A healing sleep,” Lariah repeated, considering the ramifications of that phrase.  “Thank you, Glory.  We all appreciate your efforts so much, and I’m sorry to be so demanding.”

“I love Tani too, Lari,” Glory said gently.  “And you couldn’t be demanding if you took lessons.  I will continue checking on her and I’ll let you know immediately if there is any change.”

“Thank you, my friend,” Lariah said, refusing to allow the tears to fall.  Glory bowed, and Lariah closed the connection.  She took a deep breath to compose herself before turning to see her men who’d entered quietly while she spoke with Glory.

“We missed the first part of that,” Trey said. 

“She thinks that Tani is in a healing sleep,” Lariah said.

Garen crossed the room, lifted her straight up out of the chair and cradled her in his arms.  Trey and Val joined them so that they made a tight circle with Lariah in the middle.  “Tani is the youngest, gentlest, and kindest of our daughters,
Sharali
, but she is also the toughest, and the strongest.”

Lariah smiled, pride lighting her eyes.  “Yes, she is.  I’ve often wondered about that.  What her destiny must be that our gentlest child should excel in the arts of war.”

“Whatever it is, Salene and Rayne seem confident that she will be happy,” Trey said.

“Yes, they are,” Lariah agreed.  “We’re so lucky, are we not?”

“Lucky?” Garen asked doubtfully.  “Our daughter has been missing for many days now.  I fail to see how that can be construed as
lucky
.”

“And yet, we’re lucky nonetheless,” Lariah insisted.  “Lucky to have Glory Tigren, a Dream Walker, who can speak with Tani in the only way possible, so that we have some knowledge as to her wellbeing, and her whereabouts.  Lucky that all of our daughters are strong young women with the knowledge and skills necessary to survive on their own in the Thousand Worlds.  Lucky to have each other to lean on in this difficult time.”

“You’re right, of course,” Val said.  “We have many blessings to count.”

“I concede your point,” Garen said, “but it will be a lot easier to count those blessings
after
we’re able to see and speak with our daughter in person.”

***

Tani opened her eyes and frowned when she saw Steel standing in the doorway with his back to her, stretching.  “Steel?”

Steel froze with his arms in the air, his mouth open in a yawn, his back arched.  He closed his mouth and lowered his arms as he turned around, moving very slowly, almost afraid to find that he’d just imagined hearing Tani speak his name.  When he saw her gray eyes looking up at him, his own eyes filled with tears.  He dropped to his knees beside her and reached for her hand, unable to find words to express his overwhelming relief.

Wily awoke at that moment from his place on the pillow beside her and immediately climbed up onto her shoulder and began wriggling like a puppy, flapping his little wings in excitement.  Steel and Tani both laughed at the little wyvern, who continued to wriggle and bounce around happily, clicking and mewling until he finally settled down on her shoulder, his orange eyes fixed on her face. 

“Steel?” she asked again, frowning as she took in his appearance.  The more she saw, the more worried she became.  His clothes were wrinkled, he looked exhausted, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes.  “How long?”

“This is the second morning after the raid, so one day and two nights,” Steel replied in a hoarse voice.  “How do you feel?”

“Thirsty,” she said.  He reached over to something beside the bed and she heard water being poured.  She took a quick inventory of herself and, since she felt perfectly fine, she pushed herself to a sitting position.  Steel frowned, but she smiled.  “I’m fine, Steel.”  He nodded and handed her the glass.  She drank nearly half of it before stopping. 

“I remember the raid, everything went well, then…something happened, right?”

“Yes, you were shot.”

“I was shot?” she asked in surprise.  “I don’t remember that.”

“I will never forget it,” Steel said, his dark brows lowering.  “Especially since you leapt in front of me, taking the shot meant for me.”

Tani saw the barely controlled emotion in Steel’s eyes as he spoke, and hoped he wouldn’t lose his temper.  “It can’t have been too bad because I feel perfectly fine.”

“It was very bad, and you feel fine only because Wily saved you.” 

“Wily?” she asked, surprised.  She looked down at the wyvern clinging to her t-shirt and smiled.  “Thanks Wily.  I’m glad you were there.”  Wily mewled, then nodded his head up and down happily.  “What did he do, Steel?”

Steel told her all that had happened after she’d been shot, including Wily’s bite.  “When we finally reached home I brought you here, to Astra’s cave, since there’s no one in the clinic that could have helped you anyway.  As much as I hoped that Wily’s bite would help you, I never expected to find that you had no wound at all by the time I was able to check.  I couldn’t find a single mark on you even though your clothes and mine were drenched in your blood.  My relief didn’t last too long though because I couldn’t wake you up no matter how hard I tried.”

“I remember now,” Tani said, the memories growing as he spoke. 

“Good, then there is no chance that you’ll misunderstand me when I say that never,
ever
again will you offer your life for mine.  You will swear this to me, right now.”

“I can’t,” Tani said.  Steel frowned and she sighed.  “Something warned me that you were in danger.  I don’t know what it was.  Call it a hunch or intuition or whatever you want.  There was no time to warn you, no time to do anything but act.  Did you expect me to stand there and watch you die?”

“Did you expect
me
to stand there and watch
you
die?” he retorted.

Unable to think of a way to answer that without upsetting him further, she decided to change the subject.  “What about Khurda and Marbic?  Were they able to damage the Nomen’s ship?”

Steel’s eyes narrowed.  He knew she was changing the subject in an effort to calm him down and it annoyed him to know she was right to do so.  “Fine,” he huffed.  “But we will return to this subject.”  Tani nodded as though she expected no less, but he wasn’t fooled.  “After Khurda tossed a grenade into the main engine bell and shattered the injector plate, yes, they were able to damage their ship.  They didn’t destroy it, of course, but it will require a few days for repairs.  The Nomen have already replaced the injector plate, and it looks like they’ve gotten a couple of the ground transports running, but the ship is still grounded.”

“You’re keeping an eye on them,” she said. 

“Absolutely,” Steel said.  “I want to know ahead of time if they’re intending to come after us.”

“So, who shot me?” Tani asked. 

“We don’t know,” Steel replied.  “When Khurda and Marbic went back to the compound, it was silent.  The braces were still on the doors to the Nomen bunk houses, and there was no sign of Brutus, or anyone else.  They considered just leaving, but decided that the opportunity to disable the Nomen’s ship was too good to pass up.”

“I agree,” Tani said.  “But I’d still like to know who shot me.  I remember that I was facing the compound, so that’s where the shot came from.  It couldn’t have been one of your people though because they all left before us, right?”

“You think one of my people shot you?” Steel asked in surprise.

“I don’t have any idea who shot me, but I think it’s an important question.”

“Yes, it is,” Steel said.  “I’ve thought about little else these past hours.  But I cannot conceive of any reason for one of the Khun to cause you harm.  It had to be one of the Nomen.”

“Well, I don’t suppose an answer will present itself just because we want it to,” she said, not wanting to point out that he’d been the target, not her.  “What about the women and children?  How’re they doing?”

“Not good, Tani,” he said, his eyes sad.  “They’re so weak and thin, some worse than others.  We’re all worried, Astra especially.  She wants so much to help them, but doesn’t know how.”

“I know of a few things that might help,” she said.  “What are you feeding them?”

“Regular food, but there seems to be something else wrong with them because they can barely hold anything down.”

“Call Astra,” she said.

“Not yet, you just woke up,” Steel began, but Tani shook her head. 

“Now Steel, please,” she asked.  “The women and children cannot wait for me to feel better.  They’ve suffered enough already.”

“All right, just a moment,” Steel said.  He got up and went to the entryway to call Astra, but didn’t leave the room.  He wasn’t ready to let Tani out of his sight just yet.  He returned to his place beside her bed just as Astra entered the room.

“Oh, Tani,” she said, hurrying to the other side of the bed.  “I’m so glad you’re awake!  How do you feel?”

“I’m fine Astra,” she said.  “Steel just told me that the women and children aren’t holding the food you’re giving them.”

“No, they aren’t and I’m at my wit’s end.  They’re starved, but can’t eat.”

“Their bodies are too weak to digest solid food,” Tani said.  “You need to start them off with clear fluids.  That means broth.  Use lots of meat and vegetables, and boil it well.  Then give them the broth in small amounts, several times a day.  When they can handle that, they can gradually begin eating solids, but make sure it’s well cooked, cut up tiny or mashed.  Nothing raw, no cheese or milk, and no bread.  It’s too difficult to digest.”

“Why didn’t I think of this,” Astra said, shaking her head.  “It makes sense now that I hear you saying it, but it never occurred to me.”

“It’s all right, Astra, no harm done,” Tani said, relaxing a little.  “When I get up I’ll go straight to the clinic and see if there’s anything there we can use.  Vitamins, minerals, something, but fresh broth is going to do them more good than anything else right now.”

“I’ll tell Drya and she’ll get the other women cooking immediately,” Astra said, then leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.  “I’ll bring some breakfast back for you and Steel in a few minutes, too.  Welcome back, my friend.  I was afraid for you.”

“Thanks, Astra,” Tani said.  “Now go, go.”

Astra smiled, then got up and hurried out of the chamber.

“Feel better?” Steel asked, smiling down at her. 

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do,” she said.  “I feel like I’m forgetting something though.”

“Such as?”

“I don’t know,” she said, frowning.  “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll come to me eventually.  Right now I want to get up and move around.  And I’d give a lot for a hot bath.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, definitely,” she said, swinging her legs around so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed, careful to make sure Wily had a good grip on her shirt first.  She felt a little woozy and light headed, but she sat still for a few moments and it faded. 

“If you’ll promise not to stand up till I get back, I’ll go start the water running in the tub.”

“Promise given,” she said at once.  He left the room with a little bounce in his step, which told Tani more than anything else how worried he’d been for her. 

“Poor guy,” she said, then looked down at the wyvern.  “And poor Wily, too,” she said.  “How are you, little one?”

Wily rubbed his head against her jaw and mewled softly.  “I’m so sorry.  But I’m fine now, thanks to you.  The question is, how did you manage to heal me with a bite?”

He looked up at her with his orange eyes and she smiled.  “However it happened, I’m glad it worked.”

“Glad what worked?” Steel asked, entering the chamber.

“I’m glad Wily’s bite managed to heal me,” she said.  “I’d just like to know how or why it worked.”  She raised her hands and Steel took them, helping her to her feet. 

“How do you feel?” he asked, nervous about releasing her to stand on her own.

“I feel a whole bunch better than you look,” Tani said, grinning up at him.  “Maybe you should take the first bath.”

“Cute,” Steel said.  “Really cute.”  He reached down and picked her up, cradling her in his arms.  “Now behave yourself, or I’ll put you in the tub head first.”

***

Even Tani was surprised at how quickly she bounced back.  Once she had a hot bath, brushed her teeth (twice), and had something to eat, she felt perfectly well.  She had to struggle not to be annoyed with Steel for hovering around her worriedly, reminding herself repeatedly of what he’d been through.  She kept trying to get him to go home and rest, but he refused to leave her until Astra urged her to go visit the women.  When Tani realized that Steel wouldn’t go into the women’s cave, she gratefully agreed, knowing that it would give Steel time to bathe and change his clothes, maybe even take a much needed nap.