Tempest Rise (revised edition 10/2013) (Treborel) (20 page)

“Where is Lord Nolan?” Katar demanded
, having no patience for the jealous Prince.

“He’s gone to Tor, Lysette is missing.” Roth glared back at Katar.

“Get me through to him.” Katars order was simple and to the point. Roth obeyed knowing that Katar had the equipment at his disposal, which just might be able to find her.

“Keep me informed.”
Roth said, his words softened as the two men realized they shared the same feeling of concern for Lysette’s safety.

The screen flared again as Katar ordered his helijet prepared for departure.

Fear began anew inside Lysette as she placed the small oval probe on each small chest. The larger baby boy was at an acceptable weight of 5 1/2 pounds for a premature infant. His heart was strong and his lungs clear. The smaller boy was grievously underweight
, barely 4 pounds and on a respirator. There was a small superficial hole in his heart, and his kidneys were barely functioning. As she feared, the infants shared the main artery supplying blood to the brain. Yet their skulls seemed to be intact, spinal cords separate, and the attachment ended at the base of the neck, instead of extending into the chest as so many attachments usually did.

Calming herself Lysette requested the children’s records. “I’d also like to speak with the obstetrician and the attending pediatrician.” The even tone of her voice surprised her.

“They are dead.” The King said casually, keeping his eyes on her, never looking at the babies.

Once
again, Lysette forced herself to remain calm, under the threat of the growing sense of helplessness that threatened to consume her. ‘Don’t think about it. She told herself. She asked, “When were they diagnosed as . . .”

“We were never told.”
Again, a toneless response as the King interjected.

“You had no prior knowledge of . . .”

“None, move on.” William’s eyes never left hers. He never looked at the babies, not even one glance at his sons. “The Queen suffered a miscarriage after the attack on her life. She became pregnant again shortly thereafter.”

Taking the chart
from one of the soldiers that returned, Lysette tried to concentrate on the records. ‘He had them killed!’ Her mind screamed, ‘They were afraid to tell him, so he had them killed!’ She tried to clear her head of the vision before her, of an angry King slaughtering his doctors at the first sign of his conjoined twins. Taking a deep breath, she ignored the screams of terror building up inside her and concentrated on the twins. “The smaller infant, Arbus is critical. His heart is weak and damaged, and his lungs are filling with fluid.  His kidneys are not functioning properly. He may not live through the night.”  Studying William for some response, Lysette continued when he merely stared blankly at her. “The larger child, Rey, is stable and in fairly good condition. The best course of action to insure Rey’s survival is a separation, but Arbus would not survive it.”

The King remained unmoving, staring at her in silence
, showing no emotion.  Glancing down at the rectangular screen that held the medical chart as figures flashed before her she continued, “The infants share the large carotid artery where it branches into several smaller arteries. One of which is a direct blood supply to the brain.” Gritting her teeth, she tried once more to ignore the warnings her mind screamed at her, that death was quickly approaching. “There will be substantial blood loss. If I use Arbus’ blood that will help to compensate, but Rey will still be at great risk.”

Lysette looked up from the chart and met his eyes once more. For the first time she noticed
Commander Connor standing in the background listening, watching.

“Are the healers of any use to you?”
Was the King's casual response.

Lysette answered hesitantly
, knowing the more useful the healers the longer they would stay alive. “They could slow the bleeding and remove the need for anesthesia. Perhaps repair Arbus’ heart defect if he were stronger . . .”

With one swift motion
of his hand, the King sent Connor to bring the healers to them. When they arrived, the King issued a stern warning before they examined the infants. “You will not attempt to heal the infants or ease their suffering in any way or you will die.” Once again, the casual way in which he spoke chilled Lysette. Yet the Empaths seemed unaffected and gathered around the twins. Joah was the only one to reach out and briefly touch the smaller of the two. Not a word was spoken as the healers exchanged glances, then turned back to face the King.

“We can save the infants. Healing the small one of his complications, even strengthen them. But there is nothing we can do to separate them, alone.” Joah looked expectantly at Lysette.

“I can separate them, but Arbus is too weak, he would not survive it.” She said. Lysette's mind raced as she realized what Joah meant. If they healed Arbus and restored his strength, would he survive the separation? She continued saying, “If Arbus and Rey were both stronger and the Empaths assisted . . . it is possible that we could separate them, and both might survive.”

“How long before they can be separated?” The King ignored the
Empaths and spoke only to Lysette, his eyes glassy and empty.

“Once they are healed
, they must be allowed to grow and strengthen on their own. The older they are, the better their chances of survival.” Lysette knew she was not giving him the answer he wanted to hear. “Six months, perhaps a year.”

Even
then, it was risky. The King breathed deeply, fighting some inner hidden battle. When he spoke it was with the same emotionless voice Lysette had come to expect, but his words were not, “Let the small one die, then separate them.”

His heartless words shocked Lysette as she stared at him in disbelief
, Joah stepped forward and addressed the King, “No, Your Majesty.” His voice was calm and soothing, “You must not allow Arbus to die.” Joah was defying the King. He was saying the words that Lysette wished she had the courage to utter with such confidence. All eyes moved to the elderly empath, only Lysette showed fear.

The King shifte
d his attention to Joah and whispered viciously, “You will leave this room at once.” 

Finding her voice Lysette interrupted
, as the guards appeared in the doorway.  “He is right, You’re Majesty. As long as there is a chance, we must try to save both children.” Finding the cold, depthless eyes turning back to her, Lysette swallowed her fear and continued, “Surely you want to give both of your sons a chance at life.”

Moving slowly toward Joah, she placed herself between the two men and added, “Perhaps they are joined for a reason none of us can comprehend
, one that will benefit them later in life.” Lysette knew she was babbling, reaching for any reason to save Joah and Arbus’ lives.

For a moment
, William’s eyes cleared as he focused on Lysette. A glimmer of doubt entered his eyes as he spoke. “Would Rey benefit from Arbus' death in any way?”

“No,” Lysette hoped he couldn’t see the doubt in her eyes, “Not as long as the
Empaths are here to help.”

“Would it be harmful in any way to Rey if Arbus lived?”

“It would be best if Arbus lived. Then the surgery could be delayed until Rey was stronger and could gain more weight.” This was true, the older and larger the babies were, the more likely they would survive the stress of surgery.

“We must leave here soon. Which procedure would allow Rey to be travel ready sooner?”
William’s voice returned to the cold monotone it had been before, as his eyes grew dark and hollow again.

Lysette’s patience had left her. Her anger at this man who had no regard for his sons except to supply himself with an heir
, caused caution to leave her and she said, “They can’t be moved. Regardless of the procedure, they can’t travel, it’s too dangerous. Not for weeks, perhaps more.”

His depthless eyes hardened
, as his lips formed a smile. “You have seven days. Find a way to stabilize them in that time and prepare them for travel.” The King turned his attention back to Joah and added, “Heal the small one.” Then he slowly turned and left.

Both Treborelan and Lon Tesse Intelligence had confirmed the arrival of Lysette’s military transport at a farm outside of Tor. There were signs of half a dozen soldiers having stayed in the small farmhouse for several days, perhaps a week.
The bodies of the pilot and co-pilot were in the wreckage, in a field outside the shelter. The trail of bodies thrown from the plane indicated an escape toward the River Ny. When the condition of the bodies of the female empath and Dr. Spencer were reported, Katar knew he was dealing with the Kings Elite Guard.  Only Commander Connor used a crossbow to assassinate prisoners.

A rendezvous was set up between Katar and Sean at the same farm where Lysette
had been taken. Cap insisted on flying Katar into Bantor. He knew his friend would not use the caution necessary to protect himself in his search for Lysette.

As they entered the small
shack, they found Sean waiting for them. He shook their hands and said, “Thank you for meeting me. I’m crazy with worry. It’s been more than 48 hours since they went missing. If Connor took them as hostages, he would have contacted us by now.”

Visions of Connor strangled in one of his own snares leapt to Katar
’s mind, as he pictured how he would kill the Commander if he hurt Lysette. His throat tightened as he saw the fear in Sean eyes.

Cap answered for him, saying, “What would Connor want with Lysette?” Cap placed his hand on Katars shoulder as he spoke. “Do you think there was someone else on the transport he could have wanted?”

“There were only two surgeons and a handful of Empathic Healers. None of whom are of much importance to Connor, with the exception of my niece.” He shook his head and moved to sit at the only piece of furniture that graced the shelter, a small kitchen table surrounded by four wooden chairs.

“How could they have found out she was your niece?” Katar followed sitting across from him. “Even if they did know who she was, how could they have known she was going to volunteer for that assignment?”

“I wish I knew.” Sean frowned in frustration. “One thing’s for certain, if they don’t know who she is, she’s smart enough not to give herself away.”

“If they do
know, they are sure taking their time letting us know about it.”  Cap added as he sat down beside them. Then registering what Sean had said earlier, Cap’s face froze. “Did you say Empaths were aboard the transport?”

“Yes, five of them, two males
, and three females.” Sean answered, not noticing his concern.

“Do you have their names?” Cap asked not truly sure he wanted to know.

Katar glanced up, realizing why Cap wanted to know. Pulling a small notepad from his breast pocket, Sean tossed it toward the anxious commander asking, “do you think he was after the healers?’

As Cap raced down the list
, Katar explained, “Cap is a good friend to one of the Empaths that was stationed with Lysette. Glancing back at Cap, Katar could tell by the dark look on his face that Kendra had been on the helijet. They sat in silence, each man fighting the fear that rose renewed by the discovery.

Finally,
Sean spoke quietly, “Queen Elspeth was pregnant when the conflict began. It could be the child was injured or taken ill. Lysette is a pediatric surgeon.”

“That would explain why they didn’t kill the healers with the others.” Katar added, placing his hand on Cap’s arm in support. “William would want every possible means at his disposal to save his child. If he still has control.”

“That was nearly nine months ago. The child would be four of five months old by now.” Cap added trying to force his mind away from the possibility that Kendra was already dead and lying in a field somewhere waiting to be discovered.

“Judging by the trail of bodies they left, they were heading for Ergos.” Sean rose and paced the short distance to the wall and back. A Lon Tesse transport flew into Ergos two nights ago.” Sean stopped in front of the table and looked knowingly into Katars face. 

Katar answered his stare with, “I’m going in.” He rose and added, “It’s been arranged. Cap is going in with me. We have agents inside. They’ve already begun the search.”

  “You better make room for one more.” Sean said.

Over the next two days, Lysette stood by helplessly, as the Empaths exhausted themselves in an effort to save Arbus and strengthen the infants for their journey.  Nearly all the effort concentrated on Arbus. He was so weak and delicate that Andru was too frightened to touch him. Afraid that he couldn’t hold the
strength
in a tight enough grip. Only when he saw how hard the others worked to save the child, did he attempt to heal him.

None of the medical team
could leave the room. They slept on two cots, the guards had brought in on the second day. Food and drink were slow to arrive, and in poor quality and small quantity. Only after Lysette pounded on the door and insisted on speaking with Commander Connor, to explain the Empaths needed food to sustain the healing, did they receive adequate nourishment.

As the
Empaths strength left them, Lysette’s returned. The headaches ceased as her mind cleared. Fearing that the healers would become ill, she began to insist on periodic examinations of the infants. Forcing them to halt the sessions and allowing them a bit more time to recover. Finally, on the fourth morning of their captivity, Joah announced that they had completed the healing and the twins would need a healing sleep for the next three days. Only at that point will they be out of danger. As the healers themselves fell into a deep sleep, Lysette watched over the infants and very lightly placed her probe on each of the healers in turn. She checked them for exhaustion and malnutrition, they were fine.