Wray (8 page)

“Ancient legends tell of how Tornian Warriors
once saved the Goddess from being forced to Join with the lower God
Daco when he stole her from her mate. To thank the warriors she
promised them that for every warrior born, there would be one
special female created specifically for him, a mate. That she would
Join with him and only him, completing the warrior as he completed
her. Together they would discover what was truly important and
would have it for the rest of their lives.”

“That sounds like marriage on Earth.”

“Marriage?”

“It’s what we call it when two people fall in
love and decide to spend the rest of their lives together.”

“That is what the Goddess once promised.”

Kim tilted her head slightly at Wray’s words.
“You make it sound as if she no longer promises that.”

“She doesn’t. Not since Emperor Lucan.”

“What did he do?”

Wray just looked into her clear green eyes
that for the first time held no fear, no pain, or wariness. It
would change once she learned what one of his people had done.

“Wray?” Kim looked at him and saw his
hesitation. What could one male have done, so many years ago, that
still affected so many?

“Since the beginning of recorded time, House
Berto ruled Tornian and the Tornian Empire. Their warriors were the
first to respond to the Goddess’ plea for help.”

“And?”

“Over five hundred years ago Lucan Berto was
Emperor and he….” Wray found his throat tightening.

“He what
,
Wray?” Kim
whispered and found her hand suddenly on his arm, trying to
reassure him. The eyes that looked at her suddenly made her unsure
she wanted to know.

“He raped his young females, Kim.”

Kim paled and jerked her hand away from him
as if burned. “He….” She found she couldn’t speak as her throat
thickened and her eyes filled with tears. What had happened to her
had been awful... terrible... but to have a father do that. It was
the worst form of betrayal, the destruction of the most-basic
trust. A father always protected his children, he cared for them,
he
never
harmed them.

"For his crimes the Emperor was executed and
his family stripped of their right to ever rule the Tornian Empire
again. The Assembly of Lords convened and Wyck Vasteri of House
Vasteri was chosen as Emperor."

“Tell me they made him suffer.” The
fierceness of Kim’s tone surprised Wray, as did the hardness that
filled her wet eyes. “Emperor Lucan, tell me his death was slow and
painful, that they made him suffer as much as his females did.”

“They did.” Wray assured her and saw a new
side of Kim, one that was more warrior than female. She would
punish Lucan herself if he were here.

“Good,” Kim nodded. “It couldn’t have been
enough. It could never have been enough.”

“No, it couldn’t have.” Wray agreed and was
silent for several minutes before continuing. “It was believed that
our punishment would appease the Goddess… we were wrong.” He said
tiredly.

“What did she do to the Tornians?” Kim found
it hurt to see him so disheartened.

“She made it so more and more males were
presented.” He told her quietly.

Kim looked at him, trying to understand why
that was such a bad thing. A man… male on Earth always seemed to
want a son.

“Males now outnumber females, two hundred to
one.”

“What?” Kim quickly did the math, at two
hundred to one she would have been one of only two girls in their
graduating class.

“The Goddess decided that since we didn’t
appreciate her gift of life she would remove what presented it. She
did it slowly. So we would suffer the way the Emperor’s females
had.”

“The great infection."

"Yes," Wray nodded, "and it spread throughout
the known universes, affecting every species differently, but its
effects have devastated the Tornians, Ganglians and
Kaliszians."

“Why them?”

“One of the Emperor’s closest friends was a
Ganglian. He guarded the door and watched while the females were
abused. So the Goddess punished them all by only allowing them to
find their release while inflicting great pain.” Wray instantly
wanted to pull back his words. He hadn’t meant to remind her of
what had happened to her with the telling of his story, but he saw
that he had.

“Yeah, I discovered that.” Kim hugged her
knees to her chest and resting her chin on them tried to block out
the pain the Ganglians had caused.

“I am sorry
,
Kim, I
never meant….”

“Finish it.” She demanded hoarsely, closing
her eyes.

Wray closed the distance between them, but
stopped just short of touching her. He hated that his careless
words had caused her pain. All of this was common knowledge for a
Tornian, but he had forgotten that it wasn’t for her. “A Kaliszian
discovered what was happening, but instead of stopping it, he used
that knowledge to work out a new trade treaty with the Emperor,
trading their excess food supplies for his silence. That is why
nearly every food bearing plant in their Universe has become
extinct. They must now rely on the Tornian Empire to feed their
people.”

“Why do you help them? Why don’t you treat
them as you do the Ganglians?” Kim whispered.

Wray strained to hear her words and found he
was ashamed of the reason. “Because we need their energy crystals
and the jewels our females demand for Joining.”

Opening her eyes, Kim found Wray had slid
across the blanket to her side, his eyes full of concern and
regret. She could feel how much he hurt for her and somehow it
helped drive back the worst of the pain. Turning her head to the
side, she tried to understand everything he had told her.

Centuries ago, a man had raped his daughters.
He had been punished and died for his crimes, but the repercussions
were still being felt by his people and by her, because
he
was the reason she had been raped. She wanted to be strong about
this, wanted to rise above what had happened to her, but she just
couldn’t and her tears started to flow. It was too much, too soon,
t
o
o fresh... maybe it always would be.

Wray watched helplessly as the tears Kim had
so bravely fought to hold back, overflowed her beautiful green eyes
and he could feel her pain as if it were his own. “Kim…” was all he
said and opened his arms.

Kim found herself diving into the comfort and
safety Wray offered. She felt like she was breaking into a million
pieces and she didn’t know how to stop it. Didn’t know how to put
herself back together. “I’m sorry.” She whispered against his
chest.

“You have nothing to be sorry for Kim. You
have every right to cry.” He encouraged not knowing where his words
were coming from. When Adana had become upset, he had been grateful
she secluded herself in her rooms. But not with Kim, with Kim he
wanted to be there for her, wanted to comfort her, hold her and
make everything right. “I am here
,
Kim,
you cry all you want. I have you and you are safe.” He promised as
he gently rocked her.

Wray didn’t know how long he sat there
rocking her, absorbing her pain as her tears ran down his chest.
All he knew was it seemed like a lifetime before her sobs lessened
and the tears ceased. When he felt her go lax in his arms, he
looked down and found she’d fallen into an exhausted sleep.

Kim just shook her head as her parents
waltzed around the kitchen to their favorite Neil Diamond song.
This always happened, no matter where they were, no matter what
they were doing, when they heard this song, they danced. Her
parents were such goofs.

"What are you smirking at over
there
,
Kimmy?" her father asked as he
dipped her mother.

"You two.” She said, sitting on a stool by
the island. “How many years have you been doing this?"

"Close to thirty years," he replied,
"
I
t was the first song your mom and I ever
danced to."

"At the fall dance our freshman year." Her
mother said, smiling up her father. "You cut in on Jerry
Thomas."

"Damn straight, that guy had two left feet. I
had to save your pretty toes."

"My hero." she gushed as he twirled her.

“Always
,
babe.”

The image merged into Jen and Todd dancing at
their wedding. They looked so happy, so in love with Jen in her
white mermaid-wedding gown and Todd in his white fitted tuxedo.
Soon her parents joined them on the dance floor and they
danced.

Kim moved to the floor to join them, her date
following close behind, but when she turned, it wasn’t John who
held her hand. It was stinky bastard.

“No!” she screamed ripping her hand away, but
he just hissed at her, laughing as his claws shredded her dress and
he threw her to the ground. Turning to her family for help, she
found them gone, replaced by two little girls with the saddest
eyes.

"No one ever helps you." The older one
said.

"They just lie and use you." The younger one
continued.

"You can't trust
any
of them." They
said together.

“No!” Kim screamed again. She refused to go
through this again. Either she killed stinky bastard or he killed
her. Reaching up, she clawed at his eyes.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

“Kim!” Wray pulled her hands from his face,
not feeling the sting of the nails raking his cheek, his entire
being focused on her. “Kim! Stop!” he said, pinning her hands to
his chest. “Wake up!” he said giving her a shake. “Wake up
now
,
Kim!” he ordered.

The eyes that snapped open at his command
were wild, unseeing and full of fear. It made his heart ache to see
her like this. “I am here
,
Kim.” He
whispered to her. “Me. Wray. Just me. Come back to me
,
little one.” He pleaded and watched as she blinked
and her eyes slowly began to focus.

“Wray?” she asked instinctively looking to
him.

“Yes
,
little one.
It’s me. You are safe. My vow.” He said it as he wrapped his arms
around her and pulled her against his chest, rocking her. Goddess
she scared him.

"What happened?" she mumbled into his
chest.

"You had a nightmare
,
little one."

“A nightmare?" she frowned at him, then it
all came rushing back to her and she started to tremble. "I was
dreaming about my sister’s wedding... Everyone was dancing, mom and
dad, Jen and Todd. I was going out to join them, but when I turned
it wasn’t John beside me, it was stinky bastard.”

“He’s dead
,
Kim. He
can’t hurt you anymore.” He told her running a reassuring hand up
and down her back.

“He laughed at me
,
Wray,” tears filled her eyes as she looked up at him. “
A
s he ripped my dress off, he laughed and there was no
one there to stop him.”

“It was not real
,
Kim.”

“They said no one would ever help me. That
they would just lie to me and use me. That I couldn’t trust
anyone.”

“Who said that?” he demanded angrily. No one
told lies to his Kim.

“Lucan’s daughters. They just stood there,”
her eyes pleading with him to help her understand, “watching. They
said no one would ever help me.”

“They were wrong
,
Kim.” He denied, instantly realizing that some evil had tried to
poison her mind. He didn’t know how
or
why
and he didn’t car
e. H
e wouldn’t allow it.
“I am here. I’ll help you.”

"I..." she trembled as she looked at him,
trying to shake off the fear that gripped her. She knew this male,
knew he would never hurt her. How? She wasn’t sure, but she knew it
the same way she’d known that Warrior wouldn’t hurt her. Some
things were just known. Something didn’t want her to believe in
him, didn’t want her to trust him. Why?

“You need rest
,
Kim.” Wray told her.

“I don’t want to sleep. I… oh my
God
,
what happened to your face?” she
asked finally seeing the angry red streaks that ran down one
cheek.

“It is nothing
,
little one.” He pulled her more firmly into his embrace. “You can
rest. I will be here.”

“Stop that.” She said and reached up to grip
his chin. Forcing his face to the side, she inspected the marks,
then gasped when she realized they perfectly matched her
fingers.

"It's alright
,
Kim."
Wray said gently, pulling his chin away.

"I did that to you…" she whispered, her eyes
filling again.

"You were dreaming. You did not mean to, I
know this
,
little one." Wray needed her to
know he didn't blame her that it was okay. He also wanted to take
that devastated look from her face. "You are very strong when you
are upset
,
little one." He found himself
trying to tease a smile out of her. "I will have to remember that
in the future."

"It's not funny
,
Wray." Her eyes flew to his beautiful gray ones. "I was trying to
scratch stinky bastard's eyes out."

"And you would have. But I am not him." He
told her wanting to make sure she knew he would never harm her like
that.

"I know that." Kim said in a putout voice.
"You're nothing like stinky bastard. You're not anything like Lucan
either."

"You truly believe that?" he asked softly, a
strange feeling starting to grow in his chest.

"I do," she looked up at him and wanted him
to know the rest. "I trust you
,
Wray."

"You trust me..." the feeling expanded. She
trusted him.
Kim
trusted
him
. Wray. Because of his
actions, not because of his title.