"Truth?"
"Yes. I came to see why her heart rate had increased, but as soon as you moved closer and put your hand on the dome, it returned to normal."
"It did?"
"Yes."
"What am I to do, Luol?" Nikhil finally pulled his gaze from Mackenzie, and Luol saw the anguish in them.
"What do you mean?"
"How can someone as large and clumsy as me," he said, looking at his massive hands and thick fingers, "be responsible for a being as small and fragile as my Mackenzie?"
"First of all, yes, you are large, Nikhil. That is undeniable. But clumsy? I have seen you train, and you are always very precise and are always in control. You are not clumsy."
"I am around females... our females and they are so much bigger than my True Mate."
"Then you and she will have to find a way to make it work because the Goddess would never bless you with a True Mate that was not perfect for you. Have faith, Nikhil."
"I scare many females, Luol."
"For some reason, I don't think you will scare this one. Here." Luol slid a chair up to him. "Sit. Talk to her."
"Talk to her?" Nikhil gave the Healer a confused look.
"We've already established that she can hear you and that she reacts to what you are saying and feeling. She needs to know she's safe and not alone, and I believe you are the only one that makes her feel that way."
Slowly, Nikhil sat, the chair creaking from his weight and asked. "What am I supposed to talk to her about?"
"I don't know. Anything, everything. Tell her about yourself, about what matters to you, what's important to you. It will come to you." Dimming the lights slightly, Luol left them alone.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Nikhil looked down at the tiny figure lying so still and wondered what he was to say. He rarely spoke to females, except his mother and sisters, because they all took one look at him and hurried the other way. He'd even had males step between him and a female as if they thought he would harm her by just walking by. The few times a female had offered him her friendship there hadn't been much talking. Where to start?
"Hello, Little One. It seems I have forgotten all the manners my mother worked so hard to instill in me. I asked your name but never told you mine. I am Elite Warrior Nikhil Kozar of the Kaliszian Empire." He shook his head when he found himself pausing, waiting for her response.
"I am the Warrior who found you. In the mine. Do you remember the mine?" Nikhil could have kicked himself for saying that when she jerked and cried out softly. Of course, she remembered the mine.
"Calm, Little One. You are safe. My vow." He consciously forced his hand to relax when the dome creaked slightly from his hand pressing against it, trying to soothe her.
"I am sorry. I did not mean to upset you. I am not used to talking to females, especially one as beautiful as you." Nikhil knew if anyone heard him right then they would have thought him crazy, for the little female lying still once again was currently anything but beautiful. Her hair was a dirty tangled mess, with dried blood and who knew what else in it. And while the swelling had gone down on her face, it was still filthy and bruised. Her coverings were nearly non-existent, revealing the harsh conditions she'd survived. Layers of the dark, gritty dust the mines produced covered her body. There was only one thin trail that revealed her true skin tone, and it ran from the corner of her eye and disappeared into her hair. His heart stopped for a moment, then tried to pound out of his chest as he realized what had created that line. A tear. Her tear. He would make sure she never cried one again.
No, no one looking at her now would think she was beautiful, but she was to Nikhil. She was here, and she was his.
His True Mate.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Gryf walked into the medical wing, surprised to find Healer Luol treating one of his Warriors.
"What happened to you, Warrior Onp?" he demanded.
"Just a cut, Commander. Part of the ceiling gave way from a Zaludian blaster shot. The portable repair unit pretty much took care of it. Healer Luol is just making sure."
"Luol?"
"He'll be fine, Commander."
"Good." Gryf's gaze traveled around the medical unit. "Where's the female?"
"Still in the deep-repair unit," Luol told him, his gaze still on Onp.
"Still? It's been hours." Gryf didn't try to hide his shock. "We have other survivors that need the unit."
"They will have to wait. She was in terrible shape, and as I have never treated one like her before, I refuse to overwhelm her system with everything she needs at once. How she has survived this long, only the Goddess knows." Luol looked to Onp. "Rest that overnight, and by tomorrow, it will be fine." Nodding his understanding, Onp rose and left the room.
"Did she say anything?" Gryf asked once they were alone again.
"No, she's been unconscious the whole time. There is something you should know though, Commander."
"What?"
"She wears Nikhil's True Mate bead."
"What?!! Impossible!" Luol just raised an eyebrow at him. "Show me!" Gryf ordered.
Luol led the Commander into the darkened room that contained the deep-repair unit. He understood Gryf's disbelief, and if he hadn't witnessed it himself, Luol knew he would be just as disbelieving. Ashe's were precious enough to a Kaliszian. Finding one meant the male could have healthy offspring with her. Something that wasn't possible with every female a male gave his seed to. But if one of them were to die, the survivor could still carry on, might even find another Ashe or Dasho.
A True Mate was something entirely different. True Mates were the greatest gift the Goddess could give a Kaliszian. The bond would bind them together for life. If one died, the other would soon follow.
It was whispered that with just a look, True Mates could know what the other was thinking. With just a touch, could feel what the other was feeling. It was whispered because, since the start of the Great Infection, there hadn't been a single pair of True Mates.
"Why is the room darkened?" Gryf demanded.
Luol just shrugged, and turned the lights up slightly, "It seemed appropriate."
Gryf slowly walked across the room, his gaze moving from the tiny body in the repair unit to the enormous one sitting next to it, a giant hand seemingly touching the still one. "Squad Leader."
Slowly, Nikhil looked away from his True Mate to Gryf. "Commander," he said, not rising in respect to Gryf's higher position, and Gryf's eyes widened slightly. Nikhil was always respectful.
"What is going on here, Squad Leader? I gave you permission to bring the female to the Healer, not to remain. Why have you not returned to your duties?"
"I couldn't leave her. She needs me," the quiet words shocked Gryf as did the look in the much larger male's eyes. Nikhil rarely showed much emotion. He was the strongest and most silent of the Elite Warriors. He never gave away what he truly thought, but right now his eyes screamed for Gryf's understanding.
"She has Healer Luol," Gryf told him harshly. "You are not required here. You will return to your duties."
"No! I won't leave her! She is my True Mate and she is injured!" Nikhil's voice rose as he did, his fist clenching as he tried to control his rage.
"You will do as I ordered..."
A gut-wrenching scream had all the males freezing, and Luol running to the repair unit. Inside the unit, the female was violently thrashing her arms, hitting the dome while her feet kicked.
"Luol! What is going on?" Nikhil questioned.
"She's scared out of her mind," Luol told him looking at the readings. "You are angry, and speaking a language she doesn't understand? Talk to her before she injures herself."
"Little One. Calm. Please calm."
"In Zaludian, Nikhil!" Luol ordered, and Nikhil immediately complied, but it didn't seem to help.
"Luol. Help her!" Nikhil begged.
"I can't give her halcyon. I don't know what affect it will have on one so small. It could kill her. She needs you, Ni
khil. Get ready."
"Get ready? Ready for what?"
"I'm ending the treatment, and I am going to open the dome. It will be up to you to subdue her."
"Subdue?"
"Calm her! Hold her! She needs your touch. You are the only one she knows." Pressing the release, the dome opened, and Nikhil was there, caging the thrashing bundle in with his massive arms and chest, grunting slightly at the strength of the blows she was landing. His True Mate might be small, but even in this condition, she was a fighter.
"Calm, Little One," he whispered in Zaludian, his lips grazing the delicate shell of her ear. "I'm here, Mackenzie. I've got you. All is fine. There is nothing to fear. My vow."
With each statement, the bundle beneath him struggled a little less until she finally stilled. Nikhil lifted his head to find confused, dark brown eyes gazing up at him.
"It is alright, Mackenzie. I am sorry I frightened you. It was not my intent. It will never be my intent."
"Ni... Nikhil?" came the broken whisper.
"Yes, Little One." Nikhil's voice broke slightly, realizing she had heard him speaking to her. "I am Nikhil. You are Mackenzie, and you are safe."
"The Zaludians?"
"Will never harm you again." He watched her lick her dry lips.
"How long have I been here?" she asked.
"You arrived over six hours ago."
"What about the others? What about J..." she trailed off, and Nikhil turned his head to look at Gryf.
"The other ten human males are here."
"Ten...” she whispered.
"Should there be more?"
"No." Her quick response had all three males frowning, but before Gryf could ask anything else, a cough racked her small body.
"Water!" Nikhil ordered, then carefully helped her sit up and placed the glass, Luol had brought, to her lips.
The first sip tasted like ambrosia to Mac, and she quickly covered the large hand holding the glass with both of hers, trying to tip it higher. Some of it ran down her chin as she greedily gulped it down.
"Easy, Little One, there is plenty."
"How long has it been since you've had water?" Luol asked quietly.
"I don't know. Since the Zaludians discovered me."
"How long ago was that? How long have you been on Pontus? Where did the Zaludians find you?" Gryf's rapid-fire questions had the glass slipping from Mac's hands as she sank deeper into Nikhil's embrace, trembling.
"Enough, Commander!" Nikhil ordered, catching the glass. "You're scaring her."
"I must agree with Squad Leader Kozar, Commander. She has only just regained consciousness and is not yet ready to answer questions. Maybe tomorrow, after she's eaten, rested, and cleansed."
Gryf opened his mouth to argue, when one of the energy crystals flared slightly, reflecting off Nikhil's True Mate bead in her hair. Snapping his mouth shut, he turned on his heel and stormed out.
Mac exhaled the breath, she hadn't known she'd been holding, when the one Nikhil called Commander had started firing questions at her. His eyes seemed to burn as he looked at her. Why? What had she ever done to him?
"Ignore Commander Gryf, Ashe Mackenzie," Luol reassured her gently. “His anger is not because of you."
"Then why? He seemed so angry at me."
"It is a story for another time. Now, Nikhil, if you will lay her back down, I would like to make sure she hasn't harmed herself."
"No!" Mac clenched at the black vest that attempted to cover Nikhil's chest.
"Ashe Mackenzie, I will not harm you."
"No! I'm not going to be restrained again! I'm not going to be poked and prodded again!"
"No, Mackenzie, no! My vow! Luol would never harm you that way!" Nikhil told her.
"Your Dasho is correct, Ashe Mackenzie. I would never harm you," Luol tried to reassure her, taking a step back to show he was no threat.
"I... I don't understand. I thought your name was Nikhil, not Dasho. And I know my name is Mackenzie Wharton. Not Ashe Mackenzie."
"It is a sign of respect for a Kaliszian," Luol quickly said, when he saw Nikhil didn't know what to say, deciding not to tell her it was a respect only given to a female wearing a male's Ashe bead or True Mate bead. "I do not know what it translates into your native language."
"Oh."
"May I use this to examine you?" Luol held up the handheld unit. It couldn't treat her as well as the deep-repair unit, but it would be better than doing nothing, and it would, at least, tell him if she had severely damaged herself.
"What are you going to do with it?" she asked.
"Just run it over you like this." He demonstrated by turning on the unit and holding it several inches above his arm and ran it along it. "It causes no pain."
She looked like she was about to refuse when Nikhil spoke.
"Please, Mackenzie. You can stay in my arms. I need to know that I have not harmed you."
Mac found she had to tip her face up, and up, and up to look into Nikhil's worried face, his eyes glowing with concern. "Why would you think you had hurt me?"
"Be... because I caged you under me, just to make sure you didn't harm yourself," he quickly added. "I am very large and..."
"You didn't hurt me, Nikhil," she frowned remembering how panicked she'd been. "If I remember it correctly, I was hitting you! Did I hurt you?"
The question stunned Nikhil. No one had ever worried about hurting him before. With that one question, he started to fall in love with his True Mate.
"I am fine, Little One." Carefully he reached up, touching her cheek, and was amazed when she tipped her head silently accepting his touch.
Luol clearing his throat had them both looking toward him. "May I?" he asked, lifting the handheld unit.
Nikhil looked down at the female that was quickly becoming his whole world. He needed her to know that he would always protect her, always put her needs first. "It is up to you, Mackenzie. I know you have been through a great deal and are still unsure of all that has occurred. But I need you to know that I would never allow anything to be done to you that would cause harm."
"If I didn't want..." she gestured to Luol, her eyes returning to Nikhil.
"Scanned," he filled in the word she was searching for, "then no, I wouldn't force you to have it done."
"But you would like me to."
"I would very much like to know that you are unharmed."
"And it won't hurt?"
"No, Mackenzie, it won't."
Mac silently stared up at Nikhil. She really didn't know him, but for some reason she trusted him, and that was saying something after all that had happened to her. He was telling her what he preferred while still giving her a choice.
"Alright," she finally said. "He can scan me."
"Thank you, Little One." Nikhil found his head lowering. He wanted to kiss her so badly, to give her what he had given no other female, but he knew it was too soon. He settled for resting his forehead against hers. "It means a great deal to me that you would trust me in this."
"If you would lean back slightly, Nikhil, I will begin my scan."
Mac stiffened slightly as the machine began to hum. Feeling it, Nikhil tried to distract her. "Will you tell me where you are from?" he asked quietly.
"Earth."
"Earth?" he raised his eyes to Luol and saw his head move ever so slightly, indicating the Healer had never heard of the planet.
"Yes. You've heard of it?"
"No, Little One, I'm sorry, but I haven't."
"Really? But..." Mac didn't know why those simple words hit her so hard, but suddenly she felt her breath catch, and her eyes began to well up. It all became too much. Whatever had been holding her together, keeping her strong, was suddenly gone, and she broke down in his arms.
Nikhil looked to Luol desperately. "Luol..."
"It is to be expected, Nikhil." He turned off the scanner. "She has endured more than any being should and handled it extremely well. But now she doesn't have to. She has you to help her."<
br />
"I would do anything for her."
"Then comfort her. You will know what she needs. What she is ready for. You are her Dasho. She is your Ashe."
"The scan?"
"She has caused herself no further harm. She needs food, rest, to cleanse, but mostly she needs time to heal."
"How do I give her all that?"
Luol looked from the largest, strongest male he had ever met to the smallest, most fragile looking female he'd ever seen and somehow it just seemed right.
"Take her to your quarters, Nikhil."
"What?" Nikhil looked at the Healer in shock. "How can I do that? She needs..."
"She needs you. I have done all I can do for her right now. Her body needs time to absorb the treatment." He switched to Kaliszian. "She is your True Mate, Nikhil. You will always know what she needs. Trust that the Goddess wouldn't have given her to you if you didn't. Take her to your quarters and care for her. Bring her back tomorrow, and I will finish treating her. You know where I am if you need me."
Chapter Three
"How many, Gryf?" Treyvon asked his second as they walked into his Command Center.
"Eight Tafaians, six Nekeokians, three Jerboaians, and ten of the ones that call themselves Humans."
"What about the human female? The one Nikhil found. Is she going to survive?"
"Yes," Gryf told him shortly.
Treyvon sat in his chair. He and Gryf had been serving together since they were young warriors. He knew Gryf's moods, and right now he was struggling.
"What has you so unsettled, Gryf?"
"What?" That Gryf didn't understand the question revealed just how rattled he was.
"What has happened?"
"It's Nikhil," Gryf started.
"Nikhil? What's happened to him?"
"He has found his True Mate."
"What?!!" Treyvon sat straight up disbelievingly.
"The human female. She wears Nikhil's True Mate bead."
"That's not possible! She's not Kaliszian! We don't even know what she is."
"I know, but I saw her react to Nikhil's emotions myself, even though she was unconscious. I saw how he was able to calm her, even in that state." Treyvon silently listened as Gryf continued. "She woke, and seemed to recognize him. I frightened her."