Upon recognizing the second voice, Comron’s eyes fluttered open. Count Recaban stared back at him with blank violet eyes. A bright light shone over his shoulder. There was a sterile feel to the room, though the smell of stale mint and rubber permeated it, and there were several comp-screens all lifeless and covered in a thick film of dust.
A medical facility! Had Vaush managed to bargain for his life with her own? Was she already dead? He groaned in his anguish, unwilling to accept the reality that his restored health had come at such a horrific price. When he struggled to sit up, he discovered that he was securely bound to a lounging chair.
“We don’t have much time, so I’m only going to ask you this once,” Recaban said, placing a hand on the headrest of Comron’s chair. “The men who made off with the girl, who were they working for?”
Vaush was alive and on the run! The thought filled him with such a delirious degree of joy he began to wonder if Recaban had injected him with some sort of psychotropic drug to make him talk. But what of the identity of these men who’d made off with her? It had to be the ally the Murkudahl had spoken of.
A high-pitched buzzing noise caught his attention. He turned to Recaban and saw the gleaming medical device in his hand. “I made a deal to hand you over to your father alive, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make you beg for death first.”
“I don’t know anything, Recaban,” Comron answered tersely, wondering why Vaush would go with these strangers and leave him to Recaban’s mercy. He remembered lying critically injured and dying. Vaush had been weeping profusely and insisting she’d rather die than leave him. So where are you now?
As frustration mounted, he tested the restraints and sensed that if he tried hard enough he could break free. Then he would go in search of answers to the questions threatening to drive him mad.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused me?” Recaban asked in a clipped tone.
Assuming it was a rhetorical question, Comron remained silent, gauging his time to test his theory concerning the restraints. Recaban touched the control panel and Comron’s chair slowly began to rise to an upright position. He observed for the first time that all of his scars appeared to have been healed, and his skin had a healthy, radiant glow. Again, he considered the dire straits he’d been in after the fall and that he now felt better than he ever had in his life. What had they done to him? The equipment in the room obviously hadn’t been touched in years and even the best of medical care wouldn’t have left him in such remarkable condition so soon after treatment. Such a rapid recovery was medically impossible!
“Of course you do.” Recaban paced before him. “You sat in on all the meetings where the plans were being formulated. You heard all the negotiations, all the favors being called in to accomplish this colossal task.” He stopped in front of Comron, glaring at him. “The whole time, you had your own agenda, your own plans. Didn’t you?” he snapped.
Comron quickly appraised the man and instinctively knew he had nothing to fear from him. Recaban’s emotions were palpable; his disposition clearly belied his fear, anger, and desperation. He needed Comron alive and well to recoup his losses. No, he wouldn’t harm a hair on Comron’s head.
“Did you hire them directly? Are you collaborating with a world from the hinterlands?”
When Comron made no answer, Recaban’s mouth twisted sardonically. “Whatever the case, they obviously had no more use for you. I couldn’t believe it when my men told me they found the great Prince of Nethic lying in a trash heap, abandoned like a bad habit.” The thought seemed to amuse him immensely. “Please tell me you didn’t turn traitor for love. It’s just too ironic, not to mention pathetic.”
Again, Comron’s emotions churned and the question tormented him. Why did Vaush leave him? Surely, she was taken by force. There could be no other explanation. Now anger surged through him. Who were these men, and what were their intentions with his wife? A vein throbbed at his temple, and he gritted his teeth as a strange energy flowed through him.
“Ah, seems I’ve touched a nerve there.” Recaban forced a laugh. “All your duplicity for nothing. And now that Thalonius knows what you’ve done, Nethic will pay dearly for your foolish gamble.”
“When will my father arrive?” he asked, thrusting aside Recaban’s taunts and focusing on the fact that Vaush was still out there alive eluding all the traps set for her. Was she well on her way to Novoxos? Did she even know he was still alive?
Glancing at his chronometer, Recaban replied, “I expect him any moment now.”
“Whatever Crausin is offering you, I’ll double it.”
Recaban scoffed. “You can’t offer what you don’t have.”
“You crave your place amongst the aristocracy. What better way than to earn the good graces of the new empress?”
Recaban laughed again. “She’s never going to reach Novoxos. She’s merely bought herself some time.”
But Comron could hear the doubt in his voice and see it in his eyes. “She has eluded capture for days, and now there’s a powerful new player on the scene who means to see her on the throne. This is the pivotal moment, Recaban, when you decide if you will be the recipient of her gratitude or her ill-will.”
Recaban frowned condescendingly. “Did you miss the part where she abandoned you in favor of her powerful new friends? The only thing I’ll earn by freeing you is your father’s retribution. No, I’m handing you over to the duke.”
“Think about it, Recaban,” Comron said, endeavoring to keep the impatience out of his voice. “My back was broken in a fall, that’s the condition in which they’d found me. In the midst of a heavy battle, I would have been nothing but dead weight to them. They obviously made a tactical decision and forced Vaush to go with them.”
“And then what?” he laughed scornfully. “The gods reached down and graced you with a miraculous healing?”
Comron realized that in light of his sterling condition, the assertion would seem ludicrous. Even he had difficulty believing it.
Recaban snickered. “What really happened? Did they dope you with something and then make off with the girl while you were out? Face it, Van Laven, their plans for her simply didn’t involve you. You’re lucky they didn’t kill you.”
Perhaps they would have if they believed he was still alive. Regardless, he could see that there would be no convincing Recaban of the truth. And what was the truth? How had his back been repaired? It was as if some strange alien technology far beyond their comprehension had been used on him to—
The Murkudahl! Vaush said they’d been following them the whole time, and they’d given her the essence. Was it possible they’d administered some to him as well?
His heart began to pound wildly and his thoughts began to race. Why would they help him? He’d shown himself to be no friend of the Murkudahl the way Vaush had. They’d never interfered to help them before. He closed his eyes and thought back to his final moments with Vaush. She had been shouting at him, ordering him to do something. He remembered a strong sweet-salty taste in his mouth, then ….
His eyes went wide. It was Vaush, not the Murkudahl, who had given him the essence. She must have had more of it, or maybe she’d given him some of her blood. It was the only explanation that made any sense. But what happened afterward? Why was he here in Recaban’s custody and Vaush gone? She had to have been taken against her will. He had to find her!
Time alone was what he needed now to work himself free of the bindings. “Recaban, I don’t intend to tell you a damned thing and you’re not about to start torturing it out of me with my father due here any second. So do us both a favor and find some other way to amuse yourself until he gets here.”
Recaban’s mouth turned down, and he spoke in a mocking tone, “Oh, look at you, still regarding me as the shite you scrape off the bottom of your boots. You need to understand that the only reason you’re still breathing is because your father, the pompous ass, paid an exorbitant price for your pathetic life. I’m the on
e who holds the power here, not you.”
“And yet you still manage to carry yourself like the miserable little dung rat you’ve always been,” Comron said cavalierly. “Now do as I say and leave me.”
When Recaban raised his hand to strike, Comron lifted his chin in defiance. “Do your worst you putrid bag of shite.”
They both turned at the sound of the door opening. One of Recaban’s men popped his head in and motioned to him. Recaban spoke to him for a moment then cast a baleful look at Comron. “Your father is here to take you home. But know this—our business is not over, not by a long shot.”
CHAPTER 60
When grief finally gave way to exhaustion, Vaush slept and dreamed of life prior to Patheis. It was a fulfilling life, traveling the system with her trusted guard, using her time and talents to help establish medical centers for communities in need and setting up programs to improve the economic plight of struggling communities. Her muted passion was to know that, at the end of it all, the world was a better place for her having existed.
Though she’d kept herself far too busy and productive to give it much consideration, she imagined that, at some point, she would meet a man who shared her passion and they would build a life together. Dr. Grantham had come closest to fulfilling that dream but, in the end, she discovered she desired more than simply the male version of herself. She wanted someone who was different. Someone who would set her world on fire, who could inspire and challenge her in ways that would push her boundaries and make her soar to heights unimagined. She needed, in a word, Comron.
Her eyes fluttered open, and it took her a moment to focus in the dark cabin. Disoriented, she pushed herself up from the cot she’d slept upon. Like a flash flood, the memories came rushing back and the agony hit her anew. Comron is dead! But this time, no new tears would flow. She was drained, emptied of everything with nothing left to give.
She rubbed at her eyes, knowing they must be red and swollen. Again, she gazed around the dark cabin and wondered where the soldiers had gone. The vehicle was motionless and silent. Had they reached their destination? If so, why was she still on board? She checked her wrist chronometer. Not nearly enough time had passed for them to have reached Novoxos. Not that it mattered, not that anything mattered. Comron was gone.
And that’s when she realized that the true tragedy of flying so high was the inevitable fall. Was the pain worth it? Was the brief time she’d spend with him worth the agony she’d carry with her for the rest of her life?
What life? The Murkudahl Karukii were on their way with nothing but utter destruction on their minds, and she was at the top of their list. Only I won’t be the one wearing the crown when they arrive. Let them have Thalonius. Still her sense of moral obligation compelled her to give a word of warning to any who would listen. She would do this one last thing for humanity even though the thing that meant everything to her had been cruelly ripped from her, leaving nothing but a gaping black void.
She pulled the blanket off her legs and sat up. Despite her mental condition, she felt vibrant and full of energy. Rubbing her legs, she thought, if only I’d given him the essence sooner, he might still be alive. She swallowed a lump in her throat.
She stood before the bitterness started gnawing at her again. The cabin began to feel too small. Cautiously, she walked toward the doorway to the cockpit. With senses heightened, she heard voices as she approached the closed door.
“… him myself.”
“We’re all too familiar with the sight of death. There’s no doubt in my mind the man was dead.” She recognized Captain Sheldon Yaeger’s voice.
“There’s no medical science I know of that brings stiffs back from the dead.”
Vaush scowled, surmising they referred to Comron.
“I don’t know what to do with this information.”
“Cap’n, you’re not going to tell her? That’ll only jeopardize our mission.”
Vaush’s curiosity was piqued.
“She’s going to find out eventually.”
“Not necessarily. He may be alive now, but when Recaban gets through with him, he’s as good as dead.”
Both men nearly jumped out of their skin when Vaush burst into the room.
“What are you talking about?” she asked with eyes full of desperate hope.
They both rose to their feet. “My lady, I didn’t realize you’d awakened.”
“Obviously,” she replied. “Now answer my question.”
Lepkin stared daggers at Sheldon and shook his head once. Sheldon hesitated. There was such pleading in her expression, and she had certainly heard enough to know the answer to her question.
“You need to understand that nothing can alter our mission,” Yaeger said. “We must deliver you to Novoxos, and nothing’s going to stop that.”
She nodded anxiously.
“We’ve received word that Lord Comron Van Laven is alive.”
She clasped her hands over her mouth, stifling a cry. She wanted to ask how that could be but she knew the answer. The essence had saved him. It had needed time to infiltrate his system, but it worked. Comron was alive!
“We’ve got to go back for him,” she blurted excitedly.
“The only place we’re going is Novoxos, just as soon as our transport arrives,” Lepkin sternly replied.
Vaush turned to Sheldon. “I heard him say that Recaban has him. He’s going to kill him unless we do something.”
“He’s not our mission, Cap’n.”
“But you left him for dead when there was still hope, didn’t you?” she fired at Lepkin.
“We didn’t leave him for dead; he was dead. I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but it’s not our problem.”
“You believe I’m your future empress, well I’m giving you an order—
“You’re not the empress yet, your highness,” Lepkin shot back. “Until then, we only take orders from our commander.”
Vaush looked to Sheldon, who listened in silence. She sensed that he had the authority to override the orders. “Please, you’ve got to help him.”
Sheldon shook his head. “I’m sorry, but our orders are to deliver you to Novoxos, nothing more.”
Vaush felt rage building within her. Her hands trembled at her side. They were going to stand by idly and let him die—again.
She used the only bargaining chip she had. “I’m not going anywhere with you unless Lord Comron comes with us.”
Lepkin smirked, but Vaush sent him such a look, it chased his expression away.
“If you’re too big a coward to go get him, I’ll do it myself,” she said, turning on her heel. She took one step before Lepkin was upon her, grasping her arm. Without thinking, Vaush grabbed his wrist and gave it a fierce twist. They all heard it snap.
“Ahhh!” Lepkin cried out as he held his injured wrist.
Vaush was already at the door. Temporarily distracted with Lepkin, Sheldon turned his attention to Vaush as she struggled with the locked hatch. Just then, two more soldiers emerged into the cabin from the stern.
“Get her!” Lepkin yelled, motioning with his good hand.
“Hold!” Sheldon ordered.
“She broke my wrist!”
“Serves you right.” He glared at Lepkin but spoke to the room. “Touch her again and I’ll break your other wrist.”
Vaush stopped struggling with the door and looked at him. “Release the hatch.”
“Vaush,” Sheldon said, approaching slowly, “I cannot permit you to leave.”
She gazed about the room, sizing up the men. She felt the adrenaline coursing through her body, but she didn’t know if her newfound power would be enough to overcome them. Furthermore, if she was to storm Recaban’s fortress, she was going to need a small army to accompany her. It would not serve her purpose to make enemies of these men.
Again, she appealed to Sheldon. “Please help me. Don’t leave him to die.”
Sheldon’s jaw clenched as he looked from Vaush to his men.
“He gave his life to save mine. That’s why he was lying there. So how can I abandon him now?” she exclaimed passionately. Not one of them would meet her eyes. “What if it were one of your men back there who had sacrificed himself for you? Would you just leave him in the hands of the enemy to be brutally tortured and killed?” she asked scornfully.
Sheldon’s eyes remained lowered. “We can’t jeopardize our mission.” He looked directly at her. “I’m sorry.”
Her hazel eyes blazed as she trembled with fury. “Don’t be sorry, just open the fucking door!” she screamed and kicked the door so hard the entire vessel shook. Seizing the opportunity, they leapt upon her, knocking her to the floor. She fought madly and it took their combined strength to subdue her.
Angry tears streamed down her face. She caught sight of Sheldon poised over her with a syringe. “You have no honor. You’d leave a great warrior behind to die needlessly at the hands of maggots,” she accused. “May your towering cowardice haunt you every waking day of your life!” she declared as if calling down a dreadful curse upon them all.
Sheldon froze in position.
Do it,” insisted Lepkin. “Sedate her.”
But Vaush held Sheldon’s gaze, hoping to appeal to his soldier’s sense of honor.
Sheldon finally spoke. “Will you promise me, that if I stay behind to retrieve Lord Comron, you will go with my men to Novoxos, no matter what the outcome?”
“What?” exclaimed Lepkin, joined by the astonished stares of the other men.
Vaush nodded eagerly.
“I have your word?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He sighed and then pulled back. “Let her up.”
“This is not part of the mission,” Lepkin argued. The other men held their position.
“Our mission is to deliver her to Novoxos. If I’m not back by rendezvous time, you leave without me.”
“This is crazy, just sedate her and we leave!”
“Yeah, captain,” the others echoed, not wishing to see their commander put himself in peril.
“My decision is final. Now let her up!” he barked, causing the men to instantly release her and withdraw.