He knew that he didn’t look the same that he did when he first looked in that mirror. He had undergone extensive, painful treatments with Ciyrs in an effort to heal him, and he knew that he had begun to improve. The transformation back wasn’t complete, however, and he didn’t want to see how it had left him. Now, though, he needed to keep going. He couldn’t stop.
Stepping into the infirmary, he saw Elianna checking on one of the wounded hybrids. She smiled down at him and nodded reassuringly before pulling a blanket up to cover his chest where she had just had her hands pressed to his skin. As if she could feel his eyes on her, she looked up at Aegeus. He gestured for her and she approached with a concerned expression on her face.
“Are you alright?” she asked in a low tone.
“Where is Ciyrs?” Aegeus asked.
“He’s in our chamber,” Elianna said, sounding somehow mournful.
“I need him,” Aegeus said. “I want to continue my treatment.”
Elianna nodded and guided him out of the infirmary. They walked in silence to the chamber and Elianna knocked before opening the door to step inside. He saw the Denynso healer sitting in a chair at the far side of the room, his eyes seemingly locked on something unseen in front of him.
“Ciyrs,” Elianna said. “Aegeus is here to talk to you.”
Ciyrs’ head turned to them slowly and for a moment he looked at Aegeus as if he had never seen him.
“I want to continue with my treatment,” Aegeus said, taking a cautious step toward Ciyrs.
“It’s not time,” Ciyrs said.
His voice sounded dry, almost as though he hadn’t used it in years.
“I know,” Aegeus said. “I know that you told me that I should wait for a while before another treatment, but I can’t. I really need to finish this.”
Ciyrs looked back to the space in front of him and shook his head.
“Elianna can do it for you,” he said.
“Ciyrs, I don’t have even a tenth of the power that you do,” Elianna protested. “You can’t do this.”
He didn’t respond and Aegeus saw Elianna stalk across the room to him and crouch down in front of her mate. She grabbed his hands and he adjusted his focus to look into her face.
“I can’t, Elianna,” he said. “I don’t have it in me anymore.”
“Of course, you do,” she said. “I tried to tell you that that woman’s death was not your fault. It has nothing to do with your ability to heal. Look at me. Look into my eyes. I’m alive because of you. Nobody else.”
“So am I,” Aegeus said, walking closer to them. “I wouldn’t have survived much longer in that tank, and I know that I couldn’t have lasted as a Klimnu. You saved me. I’m asking you to finish. Please. I haven’t seen my sons since they were young children, but I know that I will know them as soon as I see them because they are in my heart. I need for them to be able to recognize me, too.”
Ciyrs looked at Aegeus and drew in a breath.
“I don’t know if you will ever be able to fully recover,” he said. “When I healed Maxim, it was only a small part of him that had transformed, and it had taken hold for only a short time. You have been this way for so many years. I don’t know if it is possible to totally change you back.”
“Ryan did everything that he could to try to change me completely. I was tortured. I was subjected to violence and anger. I was fed blood and forced to witness atrocities that I will never be able to forget in an effort to allow the Klimnu toxin to take me over fully and steal who I was. I never let that happen. I fought with everything that I had to preserve what was within me, to always remember who I really am. I might have looked like I was fully mutated. He might have been able to take my body and manipulate it, but there was part of me that Ryan was never able to reach. I know that what is inside me will prevail. I will be restored. But I need your help.”
Elianna looked at Aegeus and then at Ciyrs.
“Could we heal him together?” she asked.
“It could destroy him,” the healer said. “Combining the forces of our healing capabilities would create an energy so intense that it could be too much for his body to withstand. He might not be able to recover from it.”
“I’m willing to risk it,” Aegeus said. “I will endure anything to have a chance at reclaiming my life.”
“Please, Ciyrs,” Elianna said. “This is what you were born to do. You are questioning yourself and your worth as a healer. Let this be your chance to prove that you are still what you have always been. There was nothing that you could do for that woman. You couldn’t save her life. You can give Aegeus back his life.”
Ciyrs turned to look at Aegeus and he drew in a breath, then nodded.
“This will be far more challenging on you than any of the treatments that you have already endured,” he warned.
Aegeus nodded, feeling hope rising in his chest even through the sense of dread that came from thinking of the pain associated with the healing he had already gone through.
“I understand,” he said. “I am willing to face it.”
Ciyrs stood.
“If you’re ready, we can get started.”
“I’m ready.”
Elianna led Aegeus out of the chamber toward one of the elevators and they rode up to the floor above. He knew that this was to isolate them so that no one would hear his cries of pain or come in on the healing. He didn’t care what he had to experience. This was his only chance.
A few minutes after they chose one of the small rooms on this floor Ciyrs arrived carrying the kit that Aegeus knew carried the herbs, ointments, and bandages that he would use in his treatments. Elianna gestured toward the couch in the room, but Ciyrs shook his head.
“He should be on the floor,” he said.
Elianna gathered cushions from the furniture in the room and placed them on the floor. Ciyrs spread out a sheet that he withdrew from his bag and gestured for Aegeus to lie down. Without hesitation, Aegeus removed his shirt and stretched out across the pallet that they had made for him. He rested his head on one of the cushions and closed his eyes. He could hear Ciyrs and Elianna talking to each other in hushed tones, but he didn’t pay attention to what they were saying. His mind had wandered safely away from the room and what he was about to endure back to his home in Uoria, a place that he had thought of throughout his captivity, reaching out to it when he felt himself slipping away so that he could remain grounded, secure in the sights, sounds, and smells of the kingdom, and the touch of those he loved.
Ellora’s face materialized in his mind. It had been so long since he had seen her, he knew that she must look different from the last memory that he had of her. That smile was from the morning when he had left for what would be the battle that would bring him to Earth and to Ryan’s torturous facility. He knew that she was unhappy that he was leaving. She never liked when he was away, especially when she knew that he was going to fight, but he had been confident. The plan that he had built was broken down into its every detail in his mind and he knew that he would be back home in her arms soon, the steps put into action to bring a close to the corruption of the Order and restore peace to Uoria. Carrying this in his heart, he had tucked a finger beneath his wife’s chin and asked her to smile for him. He couldn’t leave without a smile and a kiss to bring into him so that he would always have it with him. That was what he carried in his heart now, that final smile as she waved at him from the door, the sound of their tiny sons playing innocently and peacefully inside drifting out to follow him as he crossed the kingdom to where the rest of the army waited.
It didn’t matter that she would have changed. There was nothing, not even long years and stressful suffering, that would take the beauty from her face and the love that he had from her from within him. The youth might be gone, but she would still be his beloved Ellora, the most incredible woman he had ever known. He could only hope that she had not forgotten him and that when he saw her again, that she might still love him the way that he loved her.
>
Aegeus felt Ciyrs and Elianna come to either side of him and rest down on their knees. There was a moment’s pause and he heard Elianna draw in a slightly shuddering breath. He knew that she was nervous and worried about the warning that Ciyrs had given. It didn’t matter to Aegeus. The risk was by far worth the benefit that he would receive by finally being rid of the Klimnu toxin and being able to live his own life again.
“Are you ready, Aegeus?” Ciyrs asked.
Aegeus kept his eyes closed, but nodded. He focused on relaxing his body fully, knowing that the treatments and healing would flow through his body better and be more effective if his muscles weren’t tensed. The smell of the herbs filled his nose and he focused on Ellora’s face again. An instant later the pain hit him. It seared across his skin from either side and coursed through his body. He wanted to cry out, to thrash against what they were doing, but he didn’t. He forced himself to remain calm and accept the treatment, telling himself that for every second of the pain that he endured, he was another second closer to being himself again.
After a few long seconds of them applying the herbs to his skin, Aegeus heard Ciyrs’s voice.
“We’re going to do the healing now, Aegeus,” he said.
Aegeus opened his eyes, getting one more look at the world through the perspective of the Klimnu, then closed them again.
“I’m ready.”
Chapter Eleven
Samira wrapped her hand thankfully around the cup of coffee that she had dispensed from the machine in the wall and carried it over to the small table tucked against the curved window across the room. She settled onto the thickly cushioned stool on one side and took a long sip of the strong, hot drink, savoring its bitterness as it flowed down her throat and seemed to reinforce her instantly. Across the table Valerie was holding her own cup of coffee, but it remained undrunk as she stared out of the window. It was only darkness beyond, but there was an infinite feeling of the darkness that underscored the depth of space and the sheer distance that they had traveled.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Samira asked.
Valerie jumped slightly as if she hadn’t noticed her daughter come and sit across from her, but then looked at Samira and nodded.
“It really is. I still can’t believe that I’m out here. I never would have imagined that I would leave Earth. Especially like this.”
“How are you feeling about all of this?” Samira asked.
She was worried about her mother. Though she had seen her do things in the last few days that truly astounded her, she was concerned that eventually it would all catch up with her and Valerie wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“About all of what?” Valerie asked.
She turned back to the window and Samira tilted her head at her. She couldn’t tell if Valerie was genuinely asking her what she meant, or if she were trying to avoid the conversation, pushing aside negativity as she did so often before they left Earth. It had been one of her most trusted, and yet most horrifying, defense mechanisms. No matter how cruel her husband became or the hardships that she faced, Valerie would simply pretend that it wasn’t happening. She could close herself off to it and let it wash over her, not reacting to it and not letting it change anything about her life, as if she could keep it from getting any worse or stop it from being truly real if she just kept going forward. Too many times Samira had seen the brutal results of her stepfather’s treatment of her mother as Valerie continued to smile and talk to her as if she were blissfully happy. If she mentioned anything that she had seen, Valerie would look at her as if she had no idea what she was talking about and ask her what she meant. It had gotten more and more difficult for her to pretend in this way as the years progressed, but she kept trying. The more valiantly she tried to cover it, the sadder and more terrifying the situation became. It wouldn’t be until Ero came, though, that she would finally be able to break free.
“I’m sorry that this is how this turned out,” Samira said, trying to reach out to her mother through the defense mechanism that had become more familiar than her true personality. “I never meant for my wedding to turn into this.”
“Into what?” Valerie asked. “An adventure?”
Samira gave a short laugh.
“That’s hardly the word that I would use,” she said. “I wanted my wedding to be such a beautiful time for both of us. I never thought that anything like this could happen. With the Valdicians invading the ceremony and all of us getting caught up in this war. I’m sorry that you are having to go through it. I never would have put you in this position if I had been able to prevent it.”
“Samira,” Valerie said, cutting her daughter off as she stumbled to find her next words. “After what I have been through, no war can scare me.”
Her voice was even and calm, indicating none of the anxiety or sadness that Samira expected to hear. Instead of seeming fragile and weak, the way that Samira had come to know her mother to be, Valerie seemed more secure and confident in herself than she had been in longer than Samira could remember.
“Why did you stay?” Samira asked. “Why did you just keep dealing with…him?”
She hadn’t intended on asking the question but it had tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop it. She started to apologize, but Valerie let out a sigh and gave the faintest hint of a smile.
“You can say his name, Samira,” she said. “You don’t have to give him that kind of power over you anymore.”
It had been so long since Samira had even let the horrible man’s name enter her mind and even longer since she had heard it touch her mother’s lip. She didn’t know if she was ready for it, but at the same time, she knew that Valerie was right. Refusing to utter his name was just another way that they had given over their control and their lives to him, and allowed him to oppress and torment them.
“Were you ever happy with…Randall?”
Her body and mind flinched when she said the name, but Valerie seemed totally unfazed, as if something were protecting her from the impact that those two syllables had once had on her.
“I don’t think that I ever really was,” Valerie admitted.
“Then why?” Samira asked. “Why did you marry him? Why did you stay?”
Valerie shook her head, as much at herself as at Samira.
“When I look at you with Ty, I see myself with your father. He was the most incredible man I ever knew. I know that you don’t remember much about him.”
Samira shook her head.
“Randall never let us talk about him,” she said. “He even forced you to get rid of all of your pictures of him. I don’t even remember what he looks like.”
Samira felt a painful tightness in her throat at the memory. Even though she had never had the opportunity to know her father, she sometimes found herself missing him in an inexplicable way, as if she were mourning the idea of him.
“A lot like you,” Valerie said, a misty quality to her voice now.
“What was his name?” Samira asked. “I hate that I don’t even know that.”
“It’s not your fault,” Valerie said. “You were just a baby when he died. His name was Martin.”
“Martin,” Samira said, testing the name and letting it cover up the name of her stepfather in her mouth and her heart. “How did you meet?”
“We actually met at a museum,” Valerie said. “He loved science. I guess that’s where you got it. I never understood what he was telling me about, and I rarely understood you, either.”
Samira laughed.
“If you don’t like science so much, why were you at a science museum?”
“Truth be told, I had a crush on my best friend’s older brother at the time. He was a science major in the University and I was trying really hard to impress him. I figured that if I could understand some of the science stuff that he was prattling on about every time that I ran into him at her house, that maybe I could sweep him off his feet. Or convince him to sweep me off of mine.”
“What type o
f science was he majoring in?” Samira asked, taking another sip of her coffee.
“See, that was the problem,” Valerie said. “I just figured that if someone was a science major, they were majoring in science in general.”
Samira nearly spit her coffee across the table and had to reach for a napkin to cover her mouth as she laughed. The sound of her mother’s laugh joining hers was like light rushing into her and filling her. She hadn’t heard her mother laugh in so long it was likely what she thought was a memory of it was just something that she had created to soothe herself.
“That would be a pretty broad major,” Samira said.
Valerie nodded, still laughing.
“I realized that once I visited the museum,” she said. “As soon as the woman at the information desk asked me what discipline of science I was interested in learning more about, I knew that I was in trouble.”
Samira laughed harder.
“What did you tell her?” she asked.
“I didn’t,” Valerie said. “I ran into the exhibits and got lost. I was staring at a hologram of deep space that was supposed to show a series of suspected planets and the future plans for those planets about an hour later when I met your father. He made a comment about the high-rise hotel complexes being a strange choice for the first thing to build on a newly-colonized planet.”
“That is strange,” Samira said. “Why would they build hotels if there was nothing else on the planet for the tourists to see?”
“That’s exactly what he said,” Valerie said with a softer note in her voice.
“What did you do?” Samira asked.
“Started crying,” Valerie said matter-of-factly.
“Oh, no!” Samira said. “Why did you start crying?”
“Because I was so confused, and felt so incredibly stupid, and I just knew that there was no way that I was ever going to land that boy who I had a crush on.”
The Alien's Mystery (Uoria Mates IV Book 7) Page 9
