It hadn’t taken long for word to get around the ship that the captain’s mate had been attacked and lost her child as a result. There was much speculation about Barik’s actions and what was going to happen to him.
After the artisan left she placed the casket on her bed and checked her appearance once again. Her hair was pulled back into a tight knot. The severe style suited her somber clothing of black slacks and a black turtleneck. She took out a small container of makeup and dabbed a bit of concealing powder on the circles under her eyes.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I can do this. I have to do this.” Taking another breath she distanced herself from what she had to do.
She picked up a small, carved, wooden box and placed the casket in the center of it, nestling it into the silk padding the bottom and sides. She closed the lid and walked slowly, purposely to the door.
She made her way steadily to the brig, absently aware of the people moving out of her way. No one tried to stop her. Several people cast sympathetic looks her way, but she didn’t notice.
Her husbands weren’t aware of what she was doing. She would tell them afterwards, when they couldn’t stop her.
She palmed the com on the door, requesting entrance.
People whispered behind her, wondering why she was there, and what she had in the box she was carrying.
The door slid open silently and she stepped inside.
The door closed with a soft hiss and she approached the two security guards sitting at the desk. “I would like to see Barik,” she stated quietly, locking her gaze on them.
The guards exchanged nervous glances.
The higher ranking one responded to her. “We don’t recommend that, Mistress Theadora.”
She inclined her head in acknowledgement of his concern. “Nevertheless, I would like to see him if it is permitted.”
He nodded reluctantly. “It’s allowed. You will not be able to touch him, or give him any items and the visit will be recorded.” He rose and motioned for her to follow him.
She nodded.
He tapped out a code and the door slid open. “Would you like me to stay with you?”
“That would be fine. I will not be long.” She followed him into the room and the door shut behind them.
Barik paused in his pacing to glare at her. “What do you want? To gloat?” he snarled at her. His hair lashed angrily around his shoulder like the tail of a furious cat. It was obvious that he hadn’t cleaned himself since his arrest. His clothing was rumpled and still stained with her blood.
“No, Barik,” she replied quietly. “I wanted to ask you a few questions.”
He sneered at her. “What?”
She set down the box and opened it. She carefully withdrew its precious burden and held it up for his view. “I want to know what it feels like to be a murderer.”
Barik stared at the casket and paled.
Thea caressed the metal. “I wonder what my baby would have looked like.” She turned it to show him the names etched on it. “This is what your hate did. Was it worth it?”
The guard made a strangled sound.
She ignored him.
Barik looked away, schooling his face to blankness.
“Look, damn you!” Thea snarled. Any fear she had felt about facing him again faded as he refused to look at the results of his actions. “This is what it was about, wasn’t it? Babies? So, look, and remember!”
His gaze jerked back to her face. She watched him step back from the rage she knew was leaking from her very pores. It would be so easy to hate him, so easy to wish him dead. She wanted to watch him writhe in the karmic pain of his own actions.
“You wanted to hurt us, didn’t you? Well, it worked. Those women will never forget you. I will see your face in my dreams for the rest of my life,” Thea spat out, letting the fear and pain leach into her voice. “I’m sure your sister is very proud of the legacy you’ve made for her.”
He shook his head, backing up another step. “You’ll never replace her.” He said it a bit desperately, like a child trying to convince himself that there was no monster under his bed.
She smiled bitterly. “You just don’t get it, Barik. We weren’t trying to.” She turned to the guard. “I’m ready to leave now.” She replaced the casket and cradled the box to her chest as she left without a backward glance.
A scream of rage was abruptly cut off as the door slid shut behind them.
The guards stared at her as she quietly thanked them and took her leave.
* * * * *
Thea made it back to her quarters before she started to shake. She quickly sat the case down and sank onto the bed. She’d done it. She’d faced him. Lying down on the bed she curled her knees to her chest.
It wasn’t over yet, she knew. There was still the trial, not to mention trying to get past what he’d done. She shuddered.
The door chimed softly. Her com told her it was Sya’tia. “Enter,” she said softly, knowing the computer would hear her.
A moment later Sya’tia slipped into the room in her silent way. “Thea?” She sat down on the bed.
Thea patted her friend on the leg. “I’m fine, Sya.”
The look on Sya’tia’s face said she wasn’t so sure of that. “Why did you go to the brig?”
“I had to face him.” Thea wasn’t surprised her friend had already heard about her visit. She wondered how long it would take her husbands to find out.
“Why?”
“Because he had to see what he had done. And I can’t live the rest of my life being afraid,” she replied softly.
“Ahhh. I see.”
Thea traced the weave of the blanket. “What will the trial be like?” she asked quietly, thinking of the media circuses so common where she was from.
Sya’tia shrugged. “Quiet, I think. The council won’t want it to be well known.”
Thea sighed and sat up. “Everyone knows. You can see it in their eyes. They watch me.” She rubbed her chest where the black cloth of her shirt hid the black bruise that the healing had left behind. Corvin and the healers had managed to reattach the skin Barik had lifted, but the healing of it would be slow. Her mind scrabbled away from the reason she had the bruise.
Sya’tia hugged her friend. “Face them, love. Don’t ever turn away.”
The smaller woman nodded. She leaned against her friend briefly. “Yeah. I guess so. It’s hard to do, though.” She stood and tugged Sya’tia into the kitchen. “Corvin is putting me on birth control. He says I should wait at least six months before I try to get pregnant again.” She placed a pot of water on the miniature stove and turned on the heat. Her body stiffened as another low cramp rolled through her. “God, I hope these cramps stop soon.”
Sya’tia nodded sympathetically.
The door chimed softly.
“That’s probably Corvin again. He’s been checking on me every couple of hours. Come in.” She took out a plate of cookies.
Sya’tia took out cups and placed them on the counter.
Kati darted into the room and hugged a surprised Thea. “Thea! I’m so sorry!” The young woman hugged Thea again and stepped back.
Soren slid into the room. “Hi, Thea.” He bit his lip. “We wanted to come see you in medical but thought you might want to rest, so we came today, since you were home.”
Thea hugged her friend tightly. “Thank you for coming over. Would you like to have cookies and tea with us? Do you know Sya’tia?”
Both of them nodded and smiled shyly at the tall woman.
Sya’tia returned their greetings and got another cup. She shooed Thea into a chair. “I can get it, you’re starting to look pale again, love.”
Soren sat in a chair with a thump. “Thea, the asana asked me to give you their condolences. Many of them wanted to come, but they didn’t want to intrude either.”
She nodded tiredly. “Tell them thank you for me, please.” She smiled gratefully up at Sya’tia when she sat a cup of tea in front of her
and the plate of cookies in the center of the table.
“Father wanted to come, too,” Kati chimed in. “So did my other parents.” She picked up a cookie and sniffed it curiously. She nibbled the edge. “Mmm these are good!” She took a big bite, trying to chew and smile at the same time.
Sya’tia sat down with her own cup after serving Soren and Kati theirs.
* * * * *
Kyrin arrived at the science offices to meet Daeshen and walk home with him, as was their custom. His husband quickly finished putting his desk to rights and they walked down the hall.
After a bit of silence Kyrin spoke. “Barik goes into stasis tomorrow morning.”
Daeshen nodded.
They quickly arrived at their quarters and entered. Both men were surprised by the sound of Thea laughing softly.
Daeshen’s eyes lightened at the sound.
They went to see what was amusing her. They found Thea sitting at the table laughing while Soren tried to knock Sya’tia down with a movement he had seen in a human movie.
She rapidly blocked the move and tripped the young man.
Thea giggled again as Sya’tia helped him up and offered to give him a bit more training in hand to hand fighting.
Kati was standing behind Thea, brushing her hair with an enthralled expression, chattering a mile a minute about hairstyles she wanted to try putting the thick mass in.
Both men smiled, watching the scene.
Kyrin said, “Hey, can we join the party?” and strode toward his wife for a kiss.
Daeshen slipped over and hugged Sya’tia and Soren. “Thank you for coming, it means a lot to her, I can feel it.”
Soren shrugged bashfully. “She’s our friend,” he said simply.
Sya’tia smiled and relaxed easily against him. “You don’t have to thank us for caring about her, Daeshen. It’s easy to do.” She watched Kyrin tease Kati about her fascination with human hair.
The door chimed again.
Thea rolled her eyes. “Come in.” It seemed their quarters were going to be Grand Central Station tonight. “Guess I should have the galley send dinner, I don’t feel like cooking tonight,” she murmured to her husband.
He smiled. “I’ll handle it, love.”
Corvin entered the dining room and smiled at all the people gathered there. “Well, I see you’ve got plenty of people to keep you company.” He set down a covered tray. “Shana sent you some ‘comfort food’ and said to tell you to keep your chin up. Whatever that means.”
Thea smiled wanly. “Thanks, Corvin.” She took the cover off the tray. “Oh, how sweet. She sent an ice cream pizza. We can have this after dinner. You’re all staying aren’t you?”
There was a chorus of agreement.
Kyrin rolled his eyes and commed the galley back and requested triple the amount of food he’d just ordered.
The evening passed quickly, but Thea was exhausted by the time she said goodnight to their last guest. She made her way back to the bedroom and began removing her clothes.
Daeshen joined her after a moment and he looked at the box curiously. “What’s this?” Kyrin came in just as he was opening it. “Oh ...” Daeshen’s voice trailed off as he looked at the tiny egg-like casket. She saw his eyes fill with tears. “You named him. What does it mean?” His hands caressed the cool metal.
Thea swallowed hard, feeling her grief over her lost child again. “Robin. It’s one of the first birds to come back in the spring. They are beautiful.” She leaned against Kyrin’s chest.
He hugged her tightly, tears burning his eyes. “Close the lid, Daeshen. Let’s go to bed. We’ll take Robin to the stasis hold tomorrow.” Their baby would not be buried until they reached Ta’e.
He tenderly put both of his mates to bed before crawling in with them. He curled himself close to Thea and put his arm around them both.
Thea looked at the faces of her husbands. “I want to ask Sya’tia to marry us. But, not yet, it’s too soon and I think she should be courted properly. Do either of you mind?”
Daeshen shook his head sleepily. “Not at all, love, I think she should be courted as well and I would welcome her in our home.”
Kyrin murmured a soft agreement. His arms tightened around them. He shook inwardly as he thought of how close he had come to losing Thea. His eyes burned as he thought of the child they had lost. While he wanted Sya’tia to join them because he cared for her he also wanted the added protection for his family. He felt Daeshen relax and heard his breathing deepen and felt himself relax as well. Soon, his mind blurred and he was asleep.
Thea sighed deeply and drifted off to sleep, finally feeling safe again, cradled between them both. “I love you,” she whispered inaudibly to their sleeping forms.
Epilogue
Skye and Gaia looked down at the eighteen pairs of eyes watching them intently.
“Your mission, should you choose to accept it ...” Skye intoned in a solemn tone, belied by the twinkle in his eye. “Is to confound, harass and generally annoy the enemy to the point that they are gibbering monkeys”
Gaia laughed. “Thank you for volunteering. Have each of you picked a partner and a Mistress?” She inspected them with satisfaction. Each of the volunteers was intelligent and at the end of their respective rebirth cycles and able to choose where they wanted to go.
All of them nodded, crafty, evil gleams of mischief in their eyes. Each of them was looking forward to this new adventure and the prize that awaited them at the end.
Skye sat down in the easy chair that materialized behind him. “Just remember, go to your Mistress if you get into trouble. Use your gifts wisely, children. And no fighting.”
Gaia kissed each of them and then both Gods sent them to the ship. “Let the next act in their play commence ... With a few surprises.” She smirked.
Skye snickered in his chair.
Theolyn Boese
Theolyn Boese lives in Oregon with her wide assortment of animals, which include two cats, Cap'n Cat and Stupid (yes that really is his name and well earned), a Border Collie named Fuzzbutt, a few ducks and her pheasant, Samurai.
She has been writing since grade school, staring with a poetry class her teacher enrolled her in to help her learn to work with dyslexia. Bolstered by her teacher's faith in her she quickly learned to love reading and writing instead of being afraid of it. Soon after she was reading voraciously and scribbling poems on everything.
She would love to hear from her readers and invites them to write to her at [email protected].
The Ta'e'sha Chronicles: Daughters of Terra Page 17
