by Leslie Chase
The warning note in his voice seemed to reach Hannah. At least, she did fall silent, though he could still see the amusement in her eyes. In the sudden quiet, the sound of Dr. Cain snapping the emperor's wing bones back into place seemed to fill the air. The awful grating noise made everyone wince, though Verikan gave no more than a grunt of pain.
Dr. Cain sprayed a foam over the break, and as he watched, it set forming an instant cast to hold the broken bone in place. It was a far cry from the powerful medicine that the empire had used during its height. Unfortunately, none of that had survived the long dark centuries since they'd been forced into hibernation under Mars's surface. This would have to do until they could recover the lost wonders of their civilization.
"Thank you, Doctor," the emperor said as Josie helped him to his feet, Dr. Cain carefully supporting his wing as he rose. He turned to Markath and nodded. "It's indisputable that you won this fight. I concede your victory."
The formal words made Markath feel a little sick now, seeing the injury he'd dealt the emperor in his victory. But he had won and there was no point in worrying about the right or wrong of the contest now. It had been the emperor's idea — how could Markath be in the wrong for going along with it?
Bowing, he accepted Verikan's statement, but he felt his eyes drawn back to the doctor, despite himself. She still steadied Verikan's injured wing, and the little frown of concentration on her face was adorable.
Markath shook his head. That wasn't an appropriate thought.
"You need to get this into one of your healing pools," she said, addressing Verikan with no more respect than some worker might get. Markath tried to summon his anger at that disrespect but found it hard to do. Instead, he realized with mounting horror, he felt anger at Verikan himself. Am I seriously feeling jealous because she's touching him? Thousand Suns, what's wrong with me?
The other female, Hannah, nudged him in the side, and he knew his gaze hadn't gone unnoticed. He glowered down at her — at least he had no difficulty being angry at the disrespect this human showed, even if it didn't seem to bother her in the least.
"If you want Amanda to touch you, I'm sure she'd be happy to treat your wounds too," Hannah said in a whisper he was quite sure could be heard by everyone present. Verikan at least did him the favor of pretending not to notice the comment, but Josie had to stifle a laugh and Dr. Cain's face flushed red.
"Hannah Cain," she snapped, glaring at her sister. "Shut. Up."
Biting down on his anger, Markath strode forward to take the emperor's arm with as much dignity as he could muster while ignoring that comment. "Sire, I will escort you to your chambers and the healing baths. There is no need for these... humans... to stay."
Verikan's wry glance at his empress reminded him how impolitic that sentiment was now, but Markath didn't care. He just wanted this done with. And so it seemed did Dr. Cain, who let him take over supporting the injured wing and threw her medical kit back into the bag.
"We'll be going then," she said, grabbing her giggling sister by the arm and pulling her towards the doorway. "If the injuries don't heal quickly, let me know."
With that, she was gone. Markath should have been outraged by her lack of protocol. She hadn't even waited for Verikan to acknowledge her statement before leaving, but he was too relieved to see them go to care.
Or part of him was. Another part wanted to drag her back, but that had nothing to do with Verikan or anyone else. He pushed those thoughts aside with a frustrated growl, determined to focus on his duty.
Verikan shook his head and looked at Markath, raising an eyebrow slightly and smiling.
"What?" Markath demanded before remembering to whom he was speaking. "I mean, what is it, Sire?"
"You are not quite acting your usual self, Guardian," Verikan said, walking carefully so as not to disturb his injured wing. He didn't need any assistance, but Markath stayed close beside him, ready if something should go wrong.
"That's because I haven't usually lost control and injured my emperor, sire," Markath said. Together, Markath and the imperial couple made their way down the spiral towards the emperor's chambers. The public spaces of the Dragon Palace were above ground but dragons preferred to lair in caves when they could. That fact had saved the lives of every dragon still alive on Mars. Anyone above ground when the empire fell had died in the attack that destroyed Mars' atmosphere.
Verikan looked at him with a piercing gaze. "I don't think that's all of it," he said. "Your reaction to Dr. Cain was... unusually intense."
"I don't like a human medic tending you," Markath said, but the excuse sounded weak even to himself. Weak enough that Verikan laughed at it. Markath tried to continue anyway. "It should be one of our own, or if it must be a human, then a better-qualified one, someone who works directly for the empire. Dr. Cain is not loyal to you."
"None of us are doctors," Verikan pointed out. "And there is no such thing as a human qualified to treat one of us, as you well know. As for Dr. Cain's loyalty, any human doctor we brought in would almost certainly work for one of their governments or corporations, not for the empire. Dr. Cain, at least, we know."
"And she's my friend, as well," Josie said from the other side of Verikan. "That might not mean much to you, but it's more reason to trust her than you'll find for anyone else."
All of that was true, and it was all irrelevant. Markath knew it, and he knew that Verikan and Josie knew it too. His objections weren't anything to do with the doctor's medical ability, though he couldn't put his finger on what they were.
"I don't like it," he said plainly.
"Of course you don't," Verikan said, clapping Markath on the shoulder and ignoring his objection. "You want to keep her to yourself."
"What? No, of course not." Markath glared at Verikan for a moment before remembering who he was looking at. "Why would I want that, sire?"
"Guardian Markath," Verikan said as they stepped into his chambers, "you are usually more perceptive than this. You know the tales of our people, of the First Emperor's quests. You've told me the stories often enough."
"I don't see what that has to do with—" Markath broke off, freezing in place and feeling his wings twitch in horror at the very idea. "No. No, sire, you're wrong."
"Why?" Verikan didn't stop with him, making his way into the pool that filled a corner of the room. Stepping into the pool, he carefully sat and lowered his injured wing into it. Josie supported the wing until it was under the clear water where the nanotech could do its work.
"Because it's not possible," Markath said. "My mate will not be a human, especially not that human."
Turning over the idea in his mind, he tried to push it away. Amanda Cain was not what he wanted in a mate, not at all. She was human, abrasive, and she had no loyalty to the Dragon Empire beyond her friendship with the empress. How could she be a match for him?
And yet the idea, once planted, wouldn't go away. Her voice had been intoxicating, she was beautiful to his eyes in a way that he'd never seen before, and something about her manner drew him to her as much as he didn't like it.
Verikan looked up at him from the pool. "The First Emperor didn't expect his mate to be a Guriad nanoengineer either. Do you think I was expecting a human mate? You're the traditionalist who believes in fate, Markath — before all this happened I expected my marriage to be arranged by my family."
Markath gritted his teeth at that. Before the Great Sleep and their reawakening by the humans, he'd been one of the few to believe the old tales were literally true. The implanted technology that every dragon had inside them could evaluate potential partners, a feature that dated back to the founding of the empire. It had been needed to prevent their species dying for lack of mates. The stories that those same implants could conspire with fate to draw a dragon to his perfect mate, though, many rejected as fairy tales.
And now Verikan was accusing him of doing the same. What was worse, he wasn't sure that the emperor was wrong.
"No," he said simply,
trying to deny it. "A human isn't..."
Verikan laughed again as Markath's words trailed off. He was already looking better, the healing waters closing his wounds, and Markath found himself wishing he could hit the emperor again. That's not a worthy thought for a Guardian, he told himself. But if he keeps mocking me...
The trouble was, Verikan had a point. More than a point. The humans might be primitive, weak, and rivals of the Dragon Empire. It didn't matter. If Amanda was the woman fate had chosen for him that was that. It's what he would have told any other dragon in the same position as him, but he didn't want to listen to the advice himself.
"Very well, Sire," he said, bowing his head and taking a deep breath. He was being unreasonable, and that was beneath him. Still, it was an effort to force out the words. "I must concede the possibility that this is my fate."
"Good," Verikan said, closing his eyes and relaxing. "So what will you do about it?"
"I will seek out Dr. Cain and talk to her, see if this is the call of fate," he said. Then he barked a laugh. "You realize that would mean we fought for nothing? If I take a human as my mate, then I will not need to speak in favor of your plans. Everyone will presume I favor an alliance."
"Which means you broke my wing for nothing," Verikan added, laughing in turn and shaking his head. "I think fate is playing tricks on both of us, my friend."
The two dragons laughed together, and then looked around at Josie's cough.
"Markath, you're still bleeding," she said, shaking her head. "I know that you dragons don't think much of injury, but please go and take care of your wounds first. I promise you, Amanda won't appreciate it if you show up at her place looking like you do now. Whatever fate has to say about you two, that won't help."
Markath looked down at himself and winced. The fight had hardly been one-sided, and the number of scrapes and bruises that Verikan had left on him were impressive. He nodded his thanks to Josie and bowed to Verikan.
"Then, with your permission, I will go and tend to my wounds," he said. The healing bath in his own quarters would deal with them in a few hours. As he bowed and turned to leave, Markath couldn't shake the sudden stab of jealousy at the fact that Verikan's wounds had been treated by Amanda and his wouldn't be.
4
Amanda
"Come on, sis," Hannah said as Amanda dragged her from the palace. "You must have seen the way he looked at you."
"He didn't look at me," Amanda insisted, blushing and shaking her head. "You imagined it, Hannah. You always were wanting to set me up with someone, but this is going a bit far."
Hannah laughed, pulling free of Amanda's grip and crossing her arms. The guards at the palace gate watched them with evident amusement, but if Hannah cared she didn't show it.
"You're terrible at lying, sis, even to yourself," she said. "You must have seen it, he couldn't keep his eyes off you. And you saw him, right? I mean, wow."
Amanda's blush deepened. "Don't be ridiculous. And anyway, what does it matter if he's attractive? That's not all I look for in a man, and nor should you."
Hannah's grin looked like it could swallow worlds. "Yeah, sure... but he's not just attractive, he's gorgeous. What's the harm in getting to know him a bit better?"
The harm is, I might like him, Amanda wanted to say, but she wasn't about to admit that to her sister. Hannah was insufferable already, give her that ammunition and who knew what would happen? Besides, Amanda was planning on leaving Mars as soon as she could. Getting involved with an alien would only make that harder, even if she was interested.
Which she was not.
Definitely not.
"He's one of the aliens who wanted to burn Earth to the ground a few months ago," she said finally. "I'm not going to be interested. And we're not going to have that conversation in public, okay? Let's get back to the clinic."
What she wanted to do was get back home and get a drink, but it was far too early in the day to shut up shop. Just because she was having a bad morning was no reason to let others suffer while they waited for her.
We really, really need more doctors out here, she thought, distracting herself momentarily with that. She wasn't the only doctor in the clinic, of course, but there weren't enough to cover everything as it was. Every time she took a day off she felt guilty for the people who didn't get the medical attention they needed — and half the time she'd get called back anyway to an emergency that couldn't wait until morning.
Hannah followed along quietly enough until they made it back to the clinic, and for a wonder, there wasn't a queue waiting. Thanking God for the slow morning, Amanda said hi to the receptionist on the way into her office. Pouring two cups of coffee, Amanda turned to hand one to her sister and saw that the grin hadn't faded. If anything, it had grown.
Fine. I guess the conversation isn't over. "What's so damned funny?"
"The way you were looking at him," Hannah said, throwing herself down into a chair and blowing on the coffee. Amanda sighed and leaned against the wall, shaking her head.
"Okay, I'll admit he's nice to look at," Amanda said. That was too much of an understatement even for her, so she coughed and added. "More than nice. But I'm not going to get myself stuck on Mars just because I saw a man who..."
She trailed off, swallowing her words. There was something more to this Markath, she could tell that. Looking at him had drawn something out of her, and even thinking about him was enough to make her feel weak at the knees. Taking a big sip of her coffee, she winced at the heat and tried to use it to distract her from the thoughts that rose unbidden in her mind.
Thoughts of the alien towering over her, his gorgeous body close enough to touch, his strong hands reaching out for her... god dammit, brain. Will you stop that?
Whatever had possessed her wouldn't back off, though. Her hand trembled as she put down her coffee cup and she could feel her cheeks heating. Hannah watched her with amused affection, and for once held her tongue.
"Look, my love life isn't any of your concern," Amanda said. As if I had one for anyone to be concerned with, she added silently. "And you're only here for a few days at most. So let's forget about the alien and talk about something else while we've got the chance?"
"Like what?"
"You, maybe?" Amanda forced a grin. "How are things in your life, huh? Any men I should be worried about?"
Hannah's grin quirked and she shook her head. "If I had anyone in my life, I wouldn't be pestering you like this," she admitted. "Hell, I probably wouldn't be here if I had anyone on Earth."
"What about, what's his name, Matthew?" Amanda asked, finding herself on slightly more stable ground now that she'd turned the conversation onto her sister. Hannah laughed and gulped down another sip of coffee.
"Ancient history," she said. "He ditched me more than a year ago, and good riddance. He ran off with some corporate exec. Guess I wasn't upwardly mobile enough for him."
Despite her flippant tone, Amanda could see the pain Hannah was hiding and she pursed her lips, trying to keep her own anger in control. She'd always felt protective of her little sister, and hearing that someone had hurt Hannah made her want to lash out. Lucky for Matthew that he's a hundred million miles away on Earth.
"Men," she said with sympathy, stepping around her desk to give Hannah a hug. "Tell you what, tonight we'll hang out, get drunk, and talk about anything other than guys, okay? I want to hear about Earth, you want to hear about Mars, we can trade stories and I'll show you the booze I've invented."
"Still making moonshine, sis?" Hannah perked up at that with a laugh. "Gotten any better at it?"
"Hey, look, alcohol wasn't allowed on the ship when I came here," Amanda said with a grin of her own. "It was a damned good thing I was there to help."
"Mm," Hannah raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure that the rest of the crew appreciated the headaches your stuff gave them. Smooth as ever."
Before she could respond to that, there was a knock on the door and the receptionist opened it without waiting. Behind hi
m stood two men carrying an unconscious third, and Amanda sighed and put down her cup. Shooting her sister a look that promised the conversation wasn't over, she waved the men through to the back and grabbed her kit.
"Come back here this evening, and I'll show you how I've gotten on," she said to Hannah as her sister grabbed her duffel and headed for the door. "Until then, I've got to work."
The end of the day came quickly; after the slow morning, Amanda's time had filled with a litany of injuries and illnesses. None of them turned out to be too dangerous, thankfully, but they'd all needed her full attention. It wasn't a nice thought, but part of her appreciated being too busy to think about the morning's events. Every time she paused for breath her thoughts turned to Markath, though, and she found herself dreading having more time to think.
At least there hadn't been any more calls from the palace. That had to mean that Verikan was recovering perfectly well without her personal attention. Good. I don't want to go back up there and risk bumping into Markath.
Of course, part of her wanted more than that, and she found herself blushing at the thought as she locked up the clinic and left. She half expected him to be waiting outside, and when instead she saw Hannah there she wasn't sure if her sigh was one of relief or disappointment.
"Come on, let's get something to eat," Amanda said, distracting herself with thoughts of food. That was easy after the busy day she'd had — she was famished.
"Did you forget to eat lunch again? Hannah asked with a grin, and Amanda punched her in the arm. Her sister ducked back, laughing, and for a moment it was as though they were back home on Earth. When she'd been studying she'd forgotten to eat most days unless someone had reminded her. Hannah had been good at doing that, if obnoxious about it.
The evening was dark and the streets busy as Amanda led Hannah through the tight confines of the port. Now that she had someone to guide she realized for the first time how natural it felt. Hannah practically bounced in Mars's low gravity, and more than once found herself bumping into someone when she couldn't slow down fast enough. Amanda had long since adjusted her movement to the local gravity, and by the time they'd reached her favorite noodle bar Amanda was feeling more than a little smug about that skill.
