by Jayne Faith
The next tower housed a mechanical room, a communication relay tower. No Maya.
I wasn’t surprised that I didn’t find her in either of the first two towers. I would have felt her energy. If she were alive, anyway. But that’s why I had to check with my own eyes and not just rely on sensing her.
I wasn’t sure what I would do if I found her lifeless body.
At the top of the stairs of the third tower there was a woman’s hat on the landing, a big floppy fabric thing.
My pulse tripped. I clutched the hat and pushed open the door to the tower room. It was empty. But I had the distinct feeling she'd been there. It wasn’t that I could sense any of her energy, but . . . the discarded hat was so out of place it piqued my suspicion.
“Let’s try the basement,” I said, going on instinct.
It took nearly twenty minutes to take a series of three elevators and several staircases to the bowels of the palace.
The air somehow felt heavier in the basement, as if the weight of the enormous palace and all the people above pressed down over us.
I hesitated, unsure which way to turn. And then there was a flicker, like a little shock of electricity that circled my heart. It was faint, but I recognized it immediately.
I angled to the right, jogged to the next intersection, and then took a sharp left turn. The basement was a series of warehouses, staging spaces for ceremonial items, and storage for food, furniture, raw materials, vehicles, and all manner of other items.
Calvin and Palovich had illuminated their flashlights, and they swung the beams back and forth.
I could feel Maya, and her energy was growing stronger. I sped up to a run, having to backtrack a couple of times when I made a wrong turn and felt her energy weaken.
Calvin and Palovich followed me silently, breathing almost as heavily as I was. I led them into a dim storage room full of wheeled laundry bins. There were rows of shelves holding stacks of folded clothing and linens.
Maya’s energy pulsed, calling to me like a heartbeat through the room.
I ran to the shelves. All I saw were stacks of fabric, but I knew she was there.
I peered down. Yes, she was very close.
I pulled stacks of sheets from the lowest shelf, digging into them and pushing them aside. There was a small hand, an arm. I cleared away more linens, and Calvin knelt next to me to help. Palovich shone his flashlight over our shoulders, and the light glanced off Maya’s pale face.
She’d been laid out behind the stacks of linens, completely concealed in the middle of the shelf in the dark storage room. If not for my ability to sense her energy, she probably never would have been found.
“Maya,” I breathed, reaching for her arm and pulling her toward me. I hovered over her and let out a gasp of relief when I felt her faint breath against my cheek. She was alive.
Her limbs were limp, and her hair was tangled across her forehead. I lifted her in my arms, pulling her to my chest. She felt as light and fragile as a bird. Why she had been concealed here, and what her abductor had planned to do next, I couldn’t guess.
“Should I call for a medic?” Calvin asked.
“I want my personal doctor called to my chambers immediately,” I said. I couldn’t take my eyes off Maya’s face. “The Priestess, too. And no one else.”
On the way back to my chambers, the palace around me seemed to blur to the background as my entire focus was absorbed by the feel of Maya’s slight weight in my arms, her side pressed against my chest, and her beautiful, too-still face.
The Priestess and my doctor waited in the receiving room of my chambers, both rising as I entered. I hurried past them to my sleeping chamber and gently lowered Maya to the bed.
I glanced at Dr. Liev, an older man who had been my family’s physician since I was born. “She’s breathing, but she hasn’t stirred since we found her.”
He nodded and quickly pulled a diagnostic cuff from his satchel and wrapped it around Maya’s wrist. Readouts began pinging on his handheld monitor, and I watched his face anxiously for any clue about her condition.
“Her vitals are in the acceptable range. Except for her brainwaves, which is to be expected for an unconscious patient.” Dr. Liev looked up at me and then back down at the readouts. “She suffered a bump to the head, but that is not the only cause of her cataleptic state. It appears she was drugged, but the drug used is unknown.”
“What could that mean?”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure. And because the drug is unknown I can’t prescribe an antidote. She seems stable for now. She should be kept warm and undisturbed, and if she has not regained consciousness within two hours, she should receive fluids to prevent dehydration.”
I pulled the edge of the bed cover up and folded it over her. She looked like a doll nestled in my huge bed.
“I will leave the cuff on her so that I’ll be immediately alerted of any change,” Dr. Liev continued. “I’ll return to check on her within two hours. Sooner if her condition changes.”
I waited for Dr. Liev to depart and then turned to the Priestess. “She is the one, I’m sure of it. The Earthen woman you spoke of, the one in the new volume of the sacred texts. Could someone else know, too?”
The Priestess was staring down at Maya so intently, and for a moment I wasn’t sure if the Priestess had heard me. Then she turned to me, but her eyes roamed around me as if she saw something in the air that was visible only to her. “You may be right,” she finally said. “And although we have no proof, it is probably not coincidence that someone singled her out.”
“Who would want to harm her?” I peered at her, trying to discern whether she suspected anyone.
“That I do not know, my Lord. But you must be vigilant and assume that anyone could be an enemy.” She finally turned her gaze on me. “You suspect someone already?”
“I have a couple of guesses about who my enemies might be,” I said. My fingers curled and tightened against my palms. “Can you help me discover whether my brother and Akantha were involved?”
She hesitated for only a second and then nodded firmly. “I will use all the resources at my disposal to investigate.”
“We have another problem,” I said, my stomach knotting with dread. “The next challenge in the Tournament begins in less than a day. What if she has not awakened by then or is too weak to compete?”
The Priestess drew a deep breath. “Missing a challenge will put her too far out of the running to earn enough rank to emerge the winner,” she said heavily.
We both looked down at Maya’s still form. I willed her to stir, prayed for her eyes to open. But not even the tiniest twitch of movement passed over her tranquil face.
After the Priestess left, wanting to begin her investigation into Maya’s abduction, I pulled a chair over to the side of the bed and sat with my forearms resting on my knees and my gaze trained on Maya. After some time, I could resist no longer. I shifted the covers to find her hand, and I held it gently in mine for a long moment before placing it on her stomach and covering her again. I brushed a few strands of hair off her forehead. Her skin was too cold, her limb too limp.
I heard the soft complaint of ancient door hinges and turned to see Victor standing just inside the chamber. “My Lord, may I get anything for you? A light meal, perhaps?”
Had he seen me touch Maya’s hair? His energy was calm, and his curiosity did not seem piqued. Either he hadn’t seen, or his professional detachment prevented him from any reaction, even a well-concealed one.
“I have no appetite at the moment,” I said.
Victor inclined his head and slipped out. With my elbows propped on my knees, I dropped my face to my hands.
Bit by bit, I was revealing my feelings for Maya. Since she’d arrived on Calisto, I’d been unable to stay away from her and unable to completely mask how deeply I was drawn to her. Even though I’d had every intention of treating her the same as the other Offered and keeping my attraction to her secret, I couldn’t help feeling
that my weakness and failure had somehow led to her current peril.
A soft sound, barely more than a sigh, drew my attention back to Maya. Was it her or just my imagination?
Not daring to breathe, I watched her. Her eyelids twitched. Her breathing seemed to have deepened a bit. I leaned closer to her.
“Maya?” I said softly. “Can you hear me?”
Her eyelids opened, and her blue eyes stared upward. For a second the look in her eyes was so vacant and unseeing, my heart lurched in panic.
But then she swallowed and turned her head just enough to look at me.
“Lord Toric,” she said, her words barely more than a croak. “It was you. You came for me.”
I let out a long, shaking breath and gave her a wavering smile. “Yes, I found you.”
I didn’t want to move from her side, but I knew she needed water. “Stay still. I’m going to pour you a glass.”
My heart soared and my hands trembled as I poured water into a crystal tumbler. I set the glass next to the bed so I could tuck another pillow behind her head. Her dark hair brushed my arm, sending invisible sparks dancing along my skin.
I tipped the glass to her lips and she took a few sips.
She cleared her throat and gave me a bashful look from under her eyelashes. “Thank you. I bet I am the first Earthen to be waited on by the Guardian Lord of Calisto and Earth in such a manner.”
I didn’t try to hide my amusement, or the emotion that was welling up through me like a tidal wave.
It was as if a layer of an invisible barrier between us had fallen away. I did not understand exactly what it meant but knew from the depths of my heart and soul that a meaningful shift had taken place. And somehow, I knew that she knew it, too.
She held my gaze as I reached out and swept a strand of hair from her cheek.
At the sound of the door opening behind me, my hand flinched back and I rose to my feet. It was Dr. Liev.
“I see our patient is awake,” the doctor said in the kindly voice that had soothed me when I was a child.
He set his satchel on my chair and flipped through Maya’s diagnostic readouts on his handheld device. “How are you feeling, young woman?” He glanced up at her.
“Weak, and my head is pounding. But glad to be alive and awake,” she said. Her voice already sounded a bit stronger.
Now that she seemed to be out of the worst of the danger, some of my former anger was returning. I could not question Maya in front of the doctor, but I needed to know what she remembered. I needed to know who had done this to her.
“May I speak to you, my Lord?” the doctor said.
We moved to the balcony, and I positioned myself so that Maya was still in my line of sight.
“She needs rest, food, and fluids,” the doctor said. “I will give her something for her head. As far as I can tell, there is no serious injury.”
“And the Tournament?” I asked. I did not want her to compete. I wanted more than anything to keep her with me, out of harm’s way.
“What is the next challenge?”
“The game of survival, to begin tomorrow morning.” My stomach curled into a hard knot at the thought of it. The game of survival was less brutal than the first culling challenge, but just as perilous. As its nickname indicated, it was not just straight survival challenge, but one of strategy as well.
Dr. Liev’s face grew grave. “I doubt she will be in any sort of shape to face that type of challenge.”
He looked at me, likely thinking the same thing I was: What other choice was there for Maya, except to compete regardless of her condition?
“Can you give her anything? Something to strengthen her?” I asked.
“I will give her a healing infusion, but it will only do so much. Ideally, she would take a week or more to rest and build her strength back. Shall I have her transferred to the servants’ clinic?”
“No, administer the treatment here,” I said quickly. I cleared my throat, regretting that I’d spoken too hastily. My mind spun as I tried to think of a way to recover. “She’s only just regained consciousness, and I think it best if she doesn’t have to move. Don’t you agree?”
A flicker of a question passed over his face. “As you wish, my Lord.”
I could only imagine what was running through his mind, how my protectiveness over Maya appeared from his perspective. But I simply couldn’t let her out of my sight, regardless of how questionable my behavior might seem.
He gave her a transdermal mist injection, strict instructions to get up only for essential needs for the next eight hours, and then departed.
I knew I needed to call for the Priestess again so that we could discuss how to proceed, knowing Maya was awake. Not that I imagined we had many options. But more than that, I wanted to extend my time alone with Maya, even if only for a few minutes.
“Are you hungry?” I asked. “I can order anything you want. It would be good for you to eat something, to help get your strength back.”
“Thank you, my Lord. I don’t think I’m quite ready for food.” Maya’s cheeks colored. “My Lord, I need to use—um . . .”
I tilted my head, waiting for her to finish, and then it struck me that she was trying to tell me she needed to use the restroom. “Oh! Of course. I can call for a female servant to help you.”
“I don’t, um, think I need that much assistance, thank you.” Her cheeks burned deeper pink, but she raised her chin. “Perhaps just assistance getting up? I’m sorry, Lord Toric, I do not know the proper protocol.” She looked down at her hands.
I chuckled. “I’m not sure there is a protocol for our current situation. We will just have to make it up as we go.”
She looked at me out of the corners of her eyes, and when her mouth widened just a little in a small, grateful smile, it made my heart sing.
She pushed the covers down to her waist, and I realized she was still dressed in the lovely pale green gown she’d worn to the ballroom. It was wrinkled and smudged with dust now, and when she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, I caught sight of a torn hem edge.
When her feet touched the floor and she shifted her weight off the bed, her knees buckled. I took a lunging step forward, bending to catch her before she fell. Her forehead brushed my chin, and she clutched at my forearms.
“I’m sorry, I did not guess I would be quite this weak. I—oh!” She gasped as I swept her up in my arms and carried her toward my dressing room and bathroom.
I looked down at her. Surely she could feel my heart racing. “You should save your strength.”
She swallowed, her eyes wide with apprehension. After a moment she relaxed a little. “Thank you. You’re much too kind and accommodating, my Lord. I’m embarrassed to be such a nuisance.”
“You’re not a nuisance in any way. You’re a resident in my palace, and as such I’m to blame for your mistreatment and abduction.” I was fully aware that my words might sound hypocritical to her ears. After all, Maya had watched some of her comrades die in the first challenge of the Tournament. The Earthen Offered were not exactly guests here. But what had happened to Maya was certainly not part of the Tournament. “And I want to know who is responsible for what happened to you. When you are settled back in bed, I hope you’ll tell me every detail you remember.”
She glanced at me and seemed to hesitate but then shook her head. “I didn’t see anything. Whoever it was snuck up on me and put a bag over my head.”
I ground my teeth and tried to hide my disappointment. I was hoping she’d be able to accuse Jeric outright. I set her on her feet just inside the doorway of the large marble bathroom. She grasped the doorjamb with one hand but seemed steady enough to stand.
“Perhaps together we can discover some detail that will help us identify your abductor,” I said. “I will leave a robe for you to change into right out here.” I pointed to a bench in the dressing room that adjoined the bathroom. “You’ll be okay?”
She nodded, and her cheeks flushed agai
n. “Yes, I think so. Thank you, my Lord.” She disappeared behind the closed door of the bathroom.
I found a pale blue silk robe with a soft cotton lining, laid it on the bench, and then exited the dressing room and shut the door behind me to give her some privacy.
I paced outside the door, my stomach tight and my pulse thin and fast, pausing only long enough to go ask Victor to send for the Priestess.
I wondered if Maya had any idea of the effect she had on me. How badly I wanted to call off the Tournament, abandon all traditions outlined by the sacred texts, and keep her here in my chambers where I knew she was safe.
And what if Maya really remembered nothing of who abducted her? How would I prove that Jeric was involved? I was torn between wanting to storm through the palace in search of my treacherous brother and staying by Maya’s side.
When she emerged from the dressing room wearing the robe I’d provided, she gave me a hesitant smile. “My favorite dress back home was exactly this color,” she said, looking down at the robe.
“It suits you perfectly.” I forced myself not to stare and instead offered my arm. “Do you think you can walk to the bed chamber?” I almost hoped she couldn’t. Though of course I wanted her strength to return, I enjoyed the feel of her in my arms.
She nodded but still took my arm. “A little movement before I rest again might be a good thing. And I truly do not want to impose any more than I have. I understand if you’d like me to go back to my room.”
“I can certainly arrange that, but why don’t you stay here a bit longer so we can talk about what happened leading up to your abduction?”
“My Lord.” I turned to see Victor standing inside the bedroom chamber door. “The Priestess has come.”
“Send her in,” I said and then returned my attention to Maya and helping her back into bed.
The Priestess strode in, her robes flowing behind her. Her slight breathlessness was the only crack in her composure. The Priestess looked over at Maya and then slowly angled her body away from me and toward the bed.
