Embracing Ember

by Astrid Cielo

  “Well, what seems to be the problem?” Lindsay asked quelling Ember’s fears and causing her to look at Lindsay as if she lost her mind. How could she be so nonchalant about all this? She had spent the last week avoiding the topic of his dead mate, even though she had promised Ashwin she would help him in a dream that she wasn’t even sure was real. Ember blinked a couple times at her musings, sitting straight up she looked at Lindsay, and it was as if she knew the inner turmoil that Ember faced because she leaned forward and said, “Is he a good man?”

  Ember nodded.

  “Has he hurt you in any way?” Lindsay asked, but seemed to think better of the question and clarified, “Has he harmed you physically?”

  “No,” Ember whispered.

  “So, what seems to be the problem?” Lindsay asked as if her logical questioning would lead Ember to this conclusion.

  Ember sighed. “It’s none of those things. It is him. He feels guilty for his mate’s death and he won’t look past that. I’m not sure what that has to do with why he holds himself back.”

  Lindsay nodded in understanding. “The thing with Ceylon is that while he feels guilty for her death, he also feels guilty because he has such strong feelings for you. It is in the way he takes care of you. Yes, Ceylon is a good man, but he has taken care of you as if you were his wife. You and he were virtually strangers when he saved your life, yet he felt compelled to shelter you in his home? Tell me, what do you do at night?”

  Ember’s cheeks heated but she answered honestly, “I fall asleep in his arms on the couch and he places me in the bed each night.” Lindsay gave her a look that said ‘see I told you so.’ Ember smiled but just as quickly it fell. How was she supposed to convince Ceylon?

  Lindsay seemed to notice her train of thought because she said, “You need to appeal to Ceylon’s logical side. He is already emotionally invested, so the real challenge is to get his mind on the same page.”

  Ember nodded. Yeah that was easier said than done.

  “I heard you went to see Landon last week,” Lindsay stated.

  “Yeah, they finally caught him. I asked him for a divorce.”

  “How did he handle that?”

  “He didn’t sign the papers,” Ember relayed with a sad chuckle. “I had to appeal to a judge.”

  “And, how did you feel about that?”

  “Honestly, I was relieved. I know that a divorce doesn’t necessarily ensure my safety, but it was a good start. It felt as if I had finally earned some of that freedom I had been dreaming about,” Ember said thoughtfully. She had married Landon right after her release from the foster system. She had never had a chance to be free. He governed every moment of her life from the food she was allowed to eat to the amount of sleep he thought she should have. She didn’t even have the choice of whether she wanted to have sex, he just took that anyways.

  “I’m glad that you are taking this so well. I know you went through some hell, even though you won’t tell me half of what you suffered. It shows a lot that you would trust Ceylon enough not to hurt you.” Lindsay said as she stood from the couch and stretched. “I believe it is time for me to go. I’ll see you next week, okay?”

  “That sounds fine,” Ember replied. She wasn’t sure why Lindsay continued to come; she didn’t feel as if she needed the counseling. She went along with it because Ceylon suggested she continue and in the end she considered Lindsay a friend. And friends were something she didn’t have in excess, especially since her ‘captivity’ as she was coming to call it. Ember looked at her watch after closing the door behind Lindsay and went to work. Ceylon had been avoiding her since he came home, and she had a lot of questions that only he could answer.

  Why were the Salinian’s interested in Earth, what was the Blue Death, and why was she dreaming of such things?

  ***

  Serenity looked around the room, stunned at the amount of people sitting in on this meeting. The room reminded her of a courtroom. There were plain wooden bench seats that everyone sat at and instead of the witness stand a long table stood in its place. The table held the thirteen council members, one representing each of the thirteen territories that the Salinians had divided their planet. Serenity found it odd that each territory worked so well together, when on Earth it took so much to maintain peace between certain countries, and even some countries never quit fighting. When she asked Eon how they maintained such peace, he looked at her as if she were going crazy and replied, “Why would we harm our own people?”

  She was also surprised at how similar the police force was to Earth’s. She wasn’t an expert, but she just assumed there was only so many ways a police force could be organized. The crime rate wasn’t as high as in the United States, but the territories weren’t as populated either. According to some of the information she had been fortunate enough to stumble upon, the entire planet of Salin had approximately three times the population of the United States prior to the Blue Death. Of that population forty-nine percent of that population was female. In the aftermath of the Blue Death, only eight percent of females were left alive, none of which were fertile. In the years that followed, their population had all but dwindled leaving no one under the age of five on their planet. With no way to restore the population, these people were fast dying out. What had once been a thriving planet with much the same entertainment as could be found on Earth, had in turn become a planet that focused on survival. Jobs that were once filled were now empty.

  Thankfully despite this planet’s peaceful status, they did find it prudent to maintain a type of army. She wasn’t sure how well it worked considering they hadn’t fought any wars. Their technology for weapons was impressive despite their lack of research and development in that area. Their weapons centered on sound and Serenity was astonished by how destructive sound could be. Eon had allowed her to fire the sound wave pistol they named the Reverberator. The memory of shooting the small pistol of her grandfather’s one summer had made her cautious. These Reverberator’s didn’t have the kick-back, and since the “bullet” wasn’t a small projectile, hitting the target just needed one to point within the general direction of the object. She could admit to herself that she found it fun to play target practice in her backyard where she was all but guaranteed to hit her target as opposed to the letdown of missing every target as a teenager with the regular pistol.

  “Reports from the ambassadorial convoy sent to Earth sounds promising, but the crews are reporting large amounts of distrust, mainly because there have been no female Salinians seen by any Earthling. One crew reports media has decided that our kind are hermaphroditic, others claim we are a sexist society that relegates females to broodmares, and last but not least, though I didn’t understand that we are a gay society. While I believe that in general we are happy people, at this time we are facing a grave part of our history. Serenity or Anna, would you two like to elaborate upon these reports?” High councilor Alric’s words shook Serenity from her musings and she looked at the smiling Anna, who was attempting to contain her laughter. She motioned for Serenity to answer the question.

  “High Councilor Alric, I believe a translation mistake has taken place. While the media may see Salinians in general as happy people, I believe the absence of females from the convoys has led others to believe that you are a homosexual society, or same sex couples are the norm,” Serenity announced.

  “Why would it matter if there were same sex couples? What does that have to do with our media perception?” High Councilor Alric asked with genuine curiosity.

  “Well, while some people have come to accept same sex couples, my people don’t have the best track record with accepting diversity. I’m not really sure if you understand same sex couples, or…”

  “A same sex couple is two males or two females within a committed relationship, correct?” High Councilor Alric interrupted. At Serenity’s nod he looked even more perplexed. “We accept all types of mated arrangements. We learned from our Ancestors that to oppress a person or group of people
on such basis would result in disharmony within the population. We don’t wish for such disharmony, therefore same sex or multiple partner couplings happen quite frequently.”

  Serenity nodded, “I apologize, I didn’t know. While you learned from your Ancestors, we generally change slowly. I feel that eventually we will get to your level of understanding, but to fix your problem with the media – just send a few females.”

  The shock on High Councilor Alric’s face was priceless, and Serenity couldn’t stifle the small giggle that escaped her lips before saying, “I understand that your society is very equal amongst female and male. I also understand that each female is rare and precious to you at this time, but if you want more Earth females to come to Salin, they have to know that too.”

  High Councilor Alric nodded, though he didn’t look happy about the idea of a female Salinian going to Earth. Serenity took her seat and waited for the next order of business to be addressed. After what seemed like forever of facts, figures and problems that Serenity had come to find she was grateful for the voted personnel back home who ensured these problems were dealt with while she lived her life, High Councilor Alric called for Anna to discuss her findings.

  Anna glanced nervously over at Serenity, and Serenity gave her an encouraging smile. She watched as Anna took a deep breath before beginning, “I agreed to do this with the understanding that my job back on Earth, while I believe was important, was merely giving nursing care to mother’s who were in labor and during their delivery and that I had no inkling the intricacies of fertility and what not. With that being said, and after lots and lots of deliberation with the committee dedicated to this task, we have concluded that we need help from a fertility specialist on Earth and possibly someone specializing in viruses. There is no apparent reason that the remaining female population should be infertile. Their eggs appear unscathed. Their reproductive organs and menstrual cycles all appear within normal limits. Despite that no method has worked to impregnate a female Salinian with natural or scientific methods.” Anna released her breath and Serenity wanted to hug her. She had always sensed that while she had insecurities with her looks and weight, Anna doubted her ability to succeed and her intelligence. Anna was one of the smartest people that she knew and wished that Anna could see that also.

  “Is there any more business?” High Councilor Alric stated. Serenity stood and walked to the center of the floor, before looking up into High Councilor Alric’s eyes.

  “I had another dream. They work the same way each time. First they study the population by abducting some of the target world’s people and ensuring the virus works. Then they infect that population.” Serenity paused, wondering if everyone understood who ‘they’ was. High Councilor Alric nodded and motioned for her to continue.

  “Then, they invade.”

  NINE

  Ember moved the green beans around on her plate as the silence continued to fray her already frazzled nerves. It had been the same for the past week since he had seen the painting of his deceased mate. They didn’t share easy conversations anymore. He didn’t hold her until she fell asleep and more times than naught he would stay gone until he thought it late enough for her to be asleep and leave early enough in the morning that the same could be said.

  She didn’t sleep well. She couldn’t. Her mind never quit and those times he would peer into her room and stare at her while he thought she slept had become bittersweet. Sweet because she craved Ceylon like she had never craved anything before and those stolen moments brought him close to her. Bitter because she knew he would ghost on her the moment he thought she was close to wakefulness. He was so close, but she had never felt this far away from someone. Ever. Ashwin, his former mate, would haunt her dreams when she did manage to slip into unconsciousness. It was always the same. Fix him. Love him. You can help him.

  Ember yawned as she took the plate she hadn’t eaten and placed it on the counter. Her tired eyes sought the numbers of the clock that elicited her sigh at the realization it was almost midnight. Again. Anger stirred into her gut. She had spent five years in a marriage where she would have killed to be invisible, just once to escape Landon’s brand of love. She laughed sadly, the sound reverberating off of the kitchen walls and breaking into the silence that she had come to despise. Now, she couldn’t get the man she wanted to at least tell her that he didn’t want anything to do with her. The tears she had tried to fight slid down her cheeks as the hurt she tried not to feel stabbed her heart like a hot poker. Damn, it hurt.

  The sound of the door opening and the almost silent thud of Ceylon’s gait brought her back from herself pity. She was still angry. Angry that he couldn’t tell her that he didn’t want her, when that had to be the answer. He refused to face what he had blamed his reluctance on that night he had nearly taken her against the wall. She wiped her tears and turned in time to see Ceylon’s startled face when he realized she was still up. He looked her up and down before nodding and looked over to the counter, her plate of food capturing his attention. He looked back at her and his lips thinned as if in disapproval.

  “Are you ill?” The deep timbre of his voice was like a cool drink of water after being lost in the desert. She closed her eyes praying for patience that she didn’t have. Her life as a cowed female was over. Before her marriage, she was shy, but that didn’t mean she was a pushover. Far from it, she spoke her mind when necessary.

  “What do you care?” Ceylon flinched. She could see the confusion in his face and it only enraged her more that he had no clue what made her angry. Ember stood tall and walked slowly, her anger giving her courage that she had thought lost. She poked her finger into his chest and narrowed her eyes at him before continuing her words eerily quiet. “You have ignored me for a week. Now, you’ve decided I am worthy enough to speak to? What the hell Ceylon? No, I’m not ill, but I’m angry.”

  His eyes sparked with something akin to pity, and not the anger that she expected. The small wet drop that landed on her outstretched arm made her realize that she was crying. She was horrified as she looked into Ceylon’s eyes to read the pity he felt for her. Hell, she couldn’t blame him for not wanting her. She didn’t even want herself.

  She dropped her arm and ran past him, her entire being screaming at her to run. Get away from him. Ceylon’s rejection hurt. She had the remnants of a shattered heart to prove it.

  ***

  Ceylon was shocked to find Ember still awake. In truth he had been avoiding her for a week, but the shock of seeing Ashwin and the guilt that ate him made him do foolish things. Even he considered avoiding the red-headed beauty as foolish. He wanted her and was sure that Ember felt the same way. He tried to reason with himself. He reminded himself over and over again that other males had re-mated when their mate’s had died. What made his situation any different?

  Nothing, really. But that didn’t help him to let go of Ashwin and embrace Ember.

  His gaze landed on her uneaten meal. Ceylon had come home to find her uneaten meals for most of the week. He noticed how she slept restlessly, sometimes crying out frustrated words in her sleep. He knew she didn’t realize what was happening, that a spirit wanted something from her. He knew that she wouldn’t be able to rest until she answered that spirit’s need. He had planned on talking with her about this after he saw Ashwin’s portrait that Ember had painted, no less. He didn’t take into account how his guilt would claw at him, keeping him from taking care of Ember. Ceylon knew it was senseless to feel as if he was betraying Ashwin, but he couldn’t help the feeling.

  He watched in awe as Ember yelled at him and a sense of loss invaded him when she ran. He couldn’t allow her to suffer like this. He had hurt her inadvertently and Ceylon knew he had to fix this, somehow.

  Ceylon found her tossing her few belongings in a small bag, her tears dripping from her cheeks like rain on a window pane. She couldn’t leave. She was his. He froze as the truth of it all crashed into him, this little Earthling with green eyes that sparked with creativity and wer
e haunted with pain beyond her years, her flame red hair that spilled on her white pillow case like blood, and her shyness – but as he was coming to realize, also outspoken – was his. He loved this little female.

  “Ember, I…,” he began but she stopped him, her eyes sparking in anger.

  “No. I don’t need your pity. I don’t need your help. I only stayed here this long, because I thought…Well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. You’ll never look past thinking you were responsible for Ashwin’s death for it to matter.”