by Nina Pierce
Collin took her by the elbow, guiding her to the new wooden reception desk that had replaced the battered metal furniture. “If I may say so myself, you're not looking at all well. I think some food will do you good.” For all his feminine qualities, the hands on her shoulders pushing her into the plush chair at his desk were strong and firm. “I insist you eat. You need to keep your strength up.” He set a plate of fresh fruit and vegetables in front of her.
"You eating?” She filled her fork, not realizing how hungry she was until her stomach grumbled protests.
"Already ate.” He pulled up a chair and couched his chin in his hands. “Everything all right with you?"
Filling her mouth, she nodded at him.
"You seem distracted this morning and little more than tired."
The man was perceptive. “It's been a long week. Brenimyn's out again today. I'm worried for him.” She spoke around the food she shoveled into her mouth.
"You're not worried for your own safety in all that is to come?"
Her head shot up.
His smile was slow. “I may not be a breeder, but I am a man, Jahara. I know about the prophecy and the new world order. I've heard Brenimyn speak. There is very little happening here in the Garden that doesn't get spread through this office. I hear the breeders talking. They think my brain was lopped off with my testicles."
"Collin, how did you? I mean your situation...” She gestured at his lap, unable to ask about the castration.
"Do you know nothing of the fate of the babies born here?"
She shook her head, no longer interested in the food.
"Some female infants are taken with their Dames to be raised in villages, the rest are dispersed to schools.” He waved his hand dismissively. “That part you know I'm sure. They're educated and their gifts discovered and refined. But male offspring, that's a different matter.” He shook his finger at her.
"In the past, no female wanted their male infants. They're discarded like tainted food. When boys are born, they're taken from their Dames. No questions asked. It's not a choice.” He smiled at her. “Brenimyn's kidnapping is legendary among the breeders. There have been other Dames who have done the same over the years, I'm sure, but none of the men ended up back here at the Garden. He was fortunate to have his freedom.” Collin's smile faded.
"But most infant males are kept in a special place here in the Garden for less than a month. Even as a eunuch, I don't know the location. We surmise it's a nursery somewhere in the underground catacombs running beneath the Garden. Eventually, they're all dispersed out to farms. They're not enclosed like the Garden, but they're isolated from other villages. They fear another plague.” Collin's eyes focused on a far away memory.
"We're all raised together until the age of three. The breeding stock is chosen early. The weak are sent away to a separate village and castrated.” He let out a derisive laugh. “They wouldn't want poor quality genes to go into the next generation. Forget about intelligence or personality.” Batting his lashes, Collin splayed his fingers across his narrow chest.
Jahara couldn't help but smile at him. For all he'd been through, Collin had kept his sense of humor.
"The breeders are raised by the Ginia clan, the same brawny women who work as guards here at the Garden. They beat the young ones into submission. No one is allowed to utter an opinion different from those drilled into them by the government. There's always the threat of bodily harm if one tries to defy the laws or exert their independence. If they can't be retrained, they're punished and sent to cities as laborers. After the women demean the renegades and make examples of them, few dare to rebel. That is why women don't fear a revolt here at the Garden. They believe men would never disobey a woman.” Collin picked at some threads on his breeches.
"Breeding instructors reside in their villages, as soon as they go through puberty they are trained in the art of copulation. Before they are ready they are sent here to the Garden to join the breeding stock. Some who arrive are still boys."
"What about you, Collin, and the others they castrate?"
"The eunuchs? Not many people, male or female, care about our fate. When we are young, the women raising us beat and humiliate us, make us feel worthless. At a very young age they train us to do demeaning work. Wash and clean. Service to others is our only lot in life. We are lower even than the laborers. I have brooding brothers who work as servants at the villages of the young breeders. It's how I know what transpires there.” Lifting one shoulder and the corner of his mouth, he looked apologetic for knowing the information. “Some of us are fortunate to be assigned here at the Garden to work with the male breeders. We do the jobs the females couldn't lower themselves to do.” He spoke the facts with icy repugnance. “It's still going on."
Jahara's fork fell with a loud clang onto the plate. Her hands covered her belly as if she could keep the babe within her womb from hearing the words Collin spoke.
"You mean, they still take the children? They still castrate some of the boys?” She'd never really cared about the fate of infants until this very moment.
He gently touched her cheek. “Jahara, breeders are not the only ones hoping the new world order will raise their status. Eunuchs are hoping the change will affect all."
* * * *
"It's imperative we completely sever the bond between those two as soon as possible.” Bresilee paced the floor of her office, her hands wildly stirring the air. Her eyes darted about their sockets, taking in everything except the distressed faces of Mykilai and Kylie.
"That computer person, Xylani, Xykile, or whatever her name is,” Bresilee impatiently brushed the name away from her mouth, “has the feed from their apartment going to monitors in this office, security headquarters and my home. If Brenimyn and Jahara are planning some kind of coup we should be alerted in plenty of time."
Mykilai's stomach flipped. After she'd witnessed Jahara's unselfish labors to save Lukiam, she was sure she didn't want any part of a plan that would harm the healer or her mate.
"Mykilai, did you hear me?” Bresilee had stopped pacing and was focusing all her anger in her direction.
"No, I'm sorry, I was thinking of one of my patients.” She didn't feel any compunction about lying to the woman who seemed to have taken leave of her senses in the last forty-eight hours.
"Except when she is in the well-check, I expect you to be stuck to Jahara like a shadow. She can't do any harm when she is with those insipid creatures, but I don't need her filling the women with any foolish rhetoric. As difficult as it might be, get her into your confidence. Befriend her."
Mykilai was already bonded with the woman. Lukiam's blood had linked them in a kinship as tight as any familial tie. But she would not share that with Bresilee. “As you wish.” She inclined her head.
"Kylie, have you heard about the other project?"
The blond hair and breasts bounced with the woman's head.
"Good, everything is falling into place. Tomorrow afternoon we will convene a special meeting of the Governmental Body. Perhaps if we let Brenimyn speak, his own words will bury him."
The wall slid open.
"What is it, Jacinta?” Bresilee yelled before she caught sight of the young woman. “I asked you not to bother me."
"There seems to be a problem.” Jacinta's words trembled with fear.
Six eyes focused on her skirt dripping amniotic fluid.
* * * *
Mykilai stood next to the delivery bed holding Jacinta's hand. The young woman's eyes rolled in their sockets and her teeth clenched against the pain. Mykilai ran her fingers through the silky mop on her lover's head, the white light of her palm working to find the pain centers in her brain. Nothing seemed to be helping.
"Oh, it's happening again.” Jacinta sat up as her uterus convulsed with the next contraction. “Can't you make it stop?"
"We're trying, Jacinta. Be patient,” Bresilee's said, her voice a high pitched whine. “I paged Dr. Linsig, she should be here momentarily."
<
br /> Mykilai wondered why Bresilee wasn't beginning the delivery on her own. Pulling the machinery of the ancients from the corner of the room, Bresilee smeared Jacinta's swollen mound with jelly.
"Let's just have a look at the baby, shall we?"
As Bresilee pressed a round knob to Jacinta's stomach, Mykilai wondered why she didn't just check the child with her own hands. The inside of her uterus flashed on the computer screen. “There it is. A girl."
Probing Jacinta's skull, Mykilai was relieved to find the spot she was seeking. As the warm heat flowed through her palm, Jacinta's nails released their grip on the flesh of her hand.
"Is the pain subsiding, my love?” Mykilai leaned into Jacinta's ear. “It won't be long now. We will have our offspring in our arms.” She cooed in a sing-song voice. “Dr. Bresilee has everything under control."
The door flung open. “Dr. Linsig cannot be located.” The caretaker ran breathless into the delivery room. “We've tried everywhere. Shall I page Dr. Hriznek?"
"No.” Bresilee shouted a little too vehemently. “Mykilai shall help me with the delivery."
"But I've only observed while you and Dr. Linsig performed the surgery,” Mykilai stuttered.
"It would be wonderful to have you deliver our offspring Mykilai,” Jacinta slurred. Perhaps Mykilai had dulled more than the pain receptors.
"It's not difficult. I will deliver the baby, you will heal Jacinta. It's all part of your training.” Bresilee's tone was once again a little too cheerful for the grave situation. She snapped gloves over her hands as the caretaker wheeled the tray of scalpels next to Bresilee.
"Ready, Jacinta?"
The young woman nodded, drool oozing from her lopsided grin.
Bresilee made the first incision from hip to hip, exposing muscles and the uterus. The uterine walls convulsed. Mykilai glanced up. Jacinta no longer felt the pain. She lay with her eyes closed, unfazed by the sharp blade opening her body.
Something was not right, but Mykilai hadn't observed enough deliveries to know exactly what was making her uneasy. Bresilee focused only on the long incision she was cutting through the uterine wall. There seemed to be more blood than Mykilai remembered. Perhaps it was only because it was Jacinta. Mykilai's heart raced with dread.
Mykilai parted the muscles, getting her first glimpse of the baby nestled in Jacinta's womb. The tiny fetus was tucked into a ball. Her head snuggled below Jacinta's pubic bone.
"There we are. In a hurry to join the outside world, little one? You've arrived a couple weeks ahead of schedule.” Bresilee maneuvered her hands under the baby, working her out of the cocoon.
As she lifted the baby away from Jacinta, Mykilai could see her coloring was wrong. The white mucus was plastered over blue skin, not the healthy glow of pink. The baby drooped unnaturally in Bresilee's hands. Mykilai knew there should be more movement from the infant.
"Mykilai, cut the cord immediately. Then help me with the baby,” Bresilee said tersely.
"But first let me stop Jacinta's bleeding.” Mykilai looked up at her partner's beautiful face. The bronze skin had turned an unnatural shade of gray. Looking at her hands, Mykilai thought she was reliving the horror of Lukiam all over again. Blood poured from the uterine walls. She felt Jacinta slipping from her.
"Help me,” Bresilee screamed at Mykilai, pulling her from her frozen stance.
She cut the cord, obediently following Bresilee to the small incubator. The baby had not cried and Jacinta had not spoken. Icy panic coursed through Mykilai's veins.
"Mykilai, the child, save the child.” Bresilee pulled Mykilai's hands over the limp body. “Heal."
Turning to the caretaker, Mykilai screamed out the order. “Go get Dr. Hriznek, now."
"Stay where you are.” Bresilee held up a warning hand, Jacinta's blood dripping from her glove. The woman froze in mid-step. Still working Mykilai's hands like she were operating a machine, Bresilee moved them over the baby. “Damn it, Mykilai, make her breathe.” Bresilee's fingers released her grip only long enough to sweep the baby's mouth. She pressed them up and down on the little chest. “I can't save her alone."
Mykilai didn't give a damn about this baby. It was Jacinta's convulsing body behind her that had Mykilai's attention. She tried to pull her hands from the baby, but Bresilee stood behind her, holding her hands.
"Damn it, save her."
"Not unless you get Jahara.” Mykilai looked over her shoulder into Bresilee's smoldering eyes. Her own filled with loathing for the woman, who up until this moment had been her mentor and hero.
"Get her from the well-check.” Bresilee nodded at the caretaker, who left the door swinging in her wake. “Now save the child.” Mykilai let the power flow through her. The child stirred and a tiny gulp of air entered the rosebud mouth.
Time stood still as Mykilai's hands worked on the baby, her ears tuned to Jacinta's fading breath. The well-check was just down the hall, what could be taking Jahara so long to arrive?
Mykilai expelled the air she hadn't realized she'd been holding as Jahara stormed through the door, her tunic flapping with the motion of her feet. Darting her gaze around the room, she could tell Jahara was trying to make sense of the scene in the delivery room.
"It's Jacinta. Help her.” Mykilai's voice and eyes implored Jahara. Hope flared momentarily.
"What has happened here? She's bleeding out. What did you do to her?"
"We delivered her baby. Now shut up, or leave. We're working to save both the woman and the child.” Bresilee's voice cracked with frustration.
Mykilai knew this would be the first healthy girl born in a long while. Bresilee placed a high priority on the infant's life. But it didn't make the child any more significant to Mykilai. All she wanted when this was over was Jacinta back in her arms.
Even as her own palms heated, she stole a glance over her shoulder at Jahara. Once again the woman glowed with the intensity of the power emanating from her being. Jacinta began radiating the light. Her features looked angelic in the luminescence. Even Bresilee paused to watch the power flow from the healer.
"The baby.” Elbowing Mykilai's back, Bresilee made her focus on the child.
"Something is wrong. I can't make her lungs fill."
The baby gasped at the same time Jacinta did. Perhaps they could both be saved.
Jahara removed the placenta, shaking her head at the sight of Jacinta. “She's lost so much blood. Bring me some.” Jahara spoke to no one in particular, but the caretaker once again ran from the room, returning only moments later with a bag of dark liquid.
"I can't fix the child. Something is wrong.” Mykilai focused all her energy to her palms, but only tiny rasps came from the infant's mouth.
"Switch with me, Mykilai. Jacinta's bleeding has stopped, her heart is beating in a regular rhythm and her lungs are working. All that's left is to heal the wound on her belly where you delivered the child."
Jahara made to move to the baby.
"No, you do it.” Bresilee's hand flew into the air. “Mykilai will save the child"
"But I cannot.” Dropping her hands, Mykilai felt defeated. Given the gravity of the situation, it still confused her why Bresilee was not using her powers to help.
In a seamless ballet, Mykilai and Jahara switched places.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter Nineteen
Jahara had no idea why she'd been summoned from the well-check until she entered the delivery room. Jacinta's body convulsed in shock as blood pumped from her uterus. She wondered why both Mykilai and Bresilee worked on the baby when the mother required immediate attention.
Fixing the problem had taken great energy, but not much time, and as Jahara moved to the infant, her heart sank. Though she had never seen a newborn, Jahara knew from her education that this one was too small by half. Her delicate skin held the dark tinge of twilight. Her impossibly small lips, the deep purple of a crocus. Her papery thin eyelids quivered, but did not open. The shock of red hair, which must ha
ve come from Jacinta's mate, barely fluttered over the pulse point at the center of her scalp. Life was slipping from the child.
As her hands ran over the infant gasping for life, the enormity of the situation slammed into Jahara with such force, it stole the air from her own lungs. “The child...” She spoke low, swallowing her heart which filled her throat. “She's not formed right."
Bresilee looked at her, puzzled.
Jahara understood why Mykilai hadn't found the internal problems, she was only an apprentice, but Bresilee was an experienced healer. After all, she ran the healing facility. She should have discovered these deformities while the fetus was in utero.
"Gabriella, there is no amount of healing that will help this baby survive.” Touching Bresilee's arm, Jahara stepped back. “See for yourself, she lacks some major organs. And her lungs are barely developed."
"I realize that,” Bresilee yanked her arm from Jahara's hand, but not before Jahara felt the essence of her being.
"Just fix it.” Bresilee waved her hands in the air. “If you can save a worthless breeder, you can repair this female infant.” Her scathing tone cut through Jahara. “Dr. Jahara Hriznek, the great healer, prove yourself now.” Bresilee looked down at the infant, her chin trembling with emotion.
"I cannot form what the creator of this earth has not seen fit to give her,” Jahara said quietly. Her hands ran over the gasping infant, imprinting the child's genetic essence in her memory. Something odd was happening in this room. Jahara schooled her features.
Stealing a look over her shoulder at Mykilai mutely healing the mother, Jahara worried how Jacinta and her mate would react to the death of this child. She didn't know how important the baby was to them.
"I can only take the pain from the babe, but I cannot save her,” Jahara said.
Bresilee wailed. A plaintive cry filled with frustration and anger that echoed off the walls. Bresilee gently scooped the infant into her arms and stormed from the room, tears streaming down her cheeks.
