Temperance

by Ella Frank

  “My joy sounded a lot different a minute ago.”

  With a tight-lipped smile he agreed, “Yes. I liked that sound too. I shall endeavor to hear it more often.”

  She blinked up at him as if realizing for the first time what she’d just done, and right before his very eyes her mood changed. It was as though everything she’d pushed aside to enjoy the moment came tumbling back in, and the happiness that had been there faded away in an instant.

  “Naeve?”

  She turned her face from him, dismissing him.

  He pushed up and away from her, and as he stared down at the disheveled woman lying across his table, he felt a different kind of ache. This time though, it was located higher.

  This time it was in his chest.

  Ry’Ker left the Great Hall with even more questions than when he’d first entered.

  Omnipotence. That one word had changed everything, and yet changed nothing at all, because the sensualeer that was locked up in the East chamber had no idea what he truly was.

  He had no idea that his powers, they were limitless—or soon would be.

  Si’Bastian was dangerous. More so than Ry’Ker could have ever imagined.

  He looked at the guard standing by the double doors and told him, “Meet me at the East tower in an hour. Bring Ai’Den.”

  When the guard acknowledged his request, Ry’Ker turned and made his way up to his own chambers. He needed a moment to think. Some silence to try and work out the best way to do what Li’Am wanted of him.

  Gaining Si’Bastian’s trust would’ve been a hard enough task when he’d known nothing but the bare facts. But staring him in the eye and lying to him was going to take every ounce of control Ry’Ker possessed.

  He ran a hand up over his shaved head and winced, thinking of the disdain he’d seen in his brother’s eyes when he’d first seen it several nights ago. He and Mala’Kai had many issues, most of which revolved around the death of their mother, but they had since broadened to include; who he choose to fight beside, and what he fought for. It was clear they would never see eye to eye, and he would never understand his brother’s blatant disregard for all that they’d lost.

  Walking over to the window of his chambers, he stared out at the men below. He wondered how different the place would look if they were able to undo all that had been done. Women, even children, would be seen in the courtyard below, just as they had when he’d been a boy—and he wanted that.

  Sighing, he placed his hands on the wooden sill and spotted Ai’Den crossing the yard to the kitchen side door. Damn it, he’d forgotten all about the women. He was supposed to be meeting them with the healer to see if he knew any more of what ailed the redhead. Why she wasn’t yet awake.

  Well at least this way he would kill two birds with one stone. After he’d seen to Red, Ai’Den could come with him to check on Si’Bastian.

  Rolling his shoulders he crossed to the door and thought, so much for a moment of silence. Gods knew what he’d be walking into with Fiona Brannigan after their last encounter.

  * * *

  He reached the landing above the kitchens, to find that Ai’Den was there waiting on him talking with another guard who was laughing over something he must have said.

  “Here he is now.”

  He watched Ai’Den turn his way to greet him. “Hey, Ry’Ker.”

  “Ai’Den,” he replied, as he stopped in front of the healer.

  He was about to say more when he felt something tugging on his pants leg. Looking down, his words came to a standstill when he saw a fawn colored goat chewing on the ankle of his breeches.

  “Sorry,” Ai’Den offered, and then bent down to swat the animal away from his leg. “She’s been misbehaving all morning.”

  Slightly thrown off by the goats’ appearance, Ry’Ker lost his train of thought.

  “Usually I’d leave her outside, but Cook has been threatening to gut and plate her for this eve’s meal. So you can understand why I want her close.”

  As Ai’Den’s explanation came to an end, Ry’Ker felt the tugging again and this time the healer reached out and grabbed the animal by the neck.

  “Quit it, Buttercup,” he mumbled and pulled her away.

  Ry’Ker shook his head and then asked, “If you and your animal are ready.”

  He stepped past Ai’Den, who shrugged apologetically, and turned the door handle. He pushed it open and found Fiona and the dark haired woman sitting cross-legged on the cot beside their sleeping sister. Knowing that any kind of friendly conversation would not be welcomed, he decided to forgo it and get right to the point.

  Marching across the room, he saw Fiona’s eyes move from him to the man walking in behind him—and then, to the goat.

  “Has there been any improvement?”

  She stood and wiped her hands on her pants before responding coolly, “No. Who’s that?”

  Ry’Ker didn’t bother looking over his shoulder, he merely explained, “He’s the healer.”

  “The doctor? A little young don’t you think?” she then let her eyes flick over his shoulder to Ai’Den who she mumbled, “No offense,” to.

  “None taken,” he assured her, and stepped up beside him. “I’m Ai’Den.”

  As he shifted toward her and held out a hand there was a loud high-pitched bleat, and the goat bounced up onto the bed Fiona had vacated. She looked shocked by the animals’ appearance, and as Ry’Ker was about to tell Ai’Den to take the damn thing outside, the other woman in the room began laughing.

  It was the first noise he’d heard from her in days, and apparently a shock to Fiona also because she looked over her shoulder to make sure she hadn’t heard things.

  “Audra?” she asked expectantly, and when her sister looked at her and grinned, Ry’Ker was dealt his second blow of the day.

  The woman didn’t bare a slight resemblance to the lost Empress, when she smiled she was the exact replica of her, and the sheer beauty of her was breathtaking.

  “Isn’t he cute?” she beamed, genuinely impressed with the animal that was now trying to eat her pants.

  “It’s actually a she,” Ai’Den spoke up, and finally walked past him to offer his hand once again to Fiona.

  Apparently, he was much more acceptable as a human being because Fiona bestowed a smile on him and also extend her hand. He took it and bent down to press his lips to her fingers.

  “My lady.”

  Ry’Ker watched as a flush hit the cheeks of the usually prissy female.

  “Oh,” she flustered slightly. “My name’s, Fiona.”

  “That’s a very pretty name.”

  Ry’Ker barely resisted his urge to tell the healer to hurry up, but when Fiona glanced over Ai’Den’s shoulder to him he knew she was trying to send him a message.

  “It’s nice to finally meet a gentleman.”

  Ai’Den released her hand and gave a quick laugh. “Ahh, I wouldn’t call myself a gentleman. A man is well enough for me.”

  Fiona placed her hands in the pockets of her pants and then turned aside slightly to show him where her sister, the patient, lay.

  “I didn’t mean to be offensive about your age,” she explained. “It’s just…where I’m from doctor’s are usually older. They have years of schooling and then interning and well, you look barely what? Twenty?”

  Ai’Den walked past her to the middle of the bed where Red lay, and then looked back to Fiona and said, “I’m two and twenty and was born a healer, of that I had no choice. It’s the life as a naturalist that I got to decide. I don’t know what you speak of when you say school and intern.”

  Ai’Den raised his palms over the unconscious woman, and Ry’Ker saw the way Fiona tensed and found himself walking up to stand beside her.

  “He won’t hurt her,” he murmured, trying to offer some sort of reassurance.

  She turned her head to the side and when their eyes met, hers narrowed. “Why should I believe you?”

  “Why would I bother with a lie?”
/>   Without a word, she turned back to watch Ai’Den and perhaps hope for a miracle.

  Ry’Ker wasn’t a stranger to what Ai’Den’s kind could do, but when the white light shimmered down from his palms and cloaked the woman lying stretched out on the bed, he heard the two women near him gasp.

  “He’s like Bastian?” Fiona questioned, and the first thing that came to his mind was; no, he is nothing like, Si’Bastian. No one is.

  “No. Ai’Den is a healer. Si’Bastian is…”

  “But they do the same thing,” she whispered when he didn’t complete his thought.

  Shaking his head Ry’Ker told her, “Look closer.”

  As she bent a little and peered at the light that was shimmering around her sister’s body, he knew the minute she saw it. There, within the light, were tiny little flecks of color.

  The blues of their waters and sometimes their sky. The greens of their grass and their once thriving trees. And mixed in amongst them were the yellows and browns of their land as they all swirled together to create a throbbing, pulsating glow that could detect the life force of the one within.

  “What is he doing to her?” Fiona asked, without taking her eyes of off the healer and her sister.

  “He’s trying to find her?”

  That had her turning her head. “Find her?”

  “Yes,” he replied. “Your sister has been unconscious for days now. Ai’Den is trying to detect some part of her. See if he can feel any sort of connection with her, from what she experienced before she ended up as she did.”

  They both turned to see that Audra had moved forward to the edge of the other cot and was watching with rapt attention.

  “Do you think it will work?” Fiona asked.

  Not wanting to lie to her, Ry’Ker voiced what had been on his mind from the beginning. “Probably not. She was found unconscious in the Tasie Forest. There’s not much left living in there. That in turn will make it hard for Ai’Den to find any kind of life signature that was around her at the time for her soul to latch onto.”

  She said nothing as his brutal truth was delivered, and he decided that maybe this should have been the moment he practiced telling a lie. After all, he was about to have to live the biggest one of his life starting soon enough.

  Seconds passed. Then minutes. Until it felt like he’d been standing there for hours—and nothing was happening.

  Ai’Den’s arms were trembling and Ry’Ker knew the connection was about to be severed.

  Every time a healer practiced, a certain amount of their energy was drained, and right now the shaking in Ai’Den’s arms and the pallor of his face was a clear indication that he was breaking down.

  “Shut down, Ai’Den,” he commanded.

  “One more—”

  “—No more. Shut. It. Down.”

  Instantly, the glow dissipated and Ai’Den fell forward. Before he could brace himself against the bed, his hand landed on Red’s shoulder and his other brushed by her face.

  “By all the Gods, nothing. I felt nothing,” he muttered, and went to right himself.

  Just as he did, Ry’Ker saw it. The foot at the end of the bed, it moved.

  “Stop,” he commanded, and pushed past Fiona to where Ai’Den was still braced over the woman’s prone form. “Her foot, it moves.”

  Both him and Ai’Den looked down upon the motionless woman and waited, for what he wasn’t sure, until her eyelids started to flutter and then wide green eyes came into view as Red finally woke from her slumber.

  * * *

  Naeve reached for the material at her waist and pulled it up her body as she pushed the hem of the dress down her legs.

  What had she been thinking? Letting him touch her like that?

  She turned her head where she lay on the table, and watched Kai as he walked over to the fireplace.

  His shoulders were stiff, as was his spine, and when he placed a hand on the wall and stared at the flames below, Naeve felt the bitter taste of shame and regret on her tongue.

  Sitting up slowly, she turned so her back was to him as she zipped her dress.

  “Marcus will come down and show you back to your room.”

  His voice was hard, his tone frigid, and Naeve knew she deserved both. That didn’t help her unease though, and she wrapped her arms around her waist as if they were the only things that would hold her together.

  Unable to look at him she got off the table and stood where she was, trying to think of something that would make sense to say.

  “He was told to place clothes in your room. Let him know if there are any problems with the fit and we will do our best to accommodate you.” He paused, and Naeve turned then to see that he was still looking at the fire. “Understand, it’s been a long time since we’ve had to provide for the needs of a woman.”

  She swallowed, now feeling like a total bitch, but she had no response for him and it was clear he didn’t want to talk to her. Pushing away from the wall, he finally turned to face her. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes unreadable.

  “If there’s nothing else, my lady, I’ll let you retire. You must be exhausted.”

  It was the first time he’d used that term with her, and the way he delivered it Naeve knew it was not done out of respect. Her mouth opened and she was about to say something when he gave a quick nod, turned on his heel, and strode out of the room.

  As she stood there alone, she wondered what the hell was the matter with her.

  She’d never felt so satisfied, yet at the same time she’d never been so unsettled.

  As she stared at the door, which Kai had left through, she also knew that she’d never experienced the desire to run after a man in fear that she’d never see him again.

  “Who are you?”

  Those were the first words spoken from the woman staring up at both him and Ai’Den. Ry’Ker looked to the healer who was still hovering over her and waited for him to stand. When he didn’t move, Ry’Ker placed a hand on his shoulder and tugged.

  “Give her some room to breathe.”

  Ai’Den straightened reluctantly, and took a step away from the cot. When he physically bumped into him, Ry’Ker gripped his arm to steady the man.

  “Are you all right?”

  Ai’Den didn’t answer which was unusual. He was always polite and never one to purposefully ignore a man of a higher rank, but right now he seemed pre-occupied.

  Before he could question him further though, Fiona pushed past the both of them and leaned down over her sister.

  “Oh my God. You’re awake,” she gasped, and pulled her into a tight hug. “We thought you were dying.”

  Ry’Ker made himself wait silently as the dark-haired woman also moved to her sister’s side to place a kiss on her head.

  “You’ve been unconscious for days.”

  “Days?” Red asked, and Ry’Ker felt Ai’Den take a step forward.

  He looked to the healer whose eyes were fixated on the bed, and then reached for his arm halting him.

  “Ai’Den?”

  When the man didn’t answer, Ry’Ker turned to him and shook his arm.

  “Ai’Den? What’s troubling you?”

  Finally, the healer looked to him and asked, “Who is she?”

  Skeptical of the look in Ai’Den’s eyes, Ry’Ker found himself pulling him back toward the door, ready to hurl him out of it if need be.

  “Why do you want to know?”

  Uncaring of the fact he was being led to the door, Ai’Den kept his eyes on the bed even as he stumbled.

  “I felt nothing, Ry’Ker.”

  When they got to the door, Ry’Ker halted them and opened it.

  “So?”

  Ai’Den finally dragged his eyes away from where he’d been focused and stated clearly, “I felt nothing while she was sleeping, just a vast emptiness. I feared she wouldn’t wake. But then she did…”

  His voice trailed off and Ry’Ker’s patience finally snapped. “Yes, she did. So what are you trying to say, healer?”<
br />
  “When she woke and stared at me, it felt as though I was on fire. Yet, I was unable to move.”

  Ry’Ker turned back to see the two women huddled around their sister, and knew he needed some answers. He just wasn’t sure how to get them. Either from the sister’s, or from one such as the woman who’d infected them to begin with.

  “I think you should leave now,” he told the man beside him, uneasy with what he’d told him about feeling paralyzed. He hadn’t been affected in such a way. Why had Ai’Den?

  “I don’t wish to just yet.”

  The boldness of the man astounded him. Ai’Den had never disobeyed a direct request of him.

  “That wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order. Until we know what is going on here, you need to leave. Meet me at the East tour in an hour.”

  Ai’Den cocked his head to the side before he queried, “The Prince’s chambers?”

  “Yes. Will that be a problem?”

  The healer shook his head and then patted his thigh, which in turn had his goat running to his side. The noisy sound of the hooves had them women looking over their shoulders. Once they realized what it was they dismissed them where they stood, and turned back to continue their whispered conversation.

  “I’ve never met a sensualeer,” Ai’Den mused.

  Ry’Ker wondered at the curiosity he heard in the other man’s voice. There was no judgment, just a sort of reverence for a person he’d never met. A person that most feared.

  “This won’t be a social call, Ai’Den. I need you to have your full wits about you. He’s dangerous.”

  Ai’Den nodded and just before he moved out to the hall he stated, “You know, most men would say the same thing of you.”

  Stunned by the comparison, Ry’Ker pinned him with a look that demanded he continue.

  “It’s a well known fact that armed with his sword there is no one more dangerous than the Commander’s head guard.”

  But with or without it, I’m no match for the man in the East Tower, Ry’Ker thought.

  As Ai’Den disappeared from view, Ry’Ker turned back to find that Fiona had stood and walked across the room.