by Celeste Raye
"She will not leave, and neither will my family. You may have given up, but she did not. She has found the solution and Talonia will survive, without you if that is your wish. Our citizens still see her as queen and will gladly have her as ruler. They are disgusted with your attitude, as am I. What happened to the loving man who worked in the gardens, gloried in the birth of my daughter, and told stories to frightened children? The boy you aided in transforming fights against those who speak badly of you. Where is his hero?"
"That man left with Josie's betrayal. He was not real. He was a manifestation of what might have been. I was fine before she came. I could function and rule. She removed the wall around my heart, then stomped on it. What you see is a shell. Am I to assume she has made you believe there is a cure for Talonia? It will turn out to be another ploy, and she will leave for good. I find it hard to understand why she is still here. I heard her myself when she told her cohorts she would leave and how much she missed Earth."
"You heard the end of a conversation, and you let your fears overrule your head. Had you stayed and listened to her explanation, none of your pain would have come to pass. Your stubborn pride has caused the loss of many months you could have enjoyed at her side. It nearly cost you a lot more than that, but that is for Josie to tell, not me. She did not stomp on your heart. She cradles it within her, nurturing it to give back to you. She never betrayed you, not in the way you imagine, though you have forced her to keep secrets. She did not leave because this is home to her. You are home to her. Had you been privy to the entire conversation, you would have heard her tell the humans that she would never come back unless everyone had to. Right this minute, she is fighting to save my child, your niece, from death. I do not have time to waste arguing with you. Either you let me take the sample I came for and help restore Talonia, or I will be sure to let the people know you refused to be a part of saving us. You will get the revolt you always expected," Daer retorted.
"Take whatever you need. I will hold nothing back from Hope or my home. If my life can save the baby's, take it as well. As to Josie, she is better off without me. I am damaged beyond repair."
Daer chose to remain silent. He had planted the seed of doubt in Maxxus's mind and prayed it would sprout and grow. His mate still loved him, and she carried his heir beneath her heart. Their souls might be a bit tattered, yet they could be mended. Both would have to let go of their stubborn pride and speak clearly to one another. Josie would have to reveal her secrets and Maxxus would need to let his vulnerabilities show. He took the sample and left.
Maxxus was unsettled by Daer's speech. Had he allowed a misunderstanding to destroy his life? How many times had he started toward the spaceship only to let pride turn him around? He had to be right; that was all there was to it. If he admitted to making a mistake, he would lose all authority, would he not? Sitting there, it came to him with a hard slam to his head. He had made many mistakes and admitted them. What was different about this one? The difference was Josie. He wanted to be perfect in her eyes, and if that was not possible, then he did not want to be with her at all. Stubborn and prideful, he was the mistake that needed to be corrected. He needed one more day to find the right words, then he would make amends.
Chapter 15
Josie
"Shara, you need to sip some tea and then sleep for a while. You're getting as dehydrated as the baby. Let me take her. She needs an IV anyway. Look, it's morning. You've been sitting there too long. It may be night again before Hope shows progress. Give her to me," Josie begged.
"I cannot. What if it does not work? I must be here for her if the worst happens; do you not see that?"
"Then at least drink the tea and let us hook Hope to an IV. You both need fluids," Daer commanded as he walked in. "I will make it. I think we all need some. None of us has touched our rations, so it is due us."
"Do not hurt her, please!" Shara cried out as Josie prepared the IV.
"I wouldn't think of it," Josie replied, inserting the tiny needle. The room was chilly, yet she was sweating and nauseous. The baby was kicking inside her so hard she felt bruised, and her back was aching terribly.
Shara accepted the tea with a shaking hand. Daer was watching her intently as she drank it: too intently. Josie realized he had spiked it with a sleeping potion. Sure enough, her eyes began to droop, and she dropped the cup. Josie slid Hope from her limp arms, while Daer laid her in bed.
"Put Hope beside her and take a nap yourself. You look like you are about to fall down, and we cannot deal with that," Daer told Josie.
"An hour is all I need," Josie replied. She curled up in the big chair near the bed and promptly went to sleep.
A soft whimper from Hope woke her. It was dark in the room and outside. She had slept for many hours instead of one. Standing over the bed, she saw that Shara was still knocked out and Daer had finally laid down. Reaching to check the baby's pulse, she found Hope's big, white eyes were open and glowing in the dark room. Color had returned to her chubby cheeks, and she was sucking on her fist.
"Well, hello. Look at you, all bright and happy. It seems you've proven me right and you've lived up to your name. You are the Talonians' hope. Let's wake up mommy and daddy and let them see how well you're doing, okay?"
Hope grinned, and her two teeth sparkled, making Josie smile. She shook Shara and Daer gently, rousing them. "Hope's fine. Look at her!"
Both parents sobbed as they hugged and squeezed their daughter. Hope gurgled contentedly, not understanding all the fuss. "Can you take out the IV now? With all the flailing she is doing it might rip out."
"See if she'll nurse. If she does, then it can be removed after I shoot another dose of the mixture into it, " Josie replied.
Hope was clearly hungry and eager to be nursed, so Josie gave her the dosage and removed the IV. "Now, all of you eat and sleep some more. I think I'm going to the ship to do the same. My baby is demanding that I rest. First, I'll stop and see how well the element is multiplying and how soon we can begin giving it to the population. Then it's got to be added to the formula for the atmosphere once I figured out how to get it to fuse with the others properly." She grimaced as a pain shot from her back down her leg.
"It is not necessary. We have given the first one hundred of the sickest the doses already. Sealed in the tubes, the element multiplies rapidly. It does not have people, plants, or the ground leeching it out when it is sealed. Another hundred will get it shortly. Kelan tried to fuse the elements and believes he succeeded on the first try. He said it was as if they wanted to merge without his help. He just wants your confirmation. There is a sample in my office. Look at it, and if you declare it safe and correct, he will deploy it." Daer explained.
It was a relief to know that others were capable of helping. She wasn't doing well at all and wanted to hide back in her quarters.
"Maxxus deserves to know he has a child coming," Shara stated, just as Josie was walking out the door. "It will bring him back to us. Do not let him suffer anymore, Josie. He still loves you, and I believe you love him too. Let the baby reunite you."
"Tomorrow. I'll be ready to tell him tomorrow," Josie replied quietly, a sudden pain gripping her.
All was dark and quiet outside. The freezing air turned her panting breath into clouds. Halfway to the ship, she decided to turn back. It was becoming obvious that these pains weren't from exhaustion. She was in early labor and needed to get back to Daer. As healer to the Talonians, she trusted him to deliver her baby safely. Three steps and a pain took her to her knees. She screamed for Maxxus. Someone appeared out of the darkness and lifted her off the ground. It wasn't anyone she knew. This man stunk like he hadn't washed in weeks. Thinking he meant to take her to the infirmary, she said, "Thank goodness you came along. I couldn't get there alone. I was going to call for help. Use my communicator and tell Daer to meet us at the door. He'll take me from there." She didn't want to seem impolite, but the stench was making things worse.
He ignored her plea and continu
ed on his way, without speaking. She was growing nervous and began to ramble, "Put me down. I'm too heavy. I can walk the rest of the way. They'll be expecting me. Someone will come out in a minute. You can go now, okay?"
He turned at a right angle to the building, walking away from the city. Josie's alarm rose several notches, and she started to fight to get out of his arms. The man clamped his arms tighter, nearly cracking a bone or two. Josie screamed, but in a voice that terrified her, he growled, "Do it again, and the child will suffer. I care not what happens to the king's spawn. You are all I need to get even with Maxxus. Obey, and both of you might live."
"I'm in labor. Please, let me go to the infirmary! I don't know what it is you want, but I'll get for you. Just let me go back. I won't tell anyone about this. Please!" she begged.
"You will stay with me, and that will have to do. The baby can get out on its own. I have seen it happen many times. In the villages, we do not always have a healer. If it dies, it will not matter. Until I saw you tonight, I did not know there was a child, and I do not think Maxxus knew either. So, what he never knew about will not make a difference. For you though, he will give me back my position."
"Whatever happened, I have nothing to do with it. I don't even know you," Josie declared as they entered the small cave. It smelled worse than the man. Rotted vegetables and old animal bones littered the floor. A pile of dirty rags lay in the corner, and that's where he dropped her.
Scrambling to her feet, she tried to run, but another pain made her belly contract, and she doubled over as her water broke.
"Run, and you will drop that child in the snow. Then I will catch you anyway and leave it out there. Sit and be quiet," the man commanded
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because the high and mighty Maxxus decided to take away my position as village elder. He made my villagers believe I was lazy and stupid. Even my wife shunned me after that. No one will have me share their home or their tent. I am an outcast, starving and freezing. It is the king's fault. He must give me back my position, or an even better one, and admit he lied. I will be honored, or he will never see you again."
"You're crazy. He'll never do that now. You should have shown him you were capable of better judgment, not worse. You're only proving his point by kidnapping me. Let me leave. I won't tell him about you. I need a clean, warm place to deliver a healthy baby. Don't you have children? Wouldn't you want them to be born in a better place?"
"My ungrateful children turned their backs on me. It was my own daughter that told the old king about the waterfall. She betrayed me. If her mate did not guard her at all times, I would have drowned her already. You will have to suffice," he declared.
Maxxus
Word reached Maxxus that Josie had truly found the salvation of Talonia. Acer had run to tell him of Hope's miraculous recovery. His humiliation was complete. Josie had not abandoned him or his people. He was a fool. Ego and a bad attitude had caused unneeded pain and loneliness for them both. He must beg for undeserved forgiveness. If it was too late, then that would haunt him forever. His soul was already ripped to pieces, so how much more could it hurt if his imaginings came true?
Unheeding of the freezing temperatures, he ran outside. The spaceship was dark, and the calls to Josie's communicator went unanswered. After pounding on many doors and waking crew members, he was finally escorted to her chambers by a sympathetic engineer. Afraid she would not answer if she knew it was him, he asked his escort to rouse her. No one answered.
Perhaps she had returned to check on Hope. Shaking from the cold, he banged on Daer's door. Shara opened it, cradling a gurgling Hope. "Is she here?" Maxxus demanded. "I want to apologize. Please, let me in."
"You can come in, but Josie is not here. She went back to the ship to rest."
"No, you are lying! I was there, and she is not. Let me see her, now!" Maxxus ordered.
"Look for yourself. I am not hiding her, uncle," Shara calmly replied. "Stop yelling. You are scaring Hope, and she has endured enough—not that you cared. Call Daer or Kelan. Maybe she could not resist being part of the inoculations or deploying the cure to the atmosphere, despite her need of rest."
"I cared, of course, I did. I could not come. I would have been in the way and made you nervous. You have no idea how confused I have been. I figured it all out, though. I need Josie, whatever the cost."
"It is about time, Maxxus," Daer said as he entered. "Four months is a long time to ignore your mate. You are lucky she loves you so much and did not seek another."
"She would not do that. We are soul mates," Maxxus stated.
"And yet, you told her it was ended. You cannot have it both ways," Daer replied.
"I know that now. Have you seen her? Is she helping you or Kelan?"
"No. I spoke to Kelan a short time ago. She let him know his calculations were correct, then went to the ship. I ordered her to rest."
"She did not obey. No one is in her chambers. Where is she?" Maxxus demanded.
Daer and Shara stared at each other in confusion. There was nowhere else for Josie to go. She was not needed in the lab, her work there was concluded.
"What is it you are not telling me?" Maxxus inquired. "Your faces say you are worried. Talk to me!"
"She was not feeling well when she left. She spent too many hours working and then caring for Hope. I am ashamed to admit I allowed it despite her condition because I was so scared for my daughter. It is possible she is in her quarters, but cannot answer," Daer told him.
"Her condition? Is she ill? I was told the humans were not affected."
"It was supposed to be her decision to tell you. She even said she would do so in the morning, but I guess you need to know now. She may need help. Josie is pregnant," Shara announced.
Maxxus paled and stumbled forward, "Pregnant? She has held this knowledge from me for four months? What a fool I am. She knew, but could not say anything, because I told her to leave. I gave up on her, not the other way around."
Daer hung his head and admitted, "She is not four months pregnant. She is eight months along. I allowed her to hide it after I discovered her secret because you did not want her. She did not tell you for the first months because she was so shocked. Everything in her life was moving too fast. Once time had passed, she was afraid you would be angry, thinking she was deceptive. Then, of course, you sent her away. It has been a tragedy of errors that could get worse if we cannot find her. It has not been an easy pregnancy. The baby may be arriving early due to stress. She could be in danger."
Maxxus was dumbfounded, but he could not deal with his own feelings now. He had to find Josie. "Shara, keep calling her communicator. I will get Hesher to send all soldiers in search of her, and I will personally knock down her door in case she is in her chambers. This is my fault."
"I am here, Maxxus. There is no need to give me orders or knock down Josie's door," Hesher declared from the still open doorway. "One of the refugee children brought me a message. Josie is a hostage. Her captor demands to have his authority and reputation renewed. He wants an apology from you or Josie will not live. The child said the man looked familiar, like his previous village elder, but he had long tangled hair, torn clothes, and smelled of rotted meat. The child has been questioned thoroughly. He knows no more. He was afraid to follow the man. However, he did see him headed north into the desolation. The soldiers are at your service."
"I remember him. The man is crazy! He will hurt her no matter what I do. An apology or promotion will not bring back his honor or make others see him as a leader. He lost that respect all by himself. I will see him dead if he so much as touches a hair on her head! No one goes out to the desolation, so he may have left footprints in the snow. I doubt that he still has the ability to transform. It is possible they have not been covered up yet. He is too crazy to realize such a mistake. We have a small chance of finding her before he does something to cause her harm. Hurry!"
"I will come too," Daer stated. "She came for Hope, and I sho
uld have taken better care of her."
"No, you and Kelan must continue her work. It is what she would want. Save Talonia for her and my child," Maxxus replied.
Chapter 16
Maxxus
Maxxus split the weredragon soldiers into groups. He was sending them in all directions to search for Josie, paying particular attention to the snow for footprints. He was going north, the direction the child had seen the man go. Shockingly, he and his men had not gotten out of the city or switched to dragon form when the man in question appeared out of nowhere.
"I see the child did his duty and you received my message," the filthy old man announced. "Are you going to do as I demanded? I have changed my mind. I want more. Give me a place on the council and a home in the sky. I have no desire to return to my wretched village."
"You will get nothing of the sort, old man. I should kill you where you stand," Maxxus declared.
"Surely, you were not thinking you could find her and ignore my wants? I have taken her where she cannot be discovered before she freezes. You see, I did not leave her with a fire for warmth, and she is human, so she cannot start one with dragon fire. Trust me; she is in no condition to leave and find firewood. I did not even have to tie her up to come here."
As the man rambled, Maxxus caught Hesher's eye and twirled a finger in the air, signaling for the weredragons to take to the sky and begin the search while he dealt with the kidnapper. Hesher relayed his plan to take the direction Maxxus had chosen for himself.
"What did you do to her?" Maxxus growled, grabbing the man by the throat.
"I did nothing. You are the one who got her in this condition," the man cackled. "It is your baby tearing her apart. I doubt that either will be alive soon if you do not let go and give me what I wish."
