by Jacinta Jade
Genlie pressed her lips together, not pleased, but she nodded to show she understood. Genlie wanted action as much as, if not more than, the rest of them. But then she tilted her head and asked, ‘And just what is your injury?’
Siray didn’t say anything, not wanting to upset her friends further, but Zale wasn’t in agreement with her on this.
‘Minor concussion,’ he supplied.
Baindan was shaking his head angrily. ‘He can’t get away with this—it’s a violation of our ways!’
Siray didn’t think it was just that fact that was making Baindan upset. ‘Baindan,’ she called to him.
He immediately crossed the room to her, Genlie subtly moving out of the way.
Seeing that he appeared so concerned for her, Siray gave him a weak smile. ‘Remember,’ she told him, ‘that it’s also part of our traditions that the offended party gets to choose the punishment.’ She held out her hand to Baindan, and he grasped it, holding tightly. ‘I’ll decide what to do about this, but believe me, Mocery won’t get out of this lightly.’ She gripped Baindan’s hand for a moment before letting it go.
Forcibly controlling himself, Baindan took a deep breath and then nodded his agreement, his tense stance easing slightly. As he did, Siray relaxed a little as well. The last thing she needed was for Baindan to go seeking retribution for an attack on her honour.
She would deal with this.
Tomorrow.
For now, a wave of exhaustion was washing over her.
Genlie must have sensed this, as she wheeled around to Baindan and Zale. ‘Okay, I’m going to stay here and look after Siray.’
Siray started to sit up, but Genlie must have guessed she was going to protest, as she waved a finger in Siray’s direction without even turning around. Grumbling, Siray sank back down into the cushions.
Genlie continued. ‘And you two need to return to the rec room and join in the celebrations,’ she said, narrowing her eyes. ‘And try to have a little fun, so that the others don’t guess that something has happened. The fewer people who know about this, the better.’
Baindan and Zale must have bobbed their heads in agreement at Genlie, as Zale moved closer to Siray and said, ‘I’ll see you in the morning at breakfast.’ He tipped his chin to her.
Siray nodded. ‘Thanks, Zale.’
Still standing close by, Baindan glanced away from Siray, his expression stony as he waited for Zale to move away. Then his look became tender as he turned to her again and reached down to give Siray’s hand another squeeze. ‘And I’ll see you tonight, after I’ve made enough of an appearance with the others.’
Siray smiled tiredly at him, then gave both males a small wave as they departed, listening to the sound of their retreating footsteps and the door opening and closing.
When silence once again reigned in the large room, Genlie turned back to her. ‘So, looks like we’re staying in tonight.’ She crossed her arms and tilted her head. ‘What do you feel like doing? While resting comfortably on the couch, of course,’ she added hurriedly.
Siray thought for a moment before letting a smile creep onto her face. ‘I have an idea,’ she said. ‘Let’s talk about how to …’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
HAVING PASSED the tests for active duty, there was, thankfully, no training the next morning, as there would have been no way of hiding Siray’s injury from all the others or the instructors. Having an official day off, however, meant that she could comfortably oversleep.
Genlie had given Siray her bed for the night so that she didn’t have to climb up to the top bunk, and her friend kindly woke her up a little before breakfast so that she had time to go wash beforehand.
Siray thought Genlie had been worried she might get dizzy and roll off the bunk in the night, but Siray’s sleep had been deep.
After helping her to sit up, Genlie asked softly, ‘How are you feeling?’
Siray blinked a couple of times before responding. ‘Slow. And like parts of my head are too big.’
Wexner, who had just woken up on the next bottom bunk over, rolled over and asked sleepily, ‘Too much batra juice, Siray?’
Siray stared at him for a moment, confused, but Genlie jumped in.
‘Yep, I found her last night when I passed by the risers. The guards said she had been looking for the washroom,’ Genlie lied smoothly.
Wexner chuckled as he rubbed his face. ‘Ah, that’s why you two disappeared. Too bad—you missed a good night.’ He yawned.
Genlie shrugged. ‘That’s alright, we’ll join in the fun tonight.’
Siray watched as Genlie casually circled the bunk and picked up two piles of clean clothes before sweeping back around to formerly offer her a hand up. The overemphasised gesture actually worked in their favour, with Wexner shaking his head with humour as Siray took the proffered limb.
Together they walked slowly to the door, Genlie chatting about nothing in particular to cover up Siray’s silence. Just before they left the room, Siray glanced over her shoulder and saw Baindan looking with concern in her direction.
***
On the way to the washroom, Genlie kept up her stream of chatter for the benefit of the people they passed. Once they were in the washroom, however, she adopted a more efficient manner and led Siray straight over to the wash taps.
‘Looks like someone had too much batra juice last night,’ came a superior-sounding voice.
Siray glanced up from where she was leaning heavily over the tap bench, and sure enough, Melora stood off to one side, her eyes wide as she examined her reflection in the mirror. Siray was annoyed enough by the comment to react, even with her headache. ‘You know, Melora, whenever we meet here, you’re always checking yourself out in the mirror. Is there something so wrong with your face that you need to constantly fix it, or is this the only way you can get someone to smile at you every day?’
From behind Siray came the sound of Genlie choking back a laugh.
Melora glared at her. ‘Oh, I see. So, you both think you’re the primary feathers in a wing, now that you’ve passed the instructors’ test, huh?’
Genlie had managed to sober up somewhat and was helpfully glaring at Melora.
Siray responded to the taunt by saying, ‘Oh, good, you heard. It’s nice to have fans.’
Melora snorted and flipped the ends of her curly hair off her shoulders. ‘I’ll be laughing when you fail your first mission and command realises that you’re a bunch of untrained simpletons.’ She strode towards them and brushed past Siray, purposely knocking into her shoulder.
That simple action made Siray’s aching body stumble, but the lethal swiftness of Genlie’s reaction surprised both her and Melora.
First, Genlie flashed out a hand to grab Siray’s shoulder and steady her. Then, in the same breath, she whirled and whipped both hands outwards, seizing Melora’s shoulders from behind and spinning her around.
Siray’s blue eyes went wide as she carefully pivoted to watch the confrontation, amazed at the coldness showing in Genlie’s usually soft face.
‘I’ve been in more fights than all your self-absorbed washroom visits put together,’ Genlie growled at Melora, taking advantage of her greater height to lean into the female’s surprised face. ‘And the next time you decide to insult me, or one of my friends, please do me the courtesy of doing it in a place with lots and lots of other people around, so they can all watch when I drop you on your face.’
Siray kept her own expression icy as she moved forward to stand hip to hip with Genlie, glaring silently.
Once she was over her surprise, Melora sneered at them and left.
Siray turned to Genlie in amazement, shaking her head. ‘Gee. I didn’t know you could even get angry.’
Genlie smiled. ‘She picked a really bad time to throw insults, that’s all,’ she said, bending down to pick up the pile of clothes she had dropped. ‘I hadn’t even had a shower yet.’
Siray shook her head, chuckling, and moved with Genlie to the wash taps, h
er friend assisting her to remove the clothes she had fallen asleep in the night before. Carefully angling the tap so her head wouldn’t get wet, Siray tied her hair up away from her neck and let the water soak her shoulders and back until she felt well and truly relaxed. This time, it was Genlie who finished up first, urging Siray to dry off.
Once Genlie had helped her dress again and to arrange her hair so that the healing strip underneath wouldn’t show, they proceeded to the meals hall. Siray was moving better now that her muscles were warm from her wash and the aches had been taken from bumps and bruises she had collected the evening before.
The queue for food was long that morning, but Siray saw upon searching for a seat that Baindan and Zale had managed to reserve a large section of a table for their whole group.
When Siray and Genlie went across to join them, they heard Baindan saying to someone else, ‘Sorry, but we’ve got these seats this morning. We’re going to be here a while.’
The person shrugged and wandered away to find another spot to eat, and Siray and Genlie sat down.
Siray could see Zale looking at her from a couple of seats away, so she gave him a quick smile to reassure him as to her condition. As she ate, she made an effort to contribute to the conversation here and there, but as she was still feeling a little sluggish, she didn’t really speak as much as she normally might have.
Baindan, Zale, and Genlie covered for her as much as possible, but it was almost inevitable that Deson would notice her unusual silence, his eyes tracking her movements as usual.
‘You’re a bit quiet today, Siray.’ He frowned over at her, looking concerned. ‘Anything wrong?’
His question also made Loce, Tamot, and Jorgi take notice, and Siray opened her mouth to try to persuade him otherwise.
But then Wexner laughed.
It was so surprising an occurrence that everyone turned to look at him instead.
‘Didn’t you hear?’ he asked Deson. ‘Siray had a little too much fun juice last night, and Genlie had to escort her back to the room from near the risers.’ He chuckled again.
Tamot, for some reason, appeared nervous as he asked, ‘Near the risers?’
Siray was still looking at Wexner, who was obviously in a good mood at the thought of going on a mission, when Deson twisted to peer at her, the concern on his face morphing into curiosity.
‘Is that why I didn’t see you at my match last night?’
Siray nodded, grimacing in apology even as she said a silent thanks to Wexner.
‘Too bad,’ Deson said, ‘you missed a great game.’
He went on to tell Siray all about it, which was a relief, as it meant she only had to nod at suitable breaks in the conversation and offer a word here and there.
After he had finished detailing his win, Deson implored her, ‘Make sure you’re there watching tonight, though. I’ll be playing for a spot in the top five on the board.’
That engaged all their interest, and Siray assured him that she would be there this time, sans juice.
After breakfast, they spent the morning up a level in the rehab room. Tamot had suggested it as a good place for them to hang out and relax, and all the others, barring Genlie and Baindan, who tried to suggest hanging out in the rec room, agreed to the idea.
Siray knew Zale also would have objected, but he was doing the late-morning and afternoon shift today. As she knew that at least one of the others would guess something was up if she didn’t go along, she gave Baindan and Genlie a small nod and added her verbal agreement to the discussion, trying to appear as neutral as possible.
So down they all went, passing through the security checkpoints faster as a result of having completed their training. Now that they were on the active roster, they were free to move between certain floors during fixed times.
Despite her calmness moments earlier when they had decided on heading to the rehab room, Siray grew more tense the closer the group drew to the room. She didn’t dare look at Baindan or Genlie as Tamot led the way, knowing that she might crumble at whatever sympathetic expression Genlie might be wearing, or move closer to Baindan for his barely concealed protectiveness. So she stared straight ahead, at a point in the space between Deson’s shoulder blades, following him automatically.
When they reached the room’s door, Siray looked down at her feet and forced herself to take in a slow, deep breath. The events of last night are over, she told herself sternly. Zale dealt with it, and my friends are here. No one will touch me, and besides, the mountainside would look different in the daylight.
The sound of the room’s door being activated intruded on her thoughts, and she refocused on Deson’s boots to follow him inside. She was crossing the threshold when she heard the others’ exclamations of delight.
She glanced up.
The mountainside and cliff edge from the night before had disappeared, and in its place was now a beautiful sandy beach.
Siray smiled incredulously as warm light streamed down around them, warming her face.
The scene before her was so different from the one last night that she couldn’t even mentally link this room to the same place as the one she had been attacked in.
Thus, she happily joined the others as they ambled towards the shore where low waves were breaking.
Jorgi ran ahead of the others to check if the waves were actually real, and he promptly shouted when a larger set wet him up to his knees.
Siray laughed but didn’t join in as Deson, Loce, Tamot, Wexner, and Kovi stripped down to their undershorts and ran into the water. Instead, she sunk down and got herself comfy on the warm sand.
‘Well, this is nice,’ Genlie commented cautiously as she flopped down next to Siray.
When Baindan approached from the other side, Siray waved him away, giving him an amiable smile. ‘I’m fine, really,’ she told him. ‘Go and join the others while Genlie and I enjoy the fake sunshine.’ She made a playful shooing motion with her hands.
Noting her relaxed demeanour, Baindan smiled happily and twisted in the sand, breaking into a jog as he headed for the water, his shirt and pants promptly joining the other male’s discarded clothes.
‘And dunk Kovi for me!’ Genlie shouted after him.
Baindan didn’t turn around but continued on, and Genlie said to Siray, ‘Do you think he heard me?’
A moment later, they had their answer as Kovi went under and came back up gasping and shouting. It was the start of a long water fight between all the males, an affair that Siray and Genlie were happy to observe.
For Siray, it was almost like a dream after a nightmare, such was the contrast she felt between what had happened last night and what she was doing now. She had a great time laughing and cheering with Genlie as the males repeatedly dunked and tumbled each other in the water.
Eventually, the males tired of their sport and came running up the beach towards them, dripping wet.
Siray and Genlie threatened dire consequences if anyone tried to wet them, and the males all wisely stayed away as they wandered about on the sand while they dried off.
All too quickly, the rest of the morning slipped away, and soon the group was dressing and heading off to the risers to get to their midday meal.
Deson weaved around the others to walk beside Siray and observed, ‘You’re looking a bit chirpier now. Feeling better?’
Siray nodded. ‘Much.’ Her headache was barely there, and although she still thought her head would be sensitive to the touch, it wasn’t throbbing any longer. And while she didn’t feel like doing a training session anytime soon, all her tension had drained away.
Unlike earlier, she easily joined in the chatter over the next meal, laughing with the others as they happily quarrelled over who had won the water battle. Afterwards, there was talk about going to the recreation room to watch Tamot try to beat Jorgi at blocks, but without looking at Genlie or Baindan, Siray said, ‘That sounds good, but I have to go up and see Nafren first for some more hand cream.’ She held up the offending li
mb. ‘Still got some blisters that refuse to concede defeat. But I’ll join you afterwards.’
The others nodded.
As they all left the meals hall, Genlie patted Kovi on the shoulder and said, ‘I’m going to go with Siray. It’s been a while since I said hello to Nafren.’
No one enquired further, but Siray did see Baindan give Genlie a quick nod before he continued on towards the recreation room. He probably thought Genlie had decided to go with her to keep an eye on her. Which was good. Otherwise he never would have let her out of his sight if he knew what she and Genlie were really going to do.
As they moved towards the bank of risers, Siray muttered, ‘Did you get what we needed?’
‘Sure did,’ Genlie trilled, giving Siray a big smile as they rounded the corner, putting them in the eye line of the guards standing before the risers.
Once they had passed the security check and a riser had been called, they chatted together about small things, and kept chatting as a platform chimed, the doors opened, and they got in.
Once the doors closed, however, they fell silent, and Siray shifted anxiously.
When they heard the hum of the platform begin to die away, they started up their chirpy conversation again and smiled at the guards as they stepped out to let them conduct their checks. Through security, they kept chatting as they proceeded down the hallway.
Once they had rounded the corner, though, they got down to business.
‘What room do you think he’s in?’ Genlie asked her.
Siray shook her head. ‘I don’t know, but I’m betting that Nafren wouldn’t have put him in a room with anyone else, if his injuries were bad enough.’
‘Right,’ Genlie muttered. ‘Small room, where not many people would see. In the back hallway?’ she suggested.
Siray nodded. ‘Sounds like a good place to start.’
They made their way down the hallways, passing only one or two healers clad in their usual pale grey as they progressed. Thankfully, none of the healers asked them what they were doing there, and Siray supposed it could have been because she was now a familiar face to most of them.