AMNESIA

by Canada Jackson

  “The first sip should be enough. But if it isn’t, I’ll help you digest more and more until I have my answers.”

  “If Samantha knew…” He clutched the chair when his head spun.

  “Samantha would not believe it.” Shihlo laughed. “Her loyalty is to me and my sons, not the brother who treats her with utter disrespect.”

  “I…”

  Shihlo ordered him to sit down. “Answer me! Why was it kept from her?”

  “She was a lunatic. Amber’s mother believed she was special, some kind of freak harbinger of a mythical creature… she was an embarrassment to James. He had to put her away. She saw strange visions and sang ridiculous songs that made no sense at the most inopportune times.”

  “Why not care for her, seek help?”

  “He was protecting Amber from her,” Travis groaned. He clutched his stomach and then spat out, “James wanted to be in politics and couldn’t afford a crazy wife.”

  He recoiled when the truth slipped from his mouth. He did not want Amber to know something about James that would hurt her. He needed her to remain strong and steadfast in her desire to return, not to see the Thromians as her friends.

  “You’re despicable!” He clutched the chair to steady himself.

  “Is she really dead?”

  “Yes… no.” Travis struggled against the serum. “I don’t know. She disappeared years ago, ran away from the mental institution. He never found her.”

  Travis put his head in his hands, trying to stop the sensation of floating. He had taken only a small sip, and he knew it was already wearing off, but Shihlo had what he wanted.

  “My questions… about Amber,” he pleaded.

  “Go ahead.” Shihlo’s smile was cruel.

  “If he has become bored with her, why not send her home? Why give her to another one of your kind?”

  “He did not choose Whyle.”

  “Amber wanted… to be with him?” It could not be true.

  “Amber has adjusted to our society.” Shihlo leaned back in his chair.

  “Why would Wrexel allow this? I thought he was obsessed with her,” Travis cried.

  Shihlo ignored the question. “It has been so long; why are you pining for her?”

  “Just because your brother took her away doesn’t mean I stopped loving her.” Travis looked down at his monitor, which held the image of Amber and her husbands. “Why, if he claims to love her, would he share her so soon?”

  “Love?” Shihlo snorted. “Are we still talking about Wrexel?”

  “Please… please tell me.”

  “Adding Whyle to his contract with Amber is neither upsetting nor unusual in Throm. Perhaps Amber has fallen in love with Whyle and rather than lose her altogether, Wrexel has agreed to share. Maybe Wrexel enjoys threesomes… who knows.”

  Travis almost retched. “It must be upsetting to Amber. She is a sweet, innocent girl. She would never agree to marry two men.”

  “Amber is not a girl, and she is not innocent,” Shihlo said. “And on the contrary, she agreed without reservation.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “I swear it on my house.” Shihlo touched his shoulder.

  Travis reeled with dismay, for a Thromian never lied in this way.

  “So, they will all live together?”

  “Whyle has an apartment linked to Wrexel’s. Amber will share her time with them both, but on occasion, depending on the mood, they may all cohabit… at least until the sun rises.”

  His laugh rattled Travis.

  Amber between two brutes. Travis stood and left without another word. He returned to his own apartment to play and replay the captured footage, watching Amber looking up wistfully at Wrexel, who willingly released her hand to place it in the hand of her second husband.

  This was followed by images of a laughing Amber, eagerly wrapping her arms around Whyle’s thick neck, receiving his kisses with abandon on a beach in Hynafol.

  He ran to the bathroom and threw up until he couldn’t breathe.

  * * *

  Back on Havelo, Amber had entered the suite with Whyle and grimaced when she saw only one bed. It was large, but so was Whyle and she felt uncomfortable sharing a room – let alone a bed – with him. She ran her eyes slowly over her new husband, who surveyed the bed and gave her a wicked grin.

  Leyahanna’s eyes widened as she walked up to Amber. “Oh dear, shall I call for another bed?” Whyle scowled at her. “No. We will not arouse any suspicion with the cleaning staff. I have said this many times and will repeat it only once more: Amber is as safe with me as she wishes to be. Why not return to Wrexel?”

  “I will remain here in the guest room until summoned,” she said haughtily.

  “Leyahanna, perhaps you should give us some privacy.” Amber knew she was secure with Whyle; the arrangement was uncomfortable but necessary.

  Leyahanna nodded and pointed at her wrist. “You can call on me and I will be here within the minute.”

  She raked a disapproving glance over Whyle, then scrambled away, her face slightly flushed.

  “Why does she not like you?” Amber asked.

  “I had a Gweithi lover to whom she was related, and it did not end well.”

  Amber knew her mouth had been open for a while when he helped her close it by pinching her lips together.

  “I didn’t think you… crossed over.”

  “That was the only time.”

  “Really?” Her eyes widened. “Only that one time and with a Gweithi?”

  He laughed. “Yes. I’ve never been with a colonial, including the Rheesians. The Gweithi was my only crossover and even then, they don’t have sex in the traditional sense.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s just an act.”

  Whyle sat down in the lounge after he poured them both a glass of wine. They had been drinking champagne on the flight over, the ship alight with their laughter and teasing. Amber wasn’t sure she should have any more wine.

  Still, when he toasted her, she followed suit. “An act?”

  Whyle grinned. "Curious about Gweithi habits?"

  “She is the least sexual being I have ever encountered.” Amber could not see Whyle bedding somebody who looked like Leyahanna.

  “That’s because they are. They have sex only if they want to procreate. They share love. As I said, it was… an act. I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” he said, laughing heartily. “I did not think I would be discussing sex on our first chaste night together.”

  “If you don’t do that with a Gweithi, what do you do?”

  Whyle sighed. “They share their essence, as they call it. They lie upon you and then this rush covers your body and you climax. There is no touching, but it is incredible. You don’t even take off your clothes.”

  Amber frowned. “That’s… weird.”

  Whyle’s voice lowered. “I adored her.”

  Amber was surprised by his tone and by the look on his face. It was clear Whyle had been in love with her and this was surprising, for the comments that always surrounded him were that he was married to technology.

  “It ran its course and we parted ways.” A shadow crossed his handsome face. “The end of the story is not pleasant and I’m not in the mood to discuss it, but Leyahanna blames me for the outcome. Truth be told, I still blame myself.”

  Amber was curious but Whyle did not look as if he would open up any more. She gazed at her drink. By now, Rheese would hear of her marriage. She wondered what Travis was thinking… what her father believed.

  “Why so sad?” Whyle filled her glass again, despite her protests.

  “Learning about the tabloid footage was shocking to me. It made me realize that Travis and my father would see what was happening on Throm. They must think the worst of me.”

  Then again, they hadn’t ever thought that much of her.

  “You still hanker for the human?” Whyle seemed surprised.

  “I will always love him… just not the way
I did before.” She could never view Travis sexually again. In fact, she wondered if she ever really did. He was the man in her life and she wanted to be with somebody. Their failed attempts at consummating their relationship had been brutal to her self-confidence, along with his consistent controlling and diminishing of her mind,

  “So what have you done that’s embarrassing to you?”

  “The kind of… sexuality that is acceptable to Throm is regarded as decadent in my culture. People who indulge with multiple partners are not the norm, they’re deviant.”

  “It’s deviant to be honest?”

  “We’re not as evolved, Whyle; I’m not as evolved… if this arrangement were for real, I would be in turmoil.”

  “Or deeply satisfied?” he snorted.

  Amber giggled and then put down her glass and tried to be serious. “It makes me uncomfortable that they perceive me as indulging in practices that are not the norm.”

  “Who cares what they think?” Whyle frowned. “This is your life; you should care about your feelings.”

  * * *

  When she did not reply, he moved a little closer. “If you had met Wrexel under different circumstances, if he had won you from Travis, would you feel different?”

  Amber wanted to say no, but she would be lying. Part of her wondered what would have happened had she and Wrexel met as equals.

  “So, continuing with our chat about sex,” Whyle steered the conversation in a new direction. “Were you really innocent on your wedding day or did Wrexel and his brothers find a way to alter the machinery?”

  “I was innocent.” She felt affronted.

  Whyle laughed. “I’m sorry. I just find it hard to believe that after weeks of your being alone with Wrexel, he left you untouched.”

  “I was kidnapped, I remind you.”

  “You were in accord.”

  Amber rolled her eyes; how she hated that word.

  “So why don’t you ask me the stuff you really want to ask? Like, will I be asking you to consider being my legitimate wife, perhaps?” His smile was enchanting, and she smiled in return.

  “No, because if Wrexel thought that, he wouldn’t let me be here.” She poked him in the chest.

  “Maybe he misjudged me.” His wicked grin was back.

  “Are you flirting with me, Whyle of Throm?”

  “Wrexel would have no comeback. Did you not see the resignation in his eyes when we left?”

  “No.” All she remembered was his desperate plea to be touched. How of late, he seemed to yearn for this so much, it was hurting her as much as it did him.

  “He knows the law of Throm and he knows I would show him no dishonor if I asked you and you accepted.”

  Amber slapped him hard across his large bicep, which, unlike Wrexel’s, had two black tattooed bands upon it that she still wanted to ask about

  “My head is spinning,” she confessed.

  * * *

  “Sober-up time.” He threw her over his shoulder and carried her outside to toss her fully clothed into the water. He dove in behind her as she screamed in protest. Whyle came up in front of her and shook his hair, laughing as the water droplets rained on them both.

  Amber was dog paddling in the deep pool, her dress weighing her down until Whyle grasped her around the waist and waded to the shallow end.

  “Are you wearing sensible underwear?”

  “Why?”

  “Then get out of these clothes; I’m not going to jump you like Staede.” He lifted her dress above her head.

  “Enough.” She paddled away from him. “I am not skinny dipping with you, even if you are my husband.”

  Before she reached the step, Whyle grasped her by the leg and pulled her underwater. Amber came up spluttering, clinging to his shoulders as she coughed and blinked. Water streamed out of her nose.

  Amber found her feet and made good practice of her lessons with Staede.

  She ended up spending an enjoyable hour horseplaying with Whyle in the pool.

  Eventually exhausted from several dunking losses, she waded away. “I am going to bed.”

  “Without me?” He waggled his eyebrows, and she giggled. There was zero chemistry between them and she was completely at ease with him.

  “I have to be celibate for a week, so I shall be easing my anxiety in the water for hours,” he shouted after her.

  “Ugh… drain the pool when you’re done,” she said over her shoulder and he laughed loudly.

  Amber had no trouble sleeping after the excitement of the day. She awoke only much later when Whyle climbed in beside her.

  “Whyle?” she whispered into the dark.

  “Yes.” His hand covered one of hers as he held it to his lips. “Goodnight,” he said softly. “Sweet dreams.”

  * * *

  Amber awoke cuddled against Whyle’s large and muscled back.

  This was how she awoke every morning with Wrexel, except that Wrexel always faced her, brought her to him, and nuzzled her neck until she was moaning for him to do more.

  Whyle was still asleep.

  When she moved to her side of the bed, he jolted up and turned to face her, his eyes wide and his chest moving up and down in shock.

  “Oh God.” He lay back down. “I’m not used to waking up in bed with a woman. Could you be less noisy?” he complained.

  “Noisy?” She put her hand on her hip. “I was creeping out of bed quietly.”

  “Quietly as a herd of fighter beasts and now you’re a nagging wife.” He put the pillow over his head.

  Amber picked it up and hit him, but Whyle was already asleep.

  So different from Wrexel, she mused, and sought out the menu for breakfast.

  She liked Whyle. They were like siblings, and this pleased her. She couldn’t deal with the attention of a third. She thought of Staede then with a twinge of guilt. He would see her plans of the tri-marriage as betrayal. She knew she shouldn’t care, but she did. Unlike Whyle’s touch, which left her warm but unaroused, Staede had a habit of making her respond. The chemistry was all right, but her heart wasn’t in it. He was going to be upset that she never told him about their plans.

  Amber walked into the living area and froze.

  “Who are you?” she yelled in fear. Whyle tore out of the room in a daze.

  “Dionys.”

  Whyle sighed, then took a deep, calming breath, “The young man gaping at you is Inndra’s brother. Dionys is part of the trusted protection we have arranged for you, which will be a fitting effigy at his funeral if he keeps staring at you like that.”

  The cadet was just twenty, or perhaps turning twenty, as Amber remembered. Thromians did not have sex until classified as adults, and with him approaching this important time, seeing her in her nightgown was a bit much.

  “My apologies, my lady,” he stammered as she crossed her arms over her chest. “In addition to guarding, I was asked to record footage of your honeymoon and distribute it on social media.”

  Whyle watched him squirm and then gave him a reprieve. “Later. I want private time with my wife.”

  Dionys left hastily and Whyle had to laugh once he left. “He’s a fresh cadet, unexposed to sex and possibly unexposed to humans; you have ruined him for his first night with a Thromian now.”

  Amber smiled. “It’s good to have Inndra’s family near. I believe you are friends with his sister Freya.”

  She had never spoken much to her, but Amber knew that Whyle and Freya were occasional lovers.

  “Yes, we are friends.”

  “Did you tell her about our arrangement?”

  “No, to her, what we have is real, but you have agreed for her and me to remain… friends.”

  “I’m glad you have a friend,” she mused. He teased her back about being friends with Staede, which turned into a water fight in the pool again.

  * * *

  As the days and nights continued, Amber and Whyle became even closer.

  Each night, Amber would retire early and wake up with W
hyle never laying so much as a finger upon her unless planned. When Leyahanna alerted them that the paparazzi were nearby, they made sure to act like a passionate honeymooning couple. They also allowed Dionys to film them in mock embraces of passion; in one, they knocked over a table, both cutting their hands when they fell to the floor. He leaked it and everybody who viewed it – including, Amber realized once again with regret, Travis and her father – would believe she was completely in love with her second husband.

  Amber had just begun enjoying herself when she received a call from Shihlo with the feedback he promised. After listening to his news, Amber retired to her room to cry. She had been there for less than ten minutes when Whyle entered the bedroom and took her into his arms, begging her to tell him what Shihlo would not.

  “Tell me,” he pleaded. “I will not tell Wrexel if you do not want me to.”

  “You will think… I am insane.”

  “Well, if you are, you and Wrexel are indeed a perfect match,” he teased gently. “Nobody is examining his head and look at how he behaves.”

  Her laugh held no mirth.

  “Just tell me,” he begged again. “I thought I was your friend?”

  36

  Magic Denied

  Amber divulged the truth about her mother being alive and how it had been kept from her. Then, with a huge sigh, she confessed to her ongoing visions. Somehow it seemed okay to share it with Whyle. The release of finally having somebody know was cathartic. She told him her mother spoke to her of events that were occurring in the present, but she left out the parts that included the Sanbara and her quest.

  This remained her most cherished secret.

  Her ultimate goal.

  “So she guides you still?” Whyle asked.

  “Yes, as if she can see everything I am doing.”

  “What is your response to her?”

  “I ignore her. Even though I no longer fight it, I can’t bring myself to acknowledge it.”

  “So you think I am crazy,” she said when he did not respond for a while.

  “Not at all. As you know, I… shall we say dabble with magic.”