by Mary Auclair
The defiant streak in Ava rebelled against Khal’s words and when she lifted her gaze to him, he recoiled. Not a lot, but enough.
“You save him.” She heard her voice like it was coming from somewhere deep inside her belly, from that place that had always refused dominion from all who wanted to possess her. All except Arlen. “You save my bloodmate, or I swear on your Midnight God that I will hunt each one of you down and kill you like dogs.”
Khal swallowed, his eyes widening, but he didn’t give up. “Arlen is a strong warrior, he knows nothing else. He won’t be able to stand being a burden, a broken warrior. It will crush him.”
“Arlen has been through everything life has thrown him. He survived betrayal, heartbreak, a year at the Frontier. He’s stronger than any of you.” Her voice was steady—steady, and stronger than it had any right to be. As strong as her love for Arlen. “I won’t give up on him. Ever.”
Khal held her stare for what felt like an eternity, then he nodded in that simple way all Eoks seemed to do. He turned to the Mantrilla doctors, still standing around Arlen on the metal table. “You heard what his bloodmate said. Save my brother, or she will hunt down each one of you.”
The Mantrilla doctors paused, mandibles clicking with incredulity, then they turned. They worked on Arlen tirelessly and during all that time, Ava stayed in the room.
At some point, someone came and took the Exo-Heart from her. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought it was Dr. Yrakan, the Relany doctor.
Still, Ava didn’t leave Arlen’s side. Some time later, they moved him to another white, desolate, windowless room.
There again, Ava stayed. She didn’t dare take her eyes off him. All she did was remain by his side as tubes fed his veins, breathed into his lungs, and Arlen slept.
Hours passed—or days, she didn’t know.
Ava never left. She never slept, never ate. All she did was stare at Arlen, whispering all the nonsense she wished she could have told him before as he lay there, defenseless.
Finally, a long, long time later, as her body screamed with exhaustion, her head drooped toward the mattress and Ava curled up against Arlen. She brought her legs up on the bed and closed her eyes, shutting out the entire world around them.
Pain gripped her like never before, and her mind refused to recognize the feeling. Her hands ran up the naked skin of one of Arlen’s arms, feeling the tiny bumps of the marks under her fingers, and she finally understood. Despair took hold of her, cold and dark.
Ava cried, Arlen’s good, male smell in her nostrils. She cried until the tears refused to flow from her eyelids, until her stomach cramped with pain, and until her head pounded like vicious little animals were trapped inside it, clawing their way free.
And then, she cried some more.
Ava cried for the life she never got the chance to have with Arlen, for the love she never got to confess, for the children she never gave him.
Until, finally, her eyes closed and darkness swallowed her in its greedy embrace.
Days passed as Arlen slept. Still, Ava refused to leave.
Outside, the world kept going. People came and went, giving her news of the aftermath of the battle, and she listened. Some of it mattered, most of it didn’t.
All she cared about was the body lying in the bed at her side.
At night, she slept nestled against Arlen’s shattered body as he lay there, his life pulsing through tubes hanging from the ceiling, his face absent and his eyes closed.
Then, as she was lost to the darkness in a dreamless slumber, a hand closed around her shoulder.
“Leave me.” Her voice sounded wrong, broken, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care anymore if she sounded weak. “I’m not moving.”
“I can’t feel my arm, Little Wonder. Your head has been resting on it for hours.”
From the darkness, that voice reached her, familiar and cruel. Dreams should never be this cruel. Ava’s mind rebelled against the slumber trying to desert her. She didn’t want to wake. She wanted to keep sleeping, wanted to hear that voice again, even if the sound of it sliced through her ribs and stabbed her already bleeding heart.
“Arlen. I want to hear your voice again.”
The hand moved, closing around her neck, wrapping long fingers over her flesh. Warm. Solid.
Real.
“I can talk until you’re sick of it, my Little Wonder.” That voice again, but clearer. Nothing like in a dream.
Ava struggled, pushed the darkness away. Her eyes opened and she moved in the bed, careful not to rest her weight against Arlen’s body for fear of hurting him.
And then she saw the most beautiful pale blue eyes in the entire Ring.
“You’re awake.” Her voice shook and a giddy laugh bubbled to her lips. “Arlen, you’re truly awake.”
“I’m usually awake when I talk.” His full, firm lips lifted in a half smile as his pale eyes twinkled.
Ava laughed in a short burst. She sat up on the bed, cradling his handsome face in her hands. The face that had haunted her dreamless sleep like a phantom. The face she wanted to stare at until she was old and frail.
“I thought I’d lost you.” Sobs came up to her throat and she let them. Tears welled in her eyes and she embraced the wetness slipping down her cheeks. “I was so scared.”
“I’m not that easy to kill.” Arlen lifted a brow, then moved his body slightly, and the movement made him wince. He stared down at himself, then a grim expression passed over his features. “But it does seem like someone tried his best to do so.”
“Will Harl shot you with an ionic gun. I don’t know how you’re still alive, but you are.”
Arlen nodded and he blinked, like the memories of that terrible day were coming back to him from the depths of his brain. His eyes turned sharp as they settled on her again.
“Uril?”
“Dr. Yrakan gave him the Exo-Heart.” Ava couldn’t help the smile that spread over her lips. “He’s doing fine, but he’s still in recovery. I haven’t seen him yet, but I was told he’s doing great. Edmila hasn’t left his side.”
“And the boy?”
“He’s healed. Your Eok warriors found his mother. She survived. They’re going to be grieving for Ben, but they’ll be okay. They’ve been moved to the Tower now, like all the others. Jonah’s making sure of it. He’s even started to plant the crops your brother brought back.”
At the news, Arlen’s head rested on the pillow and he stared at the ceiling for long seconds. When he looked back at her, her heart squeezed and pain spread anew in her chest.
“I am broken, am I not?” Those eyes, so clear, so knowing, settled on her, waiting for an answer she didn’t want to give. She didn’t want to tell him the truth, but she had to.
“There was extensive damage to your liver, your spleen—your entire organs were shut down. There was also damage to your spine; a lot of it.” Ava spoke softly, accepting that he needed to know the truth, but knowing it was hurting him. “But you’re alive. You’re alive, and you’re you.”
A shadow passed over Arlen’s eyes and Khal’s words came back to Ava.
“You’ll recover.” She said it like a prayer. “And I will be with you every step of the way.”
Arlen’s lips lifted but his smile was full of sadness. “You deserve a mate at your side who is whole, not some broken warrior.”
Ava shook her head. She bent over Arlen’s body and her lips closed over his. He responded to the kiss, but there was a grief to it.
He thinks he’s less than he was. He doesn’t see what I see.
She reached for Arlen’s leather vest, her fingers opening it deftly. He didn’t try to prevent her from removing it, but he tensed as she discarded the piece of clothing to the floor.
Her eyes ran over the wonder of his chest, then to the side. He flinched when her fingers traced the wide scar that covered his entire right mid-section. The blue skin was paler than Arlen’s sapphire blue complexion, its texture rough under her fingertips.
“You can never be broken in my eyes.”
Then she kissed him again, and this time, there was fire in his kiss. Fire, and a hunger that she hoped they would never truly satiate.
Arlen
Weeks passed, then months. He was still nowhere near his old self. He never would be.
I’ll never be a warrior again. What do they want from me?
Arlen stopped, lowering his leg and pulling away from the machine he used to exercise his broken body.
“Just a little more.” Ava spoke softly as Arlen grunted with impatience. “You need to keep working on this, or you’ll slow your progress.”
“Slow or fast, it doesn’t matter. I’m still broken.”
Arlen stared as Ava glared at him, her small, dainty face scrunched up in a scowl. They had the same fight every day, multiple times per day.
“You’re walking by yourself, Arlen. But I don’t think you’re going to be able to run away from me if you keep being this pig-headed about using the cane.”
She shook her head, then handed him the hateful walking stick again. Arlen snarled at her, but she pushed it against his chest anyway.
“Don’t you dare growl at me, Big-Blue-and-Mighty.” She folded her arms across her chest and squinted at him. “You need it between your therapy sessions, and by the Midnight God, you will use it, or I will follow you everywhere aboard this ship to make sure you do. You’ll be sick of me, I promise you.”
Arlen grunted, then grabbed the piece of metal that helped relieve the pressure on his spine as he walked. Nothing filled his veins with more anger than having to use this device to walk, but somewhere deep inside, he knew she was right.
“How very stalkerish of you.”
Ava opened her mouth at the jab, then a true smile lifted her lovely lips. “You’ll recover. There is no one stronger.”
“None but you.”
She was still smiling as she leaned into his space, then lifted herself on the tips of her toes and kissed him. He returned the kiss, his hand holding the back of her head in a savage grip.
“I have to meet with Karian and my father.” Arlen let Ava go reluctantly. “They’re pleased with my decision to go back to Eokim. You will love it there, you and Uril.”
“I’ll love it wherever we live.” Ava’s arms closed around his waist and she pushed her hips closer, her purple eyes turning hungry. “And I know I’d love it if you stayed just a bit longer.”
Arlen smiled and desire rose inside him, reliable as ever. Ava had been even more hungry for him in the past few weeks.
“I would love nothing more, but it will have to wait an hour or two.” He reluctantly withdrew his hand from her gorgeous hair. “This meeting has been called by the chief of the Erynian tribe. He might be my father, but Enlon doesn’t suffer slights to his authority.”
“I have to tutor Uril anyway.” Ava shook her head, then pursed her lips in a pout. “He’s much more difficult since he received the Exo-Heart. All he wants to do is to keep playing in the exercise wards, he has no more interest in his study.”
“He’s a young male!” Arlen laughed at Ava’s disapproving sigh. “He’s getting stronger every day, thanks to you.”
Arlen kissed her again, her soft, pliable lips so inviting under his, then he left. It was hard to walk the length of the ship using the cane Ava forced him to use, but he couldn’t deny that it was her he had to thank for his physical progress. She had been working on his recovery from the day he’d woken up.
But, as he had been summoned by the chief of the Erynian tribe and the Commander-in-Chief of the Eok armies, he would have to stand alone. Dangers still lurked in the Ring and beyond the Frontier. Dangers that could plunge the entire Ring into chaos and violence.
Arlen entered the communication room of the Eok’s warship, then sat in front of the large screen a second before two Eok warriors appeared. The young one was his older brother, Karian, the Commander-in-Chief of the Eok armies, and the other was Enlon, his father and chief of the Erynian tribe.
“Karian, Father.” Arlen inclined his head in greeting and respect. “What news of the negative particle bomb?”
“Prime Councilor Aav is back in the Ring’s headquarters,” Enlon informed Arlen, no trace of humor in his voice. “But Knut still hasn’t been found. Aav pretends she has recovered the negative particle bomb, but without proof, there is still danger that she is lying to maintain her power. Already, rumors circulate about a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of a rebel beyond the reach of the Ring. Knut will have to be hunted down. There can be no lasting peace in the Ring as long as he’s still alive.”
Silence slithered between Arlen and the others, a silence full of hidden threats and dangers.
“Our best teams are out there, looking for any trace of Knut. He will be found, brother.”
Arlen nodded. There was nothing else for him to do but wait. He was no longer able to hunt down the likes of Knut. “I trust Khal is holding the post of Commander on Aveyn just fine?”
Karian looked surprised. “Yes, Khal is performing the mission just as well as expected.”
“Good.” Arlen paused, his head full of questions. It had been too long since he’d left his post, too long since he’d had anything of true importance to do. “What about the crops? Did Kamal bring them back in time to plant for the season?”
Enlon roared with laughter, slapping his thigh as Karian looked down, an amused smile on his face.
“I see you are recovered from your injuries,” Karian commented, still smiling. “And that you have way too much time on your hands if you worry about the agricultural problems of Aveyn.”
Arlen frowned as his brother joined their father in laughter. Frustration welled inside him and he knew they were right. “I will have to get used to having too much time on my hands.”
The statement sobered Karian and Enlon as they looked at him intently.
Arlen lifted a hand. “I don’t want your pity. I am lucky to be alive, and the only thing that matters is that my bloodmate is safe and sound, here with me. Now, you wanted to talk to me?”
Enlon’s face became serious once more, the piercing blue eyes as sharp as they’d ever been. When he looked like that, Arlen understood why Enlon had been chosen by his father as the next chief of the Erynian tribe. Leadership was in his blood, in everything he did.
“I have an important announcement I wish to make, and I need to speak with you beforehand.” Enlon spoke plainly, directly, as was his habit. “I am stepping down as chief of the Erynian tribe.”
Arlen stared at his father, the news shocking him as much as if Enlon had reached across the void of space and slapped him from within the screen.
“You’re stepping down,” Arlen repeated the words as he frowned. “But why?”
“I am old now, my son.” Enlon nodded, then glanced over at Karian. “I wish to spend the time I have left with my family.”
Arlen nodded, then locked gazes with his brother. “Congratulations are in order, brother.” Arlen inclined his head to Karian. “You will be a good chief.”
“I’m afraid you misunderstand.” Karian frowned and leaned in, his gaze intense. “Father is stepping down, but I’m not relinquishing my post as Commander-in-Chief of the Eok armies.”
Arlen paused, confusion making him frown even deeper.
“Then who? Surely not Kamal. He has no interest in the politics of the relationship between the Eok tribes. Khal is too young; all he wants is to gain honor in combat. It would kill him to work in an office on Eokim.”
“There is only one person who could replace me,” Enlon chimed in, a wry grin on his weathered face. “You! Of course, it was always you. You will take the mantle of chief. There is no one who would do a better job. There is no one I would trust more.”
Arlen stared, his mouth hanging open as he understood what his father and brother were telling him. Then pain stabbed him, deep within himself, to that place that knew he was never going to be worthy
again.
“I cannot.” Arlen shook his head despite his father’s outraged scowl. “I am broken, Father. I am not strong enough to rule.”
“Your body isn’t what it used to be. You cannot be a wartime commander again.” Enlon spoke like he knew what Arlen was going to say and had prepared every argument against him. “But you truly never were made for that, my son. You are smart and honorable; you know how to speak to people. But most of all, you have the trust of any warrior who was ever under your command. The tribe will respect you. You will be a great chief. You will be the best chief this tribe ever saw.”
Arlen stared without speaking for a long time. Somewhere deep inside himself, he knew Enlon was right. Maybe he had always known.
“As you wish, then, Father.”
When Karian and Enlon smiled at him, Arlen knew. He was coming home, and his heart was finally full for the first time since the summer he became a warrior.
Epilogue
Ava
Golden eyes gazed upon the strange land with grass covering the hills as far as the eyes could see. Ava watched as Uril’s face filled with wonder. A sea of green rippled under the soft breeze, creating waves that shimmered under a sky as blue as the skin of the Eok warrior she loved.
“This is Eokim?” Uril spoke, blinking with disbelief. “It’s beautiful.”
“You see that rounded dome in the distance?” Arlen turned from the controls of the hover transport gliding above the grass. “That is our home.”
Ava and Uril both stared at the dome structure, growing steadily bigger in the distance. It was enclosed by what looked like a stone wall in the thick, endless grass of the Eokian plains.
“I love it!” Uril spoke just a tad too loudly, his voice high-pitched and his cheeks flushed with excitement. Ava’s heart fluttered just looking at him, so excited and happy.
The transport arrived over the walls enclosing the dome-shaped house and lowered above a wide courtyard filled with what seemed like fruit trees. Uril didn’t wait, he jumped off and ran to explore.