by T. J. Quinn
He walked straight to her room, just to find it empty. Assuming she had gone for a walk in the garden, he walked out to the terrace, but there was no sign of her and sense of danger fired inside him. She was in trouble.
As if to confirm his suspicions an intruder alarm went off. He pulled his communication device to check it and soon he had an image of her lying on the ground next to the exit door.
His wings spread out in a split second and he flew up to where she was. He had no idea what had happened, but he could tell she was unconscious and probably hurt.
It only took him a few seconds to reach her, and yet it felt like centuries. He landed next to her and pulled her into his arms.
“Sasha, wake up, please wake up,” he asked her, shaking her gently.
Her eyes fluttered, and she groaned, obviously in pain. “Take me inside… please,” she muttered, through gritted teeth.
He wanted to ask why but he didn’t waste time. Instead of opening the door, he took her in his arms and flew her back to the house, straight to her bed.
“What happened?” he asked her, caressing her face.
“The collar… I forgot…” she mumbled, closing her eyes, still experiencing some lasting pain.
“What do you mean…? He started asking just to stop the moment he remembered he had activated her collar a couple of days ago, to prevent her from going out of the property. “I did this to you?” he muttered, breathing hard.
She opened her eyes for a second. “The collar…”
“But I gave the order,” he replied, clearly upset.
“I forgot… I wasn’t supposed to leave…”
He didn’t wait for her to finish her sentence. “Disable collar permanently. Open collar,” he said in a firm tone and the collar opened up.
Carefully, he removed it from her neck and twisted between his hands until it was a shapeless piece of metal.
“Come, I’ll take you to see Colborn,” he picked her in his arms and carried her out of the room.
“I’m alright,” she protested, but he paid no attention to her.
In just a few minutes, he was parking his vehicle in front of his friend’s house. He had called him while they were on their way and the other man was already waiting for them.
“Take her to my office. I have all I need in there,” he said as Asgar hopped out of the car.
“Sure,” he carried her out and took her quickly to the office, laying her down on the examination table.
“What happened?” Colborn asked as he prepared the scanners to examine her.
“A few days ago I activated her collar so that she couldn’t leave my property alone and forgot to deactivate it. She stepped out of the garden, and the collar immediately acted,” Asgar explained in a self-scolding tone.
“How long was she under the attack of the collar?” Colborn asked, with a deep frown.
“I have no idea. A couple of minutes I guess.”
The doctor turned to ask Sasha. “Can you remember what happened?”
“The moment I stepped out of the garden, a shot of pain rushed through me throwing me to the ground,” she managed to explain. “It took me a few minutes to control the pain and get up to try and open the door… but I couldn’t.”
“That must have been when the alarm was set off,” Asgar realized, punching the wall next to him in sheer frustration.
“I told you that keeping these collars might not work as planned, but you didn’t pay attention, as usual,” Colborn said in a cold tone.
“I know.”
“Where’s her collar?” he asked, checking her neck.
“I smashed it and threw it away,” Asgar admitted.
“A bit too late, if you ask me, but there is no permanent harm done,” he said, removing the scanners. “She’ll be sore for a few hours, but she’ll recover completely.”
“Thank you. Can you give her something for the pain? She’s been through enough,” he asked as he ran his fingers gently through her hair.”
“The painkillers we have are too strong for them. They knock them out, and that’s a bit dangerous since their body could react in ways we have no knowledge of,” Colborn warned. “I can give her some, but she would have to stay here for the night.”
Sasha hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation taking place next to her. Her whole body ached, and her headache was worse than ever. But, even in the middle of the haze produced by the pain, she heard Colborn’s last words.
She didn’t want to stay there. “No… I’m not staying here,” she protested. “If you want… to get rid of me… just take me to the palace…” she stuttered, unable to keep her eyes open.
“I don’t want to get rid of you. But, you’re in a lot of pain,” he grumbled, squeezing his eyes shut for a second. “If I ask my mother to stay with her, would you give her the painkiller?” he suggested, as he recalled what had originated the whole incident.
“Yes, of course. Víf Oydis would know exactly what to do in case of an adverse reaction to the painkiller,” Colborn nodded.
“Then do it. I’m calling her right away,” he ordered, pulling his communication device from his pocket.
“No… you can’t bother… your mother…” she protested again, trying to get up, just to fall back to the table, whimpering with pain.
“She won’t mind,” he assured her, as he placed the call. In a few seconds, he had explained to his mother what had happened, and the woman ordered him to take Sasha to her place.
She talked to Colborn to get the details on the treatment he was giving her and soon they were on their way to her house.
The painkiller had knocked her out like Colborn had said, but at least, she wasn’t in pain anymore.
Chapter Fourteen
It only took him a few minutes to get to his mother’s house. She was already waiting for them and told him to take her to his old bedroom. “I’ve installed my scanner there, so she will be fine,” she informed him as he walked through the hallways. “Will you stay with her?”
“Yes, of course, I will. I won’t leave her alone.”
“Good, because I want to know exactly what happened?” His mother warned him, in a scolding tone.
“Yes, mother, I’m sure you do,” he put her gently on the bed and her mother immediately installed the scanner to monitor her.
“She’ll be alright, but it’s clear she went through a lot of pain.”
With a heavy sigh, he explained to her what had happened. His mother was outraged.
“Why haven’t you taken those collars off?” she asked.
“We do need a way to control them, mother. They are on a strange planet, facing an uncertain destiny; they could do anything, in a panic attack,” he tried to explain his point of view, but it sounded wrong even for him.
“I’m sure we have better ways to do that than to let them walk around with a life threatening device wrapped around their necks,” she ranted. “It’s stupid, to say the least.”
“I guess you’re right. Perhaps, we could deactivate the collars without them knowing.”
“You’re just trying to avoid admitting your mistake.”
“It’s not my mistake. The order came from Brynjar,” he explained.
“I don’t care whom it came from,” she spurted, raising her voice, in her always-effective motherly tone. “Just fix it and don’t let this happen again. This time, you were able to get to her on time, but what would have happened if you had left the house? She would have died in excruciating pain. Is that a risk you or any of the lucky ones that were mated, are willing to take?”
“No, it’s not,” he accepted.
“Then fix it. I don’t care how, just do it,” she demanded.
“I’ll do it first thing in the morning,” he assured her.
She snorted and walked to the chair near the bed, where she planned on staying for a while. “Go talk to your father. He wants details of your journey,” she dismissed him, and he didn’t even try to argue with h
er. He knew her too well.
He found his father outside on the terrace enjoying the cool air of the night.
“She threw you out of the room?” he asked Asgar with a teasing smile.
“Yes, she did. She’s mad at me right now,” he admitted.
“You know that won’t last,” he assured him. “I have been waiting for your visit, but I guess you have been too busy with your válkana,” his father said, in a soft tone.
“I’m sorry, I know I should have come sooner, and under other circumstances, but you’re right, I have been busy with her, getting to know her and allowing her to know me,” he explained.
“I know the feeling. Though your mother knew from the moment we met I was her soulmate, she made me earn it, and I loved every second of it,” his father confessed. “In your case, you have to conquer her love, and believe me, that’s priceless.”
“What if I can’t?” he expressed his doubts out loud.
“I can… she might not have our instinct, but she wouldn’t be your soulmate if she weren't destined to love you,” he assured him.
“How much do you know about that, father?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair. “The longer I’m with her, the harder it is to hold back my instinct and my drogon. I want to take her completely, but I’m afraid of the consequences.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know much. Supposedly, you should be able to convert the women into a drogons, but I recall there was some danger in the conversion. You guys need to get all the information you can on the subject before you try anything like that,” he warned him.
“Yes, I know that. Brynjar is gathering all he can with Colborn’s help.”
His father took a look at the bright moon in the sky and sighed. “It’s time your mother gets something to eat. Go take her place and send her to me,” he asked Asgar. “We’ll have time later to talk.”
Asgar nodded and went back to his bedroom. Sasha was still sleeping, and his mother had been reading some charts on the scanner positioned over her.
“The human beings are quite amazing creatures,” she said when he walked in. “I’m glad you found them, especially that you found her,” she added in a soft tone.
“I’m happy too, believe me,” he assured her. “Father is waiting for you. He wants to eat with you.”
She let out a sigh, but there was a special shine in her eyes when she got up. “Very well, just let me know if any alarm goes off or she wakes up.”
“I will, I assure you.”
She left the room, and he took a seat on the chair she had just left.
Sasha was so still in bed it frightened him a little bit. It was too unnatural on her. After all those nights sleeping next to her, he had learned exactly how she acted in bed and still wasn’t it. He wanted his feisty válkana back. And more than anything, he wanted to tell her just how much she meant to him.
He took her hand in his and kissed its back, missing her warmness in bed. He wanted to lie down next to her, but he also knew that was pushing his mother’s limits way too far. So he just stayed there, next to her, looking at her and hating the pain he had inadvertently caused her.
He was determined to go talk to Brynjar first thing in the morning to deactivate all of the women’s collars. They could leave them on, but they definitely had to deactivate them. Like his mother had pointed out, it was way too dangerous to keep them activated.
His mother returned an hour later. “Go get something to eat. Your brothers have just arrived so you can join them,” she told him.
“I would rather stay here,” he replied, without moving.
“I really don’t care what you rather do. Just do what I told you,” she ordered him.
“I’m not a kid anymore, mother,” he protested.
“Then, stop acting like one. You need to eat and get some rest so that you can take my place next to her when I get tired,” she retorted.
He grumbled, but admitted to himself, she was right. “Just let me know if anything happens.”
“You’ll be the first one to know,” she assured him.
Asgar had dinner with his younger brothers, and for a moment, it felt like when he was still living there, they had always been a very big and noisy family, and he had missed that. Sometimes when he had been alone at his place with little hopes of ever finding a woman to share his life with, now, he had Sasha, and things were different. His whole life would change for her, and he was more than happy with that.
Sasha spent the night well, without any strange reaction to the painkillers, so Asgar left her with his mother, while he paid a visit to Brynjar.
He found the King alone in his office, what was a surprise for him. He had expected to see him with Eleanor.
“Asgar, it’s good to see you,” he said when he entered his office.
“It’s good to see you too,” Asgar replied, with a faint smile. “How’s Eleanor doing?”
“She’s fine,” he invited him to take a seat in front of his desk.
“I was expecting to find her here with you.”
The king let out a loud sigh. “She insists she doesn’t need me around the whole day.”
“I guess she hasn’t understood you’re the one that needs her around,” Asgar said, in a knowledgeable tone.
“Yes, that’s precisely the problem. She’s sure she won’t be claimed by one of us and that she’s destined to be sent away.”
“Don’t you think it’s time to tell her the truth?”
“I’m not sure she’s ready for that.”
“Well, I’m here today because of Sasha,” he explained what had happened the day before and the king immediately agreed with him.
“I hadn’t considered that possibility, but it’s clear we should have, especially after all Eleanor went through,” The King admitted.
“Yes, but the important thing is that we need to deactivate all collars as soon as possible,” Asgar insisted. “Though I’ve destroyed Sasha’s,” he confessed.
“I’m sure I would have done the same thing as well,” he picked his communication device from his desk and called one of his men from the electronics department. “We need to find a way to disable all the collars, without letting the women know.”
“Yes, that would be perfect. There’s no need to give them weapons against us,” Asgar said with a scowl.
The king grunted. “My point, exactly.”
“I’m telling Sasha the truth,” he warned the king as they waited for the other man to arrive.
“What? Why? Don’t you think it’s too early to let her know it?” the king was frowning.
“No, I’m sure she’s ready to know it, and I’m having more and more trouble keeping my drogon at bay every time I’m with her,” he explained.
“Will you try to convert her?”
“No, at least, not yet. We still don’t know enough about what that implies for me to take that risk,” he replied, being as honest as he could. “But it’s something we all have to consider. Their species live half the time we live.”
“I’m aware of that, and I’m also aware we’re a lot older than they are. For our standards, they’re just kids.”
“In age maybe, but they’re a lot more mature than our kids, believe me,” Asgar assured him. “They live life faster than we do and that makes a huge difference. The point is, I’m not willing to lose Sasha in a few years, and that’s what will happen if we don’t convert them.”
The cold facts out in the open startled him more than he thought and he could see it had affected Brynjar as well.
“We’ll find a way.”
The man they were expecting arrived and soon he had sent an electronic wave to all the collars deactivating them.
“Will that wave reach Rosalind’s collar?” the King asked, referring to his younger brother’s soulmate.
“She’s still up in the mountains?” the man asked.
“Yes, she is.”
“It should reach her but, if it doesn’t, I could go there.
”
“I’ll warn my brother.”
The man nodded and left the room.
“Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to Sasha. I left her with my mother, and God knows what she might be telling Sasha.” Asgar said, with a scowl.
The king chuckled. He knew Oydis very well. “Send my regards to her.”
“I will.”
He left the palace as soon as he ended his talk with Brynjar, eager to get to his parents’ home and be with Sasha. She should be awake by now, and there was no way of knowing what his mother might be telling her.
He found them on the terrace having breakfast. Sasha was looking much better, though the experience had left its marks under her eyes.
He walked straight to where she was and ignoring his mother, he cradled her face and claimed a passionate kiss from her lips.
“Hi… how are you feeling?” he murmured, his eyes locked on hers.
Sasha was so surprised with his attitude she wasn’t able to react in any way other than responding to his kiss. “I’m fine now,” she assured him, her hands covering his, in a gentle caress.
“Can we go home, then?” he asked her, eager to be alone with her.
His mother, on the other side of the table, cleared her throat loudly. “You’re not going anywhere. The whole family is coming over for the night meal,” she warned him.
Asgar let out a sigh and turned to face his mother, sliding his hands off of Sasha. “I don’t think this is the best moment for a reunion like that,” he protested.
“Yes, it is. You’re already here with Sasha, and the others are on their way to join us,” she turned to look at Sasha. “Asgar’s older brothers live in another city, several hours away from here, but they’re already on their way here to meet you.”
Sasha looked at the older woman, flustered. Why was she doing this? It was more than obvious Asgar had no desire of introducing her to his whole family. In fact, she was sure he wouldn’t have introduced her to any of them if he had had a choice.
“It’s very kind of you, Oydis, but I have to agree with Asgar. It’s not a good idea,” she mumbled before she got up and left the table, heading towards the gardens.