Dreams of a Wild Heart

by Danube Adele

  “Sayla! You need to sit. There’s no need for you to be walking around here.” Raseen hurried over to give her an arm and lead her to one of the few chairs near the front of the room. She was already at the waddling stage of her pregnancy.

  “You look like you’ve got a few weeks to go.”

  “Actually, I should have a few more months to go, but look how big I am. And tired. The spirits’ blessing, I’m ready to rest all day long.”

  “You’re sure of your months?” There was no way this woman only had one baby in there if she was at six months.

  “I’m sure.” She nodded seeing my expression. “Now you see why I’m a little scared.”

  “Maybe I can check something.” On one of the shelves was a stethoscope, like an old friend. After checking it, tapping on it lightly, I approached the woman.

  “What’s that?” she asked, in curiosity, not fear.

  “It’s going to let me listen to your baby’s heartbeat.”

  “Really?” There was skepticism there, which made sense since they lived a third-world existence.

  “Yes, ma’am. Let me find it for you, if you don’t mind.” I held it up, asking silent permission to touch her belly. She nodded her acquiescence. I put the earpieces in and held the instrument low on her tummy. Instantly, I heard the steady rhythm against my ear and smiled, giving her a thumbs-up before realizing she likely didn’t understand that symbol.

  “You can hear it?” Like she’d just watched a magic trick, her eyes grew wide with excitement.

  “Sure can. Let me check one more thing, and I’ll let you have a listen.” I moved the instrument around on her belly, trying to imagine how another baby might have configured itself if the one baby was down low. Midrange up, I found what I was looking for. There was a second heartbeat.

  “Sayla,” I took the stethoscope off my ears. “Give a listen.”

  She put them on her ears and it only took a moment before gave an involuntary cry of happiness. “I can hear him!”

  “You can?” Raseen smiled with excitement. “How wonderful!”

  “I have more news for you, Sayla.” I moved the instrument down to her lower tummy while she was still listening. I had a big smile on my face, was actually waiting for her to give another cry of excitement when the realization of what I showed her sank in. Instead, she gave a gasp of shock.

  “What? What is it?” Raseen looked at me with concern.

  “Twins.” Sayla’s voice wasn’t quite steady as she gave answer. She didn’t look happy at all. In fact, she almost looked devastated.

  “You seem upset.” I took the stethoscope when she took it off from around her neck.

  “I didn’t know how I was going to handle one more baby, much less two.”

  There was no food. Of course. Twins were also more challenging to deliver, but I didn’t want to scare her. Raseen leaned in to give her hugs, and I realized Sayla was on the verge of crying. Hadn’t I seen vitamins in here somewhere?

  “You’re going to be fine.” I used my authoritative doctor’s voice on her. “You’re going to stay off your feet for the next few months. No heavy work. I’m going to give you pills to take. These are vitamins. Things you and your baby need to be strong for the delivery. Okay?”

  Sayla nodded, but I could see she was just placating me. I didn’t know how else to help her. She was going to need so much support.

  “I live close by, Sayla. You know you can send Adry to get me, and I will help.” Raseen took hold of her friend’s hand.

  “But food, Raseen. Warick and I can barely feed Adry and me. He’s trying so hard to make money, and I’m so tired all the time I can’t help him.”

  “I have eggs. Soon, I hope to get another chicken. Maybe by the winter I’ll have enough saved for the market to get a rooster.”

  “You’re already helping me so much. I can’t take more from you.”

  “Let me worry about that.”

  Their conversation felt personal, and I wasn’t one of them, suffering from hunger, so I walked back to the shelves, pretending to put the stethoscope back and get a closer look at what was there. Sayla hefted her body up from the seat, still looking defeated.

  An older man, Lynel, walked in with a boil and a cranky disposition as Sayla walked out.

  “Come see me in a few days. I want to keep an eye on you.”

  She responded to me with a wan smile.

  Tackling Lynel’s problem was easy, and by the time I’d lanced the boil, soaked it with antiseptic and wrapped it, I had him laughing deep barrel laughs. Then Cyral brought one of his friends in who had a sore tummy, and I could see the friend was just hungry. He was undergrown, his cheeks protruding horribly. The frustration was that I wasn’t sure what I could do. What could I give him to feel better? I sat him up on the table and listened to his heart. He didn’t look good.

  “When did you last eat?” I kept my tone hushed so he wouldn’t be embarrassed in front of Cyral.

  “Yesterday.” He wouldn’t look at me. Kept his eyes focused on his fingers that were pinching at the material of his rough cotton pants.

  I took one of his hands gently in mine, wanting to encourage him to look up. He squeezed back, but kept his head down. Still, it touched me. “What did you eat?”

  “Bread crust.” I could barely hear his words they were so quiet.

  “Do you eat that every day?”

  “Mostly.”

  It was only a matter of time before this kid died from malnutrition. A few weeks? A few months? I hadn’t had much experience with prolonged starvation and knew it was likely painful. That this little boy was so ill was heartbreaking. Were there berries in the forest enough for this boy and his family? Could a neighbor help out and give this family food? I had to talk with someone about this.

  “Can you help him?” Cyral asked this with a hopeful expression.

  “I’ll see what I can do.” I wasn’t hopeful.

  I finally closed the door and went out to the street once again and was immediately hit with the foul stink. Raseen had taken Cyral home. I shared with her that his friend was not doing well. And who knew how long I was going to be here? Everything was up in the air.

  Before she left, I told her, “I’d be glad to work with you on this, but I just don’t want to make promises I can’t keep.”

  “I understand that. I can appreciate honesty.” She gave me a hug. “Thank you for trying to do something.”

  Just then I caught sight of Tabron coming up the cobblestones, long strides eating up the distance, his face grim, his eyes looking stormy as they caught mine. In that moment, the surge of energy buzzed around me and through me, the signature feel of Tabron. It never failed to make me catch my breath—but only because it was such a novel experience. Its hum spread warmth, and I almost felt like Tabron was touching me. A sudden thought occurred to me. Could he feel me as well?

  How was he doing that?

  Unfortunately, my heart skittered with anticipation at just the sight of him, which was likely just because he was one familiar face that didn’t actively want to cause me hurt. It was that and nothing else. Then I remembered he’d been with that other woman and was probably pissed off because I named him for my hubby, which might put a curb on his fun with her. Was I supposed to apologize? Sorry that you kidnapped me? Yeah, right. His fault, not mine. He helped create the situation, I was just surviving the best I could.

  “Where’ve you been?” Tabron did his man-grab thing, which I was getting tired of. It was like he couldn’t stand near me without making sure I wasn’t going to run.

  “Let go of my arm, Viking. I’m not some animal to be manhandled all the time.”

  Irritation narrowed his eyes. “No. You’re only going to be my mate.”

  Definitely still pissed about that, but I wa
sn’t going to be his whipping girl. “Yeah, well you could always send me back home and the whole problem goes away. Otherwise, you’re going to get a lifetime of crazy with me.”

  He nearly growled with that one. “I’ve been looking for you all over the damn palace, the forest, the gorge, and I couldn’t find you. You told no one where you were going, and I figured you’d managed to damage yourself somewhere yet again.”

  “Well, I didn’t. And I don’t remember being told to keep you informed of my every move, so back off.” It occurred to me that he was actually worried about me. I wasn’t sure what to think of that. “Look. I don’t have a death wish. Unless I uncover the magical key that poofs me back to Earth, I’m stuck here. I’m just trying to get the lay of the land. Is that okay?”

  “And my name is Tabron.”

  “Funny, I just keep forgetting, you know? Viking is much easier.”

  Bruner was with him. I hadn’t noticed. He asked, “Where is Tarra? I thought you were walking with her.”

  “She’s visiting friends a little bit away.” I motioned in the general direction of where she’d gone. His eyes narrowed as he cast a considering glance in the direction I indicated.

  “What were you doing?” Tabron looked over my shoulder at the building.

  “Talking with Raseen about healthful living. The town risks massive disease by leaving the streets filled with trash. They’re lucky enough to live through the attack only to die from some disease that is entirely preventable. That’s ridiculous and entirely the fault of the king.”

  Tabron stared at me in silence a beat before his eyes flicked around the streets as though seeing it for the first time. “I came to find you so I could show you the facilities that have been set up in the palace for you.”

  “Okay. Let me just tell Tarra where I’m going.”

  Bruner smirked. “She’s not going to care. She thinks of herself first, second and third. Selfish always.”

  “But I’m not.” He had it wrong. They all did. But that was how she wanted it. I started back down the street with Tabron following behind me. I went up to the door that I saw her enter, nearly feeling like one of the boards was about to break under my feet it was so full of dry rot, and knocked. Man, this place needed an overhaul.

  There was no answer. I knocked again. “Tarra?” I called out.

  “Are you sure you have the right house?” Tabron asked impatiently from several feet away. He hadn’t followed me all the way up the stoop.

  “I’m sure,” I frowned at him and turned back to knock again. They likely just didn’t hear me. Maybe they were at the back of the house?

  “They aren’t there now. Let’s go.”

  I waited an extra moment, and just when I was starting to turn away, peripherally, I thought I felt a bright light shine briefly followed by footsteps, so I turned back and knocked again, managing to exasperate Tabron even further. “Tarra?”

  The door flew open and Tarra gave me a wide smile as she stepped through and shut the door behind her. “Were you here long?”

  “No, not at all. I just wanted to let you know I was leaving with Tabron.”

  Her smile faltered when she caught sight of Bruner, but she managed to say, “Well, isn’t that just sweet of you? I was thinking of going out to the stables to see the horses. You should have Tabron bring you out some time. There’s a great deal of land you haven’t seen yet. We have our own gardens and a small farm out back with some animals.”

  “You do?” Then why were all the people starving? Why wasn’t the king giving more to the people? Why did the place look and smell like the 9th level of hell?

  “I’ll see you all at the dinner hour.” She moved off cheerily, acting oblivious to what was happening around her. I could see why Raseen turned a scornful nose to her, yet she’d been so kind to me. We were going to have a talk, she and I. Later.

  “I’ll see you at the dinner hour.” Bruner was another one who kept himself closed off. He moved away, and it kind of looked like he was following Tarra.

  “What more did you have to talk with Raseen about?” Tabron asked suspiciously.

  “Nothing much. Helping people in the healing room they have set up.”

  He frowned. “You should stay away from her. She may be part of the revolt.”

  There was paranoia everywhere. “Sheesh, Viking. Put your sword away already. She wanted a place where the people could more easily get help. She wasn’t spreading flyers.”

  His frown told me he didn’t fully understand my reference. “That’s not why you’re here.”

  I couldn’t help giving him a cold look. “Who are you? Where is your soul? You watch elderly women work their asses off to serve you and feel perfectly comfortable denying everyone healthcare that you are supposed to protect. How can you care so little?”

  He didn’t like my attack and started moving me along the sidewalk toward the palace, directing me with his iron arm grab. “How can you care so much? You don’t know any of us.”

  Yanking out of his grasp, I glared him down when he stopped to grab me again. “I think that says something about the both of us, doesn’t it? How can I care more about the health and well-being of your children? They are the future of your people, but you treat them like the trash I see all over the street. Why don’t you have programs in place to protect them from further damage?”

  He rounded on me, his voice low. “Nothing is settled. I’ve been hearing talk of more rioting. Someone is provoking the people to be discontent, and I don’t want you in the middle of it. There will be more violence. I know this!”

  Like he was in charge of me. If he thought he was going to direct me, he was going to need to check that.

  “I hate to point out the obvious to you, but they have plenty to be discontent about. Loved ones died—precious children, mothers, aunts, sisters died. They all died. Maybe there was no one you particularly cared about, but you should at least feel some sense of horror about the devastation of your own town. But nothing and no one belongs to you. There’s nothing you claim in this world. Not even a heart.” Tabron the Heartless.

  At this point, his jaw was clenched, trying to contain the anger I could see burning in his eyes. I thought I saw a flicker of hurt, but then it was gone. I was not going to feel badly. I wasn’t! He’d kidnapped me.

  “Then why? Explain this mystery to me. As I’ve heard you say before, I’m all ears. If you knew all this about me, why choose me?”

  Easy. Without blinking, I answered, “Because I will find a way out of here, and when I do, I know you won’t give a shit, and I’ll be able to forget all about you.” Then I pushed past him and continued walking toward the palace.

  He was next to me again with my next heartbeat. Luckily, he didn’t do his arm grab on me because I was getting so tired of being hauled around, I was about to take him down.

  By the time he spoke again, he was back to his distant coldness, keeping his gaze on where we were going. Like he was talking about the weather he said, “You’re right. I don’t care about anyone but myself, so don’t fuck with me.”

  Heartless prick.

  We moved through the gate and entered the palace once again. Bypassing the front rooms and moving beyond the stairs, we took yet another hallway that fed off the main entryway. We skipped half a dozen doors that came up on either side of us and went clear to the end of the wing. Tabron opened the large door, and I could only stare in awe.

  This was a mini clinic. There were a few cushioned examination tables, various pieces of equipment and shelving that looked to house a number of medicines and materials. How in the hell did they get all of this stuff? The infamous Frank? He seemed to be the evil genius behind moving things, people, back and forth between Earth and Te’re. He’d probably stolen it.

  “I’m spending the rest of the afternoon training
, but I wanted to give you a chance to see what is here. If there’s anything you find to be absolutely necessary, write it down and we can do our best to find it.”

  “Out of curiosity, why do you train?”

  He looked leery of this line of questioning. “To protect.”

  “But who do you even care about protecting?”

  He gave no answer.

  “I’ll be back to get you for dinner.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  He left without ceremony, and it was strange that I could actually feel the energy that had surrounded me just a short time earlier pulling away from me. I felt cold now that it was gone. It had threaded through my psyche so naturally, I’d forgotten it was there. It didn’t make sense, and I couldn’t fathom what was actually happening without attributing it to some kind of magic, which was just as ridiculous. Nothing was predictable here.

  Breathe in, breathe out. Just get through this day. Stay alive. Find a way to get home.

  I investigated the space and was struck yet again that there was this strange juxtaposition between the modern and the medieval. Here I was in period dress, with a long skirt that went to my freaking ankles, at the same time I was in a room that had a scalpel and an X-ray machine. But how was it all going to work? Where were they getting the electricity for this? Did they have a generator or something? And while there were these expensive, modern machines in here, the people outside the walls of the palace weren’t eating.

  Taking a deep breath, I looked around the room, wondering where to start first. Cataloging what was here seemed like a good start, so I approached the first set of shelves. There were different kinds of antibiotics and bandages of all shapes and sizes including tongue depressors and cotton swabs. A box of hypodermic needles were on the shelves, and as I looked in a box next to the needles, I saw what looked like more boosters for kids. Someone had recognized that they were most at risk. There were some over-the-counter medications for pain management, fever reduction and sore throat. There were also medicines for sedation. Someone needed surgery?