Dreams of a Wild Heart

by Danube Adele

  “I’ll get my own damn plate,” the king snarled. He pointed a finger at Morten. “You will get out of my sight. You disgust me. Play your games elsewhere, and stay away from me.”

  Morten stalked from the room without a word. I quickly took a place beside Tarra and Bruner took a seat where he’d set his plate down. The rest of his men did the same, showing clearly that their loyalties were with the dark-haired, brooding warrior. The meal was a solemn affair, but I still took the opportunity to talk with Tarra.

  “Can I sleep with you tonight? I don’t think I’m safe in my own rooms.”

  She nodded immediately and whispered, “I may not be there right away, but please feel free. It has a lock on the door. Use it.”

  “But then you won’t be able to get in.”

  She flushed. “Don’t worry about me.”

  What was she going to be up to? Espionage or something else with someone else? I was glad to have the use of the room, so I said nothing and quickly ate.

  “When will you perform the procedure,” the king suddenly asked. I realized that he’d been watching me.

  It took a moment for me to switch gears. “I need to make sure the room is sanitary, and that I have all materials ready. There are medicines that we need. Everything must be sterilized.”

  “Have a list ready by tomorrow morning and we’ll make sure everything is here before the dinner hour.” He looked to Bruner. “Please expedite this.”

  “I’ll see to it.” Bruner nodded and looked to me. “When can you have the list to me? The earlier the better.”

  Overwhelming. I shook my head and said, “It would be safer for you to have this done on Earth.”

  “You should consider this, uncle,” Tarra chimed in.

  “I can’t leave. Look what happens when I stay in bed for the day. This way is better.”

  His mind was set.

  We were working in fast forward on something that needed careful planning. That was quick. Normally, I would have wanted more biological info on the guy, but we weren’t exactly going to be able to transport an entire hospital room here. “If all goes well, we can do it before the dinner hour tomorrow.”

  “Excellent.” He turned to Bruner. “I would appreciate having your men as guards through the night.”

  “Of course.”

  I turned to Tarra and noted that she was equally surprised, though she hid the expression quickly. Her eyes followed Bruner out of the room, and it hit me that she was into him. All of her attention was focused there, sort of wistfully. So that was what all the sniping was about. Foreplay.

  It was a night of tossing and turning, much like the other night that Morten had attacked me. I’d locked the door and tensed with every noise, every creak of the wood settling in for the night. I blanked out here and there only to waken sharply, shakily. The night took its toll, and I fell asleep for a time, only to wake with the bright sunlight brightening the room. I blinked sleepily, shielding my eyes against the brightness of the light when a shadow fell across me for a second, blocking the sun from my eyes. I had no time to react before a gloved hand was shoved over my mouth, a forearm across my neck. My heart practically nosedived into my guts and my startled cry was muffled.

  “Don’t scream. It’s me.”

  Rapidly blinking the blur out of my vision, I saw that Cynthia was dressed like a freaking spy in all black military-like gear with her hair tied back away from her face with a black do-rag.

  “I’m sure you have questions, and I want to answer them.” Slowly, she took her hand off my mouth, letting me take a deep breath.

  “You think I might have a few questions?” Damn I felt like crap. No sleep. Stress because I missed Tabron. Stress because I needed to complete a surgery that may or may not go well in this barbaric hellhole, and stress because at any moment, one or more of the members of the axis of evil was likely going to pounce and do me some damage.

  “Look, I’m not who you think I am.”

  “I figured that.” I sat up to lean against the headboard and rubbed my eyes.

  “I’m not from here.”

  “I figured that, too.”

  “How?”

  “You’re too clean, you use big words, you knew how to use some of the medical equipment.”

  “I’ve had some EMT-type training.”

  “And you use Earth words. Are you also from Earth?”

  “I work there most of the time. You’re obviously from there. How did you get here?”

  “Kidnapped almost a week ago.”

  She stared at me in shock for a few moments. “Holy shit, Cecilia. What the hell happened?”

  “The king needs a doc.”

  She blinked on that a few times before taking a deep breath. “Okay. I’m looking for someone. I don’t know what you’ve heard about the Sunan...”

  “Enemies, attacks on the capital, took out the women and children...”

  “What the hell?” She was shaking her head. “We’ve never come this way.”

  I caught the slip and felt my eyes grow large. “You’re one of the Sunan.”

  “I am.” She looked at me intently for a moment. “Are you going to scream now?”

  “I don’t think so. Why are you here? Who are you looking for?”

  “Shandria Langston, daughter of the leader of the Sunan people. We’ve discovered she’s been missing for quite some time and rumor has it she was taken by the Brausa. I’m here to look for her.”

  “What was her name again?”

  “Shandria Langston.”

  It rang a bell. “I feel like I’ve heard the name before in passing, but I don’t remember anything negative being attached to it. She got married? Maybe?”

  Cynthia frowned. “That wouldn’t make sense. She’s been in hiding for years. They must have had someone on the inside who knew where to locate her. All we were able to find were the charred remnants of her home.”

  “Okay. I mean, remember, I’ve been trying to do some catch-up work here. All of this is new to me. This whole, there are people living on another planet, and Earth is freaking light-years away, and while that’s all very fascinating from a scientific point of view it’s a nightmare come to life from a human standpoint. I’ve heard a lot of things here, and they haven’t all made sense.”

  On a sigh, she sat back. “Damn. Do you think you could find out?”

  “Probably.”

  There was a sudden, quiet knock on the door that made us both jump. I gave Cynthia a sharp look. Did she want to hide?

  “It’s the servant,” she whispered. “Checking on you. She’s thinking she’ll come back later if you don’t respond.”

  I gave her a curious look as we listened for the retreating footsteps. Probably Tayla. “You can read minds. Because of this mylunate substance?”

  “You’ve heard of it.”

  “A few around here have it.”

  “You need to practice building mental barriers if you want privacy.”

  “Mental barriers.”

  “Thick walls. Imagine them in your head.”

  “Because you can see my thoughts now, can’t you?”

  She nodded solemnly. I tried to do as she asked. I closed my eyes and thought of a prison quality cement wall inside my brain. When I looked at her again, she nodded again. “Better. Every now and again, think on it, make sure it’s there.”

  “How the hell did you get in here if the door is still locked from the outside?”

  “There are hidden passageways running just alongside the corridors on both levels. I found one by accident yesterday. I told you, I was looking for Shandria, trying to hear conversation that might mention her.”

  “Did you hear anything?”

  “Not about her. About you. You’re in danger.”


  “I’ve known that.” I smirked. “As long as the powers that be are in charge, this place is going to suck big time.”

  “It’s more than just theoretical. There were guys talking about making you the scapegoat for something. They mentioned having a public hanging.”

  My blood went cold at that. What were they going to do? Hadn’t I always known I would end up in that tree?

  “I can get you out of here.”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. I promised the king I’d help him.”

  “The king that had you kidnapped?” Of course, this was said with all kinds of sarcasm.

  Yes, I was being a dumb girl. “I also have another reason to stay for at least a short while longer.”

  “The big warrior with the fierce eyes.”

  The description prompted a small smile. “Yes. I want to be able to say goodbye.”

  “I hope it doesn’t equal your death.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  “I’m going to head out, see if I can discover anything else.”

  “All right.” I yawned, belatedly covering my mouth. “I’m going to check on the medicines I have, try to discover if anyone knows where your friend Shandria is, and do some surgery on the king.”

  “I’ll try to meet you back in your mini office in town. Maybe around dinner?”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Maybe I’ll be able to talk you into going back to Sunan with me. I can have you home and in bed tomorrow.”

  Wasn’t that tempting? And yet those aquamarine eyes were looking back at me in my mind. Something was telling me to stay and just see... “I’ll think about it.”

  Once Cynthia took off through the secret closet passageway, and I was dressed in yet another of Tarra’s riding dresses, I managed to snag bread and fruit in the kitchen and have a word with Tayla.

  “Has the king eaten this morning?”

  “I was about to take his plate.”

  “Something small and light for breakfast and no lunch. If he has a problem with that, let me know and I’ll talk to him. I’ll be back in my medical office.”

  “All right. Be careful.” She gave me a firm look. “There are strange things happening. I feel them coming to a head.”

  “Where are you going?” My arm was grabbed from behind. With relief, I saw it was Bruner following me down one of the corridors. This was yet another moment when I had to catch my galloping heart and slow it down. How many people were going to surprise me this morning? Taking years off my life. I was sure of it.

  “Doing my doctor thing,” I said lightly.

  “If you need to have medicines brought to you, I’ll need to get that list from you soon.”

  “Give me an hour or so. I need to go through my procedural list to see what we have here.”

  “I’ll come to you for the list,” he stated quietly. “Have you seen Tarra this morning?” I could see he was reluctant to have to ask me this question.

  “I slept in her room. She wasn’t there all night.”

  He flushed ever so slightly, then nodded. “If you see her, please tell her I’m looking for her.”

  “I will.”

  I took time to go through the medicines stocked in the shelves. It was stressful, trying to figure out all that I would need to complete a successful surgery. I was so used to having everything right there, along with nurses and colleagues with a variety of specialties. First, I would need antibiotics for possible infection. That was crucial. There was still plenty of gauze and a surgical kit, though it was elementary. It looked like it had what I needed. There were different kinds of anesthesia. I recognized what could be used as a local, but there was also Propofol which would put him out completely, but I wasn’t comfortable with that. Amputation required a cocktail of medicines along with careful monitoring of blood pressure and heart rate, which was why having an anesthesiologist would have been nice.

  I was going to need pain meds and antibiotics in pill form for care post-surgery. These were the notes I gave Bruner when he came in to check on me. With little more than a sharp nod, he took my list and left, which gave me time. Would Sandburg be somewhere near? Would he be in a state of mind to talk? I had some time. If I was going to go home, I didn’t want to leave a man behind.

  Hoping no one would care that I was taking a quick walk out, I did my best to hurry through the meadow out to the trees. I went at a fast clip and tried to retrace where I’d been with the nice horse that had thrown me on my ass. Getting through the brambles was a pain, one I’d forgotten about, but then I was into the trees, appreciating the sweet smelling breeze and wondering if I was on a fool’s errand.

  “Sandburg!” I tried to call his name quietly as I walked through the forest. I felt like I was flying blind. Was I in the right area or was I way off? I continued walking down the natural path and calling for him, knowing that I was getting farther and farther away from the palace. I was still going to have to walk back. I decided to yell one more time, and opened my mouth to do so, only to be suddenly snagged, another hand over my mouth and a strong arm circling my waist.

  “Shut the hell up already,” was whispered fiercely in my ear. “They’re dumping a body over there!”

  Dumping a body? I tried to look over my shoulder at who had hold of me and found that I was looking into Sandburg’s eyes. No doubt about it. Long blond dreadlocks were tied back from his face that was dark with sun and dirt, and he was thinner, wiry looking, but it was still him. He was no longer the robust guy I remembered. Now he seemed lean and wiry. Overly alert, with his eyes darting around to see if anyone was following me. He was wearing a tunic he’d turned into a modified T-shirt and pants that were a baggy, rough cotton, all of it threadbare.

  He put a finger to his lips and motioned for me to follow. Dodging through the trees on silent feet, he moved with precision. I tried to follow and was starting to feel kind of stupid, because the last time I’d seen this guy, he had not been in his right mind. It left me wondering if I was running from an imaginary foe, or if there was someone out there actually doing something that we needed to see. I caught up with him behind a tree and tried to breathe quietly.

  “They’ve been dumping bodies here lately,” Sandburg whispered.

  “Dumping bodies?” I parroted back in a quiet voice.

  “Leaving them for the animals. I’ve been trying to get to them before that happens, figure out cause of death, you know, then bury them.”

  “What are they dying from? And why are they being killed?”

  “Hush!” He shoved me down behind the tree, and we waited in a tense silence. Just when I was about to call bullshit on all this, we heard the pounding of multiple hooves. In the distance, as the horses passed, I could see it was Syra and his men. Were they really disposing of a body? He suddenly stood.

  “Are they gone?”

  “Come on.” And he was off once again, dodging between the trees, running down an incline and up a hill on the other side of a small crease in the land. Then he stopped suddenly. When I caught up to him this time, the smell got me first and the horror, next. I saw we were on the rim of a manmade hole that had been dug out for the purpose of mass burial. There were half a dozen bodies thrown into the center, most bloated from naturally occurring gases that needed to escape and others with horrific grimaces on their faces, like they’d seen their death coming and had time to be afraid. One of the bodies was Jonell.

  “No! No, no, no!”

  Sandburg shook me by my arms. “Breathe, Bradford! I don’t need you choking on me now.”

  I tried to calm the sudden hyperventilation that had me breathing shallowly, but it was hard because the pressure in my chest wasn’t allowing me to take a full breath. “I knew that kid. I was trying to help him. He kept talking about wanting to get back to his mom and his sis
ter. He was so glad to have been found.”

  Whipping out a pair of plastic gloves that looked like they’d seen action a number of times, he donned them and walked down into the center of the small crater to look at the body more closely. I followed, plugging my nose at the smell of rotting flesh. What kind of sick people did this?

  “I’ve seen this before,” Sandburg was saying, looking at Jonell’s body. “Did you find him by the river?”

  “Yes! Where could he have come from? He was a boy, but no one in town knew him or where he came from.”

  “I found another like him, already gone, same kind of burns. Went hiking upriver to see what I could see. Spent close to three days heading north. Nothing. Didn’t find anything but some seriously scary fucking animals. North of here is no fucking joke. It was the first and last time I went that way, but there were no villages. No encampments. No nothing. It was like they came out of nowhere.”

  I looked at the pitiful bodies and saw the older man Cynthia and I had worked on together. “I wonder what the cause of death is on this guy.” I pressed in for a better look.

  “The side of his head is caved in. I think that one’s pretty clear.”

  “I saw him at one of the riots calling for justice, demanding the king do his job, stuff like that. I guess that doesn’t go over too well here.”

  “It gets you killed for sure. For a time, I recognized the faces and knew they were being killed because they were speaking out against the king.”

  “Sandburg, what the hell happened? They got you out in the desert?”

  He considered my question silently. “Want some tea?”

  “Tea?” That sounded so civilized.

  “Yeah. There’s a natural plant that grows all over the place. Sort of has a lemony taste to it. I use the leaves for tea.”

  And he was still alive, so it was likely okay. I shrugged. “Why not?”

  He walked to the edge of the cliff, and I had to figure he was losing his mind, because there was no way in hell I was going to scale the damned wall. I’d learned my lesson about walking too close to the edge, and it wasn’t an experience I wanted repeated. But then he surprised me. There were tall shrubs growing along one section, and right behind were steps going down. Steep steps, but steps, nonetheless.