“
You don’t think I’ll get over this, do you?” she quietly asked.
“
Yes, I do. But I think you’re going to need Jurek’s intervention. Remember when I told you about the condition I was in before they found you?”
Her grey eyes were wide with questions. He knew she wanted to know, but was afraid to open her mind to anything else.
“
Don’t be afraid. What I’m about to tell you won’t scare you. I was only going to say that I was nearly despondent. It was Jurek’s healing ability that led me out of my darkness. And after you were found, you were unconscious for days. Jurek sat with you and healed you then. You don’t remember, but he was always there. I think you need him again, Saylan. Perhaps this last bit taxed your healing brain more than what it could handle at the time. I am no expert, but your dreams are indicating to me that the trauma is resurfacing.”
She clung to him tightly, her fingers digging into his flesh, for he gave her comfort. He was like her shelter in a storm. She trusted him and she knew he would not fail her.
“
Sometimes I feel like it would be better if I had not survived.”
Xarrid jerked her body away from his, only far enough so he could look into her eyes. “Don’t you ever say that! Don’t you even think such horrible thoughts. You hear me? Do you? Answer me Saylan!” he yelled.
“
Yes, I hear you but I can’t help the way I feel damn it!” she screamed right back at him. “Everything’s a jumbled mess in my head and I don’t know what’s real or what isn’t half the time. The only thing I know that is true is you. That’s why I cling to you all the time. I feel so damn helpless Xarrid. And I hate it!” she gave a shuddering cry.
“
Shh. I know you do baby. I know you do. But it won’t be like this forever. I swear it won’t. I should never have consented to allow you to come with me to deal with those bloody bastards. I rue that day for sure. It was more than you could handle and I blame myself for not seeing that when I should have.”
“
No, I would’ve driven you batty and you know it. Maybe I need to go away somewhere.”
“
What do you mean?” he asked as he looked into her eyes.
“
You know, a place for the mentally imbalanced.”
“
Maddie had to do that. Remember?”
“
I’d forgotten until you just reminded me.”
Xarrid grabbed Saylan’s hand and pulled her to the closest place where they could sit. It happened to be the large bed. Turning toward her, he began, “Listen, I think you’re expecting way too much, way too fast. Just think about what your brain when through. For over eighteen months, it wasn’t even yours. And now look at you. It’s only been a few months and you’re remembering everything. It’s a miracle sweetheart. Surely, you see that.”
“
How can you put up with all this crap of mine?”
Xarrid started laughing. Really laughing. “Oh honey, if you only knew what I went through when you were missing. I’d put up with anything just to have you here, where I can touch you,” he cupped her face in his hand, “and hold you,” he put his arms around her, “and then do this,” he touched his lips to hers.
She smiled at him and it eased his mind a bit. “Do you think Jurek can help?”
“
I do.”
“
I really don’t want to go back to Lare-Stell.”
“
Let’s call him and see what he thinks. Maybe he has a better idea than we do.”
When Jurek didn’t answer, they both assumed he was off somewhere doing something for his business. They didn’t have a clue of what he was up to on Vesturon.
“
Well, that went well,” Sharra huffed.
Zander was seated on a side chair and looked like hell. His hair was all messy and he was drenched in sweat. Jurek looked fine, other than being angry beyond words.
Furniture was broken, along with other things such as priceless vases and artwork. What had begun as a pleasant conversation had rapidly deteriorated into one of those “He said, she said” arguments, with neither side listening to the other. Jurek never even got a chance to “show” them what had morphed into a killing spree for Saylan.
“
One at a time,” Jurek said.
“
What?” Sharra asked in confusion.
“
I was an idiot. I should’ve talked to them one at a time.”
Zander looked at him and said, “Well go do it man. What are you waiting for? They’re going to bloody hang me!”
Sharra had never seen Jurek or Zander this distraught. Jurek flashed out of the room and she and Zander stared at each other.
“
What are we going to do now?”
Zander rubbed his face and said, “We wait for him to get back here. Look, I’m not giving up on our original plans. They’re really pissed at me and damn Sharra, I can’t blame them. But we’ll fix it. I wish Xarrid were here.”
Zander started putting the room back together, picking up pieces of broken ceramic and pottery and trying to see if he could salvage one of the wooden frames that had splintered when Rykerian knocked it off the wall. Thank the Deity their spouses had been with them, or who knows what would’ve happened.
Sharra scratched her head for a moment and said, “You know, Jurek is right. Vesturions are a bunch of stubborn idiots. Look at this room. It’s all because of their ridiculous sense of protection when it was completely unwarranted. And the craziest thing of all is they know damn good and well, I didn’t need it. They need to rein in their stupid tempers. I’m sick of all this crap.”
She stopped pacing and Zander was eyeing her. Her expression turned from anger to something completely different.
“
You have something up your sleeve. Give it up Sharra.”
“
This is it Zander. I’m going to threaten those fools. I’ve had it and that’s exactly what I’m going to tell them. I’m going right now.”
Zander hurried to follow her, because he didn’t think it boded well for them. When she got an idea, it usually meant trouble.
Sharra stormed into the corridor and heard shouting coming from the dining room. When she got there, Rayn, Rykerian and Jurek were verbally sparring. Not waiting for an entry into the argument, she busted right in an announced, “I’m disowning this crazy family. You all are a bunch of insane fools. You refuse to listen to any reasonable explanations about what happened. You have this notion that you know everything. Well, guess what? You don’t and I’m tired of dealing with you.”
“
You can’t disown us!” Rayn stated.
“
Oh no! Watch me.” Sharra turned to Jurek and asked, “Jurek, do you need any extra hands on Lare-Stell. Zander and I are fully capable of doing quite a lot of things. We would be willing and able employees.”
Jurek let loose a large howl of laugher. “Absolutely. You know I can always use a great pilot, Sharra.”
“
Perfect.” She turned to her brother and said, “Rayn, I’m giving up my position with the Guardians. I can no longer deal with your hardheaded idiocy. And Rykerian, you’re equally as bad, if not worse.”
She stomped over to Zander and grabbed his arm. “Come on Zander, let’s get out of here. Maybe Jurek knows of a minister that will be able to perform a marriage ceremony for us.”
“
Stop!” Rowan said from the doorway. “Young lady, you’ll do no such thing. If you and Zander feel that strongly about each other, then by all means, you must be united.” Then he turned to his sons and said, “We must talk. Now. In my private quarters.”
While the Yarrister men were gone, Jurek flashed out to see what Xarrid wanted. He was beginning to feel like a yo-yo these days.
********
Jurek found the couple lying together in the living area when he arrived at the sanctuary. One look at Xarrid’s anguished face and he knew all was not well. Saylan’s eyes were swollen from crying and she was wringing her hands, incessantly, as though it was impossible to stop.
He walked directly to her and placed both hands on her head, passing his power into her. Her tensed body instantly relaxed as the darkness flowed out of her. Jurek saw her memories and how close they were to the surface of her mind. Using his telepathic strength, he pushed them deeper into her mind, so they would be harder for her to reach, giving her relief from their pain. As his power soothed her, she fell into a deep sleep, something, she hadn’t done in a while.
Xarrid carried her to the bed and covered her, allowing her to get the rest her body craved.
He rejoined Jurek and noticed how he was a bit tense himself.
“
Are you all right?”
Jurek started laughing. “You won’t even believe all the crap that’s been going on when I tell you.”
“
Do I even want to know?”
“
Oh man, I’m not sure,” he said, rubbing his neck. “Craziness with your brothers.” They shared a look.
“
Oh hell. Not that.”
“
It’s way worse than that, but I think it’s about to take a turn for the better. Sharra disowned them for a brief time.”
“
Okay. You got me there. Want to start at the beginning?”
So he did and by the time he was finished, Xarrid was laughing as hard as he’d laughed in ages. “Damn, I wish I could’ve seen that. Poor Zander. I bet he thought the lot of them were nuts. It’s a wonder the poor man still wants to marry Sharra.”
“
Well, he’s hell bent on it. He’s a good man Xarrid. Better than most.”
“
Good. I don’t want to have to worry about my sister, on top of all this stuff going on with Saylan. By the way, she said something very disturbing to me earlier. She told me she thought that maybe it would be better if she hadn’t lived.”
Xarrid had Jurek’s full attention now. “Do I need to put a guard on her?”
“
I don’t think so.”
Jurek didn’t tell Xarrid, but he would do so anyway. He felt great instability coming from Saylan, and the last thing Xarrid needed was for her to attempt to take her life.
“
Don’t leave her alone.”
“
Well, what about now?”
“
She’ll rest for about eight hours. I put her in a deep sleep, and along with her exhaustion, she won’t awaken until then. But Xarrid, listen to me. When she does, don’t leave her alone.”
“
You’re scaring me.”
“
I don’t mean to. I just don’t want anything to happen to her. She’s not thinking clearly.”
Jurek explained and confirmed what Xarrid had surmised. Her healing brain was not ready for the newly added trauma and it had regressed somewhat. With a bit of time, things should settle back down.
“
In truth, I would like her back on Lare-Stell.”
Xarrid looked at him and explained, “That won’t happen. She was freaking out there and she said she can’t go back.”
“
Understood. Then I’ll need to come here every day to place my power into her. Will she be okay with that?”
“
Yes, because I explained to her how you helped me. How will I ever repay you?”
Jurek laughed. “Oh, I’ll think of something. After today, your whole bloody family will be indebted to me forever!”
“
So tell me, other than the huge freak out, what did they think of our little gig with the Xanthian officers?”
“
That wasn’t the problem so much as our methods, particularly Sharra’s role. And they weren’t too happy that her male allowed it. We made sure they understood it wasn’t his choice. Matter of fact, I told them he was brought to Lare-Stell by force and didn’t know anything about it.”
“
You lied?”
“
Not exactly.”
Xarrid couldn’t believe what he was hearing but grinned like the devil. “I can see it unfolding now.”
“
Yeah, just imagine. Anyway, Zander
didn’t
know what was going on and I did bring him to Lare-Stell. So all of that was the truth. The only fabrication was he could’ve gone back to Vesturon whenever he chose,” Jurek smirked.
Jurek filled him in on the rest of the story and they both laughed. It was a good feeling for Xarrid, one he hadn’t felt in a while.
“
So, what did you end up doing to the other stinking Xanthians.”
Jurek eyed him, then said, “Let’s just say they got their just deserts.”
Xarrid decided that was enough of an explanation for him.
There were so many things Jurek wanted to ask Xarrid, but he wasn’t sure if he should.
“
Walk with me,” he said.
They headed toward the pond, and leading away from it was a path that took them into a forest rich with tropical plants of all varieties.
“
You know, I’ve been here quite a long time, but I never knew this was here.”
Jurek chuckled. “There’s quite a lot about this place you don’t know.”
“
Oh? I don’t suppose you’re going to share?”
“
No.”
That was it. Jurek was odd that way. What Xarrid didn’t know was that they were deep in the heart of a dense jungle located in a remote area of the planet Praestan. Though it was Jurek’s home planet, not even his closest and truest friends knew the whereabouts of the sanctuary. That’s why he’d built it here. It was the only place he could be free of all ties to everything.
Something else Xarrid was not aware of was that Jurek was the leader, the ruler of all Praestani. In being so, he truly was the most powerful being in the universe. Tak, Marik, and all the others on Lare-Stell were sworn to keep his identity unknown to all outsiders. Now that he and Xarrid were so close, it was safe to reveal his secret, but he wasn’t quite ready to deal with the shock of his disclosure. He would remain simply as Jurek to his friend. Someday, when things calmed down, he would tell Xarrid his story.