Authors: Lisanne Norman
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"Must keep calm as possible while your system adjusts, so collar still warns when not. Is temporary," Annuur was saying.
He nodded his head, then blinked, slightly surprised to find himself sitting with Annuur on a pile of deep cushions in the Cabarrans' lounge.
"No reason for pain, must be psychological. Anticipating it, you feel it. Again remedy with you."
"Makes sense," he heard himself say.
"Take another drink, Kusac. Still are swaying a little. Sun very strong today. Lucky we got you in here before you passed out."
He'd passed out? Confused, he finished the drink he found in his hand, suddenly anxious to leave.
"When your system settles, then nightmares stop. Bits of memories will become memories you can look at and understand. Then you let go of them. When this done, Talent return. Is as we said before. Nothing changed."
"Thank you, Annuur," he said, looking around for a place to put the glass.
Annuur reached out his broad four-fingered hand and took it from him. "You find own way out? Too hot for me today in corridors."
"Yes, of course." He remembered the blue-tattooed Cabbarran. "Where's Naacha?"
"Naacha working in lab, that why he first to hear you arrive."
He nodded, and took his leave, hesitating before stepping out onto the landing pad. There was something not quite right, something he was missing, but he was damned if he knew what it was. Shaking his head, he went down the ramp.
the
Couana,
Zhal-S'Asha, 22nd day (October)
"What changed your mind about Prince Zsurtul?"
"Kashini. She refused to come with me to Vanna's. There was no way I was leaving my daughter alone."
"She had her mother and Kaid," said Banner reasonably.
"You've never shared a cub, have you?" he said with a smile. "She's my flesh and blood."
His mind, however, was still on that visit to Annuur— or was it Naacha? He was the spiritual one of the four,
Like your priests,
the Cabbarran had said. Their priests were all telepaths. Was that why Naacha's tattoos had fascinated him? Were they designed to make the viewer susceptible to mental manipulation? Was that why he'd passed out? And the way all his memories had suddenly started to fuse together was another mystery. Was it waiting for Carrie's and Kaid's daughter to be born that had caused it?
They'd certainly started returning at a convenient time, just before setting out on a mission where he'd need his Talents, and when everyone still believed he had none. More questions, and not one answer.
Valsgarth Estate, Zhal-Nylam, 14th day (September)
"No. 'Shini stay," she said firmly, reinforcing it mentally.
"We're going to Aunt Vanna's. You'll have Marak to play with," he said, tugging on her hand.
"No. Stay."
He bent down to pick her up.
"No! Stay!" she shrieked, anchoring the claws on her toes into the carpet and going limp in his grasp.
"What're you feeding her these days, Carrie?" he asked, bending down to unlatch her feet and scoop her up into his arms. "She weighs a ton."
"She doesn't want to go," said Carrie calmly, leaning on the end of the cot watching him.
"Stay! Not go Aunt Vanna's! Stay party!" she screeched, her body galvanizing into life as she began to squirm and kick.
"Stop it, Kashini," he said firmly, turning her around so she was kicking thin air. "We're going and that's that."
The shrieks became louder, peal after peal of them till he flattened his ears to his skull trying to close out the noise. She brought her feet up, scrabbling and clawing with them and her hands at his arms. Then she started sending the screams mentally.
The noise brought Kaid out of his room to see what was going on.
Grim-faced, he left the nursery and began walking along the corridor. He got halfway to the stairs before she bit him.
His yowl of rage could be heard as far as her shrieks. Taking advantage of the moment, she slipped from his grasp, hitting the floor running. She didn't stop till she'd reached her mother and was hiding behind her.
Sucking his bitten forearm, he glowered at Carrie. "You put her up to this, didn't you?"
"Me? No. I wouldn't do that, Kusac, no matter how much I disagreed with you," she said, trying not to wince as Kashini's needle-sharp little claws dug into her leg. "Kashini is just as strong-willed as you, and as able to make up her own mind."
He stared at her peeping round at him from behind Carrie's leg, an anxious expression on her small face.
" 'Shini want stay," she said, regarding him with enormous damp eyes, her bottom lip trembling.
Beaten, he sighed and examined his arm. It had only been a token bite, but her teeth had broken the skin. He glowered over at Kaid who was trying extremely hard not to grin.
Carrie bent down and picked her up. "You bit Daddy," she said sternly, looking her in the eyes. "That hurt him and was very naughty. You'll apologize at once, then you'll go quietly with Daddy to Aunt Vanna's." She put her down again and gave her a gentle push toward him.
Kashini resisted, looking at her mother before looking up at him. "Want stay," she whimpered, ears flattened and tears filling the amber eyes as she pulled at the bow on her tabard belt. Her small tail hung dejectedly to the ground. She hiccuped.
"All right," he sighed, bending down and cuffing her lightly on the side of the head. "We'll stay, but don't you ever bite me again, or next time you'll be a sorry cub!"
" 'ank you Da-Da!" she said, flinging herself at him and scrambling up his leg and chest to hug him. "Sorry hurt Da-Da. Not do 'gain."
"You'd better get changed, then," said Carrie, turning back to the nursery. "If you come in here first, I'll put some antiseptic on that bite."
He could hear the laughter in her voice and decided to ignore it and keep what little shreds of dignity he had left.
the
Couana,
Zhal-S'Asha, 22nd day (October)
Banner didn't bother hiding his amusement. When he'd stopped laughing, he said, "I'm sorry I missed all this! Go on. What happened next?"
"You know, you were there at the parking area along with all the others," he said.
"But I only know it from my perspective. I want to know what went on behind the scenes."
"Getting to be quite the voyeur, aren't you?" he said, lifting an eye ridge humorously.
Valsgarth Estate, evening, Zhal-Nylam, 14th day (September)
He stood beside Carrie, holding Kashini's hand, watching Prince Zsurtul's aircar approach. As it drew closer, he could see it was the Prince's own aircar, the exterior resplendent in the blues, reds, and golds of the Prime royal family. On its side it bore the emblem Zsurtul wore tattooed on his chest— an open eggshell hatching a fire of light, the symbol of the Enlightened One.
Already his hair had risen to the point where his ears were almost invisible. It framed his face like a U'Churian mane, cascading down his shoulders and back for several inches. He resented Zsurtul's presence, and was still angry with Carrie for forcing this onto him.
Like Kaid, he'd put on his black Brotherhood tunic, his belt knife prominent since, this being a peaceful visit, he couldn't justify wearing his gun.
As the vehicle hovered prior to landing, Carrie moved closer to him.
"Look, I'm sorry, Kusac," she said, leaning against him and stroking his cheek. "I really did think this would be for the best. The Prince is only a youngling, probably about Kitra's age in our terms. What possible threat can he be to you or any of us?"
Her scent, mingled with Sashti's oils, filled his nostrils and he found himself leaning into her caress as he put his free arm round her. He understood the very real concern for him that had prompted her to arrange this visit. Maybe she was right. What threat could Zsurtul pose to them, one youth alone among so many of his Clan?
"He'll be Emperor one day."
"And how we treat him here today will affect his attitude to us in the future. Even more reason for him to visit us, and you to welcome him with at least a semblance of goodwill."
"I'll do it this time, but this is a one-time event. Don't put me in this position again, Carrie."
She said nothing, content just to rest her head on his shoulder, and he to let her, knowing that this time he was there to protect her and his daughter. Gradually, his hair and pelt began to settle around his shoulders.
The engines changed pitch and he turned back to watch the vehicle drop gently to the ground.
"Shall I greet him for us?" asked Kaid.
He nodded briefly, grateful to his friend for sparing him that duty, suddenly aware of the crowd of Sholans and their alien friends that was gathering to watch at a respectful distance. He felt torn in two directions as one part of his mind asked him what was one alien more among so many, while the other, more primitive part attempted to flex his claws.
The door opened and Zsurtul stepped out, resplendent in his court finery. It shocked him, making Zsurtul appear at once more alien, yet less like any Valtegan or Prime he'd ever seen.
"Think of Kitra, dressing up to impress Dzaka in their early days," whispered Carrie as Kaid moved forward to greet him.
the
Couana,
Zhal-S'Asha, 22nd day (October)
"But the meal itself went well, didn't it?"
"As far as Zsurtul was concerned," he agreed. "Though I did leave them to it as soon as Kashini started to get sleepy."
"Is meeting with Kezule going to be a problem?" Banner asked after a short pause. "I knew the visit annoyed you because the next morning you left without warning for Stronghold."
"Not for me," he said, picking up his mug.
"How long till the briefing?" asked Banner, changing the topic.
He checked his wrist comm. "We leave jump in about six hours. With another half day to slow down to reach the rendezvous point, I'm scheduling the briefing for fifteen hours from now."
"Cutting it fine, aren't you?"
"I don't think so. Leaves us two hours for final preparations."
"You're the Captain," said Banner, getting up.
Stronghold, Zhal-Nylam, 15th day (September)
"Lijou, Kusac's on his way back to you and he won't reply to my calls. I got up this morning and he'd gone!"
"Calm down, Carrie," said Lijou soothingly, seeing her red, swollen eyes and damp face. "Tell me what happened from the start."
"I invited Zsurtul over for a meal yesterday and we fell out over it, but I thought he'd gotten over it. He says he feels threatened by him, insists on calling him a Valtegan. I thought having Zsurtul over would help since when we went to him for a meal, it seemed to go well. But it didn't and now he's gone and he won't talk to me! And Banner's not with him." Tears welled up again and she scrubbed her hand over her face in a determined effort to stop them.
"Is Kaid there? What does he say?" asked Lijou, knowing Carrie was too distressed to give an objective view of what had happened.
"Yes, he's here, but Kusac's switched off his wrist comm and the aircar comm!"
"In that case, I'm afraid you'll have to wait till he gets here, my dear. I'll talk to him when he arrives and call you back. Meanwhile, can I speak to Kaid?"
Kaid's face replaced hers and Lijou instantly revised his opinion of a storm over nothing.
"We didn't expect him to leave before morning, Lijou. He did get extremely worked up about Zsurtul's visit earlier but seemed to calm down during the evening. His attitude to the Primes is bad, very bad."
"Primes as in Zsurtul, or the M'zullians?"
Kaid's ears flicked back. "He doesn't like the M'zullians, but Zsurtul seems to upset him more, now you come to mention it. He knows what we owe the Prince, but it doesn't seem to make a difference."
"How does Zsurtul take this? Is he aware of it?"
"Must be. The youngling can be hard to read at times, however he's been very understanding over the odd incident."
"I wonder if the Prince knows more than he's telling us. Could there be something about him that's setting Kusac off?"
"His scent, you mean? Kusac can certainly tell Zsurtul from the M'zullians by scent, we can't. According to him we're supposed to smell like the officer caste to the M'zullians, that's why they don't have problems with us. They're more Valtegan than Prime, though."
"Leave that for now. You can always ask Zsurtul if you get a chance, though don't make an issue out of it. I'll have a word with Kusac when he arrives here and get back to you. Meanwhile, be patient with Carrie for the next few weeks. It might feel like you're living on the edge of a volcano now and then, but it's as bad for her, if not worse. I take it Banner is on his way here."
"You sound like you're speaking from experience," Kaid said with a wry smile. "Yes, Banner took off after him. By the way, Kusac had a pain episode while he was here and went to see Annuur about it. He told us Annuur says his Talent is restricted to empathy for now. Is that right?"
"Essentially," said Lijou. "Kha'Qwa and I have been teaching him various meditation skills to help him calm himself and get a peaceful night's sleep. What else did Annuur say?"
"Kusac wouldn't tell us. I had to go ask Annuur myself. Apparently the pain is psychological— he expects it so it's there. As for the rest, his system is still adjusting to the treatment. When it does, then the fragments of memories causing nightmares will come together and he'll be able to deal with them. Sounds a lot like he's suffering from a form of partial amnesia."
"Nothing new, then. That's good at least. Leave it with me, Kaid. I'll get back to you when I can."
"I appreciate it, Lijou. I know you're busy right now. Tirak tells me they move out tomorrow for Anchorage."
"Does he? Then he must be getting one of the new ships. I know we took delivery of the first six scouters a week ago. Rhyaz stayed on at Anchorage to see the trials. They went well, he said. Our Watchers will be up and running within the next two weeks. We're moving the last of our Brothers and Sisters up to Haven today. Stronghold will soon seem very empty with only us and the juniors here."
"You'll be handling the six monthly training rotations, though."
Lijou looked startled, knowing Kaid was referring to the Sleepers. "You're remarkably well informed," he said. "As usual."
Kaid shrugged. "You know me. Kzizysus has asked to stay on with us when Annuur and his sept leave tomorrow with Tirak. He's going to be working with the Telepath Guild hospital for the next few months so he'll be here if we need him for Kusac."
"Good. I'd hate to be without any support for him if we need it. Oh, before I go, I meant to tell you. One of our Brothers died in fight at a Warrior Guildhouse in Shanagi a couple of days ago."