Tiva Boon: Heir of Abennelp (Tiva Boon Series Book 2) (51 page)

The look on her friends’ faces didn’t leave her with a good feeling, but the people continued to call to her. They needed to hear from their leader. She paused and closed her eyes for a moment then turned around and faced the masses behind her.

“My friends,” she bellowed loudly to get their attention. Slowly the muttering died down, and all eyes were on her. “There is much to tell you, but be assured that the threat is over and the Palace of Kinchar is no longer under the control of the Rebels.” The crowd cheered around her. “Our new allies, the Union Vexillum, have come to ensure our successful rebuilding of Abennelp and to help us form a government we can all be proud of. For now, take care of your friends and comrades, and when the sunsrise on the morrow we shall all wake to a new Abennelp.” Tiva pressed her fist to her heart and bowed to them.

The crowd applauded and praised her, but their sentiment was lost in Tiva’s need for information. She rushed to met Aliri and the others inside the base. Emerala smiled at her and grabbed her sword setting it aside. Aliri pressed her hand on Tiva’s collarbone and the crystal around her neck grew warm.

“It’ll help heal you,” she replied, passing up the pleasantries and guided her to an empty cot. Tiva followed and carefully slipped out of her tunic with Emerala’s help.

Harai finally looked up, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Tiva…”

Her heart flipped inside her chest. “Harai? What is it?”

“We lost…” she sniffled and wiped her cheeks. Tiva glanced to Aliri and cringed when Emerala began wrapping a soft cast around her forearm.

“I…” Aliri began and Harai lifted her hand.

“Harai, where is Adam?”

“I don’t know. Neola and Wirto…they were ambushed in the Guardian Hall. Razzil may not pull through.” The girl was shaking and holding onto herself as if she were freezing. She sat down in a nearby cot and looked up at Tiva.

“Neola?” Tiva hung her head and fought her own tears. Her last childhood friend was gone. Tiva balled her hands together and sniffed back then glanced at Harai. She seemed too shaken up though for having just met Neola. When Tiva reached out her hand, Harai turned away. “Who else, my friend, tell me…”

“My father.”

Tiva’s tears came thick and fast now, and she grabbed Harai’s hand. Nothing she said would help. She hadn’t even had the chance to see Major Raku and he was already lost. Harai sobbed and squeezed her hand. Tiva glanced to Aliri and Emerala both silently working on her injuries. “Who else?”

“Hill’s gone,” Emerala said. “He was coming in with a group of transport ships, his was shot down.”

“A couple other people from the
Tolox
as well,” Aliri said quietly. “The rest of us are okay.”

Tiva nodded and turned back to Harai. “I am sorry, my friend. I…do not know what I can say to comfort you. Your father and the others have saved my people; I could never repay that debt to him or you.”

“He loved you, Tiva. Pop knew the risks just as much as I did. I’ll miss him, but I know he’d be proud of us and happy that we’re still together.”

Tiva pulled her friend carefully into a hug. “I hope you will consider staying for a while, Abennelp could use a leader like you, Harai.”

She nodded slightly and wiped her cheeks. “I don’t know where he is, Tiva. Adam I mean. I heard he was hurt, someone said he was on the...” Harai trailed off and glanced to the west wall of the building toward the direction of her home.

“Harai?”

“Critical side, Tiva. Most haven’t made it.” Aliri frowned and finished wrapping her arm.

“Has anyone seen him?” she asked and they collectively shook their heads. With her good hand, she pushed off the cot and checked the work on her arm. It felt better, but it would take a few weeks to heal. “I will return shortly.”

“Tiva you still need attention,” Emerala protested softly.

“I…will be back,” she said and headed directly for the doorway. There were still too many people around for her to filter through and find him. She was weak, and if he were injured, weak as well. Tiva nodded to people as she bounded through the crowd. When she crossed the threshold, she grabbed the first person to walk by. “Have you seen Adam Cooper?”

“Who?” the young man asked.

“Cooper, the man with black wings?”

He shook his head and she thanked him and moved on finding three more people and asking the same question. No one had seen him. She felt her pulse thumping in her temple. The further she moved into the ward the worse the injuries seemed. Several shrouded figures lined up perfectly near her back door caught her breath. No, she wouldn’t search there…she wouldn’t believe he was dead. Tiva pushed through a tent and found another young healer.

“Have you seen Adam Cooper? The man with the black wings,” she pleaded.

“Yes, Lady Boon,” he replied and neared. “Someone from the palace brought him in. He was delirious, calling for you. His injuries were quite severe. We tried to take him into the main base for treatment. He refused sedatives and said he had to find you. Most of the Loyalists from Degort thought you were dead. He wouldn’t hear it. He took off to find you.”

She grabbed his shirt with her free hand. “You let him go? He was severely injured!”

“Lady Boon, no one could stop him,” he replied shakily.

Tiva pushed him back slightly and nodded. “Forgive me, I am out of sorts.”

“I…understand. He couldn’t have gone far with his injuries; his…wing was damaged.”

After thanking him again, she rushed out of the tent, and called his name. She checked every tent in her path until she came to the end. Rubbing the back of her neck, she searched the area with her eyes and senses trying to find just a sliver of him somewhere. The shrouded bodies lay waiting for her, but as her gaze moved through the field, she saw a glint of something under Te’s branches in the distance.

She swallowed and jogged toward it, ignoring the burning of her muscles. “Adam!” Receiving silence as her only reply, she moved faster and called him again. Te’s leaves floated on a soft breeze, but kept hidden whatever was there. Drawing a breath, she parted the branches and saw the glimmering sword staring back at her. Cala was stuck into the dirt, Adam draped motionless over the hilt. Her heart stopped. She felt nothing from him, but Cala stirred.

Tiva dropped to her knees; she couldn’t lose Adam, too. “By the spirits, no…”

Tiva?
Cala asked.

“Adam,” she cried aloud, ignoring the call of the sword. She scooted on her knees toward him and called again as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Tiva? You’re…alive?

“Please…my love,” she sobbed and choked on her words.

His hand moved.

“Adam.” She crawled one handed toward him. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked a few times. “Adam!”

You’re alive!

“Solaeshyl…” he moaned softly and lifted his head. She reached him, threw her arm around his neck, and cried against his chest. His arms locked around her and with surprising strength, he pulled her close. “Solaeshyl,” he cried, too. “The explosion, I thought... ”

“I know.” She shuddered and crawled into his lap pushing him back against Te’s trunk. Tiva glanced up and looked at her husband. “I do not know what I would have done had I lost you, Adam.”

He pulled her tight against his chest and pressed his lips to hers softly then smiled down at her. She kissed him repeatedly, clinging to him with every bit of strength left in her body. He brushed his hand over her cheek.

The need to make sure he was safe burned through her and she began peeling off his clothing searching his wounds.

“I’m fine, Tiva,” he whispered against her ear. “Just a few deep cuts and a broken wing...And you... Are you hurt?”

“It matters not, you are alive, and in my arms.”

“I told you, m’lady. The good guys always win.”

The commotion of the base faded, the only thing on her mind was Adam. She continued to strip him from his clothing no longer interested in wounds. His eyes flashed purple and he scrambled for her tunic. Urgent and needy they twisted together against Te finding a way to lessen the pain of their wounds. His uninjured wing wrapped around her bare skin and both arms held her close. Te hid them with his thick branches, shielding them from reality. Everything seemed to stop; the universe existed only for them. They became lost in each other, vulnerable and scared, but alive and together. They didn’t part until night broke into day.

Adam stroked her hair and tenderly kissed her moons one by one. Tiva took shelter under his wing savoring the warmth of his embrace. She would be content to lay there with him until the end of time.

Thank you, my love. Thank you for standing by me, believing in me, and helping me free my people
, she said quietly to his mind.

I’m a Knight, m’lady, that’s what I do.

Are you two done yet?

Yes,
Adam chuckled.
You shouldn’t be listening you know.

Oh hush, Ruvy’s wasn’t listening. Tiva…don’t do that to us again damn it,
Cala chastised.

I promise. I am overjoyed you are both safe.

Well then, thank me for keeping him safe. It’s not like I haven’t saved his ass a million times before.

Tiva smiled and kissed Adam’s shoulder before turning back to the sword still impaled in the ground.
Thank you, Cala. Thank you for keeping my husband safe.

I told you I would,
she replied.
I always do.

Before Tiva responded, Te’s branches parted and Aliri came into view. She paused, smiled, and laughed softly. “Well, I know what you two have been doing.” Tiva blushed and glanced at her friend. “Get dressed, Wixx found one of the leaders’ major players, he has a rather interesting story to tell.”

“Yeah, yeah, be there in a minute,” Adam grumbled and squeezed Tiva tight as Aliri vanished from sight. “Hero’s job is never done, is it?” He kissed her softly and retracted his wing.

Tiva and Adam emerged from the safety of Te’s branches and hand in hand moved through the critical ward of tents. Many people were sleeping restlessly, wounded, broken, but hopeful. Near her home, the shrouded bodies of the dead had more than doubled in the last few hours. The reality of the situation was coming full circle and Tiva gripped Adam’s hand tight as they passed the carnage. Learning Neola, Wirto, and Major Raku had perished during the battle was beyond painful. However, the loss of Adam would have crushed her. So, while she would mourn her friends, she couldn’t help but be grateful all were not lost.

As they approached, a sea of Loyalists slowly parted giving them a straight path into the main entrance of the compound. The stale smell of sweat and blood was grave in the air, but even more so inside the building. Harai and Emerala were standing with a few Union officers and Loyalists near the front of the room. Tiva made her way there curiously. When the small group broke apart, Tiva saw a lone Bujeni sitting bound to a chair. He looked up at her.

Tiva met the man’s eyes; he cowered at her gaze and looked to the ground. “What have you to tell me?” He remained silent and Tiva turned to Harai. “What did he tell you?”

“He said that his people supplied the Rebels with weapons and these crystal devices in exchange for land on Abennelp and access to your ore. Seems this Ziola person had contacted the Bujeni using some technology your king’s people were working on for interstellar communications.”

“How long have your people been on my world?” Tiva asked glaring down with black markings. Again, he remained silent. This time, however, Tiva grabbed his neck and forced his head up. “How long!”

“Four of your cycles.”

She pushed him back and balled her hand into a fist. Pethor had lied; they were the same suppliers. “How many of you are still here?”

“Only a dozen…we tried to cut ties when we learned what she was doing with the devices. They weren’t meant for war, they were meant for interrogation. Lord Kenon slaughtered half my company, the rest of us escaped into your woods.”