A Reluctant Companion (14 page)

He kissed her forehead before getting out of bed to prepare for the day. She watched him pad naked into the bathroom, still not saying anything. Other than a few pleasantries over breakfast, and a shared goodbye, they didn’t speak as they parted company an hour later. Nothing had been resolved, but things still felt better between them, and she was able to push aside most of her darker thoughts as she collected her escort and made her way to the clinic.

*****

“I don’t know how you keep up this pace every day,” said Madison as she carefully prepared a slide of blood for Susan’s examination under the primitive microscope. Collecting and processing lab samples was a newly acquired skill she had learned in just the last few hours. Perhaps because it was so precise and nerve-racking, it had left her more exhausted than the tasks she’d performed yesterday. It didn’t make sense, because with the exception of the past few weeks as Tiernan’s companion, she had always worked long and hard, but the clinic wore her out. Susan had to be in her mid-fifties, but moved with seemingly tireless energy.

“I’m used to it, Madison.” She examined the slide and wrote a note on the chart open beside her. “I’m looking forward to a day off tomorrow, of course—though I won’t be sleeping in and catching up on errands like I usually do.”

Madison frowned. “The clinic isn’t open tomorrow?” A pang went through her, and she marveled at how this place could become so important to her in just two days. She was going to miss the sense of purpose it gave her, even though it would be nice to get a break from the emotionally taxing side of seeing so much suffering.

Susan stretched her neck side to side and rolled her shoulders. “No, it’s punishment day.”

Madison shuddered, remembering seeing a punishment day on one of their infrequent trips into Graceport. Blaney was fond of public lashings, so it had been mostly a string of whipped people; only the number and severity of lashes had varied. She understood the necessity of punishment, but hadn’t found the public aspect at all appealing and had turned away quickly.

Susan nodded at her nonverbal reaction. “Normally, I agree, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s punishment, or the main attraction, anyway.”

That didn’t seem in character with a healing soul, and her puzzlement must have shown. Susan gave her a tired smile. “They’re punishing Lori Becker’s rapist tomorrow.”

Madison shrugged. “Who?”

With a sigh, Susan took the next slide and bent to the microscope. “My friend at the hospital treated that poor girl after the rape. She was…” The other woman trailed off, clearly unable to speak. She swallowed audibly before continuing. “Well, let’s just say that no one has ever deserved punishment more than that piece of filth.”

Before Madison could ask more questions, Susan’s voice turned businesslike again, and she let the subject drop in favor of returning to the work at hand. There were still several patients in the waiting room needing these results, and as the day wore down, she found herself eager to finish, so she could go home—back to Tiernan’s, she amended. She wanted to see if their silent truce had been real and lasting or was all a product of her wishful thinking.

*****

By the time Tiernan joined her for dinner, she was on tenterhooks to see how he behaved. Relief washed through her when he began speaking to her as he normally did. The casual kiss he pressed to her lips before sitting down further calmed her spate of nerves, and she allowed herself to relax as the familiar feelings wove around her. It might all be an illusion, but she clung to it, needing the reassurance it brought her. Whether or not he really cared about her, he had a way of making her feel like he did, as though she was the center of his world. As they ate and conversed, she clung to that, not wanting him to return to the emotionally distant or hotly angry lover he’d been the past few days.

“Will you be attending punishment day tomorrow?” asked Tiernan over dessert and moscato.

Madison shrugged. “Probably not. I never cared for that sort of thing.”

He nodded. “It’s stomach-turning, but public punishment can be an effective deterrent.” Sitting down his glass, he sighed. “It’s probably for the best that you won’t be there. I’m expecting a full crowd, which makes it more difficult for the guards to protect you.”

“And you?” she asked quietly. “Are you in danger?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Who knows? Before finding out about a growing rebellion, I would have said no, not likely. Now, I’m not sure.”

“Why don’t you skip it too?” She attempted to keep her voice calm and not betray the fear that spiked in her at the thought of something happening to Tiernan. “It sounds safer—unless you enjoy punishment day?” Madison hoped not, because it would be difficult to understand that notion.

Tiernan scowled. “Not usually, but I will tomorrow, I think. I’m going to skip the other punishments, but I intend to be there for Sullivan Tully’s retribution.”

Madison took a sip of moscato before asking, “Is that something to do with Lori Becker?”

He frowned. “How do you know of Lori Becker?”

She shook her head. “I don’t really. I just heard someone else say a similar thing today—she normally hates punishment day, but plans to be there tomorrow.”

He nodded. “Yes, that’s the monster who raped Lori Becker.”

“Who is Lori?”

He rubbed his eyes. “She’s a fourteen-year-old girl and the daughter of one of my soldiers. Tully kidnapped and held her for three days. If she hadn’t escaped, he probably would have kept her captive for longer before killing her. We don’t have sufficient proof, but it appears he’s done that before.”

Madison swore softly. “That poor girl.” Her stomach turned. “What will they do to him? Death?”

Tiernan lifted a shoulder. “He’s been convicted of rape by the tribunal, so it will be the prescribed punishment.”

She frowned. “Which is?”

Shoving away his half-eaten dessert, he said, “The same as Graceport.”

“Which is?” she asked again.

Tiernan frowned. “Castration and branding. No one will provide medical attention, so there’s a good chance he’ll bleed out. If not, he’ll live with an ‘R’ on his forehead forever, so everyone will know what he is.” His frown deepened. “Don’t they have rapes in your province?”

“I don’t know. Well, I’m sure they do, but I don’t think Blaney does much about them. The one time I witnessed a bit of a punishment day, the predominant crime was tax evasion.”

Tiernan snorted. “I can’t imagine it’s a huge problem in Yakima-Grace.”

She shrugged. “Apparently it is if you don’t pay all his taxes.” Mustering her courage to say something that could cause trouble, though she was certain Tiernan didn’t like or support Blaney, she said, “Papa says there are the official taxes we all pay, and then there are Blaney’s extras. If you don’t pay, you or your family will suffer.”

Tiernan’s expression tightened. “Is this common knowledge in your province?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’ve heard the other men talking about it with my father. One of our neighbors used to live in Idaho-Johns and said it was worse there. The governor of that region squeezes people even more than Blaney.” Madison bit her tongue before she could utter the rest of what her neighbor had speculated—that the politicians leading the various regions in the Northwest Federation had Tiernan’s implicit permission, if not outright consent, to gouge the citizens.

He looked troubled. “It appears a full-scale investigation is in order. My grandfather had brutally dealt with the governors of the regions who tried to cheat him out of his cut, but my mother had stamped out most of the corruption. Or so I thought. She always believed in applying the rules equitably to all citizens, including a fair distribution of taxes.” Tiernan ran a hand through his curls, disheveling them further. “Perhaps I haven’t been clear about my stance on corruption.”

She shivered slightly, not liking the cold look in his eyes. At least she felt confident that her neighbor had been wrong about Tiernan turning a blind eye to corruption. “What will you do?”

His mouth firmed. “One good example is usually all that’s needed. Since Blaney is such a fan of public lashings, I think that will be a just punishment, even if it does deviate from the Federation’s code of law.”

She found it impossible to summon sympathy for Blaney any more than she could for the rapist when contemplating his harsh sentence tomorrow. Still, she wouldn’t want to be on Tiernan’s bad side and at the receiving end of one of his punishments.

*****

After the clinic reopened, Madison returned to the clinic and her apprenticeship as nurse, assistant, and receptionist. Much to her guard’s dismay, she had recruited Corporal Vincent to be at Lucy’s beck and call. She didn’t think Vinny minded helping out with the clinic—or following around the slightly older Lucy, who had a butt he couldn’t seem to stop admiring. Rather, his apprehension seemed to stem from the fact that she was out of his sight a good part of the day.

She couldn’t fathom what danger might befall her in the clinic. Honestly, why would she be a target in any form, except in general? She appreciated having a soldier to walk her to and from the clinic, for safety’s sake, but didn’t see a need just because she was Tiernan’s companion. He’d have to have some kind of strong feelings for her before she could ever be a weapon used to hurt him.

Not that he didn’t care. He’d been sweet to her the past week, bringing her a gift almost every night. Nothing elaborate, and she had appreciated the flowers and chocolates more than she would have expensive, useless tokens. And when he held her, their bodies joined together in perfect unity, the tenderness in his eyes sometimes made her want to cry. He had returned to his previous routine of coming to her for dinner every evening and shared her bed every night. Well, his bed, and he’d made no mention of moving her out of his suite into a room of her own like the other girls. She was sure he cared, but she didn’t know how much.

She had no intention of asking either. Things were good as they were. There was no reason to upset the equilibrium they’d found. Madison was trying to be happy in the moment and not question anything too deeply.

She’d found it fairly easy to be happy this week. The clinic gave her a purpose, Tiernan’s affection gave her warmth, and she’d even gotten to talk to her father and sister on the designated meeting day this week. Neither had acted as if they were angry at her decision to leave. In fact, Rosie had expressed a strong amount of envy at her “escape from Graceport and its fascist army.” Eric had chuckled in the background at that comment.

When the clinic closed for the day, she parted from Lucy and Susan with a warm goodbye, wishing they staffed the clinic over the weekends, just to have something to do besides drinking tea and indulging in conversation with her fellow bedmates. Still, she would be back early Monday morning, and perhaps there would be some kind of event to enliven the dullness of being the commander’s companion. Not that the nights left anything to complain about, she thought with a quiet chuckle. It was just the days that could be monotonous.

There was a little chill in the air as they progressed back to the capitol building, and she shivered slightly. “I guess it’s the beginning of the end of summer, Vinny.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “Call me Madison.”

“Of course, ma’am,” he said with a grin.

She laughed. “You’re impossible.”

“No, ma’am. I just don’t want to break protocol.”

She started to reassure him that no one would care if he used her first name, but she hesitated, suddenly recalling how Tiernan had reacted when he’d learned she and Eric were on a first-name basis. Then again, his anger had been because of a somewhat cryptic message, or so he had claimed. Maybe to be on the safe side, they should stick with the current form of address.

As they neared the building, she said, “Lucy’s nice.”

His cheeks tinged pink. “Yes, ma’am. Hair’s wild though.”

She laughed again. “You wouldn’t hold that against her?”

He shook his head. “No, ma’am.”

“When are you going to make your move, Vinny?”

He started to answer, but froze before assuming a straight-backed stance. After snapping off a smart salute, he said, “Good evening, Commander Archer.”

A smile curved across her lips of its own accord, and she turned to her lover. “Hi, Tiernan. What’re you doing out here?”