Blood Yellow (6 page)

CHAPTER TEN

“
O
h Adara, you are awake!” Zayn kissed her lips while his heart raced with worry. He watched as more doctors started coming in and to examine her. “I have been so worried. I’m so sorry, Adara. Please Gods, thank you for letting her wake up!” Zayn couldn’t stop kissing her. He had thought she was gone and wanted now to show her how much he cared.

“Zayn, the baby! What happened to the baby! I need to know!” Adara pleaded. Zayn looked up to the doctors, hoping they could answer.

“Tell her the baby is safe. TELL HER!” Zayn held her hand tight as he watched the doctors’ faces. He could tell there was something, but they were not saying. “What are you holding back? I told you to save my baby, tell her you did that!” Zayn stood up and started walking around the bed toward the doctor.

“Your Majesty…”

Nikole pushed open the door, suddenly there. “Adara!” She stopped dead in her tracks as she stared at her akh. The room’s tension escalated, everyone too scared to breathe. Nikole looked at him and let out, “Zayn….you’re home.”

“Nikole, you need to leave now,” Zayn said to his okht before turning back to the doctor. “Now tell her the baby is okay!”

The doctors looked at each other as Nikole moved to Adara’s bedside and grabbed her hand. She had no idea what was going on, but she could tell by the look on their faces that something bad was happening.

“Adara, you suffered some injuries when you
were knocked unconscious.  There was some wood in your back that punctured your kidney. Your body was in distress. Because of all this, your body started to reject the pregnancy. I’m sorry, but you are losing your baby.”

“I TOLD YOU TO SAVE THE BABY! WHY
DIDN’T YOU DO AS YOU WERE TOLD!?!?!?” Zayn screamed as he grabbed the doctor’s lapel and threw him up against the wall. His fangs were exposed, and he hissed at the man as the other doctors pulled Zayn off of him.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Zayn started to toss his subjects off of him. Nikole rushed over to her akh and pushed him up against the wall.

“Zayn, stop! What is wrong with you? This isn’t their fault. Whoever attacked Adara, that’s who you need to blame. The doctors did the best they could! Now stop this!”

“Don’t touch me, Nikole. I did this.
It’s MY FAULT!” Zayn pushed Nikole off of him and walked over to Adara. Her eyes were washed in tears; his heart broke at the sight of her.

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I
didn’t mean to and I …. I just…” He lowered his body to his knees. Tears started to form in his eyes as he held her hand.

Adara looked up to the doctor and quietly asked, “There is nothing that I can do to save the baby?
Nothing?”

The doctor came to her bedside as Nikole moved over behind Zayn; she placed her hand on his shoulder in comfort as they all listened to the doctor.

“Right now, no. Your body needs rest, and you need to be calm. You won’t leave this bed until we have done everything possible, but a lot of the blood we thought was coming from the kidney wound was actually your body starting to flush the fetus out. I am sorry. Right now we can try to use hayah kayema in attempt to get the uterus to accept the embryo again, but it doesn’t look good.”

The three sat in silence as the weight of what the doctor said played on their minds. The doctor started to speak again. “We will start to administer the
hayah kayema as a suppository, and we will pray your body responds. I’ll have someone come in here within the hour. It’s a new medicine that we created to help with the Algula’s fertility and maintaining pregnancies.” The doctor turned and left, taking his assistants with him. The silence of the room was broken by the door swinging shut. Adara’s tears steadily poured down her cheeks.

“What happened? Adara, who attacked you?” Nikole asked as she looked at her fri
end crying in the hospital bed.

Zayn squeezed Adara’s hand, his own tears slowly running down his cheek. “I
did this, Nikole. I hurt her.”

“Zayn, I am sure you
didn’t cause this. You have been gone. By the way, how did you know to be here?”

“Nikole, stop. Just go; Nasir will fill you
in. Let me be alone with her.”

“Zayn, she can stay.
She’s your okht and my best friend,” Adara said softly while turning over and pulling her hand out of Zayn’s grasp. She wasn’t sure what to think. She was willing to never see him again earlier, but after that dream…. Now, now she just didn’t know.

“Zayn showed up at my house, and he
wouldn’t leave. I locked myself in my room, and Zayn broke down the door. I don’t remember much, but I remember it flying at me. Then I woke here, just now. I don’t remember anything in-between.”

Nikole pulled up a chair and sat down, loo
king at her akh and her friend.

“Adara, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me; I
don’t know what to say. I didn’t mean to cause this,” Zayn implored, his sadness pouring out of him, his tone broken and desperate. “I just needed to see you; I wanted to apologize.”

“Zayn, please stop. I
can’t deal with this, not right now. Can you go, please?” Adara asked, her eyes hot from the tears. She had turned her body all the way over, so her back was facing Zayn; the sight of him was too much to bear.

“I don’t want to leave you, Adara. Please let me stay; this is my baby too.”

Adara looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes flashing yellow as her hurt and anger start to surface. “This child WAS ours, and you killed it! GET OUT!”

She rang the monitor button
, and the doctors come back in. “Yes, ma’am. What did you need?”

“I want King Zayn’s visitatio
n revoked. Please see him out.”

“That isn’t necessary.” Zayn stood up, looking from Adara to his okht. He quietly left as the world he wanted came crashing down in
his mind.

“Nikole,” Adara began, “I
can’t right now. Please come back tomorrow, but tonight, tonight I need my space.”

Nikole nodded, stood and walked to the door. “I’ll be back in the morning. You let me know if you need anything. I’m a phone call away.” She stepped into the hallway and saw Zayn leaning up against the wall. She walked over and embraced her akh. They stood there in the hospital hallway, quietly holding each other, crying together, a momentary truce.

“You should have called me when you came home. I would have come with you to see her,” Nikole said quietly as Zayn pulled away from his okht.

“I wasn’t ready to see you. I left…
.I left everyone and let you down. I needed to make up with her before I asked for your forgiveness. Where is Alec? I thought you were with him.”

Nikole winced at the sound of his name. “I was, but he
won’t be staying with me at the house, so I think we are done. I hope he will at least stay for dinner so we can talk. Come on; let’s go home. We need to go over some things.”

They walked through the doors and came to Nasir who was awaiting their arrival in the waiting room. He could sense from the look on their faces what had happened. The three of them walked in silence to the car that
was parked out front. They slipped in and headed back to their home.

A
dara clung to the pillow and blanket as she lay on the bed. She wasn’t ready to call her family and tell them what had happened. She wasn’t ready to face them and explain. Her hand traveled down her swollen breasts and settled on her stomach. She thought about everything she was going to miss out on, the first kick, that fluttering in her stomach that only she would feel, the heartbeat, the sonograms, the growing of her stomach, the cravings. Everything that was given just to the omm, she would never experience. She closed her eyes, wondering whose nose the baby would have had, hers or Zayn’s. Whose hair? Whose cheekbones? They would never know. Her little angel… lost forever.

She felt her heart start to race as panic set in. She realized what the doctor had said; they were going to try and save the fetus. They
hadn’t even called it a baby. It was… it was her baby, her child. Confusion and anger took over her thoughts. She tilted the hospital bed so that her feet were higher than her pelvis. She hoped maybe she could keep nature from winning and trick it.

Why, why did you have to come back into my life? I was just getting over you.
She stared blankly at the window, no one there to answer her silent questions. She heard the doctor come back in; he was holding a plastic syringe dispenser and some cream. She realized this was the treatment that was supposed to give her the miracle.

“How long will it take for us to know if it works? What are the odds?”

“As I said before, this is a long shot, but we will know in anywhere from a few hours to a few days. If we are able to keep the baby, you will be on bed rest for the next two months, minimum. That means only an hour or two a day out of bed. But we will cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let’s just pray this treatment works.”

Adara felt the nurse lower her bed. She knew her legs were trembling in fear as they removed her blankets and started prepping her for the medication. “You know, this
won’t hurt a bit; it’s a simple insertion. Just take a deep breath on the count of three, and you won’t even notice it.”

“Okay…” Adara ans
wered with a slight hesitation.

“One…. two…. three.”

Adara gasped at the nurse applied pressure. It didn’t hurt, but she was still surprised by the whole thing. The nurse pulled the blankets back over her legs, and Adara squeezed them tight, praying once again to the Gods that this would work.

“Thank you for your help. Sorry the king was so violent earlier.
He’s had a bit of a hard time lately with some things. You can let him come back tomorrow. I just can’t deal with him right now.”

“It’s my pleasure to help you, and I’ll let them know that the king may return, but only after the morning. I will also instruct that when he is here, he shall not be able to give you any stress. The less stress you have, the better odds for your child.”

“My child.”

“Yes, your child. Miracles can happen. Let’s hope you receive one.”

As she watched them leave, the events of the last three months played in Adara’s mind. She wasn’t sure when they had conceived, but it was one of only a few times during Nikole’s disappearance. That seemed so long ago, but after today, she didn’t care about how her child was conceived. She just wanted to be able to hold it. No, not it. Him… or her.

The nurse brought Adara some blood for her to have via I.V. injections. “This will h
elp your injuries heal faster.”

“Thanks. Can I have anything for the pain?”

“No, dear, the pain medicine will hurt the fetus. Sorry, but in a few days, once we know how the baby is doing, we can give you some at that point but none until then.”

Adara didn’t like how she said that. It wasn’t a fetus; it was her child. Her fingers moved back on her stomach, and she started drawing circles over her belly button. The nurse left her alone and Adara started talking to herself.

“Little one, please, please don’t leave me. Mama wants you so badly, and I promise I’ll give you everything you need. Just please, please don’t leave.”

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

H
aydar closed the door to his quarters as he thought of what’d happened with his bent. Leigh was much like her omm, proud and sure of herself. She knew her place in life and knew what it took to get tasks accomplished. She didn’t question the way things were; she accepted the truths and carried out the orders. She was his pride, the reason he continued fighting for the kingdom.

It was a shame Sarah
wasn’t there to see how Leigh had turned out. She would’ve relished that her bent had defeated her akhs and left them branded the fools that they really had been. Haydar moved to rest on his sofa, the black leather clinging to his body while the warm temperature of the room made him think of his life back in Zahle. He missed the climate, but when he was reminded of it, he always thought back to that night in 1777 when he took down his okht and her consort.

“Dominic and Derrik, you go inside the castle and find your amma. Hold her and the
brats there until your okht and I make it in. Do NOT kill them without me!” Haydar commanded as he guided his men through the castle. This was his childhood home. He knew where every wall led, knew what was behind every opening.

“Haydar, STOP!”
Tamman commanded with his booming voice. He came around to the front of the castle, ready to protect his family. “You are not welcome here. You and your men are to leave right now if you wish to stay alive.” Tamman pulled his sword and pointed it toward Haydar. “You have been banished. As your king I command you to leave.”

“You will never be my king,” Haydar claimed, pulling his own sword out and
clashing it against his enemy. “My bitch okht stole the crown from me, and I’ve come to reclaim it. Prepare to die. All of you!”

Tamman
pushed Haydar back from the entrance, and the two men moved their battle to the field. Their swords clanged against one another as Haydar moved faster and increased his power. “You are a pathetic king. Abb was a fool to entrust the Algula to you and Ikram…
They will perish and let the humans overtake them at this rate. Fucking fools, you both are!

“Do not speak of my wife like that!”
Tamman yelled. His sword landed a blow against Haydar’s chest, causing a strong impact on the metal armor. The pain from the slice ignited Haydar into full power as he disarmed Tamman. Haydar pulled out his knife from his second holster and stabbed the king in his stomach. The blade moved left to right, slicing him open.

“Leigh, come here now!” Haydar bellowed out. His bent came running up beside him. “Take your rope and tie him to the tree. I’m going to show him how the true ruler of the Algula takes care of his enemies.

“Yes, sir. Come, you filth. I am ashamed to share anything of my family lineage with you,” Leigh told Tamman while she pulled his body to the nearby tree. “Abb, I think we should display what this worthless male is made of. May I?”

Haydar smiled at his pride and joy, “Good idea, Leigh. We will show everyone what happens when y
ou go against the true rulers.”

Tamman
listened to the two of them bantering while he tried to figure out a way to get warning to Ikram and his children. He had to do something to save his family. “Nasir, NASIR!” he called out. Leigh struck Tamman in the face with the back of her hand.

“Silence, Amm. You
won’t have anyone coming to your aid tonight.”

“Leigh, listen to me. You are better than your abb. You can do so much more than him. Let me down, and I will show you what it is like to be loved by a family.”

“I said SILENCE!” With a quick motion, Leigh’s knife was inside his kidney. Tamman yelled in pain as she twisted the handle, driving the blade deep. He hoped his cries would signal help or warn his children of the danger coming into their home. It was his screams that grabbed the attention of the guard tower where Nasir was entering.

“Your Majesty!” Nasir called out as he started to race down th
e stairs.

Leigh looked up in the direction of the tower, smiling. “Seems there is an audience. Let’s
give them something to enjoy.”

Haydar came from behind the tree to
hoist Tamman up from the ground. The man’s cries and screams were music to his heart, payback for everything he had had to suffer. “Leigh, make me proud.”

Leigh took her knife and cut into
Tamman’s inner thigh, dragging her blade down his leg. His screams gave her cause to rejoice in victory. She took her blade out of his leg and moved her hand up to his sternum, jamming it inside, breaking the breast bone. Haydar moved around to grab Tamman’s body and hold it still so Leigh could slice his front open. Tamman’s legs and hands were flailing as he tried to stop the torture.

Leigh stood back and watched his blood paint the green blades of grass under the tree. She listened closely as her worthless amm took his last breath.

“Well done. Now let’s go find your amma.”

Haydar
couldn’t help but smile at the memory. A few hundred years ago felt like yesterday, and the pride in his bent’s ruthlessness still played at his heart. He didn’t have many things left in this world to get excited about, but watching Zayn be taken down just like his abb had, that was worth waking up for in the morning.

A knocking at the door broke the silence of the room. “Enter.” He looked over in the direction of the open door as Leigh strode inside.

“We have a problem. I just received word from Jonothon that Zayn has returned. Someone spotted him at the hospital, and Nikole was there as well. They have left, and Jonothon is following them. We may need to alter our plans.”

He looked his bent over. Her cheeks
were flushed. Was that from anticipation of the upcoming fight or frustration with her lover?

“Are you sure you
don’t want to discuss what is going on with you and Jonothon? It is obvious, Leigh.”

“No, I told you there is nothing to worry about. If he crosses the line, I’ll kill him. I have
no reason to keep him around.”