Reckless Rescue (14 page)

Inside was only slightly warmer than the chill outside. Tyris soon realised why, as he settled Marlee by the cold fire. He thought it was completely out until Yasmyn pushed aside the ashes and found a few still glowing embers. Putting some leaves and bark around it, she blew on it gently until it caught. He should learn how to do that. He
would
learn how to do that.

The fire burned brightly and the house began to warm up. Marlee smiled sleepily over at him and snuggled in her blankets as her mother heated some stew. Once they had eaten and warmed up, Marlee’s mother left them, admonishing them only to get some rest.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, Tyris enjoying the feeling of the warmth creeping slowly into his skin. Finally, seeing Marlee’s eyes beginning to droop, he said, “We’d probably better listen to your mother and get some rest. Only this time, I’ll take the floor and you can sleep in the bed.” Marlee opened her mouth to say something, but he shook his finger at her, “No arguments, missy. Bed it is for you.”

“Yes, Tyris,” she said meekly. “Only I put the pallet away, so there is only the bed.”

Some of his discomfort must have shown in his face, for she added defensively, “Well, you weren’t here, and I kept tripping over it.”

Tyris sighed. “Where is it? I‘ll make it up.” It was the last thing he felt like doing, the warmth having seeped into his bones, relaxing them.

“It’s under the,” a giant yawn interrupted Marlee’s sentence, “bed. But I don’t think I have the energy to help you make it up tonight. Why don’t we just share the bed?”

Tyris searched her face for any hidden agendas, but he saw only sleepiness. Fairly sure that he himself had no such intentions, he hesitated for only a moment before nodding. He would get the pallet out in the morning, he promised himself as he crawled in beside Marlee, surprised at how much more comfortable her soft warmth made the hard bed.

A
DULL THROBBING IN
M
ARLEE’S ANKLE
pulled her from her dreams. Not even a hint of dawn light made it inside the house yet. She felt a presence in the bed beside her, and for a moment, thought it was Nelor. Then she remembered.

Sometime during the night, she and Tyris had slipped from their careful positions on opposite sides of the bed to lie side by side, and now Marlee’s hip rested snuggly against his. She should have felt the urge to move away from him, but instead, the thought of how near he was sent a little flutter through her body.

She lay there with her eyes closed for a moment. His breathing was soft, and he muttered something unintelligible. His hand fell against her side, sending another shiver through her along with a pang of guilt. She shouldn’t be feeling this way about Tyris. She loved Nelor.

And now she could never be with him. She hadn’t talked to Tyris about his ship yet, but he seemed to have given up on repairing it, until after winter at least. There would be no escape from Zerris, no chance to be with Nelor on another planet. Instead, she was here with Tyris. She’d told him he could stay as long as she liked. Since Nelor wouldn’t be back, he might as well.

It would probably buy her another week or two before her mother started pushing her about finding a new partner again. Tyris muttered something again and rolled over, and the movement in the bed caused her ankle to throb more.

That was all the motivation she needed. She rolled carefully to the edge of the bed and pushed herself up. Reaching down, she rubbed the offending ankle, only to find it had swollen to twice its normal size. She stood up carefully, testing to see if it would hold her weight.

Pain shot through her leg, and biting her lip to muffle her exclamation, she half sat, half fell back onto the bed.

Tyris stirred. “Is everything okay?” he asked, his voice thick with sleep.

Marlee winced. “Yeah, I was just going to get something for my ankle,” she said quietly.

“Do you need a hand?” The bed shifted as Tyris raised himself on one elbow. He sounded more awake now.

Marlee wrapped a tendril of hair around her finger, rubbing it with her thumb. The sound of his voice reminded her of his body pressed up against hers in the bed only moments ago. “You don’t need to get up. I’m just going to make myself some tea to help the pain. I’ll be fine.” What a stupid thing to say. She could barely stand, let alone walk.

Tyris reached out a hand and touched her arm gently. “Karla said you should be resting that ankle. If you needed something, you should have woken me.”

“I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Silly girl,” Tyris scolded playfully. She could almost see the corners of his mouth turned up and the twinkle in his eyes. “You looked after me when I was injured, took me into your home and came out to the Hylista with me on my insane errand. You’ve earned the right to wake me up in the middle of the night if you need help.” He paused then added in a soft voice, “And it’s no bother.”

Warmth tingled through her, leaving her uncertain. Why was Tyris arousing these feelings in her? She was in love with Nelor, wasn’t she? Her feelings for him didn’t suddenly switch off just because they couldn’t be together.

And yet, this wasn’t like any feelings she’d ever experienced with Nelor.

She’d had plenty of boyfriends, but none of them had stirred these sorts of reactions. Why was she so conscious of how close he was? Why did his voice in the darkness have such an effect?

She’d never known anyone like him. Remmy had been so shy and unsure, they’d both been kids really. Harlow had been overconfident, but fun. And Nelor was sweet and loving. He was her best friend.

Tyris was confident, but not overconfident. And judging by his insistence on carrying her back to the hut last night, he could be sweet too. And he certainly wasn’t bad to look at.

“Marlee?” Tyris asked, pulling her away from her thoughts. “How can we get some light in here?”

She focused on the practical issue, banishing the strange thoughts. “I’ll have to get out to the fireplace.”

Tyris rose and walked around to her, keeping his hands on the bed to find his way. He touched her shoulder in the dark then slid down her arm to her hands. “Can you walk?”

Marlee deliberately pushed away the feelings his hands sliding over her elicited. She didn’t want to think about that. Not now. “A little,” she said, “but it hurts to put weight on my foot.”

Tyris pulled her arm around his shoulders. “Lean on me.” He slipped his own arm around her waist, pulling her close.

She wanted to pull away, to insist she could walk on her own. But even bringing her foot in contact with the ground without putting any weight on it hurt. She needed Tyris’s help. Marlee hobbled out into the next room as quickly as she could, and was relieved to let go of Tyris to kneel down in front of the fireplace. She dug around with the poker until she found some glowing hot coals, added some dried grass and twigs from the basket on the floor, and blew gently until they caught. Once they burnt brightly, she added some larger sticks then a piece of wood.

The fire cast a soft glow to the room. Now she had to get up. And there was nothing nearby to pull herself up on. She bit her lip, held out her hands, and let Tyris help her to her feet. His strong hands pulled her up easily. She reached for the lamp sitting on the mantelpiece and lit it with a small twig.

Now she could see more clearly, although she almost wished she couldn’t when she looked up at Tyris, who still had his hands on her waist to steady her. The firelight flickered in his eyes, and his hair was tousled from sleep.
Definitely
not bad to look at. Marlee blushed and glanced away. He didn’t seem in a hurry to release her.

She could see it would be easy to like him, easy to fall for him. And easy to be devastated when it ended. She didn’t even want to let herself hope that with him, she might just have a chance at a baby. It hurt too much. After four years of crushing disappointments, she just couldn’t do that again. She had to accept that she couldn’t have children and not get involved with anyone. It was better that way.

She pulled back and stumbled the few steps to her chair, ignoring the pain in her ankle as she gratefully sank into the comfortable, familiar quilt. Tyris stared at her in confusion, and she blushed and looked away, asking, “Is there water in the pot?”

Tyris stared at her a moment longer before turning back to the fire. He checked in the tin hanging by a piece of wire over the fire and nodded. “It’s half full. Is that enough?”

Marlee nodded. “As soon as it boils, I can make some tea.”

“What do I need to do?” Tyris asked.

Step by step, Marlee directed him to the get the tea cups, fill each with tea, and add some of the feverfew herb to hers. It was frustrating not being able to get up and just do it herself, but Tyris patiently followed each instruction.

Finally, it was done, and she sipped the tea gratefully. Tyris sat next to her, staring into the fire.

This wasn’t going to be easy. She wanted to be friends with Tyris and to help him settle in here on Zerris. But these strange feelings she was having complicated matters. She needed to hang onto thoughts about Nelor, to keep reminding herself that he was the one she cared about. Maybe that would prevent these feelings from getting out of hand.

Tyris looked over at her. “I’m sorry Marlee, this must be awkward for you, having me here,” he said. “I wish there was somewhere else I could go. I thought if I could fix the Hylista, even a little, then I could fly it to the village and not have to impose on anyone. I figured I’d just live on the ship.”

Marlee felt bad for pushing him away. It wasn’t his fault that she was attracted to him when she didn’t want to be. Tyris must be just as disappointed by the realisation that he was stuck here as she was. “You’re not imposing at all, Tyris. I like having you here. Who would have helped me tonight if you weren’t here?”

“You wouldn’t be in this position if you hadn’t felt that you needed to come after me,” Tyris countered. “If I hadn’t been so stubborn about going to the ship or insistent on staying behind when I should have come back, you wouldn’t have hurt your ankle.”

Marlee shook her head. “I should have realised you’d come home. If I’d waited… The elders are always saying I’m too impulsive.”

“Well, I’m glad you came.” Tyris reached out a hand and squeezed hers for a brief moment. “It meant a lot to know someone cared enough to come looking for me.”

Marlee let herself squeeze his hand in return then sighed. “Can you fix it?”

Tyris scowled, and she wished she hadn’t reminded him. But she had to know the answer, had to know if there was any hope at all. “I can’t,” he said roughly. “It took too much damage in the crash, several key systems are down, and I don’t have the means to even begin to repair them. I’m stuck here, just the same as the rest of you.”

Marlee’s heart sank. As soon as she heard the words from his own lips, she realised she’d been holding out hope that his earlier assessment was wrong. Now she had to face the reality that any hope of escape was gone.

She waited for the tears to come, but they didn’t. Though she felt sad, she didn’t feel as desperate as she had yesterday morning. Yesterday, she’d cried at the thought that Tyris might not make it back to take her away from here. Why didn’t she feel worse now?

She didn’t want to face the possibility that it was a fear of losing Tyris that had made her cry not the loss of a way off this planet. She was having enough confusing feelings this morning without examining that.

“I’m sorry, Marlee,” Tyris said softly. He sounded so hopeless, so dejected. Marlee couldn’t help but feel for him.

“You’re sorry? What do you have to be sorry about?”

Tyris shrugged. “That I got your hopes up over nothing.” He was quiet for a moment then asked, “What will happen for you and Nelor now?”

Marlee sighed. “Nothing. Nothing can happen now.”

“So, does that mean…” Tyris broke off. He glanced over at her, then quickly back to the fire. “What does that mean, for you?” he asked.

“They expect me to find someone else,” she said flatly. “Nelor too.”

Tyris frowned. “How quickly?”

Marlee shrugged. “As soon as possible. The pressure had started before you arrived. In all the excitement, it hasn’t been mentioned, but I’m sure my mother and the council haven’t forgotten.”

“They’ll probably decide I’m in the way here then, won’t they?” Tyris asked.

Marlee was surprised he was missing the obvious. “Uh, not exactly,” she said quietly.

“What do you mean?” Tyris stared at her, his forehead wrinkled. “How can they expect you to find someone new while I’m here in your home? Surely that would give the wrong impression?”

“Most of the men here are affected by the pollution,” she started, hoping he’d get it. She didn’t want to have to spell it out. “Those who have been able to have a child are already with someone…”

The expression on Tyris’s face suddenly changed. “Oh,” he said. “That’s why I’m here in your home, isn’t it?”

“No, no!” Marlee said quickly. “I offered, I told you that. Although I’m sure they expect me to take advantage of the situation. They probably thought that was why I offered. ”