Tempest Rise (revised edition 10/2013) (Treborel) (15 page)

Sean’s mind cleared as his assistant entered saying, “Lord Nolan did you accept an appointment with a Lady Waytals of Treborel?” She asked
, moving toward his desk to search his computer’s personal memo file.

“That name is not familiar.” Sean answered
, glancing over at her as his thoughts began to focus.

“She claims to be Prince Katar’s fiancé.” The tall thin woman shrugged her shoulders and waited for instructions.

“Fiancé? I wasn’t aware that he was engaged.” Sean said intrigued, he recalled his earlier conversation with Katar. “Why does she want to see me?”

“She claims she was
referring to you,” A strand of Val’s curly brown hair slipped out of its bun as she moved back around the desk to face him. “Should I send her over to the Treborelan Embassy?”

“No, send her in, Katar might have sent her over for something specific.”  Sean said and rose to move to his desk Val’s disappeared through the door.

He looked up as a beautiful blonde entered and smiled at him as she offered her hand in greeting. Her shimmering burgundy dress was snug and showed her ample cleavage. Sean caught his breath and forced himself to concentrate on business. “Lady Waytals, please sit down.”  He rose as he spoke, coming around his desk to show her to the small chair. “I must admit this is an unexpected pleasure. To find a Treborelan in Lon Tesse these days is rare.”

Sitting down in the chair he offered, Enda smiled brightly and answered. “I admit reaching Lon Tesse without traveling through Bantor is a bit of a challenge. I had quite an adventurous trip.”

Moving back to his desk, Sean forced his eyes to concentrate on her smile.  “Don’t tell me you can through the chasm?”

“Oh No, Lord Nolan.
I’m not much of a nature lover.” She flashed him a brilliant smile and crossed her long slender legs. “I went up the coast and took the ferry down the River Ragal.” 

“I see, quite a long journey.” He answered, not seeing any adventure in a journey down the large lazy river.

“It wouldn’t have been if they had given me a helijet in Treborel.” He pouted, leaning forward “But, I suppose that is just another of the sacrifices I’ve had to make in order to spend time with my fiancé.” Her eyes grew distant. “I haven’t seen him in almost five months.”

Hesitant to inquire about this woman's engagement to the Prince
, Sean sat silently looking at her. As his thoughts wandered to Lysette, he decided it would be wise to inquire into a situation that might reveal his niece was romantically involved with someone who was betrothed. Perhaps that was the reason why Katar had been so determined to make him understand he had no intention of marrying Lysette.

Enda waited patiently for Lord Nolan to make
up his mind as to whether he should inquire about her relationship with Katar. After all, that was why she had come to him.

“My assistant informed me that you were Prince Katar’s
fiancé, would I be terribly belated in offering my congratulations?” He asked with a smile.

“We’ve been engaged for the last five months, but I thank you for the gesture.”
Enda smiled sweetly and waited for a response. She continued only when she received a smile. “We only decided to wed the night before he left for the Summit.” She paused gauging his reaction, confused at his calm attitude.  “Of course we haven’t formally announced it yet. I’m sure we would have been married by now if it hadn’t been for this damn war.” Her elegance slipped slightly.

“I see,”
Sean answered with a frown. “What is it that I can do for you Lady Waytals?” He asked. He didn’t like the way she kept waiting for a response from him. It was almost as if she expected him to challenge her.

“I’m afraid I haven’t been able to reach Katar. I was hoping to travel to the Bantorian border
, and perhaps arrange a few moments alone with him.” She smiled innocently.

“Why is it that you came to me?” Sean began to realize that she was much older than he had first realized. Looking closely, he could see she was not a flawless beauty. There were
well-hidden signs of age, just beneath her heavy makeup. The wrinkles around her eyes, and a deep frown line on her brow were faintly apparent. She was perhaps in her early forties, not in her late twenties, as he had first believed. She had appeared well bred and elegant at first, now after close inspection, Sean began to doubt her sincerity.

“You were re
commended, I was told you were in constant contact with Katar.”  Enda answered with confidence, and surprise at the question.

The more she spoke the harder her mannerism became. Sean doubted that Katar would fall in love with such a seemingly shallow
, gaudy person as this woman before him. “If you’ll excuse me for one moment, Lady Waytals. I’ll see if I can pinpoint Prince Katar’s location and get you clearance to enter the restricted area, near the border.” He rose and left the appreciative Lady Waytals behind. Closing the door behind him, he went to Val and ordered, “Val, get Treborelan Intelligence on the line, I want to check on Lady Waytals. Something about her bothers me; I want to know if she’s really, who she says she is. She claims to have left Borel recently, say about 7-10 days ago.” Then pausing as a courier entered, he turned back to her and added, “Get security in here, I want to know how she got clearance to enter the building. Also find out Prince Katar’s location, if possible.”

Prince Roth had arrived at the palace from Southern Lon Tesse less than an hour ago. His meeting with Lady Waytals had lasted only a few minutes. If he had known Enda was such a beauty, Roth would have met her in his suite, instead of the sterile environment of his office.

His joy had been unbounded when his intelligence operative had discovered Katars past relationship with the young widow. Roth was elated when Enda accepted his invitation to visit the palace. He had less than twenty-four hours to complete his objective before he had to return to his command post. These next few hours should be the most lucrative ones he’s spent in a long time.

A wicked smile crossed his face as he moved over to the large windows overlooking the back lawn. The clouds were doing their usual best to filter out all of the sun’s rays. As one slipped past, he caught a glimpse of the sun directly overhead. Enda should have reached Lord Nolan’s office by now
, and had a nice enlightening conversation. It was time for him to make his move.

Reports began coming into the hospital complex
, detailing how the Nayrian Prime Minister had been captured and subjected to torture. His death was confirmed when the Nayrian Capital of Cotreal was liberated. A free Nayr mourned the loss of their leader and his family, as horrendous reports emerged of the beating and rape of his wife, Malia. Rumors also surfaced that she was forced to watch her husband’s fingers, toes, and then limbs being removed, one by one.

When the Lon Tesseans intelligence brought her to Lysette, Malia was in shock. Calling one of the elder Empaths to assist her, Lysette proceeded to cleanse her wounds
, as the healer named Chelsa soothed her. At the Empaths touch, Malia’s hysteria lessened to quiet sobs. She began to speak, continuing to tell her story over and over again until she fell asleep exhausted. Lysette struggled to hold her composure as the woman went into great detail of her rape, and her husband’s tortured death. She described how Commander Connor had smiled at her husband, who was near death from blood loss. The commander fired a crossbow at close range sending a bolt through her husband's skull, claiming he was being merciful.

Lysette was horrified as her thoughts went to Katar. Connor must hate him.  What if he
was captured? Connor would certainly enjoy torturing him. There had been so many rumors of the captured Alliance being tortured. Of all the bodies found, the Treborelan soldiers were always mutilated beyond recognition.

If it wasn’t for the
My Beloveds
, that Katar had sent her only yesterday, Lysette was sure she would not have been able to function. He was a Prince, a Commander in the Royal Air Force. She knew Katar and Connor had come to blows. There was hatred in Katars face when he spoke of Connor.

‘Please, oh please don’t let him be captured. Lysette pleaded with the Holy
One as she watched Chelsa heal the last of Malia’s wounds. The exhausted woman was taken to a private room and placed into a healing sleep.   Acknowledging the change of shift, Lysette retrieved her messages before heading to her quarters. She suspected that someone was trying to get into her good graces by not assigning her a roommate. Once again, her ties to her uncle seemed to gain her another unwanted admirer. She was slightly annoyed at the preferential treatment, yet pleased that she had privacy.

Glancing down at the scribbled writing, she could just make out another message from Roth. He hadn’t given up trying to convince her he had forgone all other women. She was tired of his efforts and had told him as much. The effect of
her honesty had given her nearly two weeks of silence from him. She was grateful for the repose.

The other message was from Joah. He and his grandson, Andru had arrived a few days after she. Lysette had been spending a great deal of time with Joah, Andru, Kendra and Chelsa. Empathic healing was an immense curiosity to Lysette. She was grateful to the healers for teaching her the basic philosophy of their art. Since Andru had just completed his training, the young brown haired
Empath was subject to many lectures on the
strength’s
application. Joah allowed Lysette to observe these lessons.

Fascinated by the
strength’s
ability to deal with serious injuries; Lysette was astounded when she found that most healers simply let the
strength
flow from them unrestrained. Once joined to a patient the power worked as it willed. Only in cases of small children was the
strength
held in check. It has to be used slowly, and at intervals, so the children would not be overwhelmed by its force.  Even if the injuries were severe, the healer had to hold back. As a result, the art of healing children was left to only the most skilled.  

Only those who had absolute control over their
strength
could hold the massive force back. It was here that she learned of the draining of the healers, and patient’s physical strength. The only treatment for this loss was sleep and nourishment. It was Joah and Andru’s decision to join the latest medical unit that was going inside the Bantorian Border, which prompted Lysette to volunteer. Joah wanted to be closer to the Treborelan units flying missions into western Bantor.  Andru naturally followed wherever his mentor went.

Each elder Empath
took a young inexperienced healer as an apprentice. They were tutored until confident enough to continue on their own. The stout and very vocal Chelsa, also volunteered for the unit bringing Kendra with her. The Empaths were not just colleagues to Lysette, she had grown close to each of them, and treasured the time they spent together. Their honest, simple approach to the situation and ever-positive attitude was refreshing, and kept her ever optimistic. She was overjoyed at the chance to spend more time learning from her empathic friends. Being closer to Katar was a heavenly bonus. Each time they managed some time together, he would insist on hearing all about what she had learned from the Empaths. The information she had gathered over the last six months would have taken years in a research lab.

The horizon grew dark as the wind blew a storm in from the sea
, giving the growing darkness a moonless night. Cap moved his helijet into position beside Katar as they flew in low, scanning for the renegade Bantorian Helijet that had been attacking the supply caravans. The laser cannon commander at Sondral had reported downing the large craft, just outside the city limits.

Picking up a large form on his scanners
, Cap signaled he was veering east to investigate. Katar began to circle for a southern approach, as the third craft circled to the west. On arrival, Cap hovered directly above the silent ship. The huge helijet had been crippled, but apparently landed intact. Partially obscured by a dense patch of trees in the nearly black night, Cap was unable to discern whether the crew was still aboard. Using his external speakers, he called for their surrender as Katar and the third craft arrived. Lowering closer to the ground to get a better view, Caps co-pilot James activated the secondary scanners, expecting to find heat images of the survivors. Instead he discovered several large heat sources pulsating underneath the ship’s hull.

“Bomb!”
Janes shouted over the Comm, a split second before the fire burst forth from below. Cap and the others tried frantically to avoid the blast as the main bulk of the cruiser exploded beneath them, showering Caps helijet with metal fragments. Cap tried desperately to rise above the flames, but the craft was not responding. As the helijet was engulfed in flames, Cap glanced over at Janes silent form, then there was only darkness.

Katar watched in horror as Caps helijet sank slowly into the trees. He prayed the jet was still intact as the flames danced over its exterior. Katar knew the solar gems would absorb the heat and keep Cap and Janes from being roasted alive, if they weren’t already gone.

Turning his attention back to the laser cannons hidden in the trees, Katar called for reinforcements as he and the third helijet viciously showered the trees with laser fire. Suddenly the cannons fired and the third helijet exploded, crashing into the trees to the left of Caps ship. It seemed like an eternity before help arrived. Caps ship never left Katars field of vision. The small forest was quickly turned into a pile of ash, but the cannons kept firing.

As the other helijets continued the assault, Katar went in after Cap and his co-pilot. He landed on the opposite side of the destroyed Renegade ship
, and leapt from his craft into the darkness, determined to reach his friend. The sky around Katar flashed with blasts from the battle as he neared the wreckage. One glance at Janes through the broken windshield and Katar knew he was dead. His lifeless stare and the huge hole in his skull left no doubt. The charred and blackened exterior allowed no glimpse of Cap. Katar kicked open the small side door and climbed into the mutilated helijet.

He found Cap unconscious and covered with blood. His neck and chest had been torn open, yet he
was somehow still breathing. Katar whispered to his friend, “Just hang on a little longer, Cap.” He lifted Cap onto his shoulder and rushed back to his helijet. Katar’s co-pilot lifted the craft off the ground as soon as Katar jumped inside. Katar applied pressure to Cap’s wounds, as the small craft headed toward the nearest field hospital. “Don’t die, buddy.” Katar said through clenched teeth as a cold fear gripped him deep inside.

The regent announced the fall of Sondral,
Bantor’s second largest city. The smaller industrial city of Tor was expected to surrender within the next twenty-four hours. Lysette sat back smiling, this left only Ergos. Then the conflict would be over. There had already been rumors of King William and Queen Elisabeth’s escape by sea to Latria. Glancing out the window of the large transport helijet, Lysette could see the warehouse below as they started their descent. This was to be her new home. The main warehouse contained the field hospital. There were several smaller buildings hidden in the small forest beside the complex. These contained the main office and officers' quarters. That was where they were to report.

Lysette’s small room was in a temporary shelter, constructed under the canopy of trees next to the officers' quarters. The second building was still under construction. Her room consisted of two tiny dressers, a set of twin beds
, and a small chair, next to an equally small window.

Everything except the bedspreads
had been painted a dull, dark brown.  Ignoring the small room, Lysette dressed into her surgical gear and headed to the hospital. She was eager to get acquainted with the staff. Pleased to find the surgeons and healers had already established the same method of approach as her last assignment, she began working with the Bantorian soldiers that were being brought in from Sondral.

The remainder of the day Lysette spent in surgery. Andru assisted her for the first time on his own. His dark eyes sparkled as he healed the patients, managing to entertain Lysette with his casual wit as he worked. He was several years younger than she
was. Yet if it wasn’t for Katar, Lysette knew she could easily fall for the handsome Empath. Instead, she had been content to form a close friendship, even though Andru hinted several times, he wanted more.

As their shift ended,
so did the influx of casualties. Andru walked Lysette back to her quarters through the cold windy darkness. They clutched at their jackets, trying to keep warm as the wind grew stronger and it started to rain in sheets around them. They reached the door of the temporary shelter, as a loud commotion came from the landing area beside the warehouse. Andru and Lysette rushed around to the side of the building, to watch as a small Treborelan helijet was attempting to land. The fierce winds were shoving it toward the trees.  After several failed attempts, it crashed to the ground at the base of the trees.  The howling winds covered the sounds of crushed metal, and aided in extinguishing the fire that attempted to engulf the jet.

Soldiers and medics ran to evacuate the small craft, fearing they would find only bodies. Andru and Lysette rushed forward. Lysette recognized Cap as he
was lifted from the wreckage bleeding. Lysette’s heart pounded as she searched for the pilot. A voice cried out from the other side of the craft that the pilot was dead. Her heart stopped as she felt panic rise within her.

She didn’t see the hand that reached out of the wreckage until it touched her.  She jumped toward the opening and pulled. Katar
’s startled smile greeted her as he said, “Lysette!” His amazement showed in his voice. Then he caught a glimpse of Cap behind her. “Is he still alive?” He asked grimly. “His neck and chest are ripped clean open, I tried to stop the bleeding . . .”

Andru had his hands on Cap
’s throat as they neared, glancing up he spoke to Katar.  “I’ve stopped the bleeding but he has several fragments embedded in his neck and his larynx is crushed. The swelling is cutting off his air supply.”

Katar would not leave Cap
’s side. At Lysette’s insistence, he was allowed to watch the surgery through a window in the operating room door. As Katar watched, Kendra appeared by his side and began to examine him, healing his minor wounds. “Kendra?  I thought you were at the institute?” He said, distracted by the familiar face.

“I was, but when the conflict began
, I came with the others to help.” She answered with a smile, as she took hold of his bleeding arm and healed it with her touch.

Glancing through the small window at Cap’s still form, Katar remembered Bosen and said, “How did Bosen weather the trip back to Borel?”

“He complained the entire distance, but he’s fine. Tia is organizing a new Empath group. You will never have to go on another hunt without a healer.”  She winked at him, knowing his preference.

“I should have known.” Katar smiled back at her.

“Your arm seems to be the worst of your injuries, besides a few bruises.  You’re lucky not to be in there with your co-pilot.” She said as she released his arm, peering through the small window.

“Kendra that
is not my co-pilot,” Katar studied her, and then added gently, “It’s Cap.”

Kendra’s head snapped back to look at him. Trying to hide the fear that welled up inside, she gazed back through the window and calmly said, “Excuse me.” She pushed through the door and went to the operating table.