Tempest Rise (revised edition 10/2013) (Treborel) (21 page)

Finding herself al
one with her thoughts for the first time in days, Lysette’s mind wandered back to the horror of the abduction. A tear ran down her cheek as she thought of her murdered friends. Each killed so easily, without hesitation. How could this all have happened? What had become of the two other surgeons that had been waiting at the rendezvous? What about all those injured children? Had there been someone else to step in and help them? She prayed there was.

How could they have known about the transport
’s arrival at the farmhouse?  Her mind sought for answers. Was there a traitor in the unit? Were there ever surgeons at the farmhouse? Was the distress call even real? None of it made any sense. There were surgeons in Ergos, why had William chose to kidnap a doctor he knew nothing about? The distress call had specifically asked for a pediatric surgeon. It was beginning to sound more and more like she and the others had been set up. But why? Why would he wait for hours, even possibly days for a surgeon to be kidnapped, instead of using a local doctor?

Could it be that King William was ashamed of his sons?
Perhaps he had hoped for a quick separation and no one knew the twins were attached. If that was true, then her medical team was expendable. Once the twins were separated and healthy they would carry his gratitude to their graves. Lysette chastised herself for being surprised at this new development. Of course, they were expendable. Hadn’t they feared for their lives at every moment since they had seen the flight crew so viciously murdered? People like these thought nothing of murder, and would kill them all without a second thought when their usefulness was done.

None of them would survive the ordeal unless Ergos
was taken and they were discovered. Before then, they had no protection, no hope. Why had she so foolishly ignored Katar’s warnings? Why had she thought that being a doctor kept her safe?

Katar had been right; she should have taken the pistol with her everywhere. 
At the thought of Katar, a different kind of anguish washed over her as she remembered Roth’s words. ‘Enda is pregnant.’ It echoed through her mind again and again. Katar was the last person she wanted to think about. Yet she knew it would be a battle to remove him from her thoughts. Moisture blurred her vision, as she fought back the same tears she’d held inside for what seemed like an eternity.

Enda’s seductive figure appeared before her. Lysette had no doubt that the Treborelan tramp could pleasure a man in ways she had never even discovered.  Pushing the thought from her mind, she reminded herself she had decided to wait until she could talk to Katar before making any decisions.

Still the thought of having to deal with that turmoil, and the constant threat of death from these terrorists was too much for her to handle. Pain washed through her as she made the decision to consider her relationship with Katar done and over with, until he could prove otherwise.

Until then, she would focus on the infants and keeping everyone alive until Ergos
was liberated. She prayed to the Holy One that it happened soon, very soon.

Later that evening
, two guards appeared with their evening meal. The Empaths stirred and rose from their cots. Andru, who had been sleeping on the floor next to Kendra rose and stretched painfully, then helped Kendra up. The guards ordered Lysette and Joah to accompany them into the Kings chambers. They were taken to the Queens bedside, where she still lay as before, unmoving. As the soldiers retreated into the darkness of the dimly lit room the King glanced up from his chair beside the bed and spoke softly, his face pale and drawn, “My wife has neither spoken nor risen from this bed since the birth of our sons. You will examine her.” His eyes locked on Lysette, ignoring Joah completely.

Sitting on the edge of the large bed in order to reach the silent woman, Lysette realized that she was awake and staring into the distance
, giving no sign of awareness. Removing the slender silver probe from her jacket pocket Lysette pressed it gently against the Queens chest. It began to hum slightly as the miniature panel along the side began registering information.

Finding her in satisfactory health
, Lysette examined the abdominal incision where the children had been removed. Then turning the probe over in her hands she activated a small light at the tip of the device, and shone it in the Queen’s eyes. Turning back to the King, she glanced at Joah and he stepped forward as she rose to speak softly to the King, “She has some congestion in her lungs due to confinement in her bed after surgery, it is not abnormal. There appears to be an emotional factor that I can only suppose is denial and shock from her son’s birth. I am not skilled in this area. I don’t know how to help her.”

Accepting her deductions without
comment, the King stared past her to Joah as the empath reached out to take the Queen’s hand saying, “There is no need to concern yourself, Lysette. I can feel her grief, she’s pulled it deep inside. It’s hidden from even herself. If you will allow me your majesty, I can show her how to return to herself and face the pain she so desperately wants to forget.”

With a wave of his
hand, he motioned Lysette away and allowed Joah to begin saying, “You will remove the memory of the birth defect from her mind.  Replace it with two separate infants that were merely ill at birth, but will soon be healed.”

Maintaining the same calm tone the King used
, Joah focused on him and said, “I cannot.”

Rising, the King lashed out and struck Joah in the face. Joah took the blow holding his head high and not making a sound. He rose to face the King and said softly, “I will not take her memory.”

   Lysette stepped toward them, as the King struck Joah again saying, “Your Highness, surely you realize that the truth cannot be hidden from the Queen.”

“Silence!”
William’s voice turned hard and threatening, his eyes still locked on Joah.

“You could push her past the edge of sanity. She is fighting to remain here with us. Any stress on her mind and you might lose her completely.”  Lysette wasn’t sure if what she said was completely accurate, all she knew as she had to stop the King from beating Joah. “She’s bound to see the infants before they are separated. You would
not like making her live that moment of shock and denial all over again.”

Joah spoke softly, soothingly to the confused monarch, “It would be best if I simply lightened the grief and pain
, to a level she could deal with. I can show her that the deformity was not her doing. Then she will be able to deal with the children. With your comfort and support, she will recover.”

“It has been very difficult for her.” William relaxed slightly
, rubbing his temples. “She tried so hard to ensure that the twins were healthy.”

“Yes, her earlier miscarriage caused great sorrow.” Joah added
, taking the King’s arm and settling him back in his chair. “The pain of that loss is still with her. She feels overwhelmed and frightened. I know you would gladly take all her pain and grief into yourself if you could. It is not possible. Removing it now would leave her mind weak and vulnerable to future harm. I can bring her back and make her strong, easing the pain. We all grow and learn from our pain and sorrow. It prepares us for what lies ahead. With this remark, Joah turned to Lysette with eyes that seemed to see inside her. “We all must learn how to defeat our pain and carry on, instead of hiding from it.”

As Joah spoke
, the Kings expression changed to calm sadness. Feeling his soothing words penetrate her, Lysette felt the tension leave her. It was an aspect of the empathic method she never knew existed. Once more, she watched with awe, captivated by this magical medicine. As she watched, the Kings hunched shoulders sagged as he fell into a deep sleep. Joah returned to the Queen, and placed his palm against her forehead as he sat down beside her.

At
first, there was no movement or sign of change. Then slowly the Queen began to breathe deeply. Suddenly she began to gasp. Hearing her stress, the King woke and reached her side as she began to scream. Bolting upright in her bed the Queens screamed her horror, “No! No! No! My beautiful babies!” Her shrieks brought the guards closer to the bed, and the King stood silently staring at his grieving wife. 

Needing to maintain contact, Joah moved his hand to the base of her skull and allowed her to scream out her denial. Beating him on the
chest, she fought off the demons that plagued her, consumed by the rage of her children’s birth defect.  Still Joah held her tightly in his grasp, taking the blows without consequence.  After what seemed like hours, Elsebeth collapsed exhausted back onto her pillow sobbing uncontrollably.

Through the
night, Elsebeth wept, as Joah spoke gentle words of comfort and understanding. William returned to his vigil in the high-backed chair as Lysette stood by and watched with awe. When the Queen finally fell asleep, Joah released her and stood saying, “She will need a rest now and another session tomorrow.”

William merely nodded
, and motioned for the guards to return them to the medical room. Lysette and Joah fell onto the cots and slept until the midday meal arrived. Upon awakening, Lysette found the Empaths in deep conversation.  She approached them and asked, “Is something wrong? Is one of the twins ill?”

“The King sent a message,” Andru answered grimly. “The infants are to be separated today, or we are all to be executed.”

“Today? They aren’t ready!” Lysette gasped, “They are still in their healing sleep.”

Kendra smiled sadly at Lysette, “Actually Arbus has come out of the sleep early. He shouldn’t have responded so quickly, it’s amazing.”

“How can that be? I thought it would take them each at least three days before they would regain consciousness?” Lysette went to the chair where Joah sat only then realizing he was feeding Arbus a small bottle of synthesized breast mild.

“Arbus is a special child.” Chelsa came up beside her and smiled sweetly down at the infant. “His life force is exceptionally strong.”

“How can that be?” Lysette studied the contented child as he nursed quietly.

“He has Treborelan blood.” Joah answered casually, as if there could be no debate.

“Are you saying he’s an Empath?”

“Yes, someday I believe he will be a very strong one.” Joah said with a smile.

“What about Rey? Does he have a strong life force also?” Lysette was surprised it could be sensed in one so young.

“Not that I can tell. He is a strong child physically, but there is no sign of a stronger than normal force within him.” Placing Arbus in a slumped position, Joah patted him softly on the back. After quickly receiving a burp
, he placed the infant back in the crib to sleep.

Lysette turned her attention on Andru
, taking him aside to question him further saying, “Andru, how could two born and bred Bantorians give birth to an Empath? I know William comes from a long line of Bantorian Royalty. I’m not sure about Elsebeth, but she had to be a full blooded Bantorian for them to be allowed to marry.”

“Perhaps Queen Elsebeth has an ancestor from several generations back that hailed from Treborel.” Andru shrugged.

“So the emphatic power could skip a generation or two and simply reappear again?” Lysette said trying to understand.

“It’s a family trait. You can’t tell me that you don’t bare some resemblance to your grandmother or great grandfather?” Andru smiled and took Lysette’s hand
, leading her to a table of fruit that he had saved for her. They sat as he offered her an apple.

“I’m not sure; I guess I do, in some way or another.” Lysette recalled her grandmother having long blond hair and blue-green eyes. She had no memory of ever
being told of her great grandparents of Treborel.

“Of course there is another explanation.” Andru’s smile broadened mischievously, “She could have a secret lover?”

Glancing around nervously, Lysette couldn’t help the smile that crossed her lips. “You had better be careful with your comments. That one could end your life very quickly around here.”

Kendra and Chelsa came over to sit at the table with them
, a solemn look on their faces as Kendra once again brought up the one situation they had not yet addressed. “We have been discussing the separation. Chelsa and I believe it is too risky, even with Arbus’ special gift. We cannot allow them to force us into a situation that would more than likely kill the infants.”

Andru cautioned them saying, “The King is not asking our opinion or giving us an option. We have no choice.” He felt the fear rising in the two
Empaths, but he wasn’t going to pretend that they could simply say no.

“They will die Andru. “I can’t be a part of that.”  Kendra reached across the table and took his hand. “I know our vow binds us to saving life at all cost.
However, it was never intended to force us to throw away our lives. I would gladly give my life for one of these children if it was truly called for, but this is nothing short of suicide. With time and patience, they can be separated safely, with no more risk than necessary. I’m not going to give my life to save a Kings vanity.” Kendra’s voice broke as tears filled her eyes. “This is murder.”

Chelsa motioned for Joah to join them as she voiced her concerns saying, “We all realize King William is more concerned with the separation than the children.  I have watched him when he enters to check on our progress. Only once have I heard him call Arbus by name. Yet he refers to Rey without hesitation. He would ha
ve let the small one die, if Lysette and Joah had not intervened. His efforts to rid himself of the deformity as he sees it, have exceeded his love of his sons. He believes that until they are separated, they are not worthy of him or his crown.” Chelsa faced Andru and spoke her last words softly, cautiously, “I believe he would rather have two dead, separate sons than to leave them as they are. I insist we refuse. He can’t kill us all without endangering his sons, and he has no one else who could perform this operation even at a later date. We are not helpless in this.”