The Fight for Peace (20 page)

Chapter 23

THE LADY GREY

NARROW MARGIN

When Arinna opened her eyes it was to see Derrick sitting with his head in his hands. “How long have I been out?” she asked, voice coming out as a rasp.

He jumped, looking at her as if to confirm he hadn’t been dreaming. “Three days,” he said, moving to her bedside from where he sat against the wall.

“Oh, that isn’t too bad. The way you look I thought it had been a month.”

Derrick’s eyes sparked with tears, though he huffed a quiet laugh. “How do you feel?” He asked taking her hand.

“Really well, actually.” Arinna laughed at Derrick’s doubtful expression, wincing when it pulled at the wound in her gut. “Considering I didn’t think I’d be alive,” she added.

“Yeah, we were all pretty worried about that too.”

The anxiousness in his dark blue eyes made Arinna bite her lip. “How bad was it? Is it, I guess is more correct.”

“Stab wound, not bad really. Didn’t hit anything major other than your common iliac artery. You nearly bled to death before they got you to the hospital. But Jared flies like a maniac, even when the dactyls have gone wonky with no GPS to guide them.”

Affection laced with new worry. “No GPS?”

“I’ll let Captain Vries make the decision on filling you in. I should go tell him you are awake.”

“No,” Arinna said, reaching to capture his hand as Derrick stood. He sat again, enfolding her hands in his and her momentary anxiety faded. “He’ll figure it out eventually. Besides, if I see him I’ll just yell that he didn’t leave me behind when I told him too. And ... I’m really happy to see you.”

Derrick kissed her hand. “I’m happy to see you awake. Wasn’t sure you were going to come out of where you were.”

“I was dreaming of Michael actually. Of when he and I dated. We used to camp in the Outlands.” Derrick nodded, swallowing hard as he glanced away. The strength with which he held her hand slackened. Arinna’s heart ached worse than the wound in her side. She tried to explain. “I knew it wasn’t real, at least it wasn’t who I am now. It isn’t where I want to be. That is when I woke up. I’m so glad I did.”

“Everyone will be. We have a war to win and no one really felt like tackling it without you.”

Arinna snorted. “There is that too, but it isn’t what I mean. I ...”

Now that she had the opportunity to say what she’d so recently thought she never would, the words choked in her throat. The irony of it made her laugh even as a tear slipped down her cheek. Derrick dried it with his thumb. She placed her hand over his to keep him from moving away.

“I love you,” she said. “I wanted to get a chance to say it once.”

Derrick blinked the surprise from his face. “I wouldn’t mind if you said it more than once.”

Arinna panted a laugh, flinching at the pain.

“I’m sorry,” Derrick said, still smiling. “I shouldn’t have made you laugh. I just ... didn’t expect. Oh hell.”

He leaned forward and kissed her, gently to start but the fire that always sparked between them brought more passion by the end. He ended the kiss first, but didn’t pull away, kissing her forehead before holding her close. At least as close as he could despite the hospital bed and far too many tubes and wires.

“Marry me.”

“What?” Arinna asked, too surprised to be anything other than startled.

Derrick laughed. “Truly I meant to say ‘I love you,’ but I mean it.” He moved back enough to look into her eyes. “This isn’t the most romantic place for a proposal, but marry me. I know it will be after the war, and I will wait. I just need to know if you will.”

Arinna touched his face where unshaven scruff roughened his cheeks. As unexpected as the question was, she knew the answer. “Yes.”

This time she had to end the kiss first as her body protested the movement.

“Congratulations.”

Arinna glanced up to see Jared leaning against the door frame, a grin on his face. She held out a hand and he unfolded himself to walk to the other side of her bed, shaking Derrick’s hand as he sat down.

“I don’t think you should wait though,” Jared said. “You should elope.”

“Even ignoring the rule about marriage in the Guard,” Arinna began.

“Which has precedence about being ignored in the past,” Jared interrupted.

Arinna rolled her eyes. “You are suggesting elopement even though I made you have a grand wedding?”

“I wanted the big wedding, but don’t tell Maureen that, and don’t ever repeat it outside of this room,” Jared warned. Derrick laughed.

“I’m not saying I don’t like the idea,” Arinna said, gaze falling on Derrick. He kissed her hand again, warmth rushing through her. They were engaged. She was alive. “But there are several hurdles.”

“I think one of you should be able to convince the Prime Minister to nix the no marriage rule, assuming that is one of your concerns. So you can make this official and not be completely rebellious against the current government that you are trying to support. I’d hate to see both of you tossed in jail ... if this is a jailable offense?”

“Don’t give Byran any ideas,” Derrick said. “He might like that one as a way of keeping us out of battle.”

“Besides that, Lieutenant Eldridge can be under my command, not yours. If we do that and you are married ... it circumvents a lot of issues.”

Doubts around the perceptions of marrying Derrick writhed in her chest. Then Arinna realized she didn’t care. “Sounds reasonable to me. Assuming you are ready for this sooner than later?”

“I’ll talk to Byran this afternoon. I’ll bring it up right after I tell him you are awake and doing well. He’ll pretty much approve anything at that point, I think,” Derrick said. The light in his eyes was all the assurance she needed.

“So what is this about flying without GPS?” Arinna asked Jared.

He gave her a cat’s grin. “You are on leave, medical leave I might add. So no, I’m not telling you a thing until you are cleared for work. Don’t even look at me that way. I saved your life. You owe me.”

“Hah. I think you owe me. We’d both still be there if I hadn’t stumbled out ... even if you were nearly carrying me by the end.”

Jared snorted, shaking his head. “I don’t care how you play it, I’m not telling you anything. Nor are you,” he added to Derrick. “And that IS an order. No spousal privileges on information.”

It was Jared’s insistence that she not be told anything that really spurred Arinna’s recovery. What fueled it was the happiness of being with Derrick. Derrick was right. The worst of her injury had been blood loss. If the sword strike hadn’t nicked her artery, Arinna would have had a very nasty puncture. So considering the blood transfusions while she was unconscious, there wasn’t much more a doctor could do other than keep her for observations. After a few days of that, the boredom of it had Arinna demanding release.

“He said limited duty,” Jared said when he met her at the hospital.

“Bullshit. He said I shouldn’t pick up anything heavy and might need to work half days for a bit. We have a friggen war to fight. At least I think we do. You won’t tell me what is going on, nor will Byran. Perhaps if you had told me something, I might still be in bedrest.”

“I doubt that,” Jared drawled, refusing to help her stand. Not that she would have accepted it.

Walking did hurt, each step sending an ache through her core. She wouldn’t tell Jared that either. Instead, Arinna pushed herself to her feet and leaned heavily on a cane.

“Wasn’t there a time that they wheeled you to the front door?” Arinna asked, feeling peevish from the pain even if she didn’t want to admit to it.

“I made a deal with your doctor. If you can’t walk to the door, you can’t go home yet,” Jared said ambling alongside to match her slow pace.

She paused in the hallway, glaring at him. “I hate you sometimes,” she said, continuing on. “Just tell me I don’t have to ride a horse to base. You aren’t that cruel.”

“You’ll see when, if, you make it to the front door.”

Arinna didn’t speak to Jared again on the fifteen minute shamble to the hospital exit. But she made it and she was relieved to find not only an enclosed carriage, but Derrick waiting as well.

“Protect me from him,” Arinna told Derrick, resting her head on his shoulder in the carriage. “Jared means to torture me, I think.”

Jared snorted, his green eyes holding more concern than he usually showed. “I’m worried about you is all. If you are not ready to come back, I don’t want you back.”

“I’m not ready for battle,” Arinna admitted. “But you will need my help to strategize. We are at war. Are we at war? Has the FLF attacked since the peace negotiations? You haven’t even told me that much.” Arinna took her hand from Derrick’s, crossing her arms and glaring at her Co-Captain.

Jared offered her a warm smile before it slid into his usual irritating one. He leaned into his carriage seat. “They haven’t attacked. In a way, what they’ve done is worse.”

To be completely infuriating, he said nothing more, swearing it was a conversation best reserved for the security of Command. She didn’t think he could be so impossible.

“Base should be quiet. I know rumor of your return, and engagement, has gotten out, but we are on high alert. I ordered everyone to keep their post,” Jared told her as the carriage made the final turn toward Guard base.

“Of course, no one has ever disobeyed you before,” Arinna said in a mimic of Jared’s drawl. Both her and Jared’s gaze shifted toward Derrick.

“I’m hardly the only one!” Derrick protested. “You disobey each other more than anyone else. It hardly sets a good example.”

“That’s why I like him,” Jared said. “He talks back.”

Arinna did her best not to appear to need the cane as they walked the surprisingly crowded hallways of base. It seemed everyone suddenly had an errand to run, one that took them past Arinna, Jared, and Derrick as they made their way to Command. At the first salute and heartfelt welcome, Arinna nearly responded that the salute wasn’t appropriate. Her lack of status in the Guard had become that ingrained. Gratitude to Byran for his granting her a military rank at long last flooded her again. The salutes were hers.

By the time she made the Command Center, Arinna would happily have blamed the tears she fought on exhaustion or pain, but really they were from too many emotions. For once, most of them were good.

In Command, Kehm stood at attention, too overcome to speak. She hugged him, only then noticing Byran waited behind. Byran welcomed her in his arms, holding her close but letting her go before it became too long. He kissed her cheek as he released her. “Congratulations,” he whispered.

It was her turn to be at a loss for words to express her joy. All she could do was squeeze his hand. With welcomes done, Arinna was relieved to finally have a chance to sit, wincing as she eased herself down.

“Long walk?” Jared asked, standing with arms crossed as he looked at her from where he leaned against his desk.

“Are you going to send me back to the hospital if I say yes or just my room?” Arinna asked. Now that she was in Command, it would take rupturing her artery again to get her to leave without hearing what was occurring.

“I guess you can stay a bit,” Jared replied.

“That’s good. I really don’t feel like tackling the stairs to my room,” Arinna said easing sideways in the chair to take tension off her side. “So, flying without GPS? Or is there a better place to start?”

Kehm glanced at Jared before answering. “That is what the static we’d been experiencing over the comms and the blink-outs on the GPS when Captain Vries flew back from Argentina indicated. I don’t know if the FLF could intercept any data, but they managed to tamper with our access to the satellites. All link
s–
GPS, comms, imagery, are down.”

Arinna stared at Kehm before shifting her focus around the room. The somber faces told her this was no joke. “Down or the FLF has control?” she asked at last.

“We weren’t sure,” Jared admitted with a frown. “I gave the order to use the self destruct codes. The satellites are gone. So whatever the answer, we are blind. At least now we know the FLF are blind too.”

Arinna swore. “When did this happen? When our comm link went sporadic at the monastery?” Jared nodded. The timing yanked at her nerves. Derrick shifting next to her told Arinna why. “You would have been in the air then,” she said to him, heart thudding enough it made her lightheaded after her injury and blood loss.

“I was,” Derrick admitted. “Full throttle and crossing the Atlantic.” He took her hand, squeezing warmth back into her fingers. “Captain Vries insisted early on that I learn to fly the damn dactyls without computers like some archaic war bird from over a century ago. But he was right. It saved me. I flew home by reckoning and compass. The things are unwieldy without the satellite link, but I still had the computer for stabilizers.”

Arinna rested her head against Derrick’s side a moment, unable to respond. She flicked Jared a look filled with gratitude. A light flashed in his eyes as he offered a half smile in return.

“Everyone says I have a sixth sense at times, but I think you must have picked it up to give training on that,” she said to Jared, forcing the words through a constricted throat.