“You were thrown some distance by the explosion, honey,” her father said gently. “They think you must have hit a pile of rocks because they found you twisted up between them. It’s very possible you hit your head.”
“Please.” She felt hope sinking in her chest, fearing they all might be right. “You have to believe me. You have to. I’m a Preor mate.”
“Darling,” her mother said, firmly. “You have to heal. If you don’t settle, you can’t get better.”
“I can’t heal while I’m suffering Knowing sickness,” she blurted. The quiet that followed only stirred her more. She looked around at her family, their faces the ones she loved and trusted above anyone in the world.
They have to believe me.
Father looked worried, almost pensive. Her mother was trying to be reassuring, and Jenny looked scared, really scared.
“It’s okay, sis. You’ll get through this,” Jenny said, softly.
“You don’t understand,” she insisted, gripping her mother’s hand tightly. “I saw him. I know I have a mate. Why won’t anyone believe me?”
“What’s happening in here?” a firm but gentle voice spoke from the doorway. Renay’s heart soared in hope when she saw the wings, but in the end, it was only Whelon. Her heart should have told her that, but the hope was too much to resist.
“It sounds like a patient of mine is getting unruly.” He smiled as he approached the bed, reaching out to touch her but withdrawing his hand at the last moment. Renay eyed him carefully and saw the flicker of anxiety on his face. She knew what it meant that males couldn’t touch her, and he knew she knew it.
“I have to be properly claimed before another male can touch me,” she whispered, almost as a challenge. He shook his head.
“We’ve gone over this, Renay. I’ve put out the word and no male has come to claim you. We have to accept that you are having a psychosomatic reaction. It’s unfortunate, but all we can do is wait for your brain to heal.”
She wasn’t ready to accept that. No way could that be true.
“What if he is waiting for my touch and neither of us can heal without the other’s presence?”
Whelon shifted uncomfortably at the question. “Of course, I thought of that, Renay,” he said, gently. “No Preor fell in the battle. All are accounted for. I knew the only thing that would keep a Preor from his mate was injury, but none are in evidence. Everyone is heading back to their posts.”
“But…” she groped for words, her chest empty. “I saw him. I know he was there, and he was mine… You know I couldn’t have imagined enough about the Knowing to have so much information about the Preor!”
“I know.” His soothing tone was becoming firm. “You mentioned that you didn’t go out of your way to research the Preor. You do know some very intimate things, I’ll grant you. But it is entirely possible you heard these things through some other means. It’s lived in your subconscious, and now it’s all coming out as a response to stress.”
“No!” She tugged on her mother’s hand. “I know what I saw. I know what I felt! I have a mate and he is out there!”
She tried to rise again, but her father kept his hands firmly on her. Whelon calmly began filling another syringe, and she paled at the thought that the more she insisted, the more they wouldn’t believe her.
“No,” Renay whimpered. “No. You have to let me go.”
“You need to heal,” Whelon said, calmly giving her the shot. He was so deft, he managed to do it without even brushing her skin. “You will be well, Renay. I promise you.”
Tears squeezed out from under her eyelids as she fell back on the bed. The sedative began to work immediately, filling the room with soft, pink clouds. She let herself relax into the pillow, calling into the mist.
“Shaa kouvi. My love and my heart. Find me. Find me.”
As it all filled in around her, she wondered why she had resisted this. Why not just let them keep her like this until her mate came? Because he was most certainly coming.
The fear went out of her as she stepped into her dreams. At least she knew she could find him here. It brought her some comfort, even though she knew she could not heal fully without him. Something would always be missing.
Chapter Nine
The next morning Tyff wondered if he had slept at all. A deep yearning inside him had him spinning like a top, as if something was trying to draw him into sleep as he resisted. He brushed it off as being concerned about conditions on the ship and headed to the main room, hoping to meet with the others.
Jarek and Taulan were there, talking quietly over cups of tea and a breakfast of bacon and egg rolls. To Tyff’s relief, no women or dragonlets were to be seen.
“Come and sit down, Tyff,” Taulan said. “Jarek’s told me about your talk last night, and I agree. Something needs to be done. I admit I have neglected my role as war master. With no battles to fight, I really didn’t think keeping up discipline was important.”
He looked so down that Tyff said nothing, only nodding as he sat at the table and took some breakfast for himself. Jarek had a piece of paper in front of him and he looked down to study it with a kind of focus Tyff found surprising. It was clear Jarek was having anxiety and the idea was so disturbing Tyff had to bite his tongue to avoid commenting.
“Now that Radoo has permanently left, we need to do something, fast,” Jarek said. “I’ve called the others and they should be here soon.” He sighed, looking up at Taulan and Tyff with sorrowful eyes.
“We want to stay here with our mates. I spoke with Vende this morning and Dawn needs to stay there to work in the garden. She is pregnant but only in her first weeks now, and Vende believes she is fine to keep working. However, he won’t leave her side. He is content to work as a mentor, but he can’t give his full attention to the job of engineering master.”
Tyff nodded, expecting this. “How are things up there, Jarek?”
“Not bad,” he admitted. “But not great. Preor have been leaving the ship to work down here. It’s pretty obvious that finding a mate is more important to them than rank. Amryn, Kyrin, Triem and Choler are running the show up there. They have routines in place and the daily work is going well. Things still seem a bit scattered, though.”
“That’s an understatement,” Brukr shot from the doorway. “What we need is some real order around this place.” He hurried to the table and grabbed a bacon and egg biscuit, eating it greedily. “Excuse my manners, but I was up late with Hannah.”
“Is all well with her,” Taulan asked, concerned.
“Yes,” Brukr answered, “but with only three months to go, her body is feeling the strain. They’ve been doing everything they can, but...” He sighed. “It’s making for late nights.”
“And not the kind you hoped for, eh?” Taulan had that sly look on his face, and Brukr smirked.
“You’ve got that right.”
“Do you have someone in charge of tower security?” Tyff asked, cutting in on the jokes. Brukr nodded.
“Ivoth and Argan are working with me in shifts. Lily is down to four months to go now and Ellie is spending a lot of time with Hannah because they both have around three months to go. We can handle the tower.”