Divine Charity

Chapter Fourteen: Withheld

Fiadn was sick to his stomach. He was once immune to such things. Ah, but in those days, he fought against known enemies who meant his people harm and destruction. Not confused and frightened women; not modirz.

He entered his grant and went directly to the hygiene chamber, needing to cleanse the recent events from him, though it mattered not. While Fiadn learned all he needed, he much doubted the screams of madam Lena would ever leave his conscience. She was a strong woman of both mind and body. There was no doubt her father was Kasdeja, but she did not carry the curse of such evil. Though her lies were finally brought to light, Fiadn felt the weight of his wrongs.

Lena was a good woman, with a warrior's heart, and a lifetime spent learning to survive insurmountable odds. He thought perhaps, in his newfound respect for the tiny woman, he lost an important ally. She would never forgive him. She would forgive none of them after what he put her through.

Chimes alerted him to someone at his door. He was still putting on his uniform when he motioned towards the sensor for the door to open. Kiara walked into his room without waiting for an invitation and jolted him into stunned silence when she swung around and slapped him, uncaring of the danger she put herself in. "You're an evil man, Fiadn. How could you do that to her?"

Fiadn passed a tired hand over the back of his neck. "We both have our duties, Kiara."

"She's a mother! How could you?" There were tears in the woman's eyes.

Fiadn slumped and ducked his head. "Under Avem's care, she will mend."

Kiara's anger caused her skin to flush a deep green. "Her body will heal, but what of her mind, her spirit? How can she ever trust us? You've doomed her to a lifetime of hating her own care-takers. How can we ever be her family if she hates the sight of us?"

The big man sighed and sat on a lounger. "My actions do not sit well with me, either. Though 'twas a necessary evil. We needed to ensure she was not luring Kasdeja to our ship. We have avoided him for so long. We have peace, prosperity and nary a despair. We had to be sure."

Kiara looked at him with sad eyes. "She won't let Avem reverse the Narcolumens. Her body will no longer rest naturally because they gave her too many doses. Without rest, she can't heal. Without our help, can't rest. Lena won't let me or Pnina near her. She threatened my life, and Avem's. In her state, I believe her words. She's caught in a cycle and the pain she suffers is altering her ability to think clearly. What can we do to ease her pain now?"

***

Khamuel brooded into the cup of oldrikke as he took in Fiadn's words. "She has known this whole time who her father is?"

Fiadn paced. "Aye. He went to her often in secret, yet she rejected him. She knew him to be a danger. Before she became an adolescent, she was saved, though blessedly little this did for her. Even then, she suffered at the hands of others. Lena has neither seen nor heard from her father since long before adulthood."

Khamuel swirled his cup. "So ... innocent ... yet not innocent. Ever the puzzle, that woman." He turned hard eyes on Fiadn. "Yet, her eyes turn black. Her father's curse plagues her."

Fiadn was quick to disagree with Khamuel on this point. "Her eyes only changed when her bantlings were in danger, Kravan'n. She was afraid and fighting for survival."

Khamuel stared back at his untouched drink. "Aye, she is afraid, no doubt. Yet," he said stubbornly, "The empty blackness of her eyes is fed by the darkness within."

Fiadn refrained from comment. He worried for his master, who could not wholly douse his distrust of his own mate, and he worried for the woman who would find herself surrounded by contrivance.