Page 9 of I Married Amreth

“What does that mean? And why the sad face?” I asked, my stomach knotting with tension as another even more potent suspicion reared its head.

“You know why, Amreth,” he said in a dejected fashion.

I stared at him as his words sank in, the realization I refused to acknowledge forcing itself on me.

“No way. You can’t be implying what I think you are,” I said, unconsciously shaking my head.

“Yes, Amreth. I am indeed implying what you think. Ciaraisyour soulmate.”

“That’s impossible!” I exclaimed.

“It’s undeniable. I met her the night of the attack on the Gladius. I instantly recognized her soul as belonging with you. In fact, she and I had a long talk where I told her about you. We were supposed to pursue that conversation in the morning so that I could put the two of you in contact. But the raid occurred.”

“That was two fucking days ago!” I snapped, suddenly angry, my chest constricting at the thought that I might have lost my soulmate before I ever even got a chance to meet her. “Why are you only telling me now?”

Although visibly upset by my reaction, he forced a stoic expression on his face and responded with a controlled and reasonable voice.

“Because there were over twenty-six hundred passengers and crewmates on board. It took time to get all those people to safety and account for them all. I didn’t want to message you with some terrible news before knowing for certain what had become of her.”

“Where was she when the attack occurred?” I demanded, my mind still reeling.

“Ciara was with my mate and me.”

“And you left her behind?!” I shouted, shock, anger, and disbelief filling my voice.

This time, the Temern clenched his jaw, his silver eyes darkening with outrage, although their rim appeared to slightly glow as if from constraining some sort of psionic powers. Did he possess any?

“Absolutely not!” he snapped. “As soon as they opened the gathering hall’s doors, I flew her to the safest exit so that she could board one of the escape vessels. She should have been safely gone while I went to fight and assist other people in distress. But while I was fighting, she went to rescue someone who was hanging on for dear life to one of the railings of the balcony. And unfortunately, both of them fell down.”

“SHE DIED!” I shouted, jumping to my feet, horror clawing at my heart.

“No!” Kayog exclaimed, raising his palms in an appeasing gesture. “She did not die from the fall. The attackers caught her and the Darwandir female she had been attempting to rescue. They released the Darwandir but kept Ciara.”

I ran a shaky, nervous hand through my long, silver-white hair while dropping back down onto my chair. Relief and worry twisted my insides.

“But why? What do they want from her?”

“I don’t know, Amreth,” Kayog said with discouragement. “The security videos showed her being carried away like the other nine who have been recovered.”

“So there’s a chance they might return her as well?” I asked with a sliver of hope, instantly crushed by his defeated expression.

“Everything is possible, my friend, but it is highly doubtful. If they intended to release her, why not do it at the same time as the other nine?”

Obviously, that thought had entered my mind. I simply wanted to cling to any possibility that she could be safely returned to me. I examined the Temern with confusion while trying to sort out my conflicting emotions regarding this entire situation.

“Why bring this to me instead of to the Enforcers? Are they not setting up a rescue mission?” I asked.

His shoulders slouched, and he uneasily shifted his massive maroon wings. “Because there currently are no plans for the Enforcers to take on this mission. They do not handle cases where there are ‘only’ three civilians involved. Such a matter is left to the local Peacekeepers.”

“You and I both know they will be useless in that matter!” I said angrily. “Whatever happened to the UPO’s harsh new rules against piracy? Those kidnappers went after a top-of-the-line vessel on board which countless high-ranking officials had been present. And they walk away?”

“They’re not walking away from this entire incident,” Kayog amended in a soothing voice. “But their focus is on identifying the pirates as well as understanding the type of technology that was used to disable the vessel without actually damaging it. They also want to know why they left after Elias did.”

“So what you’re saying is that the missing people are not important enough to be worth the time of the Enforcers,” I hissed.

I was being unfair to the Temern by directing my anger at him. Nothing he said surprised me. Those were not only the standard procedures, but they also made sense. It would be illogical to send the elite law enforcement team to investigate every small case of missing people. Their skills would be more useful specifically tackling the issues they were currently going after. It didn’t make it any easier knowing that the people entrusted with rescuing my soulmate possessed far less resources and talent.

Thankfully, Kayog seemed to read my remorse for snapping at him on whatever expression my face displayed. He gave me yet another apologetic smile laced with understanding.

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