Page 8 of I Married Amreth

“Greetings, Kayog,” I said carefully. “It is a pleasure to see you, as always.”

“As it is to see you,” Kayog replied, in an oddly tired voice.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, this time my worry audible in my voice.

He heaved a sigh and rubbed the side of his beak with an uneasy expression that threw all my senses into high alert. I had never seen him like this.

“The past two days have been quite stressful and disturbing,” Kayog said, as if choosing his words.

“How so?” I insisted, surprised by his somewhat evasive response.

From my experience with him, Kayog usually preferred the straightforward approach. What could possibly have him behaving in such an odd fashion?

“You may not be aware, but my mate and I were on board the Gladius,” he replied with a dejected expression.

My eyes widened in shock. “For the symposium?!” I exclaimed.

He nodded grimly. “Yes.”

“Tharmok take me! Are you okay? Is Linsea all right?!”

He nodded again and gave me a sad but reassuring smile. “Yes. We’re both fine. Thank you for your concern.”

I sighed with relief. “I’m glad to hear it. From what I saw in the news, many people were injured, but fortunately no deaths were reported.”

“That’s correct. Some people did suffer some serious injuries that they will thankfully fully recover from. But they all stemmed from the stampede of panicked people and not from the attack itself. What the authorities have not made public was that twelve people were taken during the attack.”

“What?! Who? And why?” I exclaimed, stunned that they would keep such a thing secret after more than forty-eight hours.

“Every single person kidnapped worked for the Interstellar Doctors Organization,” he answered calmly.

“Dr. Jacobs?!” I asked, my mind reeling at the revelation.

The Temern shook his head. “Jacobs was whisked away as soon as the attack began. He made it out safely.”

I narrowed my eyes, feeling instantly suspicious. “That’s odd. Why would they feel the need to takehimto safety? A lot of high-ranking officials attended the symposium. Were they also escorted out early?”

Kayog once more shook his head. The hard glint in his eyes—something I had never witnessed before—had the seed of suspicion further taking root.

“The missing doctors all had different specialties. However, yesterday, nine of those doctors were returned,” he continued.

“Returned?!” I echoed, utterly baffled. “In exchange for what?”

“In exchange for nothing. They were placed inside escape pods that were launched onto the moon Delta 5. A beacon was activated and now we’re after their landing informing us of their location so that we could rescue them.

“The abductors wanted enough time to leave,” I said with instant understanding, as Kayog nodded. “It is very good news, although a strange one. You would expect abductors to either ask for a ransom or to kill prisoners deemed useless. That said, why are you telling me this?”

“Because of the three people still missing, one of them is of great importance to you,” the Temern replied, the oddest expression of guilt, sadness, and commiseration on his face throwing me for a loop.

“To me?” I repeated, confused. “In what way? Who is it?”

“Her name is Ciara Stark. She’s a forty-one-year-old human. Like the others, she works for the Interstellar Doctors Organization with a specialty in epidemiology. She’s been with them for over fourteen years now,” Kayog explained before displaying an image of her.

My heart skipped a beat upon seeing the stunning female. For half a second, I almost thought she was an Obosian. She had dark brown skin and pure white hair. An organically V-shaped white spot on her forehead almost looked like a silver circlet. However, I suspected it was the result of piebaldism, which would explain the unusual color of her hair for someone of her ethnicity. Obviously, she lacked the horns, pointy ears, and bat wings of my people, but that took nothing away from just how breathtaking she was.

“She’s stunning,” I blurted out.

“I’m not surprised you would say that,” he replied with that same sympathetic expression, making me frown.

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