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“If you’re determined to go through with this, I have a friend who is leaving port today. But it won’t be cheap, especially if you expect him to keep you hidden. He says that all transports and vessels, even cargo vessels, leaving Cruestace are checked by the palace warriors before they can even seal their doors and power their thrusters.”

“I’m not surprised. But, if he can help me get away from Cruestace it will at least be a start. I will pay him.”

“He’s making deliveries to several of the ports. You can travel with him as long as you care to, but the longer you travel, the more expensive it will be because the greater the chance he’s taking.”

“I understand. I’m okay with that.”

He grimaced at her, clearly unhappy with her decision to move forward with her plans. “I’ll be right back,” he said as he went to the back of his stall and reached into the pocket of a heavy canvas apron he had thrown over a chair. He came back to her and held out his hand. “Here, take it.”

“What is it?” she asked, extending her own hand to accept whatever it was he was trying to hand her.

An’ Der placed a heavy metal object in her hand, then shoved both his hands into his pockets.

She gasped when she saw what she was holding. “I can’t take this!”

“You can, and you will. It’s merely a memento of another time to me, but it might save your life. Take it. Bring it back to me when you return.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever come back, but I’ll find a way to get it back to you — if all goes well.”

“Good enough.”

“What do we do now?” she asked.

“Wait for my friend to come tell me he’s ready and that his vessel has been searched so it’ll be safe to get you on board.”

Mirilla nodded and looked down at the very old Warrior’s dagger the old male had given her. At one time he’d been one of the Cruestaci military. As she watched him she thought to herself how funny it was that no one would ever expect him to be more than the old man who sold vegetables in the market, yet his entire life told another story. He’d been fierce, strong, respected just like the warriors in their military now. She watched him tending his customers, and thought for the second time since she’d made the decision to go in search of Mir’ Ahn that this was the right thing to do. The right people were being placed in her path to help her, and that couldn’t be just a coincidence.

~~~

Au’revele watched as the doctors removed Zahn from the healing chamber. He was still unconscious, but at least he wasn’t bleeding anymore, and his color was normal again. It didn’t make her feel any more secure about his recovery, though. He did not move, he gave no indication that he was even there inside his body.

“Are you sure he’s ready to be removed from the healing chamber?” she asked.

One of the nurses who was assisting the doctors smiled at her sadly. “The chamber has done all it can do. It’s up to him now. But he’s done much better than we expected. We thought he’d be in the chamber for longer than he was.”

“Maybe we should leave him in there for a while,” Au’revele said, watching him lying on the bed, completely vulnerable, giving no response at all as they poked and prodded him, trying to get a reflexive response out of him.

The nurse smiled at her once more, then went about hooking up the monitors to Zahn and covering him after the doctors left. When she had him completely situated, she paused in front of where Au’revele stood for just a second and squeezed her arm gently. “He’s hung on this long. I really believed he wouldn’t make it when they brought him in. It’ll take some time, but I really think he’ll be okay now.”

Au’revele nodded, and looked over at Zahn again. “I’ll be here, no matter how long it takes.”

“I’ll bring you some food to nibble on when we go for lunch later.”

“Thank you, but I don’t think I could eat anything.”

“You have to take care of yourself. If you’re weak, how will you care for your male when he’s released from here?”

Au’revele didn’t answer, she just kept looking at Zahn. She didn’t want to tell them, or anyone else that Zahn wasn’t actually her mate — they might make her leave. And she wasn’t leaving, so it just made it easier to allow them to think whatever they wanted.

“Tell you what, at least drink some juice. I’ll bring you some from the stock we keep here for the patients,” the nurse said.

“I’ll try.”

“I won’t be long,” the nurse promised.

After everyone was gone and the room was finally quiet, Au’revele slowly moved closer to Zahn’s bed. She looked down at him, lying there so still, then hesitantly reached out and touched him. She closed her eyes and breathed out a relieved sigh. He was warm. She eased herself into the chair at his bedside and scooted it closer. She watched his chest rise and fall for a full five minutes before she decided that it was safe to take her eyes off him long enough to rest for a few moments. Au'revele leaned forward, placing her forearms on the edge of Zahn’s hospital bed, then her forehead on her arms and closed her eyes. She’d beensitting beside the healing chamber he was in for almost 24 hours, and with the trauma of Alexandrus being attacked, her own bruises, and then not knowing if Zahn would make it, she was completely wrung out. “Just going to rest here for a few minutes,” she murmured.

~~~

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