Page 11 of Salvation
Excellent question. Nick angled an expectant look at K’nil. The Anferthian ambassador’s mouth was a grim slash, and anger flashed in his black eyes, all of it directed toward Corvus. This topic was clearly a prickly issue between them. K’nil shook his head and turned a kinder gaze on Sakura.
“You, Disipula Yamata, are due to report to the Collegium of Healers to complete your training. Your mentor, Healer Bock, will be your sponsor.”
“Wait. What?” No way had he heard that right. “Dante’s her mentor. It’s his privilege to escort her to Matir and oversee her official registration.”
“I have been called away for a family emergency, Nick,” Dante cut in. “I entrust Disipula Yamata’s training to you during my absence.”
Nick turned his head to gape at his friend. Dante was an only child whose parents had both passed away years ago. The only family he had was distant cousins, and to the best of his knowledge, Dante wasn’t particularly close to any of them.
“My wife’s great-aunt is on her death bed,” Dante said.
Nick’s world wavered and he grasped the seat of his chair to keep from falling off. “Whoa. Wait. You have awife?” How had he missed that one? Correction, why hadn’t Dante ever told him?
Dante’s face contorted, his pained expression pierced Nick’s heart. There was a story here, and not a particularly good one, if he had to guess.
“Nick,” there was a warning note in Ora’s voice, “now’s not the time.”
Fine, but there would be a “time”, and he would get answers.
A very large, warm hand pressed down gently on his shoulder, and he lifted his gaze to meet the Anferthian ambassador’s.
“In this great universe, there are many mysteries, Nicholaus of Terr,” K’nil said kindly. “What has happened at the sanctuary cannot be undone, but there is one thing I do know. My people are dying, and I need your help to save them.”
K’nil’s people. K’rona’s people. Nick frowned. He was being asked go to another planet and use his Gift to heal the sick there. A Gift he’d never wanted, and detested using. But, K’rona was one of his sister’s closest friends. If anything happened to her, it would tear Alex’s heart to pieces. Despite the current strain in their relationship, she was still his sister. And just the thought of being even remotely responsible for her pain was like a gut punch.
He sat back in his chair. Continuing to argue would be a pointless waste of time. This mission seemed to have been well thought out by those who’d summoned him here. The Anferthian dissenters had given more than their fair share, now it was his turn to give back.
He glanced at Sakura and she nodded. “It would make the Arruch very unhappy,” she said.
That it would. Smart girl knew exactly what to say to seal the deal. Anything he could do to make life even a little more difficult for the Arruch party was a win. “Good point.” The corner of his mouth twitched upward and she responded with a relieved smile. It lit her face, taking away all the rigidness that had been there from the moment they’d met yesterday. Nick dug his fingers into the seat of his chair again. If nothing else knocked his ass on the floor, her smile just might.
He cleared his throat and turned back to K’nil. “I guess you’d better fill us in on the details, Ambassador.” It appeared that, like it or not, the two of them would be working together for a while. God help the universe.
~*~
Sakura fidgeted in her chair. For one heart-stopping moment it seemed like Nick might refuse to help, even though the desperate Anferthians weren’t Arruch. The deep furrows between his brows and the tense set of his jaw had scared her enough to blurt out the first words she could think of to change his mind. His smirk was lost to her when that hint of acquiescence reached his brown eyes, a silent acknowledgement that she was right. Relief had washed through her. He had come to his senses without a confrontation, and that was all that mattered.
He was a frustrating man, difficult to figure out. So sure of his zero-tolerance of the Arruch, yet he seemed fond of K’rona. And according to town gossip, before he had run away from his responsibilities he had been close with Ambassador K’nil’s grandson, Fander. Had treated the boy as much a member of his family as his nieces and nephew. Not the actions of a man riddled with hate for an entire race. So his gripe really was not with Anferthians in general, only the Arruch, as he had told her. Just what would he do if an Arruch needed his help?
She turned her attention to Magister Dacian.
“Once you are safe within the Collegium,” Magister said, “you will be assignedtem altrous—your time of service. All disipulas bear this obligation at some point in their training. Given the advanced stage of your abilities, your abrupt assignment will not be unexpected. Your guide will be dressed as a Terrian silent healer. He will find you at the Collegium and see you safely to the Anferthian sanctuary.”
Of course, it made perfect sense. Matiran healers often worked with un-Gifted Terrians. The essence of the un-Gifted could be channeled by a healer to magnify their abilities, particularly in traumatic cases that required deep access to healing energy. It was a technique that had been discovered during the occupation by Magister Dacian and Alex Bock.
“Like a secret agent or something? Wait.” Nick held up one hand. “Don’t answer that, I don’t think I want to know. Idowant to make it clear how pissed off I am that this situation has gone unattended for four months. Can we get that on some sort of official record? And where are the dissenters being kept, anyway?”
It was an appalling situation, even though the reasons behind the committee’s decision made some sort of sense. Protecting the dissenters from discovery over so many months had to be trying, a terrible burden for all of them. Sakura’s gaze was drawn to K’rona’s grim viscomm image on the wall. So much time wasted, so many lives lost.
“The sanctuary is in the Southern Hemisphere of Matir,” Administrator Corvus said.
A gasp passed her lips before she could stop it. Nick’s eyes looked about ready to bulge out of his head. “You hid them in theSouthern Hemisphere? It’s frickin’ freezing there.”
“Not all the time, Nicholaus,” K’rona said. “We have four months of beautiful summer weather. And a lake. Now is the best time to come for a swim, before the snows come back in about a month.”
“Sounds just lovely.” Nick’s dry tone gave the opposite meaning to his words.
Sakura met Administer Corvus’s lavender gaze. “I agree with Healer Bock. Please note my objection too.” She turned to her magister. “I left all my winter clothes in Japan with my friend, Yukiko.”
