New Beginning, Bound And Chained 2
By: V. L. Marquette
Lightly edited by: Ravyn
(Authors Note) This is a work of fiction, nothing more. Any resemblance
to anyone, alive or dead is purely coincidental. But, honestly folks, this
takes place on another planet. So this little warning is kind of silly don't ya
think?
*****WARNING***** (NO ONE, AND I DO MEAN NO ONE.) Under the age of 18,
or who lives in an area that this sort of material is illegal, should not read
any farther.
CHAPTER 6
All the children had been seen to, in Kaj's house. It took a little
calming, and soothing words, but eventually they all were fed, bathed and tucked
in a warm bed.
There were other wagons coming, but they would have the adult refugees
and none of the children. Including one, that was held under a heavy guard,
because in it was the monster that started all of this horror. Kaj and Caytin
both agreed that they would let the priestesses see to him first. Allow him to
spend a few weeks living through the hell he had inflicted on so many in his
head, before she allowed Caytin to see to his death. Caytin could not decide
what he would do to the man. If he came from the Temple with his sanity still
intact there were so many options.
"Let it rest for now, love." Kaj could only imagine the pain and grief
that her consort was suffering. Bad enough that they had collected so many for
their home and city because of this monster, but Caytin still believed himself
to blame for Finna's fate.
Caytin, who lay by her on the bed, rolled over on his side to look down
at her. "One night, Kaj, please. Give me one night with this creature. I am
worried that once the Temple finishes with him, he will not be able to
appreciate anything I do to him. But give me one night, Let me and the men of
my house see to it that he knows our hate, and vengeance. Let him see and know
that Drav and his brothers still live and are secure here. I would say let him
see Mysti still lives, but I am not sure that I want my child to see the monster
that was the living embodiment of her nightmares for so long."
Kaj lifted a hand, to stroke his cheek. "You're not going to let it go
are you? It's not enough that the Temple will see to it that he suffers more in
the time with them, than you or any man could ever hope to make him suffer."
Caytin looked down at her. "No, Kaj, I will not let it go. Be as angry
with me as you will. Punish me if you feel you must. But I want that creature.
If only for one night, I want him and I want him before he can no longer know
what pain is. The man that murdered my son is forever gone from me, as long as
he is still fertile and alive to produce seed. It isn't the same, knowing that
every breath he takes is agony now. But this, thing, he was the one that
started this pain. If he had not done what he did, the Merican's would not have
felt the need to raid our house, and my son would be alive."
Kaj nodded. "Yes love, but we would still be dying. I have to hold to
the knowledge that Remmy's death was for a purpose. If I don't, then the pain
would still cut at me. My belief that his death was the cost for our second
chance, is all that is keeping me from dying inside."
"Please, Kaj, Mistress, I am not too proud to beg if I must." Caytin
took her hand into his. "Just one night. And I will ask nothing else from you.
Too many of my men deserve this."
Kaj nodded. Looked at where Fain and Rook curled up together, sleeping.
"Yes, I see what you mean love. I will tell Kaylin to hold off on his
sentencing for a day or two, and you and the men of my house can purge your pain
on him. Just see to it that he is still alive so that the Temple can pass
judgement on him. In the end, he will return to you and the men here, to finish
with him, but for now, see that he is left living."
Caytin reached for her, pulling her against him. "Thank you Kaj. I
can't promise what kind of condition he will be in once we are finished with
him, but I promise, he will still be alive." He would have his revenge. True,
there was no way he or any of the men in his home could ever see to it that this
creature paid fully for the horrors he caused, but he was going to see to it
that they didn't fail in the effort to try.
She captured his face in her hands. "I don't care what shape he is in
when you drag the thing to the Temple. As long as he is still alive."
"Does he have to still be sane?"
She just snorted softly. "Love, he isn't sane now. No sane creature
would have done what he did. But no, I don't care if he is babbling when you
take him. All I care is that he is still alive. Now, let it go for now. He
will be here tomorrow or the next day at the latest. I don't want to hear about
him any more. We have children to care for, and you and I are going to have our
hands full with Fain and Rook. They will be suffering when they wake in the
morning. He was responsible for so much of their pain. I do not envy my
sister, Kerfan or Hirren. They each have one of the three he hurt so much in
their care." She kissed him softly. "Now, go to sleep love. And that is an
order."
* * *
Kerfan held Shern as his young Lover wept against him. "Ssshh, I know
bright eyes, trust me, I know." He stroked his hair.
Shern shook his head. This man couldn't understand. He wasn't a
monster to those boys'. But thanks to his uncle, he and those like him were.
"They hate me, Master. I could see it in their eyes, and how they did
everything they could do to keep space between us. They think I am like the
others who hurt them are."
He lifted Shern's face to meet his eyes. But had to close his briefly.
The look of utter despair cut at him. 'Damn that madman. All this for what,
what reason could he have had?' "Give then time, Shern. They know the truth
now, but it is going to take a little time for them to come to peace with it.
They are you son's now as much as they are mine. Give our boys' time to heal."
Shern shook his head. "But Master, they will never see me as anything
but a member of a race that hurt them so much. Even if it wasn't one of our
people, my uncle and those with him, are still of my blood."
Kerfan had to bite back a growl as he pinned the boy down under him.
"No, they are nothing like you. You are one of the gentlest souls I have ever
known. You brothers and sister the same. Trust me, Lover. Soon they will see
you as I do." He had to do something soon or this boy, that he had come to love
so much was going to suffer again, and he had suffered enough.
Though he never had shown any of the gifts for healing, that the men of
his family occasionally did. He had more than his own share of empathy. He
could feel everything that his Lover did. And he couldn't stand the feelings he
was sharing with Shern. "Listen to me, bright eyes. Lane and Trent are going
to be fine. But it is you who need to let it go." His lips were soft as he
kissed him.
Shern looked up at him, tears in his eyes. He had come to trust this
man more than he ever thought he could trust anyone. He loved him. And he
believed, foolish, as it might seem to him. That his, master loved him too.
"Please, Master, make love to me." He needed this, to loose himself in the heat
that he always felt when Kerfan would bend him to his love.
Kerfan just tightened his hold on Shern as he brushed his lips against
his brow. "I am Lover, trust me, I am."
* * *
Kaj struggled not to fall asleep as she sat in her council room. It
seemed like it had been weeks, when in truth, it had only been three days. But
every time she turned around, if it wasn't one of their new children having a
problem, it was on of the refugees. Like now, there were three women in her
room with her. Waiting for her to decide how to integrate them into their New
World.
It wasn't going to be hard for one of them. She was so old. That the
only place she could possibly go would be the Temple. But the other two, one
was a very worn looking woman, who had obviously seen one too many horrors. And
the third, she couldn't be more than maybe seventeen or eighteen, and was so
pregnant that Kaj feared she was going to drop any moment.
"Well, girl, what do you think?" The old woman growled.
Kaj chuckled. "To be honest with you old mother, I am not exactly sure.
I was more intent on saving the children that I had not thought about much else.
But you are right. I am going to have to see to it that you three and any other
that come are given a place here." She closed her eyes, sighing. *Cay, love, I
think I might need you and Rook. * "So, can any of you read or write? I won't
press my luck and ask about mathematics."
"We are women, women aren't supposed to be out, and school means going
out." The young woman whispered, trying hard to hide herself.
Kaj closed her eyes and counted to ten, very slowly. "None of you have
any schooling, what of you, old mother? Surely you lived before the war."
"School is for rich little spoiled and pampered children, girl. I had a
husband by the time I was fifteen, and a family by the time I was twenty."
"I wanted to go, Chieftess, but as Bassel said, school was for those
that could afford it." The tired woman muttered.
Kaj looked at the young woman, who was trying to melt into the chair she
was in. "And what about you dear?"
The girl looked up at her, fear very bright in her amber eyes. "No
ma'am. My father would let me go out, and after he forced me to marry Kern,
there wasn't time."
Kaj looked up as Caytin lead Rook into the room. "Ah, good, am I glad
to see you two." She held out a hand to them. "Rook, love, I think I might
need you to help me convince these three, that everything is going to be okay
now. Especially after I tell them what they are going to be expected to do to
begin to become part of their new city."
Rook looked from her to the three that were in the room. "What can I do
for you Mistress?"
She patted her lap. "Crawl up here and help me explain what is going to
happen to them."
Rook didn't understand what Kaj wanted him for. But he wasn't about to
argue with her. So he did as she asked. "Okay, Mistress, how can I help you to
help them?" He wasn't at all thrilled with being where he was. He had been
busy with his new daughter Flora. But Kaj was his mistress, and if she wanted
him for something, then, he would do it, no matter how uncomfortable it made
him.
"Good, boy." She patted his leg. "Okay, do you three know who he is?"
"I might not be as schooled as you, girl. But I ain't blind or stupid."
The old woman snapped. "He is, or should I say, was that little girl, who is
the heir's twin."
Kaj, tightened her arms around Rook, this old woman was getting on her
nerves. "Look old mother. I have let you growl so far, due to your age. But I
am, not, a girl. My name is Kaj, and I am the Chieftess of you new people. You
are far too old for me to have punished for your tone. But, do not continue to
press your luck with me. Or I will."
"Please, Mistress, don't." Rook whispered in her ear. "If your must
punish anyone, let it be me. I place her behind me. You are right, she is too
old to be punished."
Kaj just shook her head, smiling at him. "Baby, I might growl and snap,
but I am not really going to touch her. Goddess, Rook, I was only trying to get
her to understand that I do not appreciate being talked to as if I was a half
grown girl."
"Mistress?" Caytin moved to stand by her. "What is your decision on
them?" *Why did you call me Kaj, if you only needed Rook, I could have sent
him. *
Kaj sighed again. "The old mother, she is to be sent to the Temple.
There is no safer place on this world."
Caytin nodded. "And the other two Mistress?"
She looked at first the older woman, who looked so worn, then here eyes
moving to the young woman. "They need to learn our ways. The only way I know
to do that, effectively, is to put them in your care. They will serve as slaves
in my house for the span of two cycles. Once they have completed their
training, they will become part of my people. But they have to learn to think
like we do, and to do that, they have to have all choice taken from them." *I'm
not trying to be cruel love. But look at them. Do you think if we didn't take
away their right to say no, that they would start to learn our ways? *
*No, Mistress, I truly hate to say this but you are right. Particularly
that girl, if she were any more frightened, she would give birth here and now.
So, how do you wish I deal with them? *
*The older woman, when she isn't studying our ways, and how to read and
write. The kitchen could probably use another cook or server. As for the girl,
I don't know Cay. For now, I don't expect her to do much of anything. Good
Goddess, look at her. I don't think she has more than a day or two at the most
before she gives birth. So to her, I am asking you to being to ease her fears,
and if that includes taking her to, bed, so be it. *
Caytin looked at the poor frightened girl. "Goddess help me." He
muttered under his breath.
The women watched as Kaj and Caytin discussed their future lives. The
young pregnant woman, upon hearing that she was going to be a slave here, began
to cry. It was no better than what she had just left. She was near a slave to
her husband, and now, she would be one to this woman and another man.
Kaj pushed Rook out of her lap, and moved to sit beside the weeping
girl. "Ssshh, it's going to be fine dear. It is only two cycles. It will pass
before you know it. And in that time, you will learn how to stand and think as
a woman of the Danes." She stroked her hair. "Now, child, what is your name?"
The girl looked up at her, in fear and despair. "Lauren," she was
trying to get control over herself, but the thought of being a slave, a real
one, was so very frightening. "Please, what are you going to do to me?"
"Nothing for now. Other than entrust you to my Head Consort so that he
can start to see to you and dealing with your fears. You are far too far along
to be asked to do anything." She smiled at the girl who looked up at Caytin
with horror in her eyes. "Don't look at him like that Lauren. Not only is he
my first consort, but he is the head and lead consort of my entire city. No one
and nothing will harm you in his keeping."
Lauren just looked at him. It was going to start all over again. She
just knew it. It wasn't enough that Kern had treated her like nothing and no
one, but now, she really was a nothing.
Caytin moved slowly to where she sat with Kaj. "You have nothing to be
afraid of dear. I am not going to hurt you. My mistress would skin me alive if
she thought I would hurt someone as fragile as you." He extended a hand. "Come
on Lauren. Let me take you out of here." He looked up at Kaj. "Mistress, as
for the other women. Should I send Jerrick, he is my Lover and second only to
me among the men who are slaves."
Kaj nodded. "That would be good. At least this time, when he stands as
your Lover, he won't run the risk of being whipped for it."
Caytin nodded. "Yes Mistress." He slowly began to lead the near
hysterical woman away.
Kaj moved to where the other woman sat, watching her. "Calm down, I am
not going to eat you." She patted the woman on the leg. "So I know Bassel, and
I know Lauren, what name you want to be known as now?"
The woman looked at her a lost look on her face. "I don't understand.
What do you mean what name do I want to go by now?"
"Exactly what I said. Bassel will become very happy in the Main Temple.
Lauren is going to take a long time of trial and error to get her to the point
that she will be able to stand as a woman by her own right. But you, you aren't
that little mouse that my consort led away. So while you are here, amidst the
force of the Mother that surrounds us all, what do you want to be called?"
The woman looked down at her hands. "My name is Stella."
Kaj patted her knee. "Good name, fits very well here, among your new
people."
The woman looked up at Kaj, her eyes so black that her pupils were
almost lost in their depths. "But are you?" For the first time since she came
in with the other two there was a look of emotion on her face. "I mean, they,
are they going to be our new people?"
Kaj smiled as kindly as she could. "Listen to me, Stella. I am not
doing this because I want to, but until you and that little girl that just left
here, have a chance to learn the way we are. Then I really don't have that much
of a choice. Yes, as far as I am concerned. And being the Chieftess of your
new people, I'm the only one whose thoughts matter. As soon as you come to
terms with what it means to be one of us, I will see to it that no one will ever
question your position here among us again."
* * *
Caytin stood outside the door to the Men's Quarters. "This will only
take a moment, and then I will see to it that you are taken care of." He led
her into the room. Smiling to himself as he watched Jerrick on all fours
playing with not only his son's, but his Lover's daughter.
The squeal of delighted children rang out in the room, as first one of
the boys, and then the other would dart in to touch him on the shoulder, only to
pull back giggling as he turned, growling and roaring in mirth at them. Hope
would occasionally reach in to add her hand to the play, only to dart back as he
turned to try to gather her up in his arms, laughing.
Winna stood back, holding on to Drav as she watched the others in their
play. "It's okay Winna, he isn't going to hurt them. They are only playing.
Would you like to play too?" Drav had spent all morning trying to convince his
new daughter that her past was over, and that she not only had a mother and
three father's who loved her dearly, but two brother's and a sister. A new life
for her, one, that could never be taken away from her.
Caytin chuckled, clearing his throat. "I hate to break this up, but I
need your help love."
Jerrick turn over to sit on the floor, his two boys going into his arms
immediately. "Yes, Master, what would you have me do?" He tried to ignore the
obvious youth of the young pregnant woman by Caytin, hoping that she wasn't what
he was supposed to help deal with. Already, he felt almost like a dirty old
man, what with his mistress and Lover being as young and they were. But this
girl looked even younger.
"Hug your boys tight and send them and your other two consorts to your
lady's room. There is a woman that is still in Kaj's council chambers that I
need you to stand in my stead for. I will be very busy with this little one for
a while."
Jerrick sighed in relief. "Come here you two. Your papa has to go help
take care of a few things, but I'll be home soon enough." He kissed both boys
on the cheek. "You go on with your other papa's and sister's, and don't worry
none, nothing is going to happen to take you away from me and your momma." He
looked to Drav, who was pulling himself up. "Do me a favor, and make sure your
master makes it home okay."
Drav nodded. "Yes, Master." He held his daughters' hand with one, and
reached for Steffon's with the other. "Come on Master, you heard what yours
said. Let's get our children and clear out."
Caytin waited until the six were gone. "I see that you are beginning to
woo not only your boys, but that little girl that you have with your Lover,
good. I hate to interrupt your games with your children. But I can't be two,
places, at the same time. And if I have any hope to see to Lauren here, then I
need to ask for your help."
Jerrick smiled. "I understand, Master. Just so long as this time, when
I go to fill my place as your Lover, there isn't any guards itching to see blood
around, I have no problems."
"They would have to break into my mistresses Men's Quarters to do that,
and no one would dare. No love, this time there is no threat."
Jerrick nodded. "I know that Master, I was only teasing you. So what
do you want me to do?"
"There is a woman in the council chamber that is waiting for you. Kaj
had no choice, to help these women learn to adapt to our ways and our laws, she
has seen to it that for the next two cycles, they are to be among the ranks of
her slaves here." He held up a hand as Jerrick gasped. "I know it seems harsh,
but trust me Lover, she really didn't have a choice. Look at this one. Do you
honestly see her or any of the women from your world being able to integrate any
other way? They have to have all choice taken away from them, at least for a
time. They are completely uneducated. Can't even read or write, forget the
histories or anything else."
Jerrick had to admit, no matter how much he hated it, that Kaj did have
a point. "Okay, Master, I can accept that. What do you want me to do with, or
to this other woman?"
"What I am not going to be able to do with this girl for the time being.
I will have to wait until after she gives birth to completely welcome her into
our house. But the other, she does not have this problem." Caytin lay a hand
on Jerrick's arm. "And love, she is a woman grown, your age if not older. So
you don't have to worry about your strange idea's of morality."
Jerrick nodded. "Thank you, Master. I am going to have enough problem
trying to get most of the other kids here, to accept Drav as not being one of
those things that hurt them and their folks so badly. "I am glad to know that I
don't have to struggle with my own conscious about having to take one her age to
my bed."
Caytin shook his head, "Jerrick. This girl as you put it, is very
pregnant and or should I say, was, married. And if I am picking up things from
her correctly, her old husband was near your age."
"He wasn't one of my men. That is all I know. I would have had the
hide of one of the men in my troop that took a girl that young as his wife.
Look at her Master, she is what, fifteen, sixteen? Even by Dane standards, she
was almost too young to be wed. Tell me, Master, what would you do to a man
that touched one of your daughters before she was old enough to wed?"
"I don't have to worry about that. It simply wouldn't happen here.
Besides, she is not as young as you think." He looked down at the young woman
beside him, who was trying to become invisible. "So Lauren, would you please
tell my Lover your age?"
Again the clear amber eyes, so full of fear and dread looked up.
"Nineteen."
"Nineteen, Master." He gently corrected her tightening his hold on her
as she began to weep again. "Ssshh Lauren. I am not going to hurt you. It's
only for two cycles. You will be so busy learning the new way of your life,
that it will fly by."
Jerrick picked that time to excuse himself. Okay, so the girl wasn't
quite as young as he thought she was, but that didn't take away from the fact
that she was still so small, and frightened. And his natural instinct to
protect small and frightened things was coming up fast and hard in him. "Okay,
Master, I will go see to the other one. Just do me a favor, if you can, see
what you can do to get her to a point that she isn't quite as bad as she is
right now. I used to be a soldier, and with her acting the way she is right
now, it draws up all my old reflexes."
Caytin chuckled. "Is there any wonder why I love you so? Go on love.
Just bring her back here to start welcoming her to her new home. I will see you
later."
Caytin waited only long enough for Jerrick to slip from the room before
turning to the girl in his arms. "So, Lauren, you have met one of the other
slaves in your home. See it wasn't so hard, was it?"
"What are you going to do to me?" She fought down the need to cry
again. But she was so afraid.
Caytin slowly led her to the couch. "First, I am going to see to it
that you are fed. You look like you haven't eaten in a moon. Then I will help
you bathe. Forgive my honesty dear. But you stink. After that I will see to
dealing with your fears by going to prove as much as I can, in your condition,
that you have nothing to fear from me or my touch."
She almost screamed, trying to pull away from him. "No, you can't."
She struggled weakly. "Please, don't hurt my baby."
Caytin restrained her as carefully as he could. "I am not going to hurt
your baby, Lauren. Great Mother, what an obscene thought. Did you not
understand what I said? I am going to prove to you or as much as I safely can,
in your condition. That you, have, nothing to fear from me."
She just shook her head. "Please, she's just a baby. She didn't do
anything. It's, not, her fault who her father is." She half huddled against
Caytin, sobbing. "Please, I'll call you master, anything, just mercy."
Caytin made a soft noise as he lifted her chin. "You're baby, she is
Catimine?"
"I don't know. But I am so afraid she is. Please, don't do like Kern
was if she is. Please, it isn't her fault."
Caytin lifted an eyebrow. "Kern, who is that Lauren?"
She looked down, trying to curl up protectively around her belly. "My
husband. My father sold me to him, telling him that I was nothing but a whore,
but I wasn't. I'm a good girl, Master. He raped me on our wedding night. It
wasn't until after he was finished with me that he noticed the blood on the
sheets. He left and went to my father, to demand why he had lied. While he was
gone, three of them, they came and they . . .." She couldn't go on. "Kern, he
killed them. And then, everything was okay for several moons, until it became
obvious I was pregnant." She just hid her face weeping. "He beat me, so badly.
I thought he was going to kill me, before he left. There at the end, I hoped he
would."
Caytin hadn't thought he could be shocked by anything else that he
faced. But the knowledge that this poor woman/child had been first raped by the
man who had taken her as his wife, then in less than two days, raped again by
what he now knew to be the Taberon was truly a horrid thing. Only to be having
the horror added by the fact that she, had, come away form her rapes with child.
"And you think that it was the Taberon who left you with child?"
Lauren looked up at him confused. "Taberon, who are they Master?"
"You know them as the Catimine, but in truth it is not the real Catimine
race that is doing the wrongs that are being perpetrated in their name, but the
Taberon."
Lauren looked up at him. "How would you know, Master? Before our King
sent his men to raid you, you didn't bother with us."
"We knew that you were at war with our other neighbor, just not how
badly it had gotten. Trust me, dear. Had my mistress known what it was doing
to your people, she would have stepped in to intervene long ago. But our people
are at peace with yours, so my lady respected that peace and left you all alone.
But now, we can no longer afford to stand aside. The King's youngest son is my
lady and my third consort, and our son is the King's daughter and heir's first.
We are linked to the ruling family twice by marriage and blood."
She nodded, almost willing to accept anything at this point. Thinking
hard on a way to prolong the inevitable. "Master," the word was soft. "I still
don't understand how you know all that you know. How does the Chieftess know
the name of the ones that are the real monsters?"
Caytin smiled at her ploy to kill time. "That my dear, is very easy.
Drav, the true prince of the Catimine's happens to now be one of the consorts of
my lady's younger sister. The Temple Healer and priestess Trinna, a little over
a moon ago, he made the long and dangerous trek from his lands to ours, to save
his younger brothers life." He tightened his arms around her as she froze.
Hoping that he would not have to be forced to restrain her. "Ssshh, Lauren,
Drav is your age, if not younger. And his brothers and sister are younger. You
have nothing to fear from him, from any of them."
Lauren had to force herself not to struggle. No matter how much she
wanted to. "What happens if he is lying? Please, I don't think I could stand
to be made to let," she was almost screaming. "I know, please, kill me. Don't
let them touch me again."
Caytin tightened his hold on her even more as he laughed. "Lying, girl,
my lady's sister is a Temple Healer. Trying to lie to her is as useless as
tying to forbid the day to follow the night. He told the truth, and is telling
the truth. His family was the first victim of this madman, even before your
people. You should have some understanding for what his life has been like, for
what all of their lives have been like for the last twelve cycles." Her hair,
once it was clean again would be the loveliest shade of yellow gold. "Now, I
think it's time you get something to eat, and a bath."
* * *
Jerrick came to a stop as he entered Kaj's council chamber. "Stella?"
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The woman who was still sitting by Kaj looked up. A look of delighted
joy. And heart stopping fear on her face. Joy at seeing her younger brother,
and fear at what that might mean. "Ricky!" Every thing else was forgotten as
Jerrick pulled her up into his arms,
Kaj was pleased that she didn't have another problem on her hands, by
the look and reaction that the two were giving each other they knew each other
well. "So, Jerrick, I am going to assume that you know her?"
Jerrick laughed turning to Kaj, arms still around Stella's waste. "Know
her, Mistress. This woman used to warm my backside when I was growing up. She
is my older sister." He looked down at Stella. "How, what happened to Warron?"
She looked down. "He's dead Ricky. Jeremy too." She pressed her face
against Jerrick's chest. "My baby, he's dead. They did things to him before
they let him die. She trembled against Jerrick's body. "Warron and I were made
to watch, and then they, they did the same to my husband." She had bottled up
all the horror of her life, and had tried to forget it. But now, here in her
little brother's arms, it just poured out. "They would have done the same to
me, but the women came and stopped them." She just wanted to die. They had
stopped them from killing her, but for what, so she could live with the past for
the rest of her life. Be afraid to try to sleep for the horrid memories that
haunted her dreams of her beloved son's screams and the ugly laughter of his
torturers. Or the look on her husband's face as they dragged him to face the
same fate that they had just claimed their son.
Jerrick didn't know what to say to her. How could he hope to reason
with his older sister if he couldn't even make sense of them himself. "Ssshh,
come on Stell, I can't tell you I know what you feel like, I don't. I'm not a
woman, and not a parent, or at least not by birth." He looked up at Kaj.
"Mistress, would you please, if it isn't too much trouble, ask my master to
please come. I need him and his help. She's my sister, and I don't have, even,
the tiniest bit of the empathic abilities he has."
"Don't feel badly Jerrick, apparently, neither do I." *Beloved. I need
you. Your Lover needs you. The other woman, the one I was going to have him
help, is his older sister. And has had not only her child, but her husband
ripped from her. Please, come. I know you have your hands full with the one I
put in your care, but surely, she can be trusted to another. Jerrick might have
some ability to help the younger men that are around him, but this is his
sister, and he grieves now as well. Her son, was his nephew. *
A wash of pain and grief washed over her. *Hold him for me, Mistress, I
come. *
