Salene's Secrets Page 3

  Wolef’s eyes flashed briefly before he returned her bow and held it for a long moment in respect. “In fourteen days, Highness.”

  Salene waited until the golden light was completely gone, leaving the room in utter darkness. Only then did she allow herself to lean back against the wall. Once the pain of blood rushing to unused limbs quieted, she turned on the light and took stock of herself. As soon as she was sure she could walk across the room without falling flat on her face she called in an order to the cafeteria. She had no idea what time it was so she ordered breakfast simply because it was what appealed to her at the moment. Then she went into the bathroom to take a very much needed shower before the food arrived.

  Chapter 3

  Three days later Salene greeted each of her parents with a detached coolness they’d never seen from her before. Immediately afterward she excused herself and went upstairs to her room, claiming the need for a shower, her own clothes, and her own bed, even though the sun hadn’t even set yet. Rayne watched silently until her sister left the dining room where they were gathering to talk, then lowered herself to a chair at the table with a sigh. Landor stood behind her, gently rubbing the back of her neck with one hand while everyone else chose seats around the large table.

  Her parents took a few moments to once again express their happiness at her phenomenal return to health, but she saw worry in their eyes for Salene that matched her own. Suly brought snacks and pitchers of iced juice, got her own hugs and kisses from Rayne, and then returned to the kitchen. An expectant silence fell, and Garen knew it was time. “Whenever you’re ready, Rayne.”

  Rayne nodded, then quickly sketched out the events that they hadn’t quite dared to risk transmitting from the Armadura. The Bearen-Hirus helped, but they left the subject of Salene to her.

  After she told them about the confrontation in the Gryphons’ stateroom they were troubled, as she’d expected. She wasn’t surprised that it was her mother who asked the question Rayne had been asking herself for the past couple of days.

  “What else happened?”

  “Nothing that I know of,” she said. Lariah nodded her understanding, exactly as Rayne had known she would.

  “What are we missing?” Trey asked, looking from the worried frown on Lariah’s face to the matching one on Rayne’s.

  “I only spoke with her for a moment, but it’s clear to me that something isn’t right with Salene,” Lariah said, watching Rayne as she spoke. “Something more than an argument with the Gryphons.”

  “You’re right Mom,” Rayne said. “I don’t even know what to call it, but she’s just…flat. She won’t smile, or laugh, or cry, or get angry. Nothing. She’s been like you just saw for days now. Like she has no emotions.”

  “What you told us about the argument isn’t pleasant,” Garen said. “But it wasn’t that bad as such things go. People argue. It’s part of any relationship and to be expected.” He paused, studying Lariah, then Rayne. “As Trey said, what am I missing?”

  “That’s the question, Ata,” Rayne said. “I spoke with Salene shortly after the argument that morning. She was upset that they wanted to go after the Doftles without her, but she also felt really bad about letting the whole thing get out of hand. It was my fault, and I apologized to her and the Gryphons for the whole mess. I didn’t like the way they were treating her, but it wasn’t my place to butt in. I just got so angry.” Rayne sighed. “Anyway, Salene told me repeatedly that it wasn’t a big deal. She planned to give all of them a couple of days to cool off, then they’d talk it out like they usually did.”

  “And?” Garen asked when Rayne fell silent.

  “And nothing,” Rayne said. “I didn’t see her again for the rest of that day and she didn’t show up for breakfast the following morning. When I went to her room she refused to let me in. She just said that she wanted to be left alone, and asked that I respect that. I tried really hard to do as she asked, and I did leave her alone for the rest of that day. On the second morning I went back with a breakfast tray, but she refused to open her door. It wasn’t until late that night that the head chef called us, as we’d requested, to tell us that Salene had ordered breakfast to be delivered to her room. The next morning she joined us in the cafeteria as though she hadn’t been absent for two days and three nights. I asked her what happened but she said it was personal and refused to talk about it further.

  “She won’t even acknowledge that there’s something wrong. She’s made no attempt to see the Gryphons that I’m aware of. She hasn’t even spoken their names since that day, and acts as though she can’t even hear me when I try to talk about them.” Rayne hesitated, and Landor gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, indicating his support. “I think she’s severed their bond.”

  “Why do you think that?” Garen asked, shocked.

  “I don’t know, Ata,” she replied. “She hasn’t said or done anything other than what I’ve told you, but that’s what I think.”

  “I agree with you, Rayne,” Lariah said, then shook her head. “It’s the only explanation that fits even though it doesn’t make much sense. I don’t believe for a single moment that Salene would sever her relationship or even separate herself from the Gryphons the way she has just because they won’t take her into battle with them. She has no more interest in battle than I do.”

  “I agree, Sharali,” Garen said. “Not even Tani would go so far and she’s a born warrior. Salene has no combat skills and has never shown an interest in developing any beyond basic self-defense.”

  “What about the Gryphons?” Val asked. “How do they act around her?”

  “I’ve seen very little of them, and when I have seen them, Salene wasn’t present. They appear to be sad, but they’re just as closed mouthed as Salene. They spent most of the past few days in their stateroom, and she in hers.”

  “What of the scar on her face?” Lariah asked. “How did she come to have that?”

  “The Doftles did it,” Rayne said. “They were trying to force her to shift, just as they’d done to me. She refused to go into a healing tank when we got her on the Armadura because without her, we wouldn’t have been able to track the Gryphons.”

  “She cannot be faulted for her bravery,” Lariah said.

  “Salene has always, and will always, sacrifice for those she cares for, regardless of the consequences to herself,” Garen agreed. He turned to his new sons in law. “What do you think, Landor?”

  “I think that, like Rayne, Salene has been through one traumatic event too many,” Landor replied. “As we discussed in our vids with you, Rayne’s response to the trauma she endured was to block all physical pain. I suspect that Salene has done something similar by blocking her emotional pain.”

  “Please do not be offended, Landor Bearen-Hiru, when I say that I hope you’re wrong,” Trey said.

  “I assure you, Highness, I’m not offended. I too hope that I’m wrong.”

  “As Landor knows,” Rayne said, glancing up at him with a quick smile, “I don’t agree that Salene has blocked her emotions. I think she’s hiding from them, but they’re still there. Sometimes I can actually feel how hard it is for her to act as though she feels nothing, but you’d never know it by looking at her.”

  “What do you think about having Jareth examine her?” Garen asked Rayne.

  “I don’t know if there’s anything he can do, but I don’t see any harm in it.”

  “My hope is that he’ll be able to guide us in what we should, and should not do,” Garen explained. “We don’t want to make a bad situation worse in an effort to help her.”

  “You’re right, Ata, that’s a good idea.”

  “Now, to happier tidings,” Lariah said, setting aside her concerns for her eldest daughter for the moment. “Congratulations to all of you on your linking.”

  “Thank you, Mom,” Rayne said, beaming as she looked up at Landor again, then to Con and Ari. “There’s one bit of news that we wanted to share with you in person, though.”

  “Yes?�
�� Lariah asked, tensing for a moment in preparation for more bad news. Then the light in Rayne’s eyes registered and she smiled. “Grandchildren,” she said softly.

  Rayne nodded as Garen, Trey, and Val all stared in surprise. “Daughters,” Rayne said to the question in her mother’s eyes.

  Lariah clapped her hands together with joy as she leapt to her feet and hurried around the table to hug her daughter. “I’m so happy for you,” she said, tears making her eyes a deeper, brighter green. “I know this will sound selfish, but I’m especially excited to know that you’ll be living here, on Jasan, where I can watch your children grow and be a part of their lives.”

  “It’s not selfish to want to see your grandchildren, Sharali,” Garen admonished gently. “And don’t forget, the journey from here to Garza has shortened a great deal thanks to Faith.”

  “I know,” Lariah said. “But Berria is still closer.”

  “Actually, we won’t be in Berria,” Rayne said, her eyes sparkling. “I haven’t seen it yet, but my Rami tell me that they purchased land and built a home not far from here so that we can be close enough to see each other as much as we want.”

  Garen watched Lariah’s face light up and swallowed the lump that rose in his throat. Their daughters had been through so much of late, and there’d been little they could do other than worry. This news brought some much needed happiness to their lives. He stood up and clapped Landor on the shoulder.

  “Thank you for this, Landor,” he said in a low voice. “Having our daughter and granddaughters so close is a gift beyond measure. This will allow us to truly take part in their lives rather than be seen as just visitors.”

  “It’s our pleasure, Highness,” Landor said. “We’ve waited a long time for this, and we will do everything we can to insure Rayne is as happy as we are in all ways. This was a simple thing to do.”

  “Seeing to the health and happiness of one’s Arima is any male-sets’ highest honor and most solemn responsibility,” Garen said. “But you have put joy in Lariah’s eyes, as well as Rayne’s, and we will not soon forget that.”

  Chapter 4

  Salene wandered through her mother’s garden, touching a flower lightly here, brushing a leaf there as childhood memories rambled through her mind. She and her sisters playing tag, chasing butterflies, picking bouquets for the dinner table, having tea parties among the roses and, later, when the boys were old enough to walk, keeping them out of Pater’s flower beds.

  It was so odd to be alone in the house with her parents. She missed her brothers, but the absence of her sisters made her feel as though a part of herself was missing. Two parts. Two very vital parts.

  It was so ironic. She’d been the first of them to find her future Rami. By three years. And yet, here she was, completely alone. Alone. The word itself felt strange in her mind. She told herself repeatedly that she’d get used to it. Eventually.

  This was only her third morning home and she’d thought she was doing a good job of behaving normally whenever she wasn’t in her room. Apparently she’d overestimated her acting ability, as Jareth’s visit the evening before had illustrated. For her parents’ sakes she had to try harder. They’d see through her of course, she had no longer had any doubts about that. But at least they’d know she was trying. They’d been through so much in the past couple of months, first with Tani going missing from EDU-12, then with Rayne’s sudden and shocking trip back in time one year, barely alive and all but starved to death. The last thing she wanted to do was give them more to worry about.

  So far she’d managed to get out of bed shortly after sunrise, take a shower, get fully dressed, and walk in the garden while reminiscing on her happy childhood. How utterly sappy, she admonished herself wearily. Then she lifted her chin. Thinking back on my childhood is better than thinking of…well, other things, she told herself. Especially three tall, blond men who were no longer hers and never would be again.

  Never.

  She flinched at the thought, then took a long deep breath in an effort to ease the seemingly permanent tightness in her chest. That, and the strange yearning sensation that had taken up residence somewhere inside of her just recently. She didn’t know what it was, or what it meant, or even why she had it. At first she’d thought it was part of her grief, but that didn’t feel right. It was something else. She just didn’t know what.

  With a heavy sigh she glanced toward the sun, and then started for the house. It was just about time for breakfast and while she wasn’t in the least bit hungry, this newly extended exercise in normalcy was for her parents’ sake, not her own. She would show up for breakfast, she would join whatever conversation her parents engaged in, and she would eat whatever was put on her plate.

  Just when she reached the deck she noticed one of her three fathers standing at the living room door, watching her. She arched a brow in silent question and he nodded, so she changed direction and crossed the deck instead of taking the back stairs to her room to wash up as she’d intended.

  “Good morning, Ata,” she said when he opened the sliding door and joined her on the deck.

  “Good morning, Salene,” Garen replied, trying not to react to the deep scar on her face, though it did look better thanks to Jareth’s healing. It was thinner, smoother, and no longer red, but it was still a large scar that couldn’t be hidden. The scar was difficult for him to look at not because it marred his eldest daughter’s beauty, but because the courage and sacrifice it represented had been for naught.

  “I’m sorry, Ata,” she said softly after they’d both turned to face the garden, leaning their arms on top of the deck railing in unconsciously identical poses.

  “For what are you sorry, Daughter?”

  “That my scar is a reminder to you of something that makes you angry.”

  “You’ve nothing to apologize for.”

  “What is it you wish to tell me?” she asked, and Garen smiled. Of all their children Salene was the most straightforward, the most serious, and the most practical. In short, she was more like him than her mother, which sometimes made him sad. Salene could use some lightheartedness in her life.

  “I spoke with Olaf Gryphon last evening.” Salene’s fists clenched, but otherwise she gave no outward sign of her feelings. “Do you wish to hear this?”

  She considered her answer while she watched several horses, small in the distance, cavort on the blue grass covered hills. On the first morning after her arrival home she’d asked her parents for two promises. The first was that they leave the Gryphons strictly alone, initiating no contact with them whatsoever. The second was that they not ask her any questions about the Gryphons, including what had happened between them.

  The second request had been the hardest for them to agree to, but it was also the most important to her because she didn’t want to have to lie to them. She wasn’t even sure that she could lie to them. But they could never know the truth.

  She knew Rayne had told them about the initial confrontation between all eight of them aboard the Armadura because they’d discussed it before reaching Jasan. Since some story had to be told, and since that story was true, if incomplete, Salene had agreed. It was best that everyone thought she was angry at the Gryphons because they were going after the Doftles and refused to take her. It made her appear petty and childish, but the alternative was too horrifying to contemplate.

  The horses disappeared from view and she made her decision. As long as he didn’t ask her any questions, she saw no reason not to listen to what Ata had to say about the Gryphons. She still loved them, would always love them, and she couldn’t help wanting to know how they were, and what they were doing. She blew out a slow breath, relaxed her hands, and nodded. “Yes, Ata, I’d like to hear.”

  “They have a new ship, the Aegl, which they plan to use in their effort to seek out the Doftles.”

  Salene hesitated, but she had to know. “Do you know when they’re leaving?”

  “All Jasani ships are being mandatorily retro-fitted with tr
ansport beam disrupters. We don’t want any more kidnappings if it can be helped, and the disruptors are the logical place to start. The Gryphons wanted to leave at once, but they have to wait their turn like everyone else. The Aegl is scheduled to be fitted in thirteen days, and they’ve already made plans to leave the day afterward.”

  “Have they been healed?” Salene asked, not realizing that her fists were clenched again, this time so tightly that her nails were biting into the palms of her hands, reopening wounds that had barely begun to heal before Jareth’s visit the night before.

  “Yes, they’ve been healed. It has been suggested to them that they take more time to rest, but they’ve decided they can do that onboard the Aegl while traveling to Garza.”

  “Garza?”

  “Khurda has offered them the Blind Sight that he built for the Khun’s cave settlement.”

  “I thought it was too small for a ship.”

  “The Aegl is smaller than the Ugaztun or the Armadura,” Garen said. “It’s a new class, the size of an Earth forces heavy cruiser, stealthier and faster than a traditional battleship. Khurda has assured Olaf that it will fully conceal the Aegl.”

  “That’ll be good for them,” she said, unable to think of anything else to say about it.

  “It’ll be good for all of us,” Garen said. “While the hand terminals Rayne retrieved from the Doftles contain the locations of their space stations, the Doftles are so paranoid about their stations being found that those locations are much more heavily encrypted than the rest of the data, and are in a complex coordinate system that our computers have trouble processing. So far, we’ve been able to decrypt and translate to our coordinate system only two of their space station locations. We’ve decided to send one ship to each of those locations. The Armadura, under new command, will be one of those two ships since it has Blind Sight. The Aegl will be the second, right after it’s equipped with Blind Sight.”