[The Midnight Gem] Gently

[Kelski]

21st of Spring 519 A.V.

Kelski quietly surveyed the sleeping man. He was exhausted, filthy, and though she’d gotten a little food into him, she wasn’t sure he’d make it through the night. Ebon had warned her. “Let him sleep.” The Kelvic had advised after she spooned the broth into him. What she wanted to do and what instinct had told her was to fill the bath and get him immediately in it. But he had such wounds… such terrible wounds.

The Kelvic had stood guard all night. The Gem had kept her company.

What does he mean to you?

The Gem had asked quietly. Kelski had thought it over, looking at the mud caked hair that was longer than most mens and the unidentifiable bruising on the man’s face. She truthfully had no idea what he looked like nor did she understand the draw. But his words still haunted her.

“Don’t let them catch you. Don’t let your fear cage you.” The unknown man in the bed had breathed to her almost silently through the bars. “Get up. Fight on. Keep going. There is safety in this city if you can find it.” Pain had filled his words. So much pain the stranger had breathed the words, so there was no sound to it, instead of speaking. Then he’d touched her through the bars of his meat cage last night, and it was a touch that had broken through her terror at being chased by Darvin.

And in his touch Kelski felt something… something stir in her. His voice was a bridge that crossed the raging floodwaters of her terror and pierced the loneliness that was threatening to disable her. So she had saved him, paying for him with jewelry from her body, and half dragging him back to the Midnight Gem with her.

“Last night, he meant salvation. Today, I hope to be his.” Kelski said quietly. She went to her master suite and drew a basin of water, picked up a bundle of wash cloths, and a bar of masculine soap. She frowned, wondering why she had masculine soap in her bathing room. Shaking her head at the absence of knowledge, she returned to the room the guest was occupying and settled the basin beside his bed.

Carefully, ever so carefully, she began to clean his skin, stripping off the filth and finding true color that had some time or another in the past been tanned golden by the sun. Kelski rinsed out the cloths, wiped gently, and used soap when she got the worst of the mud and filth off his face. She had to change the basin often. The more of his skin she exposed the more she found it mottled with bruising and discolored from whatever aliments he suffered from.

The Sea Eagle was careful, tender almost, though the man did not wake. She showed no shyness as she divested him of his clothing which were truthfully no more than rags, and tossed them over on the floor to be burned. Sponge baths weren’t something she was used to giving people, and this man wasn’t used to having one.

She didn’t think he’d had an opportunity to bathe for a long long time.

Kelski thought she’d find a body marred with old wounds, perhaps from daggers or swords, but there was none of that. He had wounds a plenty, but some of them looked almost like bites from animals and most looked like damage inside himself from blunt force trauma. Kelski found his form emaciated like Gilthas’ had been when she’d found him, but this time she was quite certain that there was no moonlight quick fix for this man.

“Do you want some help.” A soft masculine voice said from the doorway. Kelski glanced up and saw Ebon leaning against the door frame of the room, shirtless with a loose pair of pants on. His bare feet were crossed at the ankles and his arms were folded over his chest. He looked curious but otherwise didn’t comment.

“He’s hurt.” She said as if explaining.

“I know. I can feel it. His ribs are broken. I think hes lost a lung from one of them piercing it, and I think he has other issues… someone’s beaten him fairly extensively.” Ebon said, not moving from where he stood though his Rak’keli’s compulsion as a healer must have been yanking at him something fiercely.

“Let me help.” He said again, letting silence wash back and forth between them.

We will all help. The Gem said as well, whispering softly into Kelski's mind.

Ebon never said much, but his body language and tone spoke volumes. He’d been quiet since his bondmate had died, introverted, and only truly came alive when he was making a sale in the retail store below or dragging someone’s life back from the edge of Dira’s Realm. Kelski studied him thoughtfully and thoroughly. She wanted to read what he was thinking from his face and the slant of his shoulders, but his body was silent and quiet. His mood infected her.

Kelski didn’t say anything, she only nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak but the words spilled out anyhow. “Darvin is dead but he isn’t gone. He chased me… scared me badly. This man wouldn’t let me give up. He was in the slave market in a cage marked as meat for Zith. I… took him from there. I don’t know who he is or anything about him. But Darvin knew him. Said he was a fighter from The Blood Pits.” Kelski said softly. She was rambling and a little bit afraid, but she kept talking.

“I don’t know what I’ve brought into this house. I don’t know why I took him from his fate there and dragged him into this life. Darvin called him Dess.” Kelski said, her gaze meeting Ebons as the Night Lion stalked forward, having retrieved his healing kit from where it had sat on the floor just out of Kelski’s sight.

Ebon only nodded. “We’ll figure it out, Kelski. We will figure it out together.” He said, resting a hip on the edge of the bed and starting to study the man laying prone on the bed. He opened his kit and carefully got to work.

[Kelski]

Ebon gently ran his hands across the man’s face and shoulders, tapping his gnosis and soothing the terrible bruising and scratches until the starved man’s features became clearer. The Kelvic was so calm and methodical that Kelski felt her own fears sliding away. She watched, feeling helpless because her hands weren’t able to heal like Ebon’s were. It was as if the Night Lion sensed this and slowly brought his eyes up to the Sea Eagles.

Silver met blue.

“A hundred different healers will teach you two hundred different processes. There’s no right way. I am no teacher. I have no gift at it. But I can talk you through what I am doing.” He said gently, his luminous blue gaze dropping back to his hands, which never ceased their work. His voice was quiet, respectful of the fact the man was still out cold and there was no need to talk above a whisper.

He will be a good teacher. He just doesn’t know it yet. The Midnight Gem intoned in Kelski’s mind.

“He’s been beaten, and repeatedly from the look of it. His wrists? They show that he was beaten while he was bound and probably could not fight back. One is broken. He tried to fight. There are two types of trauma, Kelski. The first kind is penetrating trauma… where you get stabbed by something like a weapon or impaled by something like a sharp branch in a fall. This type is the second type - blunt trauma. He’s injured deep inside himself. Blunt trauma usually is accompanied by contusions which are bruises, abrasions which are scrapes, lacerations which are cuts, and or bone fractures. In this case, he’s broken multiple ribs, one has pierced his lung, and he definitely has a broken wrist. I can heal all his surface injuries, relocate the rib back into place, and free his lung and see if we can re-inflate it.” He was already healing the man with his hands, soothing his starved skin.

“There are three types of trauma.” Kelski insisted softly. “The third kind is of the mind.” She whispered, studying Ebon thoughtfully. “You never speak of your bondmate and loosing them.” She added; her voice lower than a whisper. The words were breathed, almost silent. Ebon froze for a moment, his continuously gliding hands that were soothing bruises lingering in one spot more so than they had anywhere else. He had been studying the man, the stranger, instead of Kelski. But this time his eyes lifted ad he met her gaze again.

“No… it’s hard to speak of a piece of your soul missing, Kelski. You never speak of your missing mate.” He said firmly, as if shoving the conversation artfully back on her.

“I have no mate.” She said, her eyebrows rising in surprise.

“Yes. You have no mate… now. But you did. He lived here, like a leech on your heart, preying on your nurturing nature all the while trying controlling you.” Ebon said gently, his tone belying the harshness of his words. “None of us knew what happened. One day was he here, one day he was gone. He moved out and you acted as if he never existed at all.” Ebon said, rolling the stranger on his side as he worked with the broken lung, wrenching the bone back into place and out of the man’s lung.

The man never moved a muscle, even as Ebon rose, fished something out of his kit that looked like a sharp curved metal reed and held it up to the man’s torso at his side. He took out a small mallet and drove the reed into the mans body with a sharp rap of the mallet. Kelski could hear air hissing through the reed and suddenly both sides of Dess’ chest began heaving rather than just one.

“His lung collapsed because he had air trapped in his body cavity. We give it a place to go to and his lung will refill itself. It also means he has a deep cut on the back side of his body. We’ll deal with it when we get there… I have to lift him up to wrap his chest anyhow.” Ebon said gently. “It’s called Pneumothorax. His blood pressure should come up now and he should feel a lot better with two lungs going.” The night lion said, cautiously eyeing the silent Jeweler.

[Kelski]

Kelski was no healer, but slowly and surely Ebon was teaching her. This moment in time though… this instant they both worked over the stranger seemed to her less about the stranger himself and more about a long overdue talk between the Kelvics.

She met Ebon’s icy blue gaze with her silvery grey one even as he gently lifted the rail thin man up and propped him against his shoulder. He gestured to some stretchy wide bandaging that was rolled laying along the bed. “I’ll hold him. You wrap his ribs.” Ebon gently commanded. Kelski stretched out her arms, repositioned, and found the end of the bandage. She held it gently in place along the man’s scarred skin and began to wrap the bandage around his torso firmly.

“Tighter.” Ebon said softly. Kelski obliged and pulled as she unrolled, wrapping the bandage tight around the stranger’s ribs.

“I don’t know, Ebon. I cannot remember who you are talking about. There isn’t even a face in my memory. Sometimes I think I remember bits and pieces… a touch, a soft whisper, maybe a kiss. My heart remembers. But then other times, I am filled with this uncontrollable anger that seems to have no source. Something terrible happened. Well, maybe not terrible, but bad enough. I feel like a piece of me is gone or just destroyed… and sometimes I miss it so much. But I don’t know what to do about it.” She whispered as she worked, oblivious that the pain of what they were both doing had roused the unconscious man somewhat. He didn’t move, remaining pliant in Ebon’s arms, but he watched them both carefully with deep blue eyes. His lips clenched tightly, turning white, against the pain Kelski wrapping his ribs caused.

It was as if he were assessing the situation, trying to figure out where he was.

The Night Lion continued. “You walk around here like a ghost. You aren’t dead, Kelski. It’s time you started living.” Ebon said, almost a rumble in his voice. He looked like the lion that he was now, staring her down unafraid, almost challenging her to act. “Something has to give… something has to change.” He said, knowing it was true. Kelski had been in a quiet focused rut, one she’d been wandering down without pleasure, without interest, without a single thought to the future. There had once been drive, ambition, a need to prove herself. But it was as I that was all taken from her.

Dess’ eyes drifted closed again, as if he couldn’t remain awake.

She finished the wrap and carefully tied it off under Ebon’s direction. Kelski glanced up at Ebon where he held the man in his arms, the strangers head almost on Ebon’s shoulder. “I’ve been thinking of … picking up things here and moving. Sunberth feels so oppressive to me now. I want to… start over somewhere fresh. I want to be somewhere without memories or haunted places I think I should know but don’t remember. And that man… the one we don’t talk about… isn’t there. I know he’s here somewhere. I think sometimes I might run into him. Would I recognize him? Would he know things about me and I’d just stare naively at him not understanding why I can’t remember him? I want that to be over… gone… someplace new. Gilthas thinks it’s a new idea. He wants to go with me. We are talking about Zeltiva. But I was looking for a way to ask you… because I know you have memories here. I remember that first time I met you clearly. I don’t know if you’d ever be willing to move.” Kelski said softly, reaching out and touching his hand as he gently laid the stranger back down on the bed, only this time propped up rather than lying prone.

[Kelski]

“I would, Kelski. I would leave here in a heartbeat. She’s not here. She’s dead. But she haunts me. And I think something new would be good for all of us. And as for why you can’t remember… Gilthas is responsible. I suspect you asked him to remove your memories.” He said softly, shaking his head. “It was the wrong thing to do. But I suspect he did it because he loves you. We all do. There’s too much pain here. We don’t want to add to each other’s suffering. But anyhow, I would be on board with going.” He said gently, then glanced at Dess on the bed.

“And him? What are you going to do with him? He needs time to heal and a trip wouldn’t be good.” Ebon observed, pulling a blanket up and over the rail thin man. The pair of Kelvics stood watching the man as he lay completely oblivious once more in the bed.

“I don’t know why I took him. He was as good as dead in a food cage for the Zith. I don’t know why I do half the things I do nowadays. Most of it seems so automatic, like I’m going through the motions. He means something though, something important… and in a way if he hadn’t reached out, encouraged me, I would have given in to the terror Darvin’s ghost inspired.” Kelski admitted softly.

“How did you know his lung was punctured and his ribs were broken?” She asked.

Ebon smiled. “It was my gnosis. But you can tell without Rak’keli’s mark. He was turning blue around the nails and lips. You could tell breathing hurt and it was labored. He had a rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, and he was coughing. You can be certain something is wrong, most likely a punctured lung when that happens. And now you know how to treat it.” He said quietly, offering her a small smile.

“Okay….” She said, smiling at the Night Lion. He said it with such confidence, but Kelski wasn’t so sure she wouldn’t actually hurt someone. She saw that Ebon had to re-inflate Dess’ lung and it looked dangerous. Swallowing, she answered his question after shifting awkwardly. “And as for what we do with him… its up to him. He can have a safe place to rest, heal up, and if he wants to go his own way he can. I know nothing about him. He’s not a slave.” She said firmly, knowing full well she bought him. But that was the extent of it. Looking Dess over, it didn’t even appear he had four hundred gold worth of meat on him. She’d obviously been taken advantage of. But what was the price of a life? Four hundred mizas seemed so little.

Dess picked that moment to open his eyes. He studied Ebon then Kelski carefully. Finally, after one false start, he simply asked… “I'm glad I get a say. I distinctly remember you purchasing my life for coin.”

[Kelski]

Ember picked that moment to walk into the room that housed the Kelvics and their patient. Kelski’s niece stopped abruptly, took in the situation, and recognition flashed through her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something and the patient on the bed flicked his eyes to her and gave her a hard look, one that was full of warning.

Kelski was so surprised that Dess spoke, that she was busy trying to stammer out a response and missed the interaction all together. It was a combination of him accusing her of buying him as a slave – which she had done – and expressing gratitude for doing so. It was confusing and brought a lot of anxiety up in Kelski’s mind.

Ebon didn’t, however, miss what was going on and glanced between Ember and Dess, wondering how in the world the two knew each other. His sky-blue eyes glanced to Kelski, noted she missed the moment altogether, and frowned. He clearly didn’t understand what was going on between Ember and Dess.

“I bought you because I needed you. I needed those words in that moment, a moment I was going to give up. You gave me courage to fight on… to keep going. Darvin was a terrible man living and even a worse one dead. If you hadn’t said what you did when you said it, I wouldn’t have kept going. How could I have left you there to be … sold to Zith? I’m sorry… you are no one’s property and that coin bought your freedom. You are welcome to stay or go, however you wish as long as you wish. I don’t think you are physically in any shape to be off on your own, but you don’t have to stay if you don’t want too if you can leave. And we can get word to any people you might have elsewhere that are worried about you.” Kelski offered, feeling shy suddenly.

“You are right about two things.” Dess said in a hoarse quiet voice. “I’m in no shape to go anywhere. I’m sorry for being a burden but I am grateful to actually be alive to be one. And secondly, I suspect I’d make a terrible slave so thank you for the freedom.” Dess said softly, his words broken up and spoken slowly as if he were in pain. His chest hurt, and breathing was difficult with the freshly inflated lung still only working slowly and painfully.

Ember stared at him speechless. There was a sort of quiet horror in her eyes, as if she’d seen this man before but never in this condition. Kelski didn’t even notice her niece’s expression. She was too busy being mortified over the fact she’d actually purchased an individual which went against everything she never knew. But she said nothing, glancing between Kelski and Ebon before she approached.

“Aunt Kelski. I have some soup ready if anyone’s hungry. Chowder, like you like… from those clams you dug.” She added. Kelski nodded, reaching out to grab Ember’s hand and tug her closer.

“Ember, this is Dess. He saved my life. And he’s going to be here awhile or at least as long as he wants too. Dess, this is my niece, Ember.” She added, glancing at him and then back at Ember offering her a smile. “Thank you for making the chowder. I appreciate it.” She said to her niece before she glanced at Dess. “Are you hungry?” She asked the rail thin man. He was wounded, deeply so, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t starving. Clearly he’d missed a whole lot of meals.

“I can eat… at least a little.” He said, then glanced at Kelski. She nodded and rose, slipping out of the room to go get a small bowl for Dess and perhaps some bread. Ebon glanced between Ember and Dess, his eyes wary.

“You two know each other.” He accused, looking thoughtful. Both the Kelvic Mouse and human patient nodded, as if reluctantly.

“What are you doing here Dess?” Ember said, looking thoughtful. “You are supposed to be home with Dad.” She said accusingly now, her expression taking on a serious note. “Kelski knows nothing of you, our family, anything….” She finished, her hands resting on her hips.

Dess groaned, rubbed at his face with his hand, and said weakly. “It’s a long story, kiddo. But you need to give me some time. I’ve been through an ordeal since getting here, which btw I came because your dad asked me too. You know what she means to this family… to me. Why wouldn’t I come… why wouldn’t I make sure she’s okay and sane after all that we heard she’s been through?” Dess added.

Ebon watched on, his eyes growing wider and his expression growing more and more puzzled. He glanced once more between Ember and Dess and repeated his previous question. “Who are you?” He said more firmly.

Dess signed, ran his hand through his hair, and shook his head as if he was too tired to say more. He was almost too tired at this point to keep his eyes open. “I’m Dessarian Damazar. Kalistan K’etir, Kelski's brother, is my best friend. Kelski was promised to me as a newborn upon her maturity. Our families wanted to strengthen their ties. Kal sent me to see to her, since his business in the north is taking longer than he expected.” His words were so weak now, so faint, that he almost wasn’t heard.

Ebon looked frankly stunned at this news, even as Kelski breezed back into the room, a small bowl of chowder on a tray with bread and water with her. She looked on as Dess’ eyes dropped closed, the man loosing his battle with exhaustion. He fell into a deep healing sleep. Then she glanced at the chowder, at Ebon’s expression, and looked puzzled.

The Sea Eagle quietly set the tray of chowder upon the table next to Dess.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, turning to Ember, as if she expected her niece to in fact shed some light on the situation. Ember simply shook her head, shrugging, as if she had no idea what was going on. In truth, she didn’t. This was the last place she expected to see Dess and in a condition – no less – that she’d never seen her father’s best friend in.

Words: 1052

[Kelski]

Ember and Ebon glanced at each other. They both knew Kelski wasn’t going to let it go. There was too much palatable tension in the room. It was as easy to read as rain on the horizon. And Dess, now that he was sleeping again, wasn’t going to do anything to deflect the truth.

The Night Lion looked at the mouse, and in that moment the differences in their places on the pecking order of life reared its ugly head and Ember began to pale. He was angry. Once Kelski understood what was going on, she would be too. The predators hated secrets as much as mice loved them. Secrets gave the weaker a better chance at survival. It was in Ember’s nature to not be forthcoming. It was why she’d told Kelski very little about her family or why she only mentioned her father – Kelski’s Brother - and not Kelski’s parents.

“I know Dess.” She said quietly, finally, as if Ebon had her in some invisible vice grip with those brilliant almost blindingly blue night-lion eyes. “I grew up around him. He’s my father’s best friend.” She said softly, then grew silent, letting those words fill the air.

Kelski froze. Her mind went blank for a moment then she tried to wrap her awareness around the fact that she’d only met Dess yesterday… and he’d been in a cage to be sold for meat. How could he be associate with her family? How likely would they have met under those circumstances? Fate wasn’t so kind. The world was far more fickle than that.

“I didn’t meet him by accident?” She guessed, glancing between Ember and Ebon.

Ember shrugged, glancing at the sleeping warrior. “I do not know. But If I had to guess, I’d have to say no. Dess does nothing without purpose, though I’ve never seen him this bad off… and I’ve never seen him this far away from Father. He is his advisor, high commander, and best friend. He was also the one that your father promised you too if you turned out to be a female Kelvic.” She said softly. “Especially if you were going to be a longer-lived animal. Dess held you in his arms first, when you were born, even before your mother did. He claimed you were perfect and he cried because they knew… they knew looking at you, that you were something strong and long lived. You laughed for him, tangling your hands in his blond hair and laughed. When you vanished from your cradle, he nearly killed himself leading the search. But there was never any word. There was never a hint of where you’d gone. He wasn’t in this bad of shape, but he was rough… very rough… and devastated when you weren’t found. My father offered me to him when I was born… but it was quickly evident that I was a mouse. And if he gave me his heart, it would be broken in a year or two. But it didn’t matter, in the end, because he never stopped looking for you. It was always you.” Ember said softly, a catch in her young voice, as if the story was touching her very young romantic heart.

Kelski remained still, taking it all in, not sure what to think.

Dess chose than moment to open his eyes, as if he’d been listening and fighting his way back to the surface. “It was foolish perhaps, chasing after a K’etir daughter promised to me and stolen so young. I… I had no idea… what I would find when I arrived. I never thought it would be a free unbroken young woman with a fierce spirit and a kind heart. Sunberth doesn’t inspire such things. It wasn’t a trick, a setup, or even a trap that you found me that last day in that cage. I was there due to my own stupidity. But you saved me. I won’t forget that. Nor will I ever make you regret it. I don’t consider you mine, Kelski. I just felt responsible. Your family and mine go back for hundreds of years, beyond that time perhaps. K’etir and Damazar have always walked hand in hand. But we’ve never married… never united. This was such a rare and precious thing. And when you were stolen, I took it personally. I should have stayed closer. I should have guarded you more. There was never a daughter more welcome to this world. You should have grown to adulthood knowing me. You should have grown to adulthood knowing your families. We let you down in the worst way possible.” Dess said softly, his voice strained in pain.

“When my men caught word of the Svefra trading a silver eyed Kelvic sea eagle to the gangs in Sunberth. I dropped everything and came here. It was too much of a coincidence. Though you’d been gone for more than three years and we all thought you were surely dead, we had to follow the leads. By the time I got here… you were already free. You were successful. From the outside looking in, your life seemed perfect. I stayed close by, waiting for Kal to have a chance to get here, to make sure you were fine. And you were… with someone. I didn’t want to introduce myself. You life didn’t look like it had the room for me in it.” He said softly, almost painfully. “I honestly thought you were bonded. But I can tell… even now that you are not. And that man is gone. And I can tell too that you are not unscathed by it all… the slavery, this city, that man… everything. Darvin even haunts you. It is unthinkable. Kalistan would cut a swath of blood a mile wide through this city to regather all the pieces of your broken life. Its not a bad life, but I see now… from the inside, that its far from how perfect it looks from the outside.” He added.

Kelski continued to stare. It was so much to take in. It was so much to understand. This man had come here for her. He’d held her first as a newborn. She’d been promised to him. His long curly blond hair and light blue eyes aligned with the lines of his face in a way that was familiar to her. But more than that, more than anything else… it was his cracked barely audible voice that was familiar to her.

Kelvics were unique in that way. Their minds didn’t work like human minds did. Their knowing things didn’t depend on the way humans knew things. Kelski reached down and picked up Dess’ hand. She gently cradled it in her own hands, uncurling his fingers and splaying them open. She brought it up to her face, opening his palm so he cupped her face. She inhaled deeply and remembered.

It was the earliest memory she’d ever had.

A man held her. She had been angry, being forced from that place of warmth and safety, suspended in that liquid nourishment. It had been almost offensive expelled from that womb that had bore her to maturity, through a narrow fleshy channel that had been in its own way as unwelcoming to the world as the air and sunlight had been. She’d hated it, squalling out her displeasure until a gentle voice had overshadowed her mother’s birth cries, swaddling her naked and wet form up in a blanket that was warm and smelled of him.

He’d held her close, warm and comforting, where she couldn’t throw out her awkward limbs because she didn’t know how to control them. They were tightened down against her and she was held in warm masculine arms that had whispered promises she’d understood even being just newly born. He’d protect her. He’d love her. He’d show her the world. She’d never want for anything. He’d pluck even the stars from the sky and hand them to her for playthings if she wanted. Dark silken words promised this.

Kelski closed her eyes, feeling the palm against her cheek. Only her cheek fit in it now, not her entire body. But his smell was familiar. His voice was even more familiar. She remembered. “You promised me stars… any star in the sky I wanted… just for the asking.” The Jeweler whispered, lost in the memory.

Dess closed his eyes, covering the dawning wonder in them. His words, when he finally spoke, was full of surprise. “You remember.” There was a sort of relief in him as well, as if he sunk into himself, comforted in the fact that things were going to be okay now.

Kelski nodded. His hand was stull cupping her cheek, supported by her hands. “I do. I remember all of it, except who took me and why. You sang to me, took me places, and when my mother didn’t get better… didn’t recover… you tended to me.” She said, remembering more. “I had forgotten. It was as if there was a tiny vault in my mind you were locked away in… all my memories of you. I am sorry. But it makes so much more sense now why I trusted you. Why your voice awoke things in me last night when I was so ready to lay down and die.” She said, staring at the man who had been promised her as a mate. In the end… or was it a beginning, he’d ended up being her parent instead. And even now, here he was, trying to take care of her. While in turn, she was taking care of him.

Dess spoke again, not opening his eyes. It was so evident he was exhausted. “You were my greatest hope for happiness in the future. But you were also my greatest love, even as a child, and because of that you were my greatest obligation. I am… thankful beyond belief that you are alive and well. Your life is your own. The promises that were made to me with you being a child are no longer valid. Time and circumstances have ripped that away. But I would very much like to stay a while and get a chance to know you, Kelski. Kal would be here if he could. But he cannot be. Let me stay in his stead, take his place, and watch over you and Ember in whatever you decide you are going to do.” He said… his voice almost inaudible in its weakness.

“It would bring me great comfort.” He added, then finally drifted off. Kelski looked thoughtfully at him, nodding her agreement even though the man could not see it. She was as curious about him as he was about her. He was in a way a representation of what her perfect life should have been… and she wanted to get to know that life as well.

“You can stay.” She said firmly, and even though Dess seemed to be completely lost to the waking world again, she could see his body physically relax when she said the words.

Ember and Ebon looked at each other, questions in both their eyes. But they said nothing, as if understanding the moment was almost sacred, and a turning point in the Kelvic’s life – in maybe all of their lives.

Words: 1884

[Kelski]

G R A D E S

Kelski-

Architectrix +1, Medicine +4, Cleaning +1, Psychology +3, Tactics +1

Ebon: Teaching Medicine, Dess: What He Means To Her, Ebon: Reading His Body Language, Medicine: The Three Types of Trauma – Penetrating, Blunt, and Mental, Medicine: Contusions = bruises, Medicine: Abrasions = scrapes, Medicine: Lacerations = cuts. Kelski: Had a Mate, Has None Now, Medicine: Treating Collapsed Lungs, Medicine: Pneumothorax = Collapsed Lung, Medicine: Wrapping Broken Ribs, Ebon: Still Traumatized By The Loss Of His Bondmate, Rak’keli: Her Gnosis Reveals Injury, Dess: Freed, Not A Slave, Psychology: Tension Between Predator and Rodents, Psychology: Unspoken Tension In Rooms, Psychology: Something Unseen going on, Dess: Family Friend, Dess: Ember Knows Him, Dess: Kal’s Best Friend, Advisor, and High Commander, Dess: Kelski Was Promised Too, Dess: Searched When Kelski Vanished, Dess: Doesn’t Consider Kelski His, Dess: Claims K’etir and Damazar Tight Knit, Dess: Her First Memory, Dess: Promised Her Any Star In The Sky She Wanted As A Baby, Kelski’s Mother: Didn’t Recover From Her Birth, Dess: All Promises Meaningless Now Due To Time And Circumstances

PM me with questions or concerns.