Chapter 18

Zerien

C onfusion still dominated my every thought as our shuttle closed in on the Sanctuary. This place sheltered people who sought a hermit's life, with the focus on peace, meditation, achieving harmony with one's inner self, and forming a closer bond with nature.

Like most planets of the Eastern Quadrant, Sarenia didn't practice any religion. The Brothers and Sisters of the Sanctuaries were the closest things we had to a religious congregation, although there were no particular rules, rituals, or deities to serve or worship. A small number of their members were former criminals who had served their sentences or recovering addicts who chose to adopt a lifestyle that would keep them away from the types of temptations that made them stray from the right path to begin with.

As they had very strict rules as to what type of activities could take place within their grounds, I couldn't begin to imagine how an underground criminal organization could possibly thrive here. Being the closest Sanctuary to the palace, I was familiar with some of their oldest members. Most of them had lived here for many years, some of them for decades. They would never join forces with traitors.

After confirming that Sister Alanis was still the leader of their congregation, I elected to drop by for an unofficial visit to assess the situation instead of going flat out with a massive raid. Nevertheless, three cloaked vessels followed my shuttle, ready to intervene if things turned out to be as bad as I feared.

The sprawling estate donated to the congregation to build their sanctuary had a massive front lawn spreading over three hundred meters. A two-story building housed their reception area, main office, dining hall, gathering hall, as well as two large dormitories, one for males and one for females.

A medium sized mountain range bordered the west and south sides of the lot. Multiple doors indicated the entrances to the private dwellings carved directly inside the rock face. As I understood it, the dormitories were mostly used by the newcomers or the few people who wished for a bit more social interaction than the true hermits. But most longtime residents had their own little caves, with a few more choosing instead smaller three to four room houses scattered along the eastern side of the lot. A large pond on the northern side poured into a river a short distance away.

If not for the handful of people walking on the front lawn, one would almost believe the place was deserted. A couple of heads turned dispassionately to look at my shuttle as Drade descended towards the landing pad near the main building. They quickly dismissed us and continued going about their business. I ordered my other hidden vessels to remain on standby before we disembarked, Drade in the lead and Naax closing the march.

Before we even reached the entrance, the door opened on Sister Alanis. She smiled warmly, her wizened face lighting up in that almost maternal fashion she often had whenever she saw me. She had been close friends with my mother before her passing. Like her, my mother had found it difficult to deal with frequent interactions with people. In truth, Jastira displayed many similarities to our mother when it came to what most people perceived as antisocial behaviors.

Although she had not been his soulmate, my father had felt genuine affection for her. Had she so wished, he would have made her his exclusive concubine, and maybe even his Queen. But she chose a life of seclusion instead. Occasionally, she would participate in the Hunt—a recurring event during which unattached females open to random encounters would scatter in the woods allowing us males to indulge in our predatory instincts and hunt them down. Unless she specifically refused consent—a choice that had to be honored—the male who caught her would be allowed to have his way with her right there and then.

My mother would always go to the same place and turn down any male unless my father showed up. And thus my sister and I were conceived, five years apart. She gave birth to us in that very pond, and we swam for months as we matured until we reached the shelter where our adoptive Matriarchs and Patriarchs raised us. The year I reunited with my father was also the year I met my birth mother. Six months later, Sister Alanis informed us of her sudden passing due to a brain aneurysm. She slipped and fell, and solidly hurt her head, but declined any medical treatment, thinking she could simply sleep it off.

It broke my heart that I never got to spend much time with her before her death. Over the weeks and months that followed, I would come here to speak with Sister Alanis who would tell me about my mother. Through her, I got to know my mother a little. We maintained a close friendship since. Which made it all the more baffling that communications to and from the traitors would emanate from here.

Nothing skipped Sister Alanis' notice when it came to protecting the peace of the Sanctuary.

"My dear Zerien! What a pleasant surprise to receive this message from you," Sister Alanis said, spreading her arms wide in a maternal fashion.

I walked up to the elder female and embraced her. A wave of tenderness surged through me at her familiar scent, a unique mix of smokiness and fresh herbs. It reminded me of my youth when she would sit me in her lap while telling me tales of the past. She released me and caressed my cheek with a smile. She was sixteen years older than my father. The fins dangling proudly in her back like a long cape marked her as a mature Sarenian.

"It's been too long since your last visit. But do come in. I prepared some tea and your favorite cake!"

I smiled and followed her inside while making small talk. Drade and Naax discreetly surveyed the place before running their mid-to-long range scanners to detect anything suspicious. We settled in the sitting area of the main office. A temperature-controlled tray already awaited us on the low table. After spending a good ten to fifteen minutes catching up, I gradually steered the conversation towards the real topic that brought me here.

"The Sanctuary looks unusually quiet today," I said nonchalantly. "Unless my memory fails, I seem to recall that there was a lot more activity during the day."

She nodded. "You're correct. Our members used to interact a lot more in previous years. But this is not unusual. Often, the longer people are part of this type of congregation, and they grow increasingly confident that they belong here, and the more they start isolating themselves. For many, they force themselves to socialize at first because they've been reprimanded or marginalized in their previous circles for being antisocial."

"I see," I said, sounding dubious even to my own ears.

She gave me an indulgent smile. "The congregation counts many people who are neurodivergent and who crave isolation. You know this. They still socialize from time to time, but in their own time, and on their own terms, when they need it."

She waved at the large windows looking out onto the west side of the Sanctuary. A small bridge led to some of the dwellings carved directly into the mountain face.

"As you've probably noticed, the number of dwellings has increased over the years, both the caves and the small houses," she continued. "As we are mostly self-sufficient, many of our members can spend a lot of time without coming out in public. For safety reasons, everyone is required to signal their presence at least once every ten days to confirm their continued welfare. But it is rare for anyone to wait this long to be seen. Usually, everyone comes out every two or three days to get some food or fresh produce, to join a meditation session, or simply to seek friendly companionship or a partner for the night."

"Have you noticed anything unusual lately in that routine?" I asked.

She appeared taken aback by the question and slightly frowned as she reflected on it, searching her memory. She shook her head.

"No, I can't think of anything special."

"No outsiders or newcomers?" I insisted.

Sister Alanis started shaking her head before stopping and then hesitating. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it newcomers as they are not members of our congregation," she said carefully. "However, we started holding regular kaa sessions in the yard."

"For visitors?" I asked, perking up.

"You could say that. Brother Lindel requested the use of the yard to hold training sessions for the residents of the neighboring villages."

It was my turn to frown. "Why?" I asked, genuinely intrigued.

"Many cannot attend the sessions organized by the Korletheans as they conflict with their respective schedules. And then, there are those who won't," she added sheepishly. "As you know, hatred and resentment for the Korletheans still runs deep among our people. But the teachings they are bringing to us are too valuable not to be shared as widely as possible. The Sanctuary promotes peace in every way. Therefore, we're happy to provide a venue for those people who need even more the blessing of kaa ."

While my suspicions didn't abate, a wave of relief still flooded through me upon hearing that very plausible explanation as to why she would allow potentially dangerous people on her land without her realizing what devious machinations they were up to. But this remained highly speculative on my part. I needed a lot more answers.

"And where does this kaa training take place?" I asked, trying to sound casually curious about it all.

"Right here, in the front yard," she replied.

"That's nice. Have you been participating?"

"Oh no!" she said with a horrified expression that made me chuckle. "There are way too many people there. None of our members take part in it. We just watch from afar."

"How many is too many?" I asked with pretend amusement.

"I never counted, but I would say easily seventy to one-hundred people," Alanis said with a shrug.

My brow shot up. That was a lot more people than I expected.

"Do you know them?"

She shook her head. "No. As I don't mingle with them, I never got to know them. But I would recognize a few faces if I ran into them—not that it would ever be likely to happen," she added with a chuckle.

I gave her an indulgent smile. "I bet. May I ask when the next session is happening?"

"Not before next week. The last one occurred yesterday," she said in an apologetic tone.

"Aaah! That's too bad," I said with genuine disappointment. "Is Lindel here?"

She once again shook her head. "Lindel is among the few who work outside of the Sanctuary. On average, he leaves for approximately five days for work and then returns here for nine days on rotation."

"For nine days?" I echoed, surprised. "What does he do to have such a strange schedule?"

She smiled. "The perfect job for someone like us. He's a beekeeper. He performs inspections and maintenance for every producer in the county. As I understand it, he only needs to visit each one once every two weeks. Therefore, he just travels to each of them in turn over that five-day sprint, then comes home until the next round. But why so many questions? Is Lindel in trouble?" she asked, a sliver of worry slipping into her voice.

"Not at all," I said in a reassuring tone. "I won't lie about the fact that, beyond wanting to see you after all this time, I'm also scouting the land in search of the traitors who are trying to destabilize our society. I merely combined duty and pleasure by coming here. Otherwise, I would have simply sent a couple of guards to perform the investigation."

The grateful and touched smile she gave me confirmed I made the right choice by being candid with her. She was too astute not to realize it wasn't just a friendly visit. She deserved better than for me to insult her intelligence with lies.

"But I'm genuinely curious about what Lindel has instituted here. It is clever. As you know, far too many among our people continue to resist learning the Korletheans' meditation and self-control techniques. Their stubbornness isn't punishing the Korletheans. They're hurting themselves. So I'm definitely interested in what he's doing. If it's as efficient as it sounds, it would be worth looking into expanding it elsewhere."

"Oh! Well then, I'm sure Brother Lindel will be more than delighted to share how he went about setting this whole thing up. He'll be back in four or five days. He usually holds the sessions on Wednesdays or Thursdays."

"Thank you, Sister Alanis. I will try to see if I can free my schedule for it. Both with my impending wedding and coronation, it will likely have to wait until after," I said with a sorry expression.

"Of course! You must be thrilled and nervous about—"

"My Prince," Drade said, interrupting her. "I received a message you will want to see."

My spine immediately tensed. Although he kept what most would deem a neutral expression, I knew Drade well enough to see something bad or fairly serious was happening.

He extended his forearm before me so that I could see the text displayed on the interface.

"What in the…?"

My voice trailed off, and I jumped to my feet.

"Is everything okay?" Sister Alanis asked, her voice thick with worry.

"A situation popped up at the palace. I'm afraid I must take my leave," I replied, the tension I felt audible in my voice.

"Naturally. It was good seeing you again. I hope the matter will be quickly resolved," she replied with sympathy that hid nothing of the concern she still felt.

I quickly embraced her then hurried out of the building.

"What does Alred mean when he says he's waiting outside of my office?" I asked in a harsh tone once we were far enough from the building or any indiscreet ears.

"Alred said you summoned him. But when he came to your office, he obviously found you gone," Drade replied with a concerned expression.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"He's been waiting outside your office for the past thirty minutes before finally realizing that something was off."

"If he left his post for that long, who is with Siona?" I demanded, a sense of dread taking root in the pit of my stomach.

"According to him, Kaelin relieved him of his duty and claimed that I would be taking over in the meantime," Drade said grimly.

"WHAT?!"

Dropping any pretense of stoicism, I broke into a run towards the shuttle. As soon as we were inside, I called Alred and put him on speaker.

"What the fuck is going on?" I asked instead of a greeting.

"I was standing guard outside your dwelling. Kaelin came in with food for your mate prior to their training session. She came back out a few moments later and told me that you had summoned me to your office. When I said I couldn't leave my post, she said Drade was on his way to take over. That it was fine for me to leave right away as she was inside with the Princess. As it came from Kaelin, I had no reason to question her orders."

"Are you sure it was Kaelin?" I asked, my mind reeling.

"Yes, my Prince. There's no question it was her," Alred replied over the com.

"Kaelin would never lie, and especially not about something like this. We need to get to the bottom of this. Go back to my mate at once," I hissed before turning to Drade. "Get us to the palace in all haste."

"My Prince," Drade replied in acknowledgement.

I hung up with Alred and immediately contacted Kaelin. It rang indefinitely without her picking up. The dread I felt cranked up another notch as I called her a second time, and then a third. I nearly lost it when she finally answered. Before I could speak a single word, Kaelin's stressed voice resonated through the com.

"Zee, I can't speak right now. Hurry back to the palace. Siona has been poisoned."

"WHAT?!" I yelled.

"Kaelin, focus!" Jastira's muffled voice shouted in the back.

"Sorry, Zee. I've got to go!"

Kaelin disconnected before I could put in another word. I called her back, but once again she didn't answer. I felt faint with fear for the love of my life. What was her status? What poison was it, and how lethal? How much of it coursed through her system? How the hell did the assassin get to her? And above all, how could this have happened under my own roof?

Too many questions kept firing off in my mind as terror like I'd never experienced before tried to rob me of any rational thinking. After yet another failed attempt at getting Kaelin back on the com, I was going to try to contact my sister—although doubting she would answer—when my own com went off with a call from my father. I couldn't answer fast enough.

"How is she?" I immediately asked the moment the connection was established.

"Siona is fighting," he said, the tension in his voice revealing the situation was as dire as I feared, if not more. "Jastira and Kaelin are doing everything possible to stabilize her. But it's Urixid. The next few hours will be critical. We will not let her die, son."

"Where's Eldrin?" I asked, another wave of fear surging through me as well as shame that it took me so long to think of the boy.

"Eldrin is fine," he said reassuringly. "He's right here, in the other room with Shandar. My guards are standing watch outside."

"Who the fuck did this? I want their blood!" I hissed.

"We don't know yet," he said in a voice laced with frustration and anger. "It's all the more complicated to pin down the assassin as we are trying not to raise the alarm."

"Why the fuck not?! I want everyone out scouring the palace to find them!" I shouted, outraged.

"No, son," he countered in a tone that brooked no argument, leaving me stunned. "Someone who pretended to be Kaelin managed to fool everyone, even our scanners. We cannot let the word out or panic and paranoia will spread. We need to control the narrative, have a better understanding of the situation, and set a plan of action before we go public with this. Your mate nearly got murdered under your own roof days after her arrival. Even if she survives—and we will make sure she does—this will hurt you. We need to do damage control."

"To Gharah with all that nonsense! An assassin—!"

"Zerien, enough!" my father snapped. "Get here, and I'll explain everything. Stay safe, and trust no one."

I wanted to argue and rage, but even through the madness threatening to overtake me, I recognized my father's tone as being final. He wouldn't budge, and as he was still the Emperor, his word was law.

"Don't let her die," I pleaded.

"On my life, son, we won't. Get here," he said in a much softer tone before ending the communication.

The remainder of the fifteen-minute flight at the shuttle's highest speed back to the palace was the longest of my life. Drade took us directly to the private shuttle hangar connected to a secret passage. Alred was standing outside, waiting for me. I wanted to claw his face off for failing my mate, even though from what information I'd been given so far, he could not be held responsible for what occurred. By the shamed and guilty look on his face, he was whipping himself for that failure. Right this instant, I couldn't care less about his woes and self-recriminations.

I would deal with him later.

"This way, my Prince," Alred said in a subdued voice. "They took her to the Infirmary."

I didn't walk but ran, forcing the other males to try and keep up. I snubbed the lift from the underground passage and used the stairs instead. To my relief, the corridor leading to the second Infirmary—the smaller one of the two located within the palace—was completely empty of any staff or visitors. It was mainly reserved for members of the royal family, but occasionally served high-ranking officials and esteemed guests.

I almost barreled through my father's two guards standing in front of the medical clinic. Without hesitation, I rushed towards the main critical care room. I irrupted inside to find Jastira drawing some blood from my mate's arm. Kaelin was standing on the opposite side of the bed, and patting Siona's forehead with a damp cloth.

My father, Eldrin, Dr. Nimue. and Nurse Lara were nowhere to be seen.

In my haste to get by my woman's side, I almost knocked Kaelin out of the way. My blood turned into acid as I took in the state of my soulmate. Her normally luminous skin looked ashen and felt clammy to the touch. Siona's beautiful features were tense, although they didn't display visible pain. Her breathing was labored and slightly whistled.

"Siona!" I called out as I sat at the edge of the bed.

Slipping an arm behind her shoulders and another around her waist, I instinctively drew her into my embrace. She lay limp in my arms, her fluttering eyelids giving a glimpse of her eyes partially rolling back to the back of her head.

A searing pain slashed through my chest as if my heart had been split in half.

"Don't leave me, Siona. You have to fight, my love," I said in a broken voice.

I pressed my lips to her forehead then rested my head on top of hers as I gently rocked her back and forth. The greatest pain I'd ever felt was wrecking me inside. As devastating as our previous breakup had been, the agony I felt then paled in comparison to this. I couldn't lose her and didn't even want to contemplate the possibility of a life without her.

If she died, I doubted I could go on.

Lost in my sorrow, I barely registered the words spoken angrily by my sister. It took the sting of a hypospray in my neck to snap me back to reality.

"What the—?"

"The antidote," Jastira said sternly while discarding the syringe on the medical tray with annoyance. "Avoid kissing her, you fool. There's a high enough concentration of the toxin in her sweat that it could kill you. We've got our hands full enough trying to save her without having to tend to you as well."

I knew that, but I'd been too distraught to think clearly. I opened my mouth to apologize but a question came out instead.

"What's her status?" I asked.

"It's bad," she said, sounding tense as she tapped on the interface of the device monitoring her vitals. "Your mate ingested a great deal of poison. Without Kaelin's quick thinking and prompt reaction, this girl was gone. Frankly, I'm surprised she survived at all."

"But she's going to make it, right?" I insisted.

"On her own? I don't know," my sister replied although she sounded rather dubious. "Your mate is fighting, but I doubt it will be enough. She's young, fit, and was overall in excellent health. It plays in her favor. But Urixid in such an amount rarely forgives."

"There's got to be something more we can do," I said, anger seeping into my voice.

"I've already reached out to the Veredians," Kaelin interjected in a soft voice.

I jerked my head towards her, my chest constricting upon hearing those words even as a wave of relief, affection, and gratitude washed over me. She was my best friend, my staunchest supporter, and my rock in my most difficult times. And now, thanks to her, the love of my life still lived. Kaelin was always on top of things, no matter how crazy and challenging they got, I could always rely on her to think a few steps ahead. There was a reason that, despite what many deemed too young an age, she was the Head of my Council.

"The Veredians? Is it that bad that we should need one of their healers?" I breathed out just as my father was walking into the room.

He approached quietly and squeezed my shoulder in an encouraging fashion.

"Maybe," Kaelin replied with a distressed expression. "Unfortunately, the fastest they can be here is twelve days away. And that's with us meeting them part of the way."

"Then let's leave immediately," I commanded.

"No," Kaelin said firmly. "They won't be able to set a course for Sarenia before at least three days. And we'll know whether their aid is needed within the next forty-eight hours."

"She may not last this long!"

"You're correct," Jastira snapped. "If it comes to that, we'll put her in stasis. Regardless of my opinion of Siona, I'm not going to let her die."

"Jastira!" my father exclaimed in a stern voice.

"No, Father. Some things must be said," Jastira hissed before glaring at me. "I don't care that you're my brother. Our personalities never aligned—not that mine aligns with anyone else for that matter. Your pain is irrelevant to me. The only thing I care about is Sarenia. I don't know if you are the right Emperor to lead us through the Great War. And I especially don't know if she is the right Queen for what lies ahead. I also don't agree with the politics you and Kaelin promote."

Each of her words felt like a dagger in my chest. Although she never made a mystery of her opinions or feelings about me, it still hurt. Despite the total absence of chemistry between us, she remained my older sister. A part of me would always love her.

"But I know both of you love Sarenia and would die for her. Therefore, so long as you continue to selflessly fight for our people, I will stand by you… which means by her as well. For all of our sakes, I hope that Fate truly has a plan for you."

Her gaze shifted from me to my mate, who still remained limp in my arms. An undefinable expression fleeted over her features as she studied Siona's face.

"I thought she was a waste of time and oxygen," Jastira continued pensively as if speaking to herself. "But she has impressed me. Your mate is smart, works hard to learn our ways, and she does possess some powerful connections and friends that can only benefit our people."

I clenched my teeth, infuriated by the purely transactional way she considered my soulmate. I wanted to knock some sense and compassion into Jastira. But she had a completely different way of looking at the world and people in general. I couldn't even hate her for it, as it wasn't malice driving that behavior. Her brain simply worked differently.

"So I will save her, as my oath as a doctor demands it, but also because maybe she is what we need after all," Jastira concluded sternly. "Now release her and let me get back to work if you want her healed."

"Work doing what?" I grumbled, even as I invoked my kaa to rein in the fury his words and callous attitude stirred within me.

"We're trying to confuse the toxin with something else for it to latch onto while we're cleansing her blood and giving her immune system a boost to help her fight on her own," my sister replied distractedly while replacing the IV bag plugged into the back of Siona's right hand.

"For the next forty-eight hours, at least one among the four of us should always be here with her," Kaelin said, clearly attempting to shift the topic to a safer terrain and ease the tension filling the room. "We can do rotations until we know exactly how she's doing and what the next steps must be. In the meantime, you must find that assassin, Zee."

"If that person could so easily impersonate one of us convincingly, we need to start using keywords to confirm our identities," I said with a frown. "I suggest we use the name of Siona's mother."

Kaelin nodded, as did my father and sister. Hope was an appropriate keyword, and what I needed the most right now.