Page 14 of Tavarr's Mate
“No. To see Vonn’s head. Imustsee it. I need to know he’s really de-dead.” My voice cracks over the last word. I must confirm Vonn is truly gone from this world.
“I’ll, um, ask Master Zandek to arrange for you to see Vonn’s head when he returns home, honey,” she replies hesitantly. “All right?”
I release a deep breath. “All right. But I must see it as soon as possible. I-I need to make sure this isn’t a trick, and I must be sure I’m not dreaming.” I pinch myself hard under the covers, but I don’t wake up. Not that it’s proof all of this is real.
If I see Vonn’s head on a stake and smell the stench of his death though, I might believe he’s really gone. I might believe I’ve been rescued from my tormenter. I might believe this nightmare has come to an end.
“Wait. Where is the Ghessan servant from Vonn’s household? Zell?”
Joanna smiles. “He’s downstairs. Would you like to see him? Ghessans aren’t supposed to interact with females who aren’t slaves themselves, but I suppose if you know his name, you’re already past that. Zandek has left you in my care while he’s gone to the market, and I doubt he will object.” She rises to her feet and pats my arm again. “I’ll return soon, honey. Don’t fall back asleep.”
She departs the room and I immediately crawl out of bed. I stumble to the window on weak, shaky legs, barely cognizant of the tubes that are attached to my arms. A pole containing several bags of fluid follows me as I walk to the window.
The bright afternoon sun, larger than the sun of Earth, beams down upon the mountain. The vegetation of the nearby forest is green and beautiful, with colorful flowering trees and plants. Waves lap at the white sandy shore, and further down the coast rests a busy dock, where dozens of Kleaxians are hauling nets of fish and other lake creatures out of boats. On the horizon beyond a faraway mountain range, I spy the twin moons, white and faded but still large during the daytime.
But when I look down into the street below, I see a large splotch of red on the stones. My stomach flips. Though I have no way of knowing for certain, I think it’s blood.
Does it belong to Vonn?
Please let it be true. Please let my nightmare be over.
Chapter Seven
All Joanna has told you is true, Katrina.
Zell is rubbing my hand, and his eyes are filled with tears. I believe him. How can I not? He came to me during the darkest time in my life and snuck me food and water through the bars of my cage. He promised to seek help from the neighbors if Vonn harmed me too badly. My memories are clouded, but it seems that time came to pass.
“What happened? Tell me everything, Zell. Please, I must know.”
Very well.He pauses and blinks back tears before continuing.
I heard your screams, and I crawled up the side of the house to see what Vonn was doing to you. He kicked you until you were unconscious, tied a cord around your neck and tried to make you stand up, and when you wouldn’t move for him, he proceeded to beat you bloody with a whip.
For the briefest moment, I see a flash of Vonn standing over my bloody crumpled form, as if from Zell’s viewpoint outside the window. I gasp, but as quickly as the image appears in my mind, it fades to black.
Forgive me. I did not mean to show you that.
Zell continues speaking in my head, without any accompanying visions this time.
I sought help at the household next door, and Zandek, the Kleaxian who lives here, stopped Vonn from killing you.He carried you here and called for a doctor, and Joanna alerted Prince Kenan, the protector of this mountain, to your predicament.
Prince Kenan visited you and spoke with the doctor, and once it became clear that your injuries were indeed life threatening, the prince tracked down Vonn and brought him into the village square to face justice. He decreed Vonn guilty and sentenced him to execution.
The entire village came to watch, and though Vonn tried to escape, Prince Kenan bested him and slashed him up with a sword, eventually beheading him.
Vonn’s gone. He’s dead. Joanna speaks the truth. He can’t hurt you anymore.
I’m quiet for several minutes as I take in all Zell’s said. I believe every word, and I no longer feel the need to glimpse Vonn’s head on a stake. The pale alien’s face is calm, his eyes glimmering with honesty. I realize I don’t know him well—we’d only had a few interactions—but I don’t feel he’s capable of deception. I’m usually good at reading people, unless I’m blinded by infatuation, as I was with Harry.
“So Vonn is dead and I’m in a house owned by a Kleaxian named Zandek, who is mated to a human woman named Helena?”
Yes, Katrina. That is correct.
“I don’t feel as if I’ve been whipped. In fact, I feel remarkably well.” I shift in the bed and peer at my body under the covers. I’m wearing a thin white nightgown that leaves much of my skin exposed, and a gasp leaves me when I only spot a few bruises, all of them faded to yellow. The last time I’d looked at my ribcage, it had been covered in dark angry contusions from Vonn’s kicks. My arms and legs hadn’t appeared much better either.
The doctor has healed you. You are hooked up to a mechanism that feeds you pain medication and fluids, in the case that your internal injuries are still paining you. The prince insisted you be kept comfortable.
“I didn’t know the Kleaxians had royalty.” Harry had told me enough about the aliens that I knew they mated for life, that humans and Kleaxians were sexually compatible, and that they kept slaves, but I don’t know many further details about their culture.
