Chapter 31
Neverwylde
“Watch. Dia Mose is about to drop.” He tightened his arms around her as they waited. The blood red moon lifted itself above the tops of the buildings. For several seconds the orb appeared to tremble. Then, suddenly, it fell. Kelen gasped, and he smiled.
“It looked like it was about to land on top of those roofs!” she murmured and glanced back at him. “Will it fall again?”
Kyber shook his head. “No. They only do it once, but they fall every evening.”
“Will each moon do that?”
“Yes. All of them. Do you want to stay and see?”
“Please. We have time.”
He laced his fingers through hers and she lifted his hand to kiss the knuckles. They were alone out here in the amphitheater with the circular benches. The others had gone inside once the suns had gone down.
“You look good in black,” he murmured, nuzzling the back of her head.
“Yeah, well, now we look like a pair,” she half teased.
“And your hair is shorter.”
She couldn’t tell him how it had been sliced away. She couldn’t tell him the extent of the injuries she’d suffered. He didn’t need to hear that. Not yet. Maybe later, when he was ready and well enough to hear the details. Much, much later.
“It’s easier to manage when it’s short,” she remarked. “But I can grow it back out again if you wish.”
“Do what is best for you.” He dropped a kiss to her shoulder. “When do you have to leave?”
Kelen smiled. “We leave when we’re ready.”
“Maybe I should ask how long can you stay? I mean, how long will you be on Seneecia?”
She turned around to face him and tenderly cupped his scarred cheek. Lifting her mouth, she kissed him, and he drew her closer against him. He felt so fragile, no longer the strong muscular warrior he’d been. Yet she was certain that, given time, rest, food, and love, he would recover fully.
When they finally pulled away, Kyber glanced at the sky to see if the second of the four moons had appeared.
“You really don’t know what’s been going on, do you?” she asked him.
“No. They tell me nothing. I have no idea what they will do to me next, or when. I can only pray that you do not become part of my punishment.”
Sniffing, she lovingly brushed her fingertips over his furred face. “Kyber, you have nothing to fear anymore. We’ve won. We’re free to love now. That’s why I’m here. I’m taking you away from Seneecia. Away from them ever torturing you again.”
His one remaining eye stared at her in disbelief. Kelen nodded.
“I have so much to tell you. So much to share with you. But for now, rest assured. We’ll never be apart again.”
“How is that possible?”
“It’s a long story, and we’ll have time later for me to get you caught up on the details. But here are the most important ones. Once we leave here, you can never come back. You know the Triumvirate will keep you incarcerated for the rest of your life if you do.”
“I understand. I would expect as much.”
“When we return to Outpost Delta Six, we are to report immediately to the Arcturus. Are you familiar with that ship?”
His brows knitted slightly. “Is it a science vessel?”
“Yes. A very prestigious one. In fact, it’s the flagship vessel in the science fleet.” She lightly kissed his chin. “We’ve been reassigned to it. You and me, and all the others.”
“The others?”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded. “The Triumvirate has stripped you of your ranking and drummed you out of the space corp. Unfortunately, because I and the others were also found guilty by our courts, we’ve also been demoted and removed from active military duty. But the discovery of Neverwylde has created a whole new future for us. You, Kleesod, Gaveer, and Massapa have been offered positions aboard Arcturus, and so have Jules, Cooter, and the others.” She patted her chest. “That’s what this new uniform signifies. I’m now a crewmember and a secondary pilot.” She gave him a stern face. “Give me a few months, and you’ll see me as primary pilot in that seat.”
Kyber chuckled. The sound of it was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard.
“So I take it Kleesod and the others are already on board this science vessel?”
“No, they’re on Neverwylde, but they have accepted their new commissions. The Arcturus has been ordered to go to the planet for extensive research and examination. It’s going to oversee all the wondrous things that are being discovered. And that’s not all. Colonel Pfeiffer has made arrangements for you to be outfitted with a bionic eye, and they’re going to cap your broken teeth. They’re going to make you well, and maybe even better. It’ll take us a few weeks to reach Neverwylde, but that’ll give you the chance to heal once it’s all done.”
Sighing deeply, Kyber rested his forehead against her hair. Absolute silence surrounded them, until he spoke again. “They broke me.” His voice cracked.
“No. They tried. They defeated you, but they never broke you. They’ll never break you.” She pressed her body harder against his. “A wise man on my world once said, ‘What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.’ You’re going to come out of this stronger and braver, my love. Believe it, because I do.”
His hand caressed her back. “I do believe it…because I have you.” His voice was soft and filled with remembered pain. “I prayed you were well. I prayed you would find happiness in your life. I never thought…I never dared to hope I would ever see you again.
“Every day I awakened and waited to be taken away to be given my final punishment. Every night I wondered what had delayed them. Why I had been spared. And I lay there unable to sleep, until exhaustion took me. Come the next morning, the cycle started all over again.
“During all that time, you were never out of my thoughts. When I lay dying, I clung to my memories of you to help me through the agony. I kept a vision of you in my mind, to ease the torture.”
Tears rolled down her face. Clutching him tighter, she gave him a little shake.
“It’s over, my love. The nightmare is over. Let’s watch the other three gods rise and fall in the sky, then we will say goodbye to Seneecia. It doesn’t want you here. Its people don’t want you here. But I want you. I’ll always want you.”
“You came back for me,” Kyber murmured. His chest hitched.
She raised her face to stare into his. “I’ll always come back to you. Always. You are my Confirmed, and that’s forever, my love. My one. Eelo nok torus nor.”
He gazed down at her, and for the first time that evening, she saw hope in his eye. “Eelo nok torus nor,” he repeated, then bowed his head to kiss her.
They remained outside, wrapped in each other’s embrace, her head resting on his chest, and watched as the other three moons eventually rose and dropped, a phenomenon as unique as the half-planet they would probably spend the rest of their lives exploring. But it didn’t matter. As long as they were together, it didn’t matter where they were stationed.
When the celestial show was over, Kelen helped her husband to the skiff where the driver was still waiting. The man delivered them to the shuttle craft, which carried them back to the Opredo to await the arrival of the ambassadors and guards.
She and Kyber had no recollection of when the others boarded the ship, or when the Opredo left Seneecian space. They didn’t leave their cabin until they rendezvoused with Outpost Delta Six where, together, holding hands, they boarded the Arcturus to be taken to their new home. To their new life.
A life forever filled with love.