“Say...” The strange man’s slurred reply echoed the woman’s last word. One of his hands rose and touched her cheek.
“No, it can’t be.” Renato suddenly pushed passed me and stumbled to the stranger’s side. Pulling back the hood, he uncovered a slightly familiar bearded face. “Blan. Oh goddess, what have they done to you.”
The woman looked up at Renato in shock. Blan lifted a blank face to regard his brother without recognition in his blurry eyes.
“You know him? You know my husband, Nemo?” the woman asked.
“Husband?” My assistant’s ashen face grew even whiter.
“Sit down, before you pass out,” I ordered. The young woman sank into a nearby chair and brought her hands to her face. Renato fell into the seat next to Blan and did likewise. Stepping into the room, I signaled to the defenders that it was safe. The leader frowned at me, but when I insisted. He retreated but only a short distance.
“What is happening?” the woman asked. “I don’t understand what is going on. Please tell me.” She rose and caught my arm. “Please.”
“Sit down,” I instructed, “and I will tell you all you need to know. I assume your name is Donata.”
She frowned up at me. “That is what Nemo calls me when we are alone. He made me promise to never tell anyone else though. How do you know it?”
“I will explain everything, but I am going to begin with Nemo. His real name is Blandone Ilar and this man,” I gestured to Renato, who was just beginning to regain his color, “is his younger brother, Renato.” And so began a three hour explanation. The healers arrived sooner than that, but Donata would let no one near her husband until she was completely satisfied that they weren’t going to hurt him.
“He protected me from them,” she said as she stroked a loving hand over Blan’s head, pushing back the shaggy hair that fell in his eyes as they stared into nothingness. “For weeks before we left he grew increasingly agitated, uncomfortable. He stopped sleeping well at night and he would wake me with his tossing and turning. Then I discovered that I was pregnant.”
Renato, who was sitting in the corner watching her every move, opened his mouth to speak, but I stalled him. “How did Nemo...”
She turned to look at me. “If his name is Blan, then call him that. I like it better anyway.”
I nodded. “How did Blan take the news?” I pushed away the memory that Blan had said that he had no intention of getting his wife pregnant. Right now I needed to get the facts, anything that would help with his recovery.
“He grew angry. I had never seen him angry before. He didn’t yell or throw things, but I saw it in his eyes. I hid in our bedroom, but he followed me, suddenly calm. That frightened me even more. He told me to pack our things. We were leaving. He had something he had to do before we left, but he would be right back.” Tears filled her eyes. “He didn’t come home that night. I went to the elders and asked after him. They told me that he was working with them on a special project. Then a week later, they brought him back. He was as he is now. He didn’t recognize me, but he would follow my commands if I kept telling him what to do.
“Can you help him?” she asked suddenly. “Please. If anyone can help, I know you can. Please tell me that I am going to get my husband back.”
My heart ached as I looked down into her dark pleading eyes. I could not promise what she wanted. As much as I wished that I could, I knew that there was no guarantee. From my observations of the past three hours, Blandone’s previous memories and personality might be permanently gone, ripped from his mind by the Elitist Elders. I did detect a flicker of life within his thoughts. It gave me hope, but it was so weak that I was afraid to pass that hope on to his wife and Renato.
“With time and patience, we might be able to touch those parts of him that the Elitists didn’t strip, but I cannot promise even that. I can promise that we will do all we can.”
Donata rose and then knelt before her husband. Placing a small hand on each side of his face, she directed his gaze to her. Blan lifted his own hand and touched her hair, burying the fingers between the strands of golden brown. “You need to go with these men now,” she said.
I rose and opened the door to tell the healers that we were ready for them. As the dark red robed healers passed me into the room, I cornered the leader of the defenders that still stood in the corridor.
“The man is a friend. The healers will take care of him, but I need you to take care of his wife. Her name is Donata and she has been through a very traumatic experience. Find her clothes and food and then bring her back to the healers’ for examination.”
“Are you sure they are safe?” he asked.
“As sure as I can be under the circumstances.”
He wasn’t happy with the answer, but he obediently turned and began giving orders.
“Hadrian.” Renato appeared at my side. “I want to stay with her. She is fragile and needs someone to help her and answer her questions.” Renato’s golden eyes were a troubled brown, but there were lines of determination about his mouth. “I am family after all and she is carrying his child.”
I nodded my understanding. “I need time to think anyway. Go and help her as you can. Just be cautious.”
“You don’t think that she is dangerous, do you?”
I watched as she emerged from the room on the arm of a defender. “I don’t think so, but that
