Ilisa saluted. “Yes, Commander. Confirmed. I will consider the assignment carefully and have the names to you shortly for your approval.”
“Good.” I looked out to the oceans through the control room’s mock window video screen. While it could be that Cartari was blowing off steam with a girl, it was more likely that he had been captured somehow. I had a bad feeling about it…
Come on, Cartari… Get on that comm and tell me you’re okay…
One more day. I would give him one more day. Then I was sending troops after him.
Five
Zaya
The comforting heat of flames wavered against my skin, the soft fur of an animal’s coat flickered its strands against my cheeks with a rush of wind as a chill swept in from an open door. I struggled to open my eyes. Cartari, the charzbos, was standing in the doorway, framed by whipping wind, moonlight, and soft flakes of flurried snow. His silhouette shook, freeing himself from the cold and snow, stepping into the cabin and shutting the door with a huff.
The warmth welled in the cabin and he turned to me, his face glowing red as the fire to my left illuminated his gorgeous, freckled, Curan face.
We are a team… I will follow you… I will stay with you… The words came unbidden to my mind, but were a comfort, a soothing litany, as if they were the most important words I could think, the words of safety and security that defined my world. Where did they come from…?
I reached my hand out to him, as if my own will didn’t control it. The charzbos unsheathed his hands from his leather gloves, then took my hand and held it in his, rubbing it softly, warming the chill from my fingers.
The charzbos placed his hand on my brow, feeling first my forehead, then my cheeks, then my neck. His hand was cool, sending a shiver down my spine. He placed a cloth on my forehead.
“Keep this on your head, okay?”
The cloth smelled faintly like lavender, peppermint, and cloistin oil. What was the cloistin for? Was I sick? What had happened?
I struggled to sit up. He pushed me gently back into my fur comforter, which I realized was really just a black and red cloak and a mound of towels.
“You have to lay back and sleep, Zaya. Rest your brain.”
“We are a team… I trust you. I will stay with you.” The words sounded foreign, coming to my lips, but as if spoken by someone else. I shook my head, holding my temples tight in my hand, warning bells ringing, my chest tightening, my eyes swirling with tears, as I fought the sensation of something else in my brain, something from the outside… Something not me.
“You’re okay, Zaya.” Cartari sat down next to me and gripped my shoulders, soothing my hair gently. “You are safe with me. We are safe from the storm in here. We will head north once you’re feeling better. I have to meet with a man there.”
I looked at him sharply, tears choking my throat, flung from my eyes, my fingernails raking his arms. “No! Don’t take me to him! I’m trusting you!”
My head was suddenly filled with a gentle push of tenderness and I was soothed. I lay back down in the robes and relaxed. “Don’t take me to him… I’m safe with you… We are a team. I escaped from him… I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to go back. I trust you.”
“Don’t worry, Zaya. I won’t take you back to whoever you’re running from. You just stay with me. I will keep you safe.”
Cartari placed his hand on my forehead and I relaxed into heavy breathing, the fur rubbing my cheeks, the flames hot and sweet on my skin, and I slipped into a dream where I imagined his kiss on my lips and his body pressing into mine. His hands tangled in my hair, his words whispered into my ear, soothing me, enchanting me into the deepest dreams of desire. I shifted in the fur cloak and imagined his hands roaming down my body, memorizing my curves, fingertips tracing the way my nipples pressed into perfect peaks when he teased them, pinching them, exploring as he traced a line down my stomach with roving kisses, fingertips clutching at my clothes. His hands were sure and strong, inviting...
I drifted into a delirious sleep. The charzbos was sweet and safe and mine. He was on my team. He would keep me safe.
Six
Cartari
We were fortunate to stumble upon the little cabin just as the storm’s gale really broke loose. The wind had begun to rip through my coat, so I was sure it was tearing through the thinner lining of Zaya’s royal cloak, even though the mind-controlled daze she still appeared to lost in hid any recognition of cold, pain, or fear.
The cabin was tucked back in a redwoods grove, swamped in snow, and was well built, heavily insulated, solid chinking, with a small woodshed right beside it that held not only an ample supply of dry wood for the fireplace, but some preserved fruit and vegetables to add to the supplies I had bought in the market. We were set for food for a few days, at least. There was an even larger shed further back, but I decided to leave that to explore once the storm had settled.
I positioned Zaya next to the fireplace, covering her with the cloak and making her comfy on every towel and blanket I could find in the cabin which appeared to not have been visited in quite a while, and built a roaring fire. She was in a delirious
