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Darcy was hot. Burning. Sweat dripped from her body and the sheet beneath her was damp and uncomfortable. Moans broke through her clamped lips as someone smoothed a hand over her hair. “Easy, Darcy. Relax.”
Who could relax like this? It was stuffy and she couldn’t breathe. Not only that, her mouth was dry and swallowing was difficult. Darcy tried to turn on her side. “Too sticky.”
Blazing fire lashed down her spine the moment she rolled to her back. Darcy screamed and arched up. Every inch of her skin felt shredded. “Please, help. Hurt.”
Hands grasped at her shoulder and waist, turning her back to her front. Tears ran down her cheeks and Darcy took gasping breaths to ease the pain. Nothing worked. Someone had poured acid on her. Who would do that to her?
“You have a fever.”
Had she spoken aloud?
The feminine voice continued, “Amia is going to ask Garmon again if he will summon a medic. He claims Tseju acted appropriately.”
Tseju. Her heart sped up and drummed against her chest. “No. Don’t...”
She didn’t want Tseju near her. There was something...something to remember. Her back. A whip. Darcy inhaled sharply and opened her eyes. They stuck together and itched.
“Shhh.”
A wet cloth dabbed at her eyes and she was able to blink them open. Cecilee sat beside her. Darcy gazed around. They were in Nikol’s alcove. She swallowed. “Tseju whipped me.”
The admission came out hoarse and broken. Cecilee blinked back tears. “He took you for punishment. I don’t know why. He and Garmon wouldn’t say.”
Punishment. This was what Marenians considered appropriate punishment for disobedient women. Slaves. Never did Darcy think she’d reflect on the day Nikol spanked her with gratitude. Right now, everything hurt.
“What’s wrong with me?” Weren’t they supposed to have good medical here? Or was suffering part of the punishment?
Darcy tipped her head to the side and pressed her face into the pillow, catching a lingering hint of Nikol’s scent. Why wasn’t he here? “Nikol. I want Nikol.”
Cecilee sniffed and swiped at her eyes. “He has not returned yet. Tseju will not comm him. Dain is off world and Garmon refuses to help.”
Darcy slumped further into the sheets. Another voice spoke. Amia? “I asked Garmon to get a medic. This is not right. Something is wrong with her.”
“What did he say?” Cecilee asked.
“He said no. He believes we seek to trick him in order for Darcy to retaliate”
***
Cecilee soothed Darcy until she returned to sleep then stood. She squeezed Amia’s hand, the worry in her gaze similar to the panic flaring in her gut. They could not let anything happen to Darcy. Her death would devastate Nikol when he came back. For too many years the young master had stood up for them and kept them safe. They owed him the same care for this young tutanis.
It was all he’d asked back then and they’d promised. Gathering her courage, Cecilee stormed to the door and yanked it open. Tseju’s guilty gaze clashed with hers. She wasn’t sure what had happened but he was responsible for the condition of the Earth woman who was like a daughter to her. Her hands clenched. “We need a medic.”
“That will not be possible,” Garmon said with a stern glance. “Nikol is particular about any contact with the medics without his presence.”
Cecilee tightened her lips. This was true but only because Crox had been known to overstep and touch them liberally during exams when they had been in Lothar’s kitse, not to mention other atrocities. Cecilee turned to Tseju. “There is a strong chance she may die. We don’t know much about her people but it’s obvious she was not made to withstand a punishment.”
Tseju looked on the verge of giving in. His fear and worry were palpable.
Garmon scowled. “We will wait for Nikol’s return. Only he can give us approval to act.”
“It might be too late!” she snapped, losing her decorum for the first time.
“We wait,” Garmon said again.
Failure was a bitter taste in her mouth as Cecilee returned to Darcy’s moaning side.
***
As expected, Renik was pleased to see Nikol and demanded he stay and spend time with him. When Renik opened the gift from Lothar, he grimaced and passed it to a nearby servant with a flick of his wrist. There was no conversation about his brother or his constant actions in opposition of the Majad’s wishes and Nikol didn’t press the issue.
Normally he would have enjoyed a visit to the palace but Nikol was eager to return home for one reason only. Darcy. Being with her filled a need he couldn’t describe. His uncle begged him to stay longer.
The strain of missing Darcy decided for him. “I can’t.”
Two days at the Majad palace were two too many away from his astéri. By the time Nikol left, he was consumed with worry for Darcy. His Earth woman could get into trouble without looking and he had a nagging sensation something was wrong. He wanted to comm his guards to check on her but Nikol didn’t want to risk it.
As he strode through the halls of his home, he patted his pocket containing the jeweled necklace he’d been given. It was a coveted piece the Majad’s First Placement, Massi, wanted him to have when he had mentioned selecting a First Placement of his own. Both were thrilled at the prospect of Nikol finally settling down. He didn’t have the heart to explain it was a protective measure more than anything. The thought of calling this feeling love terrified him.
When he arrived at the entrance to his suite, Tseju avoided his gaze with an abrupt nod and Garmon’s expression remained neutral. Nikol’s steps slowed. Had something happened? “Did anyone come in while I was away?”
“No,” they answered in unison.
Nikol hesitated, then entered. The mood in his suite was somber. All of the women stood around the fountain and wouldn’t meet his gaze.
He looked beyond the bowed heads of Amia, Tashire, Stasia and Cecilee. No Darcy. Was she mad at him for some reason? He’d left her with warm kisses and a wicked gleam in her eyes that morning and nothing had been amiss.
He shifted his path around the tutanis with the intent to search out Darcy. If he had to cajole her about being gone longer than he’d planned, he was willing to do so and much more. He was willing to do a lot for her soft smiles and the feelings she pulled from him.
Cecilee stood in front of him, blocking his path and the first sliver of fear teased at the edges of his mind. Thoughts of Darcy attempting to escape again and being foiled by Lothar took root. “Where is she?”
“In your bed,” Cecilee said.
Then she was unharmed. He exhaled softly. Perhaps it wasn’t anger that kept Darcy from greeting him but her eagerness to wait for him in the way she thought he’d best enjoy. He stepped around Cecilee and her steps raced after him. “Nikol, wait! She—”
Nikol pulled back the curtain of his alcove. And froze. He couldn’t draw a breath.
His astéri.
Darcy was in his bed but it wasn’t joy Nikol felt upon seeing her. Shock gave way to anger. Nikol stormed to the side of his bed. Rage filled his veins as he stared at Darcy’s destroyed back. The slim graceful line he’d licked the night before leaving was covered in thin welts.
“Who dared?” He knew whip marks when he saw them. Darcy’s face was turned in his direction and even in rest agony creased her red brows. His heart splintered into a thousand pieces as he dropped to one knee and feathered his fingers over her hair, scared to touch her. It took several tries to clear his throat. “Astéri?”
Darcy opened glazed blue eyes. “Nikol.”
Clasping one of her hands between the two of his, he kissed her knuckles. “I will fix this.”
“I hurt.” A single tear rolled down her cheek.
He fought the urge to crush her to him. “Who did this to you, Darcy?”
There was no answer. Her eyes closed and she drifted back to sleep. They would pay. Whoever did this would pay with their life. The pain she felt was nothing compared to what he planned to do. “Get a medic to heal her! Now!”
“I will have one sent for,” Cecilee rushed to say. Then refusing to abandon her position, she yelled. “Amia, tell Tseju Nikol demands a medic. Now.”
Tseju. The door guard Nikol sensed had a soft spot for Darcy. He’d trusted him to see to her care. How had this happen? Why had no one treated her before now?
Nikol shook his head in disbelief. This—this was inexcusable. He set Darcy’s hand back down on the covers and eyed Cecilee, hovering in the archway. She was the one who’d suggested the title of First Placement to protect Darcy while he was gone and yet this had happened with all of them around.
Working to calm himself, Nikol had to take the blame for this. Why hadn’t he forced Lothar to act sooner? Instead, he’d rushed off to run one of his trivial errands and this was what happened in his absence.
“How did this happen?” If her injuries came from the hands of his father, Nikol would destroy every single person connected to allowing it to happen.
“Tseju,” Cecilee whispered in a voice soaked with remorse.
Nikol lurched to his feet. “I will kill him.”