Chapter Forty-six

 

Over the next two days, Doc saw the crew one by one, healing old injuries that included lost limbs and eyes. That got Luck a lot of praise on the ship. His wives were treated with the utmost respect by the crew, especially after he started healing people. They all stayed below deck until night fell, but when it was dark, they’d sit on the aftercastle, the crew giving them space. They did find out one interesting thing: Sophia got seasick even from the gentle sway while at dock. Doc was able to help her with that, thankfully, or else she would’ve been miserable.

 

Doc looked up at the night sky— he’d been getting used to the different constellations. Picking out the ones he’d been shown before, he smiled as he held Lia and Sophia. Ayla was sitting in front of him, leaning with her back against his chest. For the time period, they were being vulgar in the extreme, but he didn’t care. Rosa sat beside Lia, her eyes shining faintly.

 

Tomorrow would see their riverboat arrive. Captain Damir had promised to hoist it and get them underway as soon as it was in port. It did mean that two of the normal lifeboats were going to be stored in the hold, but none of the crew had complained.

 

“Doc, I hate to interrupt,” Damir said, coming up onto the aftercastle. “The boatswain just informed me that we have a missing crewmember. The man in question had apparently been making comments about you to his fellows. It wasn’t until he failed to come back at curfew that his absence was noted, and after asking around, that little detail came to light.”

 

Doc exhaled as Ayla got to her feet, followed by the others. Once they were all up, he stood, too. “Nothing to be done about it now, Captain… Do you have a suggestion?”

 

“I’ve already gotten things in motion. I’ll need you to return to your quarters.”

 

“You’re the captain,” Doc said. “I take it we’re pulling out of dock?”

 

“We’re going to anchor away. If we’re not tied up, they’ll have problems reaching us to make trouble.”

 

“We’ll get out of the way, then,” Doc said as he followed his wives off the deck.

 

As they left, Doc heard voices raised to get ropes untied. Another called down to a tug who was just coming in, asking for a tow out. Lips thin, Doc was sure bad news was coming. Things had been too good for the last few days. Even with Luck as his patron, nothing went right all the time.

 

They were almost to their quarters when Doc felt the hand grab his chin and lift it, then the blade across his neck. Falling forward, healing his deeply gashed neck as blood pumped out with each frantic beat of his heart, he was only dimly aware of what happened around him. It’d all happened so fast that he hadn’t realized what was going on in time to trigger a gift.

 

“Die, heretics!”

 

Gunfire erupted in the hallway in the next instant. Screams of anger and pain filled the air. Voices called out in alarm, and running feet thundered toward them.

 

“They attacked us!” Lia snarled. “Find out if they had more allies! You’d better hope he is merciful when he gets back up, for I am not!”

 

“Toss them over and find out who their friends were.”

 

“Bring them to me,” Rosa said, her voice cracking. “I will find out all they know! They hurt him! No, no! Not allowed, not allowed!”

 

“Calm, Rosa,” Lia said, looking at her. “He’s already stopped the bleeding, so he’ll be fine, just as Ayla and Sophia are healing. If not for those rings…”

 

“They hurt him, Lia…” Rosa’s voice was calming, but it started to break again as she kept talking. “It was the church. They must pay. Hurting the Voice is not allowed. Mother will rage… I will rage…”

 

Gasping as he hacked up the blood that’d gotten into his lungs, Doc heaved a few times. He didn’t get to his feet; instead, he shuffled on his hands and knees to Ayla, who was clutching her side. Her wound was healing, but not as quickly as he could do it.

 

The moment he touched Ayla, Rosa had her hands pressed to his head, pushing her energy into him. “Take, Voice. Take, please…” Her voice trembled, and tears fell onto his neck.

 

Doc took her energy, as he’d used a good portion of his own to seal his neck. The wound Ayla had was extremely caustic, but he purged it, then healed her. Ayla kissed him and shifted so Sophia could reach out to him. Her right hand was a mangled mess that she’d been struggling to heal. Doc purged the caustic wound, then rebuilt her hand. He crawled a little more to kiss her when he was done.

 

Rosa pulled him up, then plastered herself to him, kissing him with all the passion she had. That had them both hit the wall, as she wasn’t letting go until Doc gently pressed her. She stepped back, her eyes blazing with green light.

 

“I’m okay, Rosa,” Doc said softly. “We’re all alright now. Calm yourself for me?”

 

Seeing his mind and what he wanted, Rosa lowered her head as she grabbed ahold of her rampaging emotions. “Sorry, Voice… I…!” Her voice broke, unable to contain the horror of what would’ve happened if he’d died.

 

“Doc, we should go to our room,” Lia said, her tone flat.

 

“Yes,” Doc agreed, helping shepherd the others while still holding Rosa, who clung to him as she cried.

 

The moment the door shut, Doc eased Rosa onto a bed, then turned to face Lia. “Lia?”

 

Cold eyes stared into his. “I’m fine, Doc. Just give me a few minutes.”

 

“This is what we’ve talked about?”

 

“Yes. I have to shut down to do what I have to.”

 

“Okay.” Doc trusted her, so he went to sit with Ayla and Sophia, as they’d both started to shake. “Shh… I’ve got you.” He looked across at the other bunk where Rosa sat, watching him. “Rosa, we could use your nectar, sweet dryad. Help soothe our wives, then me, then Lia.”

 

Rosa was standing over Ayla in the next instant, gently tilting the half-elf’s head up so she could kiss her. Ayla grabbed her around the waist as they kissed. She swallowed, but the kiss lingered past that. After a moment, she broke away, shuddered once, and then squeezed Rosa. “Thank you, Rosa…”

 

“You are most welcome, dear one,” Rosa whispered.

 

The same scene was repeated with Sophia. “You’re a treasure to all of us, Rosa. Thank you for helping us again,” Sophia said after her kiss.

 

“I love each of you, just as we all love Doc,” Rosa murmured.

 

The act of doing what Doc told her to, plus the love of the others, helped slowly calm her raging heart. She went to Doc, who was already looking up at her. The kiss with him was calm, but it was also deep, sensual, and contained infinite love as she pressed into him, then straddled him.

 

Ayla and Sophia’s soft laughter finally brought the moment to an end. Doc rested his forehead against Rosa’s so he could only see his precious weed’s brightly glowing eyes. “Good girl, Weed. Lia should be calm now, so help her, too.”

 

“Anything for you, husband,” Rosa replied. The acknowledgment of him being her husband instead of using his name or title was her way of thanking him for the ring that resided next to her core.

 

Lia accepted Rosa into her arms, then attacked the dryad’s lips with her own. She pressed Rosa into the wall, keeping her pinned as their kiss went on and on. Nectar was exchanged, but Lia kept the kiss going. She needed to feel emotion, and Rosa was pliant and very willing to assist her.

 

Doc’s hands on Ayla’s and Sophia’s thighs kept them from speaking or laughing. They just cuddled up to him as their wives exchanged a passionate kiss.

 

After a few minutes, Lia leaned back, staring into Rosa’s eyes. “I know what you felt, Rosa, at least a fragment of it, because I’ve felt it before. We cannot give in to the rage. We have to contain it. Doc would not want us to lose control.”

 

Rosa swallowed. She knew that Lia was right, but her emotions were barely calm again. “I will try, but he is my world, beyond what he is doing for Mother. His pain hurts my core. If he dies… so will I. My core will fracture, and I will not be me. That cannot be changed. I tied myself to him, and he tied me to him. If I die, I can be regrown with Mother’s help, but if he dies… I cannot. His gift will help him survive a single death, but even that will strain me. He didn’t even die this time, and I was going to tear apart the ship to find any who helped with the attack.”

 

“We’ll do all we can to help you. You being lost to madness will hurt him.”

 

Doc got up, going over to the pair. He put an arm around each of them, forming a triangle. “It would, but emotions aren’t rational. I’d feel the same way if anything happened to any of you.”

 

Sophia shifted on the bed, thinking back to the dwarven words that Sonya had found. None of them had told him about them— the last thing she wanted was Doc to be the good man who went to war. If he did, it would mean that one of them had died. Doc missed it, though, as he was speaking with the other two. Ayla had seen it, and she took Sophia’s hand in hers, knowing that same fear.

 

“Do the best you can for you, our family, and for me,” Doc murmured. “That’s all we’ll ever ask, just like we give Lia space to come back to herself, then help her.”

 

“Yes, Doc…” Rosa murmured, then stepped back, gently pushing Doc into Lia’s arms. “She needs more help.”

 

Lia laughed lightly. She was mostly fine, but she wouldn’t turn down the kiss she wanted. Doc smiled as he kissed her, and Lia was just as happy to claim her husband’s lips. Soft and slow, their kiss was different from most of their normal ones, but it was all the sweeter for it.