Skolian Empire 10 - The Quantum Rose by Asaro Catherine

Author:Asaro, Catherine [Asaro, Catherine]
Format: epub
Published: 2005-01-03T00:30:35+00:00

VII: Above The Sky

Integration

"Water sprite, wake up."

Kamoj moved, then groaned. It felt like pins and thornbats prickled her legs, where she had folded them under her body. She didn't remember sliding out from under Vyrl, but she was sitting next to him now, her hands tucked between her knees. Moonlight poured over the bed.

Vyrl lay watching her. "I need you to do something for me."

She smiled, imagining his hands on her body. "Anything."

"In the second drawer of my desk. There's a bottle I need."

Her good mood vanished. "You don't need that."

"I can't sleep."

"Dazza could give you-"

"No!"

"But-"

"I don't need Dazza's damn sedatives."

"I can't get you the bottle."

His voice hardened. "Why not? You have two legs. You can walk the ten steps it would take to reach the desk."

"The rum hurts you."

"After two days you claim to know me well enough to dictate what is and isn't good for me?"

"Vyrl, no. That's not what I meant."

"Then get it for me." His voice gentled. "Just for tonight. To help me sleep."

"I can't. I-I'm sorry."

His gentleness disappeared. "Then get out of my bed."

"But I-"

"Get out."

Stunned, Kamoj slid off the bed and ran across the room, her bare feet slapping the stone. Inside her chamber, she dropped onto her own bed. Moonlight shone through the window, creating a swath of pale colors across the floor.

A grunt came from the master bedroom, followed by the rustle of blankets. Kamoj froze, listening.

A gasp, labored but brief.

Silence.

Was he having trouble breathing? It was hard to believe he had suffered a collapsed lung only this afternoon. She started to get up, then hesitated. Get out, he had said. If she walked in and he was fine, she would look like a fool.

The crash of shattering glass broke the silence. She jumped up and ran into his bedroom.

Vyrl was kneeling by his desk, wearing only his sleep pants, his chest bare, except for the bandages, his arms wrapped around his body. Shards of broken glass covered the floor, glinting in the moonlight. A pool of rum was spreading under the desk.

Kamoj went over and knelt in front of him. Up this close she saw tears on his cheeks, just as she had seen them last night after his nightmare. She wondered if his waking helped at all or if his night terrors recognized no boundaries between sleep and reality.

Stretching out his arm, he pulled a strand of her hair away from her lips. "Touch me, Kamoj. Let me feel you. See you. Smell you."

She reached for him. "Always. Whenever you want."

Instead of responding, he grabbed the desk and pulled himself to his feet. The window above the desk looked south, over the Lower Sky Hills that fell away to the plains. Staring out at the mountains, he spoke in a distant voice. "I've a younger brother. Kelric."

She stood up, trying to understand his mood. "A little brother?"

"Little?" He gave a short laugh. "He's huge. Joined ISC."

"Is he here now?"

"No. The war took him away."

Kamoj lifted her hand, meaning to touch him, to offer comfort.

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