Exigency
Everything had settled down into a comfortable routine.
I'd moved back into the royal suite and resumed life with Vejiita. Our relationship had changed a little: it was almost as though now he knew he'd have an heir he could relax, as if he'd done his duty and could enjoy himself. He was certainly rather more easy-going than before - which made a lot of people very uneasy, suspicious of such uncharacteristic behaviour from their King. I'd managed to push my desire for Radittsu to the back of my mind, refusing to think about it, almost managing to convince myself that I'd imagined it, that I was perfectly happy with things as they were - although the dreams I had when I slept alone proved that to be a lie...
The twins' pregnancies progressed without problem: the sisters themselves were - in the main - well-behaved. (In fact, they'd even apologised to Radittsu for hurting him, which left both him and me gaping in shock!) Sheftali mostly ignored me, although she managed to be more or less civil when we did speak. Most of my contact was with Kayusu, who, I was forced to admit, wasn't too bad when away from her sister. Zh'anah remained as their guard, for which many members of the Elite Guard were profoundly grateful.
In the mornings I trained with Radittsu, or occasionally another of the Guard if he was busy, while Vejiita sparred with Zha'haabron: in the afternoons I usually spent time on diplomatic corps work and the odd few hours with the twins when required. There was the occasional reception for visiting nobles or aliens, most of which I now attended: I didn't want a repeat of the Anzu situation! Vejiita had the usual number of meetings, conferences and official duties to attend to, none of which, to my continued annoyance, involved me. Zha'geekaan's coronation as High King had been set for the R'ren'nkh'ian festival of Taarn, which fell just after our own high summer: Vejiita, several resident nobles including Anzu, Zha'haabron and Radittsu, the Elite Guard, and senior members of the diplomatic corps were to attend. I'd wanted to go myself, but Vejiita had pointed out - he rarely ordered me to do anything any more - that my duty lay with the twins, who would be close to giving birth around that time.
And Zha'haabron and Radittsu grew even closer, and daily sparring with Vejiita pushed the prince's ki even higher, until I wondered if he might actually be able to defeat the King...
Radittsu had some Guard business to attend to, so we'd cancelled the morning's training and I was in the Library, in discussion with a couple of Thinkers over some obscure Tsufuru-jin references I'd found in a very old book, when Zh'leet found me. She looked anxious.
"May we speak?"
I ushered her into one of the small study rooms, closed the door firmly and turned to her.
"What's wrong?"
"Zha'haabron's hosting is no longer proceeding normally."
I frowned. "Go on."
"I have said nothing to either of them, but he is too small. I should be able to feel an empathic echo of the hostlings by now, and I cannot. And I'm sure he's in pain - though he denies it if I ask."
"How long have you been worried?"
"Not long. Given the variable nature of hostings there was no reason to be concerned until five or six days ago. But now..." She shook her head. "I need to examine him thoroughly."
"What do you want me to do?"
"It would be helpful if you or the King would reinforce my request for the procedure. The Ssii'irin can be very stubborn, and he does not like medical examinations. Do you know where he is?"
"He'll be sparring with Vejiita. Do you want me to collect him?"
"We can wait until they've finished their session - no reason to annoy him any more than necessary."
I nodded. "Hai. I'll get over to the arena now - I'm not doing anything important, and I've wanted to see how he compares to Vejiita for some time."
"Very well. I'll be in the suite: perhaps you could request that he join me afterwards? The sooner this is done the better."
I slipped quietly into the arena, not wanting to distract them. The bout they were engaged in right now was so fast and furious I could barely follow it, only gaining a confused impression of blurring shapes in shades of blue and green and gold and black, shimmering defensive ki auras and the perfectly controlled flashes of precise ki attacks. And there was no perceivable difference in their ki levels!
Well, that would really piss Vejiita off.
Then I froze as they suddenly stopped and backed off from each other. Zha'haabron was quite obviously in pain. A lot of pain. Doubled over clutching his stomach, his teeth gritted, his eyes screwed shut. I dived to his side, managing to break his fall as he dropped from the air, and looked up at Vejiita, who was staring at him disbelievingly.
"What happened? Where did you hit him?"
The King raised his hands, helplessly.
"I aimed for left shoulder. He blocked with his forearm."
"You sure?"
Annoyance replaced the dismayed expression on his face as he landed. "Of course I'm sure!"
I nodded, turning back to the prince as Radittsu hurtled into the arena and landed next to his bondmate, kneeling to hold his shuddering body close. Worry clear on his face, he glanced at Vejiita then looked at me.
"What happened?"
I shook my head. "I don't know - he blocked a punch to the shoulder and just collapsed."
He gathered Zha'haabron into his arms and rose to his feet, turning to the King.
"I'm sorry, sire. I think you'll have to cut the session short."
Vejiita nodded. "Have him checked over. Let me know the result."
Ah, good - that had the sound of a direct order. Well, that should keep Zh'leet happy...
Radittsu bowed his head briefly and took off, heading for their quarters. The King turned to me, scowling.
"That's the second time. If this continues I'll have to stop sparring with him."
"This happened before?" I hadn't known about that. I'll bet Radittsu hadn't either. Vejiita nodded.
"The first time he recovered after a few minutes, but it spoiled the flow of the session."
I frowned. "And you're sure you're not hitting his abdomen?"
He snorted. "I've had to listen to you and Radittsu nagging me altogether too often to forget not to!"
I planted my hands on my hips. "You know, compassion is a useful virtue in a King. Sire."
He smirked at me. "Who ever said I was virtuous?"
I sighed. "Vejiita, please. I know you're a selfish bastard at times, and I know you're annoyed you have to lose your sparring partner for a while, but can't you just be a little nicer to them both? After all, it's your fault he's in this condition."
His eyes twinkled. "I never touched him!"
I gave him my best glare. "Ooooh!! You know what I mean...."
"I do. I also note your opinion of me. 'Selfish bastard' is not the usual form of address for royalty."
"Uh - sorry." I scowled. "It's true, though. Sometimes. Sire."
"It pleases me that you are sufficiently at ease with me to rebuke me. But don't push your luck. Especially" he glanced around the entirely empty arena, "in public." He pulled me close and kissed me, his eyes gleaming, his tail twining around mine as I gasped. "I'm free until mid-afternoon. Let's take a bath..."
Radittsu laid the prince down on their bed as Zh'leet hurried into the room: Zha'haabron rolled to his side and curled around himself, gasping in pain, his arms wrapped around his abdomen. Radittsu knelt behind him, strong hands splayed against his lower back, thumbs pressing hard and rhythmically on either side of his spine as Zh'leet pressed a monitor to the side of his neck, frowning at the reading it gave. She glanced up at the Saiyan.
"Get him undressed."
Radittsu carefully tore the bodysuit from the prince's body. Zh'leet laid a hand against his face.
"Ssii'irin? You have to lie on your back for a moment."
Zha'haabron nodded and twisted slightly: Radittsu shifted to rest his bondmate's head in his lap, stroking his face gently as Zh'leet probed across his abdomen. The prince whimpered and involuntarily tried to move away from her questing hands: Radittsu held him still, watching the ko'ish'n, his expression anxious. Finally Zh'leet parted Zha'haabron's legs and gently slid two fingers into him, the other hand pressing down firmly on his groin: he gripped his bondmate's wrists with bruising strength and froze, his face a mask of pain. Zh'leet pulled out and allowed him to roll onto his side again, curled up, panting harshly. Radittsu gazed at her frowning face, alarmed and fearful, his hands massaging the prince's shoulders.
"There's something wrong, isn't there? You aren't going to tell me that this much pain is normal!"
"No I'm not."
"So what's wrong?"
"He has an extensive pelvic infection: I assume it's the result of the damage Dhr'ovaanon caused - though why it's only just appeared I don't know. Maybe he was fighting it, and his lowered metabolism can't cope any more. It's painful but not too serious - not yet anyway - though I wish we'd been able to catch it earlier. It's treatable. I'm more concerned about the hostlings. He should be larger by now."
Radittsu had wondered about that himself. It had been exactly ninety days since Dhr'ovaanon had raped him: Zh'leet had estimated that this particular hosting should only last around two hundred days, but Zha'haabron's belly was almost as flat as ever, with only the slightest distension to show he was pregnant.
The ko'ish'n touched the prince's face gently. "Ssii'irin, can you speak to the hostlings?"
Zha'haabron twisted his head to gaze up at her from half-closed eyes. His voice was hoarse and strained.
"No... they're not aware yet. Except for one of them..." He tensed as another wave of pain flooded through him. Radittsu stared helplessly at Zh'leet, expression anguished.
"Can't you do anything for him?"
She frowned, biting her lip. He was right on the borderline between medication being safe and potentially dangerous - but his temperature was climbing, and she had to do something about the infection anyway: she could risk an analgesic as well. And a sedative might be a good idea too: she doubted he'd been sleeping well recently.
"Hand me my case."
It had hurt: Zh'leet had injected the narcotic compound into the sensitive flesh just above the prince's hip. He paled and bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, holding on to Radittsu tightly - then relaxing seconds later as the powerful drugs started to take effect. Soon he was blissfully free of pain for the first time in days, almost floating with the relief of it. Radittsu stroked stray strands of hair back from his love's forehead and smiled down anxiously as the prince slowly uncurled and lay limply against his bondmate.
"How you feeling?"
"Better. Tired."
"Sleep. I'll stay with you."
"... your duties..."
"Hijau can take over for today."
"...but..."
Radittsu bent to kiss his brow. "Shut up. Go to sleep."
In truth, Zha'haabron didn't have a lot of choice - his eyes were closing even as he protested. Within moments he was asleep, breathing calmly. Zh'leet touched his forehead, nodding approval: his temperature was back to normal. She regarded Radittsu sombrely.
"We should take him back to R'ren'nkh'ia. Vejiitasei simply doesn't have the equipment or expertise to deal with this."
"Can we bring them here? I know he won't want to go back."
"I don't know if Zha'geekaan will permit it."
"Perhaps if Vejiita contacted him..?"
"Maybe. But I'd rather be on the homeworld. We are prepared for any contingency - and he will need to return to give birth anyway. Can you not persuade him to do so a little earlier?"
"He won't like it. I don't like it..."
Cursing herself for her cruelty but knowing it was the quickest way to get him to agree, she inclined her head and regarded him from narrowed eyes. "Would you rather lose him?"
Radittsu stared, paling, eyes wide with horror. "What haven't you told me!?"
She shook her head. "No, don't panic. I'm talking worst case."
But the thought of it hit Radittsu harder than anything he'd ever known. Lose the prince? Lose half of himself? He couldn't bear it.
"I'll talk to him when he wakes. Perhaps - perhaps if I suggest we stay with Gh'heegonan, so he can spend some time with Ti'aasaan..."
Zh'leet nodded approvingly. "That should do it. I know he would be happier not to see his sire."
Radittsu had finally dozed off, nestled comfortingly against Zha'haabron's back, a couple of hours ago. Now Zh'leet turned, frowning, as the prince stirred uneasily in sleep, wrapped in his bondmate's arms. He should still be deeply unconscious: the sedative had been a strong one. Cautiously, she opened her mind, reaching for their empathic bond...
Blackness. Void. Anger...
She pulled back and closed down, startled. Anger? The hostlings shouldn't be feeling emotion, not at this stage, and certainly not anger. She stared at the prince, suddenly very worried.
Anger. An insane anger, a mad hunger. Something stabbing at him...
Zha'haabron woke with a start, jerking half upright and bringing his bondmate to instant alertness. Radittsu gathered the prince into his arms.
"What is it?"
"I.... I don't know..." Zha'haabron's hands went to his abdomen, holding himself, frowning in confusion. "Something..."
Then everything went white as agony exploded through him, over and over again. Dimly, he heard himself screaming, heard Radittsu shouting for Zh'leet - then heard his bondmate's horrified whisper, "Oh gods, no..."
One moment I was updating the database - the next it felt as though a clawed hand had reached up inside me and ripped out my guts. I screamed and collapsed to the floor...
Moments later I came back to myself, surrounded by panicked Thinkers, realising that I was unhurt and it was someone else's pain I felt... Someone else... Zha'haabron!!
I staggered to my feet and flew unsteadily from the library, aiming straight for their suite, bursting in without bothering to knock and diving into the bedchamber.
There was dark blue blood everywhere. Zha'haabron was almost white with shock and bloodloss: Radittsu, his eyes wide and desperate, was trying to hold onto his writhing bondmate as Zh'leet swiftly and efficiently laid a range of instruments on the low table at the side of the bed. She glanced up sharply as I arrived, then gestured to the prince with her head.
"I have to open him up. I'm not qualified, and I may kill him, but he'll die anyway if I don't. Help Rhoi'i'dat'hzziu hold him down."
I grabbed the prince's legs, staring down at him. Something was moving within him, distorting his abdomen as it shifted and pushed upwards. Blood pulsed from between his legs and trickled from his mouth: he wasn't conscious, but he wasn't unconscious either. I stared at Zh'leet as she selected and primed a laser scalpel.
"Can't you knock him out?"
She shook her head, concentrating on the twisting body before her, one hand on his abdomen as she positioned the instrument against his skin. "Already tried - nothing works. Hold him as tightly as you can."
... at least the scalpel cauterised as it cut. He couldn't afford to lose any more blood...
The vicious little thing that Zh'leet cut out of Zha'haabron's body had already half-eaten its siblings and started trying to gnaw its way out of him. Radittsu had his eyes averted, trying to ignore his bondmate's ragged screams and swallowing convulsively as the ko'ish'n removed the tiny dismembered bodies of the other babies and did what little she could to repair the damage to the prince's internal organs. As she sealed the incision she'd made she reached for a syringe and plunged it into the centre of his chest. He went completely limp - and then his temperature dropped alarmingly. Radittsu blanched, shaking.
"He's..."
Zh'leet shook her head, speaking quickly. "No, he's not dead. It's more like - hibernation. An emergency form of chemical cryostasis. I've had to suppress his physical systems down to a minimum, otherwise he'll die before we can fix the damage. We must get him back to R'ren'nkh'ia as soon as is possible. And he needs blood - get Zh'anah here."
As I dived for the comm screen Vejiita charged into the room.
"What the hell is going on? It felt like someone was trying to kill m..." he stopped and stared at the carnage in the bedchamber, one hand going to his mouth as his face paled. Wide-eyed he backed out of the room, his throat working as he tried not to gag. I followed him through.
"Make yourself useful - authorise the fastest ship available for an emergency trip to R'ren'nkh'ia."
He stared at me in shock but didn't argue, seating himself at the console in the antechamber. While he was speaking to the spaceport administrator, Zh'anah arrived, and moments later was hooked up to a portable transfuser, her blood flowing into the prince's veins. Zh'leet had her hands full monitoring both of them: Radittsu still knelt with his prince's head in his lap, his trembling hands fitfully stroking the silky green hair over and over again, oblivious to the tears trickling down his cheeks as he gazed at his love's still, white face. Zha'haabron's breathing was so shallow and slow his chest barely moved: the pulse in his neck, usually fast and strong, beat once a minute. But at least he'd stopped bleeding.
As the ship headed for R'ren'nkh'ia at top speed, Zha'haabron hovered between life and death. Radittsu watched over his bondmate, holding one limp, cold blue hand, his eyes desolate, *willing* him not to die. He wouldn't die. He couldn't die. Please, please don't leave me... How can I live without you?
He barely felt it as Zh'leet laid a hand on his shoulder. He raised his face slowly to hers - tears tracked continually down his cheeks.
"I can't *feel* him." he whispered.
There was nothing Zh'leet could say. Neither could she...
They bypassed Zha'geekaan and went straight to Gh'heegonan. The big lizard had been horrified by Zh'leet's communication - although he had been aware that something was wrong through Ti'aasaan - and immediately offered them all the considerable facilities of his enclave. Zh'leet had spent some time in hissing conversation with the chief's medical team, and was relieved to know everything would be ready by the time they made planetfall.
Radittsu was unaware of most of what was happening around him, focussed as he was entirely on his bondmate. The ship had taken just seven hours to reach R'ren'nkh'ia - caught up in an infinite moment of desperate fear, to the Saiyan it could have been seconds or forever.
"Rhoi'i'dat'hzziu..?" The name filtered slowly through his exhaustion and misery, and he looked up into Zh'leet's compassionate eyes.
"We have arrived."
Automatically he gathered his beloved's cold, still form into his arms and carried him to a transport, and thence into the cold, clinical room set aside for serious medical emergencies. Laying the prince on the operating platform, he moved to stand at his head, his hands twined into the emerald hair. The assembled medical team stared at him, then as one turned to Zh'leet - who took his arm and gently pulled at him.
He glared, resisting, ready to fight, but the ko'ish'n shook her head.
"You must leave, Rhoi'i'dat'hzziu. We have to make the room sterile before we can begin."
"But... can't I..."
"No, my Ssii'iir. You are not of our species. In these circumstances we dare not risk any alien contamination."
Radittsu stared at her, then turned and tenderly kissed his bondmate's cold lips, gazing for a long moment at the beloved face. Straightening up, he swung back to Zh'leet, his eyes brimming.
"Please... make him live."
"We will do our utmost."
Head bowed, Radittsu walked slowly from the room, not looking back.
He'd wandered for hours, aimlessly, unable to be still, desperately lonely without Zha'haabron's warm golden *presence* in his mind. Finally, exhausted, he'd found himself in a wide, quiet corridor lined with seating pits and low tables - some sort of meeting place? the still-functioning part of his mind wondered dully - and lowered himself onto one of the seats. He was sitting slumped forward with one hand over his eyes, his mind frozen, unable to believe that this could be happening, when a small cool hand slid into his. He turned slowly to find Ti'aasaan beside him. The little zn'hre laid a hand on his shoulder, tears glinting in his own pale golden eyes, and Radittsu pulled him into a trembling hug, giving and receiving silent comfort as they suffered together while the biotechs laboured over the ravaged body of their prince...
© 2001 (April 26th) Joules Taylor
