Chapter 56

The lost are found…

“I know there are some extra mats and coverings here in Ser Megal’s room.” The girls had been sent to gather more bedding for the many members of the family who were now staying at Casa Bethal rather than going home. Several families were in mourning, so rather than stay in those houses, they were coming to stay with one which had not lost anyone or had anyone injured. “Where is the switch? Madre de Dios, what is in the bed? Help, someone, there are dead people in this bedroom.” The girls ran screaming out of the room.

The light woke Sarita. She heard the screams and tried to sit up, but she was too weak. Megal moved a bit but did not fully awaken.

The harem steward came running down the hall. “What in the world are you talking about?” He rushed into the room and saw the emaciated couple. “It is Ser Megal and a woman. Get Sera Catherine and the healer. They are not dead but, oh what was done to them?”

“What is going on, Jose?” Sera Catherine, Megal’s grandmother, rushed into the room and began checking the two lying in the bed. “They are alive but barely. Get the kitchen to warm up some of the meat broth and get custards. They have both expended far too much power. Send word to the Residence that they have been found. If they will survive only the Three in One can know.”

***

“Please, I need water,” Sarita croaked. Her mouth was dry, and it hurt to talk. She had been lifted from the small bed and carried into a larger room. Megal lay close by on another cot. He had not yet fully awakened.

“The broth will help, child, you are very dehydrated.” Cath Bethal did not trust any of the servants to wait on these two. Megal was the favorite of all her grandchildren. She knew that was not fair, but she was proud of the work she had done to save him following his traumatic manifestation. He was the only child of her youngest child and looked so much like her Marianne.

“Please, help Megal first,” Sarita said. “He expended more energy than I.” She tried to remember what had happened after something hit her in the wrapped braid at the back of her head, a braid that saved her life. “Where are we? Who are you?”

“You are in the Casa Bethal. I am Catherine Bethal, Megal’s abuela, and we have gotten some fluids into him. Now, drink this broth and rest. You are both worn. We have let the Overlord and your mother know you are here. Right now, you need to eat and sleep.”

“Thank you Abuela. That means grandmother, I remember now.” The broth must have had sleeping herbs, Sarita realized, because she found it easy to doze off.

A serving girl was frightened. “Sera Catherine, there are visitors from the Residency. They want to see Megal and the girl. Shall I let them in here?”

“I will come, but this is Sarita, Megal’s bride. Please use her name.”

Rita pushed past the servant and into the room.

“Sera Rita, I suspected it would be you. Both of them are exhausted due to overuse of their power. I have given them sleeping herbs. When they disappeared from the cathedral, I knew exactly what Megal had done. I just was not sure where he had gone. I should have known to check his room here.”

“He had done this before?” Rita was amazed. She had never heard of anyone transporting themselves from one place to another.

“He read about it in an old book from Terra and was fascinated with the idea. He annoyed his cousins by causing the pieces in board games to disappear, but he never was able to gain enough power to do move himself. If nothing, it shows they are fully compatible. He drew from her and moved them to his safe room here.”

“A safe room?” Rita wanted to see her daughter, but this news was something she wanted to understand.

“After the trauma, he tried to kill himself. Fran sent him to live with us and for the first few weeks, I was not sure we could prevent his death. I would not let him leave that small room. It has no windows and only one door, so I controlled where he went. He felt safe there and we were able to work with him.” Cath eyes filled with tears at the memory. “We nearly lost him.”

“I know. I did some memory editing to ease his fears about joining. But I want to check Sarita, please.”

“Of course, and I am so glad to see you and to find out that you have not joined the ancestors.” Cath moved aside and left Rita to examine the sleeping couple.

***

“Sarita, are you here?” Megal was awake. It was not his room because he could see the light of the stars outside the window.

“Hush, Megal, she is still sleeping.” His grandmother stepped close to his side with a covered lamp. “You came to your safe room in the town house and brought her with you. Don’t do that again, Mijo. You almost killed yourself and Sarita. It takes too much power.”

“I was afraid she would die, Abuela. She is so special. I did not believe I could find someone like her. Is she going to be all right?”

“Yes, but both of you are worn to a thread. You will need to eat and rest. Can you go back to sleep, or do I need to dose you again?”

“I am still tired. I know what that nasty stuff tastes like. I will sleep.”

Cath Bethal smiled and pulled the blanket up over his arms. “Rest, Megal, you are blessed.”

***

Sarita woke when the morning sun shone brightly outside. She stretched but found she was barely able to lift her arms over her head. She looked around the room and saw that Megal was asleep nearby. He looked as thin and worn as her hands and arms. Whatever they had accomplished had left them looked gaunt and aged. She managed to roll and get her legs off the side of the low cot. She tried to push herself up to a sitting position but was too weak. Her mother must have been listening, because she hurried across the room and helped her to a sanitary pot behind a screen.

“I knew this would be needed after the amount of fluid we have been putting into you two.” Rita was scanning her as she helped her back to the cot. “You are recovering faster than I expected, but I have never encountered someone who expended as much power and you two did.”

Megal rolled over and blinked owlishly at them. “Sarita, you are here. I was frightened that I had lost you in the jump. She is recovering, Sera Rita?”

Rita helped him up and to the sanitary pot much to his embarrassment. “Megal, the blush is not necessary. I have taken care of many males.”

“Momma,” Sarita asked, “how long have we been out? Were there deaths from the attack?”

“You have been asleep for three days and much has happened. We lost seven people from the attack, but there are several still barely alive because of the venom on the bolts. Right now, you both need to eat, and then get a bath and some clean clothes.”

Cath entered the room with a tray of food. “We need to get you back to the Residence. Your father is beside himself, Megal. He has poor Serept messaging me mentally almost every hour. Your systems are still upset, so it is egg custard and swamp root, I’m afraid.”

Rita set small table next to the cots and handed them bowls of soft food.

“Mama, swamp root? Even here?” Sarita had hoped that coming to Refugio meant no more of the bland root.

“The reason the people in Port are still alive is the swamp root. It may be bland, but it is very nutritious.” Rita understood her dislike for the nearly tasteless mush. They had eaten so much of it in Port.

A servant entered with two wheeled chairs to help them get to the bathing chambers. Back in the sick chamber, the older women helped them dress, because even with help, bathing in the hot springs left them nearly helpless. Dressed in loose-fitting, soft clothing, they were loaded into a shielded cart and driven to the Residence.

***

“Bring them to me, please. I will drink that foul drink only if I can see my son and his bride.” Francos was angry and feverish, two conditions that worried Marta and the healer. He had been elated when the word had come that the missing couple had been found. He wanted them back here at the Residence where he could be assured of their safety.

“They are coming, Fran. Please calm yourself.” Marta straightened his sleep shirt to cover the bandages over his wound. He was fortunate that he had been dressed in his formal dress uniform because the heavy wool cloth had absorbed some of the venom, plus slowed the passage of the bolt into his chest. The venom had eroded a lot of tissue. Rita and the healer were concerned that he might lose some use of his arm but only time would tell. At this point, they were struggling to keep him resting.

Rita entered the room ahead of her daughter and new son-in-law. “Ser Francos, I must warn you that your son and his bride look very different from when you last saw them. They overextended themselves to do what they did, and it will take time for them to recover physically.”

Megal’s eyes filled with tears when he saw his father. “Papi, I am so glad to see you alive. Please take me closer to the bed.” He grabbed his father’s hand and held it tightly to his chest. “Forgive us for what we did, Papi. When the bolt hit the back of Sarita’s head, all I could think of was getting her to safety. We ended up in my old room at Casa Bethal looking like we had been stranded at sea for weeks.”

Francos stared at his son. His face was gaunt, and his hand looked like that of an aged man. Sarita did not look much better.

“Ser Francos, we believe this is a power that should not be encouraged,” Sarita said quietly. “We really don’t know how we did it, but the consequences should be widely reported so no one else tries it until we know more.”

“Yes, I can see that, Sarita.” Francos glanced beseechingly at Sarita’s mother as he sent a worried mental question as to their recovery to her.

She nodded and smiled. “You, Ser, still have need of more rest. And these two must also eat and rest. Can you sleep without the tincture?” Marta smiled at her husband.

“I will sleep if it means I can avoid drinking that nasty broth.” Francos made a face that brought laughter from everyone in the room.

“You will get no argument from either of us,” Sarita said. “The smell alone should cause anyone to fall asleep.”

***

“We moved you to a new room, Ser Megal.” One of the house staff opened the door to a sleeping room bordering on the harem. “Sera Rita explained you would want to have Sera Sarita with you most of the time. We have moved your things here, as well as the Sera’s.” Megal was too tired to argue with the man and he noticed Sarita was in a similar state.

Sarita was surprised. “Sera Marta, the wedding ceremony was not complete. Are we officially joined?”

“The Poh declared that because of the way the ceremony is supposed to be done, you are joined because you wanted to be. He blessed it from his hospital bed but warned others that a church blessing is required to officially recognize a marriage. Yours was under extraordinary circumstances, as he said.” Rita and Marta helped get them settled on the large bed and explained they should sleep until they were ready to get up.

“There is nothing you have to do but get well.” Marta smiled as she closed the door.

Sarita reached over and took Megal’s hand. “You acted to protect me,” she said softly. “Thank you, Megal.”

“You are very precious to me, Sarita. I did not know a woman could be a friend and partner until we talked that day about your paper.” He caught her hand and kissed it. “I was afraid I would lose you. But at the moment when I grabbed you, your mind said go and you added your strength to take us to safely. I pray that we are never faced with that kind of need again.”

“At least not until we understand what happened. I don’t think I have slept this much in my whole life.” She felt his hand grip hers and then relax. He was asleep and she joined him in it. Later in the evening, servants brought food.

The Residence healer came in and began helping with some exercises to restore them physically.

“You are young and will recover quickly, I am certain. However, physical movement is essential for your complete recovery. I will visit with you at least once a day.” Megal was more worn than Sarita, but both found even the gentlest of exercises exhausted them. “Now, sleep after exercise is restorative.”

***

Sarita woke when the sparkling sky brightened the room. Megal had moved closer to her in the large bed, and she liked the closeness. His skin was smooth with only occasional patches of dark hair. She rose on her elbow and looked at him. Just as she had suspected when she researched him before she left home, he was fit. She touched his short, well-trimmed beard and found it was surprisingly soft. Her touch woke him, and he caught her hand in his and kissed it.

“I can sense your emotions.” Sarita moved closer to him. “I dreamed I would find an anamcara like my sisters did. I so prayed it would be you.”

“What is an anamcara?” He touched her face and sensed a longing from her.

“It is a heart friend, a soul friend, one you can share your thoughts with. My older sisters have husbands like that. They know each other’s thoughts and can sense their emotions. I can sense your longing to join with me. Yet you are afraid. Don’t be afraid, Megal. We match. Our powers are complimentary. We know that already.” She leaned close and kissed him gently. He pulled her close and lost himself in learning how to join with someone as it was meant to be.