Pains of the Day

[KhreRiovtRex 0]

The entire incident in the courtyard had shaken her; shaken her worse than she wanted to even admit to herself. It had pushed her to the point that she was now becoming angry with herself and getting a really bad stress headache, not to mention that her irritation was causing the baby to shift and kick her more, increasing the cramping she had already been having.

 

Na, she had let herself become soft, living on the planet, walking around in green gardens and on sandy beaches, wearing light casual dress without the trappings of rank or station. No, she had been a creature of habit before, walking the metal plated decks of the ship, where one could not avoid but hearing another walking behind them, crew snapping to vaed'rae as she passed, and wearing a functional uniform, complete with the weaponry she could easily defend herself with. She could anticipate a foe at any turn, and now, had she lost all of her intuition? Had jol and a child taken away her nei’rrh-like reflexes?

 

She had taken it for granted that she was safe here on ch’Rihan. Na aliens shooting at her, no strange space phenomena, just her own people. That was her first mistake, that in itself should have been a warning to her. It was true; she did have enough enemies amongst her own people, to which she allowed herself a quiet, yet sarcastic laugh, as she figured she probably had more enemies here at home, than she actually had left in space. One only had to look to her own executive officers’ family to find her primary rivals. How many times had an N’Dak tried to be the means of her demise?

 

Then there was the rest of her crew and their betrayal. Ie, turned on her they had; each and every one of them on what perhaps had been the most important day of her life. A day, she had wanted to share with them; a day she wanted to include them as part of her own family and show Varlon that her crew could be as trustworthy and loyal as his own. Yet, almost a year later, she had heard but a halfhearted apology from only one single officer on the entire ship, and that only because the woman had been searching for an answer to some lost ISD that had been turned in.

 

Na even the one she had handed her very own ship over to, one she had spoken for, one she had raised in rank much sooner than he had deserved, one that she had asked that his life be spared when he should have been executed for his attempt upon her own life. Na, na even he had shown the courage to apologize to her, which could only mean one thing; that he was in agreement with the kllhe of a science officer, and the spiteful words of her outburst. The embarrassment of that day haunted her still, and she had tried to forget about it, though try as she could, she could na. It was na surprise, as she was reminded daily, by having tr’Vatrix’s personal bodyguards as her new security detachment, rather than any of her own dheno. Varlon had not trusted a single one of her own crew after that day, and had seen that his own top men were to look after her.

 

Shaking her head, the scope of her enemies began to take shape, as she took into account, that there were also all of those that still saw her as some sort of threat due to the nanogene therapy that t’Ksa had used upon her. She still heard many whispers accusing her of being some sort of clone, or alien spy. She heard the accusations that she was here only to ‘corrupt and manipulate’ the Daise’Khre’Riov and thus infiltrate Galae. Other whisperings accused her of using tr’Vatrix to try to turn Galae against the Fvillah or Tal Shiar; or that she was here to start some sort of civil war, to which then her alien allies could swoop in for an easy victory. It was all so far fetched.

 

It was undoubtedly these same ones that continued to spread the fear, and were often just barely overheard, though she was sure it was done purposely just loud enough to let her hear, that she needed to be ‘taken out’ of the equation, that she needed to be ‘removed’ or ‘disappear’. So it was that she had tried to keep as low a profile as possible, to prevent any issue that would fall back upon her bondmate. He meant too much to her to bring him any shame or disgrace, so she regressed a bit from the public view.

 

She had these last few months that he had departed upon a mission, kept to the gardens or beachfront of his estate, really only leaving the compound to visit with the unresponsive Laehval each day, although the guards thought this a bad plan as it set a routine for her movements.

 

This had been her second mistake; she had become complacent around the hospital staff, seeing them each day during her visits. She should have known by now, to trust nobody. Well, except for Varlon of course; except, she realized that if it ever came down to orders against her, he would have to obey them, and she would do whatever he said she must. But that was something she meant to see would never happen, she would do nothing to bring him harm or question if it were in her power.

 

However; the events of the day had proved the guards to be right about her routine, and L’haiy made a mental note to herself to take the lesson that she had learned from her interaction with Laehval’s mother, to listen to what the others serving her had to say, and na be so hardheaded and do her own wishes. From now on, she would let them do their jobs, and listen to their suggestions to change up her daily routine, as she knew Varlon would be upset with her once he heard that she had almost let herself and his soon to be born son to come to harm. Fortunately his guards had been diligent, and had na only watched over her, but managed to subdue both assassins. She also knew that they would temper the report so as na to worry him, but she felt he needed to know where to place the credit for work well done. She owed these men her life, and she would see to it that they were rewarded. She would write to Varlon herself, though she was na sure how much good that would do, as she had received na reply to any of her correspondence for several months now. She only hoped he had received them, that he was well, and was just unable to reply so as na to give away his location.

 

Finally, the Maenak came in to see her, and made a face at the woman sitting on the table deep in thought. “Rekkhai, might I ask, how long have au been having these pains?”

Edited May 8, 2017 by KhreRiovtRex
Change of text font color due to background change to make readable.

[Lerak trPexil 0]

Very good log. I did write you a letter, but the post office is running a bit behind schedule. You can't send these things across interstellar distances on 44 cents let me tell you.