A Servant's Heart, Chapter 12

Chapter 12

    

    Time didn’t seem to matter where Meriah was, and flashes of awareness blended with dreams and nightmares. There were images of times long past, playing in the forest with Lyria as she was taught the rudiments of keeping game. More recent memories, like her joining with Jaons and sitting at the controls of the Pride.

    

    There was an image of a kindly older Mrr’tanou with a soft and reassuring voice, though every time she saw him, she could not remember a thing that he said, just the way that he said it. And there were the links. There was no rhyme or reason to when they flared. Sometimes Stargazer was in the front of her mind, and other times it was James. Only once there was the presence of her father, strong and steady with an overtone of worry.

    

    Over it all, there was Night Star. His presence was a constant through all the shifting images and memories, and she clung tightly to it, convinced that as long as he was there, nothing was so wrong she couldn’t handle it.

    

    Eventually, the images and the dreams faded and when she opened her eyes, for the first time aware of her surroundings, she found herself looking directly into his eyes. His nose almost touched hers as he lay in front of her. She felt his arm draped over her side and she could tell that he’d woken at the same time as her by the sleep still in his eyes.

    

    She felt another form stirring behind her and she didn’t need to turn to know it was Stargazer. She felt the subtle glow of his mind as he woke as well.

    

    “Night Star,” she whispered, reaching up to stroke his head. Her voice was hoarse and her throat sore and dry. “What time is it?”

    

    Jason chuckled and closed his eyes for her hand. “I think you’re more interested in the day. It’s been three days, and it’s morning. Haven’t been awake long enough to get further than that.”

    

    “It’s mid second,” Stargazer said quietly behind her.

    

    She turned her head and smiled at him, feeling safe and secure between them. There were things to be concerned about, but right now, she just wanted to lie with the both of them and soak in the warmth of their bodies and the glowing of their minds.

    

    Jason stroked his hand down her side and down past her hip. There was a certain point where the sensation changed, as if she was feeling it from a different skin. She frowned and looked down, tossing the soft sheet and blanket from on top of her.

    

    Where Jason’s hand was lying, it looked perfectly natural, with no sign of any wound or the black streaks that had been coursing beneath her skin. She smiled in elation, a thought that was quickly dampened by the look in Jason’s eyes.

    

    “My leg?” she asked, wanting to be happy that they’d saved it.

    

    Jason shook his head. “I’m sorry, love, there was too much damage.”

    

    “But, what…” she tried to lift her leg, but it didn’t respond. It stayed as it was, inert. “But I can feel your hand.”

    

    “It’s cybernetic,” Jason said, stroking her thigh softly. “They’ve activated the sensation, but you needed to be conscious before they could start programming the muscles.”

    

    Meriah reached down and poked at her leg, noticing the slight difference in sensation between her natural leg and the new artificial one. It wasn’t much, but it was there, just enough for her to be conscious of it.

    

    “So, I’ll be able to use it? Just like the real one?”

    

    “Yep, just like the old one. They had to rebuild your hip, too. Since you’re going to be working on the Pride, and you weren’t aware enough to tell them yourself, I had them build a deluxe model for you.”

    

    “What does that mean?” Meriah asked.

    

    “We’ll get to that once you can actually walk,” Jason said, grinning. “But you’re going to owe me some good work on the Pride to pay me back for what it cost.”

    

    She chuckled at the playful glow along the link, matched by Stargazer’s amusement from behind her.

    

    “Looks like you’ve got me locked in, then, captain sir.”

    

    “And don’t forget it,” Jason said with a laugh.

    

    There was a knock on the door and it opened almost immediately. Jason raised his head from the pillow and looked over Meriah and Stargazer.

    

    “Sorry to disturb you, Night Star,” a female voice said, “but if Meriah is awake, she has a visitor.”

    

    Meriah turned to her back and looked at the newcomer, a moderately tall and thin Mrr’tanah in hospital scrubs. White fur was streaked with black stripes and perked, interested ears perched atop a kind and gentle face. The kindness stretched through to her mind as well and Meriah passed the feeling through to Jason.

    

    “Who is it?” Jason asked. Meriah felt him relax with the connection to the nurse.

    

    “It’s Morning Dawn,” she said.

    

    Jason’s upbeat optimism dampened immediately, and Stargazer tightened his grip around her, holding her closer.

    

    “Certainly,” Jason said. “She is welcome any time.”

    

    “I’ll send her in,” the nurse said, then turned and left.

    

    “We may have some problems,” Jason said quietly. “Morning Dawn is the administrator of the colony. If she asks you questions, be honest.”

    

    “What if she asks me about gifts?” Meriah asked, suddenly much more worried.

    

    “I would trust her with my life,” Jason answered. “She wouldn’t come to visit you without a reason. Normally, newcomers are presented to her, not the other way around. She won’t turn you over, I’m sure of that.”

    

    “What about the treaty?”

    

    “Rawss’a’mrr’sarr has a history of…non-enforcement, we’ll say, unless someone points it out to them. She’ll not turn you over, no matter what she knows, but she probably won’t stand in the way if you’re discovered by the humans.”

    

    “So stay away from the trackers, and we’ll be fine, right?”

    

    “Yes. Just don’t go making connections with anyone you don’t know,” Jason cautioned.

    

    He fell silent as another knock sounded from the door. He looked at Meriah and smiled.

    

    “It’s your room, love.”

    

    Meriah nodded and slid herself up in the bed, keeping both Jason and Stargazer close. “Come in,” she called.

    

    The door opened and an older Mrr’tanah strode into the room, closing the door quietly behind her. The press of a wise and aged mind pressed against hers as she met the newcomer’s eyes.

    

    She was tall for a Mrr’tanah, and part of her height came from the regal posture with which she carried herself. Her spine was straight and her head was high, and though Meriah could feel that she recognized the power she held, she seemed all the more plain and ordinary despite it. She wore plain, casual clothing made of soft and colorful material that swayed about her when she moved, and small jewels hung from chains attached through the tips and bases of both ears. Her fur was as black as Jason’s, though there were patterns swirled through it in white, the mark of the Nightwalker clan.

    

    “Good day, Meriah,” she said. Her voice was melodious and matched the beauty of the rest of her, but it lacked any kind of condescension that Meriah would have associated with someone in power.

    

    “Hello,” she answered cautiously.

    

    “I am truly sorry to interrupt your rest. I understand you’re still in need of a bit more, so I’ll be brief.”

    

    Her eyes shifted to Jason and then to Stargazer. “Night Star, Stargazer. It is good to see you both again.”

    

    “And you, Morning Dawn,” They answered almost simultaneously.

    

    “What I have to say, Meriah, is meant for you only. I would normally ask others to leave, but I can see the bond you share with these two. Are you happy with them staying?”

    

    Meriah nodded. “Night Star will stay. I will leave it to Stargazer if he wishes to leave.” Her curiosity was fully aroused by now.

    

    “If you will allow, Morning Dawn, I wish to stay with my- with Meriah,” Stargazer said.

    

    Morning Dawn smiled and nodded. “Very well. It is, perhaps, appropriate, that little slip of the tongue, Stargazer, for it is what I wish to speak to you about.”

    

    Meriah frowned and cocked her head to the side. “I don’t understand,” she said.

    

    “I think you do, Meriah. You hide it well, better than any I have ever seen. If you were not injured and sedated, no one would have known any different. As it is, every physician has felt it, and some of the Mrr’tani staff.”

    

    A thrill of fear set her fur on end and she sat up straighter. She felt Jason and Stargazer readying themselves as well.

    

    “It’s okay, Meriah. Be calm. All the staff here are trusted. One of the reasons any Mrr’tani works here is to put the well-being of another above any political or personal issues, and every single Mrr’tani working here takes their oath seriously.”

    

    Meriah relaxed and laid a hand on Stargazer’s shoulder. When his fur was lying flat again and Jason was breathing slower behind her, she nodded, noticing that the gesture wasn’t missed by Morning Dawn.

    

    “It seems they were more right than even they suspected,” she said quietly.

    

    She moved to the chair and sat down, keeping her eyes on the trio on the bed.

    

    “This leaves us with a problem, Meriah,” she said. “Surely Night Star has told you of our treaty with the Allied Planets.”

    

    Meriah nodded. “Yes, he did. He also said that he trusts you completely.”

    

    “His trust is not misplaced. I will not inform anyone of your presence here other than your official status. As far as the government of Rawss’a’mrr’sarr is concerned, you are the first officer of the Mrr’tani Pride, recovering from a shuttle crash.”

    

    “Thank you,” Meriah said, relief washing through her body.

    

    “You are Mrr’tani, it is the least I can do. However, I cannot refuse to release you should you be discovered by the humans. I can protest, but we cannot risk the safety of this colony for anyone.”

    

    “I understand,” Meriah said.

    

    “That’s the unpleasant business out of the way, now the more pleasant. I’m also here to invite you to dinner with me and my chief of staff tonight. The doctor tells me that you’re free to leave for the evening, so we would quite enjoy your presence.”

    

    “I’d be honored, Morning Dawn,” Meriah said with a slight bow. It was all she could do laying in bed.

    

    “No, it is my honor, Frr’a’narr’ah,” Morning Dawn said.

    

    She turned her attention to Stargazer who hadn’t said anything through the entire exchange. Meriah focused her attention on him as well, and she felt a tension deep below his usual restrained emotions.

    

    “I didn’t think I’d see the day that you gave yourself to someone, Stargazer,” she said with a smile.

    

    “Until you’ve felt the strength of the Mrr’ouwff with Meriah, you will not understand, honorable one. Once I felt her call, I knew without a doubt that I was meant to be one of her protectors.”

    

    Meriah gaped at Stargazer and he simply gazed back at her. There was no question of his sincerity, she could feel his resolve behind his words.

    

    “It seems I have underestimated you once again, Meriah. I have known Stargazer for many times many years, and he would not give himself to anyone that was not immensely compelling. You are a curious girl.”

    

    Meriah continued to look into Stargazer’s eyes and he sent a wave of perfect contentment over the link. She shook her head and smiled, squeezing her hand against his shoulder.

    

    “I’m honored, Stargazer, truly,” she said.

    

    Then she looked back to Morning Dawn and smiled. “If I have to have Night Star carry me, I’ll be at dinner, Morning Dawn. Thank you.”

    

    “I look forward to it, Frr’a’narr’ah. It looks like it has the capacity to be an interesting night.”

    

    She stood and smoothed her clothes, then took her leave and walked out the door. When it clicked shut behind her, she finally relaxed and sunk back to the bed.

    

    “That could have gone much worse,” Jason said. “At least we know where she stands.”

    

    “Morning Dawn will do anything in her power to ensure that you are safe, Meriah,” Stargazer said. “As she said, we have been friends for a very long time, and I have known her to be quite devious when the situation requires it.”

    

    “Speaking of devious, what was that, Stargazer? My protector?” Meriah asked.

    

    “I apologize, my Frr’a’narr’ah,” he said, bowing his head. “It has always been tradition that a Frr’a’narr’ah be accompanied by her trusted guard. I felt that trust when you touched my mind, and I assumed that you had called me.”

    

    “Not consciously,” Meriah said, a little sharper than she meant it to sound. She reached out and touched his shoulder.

    

    “Not that I’m not happy. It seems I’m going to need all the help I can get, but it was a little surprising.”

    

    “It would be inadvisable to perform the traditional ceremony, as it would draw too much attention, but I know you feel the bond as well.”

    

    Meriah nodded. She’d felt it when they had stood together in the station observation bubble.

    

    “Then I beg your indulgence, Frr’a’narr’ah, to accompany you and Night Star.”

    

    Meriah looked to her other side and her eyes found Jason’s. He laughed, and it wasn’t long before she joined in, overwhelmed by his mirth.

    

    “Looks like we’re going to need to outfit another set of sleeping quarters on the Pride,” he said. “Told you I’d get you out in space with me, old friend.”

    

    “Indeed you did. It seems I owe you a drink.” He smiled at Meriah and lay back down next to her. “Once the Frr’a’narr’ah is back on her feet.”

    

    “Of course,” Jason said, lying down himself.

    

    Meriah turned and pressed her back against Jason and once again found herself warm and safe between the two of them. She was just drifting off to sleep again when another knock came at the door. The same nurse from before peeked around the door and smiled.

    

    “Meriah? Are you ready for your physical therapy? They’re going to start turning on the movement on your leg.”

    

    The nurse sounded much more excited about it than Meriah felt, but anything that would get her up and out of the bed and the hospital was a welcome thing to her.

    

    She sighed and rubbed her whiskers against the side of Stargazer’s neck. “Looks like it’s going to be a long day,” she said.

    

    ***

    

    The rest of the day was a whirlwind of motion, with her being wheeled from one room to another. In between all the movement was a great deal of lying about. In every room she ended up, they would wire her up to computers, both her head and her legs. Then they had her move her good leg and try to move her artificial leg. With every try, more and more muscles began to respond in the artificial leg. She still couldn’t control all of it by the end of the day, but the progress was heartening.

    

    Through the whole thing, either Night Star or Stargazer was with her, dressed in whatever garb the hospital staff required of them, and each one sat by her side with his hand in hers, lending her support through their shared link. Even when the other wasn’t there, they were felt through the link.

    

    By the time she was wheeled back to her room, she was exhausted, but more hopeful than she felt at the beginning of the day, and she could sense Night Star’s restlessness, though Stargazer was as collected and even as always.

    

    His restlessness and frustration eased when she came into the door with Stargazer pushing her wheelchair.

    

    “I bought you some clothes,” he said with an awkward smile. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I just got what looked like it was in style.”

    

    Meriah looked at the pile of clothes on the bed with a touch of trepidation, wondering just what he’d found. When she rummaged through it, though, she found that he at least had some sense of what she liked. A pair of plain brown trousers was on top and beneath them, she found a blouse of such bright colors that she almost had to cover her eyes.

    

    Still, it was something different. She never thought about color when she was living at Airgidbaile, concerned that it would make her stand out in the forest, but she wasn’t in the forest any longer, and the bright colors served the same purpose here as the dull greens and browns did there.

    

    Beneath it all she found a brand new leather belt. The craftsmanship was similar to her own and it even had a pattern woven into it in the local colors that matched the weaving of her old one. Her knife was clean and it rested in a new leather sheath upon the outside of which was embossed a stylized cat’s paw surrounded by a flowing script Meriah couldn’t read.

    

    She looked at Night Star and cocked her ear.

    

    “It’s one of the human languages. It means ‘traitors beware.’ I thought it was appropriate. All your other gear was covered in coolant and they had to throw it away.”

    

    “I love it,” she said, sending a wave of gratitude to him. “Thank you.”

    

    “Then let’s get you dressed. Morning Dawn is sending a car in about thirty minutes.”

    

    Meriah was getting used to moving around one-legged, and it only took them a short time to get her dressed and ready, and by the time the car came to pick them up, she was perfectly presentable.

    

    Night Star wheeled her out the front of the hospital and Meriah’s eyes widened in surprise. The city she beheld was nothing like she expected when she’d been told about the colony. She had imagined an encampment where a small group of free Mrr’tani huddled together and tried to survive, but what she saw was a metropolis, stretching far out from the hospital, spires of high-rise buildings reaching into the sky.

    

    There were cars, but they were much less numerous than she would have expected from such a modern city. Mrr’tani and humans both walked along narrow streets, and it seemed that the cars were perfectly happy to cede the right of way to them. A large black car sat with its door open at the curb and Night Star wheeled her to it and helped her get settled inside. She noticed the small flag hanging from the side of the hood, and when they started moving after everyone was settled, the walkers moved out of their way, seemingly spurred by the sight of that flag.

    

    “There’s so many Mrr’tani,” she said, watching the city outside the window as they traveled.

    

    “It started out small, but little by little, it grew,” Night Star explained. “Most of the Mrr’tani here were born free, to be honest.”

    

    “The humans don’t come and take them?” Meriah asked.

    

    “No, they find it more beneficial to have a colony like this. It gives Mrr’tani hope that if they work hard enough or do something extraordinary, they can earn their freedom and have somewhere to go. It’s like the human myth of heaven. They hold the camps over our heads as ‘hell’ and Rawss is ‘heaven.’”

    

    Meriah looked at him and tried to disagree, but when she thought about it, she saw the same thing. Everything that she’d been taught growing up fit the line. Work hard and be a good servant and you can earn your freedom. Run away and cause trouble and you end up in the camps.

    

    “You see it now,” Stargazer murmured from her other side, looking out the window. “It is control. Even though it is to our benefit as well that we are free, we are still tools of the humans even now.”

    

    And you can see now why they hunt the Frr’a’narr’ahn so zealously, Night Star said in her mind.

    

    Meriah nodded to the both of them and they spend the rest of the short ride in silence.

    

    Morning Dawn was waiting at the side of the street for them when the car pulled to a stop. The driver was solicitous and pulled Meriah’s chair from the stowage and let Night Star and Stargazer help her into it.

    

    “I understand you’ve had a full day,” Morning Dawn said as they walked towards the house.

    

    House was a very modest word for what would have been a palace. The large structure dwarfed the main house at Airgidbaile, and from the outside, Meriah could make out three separate wings attached to the main building in the center. Red brick and white support columns held it up and gave it an imposing façade.

    

    “I didn’t expect it to be easy to learn to use a new leg, but I didn’t expect that all of it would be lying down,” Meriah said.

    

    “I understand some of the theory behind it, since I’ve spent a good deal of time helping in the hospital. We have a great number of Mrr’tani who find us broken and battered, and it is our pleasure to be able to put them back together.”

    

    Meriah smiled up at her. “Speaking as one of them, I’m very grateful.”

    

    “I’ll be sure to pass that along to the doctors. They always like hearing that their work has changed a life. From what I hear, Night Star paid for you to have more than the basics.”

    

    “He was generous that way,” she said, smiling at Night Star.

    

    “Nonsense,” he scoffed. “I just wanted to make sure that I had a first officer for a good long time.”

    

    The four of them laughed. “I don’t know, Night Star,” Morning Dawn said. “You’d be surprised at the generosity of Master Marcus.”

    

    “I’m counting on it. With this job, I’m billing him hazard pay.”

    

    Morning Dawn chuckled softly and led the group through the grand foyer and down a side hallway to a dining room that was much smaller than Meriah would have expected. It felt more casual, though, with a small table and pleasant pictures of Morning Dawn with others Meriah assumed were family and friends.

    

    There was one other Mrr’tanou in the room when they entered and he stood when Meriah was wheeled into the room. Morning Dawn closed the door behind her and turned to him.

    

    “Meriah, this is Bright Heart, my chief of staff.”

    

    Bright Heart matched his name, and though he was shorter and rounder than many Mrr’tanoun Meriah had met, there was a smile on his face that was infectious and she felt herself smiling to match. His fur was white with the swirls and stripes that marked him as a Night Walker. She held out her hand and Bright Heart took it, bowing to touch his forehead to the back of her hand.

    

    “It is an honor, Frr’a’narr’ah,” he said.

    

    Meriah looked sideward at Morning Dawn and caught the nod. “It’s safe, Meriah. You may be yourself this evening, within this room.”

    

    Meriah let go of her control and let her mind relax. In an instant, she sensed Bright Heart’s link flaring to a bright life. It was the same strength as the one she shared with James in Airgidbaile, and she stared as she felt it.

    

    His head snapped up and his eyes met hers, wide and shocked, and his confusion was tinged with a touch of fear.

    

    “You’re not Night Walker clan,” he breathed. “How can we share Mrr’ouwff?”

    

    “You are making a habit of surprising me, Meriah,” Morning Dawn said.

    

    “I don’t know what happened,” Meriah said, still staring wide-eyed at Bright Heart. “I don’t choose the links, they just happen.”

    

    “Mrr’ouwff never happens between those of different clans,” Bright Heart said.

    

    “It has once,” Night Star interjected. “Catcher of Souls.”

    

    “That’s a child’s tale,” Bright Heart insisted. “It’s a myth told to younglings and the gullible to keep them hoping for a messiah. They hope that the Frr’a’tan’lass’i’ah will come and save them all. The return of Catcher of Souls.”

    

    He scoffed and pulled his hand away. Meriah frowned and hardened her voice.

    

    “I am not choosing this, Bright Heart. You feel it as well as I do. I don’t know what it means, but you will not simply ignore it.”

    

    She put an emphasis into the link, turning a simple statement into a command that she fully expected to be obeyed. Bright Heart stopped dead and turned his head. His face had gone from disgust to wariness and she felt the curiosity behind it.

    

    “Morning Dawn says that we can trust you, and there are very few that we can,” Meriah said, almost pleading.

    

    “If it’s true,” Morning Dawn said, looking between Meriah and Bright Heart, “then regardless of a prophecy or a myth, we still have an obligation to this girl.”

    

    Morning Dawn held each of their eyes in turn as she walked towards Meriah.

    

    “We are still Mrr’tani, and even though the humans want us to forget it, we need our Frr’a’narr’ahn. Now we have the chance to do the duty that we’ve shirked for so long.”

    

    She knelt in front of the wheelchair and Meriah felt her heart swelling as she tasted the beginning of a link flaring between her and Morning Dawn. The passion that lit her words began to fill her mind and her chest.

    

    Morning Dawn took both of Meriah’s hands into hers and bowed her head the same way Bright Heart had done, touching her forehead to the backs of Meriah’s hands.

    

    “Believe what you want, but we can all feel it. A Frr’a’tan’lass’i’ah sits here before us, and if we wish to satisfy the examples set before us by our progenitors, then we have no choice but to help as we can.”

    

    Bright Heart looked at Meriah and she felt his guarded admiration start up again across the link. Finally, he came and joined Morning Dawn in front of her. Stargazer was next, kneeling beside her chair, and Night Star joined them. Meriah looked at all of them wide-eyed and bright red beneath her fur with embarrassment.

    

    “I am Morning Dawn, by the will of the free Mrr’tani administrator of Rawss’a’mrr’sarr, and I recognize the Mrr’tanah before me. I name her Keeper of Hearts, a Frr’a’tan’lass’i’ah of the Mrr’tani.”

    

    Morning Dawn lifted Meriah’s hands to her head and placed them between her ears. Meriah’s link with her brightened.

    

    “I swear my service to her however she may see fit,” she finished, and when she looked up into Meriah’s eyes, there were tears filling both.

    

    “Your true name is secret, Keeper of Hearts,” she said, her voice resuming its normal tenor and volume. “Among the Mrr’tani, you shall be called Strong Soul, for through everything that has happened, you have stayed strong and remained loyal to those close to you. Wear your name with pride, Strong Soul, Keeper of Hearts.”

    

    Morning Dawn opened her mind, and let Strong Soul in. With a gentle nudge from Night Star, the boundaries between her mind and the minds of the others around her faded away and for a moment, there was only shared elation and a hope for the future.

    

    Each Mrr’tani touched the others minds, guided and aided by Meriah, now Strong Soul, and she tasted each of them, there was no sense of any hesitation in any of them any longer. All doubt that Bright Heart harbored had been washed away with the power of the joining.

    

    The moment came to a close and the walls slowly closed in around their minds again, forcing each of them back into their own bodies. As always happened at the end of a joining, Meriah felt small and confined, and the feeling was even more pronounced this time, stuck as she was in the wheelchair.

    

    “Well,” Morning Dawn said, getting to her feet. “I don’t think dinner is going to come close to comparing to that, but I suppose we’ll make do.”

    

    The other Mrr’tani laughed and gathered round the table. Conversation picked up and Strong Soul found herself awash in more optimism and positive energy than she ever thought possible. From her position at the head of the table, she caught the happy gleam in Morning Dawn’s eye.

    

    I hope you’re ready for adventure, love, Night Star said in her mind, because our life is about to get very interesting.