Nikhil (Kaliszian Book 1) (24 page)

"Only in passing. The Zaludians separated us by species. I can't believe a female was able to survive there, especially one as kind and as delicate as Mackenzie."

Luol raised an eyebrow at Blag's words. Nekeoks were a species that few intentionally dealt with because of their temperament, but they were loyal to those that earned their respect. It seemed that Mackenzie had earned Blag's with just a few kind words. It was something he hadn't given Blag.

"She is an exceptional female," Luol agreed, moving to where Blag could see him easier. "If you are resting comfortably, I will go contact the General and see if your wife has been notified."

"I am fine. Go!" Blag ordered impatiently and turned his gaze back to the ceiling.

Luol gave Blag an annoyed look at his order and subsequent dismissal of him. He was about to tell him he could go to Daco when Luol remembered that Blag's wife had been with offspring when he was abducted. Spinning on his heel, he went to contact Treyvon.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Nikhil watched as the sparring match between Gulzar and Nroa progressed, his expression revealing none of his satisfaction at how well Gulzar was doing against the Elite Warrior. The male had great potential and Nikhil knew it wouldn't be long before Gulzar attained the Elite status he so desired. All he needed was more experience, which was suddenly apparent when Gulzar overextended himself. Nroa swept Gulzar's feet out from under him, and the tip of his sword was at Gulzar's throat before he even landed on his back.

The two warriors stared at each other for a moment, both breathing heavily, their bodies gleaming with sweat before Nroa withdrew his sword and held out a hand. Gulzar gave him a frustrated look but reached up and took it, allowing Nroa to pull him to his feet.

"It will come, Gulzar," Nroa reassured the younger warrior. "You’re just letting your impatience get the better of you."

Gulzar nodded his head in agreement. "Thank you for your insight and advice, Warrior Nroa."

"Good. Again," Nroa ordered, and they began.

‘Yes,’ Nikhil thought, ‘Gulzar will make a fine Elite Warrior.’

"It won't be long," Treyvon said stepping up next to Nikhil.

"No, it won't. He will make a fine addition to your Elite Warriors."

"Agreed. How is your True Mate today? I was informed you did not take her to last meal."

"She rested through it. I thought to wake her, but Luol assured me her body knew what it needed and to let her rest."

"Was Luol correct?"

"Yes. She woke well rested and hungry."

"That is good. Has she agreed to be your Ashe yet?" Treyvon asked looking to the bead that Nikhil still wore. The only bead a male was able to freely offer a female.

"I... I have not yet asked her," he hesitantly admitted. "She has been through so much and is still adjusting to wearing my True Mate bead since it is not the way of her species. I wanted to give her time to adapt before I asked her for more."

"You can't think she would refuse you?!!" Treyvon gave him a disbelieving look.

"We have had... misunderstandings, because of our differences. I do not want there to be one when I make my request."

"Are there many differences?" Treyvon asked quietly.

"Yes."

"I..." The ringing of Treyvon's comm stopped him from asking more. Stepping away from Nikhil, he answered.

"General, this is Luol."

"What is it?" Treyvon demanded.

"A request has been made to know if the families of the survivors have been notified of their status."

"By who?"

"By Blag, a Nekeok. His female was with offspring when he was taken. He is concerned about her welfare."

"A
Nekeok
disclosed this to you?"

"No, he disclosed it to Mackenzie, who told me."

"A Nekeok spoke to Nikhil's Ashe?" Treyvon turned his gaze to Nikhil and saw he had moved to give Gulzar more instruction.

"Yes. He was very respectful to her," Luol quickly reassured him.

"I see. All I can state as truth is that I contacted the Minister in charge of the Nekeoks’ home world when they were discovered and gave them the names of the survivors. Whether they contacted their families, I do not know."

"I see. I will relay that information, General, but I don't believe it will appease Blag."

"It will have to, for it is all the information I have."

"Yes, General."

Luol looked up from his comm to see Mackenzie silently watching him through the open doorway of his office. It was obvious she had heard both sides of the conversation, and she wasn't happy about it. "We've done all that is required, Mackenzie."

"Then you should be
required
to do more," she fired back quietly, still holding Paul's hand. "How would you feel if it were Maysa and she didn't know that
you
were alive?"

Luol suddenly felt a kinship with Blag and it shamed him to realize he'd never considered it before. If it were his Maysa that needed to be contacted, he would be tearing down the walls until he was able to reassure her.

"I will see what I can do."

Mac nodded then turned her attention back to Paul. He was lying there so still that it worried her. Had she been that still when she'd worn the educator?

"Yes," Luol replied, and she realized she had spoken out loud, "and Nikhil was just as worried then as you are now."

"He was?"

"You doubt this?" Luol frowned at her. "You doubt your True Mate's commitment to you?"

"I... if it weren't for this," she touched the bead in her hair, "would we even be having this conversation? I've only known Nikhil two days, Luol. Love doesn't happen in two days!"

"It does if it is true," Luol told her. "Is yours?"

"How am I supposed to know that? After everything that's happened, how am I expected to trust that what I'm feeling is real? For either of us? Nikhil is relying on this bead. How can he know it's not a mistake? That it's not just because you've never met a human before?"

"Mackenzie. The Goddess gifted the Kaliszians with the True Mate bead to end the conflicts that arose between males over who their True Mate was."

"What?"

"Was this not in the educator?" Luol frowned.

"No."

"I'm sorry, Mackenzie. I did not realize our ancient tales were not included in the educator." Luol took a deep breath then began.

"Kaliszians are a warrior race. It is our nature to fight for what we want and to defend what we have. Our mates were what we would fight the most violently for. It became a problem when more than one male laid claim to the same female."

"But wouldn't the female just choose then?"

"You do not know our males," Luol told her with a wry grin. "One would never just accept that the female he desired had chosen another. Not without proof."

"But the Dasho bead..."

"Can be offered to any male and as long as the male accepts and wears it, he is her Dasho."

"For as long as..."

"Yes, the Dasho and Ashe beads are the only ones that a Kaliszian can remove."

"They're like wedding rings," she whispered.

"Wedding rings?"

"It's a tradition on Earth that many follow where a male and female will exchange rings. They are worn around a specific finger." Mac touched her left ring finger. "It symbolizes they are committed to one another."

"An unbreakable commitment?"

"No. It can be broken if one or both decides to."

"It is the same way with the Ashe and Dasho beads which is what caused so many deaths and so much pain and suffering. The Goddess finally took pity on us and gifted us with the True Mate bead. An outward and irrefutable sign of who’s one True Mate is. It stopped the conflicts, at least until the Great Infection struck."

"That's when you stopped finding your True Mates," she whispered.

"Yes, and we did not even realize it at first as our attention was on trying to save our dwindling food supply and feed our people."

"You didn't notice?"

"No, not until many years later," Luol's eyes glowed slightly brighter as he looked at the bead she wore. "It is why seeing you wear Nikhil's True Mate bead is so important. It gives us all hope that we might finally find ours."

"I... but Maysa..."

"I believe... No I know Maysa is my True Mate, yet my bead won't accept her." Luol touched the bead he still wore, his eyes full of hope. "Perhaps now it will."

Paul's slight movement had them both looking at him.

"The educator has finished." Luol reached down and removed the device. "He will wake momentarily."

Mac squeezed Paul's hand as his eyes slowly opened and he looked at her. "Hi," she whispered in Kaliszian.

"Hi," he replied in Kaliszian. "That didn't take long."

"I thought the same thing, but it's been two hours, Paul."

"Really?" Paul looked to Luol for confirmation.

"Yes," Luol responded, also in Kaliszian. "Can you answer a few questions for me?"

"I can try," Paul told him.

"Do you know where Crurn is?"

"You mean the planet where the Emperor of the Kaliszian Empire resides?"

"Yes."

"It’s three days from here," Paul answered.

Luol smiled at Mac then looked back to Paul, "That is correct. You have absorbed the educator's information. How are you feeling?" Luol asked as he helped him sit up.

Paul swung his feet to the floor, took a deep breath, and thought for a moment before responding. "Good."

"How's Craig doing?" he asked standing.

"He needs, at least a few more hours in the repair unit. I will contact someone to escort you back to your area and bring someone else back."

"Are you okay with that, Paul," Mac asked rising to stand by him.

"Yeah, I’ll see who wants to go next."

Entering the outer room, they saw Blag rising from the repair unit. Apparently it had completed healing him.

"Blag, are you ready to return to your people?" Luol asked.

"Yes," Blag responded shortly.

"I checked with General Treyvon and was informed he contacted your Minister."

"Minister Klueh?!!" Blag spat. "That means my Ashe still does not know I am alive."

"You don't believe Klueh contacted her?" Luol couldn't hide his shock.

"Of course not. I am not Kaliszian, just a species that lives within your Empire." With that, Blag turned and walked away.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Nikhil was enraged, his fist leaving an impression in the solid steel door of the medical unit that he was locked out of. He'd nearly drawn his blade on Onp when he learned his Mackenzie was no longer where he'd left her. Now he was unable to enter where she was, and heads would roll for it. He lifted his fist to pound again when the door suddenly slid open.

"Nikhil." Luol took a step back allowing the enraged warrior to enter.

"Where is she?" Nikhil growled threateningly.

"Mackenzie is in my office sitting with the human called Eric while he uses the educator."

"She isn't supposed to be here. She is supposed to be where I left her. Where she is safe."

"I'm safe here," Mac announced, walking out of Luol's office hearing Nikhil's words.

"Mackenzie," he breathed. Shouldering his way passed Luol, he pulled her into his arms needing to feel her in them, needing to know she was safe.

"I'm fine, Nikhil." She rested her hands on his chest and was surprised at how hard his heart was pounding. He'd really been worried. "I'm really okay, Nikhil."

"Goddess, Mackenzie." He lowered his head to capture her lips for a quick, hard kiss. "Don't do that to me again. I've only just found you."

"But wouldn't you have known if I was in trouble?" She pulled back slightly. "Because I wear your True Mate bead."

"But I don't wear yours," Nikhil admitted hoarsely.

"What?" She gave him a confused look. "But the educator said the bead connected us."

"That's what happens when the beads are exchanged," Luol said softly from behind Nikhil. "As you have no True Mate bead to give Nikhil, the connection is not complete."

"Nikhil?" She looked up at him questioningly.

"I have to touch the bead you wear to know your condition," he admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" she asked.

"I hadn't had the chance to and..."

"And?"

"And I hoped, that given enough time, the full bond would still form."

"I see." She pushed against his chest putting some space between them. "So you lied to me."

"I did not lie to you, Mackenzie," he instantly denied.

"You just didn't tell me the truth." This time, she shoved hard against his chest and as his arms fell away, she moved out of his embrace. "That's not going to work for me, Nikhil. If I can't trust in you, believe in you, and have you tell me what I need to know, then this," she grabbed her hair that held his bead and it swung out as if it meant to return to him, "is meaningless."

"Don't say that!" Nikhil exclaimed. The heart in his chest that had just begun to settle started pounding even harder than before.

"Why not? It's the truth!" Mac felt her heart break at the devastated look on Nikhil's face. He thought she couldn't feel his pain because he didn't wear her True Mate bead but he was wrong. He'd touched her soul with how gently and carefully he had cleansed her, and how he kept putting her needs first. But none of that mattered if he wasn't honest with her.

"You are my True Mate, Mackenzie," he told her reaching for her again, but she stepped farther away, and he slowly dropped his arms.

"Yes, but you might not be mine since you don't wear my bead and that's what you didn't want to tell me, isn't it?"

"I... yes... some might see it that way," he reluctantly admitted, "but I don't. We have bonded, Mackenzie. I don't need a bead to tell me that. I feel you here." He touched his chest where his heart was still pounding so hard that it seemed to be trying to fly to her, knowing it was safe in her care.

Mac felt her eyes fill at Nikhil's heartfelt words. She could hear his truth in them and it made her want to reach out and comfort him, but she needed that truth to permeate more than just their relationship. She needed it to filter through their entire life. There was so much she still didn't know or understand and if she couldn't rely on Nikhil to tell her, who could she?