I could feel what Nakul was feeling with a sense of detachment. He was bored. Another long day in his cell with no new books to read. Another day to feel the sorrow of missing his son and wife. Another day of guilt that he would never see any of his people again. I felt his chagrin as he corrected that. He would see none of his people except one.
Monica was right, I was still aware of the world. I could feel Raphael’s heat but not see him. I didn’t move a muscle or try to look around. This wasn’t my sight, this was Nakul’s, and we just had to go with it.
Which was especially odd when I saw myself walk by and look into the cell. My eyes didn’t seem so dark when I looked into a mirror. I had dark brown eyes, and I knew that, but they looked black to him through the glass. I blinked, and they turned the red-orange of my snake form then back again. Knowing me, I was probably mad when I saw him and had to reel it in. This wasn’t the day of the breakout.
I left the view. Nakul stood up and tried to look out at me, but the small window didn’t give much option for that.
He didn’t hate me. There was a feeling of understanding from him that I was a touch surprised about.
The vision faded, which caught me off guard, and an interview room formed around us. Eliphas sat across the table, smiling kindly as Nakul shifted in the seat to get more comfortable.
“Nakul, how are you feeling today?”
“I’m feeling fine, Warden. Why am I here?” There was something hard about the way Nakul spoke. He was distrustful, even angry about being in the room. He didn’t want to be there.
“I thought it was past time we talked. I talk to every inmate in the northern cell block in hopes that maybe one day, we can rehabilitate you and let you go home under more house arrest instead of being here.”
“If I ever get out of these walls…” Nakul trailed off. “You know what I did. I would keep doing it. I won’t stop until the Tribunal pledges its full power to stop the slaughter of nagas.”
“Ah. Then let’s talk about that…” Eliphas, his words thoughtful, faded out.
The hard part of memories was the sense of time. I didn’t know which memory came first on the timeline. I didn’t know what day it was or even the year.
The third memory started, and now Nakul seemed to have a sense of enjoyment sitting in the chair with Eliphas across from him.
“Good afternoon, Warden. Time for another chat?” Nakul sat down. I could feel the smile on his face.
“It is!” Eliphas grinned back. “And I’ve brought a guest today. I hope you don’t mind. We reached out to him for help with Wesley, and I think you’re a good candidate for what he does.”
“What does he do?” Nakul trusted Eliphas, but he didn’t know how to feel about this new party. I didn’t blame him. This was a classic set up. From the feel of it, Eliphas had weaseled his way into Nakul’s trust, then decided to abuse it.
“He’s a healer.”
“I’m not broken,” Nakul hissed. “You know that. I had…have moments of temporary insanity. We’ve spoken about this. You know how I feel about—”
“He might be able to fix that, Nakul. He might be able to bury the urge. He might be able to give you a normal life again. Try talking to him. Just once.”
Nakul nodded, and I wanted to groan. Hook, line, and sinker.
The new man walked in, a crisp, young-looking man with a kind smile, wearing the white coat of a human doctor.
Raphael’s audible gasp spooked me. The connection to him broke, and I heard him fall back, heaving for air. I couldn’t do anything about that yet. He knew this face, and we would have to talk about it once this was done.
The meeting faded and went to another. Nakul didn’t like this new guy. He didn’t like that Eliphas kept bringing him around. Today was no different.
“This is one that’s been tampered with the most,” Monica said, stopping her chanting only for that.
I could see why. It was hazy and threatening to give me a headache. I heard a groan and figured it was from Nakul. Raphael had left, his heat no longer close to me.