and Queen sat across from the commander each had fallen asleep as soon as they had reached their seats. Neither had reacted to the presence of their separated sons. The King had not returned to view the infants since the order had been given to separate them. Neither royal seemed to be much aware of their surroundings.
As the hours slowly slipped away Commander Connor had enjoyed taunting his captives. First he described how Joah had died in great detail watching the anger grow on Andru’s face. Then he began to compare Chelsa’s death to Joah’s saying, “We took an unusual approach to your grandfather’s interrogation, empathy. The woman Chelsa died so quickly, losing only one finger killed her. Perhaps empaths were too weak in their own mortality.” He smiled evilly down at Lysette. “Perhaps that is a Treborelan trait.” He added as an afterthought, “Wanting to avoid a sudden death re-occurrence I decided to use an old method of torture on the old man.” Connor’s eyes moved to meet Andrus hate filled glare. “I let my soldiers take turns carving designs into his chest. When it was sufficiently decorated we turned him over and worked on his back.”
Pausing Connor tilted his head studying Andru who sat across from him holding Arbus in his arms. Connor continued saying, “I was impressed with the way the old man took the pain. Yet one blow to his head killed him so easily. I realized then that he could block the pain and not the injury. He was as weak as Chelsa. When the time comes Empath will you be so fragile?” Connor glanced at Lysette saying, “You see doctor, I have a theory that the empathic ‘strength’ these fools use only to heal is actually a fatal weakness when not put to its proper use.”
Moving his gaze back to Andru he taunted him once more, “I’ve got to give the old healer a bit of credit. He never screamed, not once. Will you be that brave when you die?” He looked back at Lysette and said, “Will you Dr Nolan?”
Andru reached slowly into his jacket pocket and grasped the laser scalpel; his only wish was to silence Connor forever. To his surprise Connor had silently drawn his pistol and pointed it at Andru’s face saying, “Yes, do bring out your toy empathy. Show me if you can create a wound as skillfully as you can heal one.” Connor’s voice was low and threatening.
The soldier sitting beside Andru jerked him to his feet in the small space and shoved him back against the thin jet wall, nearly knocking Arbus from his hands. Removing the scalpel from Andru’s jacket the soldier tossed it to Connor and shoved Andru back into his seat.
Connor inspected it saying, “An effective weapon at close range, but not worthy of an empathy.” He smiled with disappointment. “I would have expected the sweet doctor to have wielded this weapon.”
An eternity passed before the craft landed on a small stretch of beach below a series of sheer cliffs. The dark sky was unrelenting as the clouds refused to let the moonlight reach them. The only light was that of the soldier’s lanterns as they reflected off the waves. The prisoners were herded into the cove of the cliffs while the soldiers dismantled the transport and hid the large sections under the cold waves using weighted anchors they pulled out from behind the large rocks at the base of the cliffs.
The King and Queen had regained consciousness upon arrival yet shuffled around as if they were not quite awake. The small inlet led up a steep rocky incline. Ropes were tied to the royals then Lysette and Andru. They struggled to keep their footing or be dragged up the slope behind the soldiers. Doing their best Andrus and Lysette protected the babies with their bodies, trying not to crush them as they struggled to remain on their feet up the nearly vertical slope. Andru followed behind Lysette staying close to her in the darkness. Speaking only once as they neared the top he whispered, “We’re in Treborel, far north I’d say. Watch for any movement in the brush and be prepared to move quickly.”
Lysette knew he was referring to the sraeb they were well into ‘frenzy’ at this point. After all they had been through Lysette was past fear of death. She pushed the thought of an animal attack to the back of her mind and concentrated on staying upright. Once on the