Chantal worried the bracelet she wore as she followed Maya to the Yekaran apartments in silence. She understood why Tricon might call for Maya, but what could he want with her? She’d already told him all she knew about his brother the day before.

  Maya knocked on his door, and Tricon called for them to enter. She opened a human-sized door set within the gigantic one and bade Chantal to enter first. Chantal’s heart raced as she walked in.

  With the massive door closed, the room was darker than it was the day before. She could barely make out Tricon’s dark shape in the gloom of a single lantern. From what she was able to discern, he looked frail and brittle, draped limp as he was over his bed.

  Maya crossed to his side and half lay over his neck, wrapping her arms about him and smoothing one hand over his scales. “You’ve had word from the Council?” she asked.

  A rumbling whine issued from Tricon’s throat, but he did not move. “They’ve set a hearing for tomorrow at the seventh hour.”

  Chantal felt uncomfortable and out of place watching these two comfort one another. They behaved like siblings despite their physical differences. She stepped back, further into shadow, and tried to be as unintrusive as possible while puzzling out why Tricon asked her to come. Did the Yekaran Council mean to hold a hearing against her father too, or did it have something to do with Tricon’s brother?

  Chantal grasped her bracelet so hard the settings pinched her skin, and she bit her lip. Was she being called to testify at whatever hearing Maya and Tricon were discussing?

  “When must you leave?” Maya asked.

  “Midday at the latest,” Tricon answered.

  “We don’t have much time then.” Maya stroked Tricon’s neck one last time before straightening and walking toward Chantal. Her stomach roiled, and she released her bracelet in favor of crossing her arms over her abdomen. Maya took her by the hand and led her to a normal table and chairs in the corner she hadn’t noticed before. Chantal sat at Maya’s urging and wrung her hands as the older woman sat across from her.

  “The Yekaran Council will convene tomorrow to decide Borcon's fate,” Maya explained.

  “What do you mean, decide his fate?” Chantal asked. Her pulse whooshed in her ears so loudly she almost missed Maya’s answer.

  “From what you’ve told us, it’s clear Borcon’s mind has broken. Avalynn explained a bit about how a Yekaran mind differs from ours, yes?”

  Chantal nodded. A chill spread down her spine as her mind raced to what this could mean for Borcon.

  “The hearing is to determine if there is hope Borcon can be treated, or if he must be terminated.”

  “You mean killed.” Chantal swallowed back a wave of nausea. “He’s sick, and instead of trying to help him, they’re just going to kill him unless I convince them he’s treatable.”

  It was hard to see in the shadows so far from the lantern, but Chantal thought Maya paled. The older woman let out a shuddering breath before responding.

  “You have to understand, Chantal.”

  Maya reached out to cover her hand, but Chantal shook her off.

  “I don’t want to understand! It’s disgusting!”

  “Our law is strict on this point, Lady Virchow,” Tricon said. He sighed. “Terrans have done much to help the broken since your people arrived. Unfortunately, the treatments and restraints you developed only work to a point.”

  “Like we helped put an end to hibernation failure?” Chantal scoffed. “Progress stopped, so they gave up.”

  “No,” Tricon answered. A growl rumbled low in his chest. “Bloodshed finally forced them to listen to reason.”

  Chantal felt as if she’d been doused in ice water. “What do you mean?” “Yekarans have a version of adrenaline that affects them much as it does us, but it's amplified a thousandfold,” Maya explained. She sat stiffly in her chair and folded her hands in her lap, maintaining as much distance from Chantal as possible. “The neurotransmitter balance in the brain of a broken Yekaran is completely different from that of a healthy one. Adrenaline stays relatively low in the early stages. However, they are paranoid and prone to lashing out.”

  “Like Borcon has been doing.”

  Maya nodded. “Drawing blood while in that altered state triggers another change in the brain. From what the earliest colonists discovered, the areas that control higher brain functions shut down, and their adrenal glands go into hyperproduction.”

  “Broken Yekarans destroyed entire shralankce colonies and bolgress herds,” Tricon explained. “They’d lash out at any who approached them. Many Yekarans fell at the claws of the broken.” He huffed.

  Chantal coughed at the sudden smoke in the air and slid back in her chair.

  “When humans first came to our shores, they began searching for a cure to the madness. It was the only way they felt they could show their gratitude for the clan that found and sheltered them that first winter. They developed drugs to dampen and slow the degradation, but none worked for those who had drawn blood.” The rasp of scales on wood filled the air, and Tricon let out another rumbling whine.

  Maya rose from her chair and returned to her place by Tricon. She embraced his neck again, stroking the scales as she took up the explanation.

  “The colonists made chains of alloys stronger than the Yekaran’s had discovered. They hoped the blood mad might at least be controlled.” Maya’s voice wavered. “They begged the Yekarans not to execute them, as had been their law for thousands of years, and the Yekarans agreed. About a decade later, one snapped her chains and escaped.”

  Chantal gasped, covering her face with trembling hands. “I don’t want to hear,” she cried in her mind.

  “She leveled the first outlying villages and destroyed the eastern wing of Reiont before she was subdued. She killed a third of the Terran population.”

  Chantal sobbed. She’d looked for this information! Why was this absent from the science and history sections of Tembar’s library?

  “Your scientists have never stopped looking for a cure,” Tricon said. His voice was brittle, and he’d draped one wing about Maya like a blanket. “They’ve made improvements for those who can be treated, but Terrans have not questioned our laws again.”

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  “I’m so sorry, Tricon,” Chantal said. Her voice was shaky and raw from crying. How would she testify tomorrow? She didn't feel able to talk now. “I didn’t understand.”

  “How can you understand unless you are taught?” Tricon asked. “Will you speak for my brother, Lady Virchow?”

  Chantal rose from her chair on quaking legs and walked to Tricon. He’d stopped breathing smoke after Maya soothed him, making it easier for her to approach now. Tricon was intimidating, but he was also funny and kind. And he was in pain. Her body kept telling her to run from this massive predator, but her heart called out for her to comfort him. She made her way to his side, careful to remain in his line of sight.

  “Of course I will speak for Borcon,” she answered. “If it will help him, how could I not?”

  “Thank you.”

  “I will help her prepare, and we will return here to see you off once Roggsha goes home,” Maya said.

  “Thank you, Maya.”

  Chantal turned away as the two bid each other farewell. She did not hear anything spoken between them; only the soft rustle of Tricon retracting his wing.

  “Let’s wash our faces before Roggsha’s parents arrive,” Maya suggested.

  “When are they due?” Chantal asked once they’d left the apartment building.

  “It’s a couple of hours yet, so we’ll have time to pack a bag for your trip.” Maya laid her hands on the small of her back and stretched side to side. “It feels as if all I’ve done is cry lately,” she said. Her hands rubbing over her face muffled the sound, but her words were clear. She sighed and dropped her hands. “There’s a washroom just off the kitchens, where we can wash up a bit. Then I think a trip to see Dr. Yavon about your burn is in order before we head back to your quarters.”

  “I feel well now, though,” Chantal protested.

  Maya turned and looked her over. “It’s the pain reliever and burn lotion you took after breakfast,” she said. “You’re still pink, and I’m guessing your fever will return when the analgesic wears off.”

  Maya pulled the kitchen area door open for them and led the way to the washroom. It was similar to the one at Tembar with broad counters, wide sinks under the pumps, and a worktable in the middle of the room. Drying racks lined the walls on the far side of the room. This early in the season, it was empty. During harvest, Chantal assumed it’d be bursting with kitchen staff cleaning and preserving fruits and vegetables. Maya pumped water for Chantal.

  “The Yekaran Council is far to the north and high in the Kreton Mountains,” Maya explained. “You will need to be careful about your health, weakened as you’ve been by your stint in the Wastelands, or you could become very ill.”

  Chantal patted her face dry with a clean towel Maya handed her before pumping water for Maya.

  “So it will still be cold where we’re headed?”

  Maya nodded as she accepted the towel and patted her face dry. “The lower lands in the region should be starting to thaw, but the Council’s hall is in a cave system high in the mountains. It only thaws for a few weeks in the middle of summer.”

  “Why would they choose a place so cold?” Chantal asked. She shivered at the thought of it and started to rub her arms. Pain lanced from her hands to her shoulders, causing her to stop. Maybe seeing the doctor wasn’t a bad idea.

  “It’s part tradition and part defense,” Maya answered. They left the washroom, and Maya led the way toward Dr. Yavon. “They’d held gatherings of clan elders there for centuries before our ancestors crashed. It is a difficult area for humans to reach without Yekaran aid.”

  “Still, isn’t it uncomfortable and difficult to find food?”

  “Yekarans are more tolerant of temperature extremes than us,” Maya answered. “They thrive here; we would not without our technology and the talent groups. Although the clans lived in caves when the colonists arrived, and many still choose to live in them today, they’re technologically advanced. They keep their homes comfortable no matter the weather. The flight there will be the cold part.”

  “What about food?” Chantal repeated.

  “They’re predators by nature,” Maya answered. “They have bolgress herds that supply most of their needs. They trade with surrounding settlements for vegetables, fruit, nuts, and textiles.” Maya grinned. “They’re sitting on one of the richest gold veins on the continent. They employ master goldsmiths, both Terran and Yekaran.”

  Chantal boggled over the image of a Yekaran working a forge. She looked down at the bracelet. It was a simple thing, just a twined golden cord, but it was all she had of her mother, having stowed it in her bag before leaving Tembar. Was this forged by the Council goldsmiths?

  “Here we are: Dr. Yavon’s office.”

  “He has an office?” Chantal asked.

  “We have several healers on staff,” Maya explained. A small bell chimed as they entered. “Dr. Yavon is Aligh’s personal physician, but he keeps hours, too.”

  “I’ll be with you in just a moment,” called a man’s voice from an adjoining room.

  Shelf upon shelf of pewter jars with neat labels lined the walls. A worktable and stool stood across the room, strewn with vials, books, and papers. A bed sat toward the middle with a tall lantern and another stool near it.

  A man entered from the open door to the right of the desk, carrying a stack of folders. One of them was open, and he leafed through it. He was of average height, and his hair had gone snowy white. His carriage wasn’t as stooped, and his gait was more sure-footed than Chantal had come to expect from someone his age. Was life in Tembar so much harder than life in Reiont, or did he age unusually well? The man glanced up from his papers and greeted them with a smile.

  “Good morning, Lady DuBois,” he said. “You aren’t ill, I hope.”

  “I’m well, thank you,” Maya answered. “I have brought my soon-to-be cousin-in-law to see you.” She gestured to Chantal. “This is Chantal Virchow.”

  “Oh, I did hear about you yesterday, yes,” said Dr. Yavon. He placed the folders on the desk and offered his hand to Chantal. “It’s nice to meet you, Lady Virchow.”

  “And you,” Chantal answered, accepting the offered handshake.

  “So, what brings you to see me, Lady Virchow?” He looked her over as he spoke, regarding her with dark blue eyes. “It looks like you’ve had a bit too much sun.”

  “Yes, sir.” Chantal blushed as she sat on the bed as directed. “I spent much of yesterday outdoors, and I woke with the chills this morning.”

  “She’d been in the Wastelands without food or water for a day before,” Maya interjected. “However, until yesterday morning, she sheltered during the day and traveled at night.”

  “Smart girl,” Dr. Yavon praised and favored Chantal with a grin. “Were the chills accompanied by fever?”

  Chantal started to say she was unsure, but Maya said she’d had a slight fever.

  “I had her take an analgesic and use burn lotion this morning,” Maya continued. “She still has plenty of the burn lotion, but she’s to leave for a hearing of the Yekaran Council in a few hours.”

  “Why?”

  “I can’t answer that,” Maya said.

  “Ah, I see,” Dr. Yavon said. He pursed his lips and shook his head before turning back to Chantal. “You’re a popular young lady,” he said. “Let’s ensure you can keep up with your social calendar without catching a cold, shall we?”

  He checked her vitals and burns. He asked her questions about her past health, what she’d done the past few days, and how she’d eaten since arriving at Reiont. He tested her pupil response and reflexes. Then he drew a couple of vials of blood for testing.

  Dr. Yavon went to the shelves and pulled down several pewter pots. He took them over to the desk and filled three small vials.

  “You’ve a moderate burn and a touch of dehydration,” he said. “It shouldn’t cause you too much trouble so long as you drink plenty of fluids. Apply your burn lotion two or three times a day, and keep the skin clean.”

  He handed her a vial. “These are anti-inflammatory tablets. You can take two of these as needed for pain or fever. Wait at least six hours between doses, and never take more than eight tablets in a day. Understand?”

  Chantal nodded.

  “Good,” he replied and handed her the next vial. “This is a nutritive tonic,” he explained. “You’ve been living off very little food these past few days. This will help you replenish your store of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Take a spoonful before each meal.” He gave her the last vial.

  “These are herb caplets. They’re meant to help bolster the immune system. Take one before each meal.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Chantal said.

  “You’re quite welcome, my dear.” Dr. Yavon smiled again and steadied Chantal as she slid off the bed.

  “In addition to the medications and nutritive, you will need to keep yourself warm and rest,” he instructed as he led them to the door. “They can do nothing if you overtax your system by exposing it to extremes or wearing yourself out.”