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“Come on, let’s get her on the table!”
“Her condition is getting worse!”
“Someone hold her down while I get the restraints!”
The voices were loud and agonizing to her senses. She just wants it to end. This is far more unbearable than even the trials of the Marking.
She knows that she’s surrounded by her family, but it doesn’t matter right now. She hurts all over.
“Yasha! Yasha, can you hear me?! You need to calm down!”
She wants to respond but it’s just too much. So she resorts to more manic screaming.
She feels her body being bound and restrained to a hard surface. No, it’s not her family, it’s the Iron Shepherds again, she’s being strapped down and prepped to be tortured.
She was never rescued, she’s still trapped in the Sour Nest. She has to go through another round of torture to protect Fjord and Jester.
That’s the only explanation for this. That has to be—
Her thought process goes completely blank in an instant as she feels a crawling sensation enter her mind.
Then she has no thoughts at all soon after as her consciousness fades.
Yasha wakes up in a bed.
It’s her bed, the bed she shares with Beau in… the tower. Caleb’s tower. And she feels completely drained and not rested at all.
What… exactly happened to her? And how did she get here?
Why can’t she quite remember?
“Oh, you’re finally awake.”
She blinks her eyes and turns her head. Right there at the bedside is Beau and Caleb.
“Hey… um… what just…”
The Empire Kids share a look that Yasha can’t quite discern. It’s Caleb that breaks the ice.
“Yasha… what’s the last thing you remember?”
“Um…”
Yasha tries to think back to whatever Caleb may be thinking about. Best she can recall, she was on a camping trip with Clara and TJ. And at one point, they were caught off guard by a quake that sent them down into a quarry. Yasha had tried her best to catch and shield them, only to be grievously injured herself. She vaguely recalls holding TJ and healing whatever wounds he had before falling unconscious.
She relays this information to Beau and Caleb, the former processing and nodding.
“Yeah, that tracks. But it seems you were also screaming and hallucinating.”
“Ja. We were trying to get you to calm down and… well, you kept doing all that. You were clearly delirious from all of the blood loss.”
Yasha nods slowly. “Okay… Oh! Clara and TJ, are they…?”
“All right? Yeah,” Beau responds as she looks to the side. Yasha follows her line of sight through the open door and right there, curled up on the sofa, is Clara and TJ. The boy is sleeping peacefully while the mother’s arm is snugly secured in a sling.
“Yasha, you kept struggling as we tried to patch you up. And… we kinda had to restrain you. Sorry.”
Yasha looks at her wife with an apologetic gaze. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I was thinking the worst. I thought… I thought I was back in the Sour Nest again…”
Beau takes her wife’s hand and squeezes it tight. “It’s okay. I’m sorry that you were assuming that. But you’re all right now. Okay?”
She nods. She’s so damn tired right now. She looks around the bed, and she notices all the stains of blood on the sheets. “Sorry for ruining your sheets.”
Caleb just smiles and laughs. “It’s fine. It will be back to normal next time I set it up.”
Of course. She keeps forgetting that that’s how Caleb’s tower worked.
Gods, it’s been so long since she’d been here.
“Anyway,” Beau says, “you still need plenty of rest, and we still have about twelve hours left here. Do you think you’ll be okay for now?”
“Yeah, I think so…”
Her body is still very sore, especially in the spots where her injuries were the most severe. Right now, she could definitely use a lot more sleep.
Caleb takes this opportunity to make his exit. Beau lingers for just a moment longer.
“If you need anything, the rope’s right there.”
She points to a familiar cord used to summon the tower’s cats. It’s a lot closer than usual, easily within reach. How thoughtful.
“Okay. Thank you, Beau.”
Her wife gently strokes her hair as she plants an equally gentle kiss on her forehead. “Thank TJ. He’s the one that reached out to us with your stone.”
Yasha nods. “Sure. When he wakes up, I’ll do that.”
“Why not right now?”
Beau and Yasha look in the direction of the voice. Clara and TJ are awake.
They walk into the room and Clara holds Yasha’s hand with her good arm.
“Are you all right now?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” And she looks at TJ. “And thank you, little man.”
TJ smiles with a tiny hint of a blush to his face. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re okay.”
Yasha smiles back. “Me too…”
With Yasha taken care of, Beau gets to her feet. “Okay then, I’ll let you get some sleep. Take it easy.”
She nods to her wife, who then makes her own exit.
As soon as the door is closed, Yasha gestures for Clara and TJ to join her on the bed. She then holds them close.
“I promise you two that we’ll have a better trip next time.”
TJ whines a little. “No more falling, please. It hurt.”
Clara soothes her little boy. “Don’t worry, TJ. It will be a lot safer.”
Yasha smiles as she lets herself doze off again, still holding her family close.
And this time, her sleep is nothing more than peaceful.