Chapter 3

When Kat woke up the next morning, she saw that Charlie was already up and tending the fire that he had started the night before. The tantalizing smell of fresh brewed coffee was carried to her on the wind. Sitting up, she slowly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Good, you're up. We can get an early start today," he said as he handed her a cup of coffee. Kat smiled in thanks and took a sip of the hot brew. She winced as it's bitter flavor coated her tongue.

"Just out of curiosity, Charlie, how many packets of coffee did you use to make this?"

"Three." He walked back over to the fire and poured himself a cup. He took a sip of it before spitting it out. "Yuk! What's wrong with the coffee that you brought?"

"Nothing, Charlie. You just simply put to much in the pot."

"It said three on the packet."

"Three scoops, not three packets," she said as she stood and walked over to the fire. Dumping her coffee on the fire, she stretched and headed towards the zephti. Laying a reassuring hand on it's back, she softly rubbed it. The animal leaned towards her as she scratched it's favorite spot.

Behind her, Charlie scowled and dumped the pot over the fire. Grabbing his pack he found a couple of nutrition bars. Tearing one of them open, he took a big bite out of it.

"Here." He handed the other bar to her.

"What's this?" Kat asked as she accepted the bar.

"Breakfast." He turned back and started gathering up their bedrolls.

"Wonderful!", Kat mumbled as she took a bite out of it. It tasted like cardboard. And she had a feeling it was going to be a long time until lunch.

Jonathan lay beside Pati and watched as she slumbered. He held a piece of her silky hair between his fingers. His heart ached when he thought of the torment she went through each time she awoke. If there were any way to kill the man that injected her again, he would. But Brett Garway was no longer among the living. His heart had given out a few months earlier. He wished there were a way to heal his wife. He loved her to a distraction and hated the fact that she wasn't the same woman he had fallen in love with. The raz-ice, Venus's most addictive drug had somehow combined with the potent aphrodisiac that she had been given. He longed to have her want him without being under the influence of the drug. He remembered the first time that they had made love and he longed to go back to that time.

"Jonathan..." Pati's soft whisper broke into his thoughts.

"Sweetheart?" He gathered her up in his arms.

"I ache," she told him as she snuggled closer to him.

"I know, Pati. I wish I could take away the pain." He pressed a kiss on the crown of her head.

"Please make love to me?"

"I'll always make love to you, Pati. I love you." He leaned in and kissed her deeply. When she moaned against his mouth, he sighed with pleasure and felt just a twinge of regret that it was the drug that made her ask him to love her.

"My lady."

Arianna looked up from the book she was reading. She smiled absently at the young maid.

"Yes, Gloria?"

"Prince Randall wishes to speak to you. Shall I tell Arthur to patch into here?"

"Of course." Setting her book aside, when the light lit on the console next to her, she pressed the button.

"Good afternoon, Prince Rand. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Arianna, it's wonderful to hear your voice."

"What do you want, you silver tongued devil?" Arianna asked with a laugh.

"Arianna, you wound me," he protested.

"What has Charles done?" She gripped the arms of her chair.

"He's on his way to you. I brought back a healer from Earth. She was tested by Ulrich and deemed in need of training."

"And you would like me to train her?" Arianna replied as she thought of the task ahead of her.

"Yes. I know that it is asking a lot of you. I know that you haven't taken a student in years, Arianna. But this is a special case. I think she is going to be the one that cures Pati. Her power is totally different than any I have ever seen."

"Really. So this girl's power lies in the healing arts?"

"Yes. When I brought her back from Earth, I realized that she was different. She has quite a bit of latent power. The only thing is that she never uses it. So this task will not be an easy one. On Earth, her power is forbidden. So it will be a long and difficult task when training her. Are you up to it?"

"But of course. All I do is read. Since Deanna's death six months ago, nothing in Areseric has been the same. Even the highest of wizards are reluctant to show their power. Charles' verdict has been rough on them."

"And I'm afraid that it is only going to get harder for him."

"You've asked him to escort this girl to me?" The truth dawned on her. "I knew you were a hard man, Rand but not cruel."

"I did not ask him to, Arianna. Gracie asked him."

"And he would do about anything for your princess. As would many in your kingdom. You couldn't have married a better witch, Rand. I hope you realize how lucky you really are."

"Yes, I do. Arianna, I would have asked him to take her. You have to know that up front. I have seen this healer in action. She can heal. She has helped Gracie with the babies. I know that she would have had them early if Kat hadn't stepped in."

"She must be a strong healer."

"She is. She will heal Pati. She will in the end heal your son."

"My son?" Arianna whispered.

"Yes. She has been called to Venus. She was having dreams of it long before she came here. I've seen that she will stay here. She will become a part of our world. She'll marry and stay."

"An Earthling marrying an Venusian? That would be the first."

"No. My father just granted Drew and Grace, a bonded couple, the right to marry."

"He's opened the door for more marriages then."

"Yes. Especially in the case of bonded couples. It was a point of contention between us. I told him that the bonding wasn't logical or reasonable when it came to who a man felt the need to bond with. That if they bonded then -- they should have the right to wed also."

"Sounds logical to me. I still think that any couple should have the right to marry if they suit and they have community support."

"Yes. I know that in Areseric that the community tribuinal has the last say. But what is going to happen when Charles comes home and decides to change it?"

"Oh I hope not. I don't want to see civil war break out."

"Well, lets hope that it doesn't. So will you do it? Will you train Kat?"

"Of course I will, Rand. When will they arrive?"

"They left yesterday. I arranged for them to spend a couple of weeks alone on the plains."

"How in the world did you do that?"

"I bought out all the zephtis except for one pregnant one. I know he won't push her to hard. He'll have to spend time with Kat. She has been trying to get his attention since she came here. But he's leery and giving her quite the chase."

"Is she the one?" Arianna held her breath as she waited for the answer. Gracie's aunt had predicted when Charles had bonded with Deanna, that she wasn't the one that was going to be his true mate. She envisioned that his true mate would travel a long way from her home to become his mate in every way.

"Yes. She is the one!"

"Oh." Arianna's mind spun. It was going to be one heck of show to watch when they arrived.

Kat stared in disgust at Charlie. He had gone back to trying to keep her at a distance. They were stopped for lunch.

"You know, Charlie, giving me the silent treatment isn't going to work. I'll just keep right on talking until you do answer me."

Charlie looked over at her and scowled.

"What will it take to get through to you, Katrina?"

"What? You still trying to sell that old song and dance about not wanting me? Come on. It's time to change the tune and start living again. You can't crawl into the grave next to her. You have to start living again."

"So you want to be the one to make me forget about her?" His voice grated as he stomped over to her; jerking her up, he held her off the ground, so he could look her in the eye.

"Little girl, you are no match for me. The things I have forgotten about making love and loving, you haven't even learned yet. Keep pushing, and you're going to find out what happens when you push an Areserican to far. An earthling will never be able to satisfy me. Leave me alone before I end up hurting you." He dropped her and stormed away.

If he had looked back instead of stomping away, he would have seen the smile that covered Kat's face. And then he might have realized that he had just played into her little hands.

"That's better, Charlie. At least you're not ignoring me." Kat whispered as she watched him disappear from sight.

It was a VERY long afternoon. But finally time came to make camp for the night. The site was barren but at least there was water.

Charles stood next to the small stream. He was still angry with Kat. He couldn't believe that the child was giving him lectures on love. He was happy just the way he was. He didn't want to jump into another relationship with a witch. And no matter how she protested, Kat was a witch. She could do things that he couldn't and he wasn't risking a relationship with her. It was doomed and he had better things to do than try to build a relationship that wouldn't last.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he stared down into the water. He wished that he wasn't so set against witches but after Deanna, he couldn't stomach the thought of risking himself. His body might have other ideas about her but he controlled his body. For him it was not the other way around.

"Charlie?"

He growled. He couldn't believe that she had followed him.

"What!"

"Ah, I think that the zephti is having her baby."

"What?" He spun around and stared at her.

"Yeah. She just dropped to her knees and started making noises."

"Christ." He grabbed her hand and hurried back to the campsite. When they reached it, Charles saw that the zephti was indeed in the process of having her baby. When she saw them, the zephti whined in greeting, as if asking if they knew what was wrong with her.

Charles immediately dropped to his knees next to the groaning animal. Placing a hand on it's distended stomach, he felt for the familiar contractions that signaled labor. Under his hand he could feel the muscles tightening. But something seemed to be wrong. He could feel the foal inside and it was struggling. Normally during labor the foal was calm while the mother delivered it.

"There's something wrong! I'm not a healer." Turning towards, Kat, he jerked her towards the laboring animal. "Feel. The foal is struggling. Do something. You are the great healer. Heal her. Fix it." he demanded.

"I... I... I've never..." she protested as he shoved her towards the animal. Seeing her familiar face, the zephti tried to stand and greet her. "No, no, girl, lay back down." Kat urged as she placed her hand on it's stomach. Feeling around, she could see why Charles was so worried. The foal was indeed struggling.

"Go get me some water and my bag." she ordered as she felt the foal and the stomach of it's mother.

When she turned to look at him, she could see that he was already doing as she requested.

"Listen here, Girl. I'm not a real healer. I'm going to do what I can for you but understand something, if you make me out for a fool, in front of that man, I'll never forgive you. So lets make sure that you don't do that and I'll make sure that you have a fine baby to show off to all your zephti friends. Deal?" The zephti whined as if agreeing.

"Oh, Katrina, you are losing it if you think that animal understood a damn thing you just said." Kat scolded herself. But it seemed as if the zephti was in a much better mood and seemed to be a bit relaxed when Charlie returned with the water and her bag. Washing her hands quickly, she looked at the zephti. She wasn't sure where the sexual organs on this animal were. Were they in the back like a horse?