Chapter 4

Recovering Dizyntk

Feyalisa was spending the day, as she had spent most of every other day for the past week, helping to tend to the wounded at the Royal Medical Facility on the palace grounds. It had fortuitously been located on the opposite side of the complex from where the majority of the fighting had taken place. The small hospital was not actually large enough to house all the wounded from the battle that had been fought a week earlier. Only about half of the wounded soldiers were being cared for here. The other half were being housed and treated in the palace itself at the insistence of Queen Kiasyphia. That was where Feya was spending those days when she was not here.

Feya had once been quite knowledgeable in basic medical techniques. She had acquired her abilities on this from her human mate back when they had been stranded on the uninhabited planet together. She had not used the skills in quite some time though, so naturally they had eroded. She was happy to find that they were not unlike many other skills, that once you started using them again they came back quickly. Currently she was changing the bandages on a young dizyntk who had lost her right hand. It would be replaced by a robotic one as soon as it could be made. That would not be for another week or so however. Currently the young soldier was trying to control her embarrassment at having her Princess tend to her wounds.

"That really is not necessary, Your Highness." she said in a soft voice. Her face was completely crimson at this point. "The healers will do that."

Feyalisa looked at her and gave her a smile. "Normally that would be true, Corporal, but they are very busy with soldiers that have suffered serious wounds and may not have time to tend you today. Since your wounds need tending today, you will have to accept my poor services instead." She frowned a bit and lowered her gaze in an act of sadness. "Unless you think that I am not good enough to treat your wounds."

The young soldier was suddenly mortified that she may have insulted the Princess. "No, no, no, Your Highness, that is not it at all. You are more than qualified to do so; it is just that I ... I mean ... That is..."

Feyalisa looked up slightly, still with the sad look on her face. "Yes?"

The Corporal lowered her head a bit and gave up. "Nothing, Your Highness. My apologies. Please continue changing the dressings."

Feya smiled brightly and continued her work. "Just remember, Corporal, I am a Princess and have much experience in persuading others to see things my way."

The soldier looked up sharply and noticed that Feyalisa was trying hard not to laugh. She closed her eyes and sighed. The Princess had not been sad at all, she had merely acted that way. She heard several of her comrades in nearby beds laugh as well. They had all thought it a superb acting job on the part of their Princess.

Back at the palace, Velakari was helping tend to another wounded soldier. This one was much nearer to the hearts of the royal family and needed attention from one with more formal medical training than Feyalisa possessed. Kari was taking the vitals while the Healer, Sister Oriakana, examined the patient thoroughly. The priestess knew that the fact that her patient was still alive said more about the patient's stubborn refusal to give up than her own medical skills. She was still unsure if she would live or not, but her chances were far better now than they had been a week ago.

Virathea was covered with bandages, tubes and wires and had a respirator attached. She had yet to wake up and had even had to be resuscitated twice in the first two days she was here. She was doing better now but she was still in critical condition. She had lost a lot of blood lying in the bottom of the hole where Velakari had found her. They had been unable to save her left arm and it had been removed halfway between the elbow and shoulder. The impact of being slammed into the bottom of the hole had cracked her pelvis and ruptured four discs in her spine. Even if she woke up, she would be in a lot of pain for a while.

As she finished her immediate duties in helping Virathea, Velakari's communicator vibrated on her hip. She read the message that had been sent and looked at the Healer. "Pardon me, Sister, but Virathea's dearest has just arrived. I should probably go and meet her."

The Healer understood completely. "Yes, it would be better if you explained the situation to her before she gets here."

Velakari walked quickly to the side door of the Palace which was nearest the landing pad for messenger ships. Cynthia Rodgers had taken up the job of a messenger pilot when she had come with Virathea to Sapphire some eight months prior. Her ship had been sent to bring warning of the coup to Dizyn and she had been caught up in the attack on that system. During the fighting she had served as most messenger ships served during system battles; as a courier for reports between the inner and outer parts of the system. She had come through it without as much as a scratch to either herself or her ship. She had intended to stay for a week on Dizyn to catch her breath before returning home. That was before she had gotten the message that Sapphire had been attacked as well. Her co-pilot could not talk her out of leaving immediately and they had made it back to Sapphire in almost record time. As she walked quickly to the palace door, she saw Velakari waiting for her. A terrible feeling washed through her as she slowed and came to a stop in front of Velakari.

"It's Virathea, isn't it?" Cynthia asked with a slight tremble in her voice. "Is she... ?"

Kari shook her head. "No, she is alive but she is badly hurt."

Cynthia breathed a sigh of relief and started to walk past Kari. Kari gently grabbed her arm.

"I must see her, Velakari." Cynthia said quietly.

"And so you shall." Velakari replied. "I would prefer that you took a nap first as you are unmistakably tired, but I know better than to ask that. I will insist that you bathe and change the clothes that you have been in for three days however. You look a mess."

Cynthia hung her head in resignation. Velakari was right that she probably looked terrible. "You are right; I will go and bathe first."

"And I will go and get you some fresh clothes while you do so." Velakari said with a smile. She kept Cynthia's arm in her hands and led her to the nearest bathing area and explained Virathea's injuries to her as they walked.

Captain Jesakalin Stood in the mess hall of the main base on the moon Stetilk, looking up at her ship being repaired. They had been working on it for almost a week now and it would not be finished for another two at best. She could not help but see the faces of her crew that were killed in the battle. She sighed at the thought that she had lost half of them. She shook her head sharply to try and clear it. She had also brought half of them home safely. The conflicting emotions were driving her crazy.

She noticed Admiral Jedanaran walk up beside her. "Do not let it get to you, Captain. All ship commanders loose crew at one point or another, whether to battle or to accidents. You know that, my dearest."

Jesakalin closed her eyes and nodded. "I know that, father. Knowing it does not make it any easier though."

"I never said it would, Kalin. But you brought half of them home safely. More than that, you fought well." He patted his youngest daughter gently on the shoulder. "You have made me even prouder of you than I already was, my dearest. I just wanted you to know that."

He walked slowly away to allow her to finish mourning those she had lost. She would be fine by the time her ship was ready to go back out, of that he had no doubt. She was his third child and the only one to follow him into the Fleet. She had truly made him proud over the years and he was sure that this battle would only serve to highlight an already promising career.

Jesakalin smiled slightly as her father walked away. He had always been supportive of her desire to be an officer in the fleet. That this was a partly selfish support on his part due to his being one himself had never mattered to her. He had also never been one to give her false praise and he had given her the highest of praise just now. His pride in her was more important to Jesakalin than almost anything else. She would be ready to resume command before the Zerleen was repaired she thought as she turned and left. In the meantime she would go and visit those of her crew that were in the medical ward recovering from their wounds. Seeing those that she had brought home alive would cheer her up immensely.

Back on Sapphire, Cynthia Rodgers had finished bathing and had changed into fresh clothes. It was true what Velakari had said about her probably needing a nap, but there was no way that she could do that right now. She walked with Velakari upstairs to the room that Virathea was being cared in. As she walked into the room she stopped and just stared at the figure in the bed for a moment. Velakari had told her how badly Virathea was hurt but actually seeing her like this was something else entirely. The electrodes attached to her body for the various sensors, the respirator in her mouth, the IV tubes running to her arm. This last highlighting the most traumatic injury of course; the fact that she had only one arm now. Cynthia could barely recognize the dizyntk in the bed as Virathea.

Before she could start to move towards the bed, the healer that had also been in the room came over to her. She looked at Cynthia and softly spoke to her. "She is probably going to live, despite how she looks right now. We will take the respirator out tomorrow. She probably does not need it right now but I want to be safe. Be mindful of the IV tubes in her arm and push the red button at the head of the bed if she should wake up."

Cynthia nodded at the instructions. "I understand, Sister. Thank you."

"No need for thanks, it is my job after all." The Priestess replied. "I will leave the two of you alone now. I or another sister will be by in an hour to check on her."

As the healer and Velakari left the room, Cynthia walked over to Virathea and sat on the chair that had been placed next to the bed. She gently took Virathea's hand and slowly stroked at her hair. As she leaned over to kiss her forehead, Cynthia could feel the tears begin falling from her eyes.

She lightly kissed Virathea's ears and whispered, "Don't you dare die on me, Vira."

Cynthia sat back down and laid her head next to Virathea's hand as she squeezed it. She continued crying as she did so, both out of fear that Virathea might not make it as well as out of relief that she was still alive. She had lost someone she thought she had loved once before, she was not ready to loose another. After a few minutes the lack of sleep over the past three days caught up with her and she slipped out of consciousness.

Melissa Watson lay in bed thinking about the irony of her unit's involvement in defeating the attack on the Royal Palace. The rebels were using the reason of the Empress accepting humans and dizyntk in general, and the Princess Feyalisa and her mate Michael in particular, being allowed to bond as a danger to dizyntk values to validate their claim that she was unfit to rule. In truth it was obvious that the Duchess leading the revolt had been planning this for some time. Longer than Feyalisa and Michael had been on Sapphire that was for certain. Still, it was of particular satisfaction to Melissa that her mixed race unit had been instrumental in driving back one part of that revolt. This was doubly true due to the individual she held in her arms at this moment.

She hugged Trilin's head slightly tighter to her breasts as he slept next to her. She did not know if she was ready to be married or bonded yet. She did know that this dizyntk she was holding was the most likely candidate for such a thing she had ever known. That these rebels would forbid her from even considering it made her furious. And no, the irony of the fact that her people were rebels from the Protectorate and were here fighting another group of rebels in the Imperium was not lost on her. The thought of this did cause her to laugh to herself a little bit.

Trilin woke and stirred a bit next to her as she laughed. He could feel her hands on the back of his head, cradling him to her bosom. He lightly nuzzled against her and kissed both her breasts. "What has you so amused this morning?"

She explained the ironic thought that had caused her laughter. It caused him to chuckle a little as well. "Yes, that is a darkly humorous bit of irony. Then again, had your world not rebelled I would not be able to do this to you." As Trilin said this, he let his hand slide up Melissa's leg and traced a finger gently around the edges of her pussy.

Melissa gasped and squeezed Trilin's head tighter against her chest. She looked quickly to the clock on the table next to the bed and saw that they had thirty minutes before they had to leave for their duty shift. "We will have to make this a quick one, lover." she said as she tilted his face up to kiss him.

Trilin smiled at her after the kiss and kept gently rubbing her. He could feel himself getting aroused as Melissa pushed him onto his back, kissing and nibbling on his neck as she did so. He loved his ear being rubbed between her fingers. "I thought you did not like quick ones." He said almost breathlessly.

Before Melissa could form an answer she felt his fingers push inside her. Her head snapped up as she gasped in pleasure at the penetration. She ground her hips down against his hand and felt her clit brush back and forth across his palm. She put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him hard. After she came up for air she said, "I would rather have a quick one with you than long one with anyone else." She immediately kissed again before he could respond.

Trilin could scarcely believe what she had just said. The effect of the statement was to bring him to full arousal almost instantly. He took his fingers out of Melissa's wet pussy, which caused her to make a very unhappy sound, and then rolled them over to be on top of her. He could feel her fingers wrap gently around his cock as she guided him to her entrance. He was almost panting with lust and drove all the way into her with one thrust.

Melissa almost came from the way her lover pushed hard into her like that. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face down against her breasts as he began to steadily rock his hips and work his cock in and out of her. Her statement had come from her heart and she knew it. It had as great an effect on her as it had had on Trilin. She was thrusting her hips up to meet his and felt him licking and kissing on her breasts. This was not quite like anything she had ever felt before, even with Trilin up to this point. It was raw and primal and she loved every second of it. She was getting close and pushed her hips up harder into Trilin's thrusting cock. She started whispering for him to do it harder and faster and to fill her with his seed.

Trilin knew that he could not hold out for much longer. He could feel her pussy squeezing him and hear her rapid breathing and whispering in his ear. "Melissa, I ... I" was all he could say. It was all he needed to say as he felt her legs wrap around his waist and pull him deep into her. He growled with passion and then howled as he let go and flooded his lover's pussy with his cum.

Feeling Trilin's cock start to throb inside her set off Melissa's orgasm as well. She squeezed him tightly with her arms and legs as her climax shuddered through her body. As she came down from her high, she could feel Trilin licking and kissing slowly on her body as he normally did. Melissa lightly stroked her fingers down his back and up his tail. She felt his lips stop and looked up at him. He was looking over to the side of the bed so she did as well. They had fifteen minutes left to get to their duty post. Just enough time to get cleaned up and dressed and up to the top of the tower where the sniper post was; if they ran all the way up the stairs. They looked at each other, laughed for a second and then quickly got up to get ready.

"It's a good thing we are in good shape." Melissa said as they jumped into the shower together.

"Indeed." Trilin replied. Although he suspected that they would both be quite out of breath by the time they reached the top of those stairs.

He turned out to be all too right.

It was Cynthia's third day back at this point. She had slept for almost ten hours the first day. Part of her had been mad that they had just let her sleep but mostly she was happy that they had. She had needed the rest and besides which, they had left her there next to Virathea. Currently Cynthia was doing the one thing that she had refused to allow anyone else to do. She was giving Virathea a sponge bath. She knew that she had precious little medical training but she could do this. There was also the fact that Virathea was hers. "Well not officially yet." Cynthia thought to herself. She was busy washing off Virathea's lower body so she did not notice as the Dizyntk's eyes began to flutter.

Virathea slowly came to the surface of consciousness. It felt to her like rising from a warm ocean. The mild floating sensation she felt in her head and the warm wetness on parts of her body only helped in this perception. Her eyes slowly opened and she did not know where she was. She heard something like water and then felt the warmth of a wet sponge being gently rubbed on her left leg. Her eyes looked down and she saw Cynthia bathing her. "Why is Cynthia doing that?" she thought hazily. Her brain still felt like it was in a fog. She went to say her lover's name but found that her throat was quite dry for some reason. It took her a couple of seconds and even then she was only able to get it out in a whisper.

Cynthia was lightly humming while she cleaned Virathea's body so she was unsure she had heard something for a moment. The sound did cause her to stop and look back at Virathea's face. When she saw her eyes open and looking at her she dropped the sponge. She quickly touched her forehead to Virathea's and gently kissed her lips. She was already crying and wrapped her hands around Virathea's head and buried her face in neck. She heard her name whispered again a bit louder. She rose up and looked at Virathea's face and saw the confusion there.

Virathea was unsure why Cynthia was crying. She looked at her and whispered, "water."

Cynthia nodded and poured some water into a small cup with a straw and put the straw to Virathea's lips. As she did this, she pushed the call button. She turned to put the cup down and when she turned back, she saw Virathea staring at the remains of her left arm. She cradled Virathea's face in her hands and turned her so as to look into her eyes. "The battle, do you remember the battle?" she asked softly. She could see the initial confusion in the eyes, then the widening of them as the memories came back.

Virathea had wanted to touch Cynthia and, as she was to her left, had gone to do so with her left hand. She could feel the arm lift, but there was no hand coming up. She looked to see what the problem was and saw that her left arm was mostly missing. She was just trying to make sense of why that should be when she felt Cynthia's hands on her face. She looked at her and started to ask what had happened when Cynthia asked her about the battle. "Battle?" she thought to herself. "What battle... ?" Then it all came flooding back to her. She tried to sit up but, between Cynthia pushing her shoulders and the pain that shot through her lower back, she quickly laid back. The pain caused her almost scream. Instead she just gritted her teeth together and growled.