I pushed the memory of the pain aside and dug deeper into my thoughts.Images flashed in my head, and then I saw her, Ms.Beast.She stared back at me, growling low, almost challenging me.
There was something in her mouth.
She dropped it at my feet, and as it hit the ground, the pages fluttered open.It was my grandmother’s journal.
“How are you doing?”King’s voice, whispered close to my ear, startled me.
“I was meditating,” I mumbled into his shoulder, annoyed at the interruption.
He brushed the hair from my face.“You must be feeling better.What do you remember about what happened?”
“Death,” I replied bluntly.“I think I might have eaten someone.”
He gave me a small squeeze, his eyes sparkling with amusement.“You didn’t like their limbs attached, but you didn’t eat anyone, I promise.”
“Eating people would be bad,” I muttered.
“There are worse things,” he teased lightly.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I said, the sudden nausea hitting me hard.
I barely made it to the bathroom before I vomited violently.When the first wave stopped, I slumped against the cold tile, only to brace myself for the next round a moment later.
King knelt beside me, holding my braids from my face.“I’m taking you back to Axel,” he said, leaving no room for argument.
I couldn’t respond, too busy trying to keep my stomach from tearing itself apart.Between rounds, I managed to croak, “I need to read my grandmother’s journal.”
“There’s something wrong with you, and your grandmother’s journal won’t fix it,” he argued.
Stubborn man.Always so damned stubborn.
With King’s help, I finally managed to walk back to the bed.He stayed long enough to settle me, then left the room, saying he was bringing Axel to me.
As soon as the door closed, I grabbed my grandmother’s journal and did something I hadn’t done before.I flipped through the pages, skimming until I found the home planet’s word for Nova.My pulse quickened as I reached for the alien dictionary.I began deciphering the strange letters slowly taking shape into words I could understand.
By the time Axel arrived, I’d moved to the table to make writing easier.My body felt steadier, and my focus was entirely on transcribing.I scribbled notes directly above my grandmother’s words, reading each sentence aloud as soon as it was translated.
Axel checked my vitals while I kept working.He said something to King, but I barely registered it before he left.I was too immersed in the flow of words and too driven by the need to understand.
I didn’t know how much time had passed when a plate of food appeared in front of me.I devoured it without pausing and immediately sent King back to the kitchen for more.
The cycle continued.I ate, read, translated, and blocked out everything else.King tried to talk to me once, but I waved him away, too consumed by the journal to answer.
At some point, exhaustion won.I lifted my head groggily from my arms, realizing I must have fallen asleep at the table.The room was quiet, the dishes from our meal gone, and King was nowhere in sight.The weight of the day pressed down on me.
I dragged myself to the bed and collapsed into it, where sleep pulled me under almost instantly.
I woke to the comforting warmth of King’s arms wrapped around my midsection.He was awake, his eyes focused solely on me.
“How’s the soldier?”I asked groggily, my voice rough from sleep.
He knew who I meant.“She survived.Axel operated on one wrist and put both in casts.What do you plan on doing with her?”
My heart felt heavy as I rolled to face him.“I don’t know,” I admitted.“I couldn’t kill her.Even Ms.Beast couldn’t do it.”
“Hmm,” he said, his tone noncommittal.
For a moment, an almost-smile pulled at the corners of my lips, but the weight of our losses dragged me back.“How many of our people died?”I asked quietly.
