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“I guess the place closed down after the soldiers left?” I ask.
“Yes. There was a lot of unrest in some of the neighborhoods after the Alliance came in. Riots and that. It’s been pretty tough around here. How is Sophia? I haven’t seen her for ages, I heard there was a death in her household.”
“In truth, I don’t know,” I reply. “I was shipped off when the Coalition pulled out and I’ve been trying to get back ever since. I literally just landed an hour ago to come and get her.” I find my stomach tying itself into a knot at the thought that there was a death in the house. “Do you know who died?” I ask.
“No, sorry. I just overheard some people talking. Say hi to her for me when you see her,” she says. “I’ve got to go, my boyfriend is expecting me, and he doesn’t appreciate me being late.”
“Sure, Take care,” I tell her.
I’m pretty convinced it must be Sophia’s mom who died. It makes me feel sad that I wasn’t there to console her. I hope Sophia doesn’t resent me for it, I think as I jog on.
I round the corner onto Sophia’s street and slow down. I’m suddenly assailed with last-minute doubts. It’s been so long, and she must have thought I’d abandoned her or died in the war. What if she’s moved on, or moved out?
I take a deep breath and shake the thoughts off. Of course, she hasn’t. She is my fated mate, and she will be there waiting.
I bang on the door and wait expectantly for an answer that doesn’t come. This can’t be right. Where could she be? All the built-up images I’ve had of her falling into my arms, or slapping my face even, evaporate. Have I arrived too late?
And then it hits me. What if it wasn’t Bianca who passed on? What if it was Isa? What if she had to move away because she couldn’t cope on her own?
How the fuck am I meant to find her on this war-torn planet with no access to backup from the Coalition? The Alliance forces will certainly not help me look up a citizen.
And then another thought sends cold dread into the pit of my stomach. Tansy didn’t know who had died. She hadn’t seen Sophia for ages.
No. It couldn’t be my sweet Sophia who passed away. Could it? I’m sure I would know. I’m sure my link to her would tell me.
All the fear and doubt that I’ve kept locked up inside for these past months spills out of me. I haven’t cried since I was a small child. But I feel my shoulders start to shake with grief. I cannot have lost my one true love. I feel utterly wretched and hopeless. Here I am, at her door, and I’m not even sure it’s her door anymore.
Eventually, I pull myself together. I will achieve nothing sitting here. I need to go back and rendezvous with Kyltic. Maybe he can pull a few diplomatic strings and find out what has happened here.
Reluctantly I stand. I feel washed out but determined to keep trying. Casting one last glance at the empty house, I set off down the road.
21
SOPHIA
The doctor, a Pi’rell named Rev, knocks on the doorframe before entering. His eyes are trained on the charts.
Isa stands, her hand never leaving mine. “So?”
He looks up and smiles. “You are in the early stages of active labor, Miss Sophia, but everything looks good. You have nothing to worry about.”
I blink, my terror giving way to confusion. “But… but I’m only six months pregnant. It’s so early. And my stomach.”
The Pi’rell grabs the other chair in the hospital room and pulls it up beside me, the gentle smile never leaving his face. “That would all be a concern if the father was human, but it says here that he’s Kaleidian.”
I nod, unsure where this is going. “That’s correct.”
“So, a typical Kaleidian gestation is much shorter as it is. And in times when the mother is in extreme distress, like she’s surviving in a war zone, for example, her baby develops faster. Kaleidians can be born fully healthy and developed as early as five months,” he explains gently.
I practically go limp with relief, but then a contraction interrupts my moment of relaxation. Closing my eyes, I let it roll through me, but notice it isn’t the soul-crushing pain I had always heard about in childbirth. “So, the baby is okay then?”
He stands and pats my shoulder. “Perfectly fine. It’ll be a little while before you’re fully dilated, but I expect that you’ll deliver a healthy half-Kaleidian. Oh, and the blue stomach is how the baby lets you know they’re ready to come out. Kaleidian babies are really quite courteous in many ways.” He gives me a playful wink.
He glances at the clock. “The anesthesiologist should be here in about ten minutes to talk about pain relief. Kaleidian births tend to be less challenging than human ones, so you may choose to opt-out entirely. Still, we like to reserve time to discuss it with the mother-to-be just in case. I wish she could come sooner, but she’s been overwhelmed by, well, you know. In the meantime, I suggest that you try to relax as best you can.”
He pauses, choosing his next words carefully. “Is the father in the picture?”
Isa stiffens at that but gives a surprisingly diplomatic response without any of her usual disdain. “He’s a soldier who was called away right before the fall. I’m sure he’s doing everything in his power to get back to her.”
