“Prove it. Show me!” Galen wasn’t convinced. Zara was too quiet. Too wary of him. Where was the strong human female? Would she not leap to her feet and defend her honor? Why had she capitulated to pleasing the doctor if she wasn’t tempted by him?
Her fingers fumbled with the fastenings of her shirt. Slowly, she drew apart the fabric and exposed the deep cleavage of her breasts. As the shirt slid off her shoulders, her milky white breasts were visible. Plain and unadorned, she was not aroused.
With her head bowed and her eyes cast down, he’d not seen the tears on her cheeks. Now, when she looked up at him, they were evident.
“Satisfied, sir?” she said quietly and with considerable clarity given her distress.
He wasn’t. Not until he had an explanation. “Where is Bisma? Where is she?” Galen growled.
“She’s bringing me a drink.” Sentaria’s expression was increasingly bemused.
“Did you intend to fuck her?” he asked the doctor directly.
“No!” Sentaria exclaimed.
“Then why is she knelt at your feet? Explain!”
The color drained from Sentaria’s face. “I assumed you knew about—”
“It’s my fault,” Bisma piped up from behind Galen. “I arranged this meeting.” She hurried to stand between the doctor and Galen, quickly slipping onto her knees. “Lord, I allowed this to happen.”
“You?” he said, aghast. “You allowed this meeting?”
Sentaria scratched his head, clearly puzzled by Bisma’s declaration. “I came to see Zara about her sister,” he said. “I assumed the girl had told you about her.”
“Sister?” Galen wasn’t angry at Sentaria any longer. He was starting to see a different story unfold, rather like his fisted hands, which began to unfurl and loosen. “Zara, what is the meaning of this?”
The tears were running in rivulets down her face and dripping onto her pale breasts. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’ve made a terrible mistake not telling you. I thought you would never understand. You’re not human. You’re no
t a brother or a father.”
“Tell me what?” He softened his stance and lowered the tone of his voice. He hated seeing her distress; it was far worse than the kind she displayed when he spanked her. This was a genuine breakdown of despair. Galen sat in the seat Sentaria had vacated and reaching down, tipped her chin up. “Your sister? The one who gave you that creature to hold at night?”
She nodded and sniffed. “April. She’s dying. We humans, we can’t cure her. She’s still a child.”
“I see.” Galen looked at Bisma. His nurse was unusually tense, her eyes darting between her lover, Sentaria, and her master. “You knew about this, Bisma?”
“Yes, lord. She told me after she attempted to contact her family. She came on the exchange to find a cure for her sister. I took pity on her, I confess, and arranged for her to meet the doctor when he arrived from Halos. We were lovers there.” Bisma’s cheeks blushed. Her secret wasn’t a secret to Galen, but he’d not known she arranged for Sentaria to come so far to meet Zara. Now, in retrospect, he understood why Bisma had keenly offered him Sentaria’s name when he sought out somebody to help him with the ordeal, and also, why Sentaria was interested in his own tattoos—it was a contrived opportunity to see Zara.
“Zara.” Galen leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees so that he could see her face clearly. “You came to spy, to extract information under false pretenses. You have no interest in saving your people from environmental catastrophe, only to save your sister?”
She shook her head vehemently. “No, please believe me. I did really come to study your technology. Then, when my father realized that the Vendu might have a cure, he encouraged me to seek out experts. Bisma is very kind; please don’t punish her for helping me.”
Galen settled back in the chair and pressed his fingertips together as he considered the situation. “Sentaria, can you cure this girl?”
The doctor clasped his hand behind his back. Now that he was no longer suspected of sullying Zara, he had gained in confidence again. “Possibly. We know there is a similar disease among our species. However, it would require April to learn new skills.”
“Skills?” Zara brushed aside her tears. “What must she do?”
Sentaria glanced at Galen and raised an eyebrow. He sought permission—order was being reestablished in Galen’s home.
“Continue, Doctor. And, Zara, cover yourself.”
She buttoned her shirt as Sentaria explained about the drugs were used to cure the illness and how a young child would have to learn how to control them as Galen did with his tattoo inks—direct them and focus them into the right spot. “We plant an image in her mind of a cured body, and this helps the drugs move to where they are needed. It requires a strong mind and natural healing processes.”
“Is your sister strong of mind, courageous, and determined?” he asked Zara.
She smiled. “Oh, yes. She is.”