Chapter 24

Uri stared at the scene before him, listening to his H"San explaining what had happened. He quickly snapped an order, waiting until his men had dragged the attacker away for disintegration before speaking to Casina, who still sat on the floor with her arms wrapped about her knees.

"Casina?"

Her loud sobs had receded, but she cried quietly now. Apparently, she was too embarrassed by what had happened to even look at him. So he squatted beside her and put a comforting hand to her cheek.

"Casina. Look at me."

Slowly, she raised her head and wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand. She lifted her gaze to his, then surprised him by uncurling her form to collapse into his arms, where she started crying all over again. He stood up, bringing her to her feet, as his arms came around her. She felt the strength of his embrace and tightened her hold on him. The one man who always seemed to be there for her. An alien who clearly cared about her.

Her crying eased off and, sniffing, she pulled away to look up at him again.

"I"m sorry," she said. "I"m so pig-headed sometimes. I never should have left TrCasinaar."

Uri gave a soft snort. "Wanting freedom in your life had nothing whatever to do with what that man tried to do, Casina. And believe me. He will pay for what he did."

She dropped her gaze to his chest as she considered the truth of his words.

"Will you tell me everything that happened?" She sighed, then complied. "Did he hurt you in any way?"

"Y-Yes," she said at length, still trying to compose herself. She reached down to fix her belt and straighten her clothes. "Um, I n-need to get out of here."

"All right."

"I...I have to get my things. They"re in the refreshment room."

"I"ll get them later. Come. I"m taking you back to TrCasinaar. I want Paxis to check you out." Then he lifted his wrist and snapped a few Kathian words into his d"lab"r. A moment later, he was lifting her in his arms and carrying her outside, to the waiting canvas module sitting in the middle of the street. Ignoring the small crowds gathering about to observe the unusual occurrence, he helped her inside, snapped another order, then fastened her securely into a passenger seat. "Wait here," he told her and the H"San standing guard outside the door.

* * * *

With that, he departed the ship and made his way again toward the aviary. Returning to the refreshment area, he went inside to retrieve Casina"s belongings and to inspect the area for himself. His eyes narrowed at sight of the blood droplets splattered on the door. Casina"s blood. Scowling, he bent to retrieve the brush and other contents of Casina"s bag scattered about the floor. He dropped them into her bag, then turned and left the building, securing the door behind him. Then, after handing Casina"s things to the H"San guarding Casina, he made his way down the street, to her home.

When La"ara responded with some surprise, to his knock, he stepped inside to issue her and H"non new orders. Their disappointment at having to leave their new post was evident, but it couldn"t be helped. Casina would not be returning to Zaratan, he told them, and ordered them to begin packing up all of their belongings for the next day"s retrieval and move back to TrCasinaar. Then, satisfied all was in order, he hurried back to the module and boarded for the return trip to the palace.

* * * *

"Paxis will be here shortly," the commander told Mrovia upon arriving at TrCasinaar, who anxiously followed him down the long corridor leading to Casina"s suite. She was aghast at seeing the Zarcon in his arms, her face red and puffy from crying. "Get her bathed and into bed as quickly as possible."

Mrovia nodded and hurried to obey as Uri placed Casina gently onto her bed.

"Please, Casina. Don"t give Mrovia a hard time. The physician will be here soon, and I don"t want you sitting naked in bath water when he gets here. Can you do that for me?"

Still out-of-sorts, Casina blinked up at him and nodded. "I"ll...behave," she said.

"Good." The commander peered down at her and sighed. "I"ll return later to check on you."

"All...right. And th-thank you, Commander. I...I"ve missed you."

At this, his dark eyes widened in surprise. "I"ve missed you, too," he admitted. "Why do you think I"ve kept coming to check on you. I"ve been so worried about your safety since moving you to Zaratan."

She gave him a tremulous smile and took his hand, squeezing it. "I understand why now."

"Then know that everything I do for you has a purpose, Casina." He watched her absorb this, then put a hand to her shoulder. "I"ll be back later." With that, he was gone.

She stared at the closed door a moment, gave a reluctant sigh, then slowly inched her way off the bed to disrobe. Then, with a hand to the tender cuts on the back of her head, she plodded sadly into the bath chamber, wondering when her life would ever improve.