"Baby?" I whispered. The shaking became worse.

"Yes. Pregnant, by the one you call, oh, Teeg. Yes. His son," Neeki declared.

"No. Please, no," I buried my head in my hands. It must have happened the night Teeg came to my tiny house on Kifirin. "Please, don't make the night any more traumatic than it already is," I moaned.

"We were sent to help. We cannot interfere," Teeki spoke for the first time.

I blinked at him in shock. He couldn't interfere, but someone else had. He'd called her the Mighty One. I had no idea what that meant, and I wasn't sure how grateful I was to her—she hadn't prevented the bite. I turned to Teeki while smoke curled from my nostrils. "Then get out. You're not helping now."

"We're keeping fng frledyou from screaming," Neeki stated. "The pain below would be quite bad, otherwise. A bite from one of these affects both areas in a few women."

"What?"

"We're removing most of the pain below. You would be screaming if we did not."

"Is it going to come back?"

"Some. When you can bear it. A fever will come, too. It happens sometimes."

"How good are these physicians?" Now I was terrified, in pain, shivering and worried for a baby I hadn't known existed.

"They are good enough."

"I can't believe they're working here."

"Some will do almost anything."

I knew that. Jes had done it. He'd been dropped off on Evensun for his crimes. I had no idea whether he was still alive or not. "We're keeping the baby shielded. He must not be harmed."

"Sure. Take care of Teeg's baby, why don't you," I muttered sarcastically.

"We will. If you do not suffer some, the others will get suspicious."

"Great. Why don't you go help some of those other poor girls?"

"They are luckier than most who go through this. You are here with them."

"Like that's such a wonderful thing and all." I couldn't help it, tears were falling, now. Reaction was setting in. If I lived long enough, Zendeval Rjjn might get the worst of all possible deaths at my hands.

"What do we have here?" A physician knelt before me and unbuttoned my top, revealing the bite and bruises. "I'll have to do a pelvic, too, so why don't you lean on me on the way to the exam room?"

Jerking my elbow out of his hands, I stumbled along beside him as he pointed out a tiny cubicle down a dimly lit hall. My clothing was removed and the physician cursed in a language I didn't understand when he did the pelvic exam. He then administered a mistjection against my inner thigh and set about cleaning the bite.

"You may run a fever over the next few days," the physician said as I gathered my clothing in shaking fingers and dressed myself. "If they allow you to speak, tell them to ask for Geldis," he said and sent me out the door. Perdil was waiting. I shouldn't have been surprised.

"This way," he said. I followed Perdil, thinking that my Thifilatha could burn him to cinders in two blinks. "What did the physician say?" Perdil asked as he closed the cage door behind me. "You have permission to speak this time only."

"He said I was likely to run a fever, and to ask for him if there was any trouble. His name is Geldis."

Perdil cursed. "A fever is uncommon, but it happens at times. Lie down, I'll see about getting a mat for your cage floor."

Zendeval Rjjn stalked through the tunnels beneath the surface of Stellar Winds' moon, growling and snapping at any others he encountered. Inside him, somewhere, a small voice kept repeating protect, protect, protect, but he ignored it. On a full moon, he usually selected one of the paid prostitutes on Stellar Winds; one of those who preferred extremely rough sex.

His father always said kr atit that Zen's mother died in a Reaving. He'd never talked about her much; it upset him, somehow. Zen's father also said that females of their kind were to be protected above all costs, but Zen's mother had died anyway, and only the males had survived. Now, less than a hundred males lived, and they'd come to this. Zendeval kicked at the wall, sending brick flying.

"She's feverish," Geldis the physician glanced up at Zendeval Rjjn as he examined Reah inside her cage the following afternoon. She was shivering on the small mat, her body in a fetal position. Zendeval was back to himself and dressed impeccably in a dark suit. Perdil stood nearby, watching Zen and the physician.

"How feverish?" Zen crossed arms over his chest.

"Very. We shouldn't let her temperature climb any higher."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Medication, sedation and cool baths to bring the fever down," Geldis said. "And keep her warm in between. We have one other suffering just the same. We've already treated her, at Nedrizif's request."

"Then do everything you can for this one," Zen sighed. "And keep me advised."

"They don't get ill often," Perdil pointed out as he and Zen walked away.

"I don't know what to do. How much ice cream do we have in the freezer?"

"Only enough for two more days. I was hoping to have her back in the kitchen between now and the sale in two weeks."

"How long does it usually take to get them back on their feet if they become ill?" Zen wanted to kick something.

"At times, they are still weak and sick when we put them up for bid." The sales were always held two eight-days after moonrush. Girls were picked up sometimes months after potential bidders expressed interest, and the bidders were notified when the cargo was safely on Stellar Winds.

"Then I suggest you figure out how to make those desserts or take it off the menu," Zen growled. "And Nedrizif will not be pleased."

"Then we'll take the desserts off the menu now and hold all the ice cream back for him," Perdil suggested.

"Do it. And make sure Reah is cared for. Once she belongs to us, then she'll be back in the kitchen and spending her nights with me."

"It's a fair bargain. I get days, you get the nights," Perdil snickered.

"One of our better investments," Zen agreed.

"Absolutely."

Jerves knew. He knew everything. He picked at an eyebrow nervously as he spoke with a cook's assistant. Reah had been taken and subjected to who knew what. Jerves had a controller, too, only Zendeval allowed him free rein over most things. Completely controlled meant you couldn't think or make any reasonable decisions. The one controlling you made those. Jerves had to have some measure of autonomy. That meant he could feel anger. He felt it now. White-hot anger.

Reah had been nothing but kind to him, and he should have warned her. Now, she was likely suffering after moonrush. Jerves laughed hysterically for a moment. Moonrush. It sounded so benign. Except that it wasn't. He'd only seen it once, when Perdil forced him to kforrves help with some of the girls. Reah would be sold in two eight-days, only Jerves suspected that Zen and Perdil were planning to bid on the pretty cook in order to keep her in Galedaro's kitchens.

"What is it, Master Jerves?" the assistant asked.

"Nothing. Keep working. Just get those orders sent to Ms. Schuul's suite as requested."

"We will." The assistant turned away.

"There are no messages from her husband." Perdil tossed Reah's comp-vid onto Zendeval's desk.

"Good. We don’t have to answer if there aren't any." Zendeval ignored the comp-vid.

"But that concerns me. There should be something, don't you think?"

"He left because of family matters; perhaps she doesn't want to bother him."

"Perhaps. But let me know if you get any communication from him. We'll have to answer until we get her away from here."

"True. We don't need the ASD or some such sniffing around Stellar Winds."

"Have you gone back to check on her?" Perdil had been quite busy in the kitchens after his return.

"No. I have communication from the physician, however. If you'd like to read it," Zen pushed his comp-vid toward Perdil. Perdil lifted the handheld and scanned the message.

"You're not concerned that her fever's still high?" Perdil handed the comp-vid back.

"I called—he says it happens at times. Some of the women become ill for inexplicable reasons. They are feverish for days and in pain, but eventually they recover fully."

"Does it worry you that you caused this?"

"Yes. I've never made a female ill before."

"Perhaps we should take her out of the cage and put her somewhere more comfortable."

"Do you think so?" Zen gave Perdil a quizzical look.

"The lack of females among your kind has not improved your intelligence," Perdil muttered. "Did you notice that this wasn't one of Schuul's comp-vids?" Perdil tapped Reah's portable device.

"It matters not—we have her and we've confiscated this one. The others like it will be useless soon enough."

"It doesn't worry you that there are some not controlled now?"

"Why should it worry me?" Zen blinked in confusion at Perdil.

"It's dark inside your ass, isn't it?" Perdil grumbled and stalked away.

"What did he mean by that?" Zen did a little grumbling of his own.

I was ill. I knew it. Likely Lendill knew it too, since he was seeing the doctor's worried face quite often. He sent mindspeech occasionally, but the words were garbled if I were conscious enough to hear them. I wanted to heave whenever food was offered. Baths were given in cold water several times throughout the day. Geldis, the physician, complained that the normal doses of painkill didn't alleviate the pain.

I might have laughed if I could have. Normal doses of most anything had no effect khadain on me. He upped the dosage several times, finally concluding that three times what was normal helped a little. I needed Karzac or my Larentii. Both were far away. Nobody was here to care for me except a physician I didn't know.