“She told me about Eren,” Isolde nodded.
“There are actually a few other anomalies about the bond that only healers know about, but they are all very rare and are regarded as mutations. But I personally think that broken geshas are real. There are enough cases to support it.”
Isolde thought it over while Urenya asked her questions to determine any side effects of the poison and to rule out any possible permanent damage. “Why is it important to you that she was?”
“I do not know,” Urenya admitted. “We think broken geshas are born of desperation somehow, that it is a psychological trick of their brain, an intrusive delusion of sorts, which makes them feel as though they are bound already. I feel bad for them. They cannot help it. If that ever happened to me, I would not even understand it, because it would make sense in my head.”#p#分页标题#e#
“I do feel bad for her,” Isolde admitted. “But that’s not the same as forgiving. I mean if that happened to you, if Narath had a broken gesha, what would you do?”
Urenya just smiled. “Oh, I agree. I do not merely carry antidotes with me. There are one or two very real poisons as well.”
Then her tone changed as she began telling Isolde what had occurred while she was out. “There is something else you need to know. We failed.”
---
When Urenya left, Isolde had a bit of time for herself. The healer had seemed adamant about needing her to understand that Aneya was worthy of compassion, if not her forgiveness. She could live with that, but something else entirely bothered Isolde. Whether Aneya had been broken or not, she had at least fought for what she wanted.
Narath had saved her life, and now Urenya had done the same. Everyone kept saving her, making her feel completely useless. Isolde wanted to do something as well.
I swear to gods if my only job in this coming war is to warm Diego’s bed, I’ll lose my mind.
Not that that in itself was a horrible thing, on the contrary, Isolde found herself longing for him already. There had to be some humor in the fact she could go through being poisoned and still think of sex the first moment she woke up. No, she’d definitely spend a lot of time in Diego’s arms, in those strong, miraculously powerful arms… That was beside the point.
She longed to be on Rhea where she could have been useful. Now it seemed Rhea no longer mattered, for her anyway. Whatever else happened there was completely out of her hands. The planet she’d been on her way to for so long had become irrelevant to her. It bothered Isolde to think she hadn’t gotten to do her part, even if it would have been lying to the entire galaxy. It would have been worth it to prevent the war that was now coming.
Isolde shook her head clear of self-pity. She wouldn’t go around poisoning people to prove she was still relevant, but she was Diego Grothan’s gesha now. She wasn’t insignificant, and there had to be something for her to do.
Possibly starting with Diego, because while she didn’t want it to be her only task, it was still her alien honeymoon.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Diego
News of Eren’s escape from Briolina was barely news to Diego at all. There were generals loyal to the senator, and in the confusion of the Elders emerging and him preoccupied with Isolde, it hadn’t been too difficult for Eren to break through the blockade and flee. It wasn’t unexpected nor particularly troublesome. Diego was a hunter and he would find the traitor soon enough.
Now that Isolde was confirmed to be safe and unharmed, Diego felt strangely tranquil. The worst had already happened, and he was left in the thick of the action where he preferred to be. At least what he had to do was obvious to him – they would chase Eren and bring him to justice. It irked him not to just cut the traitor’s head off when he next saw him, but Diego knew the execution had to be public. The Brions had to know they still had justice and law, even if the galaxy had just turned upside down for them.
The Galactic union was in turmoil, as much as he’d heard. The overall politics concerned Diego just as much as they affected the Brions. The details he left to Eleya and the Elders, waiting for their permission to begin his chase. With every passing hour Eren got further and further from them, but that hardly mattered. The Triumphant and the Unbroken would find him wherever the senator thought to flee from the Elders’ wrath.
Which was nowhere, really. Exposing their great lie to the GU had not made him popular with them, not even close. And there was no returning to Briolina, not for him nor any of the fools who had decided to side with him even after hearing the Elders. That showed Rhea’s true worth, he supposed.
Diego had an idea where he could have gone. It made things… both easier and more complicated.
While he longed to be in pursuit already, the surety of the Elders approving his actions was enough to calm his battle rage. He knew he had been in the right, and while he had failed them, Diego would try to redeem himself by bringing Eren the end he deserved. The only regret he had was that now that there was a war coming, he would constantly have to put Isolde in danger.
He had already decided there was no way his gesha could be left behind while he went to war as there would be no safe place and she might as well be near him. Being close to Isolde helped with everything. If Diego had to fight a war for the Brions and against them, he was glad to be complete with his gesha at his side.#p#分页标题#e#
The Elders had been informed of Eren’s treachery, of course, and their rage had been terrible. Diego doubted that Eren had managed to play the fool with them, appearing to only have been misled, not outright treacherous. But they had still expected him to stay true to the Brions.
There had been occasions when some people had dared to question the Elders – the whole Rhea thing was a great example of that – but defying them so blatantly? That was unheard of. The Elders demanded bloody retribution, but first they had to figure out what to do with the Galactic union .
They had called a meeting with the remaining senators, those who had taken Diego’s side and even a few who had switched sides when the decision had been announced. He wondered how it was for them and if the Elders had decided to be merciful. Eleya was in that meeting and the generals were left to wait.
He had had a moment to talk to Eleya. While it should have been his kill, a part of Diego was glad he didn’t have to put his spear through Aneya’s heart himself. Not out of any pity or remorse, but because of the simple fact that besides avenging Isolde, it would have been beneath him. She was no warrior, no true match.
The woman he had once known, the kind and beautiful companion had been gone for a while. He’d hoped for years they could remain friends, but every time they met it had become more obvious to him it wouldn’t happen. Only hope and memories had kept him from terminating their meetings altogether. It had nearly cost Isolde’s life.
“You got her?” he had asked Eleya, who looked much as he did – furious at Eren, but calm from finally having a clear plan about what to do next.
“I did,” the senator had said, frowning. “Forgive me, Diego. I did not sense the poison.”
“Urenya says it would have been practically impossible even if you had drunk the cup yourself.”
Eleya had nodded at that, accepting it without further comment.
“Did she say anything?” Diego had asked, the last courtesy he ever planned to extend to Aneya. To assume she’d at least died like a Brion.
“Nothing you would want to hear,” Eleya had said and Diego believed her. Presumably she had begged or tried to justify her actions. “I cut her off quickly.”
From her, that was literal. Diego was once again thankful. He could rest easily knowing at least someone would present the situation correctly to the Elders. He had little faith in the other senators right about then.
Sphere, their intergalactic station, was boiling over. Some ambassadors had fled, others tried to consolidate things, a few were outraged, and another group simply stood by waiting. Only one, the Terran, had descended to the surface and quickly met with Eleya before she went to the Elders. Diego thought it odd, but it made little difference to him. The Elders would give their commands and he would obey.
Beside the Triumphant, the Unbroken and Faren were waiting patiently. Diego knew that his brother general hungered for the hunt as he did, anxious to put the traitor out of his miserable life at last. Not to mention the generals who had fled with Eren. Faren would take it even more personally than he, Diego knew. The cold general could be trusted to burn furious fast when one of the generals disgraced themselves.
Diego was proud to be a Brion general, but that was all that Faren was. He would cut down the traitors without mercy. Diego was glad to have him by his side.
As for himself, Diego spent the time waiting with Isolde. She was his gesha now and deserved to be included in his affairs. He had prepared himself for the eventuality his little human gesha would be tired and worn down by the poison, but she seemed to have recovered both in body and in spirit. Maybe even more so in spirit. Being a Brion, Diego understood that. Staring death in the eye for the first time, like Isolde had with Ensha, was a scary experience and took time to come back from.