Chapter 16

It took Mia two weeks before she braved the medical building. She spent her free time exploring and exploring, poking her nose everywhere she could, gathering information on the compound and the Livarians. Becky and Phoebe had long since abandoned her little ventures, leaving her to wander, a lone guard usually trailing a distance behind. Still, once she had discovered its purpose, she had avoided the Medical building until there was literally nothing else left to explore. Now, she stood at the entrance, the solid stone that made up the structures in the compound seemed stark and intimidating.

Well, it was this or go back to the dorm. Becky and Phoebe were there, immersed in the language lesson one of the men was teaching. But Leanne would be there, too. Not taking lessons, the woman and her group refused anything from the Livarians. They had even begun refusing to eat at the midday meal, the only time the men joined them in an attempt to get to know them. Mia had been relieved to find that the seating shifted every day, the women and men mingling and getting to know one another. Though she had often felt Draven's eyes on her, she found comfort in the ability to avoid the man.

Leanne hadn't accosted Mia again since the first day, but the side sneers and muttered words to her cronies as Mia passed were enough to make the dormitory unpleasant, which is what goaded Mia to follow her curiosity rather than go back.

She glanced back at her assigned guard. “I am free to go in?”

Surprise lifted his brows before he nodded.

She took a deep breath and edged into the main room. Sterile floors and walls greeted her, lined with complicated looking machines pushed neatly against the wall. It was the most technology she had seen since being taken from Earth; most of the Livarian's devices were hidden from view, making their advances seem almost like magic. She couldn't help the feeling that she had walked into another world. A small ornate couch stood in the center of the room, on an equally decorative rug. The furniture vastly out of place, more in line with what she had seen in the elite building, where the elites, including Draven lived.

No one was there. She looked back to the guard who had followed her in. He shrugged.

“Perhaps our medic had something else to attend to.”

Two long hallways led from the room, windowless and dim. Mia fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

“He is down this one,” her guard motioned.

So, he had guessed why she came. Did he also guess why she had avoided it in the first place?

Well...in for a dollar...

She took the hallway indicated. Several doors lined it, all leading to empty rooms. All except one.

From the doorway, she could see a slender wooden stool, pushed over to the head of a single, well covered cot. Blankets peaked and hollowed where a figure lay beneath them. At the far end of the room, three of the odd machines stood, cords and wires hanging haphazardly and slipping beneath the blankets where she could not see them. She hesitated, suddenly not wanting to go in. The sound of bones crunching invaded her memory.

“I know you're there,” a voice announced from the bed. Mia flinched. The blankets moved, an arm with brown lobed markings waved her direction, “Come, I don't bite.”

She drew a deep breath and pressed into the room. The sight of Brine's pale pallor did not inspire the confidence she had hoped. As she approached, she noted that his muscular chest was bare, the blankets ending beneath his armpits, but black straps secured his neck and spine to stiff looking pieces of material beneath him.

He had moved his arm, though. That was a good sign.

Golden eyes lit with interest as she came into his view.

“Well, my day has just gotten immeasurably better. Not only a woman visitor, but the woman, I am told, to whom I owe my life.”

Mia frowned at his jovial grin.

“You almost died saving me,” she reminded him, “I wouldn't think you would be very excited to be reminded of that.”

“But I didn't die,” one side of his lips lifted farther, giving him a charming lopsided grin, “and now I have the honor of this visit.”

She didn't get his good mood.

“Does it...does it hurt?”

He snorted.

“What?”

“A warrior does not discuss such things.”

Hmm. The slight creasing at the corner of his eyes suggested it did hurt. Very much. She twisted her hands in the fabric of her sleeves.

“Do not tell me that you came here to insult me with pity and sad eyes,” his tone was teasing, but there was a bit of an edge to it.

“Of course not,” she lied. What was she doing there though? Trying to assuage guilt?

He raised a brow, a very human gesture indicating he did not believe her falsehood. She ignored the heat rising to her cheeks.

“I came here to thank you, of course, and to keep you company for a while. You know...talk.”

“And what would such a woman desire to talk to me about?” Curiosity lit his gaze and she had to work hard not to flinch at the fresh ragged scar that had been hidden on the back of his neck. Surgery and casts, not so different from Earth, and yet, somehow, they were capable of spinal regeneration. A testament to their medicine? Or their genetics? She couldn't ask either as he had made it clear that the topic was taboo.

“I don't know, maybe you could tell me some children's stories that were commonly shared between your people. We call them folktales, or fairy-tales. I'd love to hear a new fairy-tale.” The suggestion flew off the tip of her tongue, but the more she thought about it the better it sounded.

Brine eyed her suspiciously. “The prime has arranged for lessons so that you might learn to read our language. Have you not been going to those? It would allow you to read the many works we were able to save into our database.”

She sighed. “I'm terrible at languages, it would be ages before I could read anything interesting.”

Brine gave her a calculating look. “I will tell you a common folktale, and in exchange you will give me guidance in wooing.”

“What now?”

He nodded stiffly. “Wooing. What impresses Earth females. How might a male show interest and gain theirs in return?”

“You want dating advice? From me?” Mia frowned. Should she explain that she was really the last human Brine should be looking to for romantic guidance? Besides, wouldn't it be kind of like betrayal to the human women for her to give the man pointers?

She ran a hand over her face, trying to block the immobile warrior before her with his eyes full of hope. The memory of him leaping on top of her, hacking at the Griecher and now laying before her, having paid the price for his sacrifice invaded.

Was it really a betrayal to give him ideas to impress the women? It wasn't like she would be taking their choices away. They could still refuse him. Besides, there was a pretty significant chance that anything she said would backfire and he would find himself at a disadvantage.

“Ok,” she agreed warily. “But you have to remember that every woman is different. Just because I mention something that some women like, it doesn't mean that they all will.”

He gave her a chiding glare. “I am aware of individuality, and I am not an idiot. Before war took our world, our females were vastly different from one another. I only ask for aid in overcoming the difference in customs between our people.”

Oh. Well, when he put it like that...

“Agreed. I will share some common earth customs with you, and you will entertain me with some stories.”