Shared Mercy Book 5 of the Guardians Saga

Ch. 10.1 Reunions Happy and Not So Much

Cale explained about the reunions to Dola and Raba. He could tell that they didn't agree, but weren't going to argue because they didn't want to tell Alex, either. Their job was to talk with each girl and discover their clan. Cale would systematically start with the closest ones.

The first two were happy reunions. Cale breathed a sigh of relief until he found out that made the third one worse. They were unfortunate enough to find the father first.

The male Agama, short, squat, and an ugly mottled green, who stank of goat shit, said, "She was in Flint's brothel. She's a prostitute now. I have no daughter. I do want to be paid, however. Tell Flint that." He kicked a nanny goat in her udder and it bleated in pain, shying away.

The girl wailed and Alex's disbelief gave Cale enough time to grab her and the girl.

"Fly us out of here now," he hissed so fiercely that Alex obeyed instantly.

Alex let her speed-bursts tell of her distress. She wanted to be battered when they got home. As soon as they landed, Dola rushed the trembling girl into the Mercy Tent.

Cale wisely held onto Alex. "Will you be okay?"

Alex never looked at Cale with anything but respect, but now it was clear that she thought he was insane. "No. I will never be 'okay'. Nothing will ever by 'okay' ever again."

Cale wondered if he should find Rile to help him with Alex, or if Rile would just accompany Alex on her revenge spree.

"Blasting that father won't change anything," Cale said in his best calm instructor tone.

"One, that creature is no father. Two, it will change something. Two somethings in fact. It will change his nervous system and change my mood from murderous to merely grim," Alex replied, her eyes reflecting that flat, emotionless state that meant she was in hunter mode.

"Then it won't change anything helpful," Cale warned.

"Changing my mood would be helpful. Rile will think so, too. Let me go. Unless you want to come along." Alex raised an eyebrow at him.

"Alex." Cale didn't like the look in her eye one bit and knew he had to think fast. "Those girls need you now. You think you're upset? What about them? It's not all about you and what you feel."

"Cale, I hate you." Alex said in a way that meant she didn't hate him at all. She let her head fall back so that she was looking up at the sky and her shoulders sagged. "You're a horrible manipulative monster and I hate you."

"Will you please go into the tent and help? It's been a long day and I bet the girls could use some sleep." Cale knew the magic words.

***

The Mercy Tent, expanded by Dola and Raba, was still cozy inside. The walls were patchwork, but the seams expertly sewn, and some of the fabric was high quality. A rippling emerald cloth backdrop was half of the back wall and a chunky violet throw and two blankets made of colorful wool were heaped on the cushions on the floor. Sachets of lavender were scattered about.

"Hey girls," Alex ducked inside and flopped in the middle of the cushions. "I've had a hard day but not as hard as y'all. Should we eat or just go straight to sleep?"

Happy cries of "Guardian!" were accompanied by girls falling around her and snuggling against her warmth. They nuzzled her and she nuzzled them back, breathing in their leathery scent mixed with various floral and herbal scents.

Practically drugged by Alex's warmth and the lavender sachets, the girls slept better than Alex, a feat never matched by any other Agama.

Rile and his brothers knew Alex was spending the night in the Mercy Tent, so they weren't upset to wake up without her. Rile and Cale decided to clean their gear after breakfast as a welcome respite. Then they saw two figures running toward them.

"Someone's killing Guardian Alex!" Pala gasped out to Rile, her mother a long distance behind.

Rile jumped up, sheathed his sword, and ran like a rocket. Although Cale always beat his younger, bulkier brother in the semi-annual races, he was hard-pressed to keep up with him now.

Not too far from the Mercy Tent, Alex stood in defensive posture: arms up just like Rile had taught her, blood from her nose joining the trail from the corner of her mouth. Her opponent stood watching her, blood dripping from his muzzle. Both fighters were covered in scratches and bruises. A clear cut ran along the left side of his face to his ear, and a deep purple bruise began to form on his jaw. Behind him, Alex spotted a group of Mercy Tent attendants. She knew that Rile was among them. She turned back just as her opponent lunged again. They both landed good punches against each other's jaws before breaking apart.

"Alex, what is going on?" Cale asked, eyes wide with wonder.

"It's called a fistfight on my world. I don't know about yours," she replied.

"Where is your sword? Your dagger? Your staff?" Rile asked with a scowl, looking around the ground.

"He didn't have those and said it wasn't fair to use mine."

"Who is this that you listen to him?" Rile demanded.

"Some creep sniffing around the Mercy Tent to have sex with one of the girls. I'm being a student of your culture and fighting him rather than blasting him." Alex didn't add that she needed to pound someone's face in after recent events.

Her opponent apparently thought all this talk was distracting Alex and rushed her. She neatly sidestepped his rush, elbowed him, and then tripped him. Alex loved to talk during her training and sparring sessions and it was no distraction to her, although it drove Gabe crazy.

"Had enough?" she asked the prone form, who flipped and threw sand in her face. Alex blasted him into oblivion with red light.

"That was cheating no matter what culture you come from." Alex wiped the blood and sand from her face. She felt the cut beneath her eye; it stung, but didn't seem too serious. There was a lot of sand in her hair, though, and she hated that feeling. "Am I in trouble?" she asked Rile.

"Not from me." Rile held his sword-cleaning cloth to her nose. "I'm surprised, though. I thought since it involved the girls—"

"That I would lose all reason and run him through?" Alex asked sweetly.

"It would be consistent with your past behavior."

"I'm glad I can still surprise you." Alex leaned against him. "There was no way he could win, though. I wanted to see how well I could do before blasting him."

"You scared Pala half to death," Cale chided. "I've never heard her scream like that. She came running up and said that someone was killing you."

"Pala?" Alex stooped to the girl's level, thoughts racing. "Was I doing that badly?"

Pala, who had braced for a rebuke, stared back. Dola ran up, her sides heaving.

"They are not used to females who can fight, Guardian," she explained between gasps. "The blood frightened her."

Alex nodded and turned away in shame. She hadn't noticed the screams. She had been too caught up in her own sensations, and the girls were too far away to hear them if they had cried out. "I must teach them differently," Alex said sorrowfully. "Everyone will learn how to break holds. I have to figure out how to have class without terrifying them," Alex said.

***

A/N

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