Pictoria (The Ammonite Galaxy Series, Book 4)

Chapter 12

GRACE LOOKED UP as Vion came into the hospital room on Kwaide. It seemed so long ago that she had met him at the orthogel lift in the skyrise back on Valhai. Now he was a respected doctor on Coriolis and Kwaide, a trendsetter amongst the Sellites, and happily married. It felt strange to be seeing him in such a setting, to have lost the closeness they had at one time felt. She breathed out slowly. She hoped he was happy.

Vion smiled down at Grace. He had bitter-sweet memories of when they met back on Valhai. He wouldn't change any part of his life now, but there would always be a very special place in his heart for this uncertain Sellite girl. He hoped she was happy. She deserved it, if anybody did. His eyes tracked down to her hands, and his smile turned into a frown. That was a terrible thing to have happened.

Ledin saw the direction Vion's eyes had taken, and covered Grace's hands with his own immediately. He hated to see the sympathy in people's eyes; he loved her with such a fierce feeling that he wanted to protect her even from that.

"What is the verdict?" he asked the doctor.

"We can discharge you tomorrow. There would seem to be no lung or other internal damage due to the blast, and your heart is as sturdy as it ever was. The deafness is already passing, and those intermittent headaches you have been getting should be a thing of the past within a couple of weeks—"

"Thank Sacras! I was getting stir crazy in here."

"—Though you should still take things easy at first. No going directly into battle. Not this time. You really need to let your body heal on its own." Vion turned to Grace. "Will you be staying here for long?"

She nodded. "At least a couple of weeks, I think. My mother has persuaded us to give a few lectures at the university. Ledin is to talk about astronavigation, and I am to talk about Valhai and the Sellites. We tried to get out of it, but you know what Magestra is like – nothing if not persistent!"

"I certainly do know. She has me roped in to teach a semester of basic medicine, and another of surgical procedures. That's partly why I come over so often."

"How is Mercy? How does she like Coriolis?"

Vion pulled a face. "It has taken her a long while to acclimatize, and I think she would rather be back on Valhai, but she is managing. I ... that is we ... are expecting our first fiftieth generation in a few months."

"Vion! That is terrific news. Please give her our congratulations."

"Thank you. And are you two planning to marry soon?"

Grace looked down at Ledin, and they exchanged grins. "Not yet. We're not quite sure that we believe in all the paperwork, and we definitely don't need the ceremonial part of it. We're leaving all that for the time being."

"Of course. I understand. Well, I wish you both well in your relationship."

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

"By the way, Six came over with me this trip. He seems to have emptied one of the Coriolan jails, and brought a batch of its inmates over to Kwaide."

Grace giggled. "That sounds just like Six. Is Diva with him?"

"Strangely, not. I gather she has decided to stay on Coriolis for the time being."

Both Grace and Ledin looked up sharply at that. "On her own?" asked Grace.

"Yes. Six didn't seem too keen to talk about it. But you can ask him yourself. He said he would be up here as soon as he had found a suitable place for the Coriolan immigrants to stay."