The medical centre was a quiet place at night. Every sound made – even if involuntary – seemed deliberately hushed. On the rare occasion that people entered, they spoke in soft voices, took careful, measured steps to preserve the silence. If one took the time to listen, however, one could distinguish a myriad of little noises, the soft whirr of the scanners at each bed monitoring patients' vitals, the low hum of the ventilation system, the click and buzz of medical droids, the quiet breathing of sleeping men and women, the slow, rhythmical thump of her own heartbeat. She turned, the groan of mattress and sigh of sheets adding to the midnight orchestra, looked across the room, her eyes well-accustomed to the hazy half-light.
The boy in the next bed over wasn't stirring, though his sleep hadn't been entirely restful. Hardly surprising. With a pang of guilt she recalled the day's events, the secrets, the silence and the awkward lies. They should have had more faith in him. She should have had more faith in him. He'd been the one to comfort her when they heard of the plan's failure, Sareth's uncertain fate. Despite his own pain, fear and worry, so evident in his face, his voice, he'd reached out to her, tried to assuage her fears, give her hope. She owed him more than half-truths and deception. She brushed a stray strand of hair from her face, nodded to herself. She'd tell him the truth. Tell him everything and apologise for lying. Tell him...
about...
Kodashi.
No. Not that. She couldn't. She-...
She sighed. Closed her eyes. He would find out. Sooner or later the truth would come out. Was it not better to hear it from her? She turned the question around in her mind, again and again, found no answer. His friend's life no longer hung in the balance, he'd told Lord Kolph he was safe. She had to hold on to that, tell Than'so to hold on to it too.
She knew by the faces of her friends that the danger was not over. For any of them. Sareth was alive, but he'd been sent to the Academy for re-education. Her previous master had taken her from there after a couple of weeks to prevent her death, Kolph's face turned ashen at the mere mention of the place. Calling it dangerous was an understatement. And re-education?
She shuddered. What would they try and twist him into?