Ch. 31

Kathryn opened her eyes slowly, blinking several times to clear her vision. She'd been having a dreamless sleep for a change and she actually felt rested. Looking closer at the lighted ceiling above her, she realized she had no idea where she was. Lifting her head slightly, she was able to see her surroundings a bit clearer and was thankful for perhaps the first time to find herself clothed in starfleet medical blue. The beeps and sounds of the sickbay were comforting to her in a strange way despite knowing it wasn't Voyager she was on. What she found to be even more comforting, she was also able to see Chakotay, sitting in a chair next to the bed, hunched over with his head partially buried on his folded arms. Kathryn frowned; he was really going to be sore when he woke up. Her eyes flicked away from him when she caught movement to her left.

"Welcome back, Admiral." The Doctor approached the side of the bed, keeping his voice low for a change. "He's been there for hours."

Having assessed the Doctor wasn't a threat, Kathryn immediately returned her attention to Chakotay. She didn't want to take her eyes off him. She was glad he was on her right side so she could see the lines of his tattoo. Her fingers twitched, she wanted to touch him. To touch his face. To feel the comforting sensation of tracing her hand across his features. Not thinking about it, she tried to sit up and prop herself up on her elbows so she could reach him. Unexpected pain shot through her left shoulder at the movement and she gasped. Chakotay's head shot up as he launched himself to his feet.

"That isn't exactly an action I'd recommend doing just yet," the Doctor chided her even as he reached out to steady her. "I would've said so sooner, but you wouldn't have listened to me anyway."

Kathryn glared at him, managing a breathless reply. "Thank you...Doctor."

He eased her back to a lying position. "The muscles and tendons have all been healed by my usual excellent standard of care, but you'll feel some lingering tenderness for a day or so. Thankfully you're…"

She wasn't listening to him anymore. Chakotay stood over her, hair askew, staring at her as though he were still dreaming. She smiled up at him. "Hi."

A short chuckle escaped him, and his dimples appeared. "Hi."

"Admiral?" the Doctor looked up from his tricorder when she didn't respond to his question. He sighed, seeing the two of them staring at each other. He should've known better than to try and talk to her now. Rolling his eyes, he retreated to the medical console to enter in his new data.

Kathryn lifted her hand up and Chakotay interlaced his fingers with hers. Leaning down, he kissed her gently, stroking her face with his thumb. Retaking his seat, he couldn't help holding her hand against his face. "You gave us quite a scare, you know."

"I know," she said, extracting her hand from his so she could run her fingertips over his face. She smiled as her fingers threaded into his hair, over his ear, curling down behind it. She liked following the line of his tattoo even where she could no longer see it. "You took long enough getting there you know."

He chuckled again, reveling in her touch. "I know. Our daughter has already informed me of the importance of being prompt."

Kathryn smiled again. It felt like it had been too long since she'd had reason to. "Where is she?" she frowned. "For that matter, where am I?"

"USS Pendragon. Admiral Patterson sends his regards," Chakotay said, indicating the ship with his hand, "and Maddie is with B'Elanna, they've both been asleep for almost twelve hours now. They're exhausted, all though, neither of them would ever admit it."

"No, they wouldn't," Kathryn agreed quietly. "Is that how long I've been asleep?"

Chakotay's smile disappeared. "You've been asleep for about ten hours. You were unconscious for about four hours before that."

With some difficulty and ignoring the Doctor's noise of protest, Kathryn rolled onto her right side so she could face her husband better. "How bad was it?"

"You don't remember?" he asked, reaching out a hand to tuck her hair back.

The corner of her mouth quirked upwards slightly. "I remember some of it. I remember you balking when I wanted you to kiss me."

"That's what you remember? Out of everything…"

"Well, it was the first time I'd ever gotten that reaction from you. It was memorable."

Chakotay sobered. "You didn't think it was me, did you?"

"No." Her smile faded. "After…everything, it just seemed too good to be true. And I couldn't trust…anything, really."

"Once he examined you, the Doctor was surprised that you had even been conscious. The loss of blood alone should've been enough, and add to that a concussion and some sort of intoxicant in your system. He was at a loss for how you had been on your feet at all."

Kathryn shrugged her shoulder and then grimaced at the twinge of pain that shot through her. "That's easy. Maddie. I had to find Maddie. She was the only thing I could think of."

Kathryn groaned and blinking her eyes open, stared up at the ceiling of the great hall. This was two times too many that she found herself in this position. There was a haze of smoke hanging stagnant in the air obscuring her view, but the ceiling appeared to be intact. That was good. Not having to worry about the ceiling falling on her was one less thing. Not that she cared, really. She had more pressing concerns at the moment as she thought perhaps a supernova had exploded inside her skull. Surely that would explain the pulsating thrum of pain behind her eyes that seemed to be keeping in time with the waves of rolling fire starting at her shoulder and sweeping across her torso. She hated to do it, but she rolled her head to the side and looked down. Her shoulder was a bloody mess, but at least it didn't still have the knife sticking out of it. Bachane must've taken it with him.

Bachane. He'd stabbed her. Tried to kill her. How had she forgotten that crucial piece of information? Kathryn scrambled her hands against the stone steps, forcing herself to sit up. The sudden movement made her cry out and all the blood rushing away from her head, darkened her vision. Concentrating on her breathing, she fought back the black edges of unconsciousness. She couldn't afford to pass out again… not now, not when… she paused as her surroundings came into focus for the first time. Her mouth went dry at the sight before her. The bodies of the guards littered the floor around her. All of them were motionless and now that she was aware of her surroundings the silence was deafening. Not only had the attack from Bachane and his men been swift, it had been completely lethal. Each wound designed to be a killing blow.

So why was she still alive? And why had no one come to offer aid? Had Bachane killed everyone in the castle? Oh. God. Maddie. She had to…get up…to find her. Using her good arm and with a cry of pain, she pulled her left arm against her body, hoping to hold it there and reduce the movement of her shoulder. Just as she pushed herself to her feet, Kathryn spotted the waif at the other side of the dais. She may have appeared to look like Bachane, but she had obviously fared no better with them. Her small crumpled form was half hidden under a bench, but the stain of blood on her white gown was large enough that Kathryn didn't feel the need to check for signs of life. She did, however, see a weapon lying on the steps beside the overturned throne, and that was something worth using the extra energy to go and pick up.

Kathryn stumbled the five or so steps over to it. Gritting her teeth, she leaned down to pick it up, thankful her right arm and hand were uninjured. It was heavier than a phaser, but it seemed to work on the same mechanics. Securing her grip on it, she turned to leave, when something brushed against her ankle. Startled, she almost fell against the throne as she backed away from the contact, swinging the weapon down to bear on whatever had touched her.

A pale outstretched hand fell limply to the floor, the once strong fingers curling slightly as though still reaching for her. The raised markings on the king's arm stood out now in contrast more than ever before. Odaro was still alive...barely. He suffered from the same wound she had only he was clearly dying from his. His skin was now paler than hers and blood continued to flow freely across his torso, pooling beneath him on the stone steps.

His dark eyes slowly rose to meet hers. "You still walk…truly are…demon." His words came in gasping breaths. "Save me."

Kathryn lowered the weapon back to her side. He was clearly no longer a threat. For an interminable moment she considered him. Considered the weapon in her hand. She knew she couldn't save him, but she could ease his suffering. Something crashed to the floor further down the hall, and she looked up, scanning the hall, seeing nothing her eyes rested on the side door. She needed to find Maddie. She took a step towards the door.

Odaro coughed and thumped his outstretched hand against the steps. "I still…command you!"

"No. You don't." She took another step away from him. "You never did."

"Jane…way-" The last syllable of her name ended in a gargle deep in his throat and his outstretched hand dropped to the stone.

"And you never will," she said, watching unconcernedly as the last breath left his body. Barely raising an eyebrow, she headed again for the door.

Kathryn fell quiet and watched Chakotay's face as he digested everything she'd just told him. He never blinked, never took his eyes off of her, and his thumb traced continuous circles against her palm. "According to the limited scans the Doctor took on the planet, their central organ or heart was located in the area of the shoulder," he explained. "Lucky for you."

"Lucky," she muttered and shook her head. "Everything gets hazy after that. I know I made it through the door, I think I saw a tree…"

"Maddie said she found you staggering halfway down the corridor leading to the kitchen. Some woman had made her hide under a trap door in the kitchen?"

"Kala," Kathryn supplied fearfully, now wondering what the fate had been of the woman that had watched over her daughter. It was likely she'd never find out.

Chakotay nodded, "Yes, Kala. She told Maddie not to come out until either she came back or you came and got her, but you know how well Maddie follows instructions. Once she didn't hear any voices anymore, she crawled out of her hiding place and went looking for you."

"God, Chakotay she could have been…" Kathryn took a deep breath in. "We have really got to talk to her about that."

"More than talk," he agreed before continuing. "She said when she found you she knew you were hurt, but that you just kept telling her you were tired. And then she heard me calling for you."

"You mean, I didn't imagine that?" She gave him a small smile. "Hearing my name echoing through the castle loud enough to shake the dust from the walls."

Chakotay tugged at his ear. "It worked, didn't it? You came back to me."

"Always," she said softly, "and you came after me."

"Always," he replied, smiling. "So who was this Bachane? And how do we find him?"

"We don't. He's suffered enough, and it was really just a case of mistaken identity." Kathryn reluctantly rolled back onto her back, the increasing throb in her shoulder convincing her.

Chakotay stood so he could still watch her face. "And who did he think you were?"

"He thought I was culpable in killing his sister," she explained, "but I never even saw her. Odaro had tired of her and killed her before I was ever even on the planet." Chakotay paled at her explanation. "What is it?"

"Powell had mentioned that another family was looking for the king for the same reasons I was, but I never thought that if they found him first they'd assume you were in on it."

"Who's Powell?" Kathryn asked even as she stifled a yawn.

"He was at the house where you were bought." He gave her a small smile. "Seems we both have a lot to catch each other up on, but you need to get some rest."

She nodded her eyes already half closed. "One more thing though."

"Yes?"

"Where's Milo?"

Chakotay almost laughed. Her voice had dropped almost two octaves. It was probably a good thing he hadn't kept Milo on board. "Harry has control of his ship and its crew, including Cyronius. They're enroute back to Earth. They'll probably get there a day ahead of us. Admiral Patterson has been helping us so I'm sure he'll have the head of Starfleet Security awaiting their arrival."

"Good," Kathryn mumbled. "Admiral Botive was always a hard old miser."

"You really did hit your head," Chakotay chuckled. "Botive died while we were still in the Delta Quadrant. Brislin is in charge now."

"Brislin!" Kathryn's eyes shot open and she sat straight up, all traces of tiredness and pain gone. "Chakotay, he's the one! Brislin is the one that was behind it all."

:)