With that, he swept out of the room.
The moment they heard the door shut in the main room, Myrum sat up and Amina rushed to his side. He grabbed her and tucked her tightly against his chest, uncaring that he’d managed to dislodge some of the curtains again.
She relaxed into his hold. “Myrum?”
“I’m fine,” he said, rocking while holding her.
“That’s a lie,” she murmured.
“I’m almost fine,” Myrum answered with an amused rumble. He heard the outside door open again.
“Lorse,” Amina hissed and tried to pull away. His sluggish brain refused to let go, but they got lucky. It was Gis.
“What’s going on?” Gis asked. “Does Myrum really have a headache?”
“No, but it was a good excuse,” Myrum said before Amina could answer him. “My brain didn’t survive my accident entirely intact. Sometimes I have moments where it feels like the walls are closing in on me and I can’t breathe.”
“You’re thrown back into the time you were trapped,” Gis said with real sympathy in his voice. “I’ve been speaking with the staff; they told me about your time here.”
Amina wiggled around in his grip to face Gis. “What did you find out?”
“Myrum’s escape tube floated close to one of the outpost’s sentinel satellites. Lorse sent a team to investigate, and they brought the entire tube back here without opening it. Lorse was there when they finally cracked the seal. They all thought Myrum was dead.”
“I thought I was too,” Myrum grunted.
“How did they realize he was still alive?” Amina asked. “Lorse doesn’t strike me as someone who double checks things like that.”
“Gilush is the medic here. She arrived just as Lorse was kneeling next to him to get his Ident. Myrum came to enough to say something and then went unconscious again. After that, Lorse cared for him as if he was a beloved child or spouse.”
“What did I say?” Myrum asked.
“No one knows,” Gis said.
“I’m surprised Lorse let Myrum leave,” Amina said.
“This was early in the Talin-Ossiso relationship. The Talin military was quick to send a transport ship to collect him. To show good faith, the Council of Souls sent several of our ships to accompany them. With so many high officials around, there was no way for Lorse to keep Myrum. Not unless he wanted to cause an interspecies incident.”
“That explains why he was so eager for Myrum to visit,” Amina said. “This would’ve been so much easier if Lorse was simply bored and looking for a guest to entertain him.”
“What do you think would happen if I simply told Lorse I wanted to leave?” Myrum asked.
“He’ll make you stay,” Gis said. “He’s a high-ranking official in the government, specifically in territorial protection. After he finishes terraforming this planet and sells it, he’ll have more wealth than all his siblings combined. No one here will help you escape, and you’ll have no ability to contact anyone else.”
“Helmen would never leave without us,” Amina said confidently.
“Then she and her crew are dead,” Gis said. “I don’t know how he’d achieve it, but he’d destroy the ship and dispose of the wreckage. After that he can claim they left and he never heard from them again. Space is a big place, ships go missing all the time."
“Not that often,” Amina grumbled.
“In Ossiso territory they do,” Gis said.
“This is very bad,” Myrum said. “How long do you think it would take for Lorse to grow tired of me and let me leave?”
“I’m not sure,” Gis said. “Those I talked to said they’d never seen him obsessed like this.”
Guilt made Myrum want to sound a long, mournful rumble. “There’s only one solution,” he said, closing his eyes. “You and Amina need to leave without me. I’ll stay and hope Lorse grows bored with me eventually and lets me leave.”
He didn’t bother to tell them he might have already scent-bonded to Amina. He wouldn't be alive for long after she left, but at least his sacrifice would save her.
