The Husband With many Identities

Ch 7 - Where Did You Learn That

Back in the present.

The two guards still stood between Akeel and the door.

Behind him, Chief Healer Odran checked the crystal monitor beside Seraphine’s bed. Her heartbeat remained steady. The energy coming from her core was weak, but it had not fallen again.

“She is stable,” Chief Odran announced. “The danger has passed for now.”

Relief spread through the room.

Danaya kept her attention on Akeel.

She still had no answer to the question she had asked him.

Who was he?

Akeel looked at the guards. “Tell them to move.”

“Not yet,” Danaya replied. “My assistant is checking your identity. You will remain inside the estate until I receive his report.”

Chief Odran approached before Akeel could answer.

“Lady Danaya, I need to ask him about the treatment,” the healer said. “If Lady Seraphine suffers another collapse, we must know what he did.”

Danaya motioned for him to continue.

Chief Odran faced Akeel.

“Who taught you to use Core Needles?” he asked. “That method has not been taught in the healing academies for many years.”

“An old traveling healer,” Akeel replied. “I met him when I was younger.”

Chief Odran waited for more.

Akeel offered nothing else.

“What was his name?” the healer asked.

“He never told me.”

Mirella released a quiet scoff.

“How convenient,” she said. “A mysterious healer with no name taught you a lost medical skill.”

Akeel looked at her but did not respond.

Mirella turned toward Chief Odran.

“Perhaps he only got lucky,” she said. “Seraphine still had energy inside her core, and his needles happened to release it.”

Chief Odran shook his head.

“One correctly placed needle could be luck,” he said. “Ten cannot.”

Mirella had no answer to that.

Chief Odran looked at Akeel’s leather case.

“Did this traveler give you the needles?” he asked.

“Yes,” Akeel replied.

“Where is he now?”

“He died years ago.”

Chief Odran studied him for several seconds.

The explanation could not be confirmed, but neither could it be disproved. Akeel had given him enough information to end the questioning without revealing anything useful.

Chief Odran returned to Seraphine’s bed.

“I will remain with Lady Seraphine tonight,” the healer told Danaya. “If her condition changes, I will contact you immediately.”

“Send for me even if the change appears minor,” Danaya ordered.

“I will,” Chief Odran replied.

Danaya called one of the servants waiting outside the chamber.

“Take Akeel to the eastern guest room,” she ordered. “Have his belongings delivered to him. Two guards may remain in the hall, but no one will enter his room without my permission.”

Akeel corrected her.

“Without my permission.”

Danaya looked at him.

“You are still inside my estate,” she said.

“And I am here because your men abducted me,” Akeel replied. “If I agree to wait for your assistant’s report, the room remains private.”

Danaya did not argue.

She looked at the guards.

“You heard him,” she said. “Remain outside.”

Both men lowered their heads.

“Yes, Lady Danaya,” they replied.

Akeel turned to the servant.

“I want everything your men took from me,” he said. “My communicator, money card, keys, and repair tools. Nothing should be opened or removed.”

“I will see to it,” the servant replied.

Akeel followed him out of the chamber.

Danaya watched until he disappeared down the hall.

Then she returned to Seraphine’s bedside.

Her grandmother was alive because of a man who should not have been there.

That fact did not tell Danaya who he was.

It only gave her another reason to find out.

The servant showed Akeel into the eastern guest room.

A sealed box arrived a few minutes later. The servant placed it on the table and waited while Akeel checked its contents.

His keys, money card, communicator, and repair tools were all there.

Akeel searched the inside of his coat.

The concealed pocket had not been disturbed. His leather needle case still fit inside it.

“Is anything missing?” the servant asked.

“No,” Akeel replied.

“Would you like food brought to the room?”

“I only need rest.”

The servant bowed.

“The guards will remain in the hall. Call if you need anything.”

After the servant left, Akeel locked the door.

He picked up his Crystal Link communicator.

The screen showed more than one hundred missed calls from Lyra. Dozens of unread messages followed them.

The first few asked why the Second Spark Workshop was closed. The messages became more urgent as the hours passed.

Where are you?

Please answer me.

I went to the workshop. The door is locked.

The city guards said no attack was reported.

Akeel, please tell me you are safe.

Akeel typed a short reply.

I’m safe. I cannot explain yet. Meet me at the Skyrail station tomorrow at noon.

He sent the message.

Lyra answered almost at once, but Akeel did not open it. If he called her now, she would hear the exhaustion in his voice. She would demand to know where he was, and he could not give her that answer over an unsecured connection.

He placed the communicator beside the bed.

The meeting tomorrow would give him time to explain what he could.

For now, his body needed rest.

Akeel removed his coat and lay down.

He fell asleep before the next message arrived.