THE PRISONERS IN THE PALACE

Part Thirteen:

Sid had now watched the events that had transpired on the ledge, had not only seen

it all, but knew Maximus' thoughts, knew the General's awareness that Brianna

intended to end her life, knew how he felt about it. He was standing now beside her

bed.  She had fallen asleep, still curled into a tight little ball of misery.  "So the
Commander of the Armies of the North is developing feelings for you, is he?" he

said softly. "And you, my dear, you are obviously hopelessly in love."  He had not

expected her to come to such a level of desperation, though. And it was Maximus'

efforts to keep her alive that had almost taken his own life. "You were supposed to

play nice, Brianna. I've counted on that.  My plans depend on that."

He sat down on the bed beside her, watching her thoughtfully for several
minutes. In his presence she had always been so rather...stalwart. A cool,
aloof warrior of a woman, albeit very feminine despite her competence
with various weaponry. He moved a long strand of hair off her cheek. She
looked like a lost little girl and a strange expression flickered across his face.

"You cannot bear the thought of his loss," he murmured, curling the strand

about his finger. "I don't know what that feels like, to feel so strongly for

someone, to be felt so strongly about."  It was why he had included her in this

whole project. He wanted Maximus' feelings for her to be in the program. He

would not be complete until he knew such things, knew them...himself.

He rested his hand on her arm, ready for her to wake up, yet strangely
reluctant. Her lids fluttered and something very like a sigh escaped his lips.

She felt groggy, somehow heavy from her earlier weeping. Where was she?
Something had happened. Then she saw Sid's head tipped toward her as he
sat on her bed. God, he was on her BED! Her eyes flew all the way open and
she tensed, trying to scoot her body away from his. "Sid," she hissed. "What

are you doing here?"

He blinked, a mask of impassiveness settling over his sculptured features.
"Do you not wish to know how he is doing?" 

"Maximus!" She sat bolt upright. "What did you do with him?"

"Patched him up, my dear. That was quite a tumble he took off the ledge."

She bit her lip. Did he know? Did Sid know why Maximus had fallen? She looked at
his face. He was not letting her see if he knew or not. Damn him!

"How is he? Where is he?"

"He's in his room, hooked up to an IV. Nanobots are doing their little good deeds."

"What?"

"Ah, so Mikol has not developed that particular technology yet."  He smiled. "I'm glad
to hear of it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Explain, Sid."

"Tiny healing robotics that work through the bloodstream. We used them on Cort's

hand. Speed up healing amazingly well. You'll be pleased."

"How damaged was he...Maximus, I mean?"

"His forearm. The gash went nearly to the bone. He'd have probably bled to death if

you'd not wrapped it so tightly."

She sighed, then waited for him to continue.

"Concussion, crack in a pelvic bone, that sort of thing."

"He...he's going to be all right, though?"

"He's going to be all right."

She buried her face in her hands. He remained seated on the bed, still watching her.
He'd decided not to mention what he knew of why Maximus had fallen. Usually, such
knowledge would have provided him with endless opportunity to torment her. She
seemed, though, quite capable of doing that to herself this time. He wasn't even
sure why he did not wish to add to her grief. He lifted his chin in a quick, sharp
motion and stood. "You may go see him when you wish. I'll send someone to clean

up the mirror." He turned on his heel and left her room.

She sat on her bed a while longer. Sid must not know. If he'd known, he would have
thrown it in her face. Thank goodness he'd been monitoring them, though, had brought
them back here.

She looked around the room. Yes, she was back. She hadn't ever really left, had she?
No, it only seemed as though she had. She sighed. How long would all this go on? Sid
had never shared his timeline with her. How much more did he need from Maximus?

Now he even knew from the inside how the General handled pain. Had he wanted to

know that? If this had not happened unexpectedly, would Sid have planned for some

other circumstance of it somewhere down the line? She didn't know.

She got off the bed, went to the wash stand and splashed cold water on her face, then
ran her fingers through her hair. It didn't matter. How she looked didn't matter at

all. That would do fine. She padded softly across the floor, hesitating at the open

doorway to Maximus' room. Breathing in a great, deep breath, she entered. Sid

was not there. She was glad of that.

Making her way to his bed, she stood beside it looking down at him. His eyes were

closed, but his breathing sounded to her like that of sleep. Her eyes sought the IV

stand, following the line down to his right arm. Nanobots. What a concept. The
lower half of his arm was swathed in white bandaging. Her fingers touched it lightly,
glad for its cleanliness.  When she'd wrapped it in her well-traveled tunic, she had
worried about infection. The covers were pulled halfway up his chest, revealing deep
bruising just below his collar bone, more along his jaw line. Another white bandage

covered his right temple. 

Tears stung her eyes and she knelt beside the bed, gently holding the fingers of his

right hand. "I'm so sorry," she moaned. "I never meant...I never thought...." She

kissed his fingertips one by one then lay her cheek on the edge of the bed, staring

silently at his face.

Sid watched on his view screen. No, there was no need to make her feel worse. He

reached out, touching the screen where her face was. "Brianna," he whispered.

ON TO PART 14

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