Chapter Six: Tit for Tat — Part 2

“Father.” Jun yelled, choking on her own rage, dropping to Alon’s side.

Her sword drawn, Jun stared angrily at Kaan, who now found himself surrounded by pole bearers who, for their part, weren’t entirely sure if they should be guarding Kaan, or Jun.

Chen was quick to intervene before lives could be lost. “I’ll see to your father’s wounds. As you well know from your own personal experience, I can assure his survival.” Chen said, calming Jun. “Kaan, please enjoy your stay in prison. It will be a lengthy one. Jun, when your father is well enough to travel, I will send a message to you.”

Jun nodded. Chen had healed worse wounds on Jun’s body than Alon had suffered. The spear had missed the heart, but punctured a lung.

“No challenge from the girl?” Master Kaan asked with dark sarcasm as he was carried out of the room. “Could it be you are more like your father — more a coward and a dog than even I imagined? A real soldier would kill me now, before the opportunity passes.”

“A real soldier would never stab an old, unarmed man in the back.” Jun said. “By that reasoning alone, you are not worthy of my blade

“You’ll be alone now. You’ll suffer.” Kaan yelled as he was carried down the hallway. “If Alon dies, then you will understand how I felt when you killed my father.”

Chen let out a comment sopping with disgust. “His father killed, raped, and tortured nearly a million people before I conquered his lands. You killed maybe twelve hundred, all of whom were as bad or worse than him. Yet his father apparently deserves to be revenged with the life of a man who has devoted his life to tending to the needs of the weak, the young, the sick, and the old.”

Chen dropped down close to the fallen man, oblivious to Kaan, who retreated down the entrance hall, armed guards in front and behind him. Chen worked to stop Master Alon from bleeding to death, healing the man with powers that were both phenomenal and a little frightening. The room was suddenly empty except for Chen, Jun, Swift, and Alon. Swift darted about like an agitated fish in an aquarium too small for him. Jun didn’t move, and Alon, though stable enough that he was no longer bleeding and his breathing had returned to normal, did not wake up from his wounds.

“If you had better known your men, you would have known their hatred for Jun.” Swift said, humming with rage.

“Their hatred for her is exactly why I exiled her. She’s too good for this world, and I can’t continue to keep her in harm’s way simply because I admire her as a person.” Chen said, tightening a bandage over the spear wound, using his abilities to convince the old man’s cells to work themselves back into cohesion.

Jun felt sick in her stomach, had never heard such a hume sense of condemnation from a Bug, nor did she imagine Chen showing as much compassion for her and her father. Perhaps most surprising to her was his admission of respect for her character. The medics had arrived, though Jun didn’t even remember anybody actually calling for them. They began working on Alon right in front of her, exposing the wound so they could sterilize it and begin stitching it up. Within moments Alon was stabilized for transport to the Temple’s medical chambers. Though the doctor on the scene insisted that for the next few weeks it would be touch and go, Jun had few doubts that Alon would live. Her faith was solely in Chen’s promise to restore Alon’s health. Chen led Jun to a small washroom near the antechamber, washed his hands and offered her the basin so she could wash hers.

“What was I to you?” Jun asked.

“You were a tool I always regretted having to use. Now, please, leave before anybody else gets hurt. I will send word when your father can leave, I promise.” Chen said. “I also ask, as a parting request, that if you hear anything about me out there that you tell me, when next we meet, everything you can.”

“How will you know where I’ve gone?” Jun asked still in a stupor.

Swift caught Jun in his field, and the two of them Snapped, headed for Earth. Chen headed for the hospital wing first. When he was certain Jun’s father could be helped no further, for the dungeons. As Chen entered Master Kaan’s cell, he rolled up his sleeves. Nobody could see what was happening inside, the guards would not dare look in while Chen was at work. The screams that followed sounded almost inhumee, and in a matter of moments blood splattered the walls, blowing out past the cell bars with enough force to paint the hallway. When Chen left the cell, Master Kaan was completely unharmed, or fully recovered, depending on how one might interpret his experience. He lay on the ground, shaking, crying, begging to be killed.

Master Chen paused to speak with the guard. “Feed him well, get him a comfortable bed, do nothing to harm him, and give him what he needs to clean his chamber . . .” He turned looking back at Kaan, then back to the wall opposite the cell, “. . . and anywhere else his blood has landed.” Chen paused, making quiet eye contact with Kaan. “I’ll be by tomorrow then, Master Kaan, if that’s quite all right with you.”

Master Kaan screamed in a brutal mix of rage, fear, and pain, unable to express in words how much he wanted Chen to die, how much he would rather die than experience Chen’s displeasure again. Chen smiled as he left the cell, wiping his hands of Kaan’s blood, tossing the cloth into a bin. Tomorrow he would forget his meeting with Kaan until very late. An hour before the visit, the guards would remove everything of value, leaving Kaan alone. Chen would roll up his sleeves after that, and then, when it seemed that Kaan would piss himself, Chen would walk out, his bed and personal items returned, and for the duration of his sentence, Chen would leave Kaan in solitude.