It took two days for the Tu to finish repairs to their ship and another week for the ship to reach the Tu homeworld (which Kari found out had no real name that anyone remembered; the Tu simply called it the homeworld).  During that time, she convinced Heka to take her down to the brig to visit Yunho almost every day.  She sat and talked with him for hours with Heka waiting in the room or even joining in the conversation until they could stay no longer.  Heka hadn’t left them alone together since the first day, when he realized that she and Yunho weren’t simply friends.

That frustrated Kari more than a little.  She longed to reach out and, if nothing else, simply hold Yunho’s hand.  Anything, just so long as it was some kind of physical contact.  Talking through the hum of the barrier wasn’t enough.  As they neared the homeworld, Kari’s apprehension that she would be permanently separated from Yunho grew exponentially.  Yunho tried his best to comfort her, but with him feeling the same way, his words meant little.  She was beginning to find out that there were downsides to always knowing what Yunho was feeling. 

The morning they landed on the Tu homeworld, Kari was so anxious that she nearly threw up what little breakfast Heka had forced her to eat.  She was still in pain, and terrified that she would never see Yunho again.  And, Heka didn’t help her anxiety at all.  He paced around his quarters, stealing concerned glances at her out of the corner of his eyes when he thought she wasn’t looking.  She didn’t really blame him, though.  If she looked half as bad as she felt, she would be a sight to behold.  Hopefully, the day would end better than she feared. 

A delegation of magickers met them at the transport site as Kari and Heka left the ship.  The leader, a tall, dark-haired woman whose name Kari couldn’t even hope to pronounce, stepped forward and embraced Heka. 

“I’m so relieved to see you return safely, Heka.”

“Yurrnwol’ha, it’s been so long since I left.  Have you fared well?”

She smiled at him, “I’m the new head of first-year novices at the academy.  I suppose that’s something.”

“That’s great!  You’ve always been a wonderful teacher.”

Yurrnwol’ha turned her gaze on Kari.  “Is this your new wife, Heka?  The alien magicker?”  Something about the woman’s eyes made Kari think that she didn’t really like the idea of Heka having a wife.  Not that Kari wanted to be his wife anyway.  But, that didn’t really matter to Yurrnwol’ha.

Heka gave Kari a startled glance, as if he had forgotten she was there.  “Yes.  She was captured from her people by the general.”  There was an undercurrent to his words, as if he was saying, ‘She doesn’t really want to be here, so make sure you’re nice to her.  Don’t make this any harder than it has to be for her.’  The way Yurrnwol’ha’s eyes flickered made Kari think she read far too much into it than Heka wanted.  Kari gave an inward sigh.  Just great.  Not only had she been kidnapped from Earth and forced to marry Yunho and then been kidnapped again and forced to marry some alien, but now, she was going to be caught in the middle of two people who obviously wanted to be together but couldn’t.  Not to mention that fact that she was being kept from her love.  Yurrnwol’ha drew her out of her thoughts.

“Well, I hope she makes you happy, Heka.”  She gave Kari a disapproving glance.  “I thought all Elanari had gold eyes.  Even their slaves.”

“I don’t really know.  I’ve wondered that, but I never really asked her.  Maybe it’s because of her magic.  She’s untrained, but extremely powerful.  Perhaps, her race is like ours, in that magic determines eye color.”

Yurrnwol’ha frowned and glanced at the others around her as if seeing them for the first time.  “We should be going soon.  I sent some people ahead to pick up the other prisoner.”

As she said that, Kari felt immense pain shoot down the bond.  Something bad was happening to Yunho!  They were hurting him.  After the initial shock, the pain gradually subsided.  What had happened?  They had better not have tortured him like they tortured Kari.  She waited for him to appear on the transport site, praying that he was okay.  There was a brief flash of light, and he appeared on the site with metal bracelets around his wrists and a dark blindfold wrapped around his head.  There was a magicker on either side of him, guiding him towards the delegation.  If he sensed Kari’s presence, he gave no notice of it.  He just stood silently where his guides led him.  His back was towards her, and she willed him to turn to her, to give some sign that he knew she was there and he was okay. 

Heka noticed her staring at Yunho and took her gently by the arm.  “We need to get you to the academy medical center, Kari.  You need healing.” 

Yunho sat in total darkness after the ship landed.  No one came to check on him, but he felt Kari leave the ship.  A few minutes later, the doors opened and he thought he heard two people enter his prison.  They talked for a few moments in a language he didn’t understand and then one of them clapped their hands.  Light, bright as daylight shown through the prison for the first time in weeks.  Yunho’s eyes screamed in pain.  They were so used to the dark that he couldn’t see at all in the light and his eyes felt like they were on fire.  The searing pain eased a little when one of his captors wrapped a dark blindfold around his head, blocking most of the light, but the damage was already done. 

He didn’t even notice being led out of the ship.  He did, however, notice Kari’s presence as soon as he got to the transport site.  But, after feeling how she reacted to his presence, he thought it might be best not to acknowledge her.  He saw how uncomfortable Heka was with their relationship, so he didn’t want to get her into trouble with other, not quite so nice, Tu who might be watching. 

The ride to wherever he was being taken passed in complete silence.  With the blindfold on, Yunho couldn’t see who all was with them or even what kind of vehicle they were riding in.  He hoped the tense feeling in the air had nothing to do with him.  Or Kari, for that matter.  She was seated at least a meter in front of him in the vehicle.  At least they were in the same vehicle.  Maybe that meant they would be taken to the same place. 

After several minutes of silence, Yunho felt a sense of wonder and awe from Kari.  Whatever she was seeing must’ve been spectacular.  After all the magic they had seen since being taken from Earth, it wasn’t easy to impress them any longer. 

“That’s the outer wall of the Tu Academy of Magic.  It makes a perfect circle around the academy.  We’ll be to the main gate soon.”  Heka fell silent again for a moment.  “Here we are.” 

Pain flashed through him once again.  As it faded, a sense of loss fell over him.  What?  What had happened?  He felt alone, empty.  He reached out to see if Kari was feeling the same thing.  Nothing.  There was nothing coming from her direction.  He couldn’t even feel her presence.  Not a direction, nothing.  It was as if they had never been connected.  Was she even still in the vehicle with him?

“Heka?  What happened?  What was that?”  Kari’s worried voice reassured him that she was still there.  But why couldn’t he feel her? 

“Oh.  I’m sorry.  I probably should have warned you.  As we passed through the gates, we triggered a very old spell that was placed on the outer wall about a thousand years ago.  It cleanses any who pass through the gates or over the wall of all magic spells.  Or, it tries to.  It’s so old, and any who could help maintain the spell have been dead for 300 years.  Now, it cleanses all but the most powerful spells.  So, your treaty with the Elanari still stands, unfortunately.”

Without access to Kari’s emotions, he had no idea what she thought of Heka’s explanation.  Was she frightened?  What would happen to them now that they no longer had the bond?  How would he find her again if they were separated?  Yunho shoved his panic down.  He would find her, no matter what happened to them.  Nothing could keep them separated for long. 

Hours later, Kari left the academy medical center, fully recovered from her torture at the hands of the general.  Heka guided her towards his new quarters.  Maybe he was hoping that having a place of her own would help bring her out of her reticence.  Of course, he would probably be disappointed.  She had no intention of talking ever again.  Not after today, anyway. 

He pressed a button next to the doors and they opened automatically.  If she had been in a better mood, Kari would have made a Star Trek joke at the expense of the furnishings of the living area behind the doors. 

As the doors closed behind them, Heka turned to her.  “Kari.  I - ”  He shook his head.  “Here.  I requested quarters with two bedrooms.  You can have the larger on if you want.”

Kari’s only answer was to shake her head. 

“Actually, I insist.  This way.”  He took her hand and gently pulled her towards one of the doors along the right wall.  After a quick glance at the look on her face, he left her alone.

She sank onto the bed, scarcely noticing the wonderful view out the windows and the softness of the bed.  She felt empty, alone, lost.  Was her bond with Yunho gone permanently?  What if she never saw him again?  What was she supposed to do, now?  The thing that had kept her going since her kidnapping had been the hope and comforting presence of the bond.  What was she supposed to do without it? 

Two weeks later…

Heka sat in Yurrnwol’ha’s office after watching Kari go to bed as soon as she got back from her classes yet again.  He was really worried about her. 

“What should we do?  She hasn’t spoken to me in two weeks.  Not even a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

Yurrnwol’ha sighed and rubbed her temples.  “She’s been kidnapped, tortured, and forced to marry a member of her kidnapper’s species.  How did you expect her to react?  I can’t believe I’m defending her.”

He leaned back in his chair.  “How has she done in class?  You’ve been working with her privately, right?”

“Yes.  She has great potential.  Probably greater than any Tu that has ever lived.  She has a firm grasp on the basics and she’s ready to move on to learning her specific types of magic.  Honestly, though.  Weather magic is fairly common, but I have no idea what her secondary type is.”

“I don’t know, either.”

“I know you don’t.”

“Has she said anything about what’s bothering her?”

“No.  And, frankly, I don’t really care.  I’m here to teach her magic, that’s it.”

“Alright, alright.  No need to bite my head off.”

“The interesting thing is, I’ve been working with the other captive, as well.”

Heka looked up at her, curiosity piqued.  “And, how has he been doing?”

“Well.  But, he’s more of a mystery than Kari.  He’s powerful, probably more powerful than Kari, but I have no idea what his magic is.  None.  He has done well with the basics for every type of magic I’ve had him try, but none seem to be what his magic prefers.”  She put her head on her desk.  “I have no idea what to do with him.”

“Where is he being kept?”

“In the dormitories with the other novices.  I gave him a private room and I have a guard posted at his door at night.  He is supposed to act as a novice, going to classes, doing chores, etc until such time as he proves he is a danger to the others and needs to be locked up.  Although, I have restricted his movement to the novice quarters and main building except when doing chores.”

“Oh.”

“You’ll just have to deal with Kari on your own.”

“I’m leaving on a trip in a few days.  The Council has asked me to personally deliver my report on Kari’s progress.  I hope she’ll be okay while I’m gone.”

“She’ll be fine.”

“Keep an eye on her for me.”

Yurrnwol’ha sighed again.  “Fine.  But, you owe me.”