Free Mauled by Destiny [Tales of the Citadel 17] by Viola Grace Page A

of relief. “The doctors have been working hard to put you back together, baby.”
    Priina nodded and shifted, aware of every stitch and seal that her body was wearing. “Why does everyone look so worried?”
    “Baby, why did you go outside the wall?” Her mother stroked her hair back from her forehead.
    “The varek. Two were missing, and then, I found the hole. I had to make sure that they didn’t need help. It is the duty of the shepherd.” The doctor came forward and put his hand on Reeda’s shoulder. “Wait outside, Ms. Jarcor. I have something to discuss with your daughter.” Priina felt a strange strength in her limbs.
    “Mom, I will be fine. I am not going anywhere.”
    Her mother gave her a watery smile and limped out of the patient room.
    The doctor beckoned another one over, and the rest of the staff left the room.
    They stood together at the foot of her bed and looked at her with matching serious expressions.
    “Do you know what you were exposed to?” Priina blinked. It was obvious that they knew, so why were they asking her? “Something sharp.” The one on the left barked a laugh. “That it was.
    Did you get a good look at it?” She nodded. The burning eyes and the dripping jaws were etched in her memory. “It was a monster.”
    The one on the right nodded. “Do you know why we built the wall?”
    Priina recited what they learned in school. “We built the wall to protect us against a world that would change us. We were designed to adapt and boost other species and they would change us. To remain Cial, we had to wall ourselves in to keep them out.”
    They nodded. The one on the right said, “Well, you went out, and they changed you. They almost killed you, but they changed you. Time will tell how much.”
    Priina frowned. “What do you mean?” The doctor on the right smiled tightly. “We mean that you cannot live within the city any longer and transport has been arranged for you.” Priina tried to sit up, but the bonds kept her in place. “What? My mother, my sister…”
    “Will be taken care of. An assistant will be assigned to help with the farm. Farmers are our backbone after all. We need to take care of you.” He smiled helpfully and left the room.
    The remaining physician looked at her and came around to her side. “The Lyran regret your exposure to one of their more vicious members.
    They are paying for your rehabilitation and your placement at the Citadel Girls School at Thoola.
    They will see you through your adjustment phase.”
    “Lyran?”
    “One of the many races who live outside the walls of our city, Priina. Perhaps when you have controlled that which struggles to rise within you, you can return to Drevvin.”
    She swallowed. “Has anyone else ever returned here?”
    He mimicked her mother’s motion of stroking her hair. “No one else has ever survived a Lyran attack. You are a first.”
    Priina snapped the cuff holding her right arm down and looked at the blood-dotted bandages. “I really hope that I am the last.” Two days later, her mother kissed her hand as she was transported into the shuttle that would take her to the transport. “It’s all right, Mom. I will be fine. I will write and message as often as I am able.”
    Her mother was sobbing, and the kindly physician from the hospital put his arm around her shoulders. Priina watched in shock as he moved with the ease of long experience touching Reeda. He met her gaze, and she recognized her own dark eyes in his face.
    He spoke softly. “I will make sure she is taken care of, Priina. Be well and keep in touch.”
    “Why didn’t you…”
    He patted her fingers. “Tradition, Priina. We are all slaves to the society that our ancestors carved out.”
    She fought the tears in her eyes as she was carried into the shuttle and strapped into place for take off. The medical attendant sedated her, and as the shuttle rumbled to life, Priina was lost to darkness.

Chapter Two
    I t had been six years since Priina