Expecting The Unexpected

Chapter 4

Hron stopped speaking for a moment, then said, “And we are to once again able to birth chickpeas, and as a result our clutch will grow, bringing strength to all of us. What was amazing

is Petree understood he had a part to play to help the Nakaka and he took it. Just as your father knew his sacrifice. It’s part of the gift from our gods... with gifts comes sacrifice. That means there will be sacrifices. Topaz was born with a gift. Just who do you think gave him this gift?

The gods gave Topaz his gift, and it wasn’t given to him for others to hide it away, because whether he uses that gift or not, there will still be a sacrifice.”

“He has already sacrificed, damn it!” Turquoise snarled. “How would you feel to never be able to touch another? Never be able to truly be around others in fear of someone brushing up against you by accident, or wanting a hug, or to shake your hand. That touch will bring on a vision of that person, and the pain... the pain he...”

“Torque.” Emerald warned.

Throg looked at the brothers in interest. “Pain?”

Emerald sighed, “He takes on the pain and emotion of others. If what he sees is... traumatic, Topaz will go through that trauma as if it were his own. He will absorb the pain and suffering and then will be incapacitated until the feelings fade.”

“It can take weeks, if not months, for that to happen,” Turquoise snapped.

Hron snapped right back, “And I’m sorry for that, but damn it, there is a reason for his gifts, and those gifts to be brought here were designed by the gods themselves. Topaz knows this and has accepted it. You need to do the same and fast.”

“It’s too much to ask of him!” Turquoise hissed.

Never taking his eyes off the gem brother, snapping and snarling, Hron asked. “If my Viata is willing to sacrifice so much for the Nakaka, then tell me, Zircon, why is it too much to ask Topaz to do the same?”

“We just wanted him to be able to live his life without everyone wanting answers from him.

Father was adamant that we not allow Topaz’s gifts to be known to the people here. We honored his request.” Zircon stated.

Throg knew he should remain quiet, but something about Zircon’s statement had him thinking.

Throg had known the gem’s father well. They had talked many times about his gift, and what it meant to him to have the gods bless him, and trust him with such a gift. It didn’t make sense that the man would want to hide Topaz away from the world, and not use that gift to help their people. “Zircon, can you remember your father’s exact wish? What I’m asking you is what he said exactly.”

Zircon thought for a moment, then said, “Topaz is an Oracle. There are those here that if they know they will take him from us, and then use him for the remainder of his life to do their bidding. Topaz will never know peace. We must protect him from this, no matter the cost, or he will be lost to us forever.”

“So, he wasn’t telling you not to tell us, just those in this clutch house?” Throg asked.

Zircon looked at his brothers then looked back at Throg, “We never thought about that. We mainly focused on the fact, he would be used for his entire life, and he would be lost to us forever.”

Throg looked at Hron, “I think their father might have known what was coming?”

Hron turned to his fathers, rolling his eyes. “What do you think?”

“I think not only did he know what was coming, but who was bringing it. For him to keep his family from the rest of the Nakaka, I’m wondering if there is something bigger going on here that we’re missing.” Stok stated.

“Why would Topaz and Jude not have met Tamale?” Hron mused to himself, then looked at the gem brothers, “Why did your father not want your brothers to meet Tamale?”

Shaking their heads, Zircon answered, “We don’t know. Any time Topaz and Jade wanted to go into the inner city, father made us go with them. When Jade wanted to open Fruitlisious, father wasn’t happy, but he allowed it if one of us was with him at all times to watch out for any higher ranking Nakaka. If one were to come around, we were to have Jade go in the back and we would serve them. It wasn’t difficult, Caliph Tamale wasn’t much of a juice man.”

“None of this makes any sense at all.” Hron said in confusion.

Throg shook his head, saying, “It sounds as if their father didn’t trust Tamale at all, but from what your mate says, Tamale was an honorable Nakaka.”

Hron sighed, “Well, it seems to me that this situation is far more complicated than we thought.

Gods, what if Tamale was in on whatever these bastards planned?”

Shaking his head, Throg replied, “Your mate will be devastated.”

Nodding Hron replied, “I know. The question I have is, if he was in on whatever is going on, then why is he and his inner circle all dead?”

Throg snorted, “More to the point, who took them out of the equation?”

“I have a feeling that things are going to get really ugly really fast. We must up our security. It is our job to keep our clutch safe and I’ll be damned if I’ll just sit back chasing my ass with these flash drives out there,” Hron stated firmly.