Frankie inched forward and smiled when she saw her daggers sitting on top of her neatly folded anidupar. Tracing one finger over the edge of the blade, her smile widened. Kaede left their bed, but he’d clearly been thinking about her. The small gesture lifted her mood so much that she sang an old ‘80s ballad as she pulled on her clothing.
“That is beautiful, agishi.”
Startled, she dropped the boot that she’d begun to pull on. She looked up and saw Kaede standing in the doorway. He held a tray in his hands carrying two cups, various fruits, and something that appeared to be a thick flatbread.
As mortified as she was to be caught singing offkey, she couldn’t help the silly smile that spread over her face at the compliment as she pulled on her boot.
“I assure you: Cyndi Lauper did a far better job with it.” She laughed and stood to greet him.
As she approached, Kaede set the tray down on a table so he could pull her into his arms, his tail curling around her thigh. Frankie snuggled into his chest contently.
“Have you met with the elders yet?”
“Not yet. Soon. I wanted to eat with my mate first, then I will go join Gorul. If everything goes well, we should be leaving soon. I understand that you may wish to spend some time with your sister until then.”
Kaede sat in a chair and pulled her into his lap. Frankie grabbed a piece of fruit and popped it into his mouth before pressing a light kiss to his lips.
“Yes, I’d love that. Do you think you’re going to have any trouble swaying them?”
He tore some of the grainy bread apart and slid it between her lips. A slight nutty flavor like acorn bread hit her tongue. Although the texture was coarser than she liked, the flavor appealed to her.
“I am confident that the elders will agree,” Kaede assured her. “The isolation of the tribes from the dome-cities has gone unchecked for too long, and they are only just now realizing how much the dome-cities affect the entire planet. War descending on Agraadax would have far-reaching consequences for everyone.”
Kaede nuzzled her neck then, making Frankie forget the response that had been formulating. Leaning into his chest, she resolved to enjoy their morning meal. They would have plenty of time to talk of such things after the elders reached their decision. It did little good to worry about it until then, though Frankie agreed with him entirely. Right now, she was just enjoying being in his arms too much to be able to voice anything more on the subject.
Kaede seemed to feel the same because they spent the rest of their meal whispering of things that lovers do, eating and trading small intimate touches. The morning meal was done all too quick and there was a hesitant tap to the wall beside their entrance.
“You guys decent in there or do I need to give you another twenty minutes?” Alisha called in.
Giving Kaede one last peck on the lips, Frankie untangled herself from his lap and went over to the privacy curtain, pulling it open. Alisha stood on the other side wearing a smug smile on her face. She stepped back to allow Kaede room to pass. He nodded respectfully to Alisha before leaning forward to place a chaste kiss on Frankie’s brow.
“I will go to Gorul now. Enjoy your day, agishi.”
She offered him a smile in return and watched him walk away. His tail swayed behind him as he bounded easily over the rope bridge. When she faced Alisha, her sister was giving her a wide, knowing smile.
“Hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”
“No, we were just finishing breakfast,” Frankie said, offering nothing further as to what exactly they’d been doing aside from sharing a meal. Alisha merely chuckled and waved for her to follow as she turned to head toward another bridge.
Dropping the privacy curtain so that it flapped closed behind her, Frankie hurried to catch up with her sister. Looping arms, they walked through the village, her twin pointing out various tasks which males and females were tending to as they passed.
“You really like it here, don’t you?” Frankie asked in surprise.
Her memories of her sister were that of a shopaholic who rushed about with her attention focused on her cellphone more often than not as she went about her day. She’d gotten into some minor trouble with her credit cards and after receiving help from their parents to pay back her debts, she’d signed up for the study program as an attempt to get her life moving in a positive direction again. The idea that her city-loving sister was content in a village in the swamp was hard to reconcile with the woman she’d known her sister to be.
Alisha chuckled.
“I know. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? I’m not going to lie—I hated it at first. No one pushed us to do anything, but you kind of felt that expectation in the air that sooner or later you’d get your shit together and start pulling your weight. The heat and the bugs were the worst, not to mention not having plumbing. We were provided a fruit that we could eat that grows around the village that keeps the bugs away but everything else, I guess, after a while I just got used to it.”
Frankie’s lips twitched.
“Fruit, huh? I got licked twice a day by Kaede,” she groused cheerfully.
Alisha giggled.
“I bet that was a stimulating experience for both of you.”
“You could say that,” Frankie replied dryly. “So you’re trying to tell me that you no longer miss the lack of plumbing?”
“Please! I really want to introduce plumbing, refrigeration, and air conditioning, but the pace has grown on me. Life out here is simple, and I never thought that would appeal to me, but for some reason it does. It is peaceful and I guess after everything I need that now.”
“Are you sure that this is what you want, though? To not return to Earth?”
Alisha shrugged.
“Even if Gorul were able to leave all his responsibilities, I don’t think he would be accepted on Earth, nor would he be comfortable off Agraadax in general. This swamp is all he’s ever known. For me, being with him is the most important thing. That and being with my babies if Kaede can help me find them. Family is important, Frankie, and while I miss Mom and Dad and everyone else, I need to be here with the family I have on Agraadax.”
“I get it,” Frankie replied as she squeezed her sister’s arm affectionately.
“What about you?” Alisha asked softly.
“I don’t know,” Frankie admitted. “Kaede and I haven’t really talked about what comes next after we liberate Aminae. There’s going to be a lot that needs to be done even after we help the women and Arobi kept under their control. I really don’t think he can leave. Physically, yes, but I don’t think he would let himself. He feels a lot of responsibility toward the people. As for me, my commission is almost up, but all I had been thinking about was finding you and going home... but it doesn’t really feel like home anymore, ya know?”
Alisha nodded her head.
“Yeah, I know. There’s no going back, not really. I’ll never be that person I was before I went into space, and neither will you. The old adage is true, I guess. Your home is where your heart is... or your nose,” she laughed.
Frankie snorted.
“Your mate smells like something from home too?”
“Oh, yes, like Grandma Cecile’s kitchen around the holidays and the spiced cookies she made. I love being curled up next to him and just breathing that wonderful smell in. I’ve missed it ever since she passed, and mom never could get that recipe right. Remember how much she’d curse whenever she messed up a batch?”
They laughed together with the shared memory.
“I hope you decide to stay, Frankie,” Alisha whispered with a squeeze of her arm, as if afraid to say it aloud. “I miss you. Losing everyone else has been hard, but nothing like not having you around.”
Frankie blinked back tears and nodded, her throat clogged with emotion. She’d felt that way every day since Alisha left. The news that she’d been sold into slavery at a laboratory had left her stricken.
Alisha nudged her playfully, bumping her hip against her
s as they used to do when they were children.
“In any case, you should definitely stick with Kaede. He’s a good guy. I would be seriously concerned for anyone trying to take you away from him. They might escape only reasonably maimed. You know, until you get pissed and murder him in his sleep. We both know how your temper is. Then I’ll have to find a shovel and help you bury him somewhere in the swamp. I know you watched all those horror movies for something... completely deadened you to all kinds of gruesome things.”
Frankie burst out laughing and hip-checked her sister back.
“You are such a brat.”
“I love you too,” Alisha quipped.
Chapter 28
Kaede hated to leave Frahnkee. He wanted to spend more time with his mate, enjoying the pleasure of her touch, perhaps sink into her welcoming heat again. It went against the duties that had been ingrained in him over revolutions to selflessly push aside his own desires, but when it came to Frahnkee he found it impossible. He’d felt no shame at covertly attempting to gather fruits and food from the communal table.
Just a few more hours, he’d told himself, and then he’d seek out Gorul.
He’d been dismayed when the noswal waved him over within minutes of stepping onto the main platform. With a promise to join the male shortly, he’d gone back to his hut with food for his mate without attracting any more attention.
It was perhaps fortunate that Frahnkee’s sister had interrupted when she did. Kaede had been close to dismissing Gorul completely from his mind and refocusing on the best method to maneuver his mate back into bed. Although they’d mated many times to satisfy lust, or under the compulsion of ormar, last night had been the first time that they’d truly mated heart and body. He was eager to repeat the powerful experience. Especially with his warm mate draped over his lap.
It was with his cock aching that he left the females to their own company and made his way to Gorul’s hut in the center of the village.
The moment he stepped into the hut, he knew he was the last one to arrive. The elders looked up at him from where they sat, a few wearing disapproving frowns but more than one elder with a smile. The eldest among them nodded to him, his green skin nearly gray with age and his braids white where they hung around his shoulders. He gave Kaede a sly grin as he beckoned him inside.
“You must be the bright hive dweller we have heard about.”
“I am,” Kaede acknowledged, his eyes flicking to Gorul who sat contentedly nearby smoking minskit, the sweet smell filling the room. Gorul gestured for him to be seated at his side, and Kaede complied as the noswal introduced the elders in the room.
Elder Tirik chuckled, his near colorless yellow eyes crinkling.
“It is good of you to join us so soon after your mating hunt last night. It is rare for the village to experience such an intense shadow dance between male and female. Even the fruit of the hunt was easily witnessed by any within the boundaries of the village who’d be able to hear the pleasures of your joining rising in the dark. I didn’t believe you would be out of bed at all this day,” he mused with a wicked smile.
Gorul puffed on his root and chuffed in exasperation.
“I told you he would be, did I not?”
Tirik shrugged and sat back complacently as he eyed Kaede.
Kaede returned his stare, uncertain of what to think of the elderly male. Clearly, he was esteemed, and his opinion highly sought to be on the village’s council of elders, but Kaede had never heard anything resembling such speech from the elders he knew among the priests. Part of him wondered if the male was testing him. That had been common enough among some of the priests to test one’s commitment to their ways. Not wishing to seem incapable in any fashion, Kaede bowed his head respectfully.
“I assure you, Elder Tirik, that my priorities are with what is needed by all the people of Agraadax over my selfish desires.”
The elder snorted and laughed, making Kaede startle in confusion.
“Then you are a fool. The male who puts his family first is one who puts his people first. The compassion and support he shows toward his mate are received by all by extension. How is one able to show such feeling toward their community if they are incapable of honoring their mate as they should? I trust that your words were spoken out of some misplaced sense of duty and not truthful,” the elder hedged, his eyes narrowing.
Kaede swallowed his embarrassment and inclined his head again.
“Yes, elder. You perceive the matter accurately.”
Several elders seated around him laughed. There was nothing biting or scornful in their laughter. They laughed in the manner that his father once had when he’d foolishly attempted something beyond his ability in order to impress his sire as a hatchling. He bowed his head before them, his own lips twitching in amusement at just how different this was from all he’d known in Aminae.
An aged female, one of three in the group, frowned sourly.
“That is Gresmel,” Gorul leaned to whisper as he gestured with his facial apex spine in her direction. “Don’t mind her. She is a bent spear.”
“Bent spear?” Kaede whispered back in confusion.
“Yes, sharp and dangerous, but doesn’t get anywhere fast.”
Kaede raised his brows at the disrespectful description but judging by the expression on her face, he didn’t imagine it was far off the mark.
“Gorul, perhaps it is time to get this meeting in order,” Gresmel snapped.
“Certainly, Mother. Forgive me,” Gorul rumbled, though Kaede didn’t miss the twinkle in his eye, and neither did his mother because her expression softened at his playful smile. Pushing her beaded braids over her shoulder she sat with an expectant dignity as she waited for the noswal to address their presence.
“As you know, Kaede has come to us from the bright hives. He journeyed far, though going the long and difficult route,” he chuckled, “but still admirable for one who has never been among the village in the hidden heart of the Aminfa swamp.”
Gorul sighed wearily and his easy smile dropped, and his expression turned solemn. “There is little amusement in the news that Kaede brings us. It concerns us all.”
“Speak plainly of this news,” Tiril rasped as he leaned on a brightly painted walking stick, putting all of his attention on Kaede with a piercing clarity in his gaze.
“While the swamps and their children have remained untouched in the many revolutions since you parted from the people of the cities, our world has changed among the generations. Great advancements, but the upper raniks who control the people with absolute authority have perpetuated harm against our own and others.”
A disconcerted murmur rose from the elders. It was not easy for them to hear that their kin had fallen so far, any more than it was for Kaede to speak of it.
“There are many among the people who suffer without any care of our leaders. Aminae is a city of pain and decay beneath a layer of false beauty. And the royal house has compounded their crimes by enslaving other species. Until now, the Imperial House managed to keep most of the illegal activities perpetrated on our planet away from the eyes of the Intergalactic Authority, those who oversee the planets among our stars to ensure that the laws are being followed. It wasn’t until a particularly messy affair involving a human female stolen and used for experimentation that brought their scrutiny to our door.”
“If this is the case, and these warriors of other planets have arrived to settle the matter, then what do you need from us?” Tiril asked, his expression grave.
“Agraadax risks war on a level that could bring ruin to our planet and decimate our people. War hurts everyone. I do not doubt that at some point it could be felt even as far out as the Aminfa and other great villages in the numerous swamps of our planet. We have a chance, however, to avert it. The offworlders who have come were vastly outnumbered due to incorrect information that they had about our warriors. They will send more, and if they do...”
A loud disturbance sounded outside, and Kaede stopp
ed his eyes snapping in the direction of a familiar voice embroiled in an argument. The cloth covering the entrance was abruptly pushed aside and a very angry Emagul stormed in with an Agraak guard trailing after him.
The guard bowed to the council and noswal.
“My apologies. This male insisted on entering and couldn’t be persuaded otherwise.”
The bruise starting to puff up on the guard’s jaw demonstrated exactly how ineffectual he’d been in restraining the determined Itashvanda. Emagul ignored the male trailing after them and presented himself before the council, bowing respectfully before them.
“My sincerest regrets for disturbing you, but I needed to speak to Kaede and the noswal.”
“Speak freely,” Gorul rumbled as he signaled for the guard to depart. A look of relief passed over the guard’s face as he turned and hobbled out. Apparently, Emagul got in more than one good blow against him.
Emagul’s eyes met his, beseeching.
“Kaede, I flew out above the swamp some distance from the village and was able to establish communication with Aminae. The situation has turned dire. The Imperial House, unsuccessful in getting the Council to bargain for their warriors and abandon all interests in Agraadax, are preparing to publicly execute all Fleet personnel as a warning against ‘the invaders.’ They will be effectively declaring war against the Intergalactic Union and declaring a state of emergency to conscript all males of fighting age into the honor block.”
Kaede froze, the worst of what he feared being realized.
“I do not understand. What is this honor block?” Gresmel queried, her brow drawn low with concern.
Kaede shook his head, wishing that he could deny such a terrible thing could exist.
Heart of the Agraak Page 20
