by Viola Grace
He kissed her, and his fingers tore the shoulder of her gown. Another set of hands pulled her hair down, and fingers scratched the top of her breasts. She felt like she had been caught in a stinging whirlwind when they were done with her.
The speaker lifted her hand to his lips. “Apologies, but since she couldn’t watch it, she had to imagine it.”
Elurra nodded, held her gown up on her left-hand side, and she walked with them back to the throne room.
Her aunt started laughing the moment that she walked into view. “Well, it seems that they are not as sedate as they appear. Poor mouse. Well, collect the payment for the use of you.”
Elurra went to the wide bowl that was used for accepting the gems and minerals. She picked it up and carried it to kneel in front of the miners, head down. The dress had drooped, exposing her breast and the scratches. The miners formed a line, and each of them spilled a pouch full of exotic gems in front of her. One by one, they filled the bowl. She knelt with her head down as they lined up.
They bowed to the queen, requested their leave, and left. The speaker paused at the entrance and said, “We will be delighted to return for the wedding. We have been looking forward to it.”
The queen shrieked, “What wedding?”
“The princess’s groom has completed his work of war. He is returning for her and for all he was promised.”
The miners left, chuckling audibly as they walked away.
Elurra went to take the gemstones to the workshop where they would be scanned for capacity.
“Elurra, please return when you have finished with the tribute.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Elurra braced for what was coming. It wouldn’t be pleasant.
“So, Elurra, you have been holding out on me.” The queen was looking into her display screen, and she had a dangerous smile on her lips.
Elurra looked around the throne room and the watching nobles. “How, Your Highness?”
“You have a fiancé.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Why didn’t I know about this?” She growled.
“My father didn’t tell you, Your Highness. It was his contract.” She kept her voice calm.
Vietta put her fingers under Elurra’s jaw and lifted her head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t speak to me when you were married to my father, and after he died, I felt that I would be dead before the contract came into play.”
“What is in the contract?”
“I do not know, Your Highness, but I do know where a copy is.”
The queen grabbed a fistful of her hair. “Where is it?”
Elurra looked at her aunt and stepmother. “It is in my father’s office. Pride of place, on his desk.”
Vietta went white. Burning the king’s contracts and treaties had been her first step to gaining control of the local nobility.
“Who was he?”
Elurra smiled. “Alric Kharmin, of the sandmen.”
She had never seen her aunt terrified, but even in a complete panic, she was beautiful. It was a cold beauty, but she could see why her father had agreed to take her as wife.
The queen got up and was leaving the room when she paused. “Twenty strokes of the cane. Make sure you get a good angle for the lenses.”
Elurra sighed and went to the post. Her aunt’s lover picked up the cane and swung it hard. “One.”
The pain burned, but Elurra remembered the blood she had gotten earlier and wrapped herself in the knowledge of the Dhark.
* * * *
Vietta was standing in the king’s study, sifting through ash. “Where is it!”
Harmon walked up and gave her the blooded stick. “There you are. Twenty strokes.”
Vietta shoved the cane back to him. “I don’t want this. I want to know how long I have before that army is at my door.”
“How do you know it’s an army?” Harmon smiled gently. He always tried to be gentle with her.
“Because it is the sandmen. My asshole husband knew. He knew, and he kept this from me!” She shrieked and whirled around. “I should have killed him slower.”
Harmon remained calm. “Perhaps you should relax and take a break. Take some time away.”
“What? They could be here any day. I don’t know what the contract said. What if they demand something that I don’t have ready?”
She paced back and forth. Finally, she smiled slowly. “Well, if she has run away, that will void the contract, won’t it?”
“Yes. If that was the criteria for the contract, yes.”
“Right. Yes, it is a marriage contract, so no bride, no sandmen.”
Harmon saw the smile on his lover’s lips, and he felt a chill in his guts. “What are you thinking?”
“I am thinking that after she heals from today’s discipline, she needs a little time away to contemplate her future. Only I would like you to not let her return. I want you to cut off her head and pull out her heart.” She smiled sweetly and stroked his chest. “Will you do that for me?”
“Of course, my queen. I will do it in five days. She usually heals quickly, though it has been slowing down lately.” Harmon frowned.
Vietta chuckled. “She has been an excellent example for the nobles to watch, but if she is about to become a liability, it is best that she leave and simply disappear. I don’t need her here when the sandmen show up.”
“You think they will come? It was just a casual mention from the miners.”
Vietta looked at him with eyes like steel. “They don’t lie. They never lie. If they say the sandmen are coming, they are coming.”
Harmon bowed. “I will remove her as soon as she is healed.”
Vietta hissed. “Don’t wait. Take her away tomorrow. If she can sit a horse, she can be taken deep enough into the woods and slaughtered. Just bring back the horse and her heart.”
“What about her head?”
“Let the birds peck out those bright blue orbs.”
Harmon nodded and went to arrange the horses for the following day. As much as he enjoyed beating Elurra, he was unsure about his enthusiasm for her murder. He had overnight to get into the spirit of the thing.
Chapter Three
Elurra held onto the reins, and she winced as the healing tissue on her back tugged with every move. She was wearing boots, a dress, and a light cloak. She really needed more layers.
“Why are you taking me to the temple, Duke Harmon?”
“The queen has decided that you need a change of scenery. Those miners must have been very taxing for you.”
She snorted. “You have no idea.”
They rode on for a few more minutes, and she asked, “Do you ever question her orders to hurt me?”
“She is my queen. I must follow her orders, but I do admit I have enjoyed your sounds of pain.”
Elurra shivered. He was talking in the past tense. Something was going to happen to her.
They had been riding for an hour when he paused near a meadow. “We are taking a break. Dismount, and I will get some firewood.”
Elurra nodded and got off her horse. The blade at her neck was not unexpected. “What is going on, Duke Harmon?”
“She wants you dead before he gets here. If you are dead, the contract will be null and void. You just have to be dead.” He pressed back on her neck, and two days earlier, he wouldn’t have had a fight on his hands. It was not two days earlier.
She gripped his wrist and broke it, turned, and attached herself to his neck. She pulled on his blood until his knees buckled then stopped feeding, walked away, and vomited up the blood she had just consumed. She needed him weak for what came next.
“Duke Harmon, I want you to hear my words and listen closely.” She whispered to him what she needed him to do. He had to find a deer, kill it, and return the heart to the queen. As he killed it, he would see her face, and that would help him bring the truth to the queen.
She healed him and had him sit in place for an hour while she and her horse took off.
Elurra grunted as the pain of her back burned. She was heading away from the temple and country house. She needed to get as far away as possible.
When she was streaking through another meadow, her horse stopped and stamped. It reared up and pawed the air, hooves flashing.
It slammed back to all four feet and sidled with its ears back. It was seeing something that she didn’t.
Elurra got the horse under control and looked around. There was a meadow with the green grasses of spring, but there were several patches that had been mashed flat. “What the hell is that?”
Her horse bucked, and she fell, sitting up as the beast took off. Groaning, she smelled her own blood as she got back to her feet. Her back had torn open again.
She stared at the marks and moved toward them, tasting metal in the air a moment before a seam opened up in the sunlight-dappled meadow. “Princess, we are here to give you escort to safety.”
The Dhark had come for her. She smiled. “Do you have something to eat and a place for me to rest?”
The speaker inclined his head. “We can arrange something.”
She looked around. “So, how do I get up there?”
Inches in front of her, a grey metallic ship appeared. The ladder was a few feet to her right. She climbed the ladder, feeling blood seep down her back. She was going to have to soak her dress.
Hands helped her into the ship, and as soon as she was inside, the hatch was closed, and they were moving.
The Dhark helped her to a seat and strapped her in. They moved as one, but now that she had tasted their blood, she understood, they were one. One mind with seven bodies. Only one needed to speak because only one needed to speak.
The pressure on her body was extreme until they were suddenly free of it. She chuckled and swayed in her seat, the scent of her own blood filled her nostrils.
She looked to the nearest man and asked, “Can you help me?”
He frowned, and she unclasped the dark cloak and turned her back to him. The speaker was at her side in a moment, and they were helping her to the small medical bed that folded down.
“What happened?”
“I had to move before the caning marks healed. The activities of the day have torn them open.”
The speaker murmured, “We thought she would spare you.”
“She was upset about the engagement.”
Elurra felt someone cutting the dress down her spine. The air on the wounds eased the throbbing heat, and the member of the Dhark that was working on her moved with light competence that soon had a numbing agent on her back so he could properly clean it.
The speaker huffed. “She is more of a psychotic bitch than we had anticipated. Is that why you were out?”
“Yes, she sent me off with her lover so that he could kill me and bring back my heart to make sure I couldn’t recover.”
“What did you do?”
She wrinkled her nose. “He pulled a knife on me, so I broke his wrist, and then, I drained most of his blood. I didn’t drink it, it was just going to be more icky memories in me, so after he was down, I puked it up. I programmed him with what my aunt wanted and told him how to present it then I left him stunned for an hour while I got away. I ended up here, but my horse is gone.”
He chuckled. “If your horse was here, it would be an impressive beast indeed. We are heading for the transport to our residence. You will be safe there.”
She smiled. She could feel tugging on her back, but the anaesthetic was holding. “For how long?”
He smiled. “Until you are ready. We have been watching you since your father’s death. You are not what you should be, but that can still be done. Are you willing to work for yourself, for your own survival?”
She nodded. “I will work with all the strength I have. If this is my chance, I will take it.”
“That is the princess I remember. We will do all we can to keep your strength up. Our mates will help as well.”
She blinked. “Mates?”
“Of course. Every grouping has the right to woo the mates of their choosing.” He grinned. “Our grouping has chosen exceedingly well.”
She blushed. “And yet...”
He waved that off. “A necessary fiction to keep from a greater intrusion.”
She nodded. “Well, it did work, sort of.”
“The parting comment was the shot over her bow. It wasn’t until we spoke to some locals that her lack of understanding was made perfectly clear. She is about to get a very nasty shock.”
The sound of a soft spray broke her focus. “Artificial skin?”
“Yes. I am surprised you have so much damage. Your kind normally heals quickly.”
Elurra snorted. “You can see me. Truly see me. I have been starved of what I needed for years. My mind is numb, and my body is slow. I hate the feeble thing that I have become.”
“Didn’t your servants try and feed you?”
“They tried. Anyone found donating blood to me died. They were murdered in the main hall, their blood spilling on the tiles. Vietta said if they wanted to waste it, she would as well.” She shuddered. “I kept my thirst to myself, and she counted it a victory. I lived another day.”
“That is horrible.”
The man working on her touched her shoulder. She caught the indication that she was done.
“You are in one piece. We have a few hours before we arrive, so if you are comfortable, sleep. No one here will harm you.”
She smiled slightly. “I will try.”
It was difficult to sleep when she was gnawingly hungry, but she closed her eyes and told her body that she was safe and comfortable. The cessation of fear let her doze, but she never was able to rest. She hadn’t rested properly in years.
She was dozing when one of them brought her cloak and wrapped it around her. He stroked her cheek softly, and when she lifted her head, the smile was there, glowing in the dimness of his hood.
She sat up carefully and noticed that the ship was no longer moving. They must have arrived at their destination.
The men were moving around and picking up items that she hadn’t seen before, stashed in cubbyholes and compartments. They seemed excited to be collecting the items, and she asked the question, “What is all that?”
The speaker answered. “Gifts for our mates and children.”
“Oh. Right.” She was slightly confused, but when they ushered her out of the ship and saw the collection, she began to understand.
Three lovely women—two of whom were visibly pregnant—waited with half a dozen young men and boys from barely adults to a toddler.
The Dhark around her walked forward with speed to their family. Elurra’s eyes widened more when she saw each of the women greet each of the men in turn. There weren’t couples, this was a family group.
The boys waited to one side, midnight grey skin, white hair, and red eyes glowed just like their fathers’.
Elurra looked up, and she gasped at the huge dome over her head and the vast array of asteroids beyond. She was in the middle of the largest mineral deposit in the galaxy.
A feminine laugh caught her attention, and she turned. “You must be Princess Elurra. I am Dwell, the other women are Heth and Miki.”
The woman had a cascade of blood-red curls that reached her waist. Her simple dress of fabric fastened at the neck and cinched at the waist was a flattering shade of emerald green. Her teeth were familiar.
Elurra smiled. “I like your teeth.”
“Thank you, princess.”
“Call me, Elurra.”
Dwell chuckled. “No, we will stick with princess. My son is nearly a man, and his brain can turn to mush with the words of a pretty girl. Formalities will help you during your stay.”
“Your son?”
“He’s twenty. The Dhark age slower than we do, but maturity is pretty much the same. My f
irst son, Teth, is the eldest. Then comes Mori, Twen, Echk, Lian, and Malto. Teth, Lian, and Malto are mine.”
Elurra looked around. “How long have you been here?”
Dwell laughed. “Thirty years. All of us ladies arrived together. Would you like a tour of your quarters?”
“Please.” After greeting their children and giving them gifts, the children had scattered, and the greetings between the adults had become intense. “Unless you want to join in. I don’t want to distract you from the homecoming.”
Dwell shivered, and then, her expression cleared. “Don’t worry about it. I am feeling it all. The ladies are bound as the men are. Emotionally, it is one big roller coaster. Still, in the beginning, we agreed that when two women were pregnant, the third wouldn’t be, just for stability.”
“Sensible.”
“I am glad you think so. Not many women would consider this as a normal grouping.”
“I bite people for food. I am in no place to judge.”
Dwell blinked and grinned. “Of course. Come with me. You must be starving.”
“Um. I don’t wish to drink from you.”
Dwell giggled. “The boys buy us treats from exotic worlds when they deliver the gemstones. For me, they pick up bloods from alien species. I get most of my blood from them, so this is just a treat. I am guessing that you don’t want to drink from our mates?”
Elurra blushed. “That is not... ideal.”
Dwell cackled. “There is definitely a pheromone around them. We also felt the overspill of their time with you. You have a lot of psychic range.”
Elurra stopped and hung her head, mortified. “I am sorry.”
Dwell took her hand. “It is fine, princess. They asked our permission if that was the only way to feed you. We were fine with it.”
Elurra chuckled. “I am still not fine with it. It felt hollow.”
“Don’t worry. We just have to wait for the sandmen to make their move. That’s why you are here. They want that world, and you are the gateway.”
Elurra nodded. “Right. Of course. I had forgotten my usefulness for a moment.”
