by Rena Marks
Drakar grins. “I did that for a reason. With the second party’s return home, we will send a request for you to return because you missed the very important tour.”
More time with Atan and Diont? My smile is wide. “Thank you, Drakar.”
Atan and Diont are waiting in the hall when I leave the room. I squeal, blasting myself forward. Diont catches me and I wrap my legs around his waist, turn slightly and hug Atan into the embrace.
“You may have to drop me off, but you’ll bring another party back. And when that party is ready to return home, Drakar will request my return on the round trip.”
Atan smiles. “Yes. He told us of the plan.”
I hold them tight. “I’m so glad,” I whisper.
“Let us go pack,” Diont says.
I know they’re fighting back the urge to tell me to stay. They don’t want me to be put in that awkward position. This is a new relationship, and it should be all sunshine and roses. They just don’t know that while there’s a possibility I could have one male, in my world that’s the only choice. There’s no way I could have both of them. And there’s no way I could choose between them.
But when I return, we can pretend all of that falls away. It can be the three of us again, the way it is meant to be. The balance of Diont’s playfulness, Atan’s brooding heat, and my never-ending curiosity that ties us all together.
Chapter Four
When we’re close to the tree that hides the entrance to the opening of my underground caverns, I pull my males close.
The males. My time with them is up, and I have to stop acting possessive. I’ve warned them that this relationship is to be kept light once we are with my tribe. That they can stay with me as they are familiar with me and I will translate for them, but we are not to act as if we are intimate. If anyone sees intimacy between us, they will covet what I have. And they will fight for the right to own both males. It is impossible to explain that my people believe males are possessions unless one is present to witness the abhorrent treatment.
“That is our tree,” I tell them. “Inside the opening, there are massive roots. The largest roots you must crawl under. It is a tunnel, leading you to where you should be. Once you drop through the tunnel, it is light. Our glow rocks are much more concentrated than yours. Perhaps they feed off each other? In any case, it is as bright inside as the day is outside—it’s just a different kind of light. A light without warmth? You’ll see what I mean.”
“How many people are in your village?”
“Tribe. We call ours a tribe. There are around three dozen, at least. They all look like me. Striped. With tails for swimming. You two will be the oddity.” I take a deep breath. “Another oddity will be the fact that you are both males. We have a small number of males.”
“How many?”
“Nine? Ten? I believe the baby that Valencia saved, Itikan, is still alive. He was the last male born.”
“That’s it?” Atan asks.
“Yes. That’s why…it would never be acceptable for me to bring two males home…as my own.” This is the conversation I’ve been hinting at yet avoiding.
“So do you mean you’ll claim one of us then?” Atan’s voice is hard. “Choose?”
I have thought about this a lot, and that was one scenario. “No. I cannot.” I take a big breath and then continue. “It wouldn’t be fair to the other. And, it will make you both fair game. It will be difficult enough to beat our women off the two of you.”
“I don’t like pretending we don’t care for you.”
My heart feels like it could burst into flames. I’ve never loved. I’ve cared for males. I’ve been driven by hormones like the next woman. But this…this feeling, it’s indescribable.
“I’m sorry.” I turn to him and cup his jaw. His lips press a kiss into my palm.
“If I could find a way…I would.” I assure him. “Please, please give me time. I know I don’t have the right to request it…”
Diont squeezes my hand.
“You have the right to ask anything of me. Whatever you wish, I shall provide.”
“All I ask is time. Time with which to figure out a way in which I can divide my time between my tribe and your village.”
He nods his head, but I am full of doubt. I can’t see why either male would be satisfied with sharing a part-time mate when there are two dozen gorgeous women to choose from. Because one thing that is sure about my tribe is the beauty of the women. And why should we not be so beautiful as to glow? We have slaves to cater to us. To bring us food, to massage our skin, to give us orgasms when we command.
My heart sinks because I know how tempted they will be.
We enter into the hidden door of the tree and inside the musty dank innards, it is dark as we adjust to the dimness. As soon as our eyes adjust, it is easier to make out the hollow cavity of the tree. It is massive inside, and I show them the area where the ground sinks. It is another hidden door, of sorts. “You slide down,” I mention. “I will go first and wait on the bottom for you. The tangled roots and soil slip back over the hole.”
With that, I slide through the chute that I’ve taken many, many times. At the bottom is a cushioned area that is somewhat bouncy with springy material such as spider plants and enigra roots to cover the rock ground and walls of our caverns. I stand up and wait for the next one to come. Atan shoots down next, looking bewildered as he takes a look at the length of cavern. We wait for Diont, who pitches forward with a smile on his face.
It makes my somber mood lighter. Diont, always with a smile even in a circumstance he knows nothing about.
We pull him up by the hands. “How in the world do you get back up to leave?”
“We climb,” I grin, pointing to the vines that grow up. “It is not as much fun.”
I lead the way through the tunnels to our main cavern. My brother is the first one I see.
“Hekran.” I raise my hands to my shoulders so my arms cross over my chest, and lower my head in greeting.
“Eretar.” He does the same greeting, one of respect between royals, and then, because we are closer than most being the last of our line, we drop our arms and touch foreheads. “I was worried about you. I didn’t know how long you’d be gone or if you would return. I thought perhaps we had misunderstood the male, At’reek and his mate, Vencha. The others have been feeling unsettled, wanting to know if a new ruler should be picked, dropping sly hints that you never meant to come back. Of course, I said you would return to enable my reign.”
I smooth away the lines of stress from my brother’s forehead. “I am here now. You are still chief to my queen. I will never let them take away your rule. And look. I brought two more. They only speak human and their version of Blaedonian, which is impossible to understand. Since I now know human, I will translate. Hekran, this is Diont. And this is Atan.”
I switch languages. “Diont, Atan. My brother, King Hekran.” In their vilage, king means ruler. My brother is chief which means the ruler, me, has stepped aside for him to rule. But it is a temporary position that is only possible with my presence.
The three of them nod at each other.
“I assume you will wish to set them up in your quarters?” Hekran asks.
“Naturally.”
His voice turns urgent. “You must claim them as property. The ranks are unsettled. As soon as they see them, they will wish to take what you have brought—valuable males.”
“These people do not have the same ways as we. They do not believe in ownership and if I own them, it means I own four, since I claimed Atareek. It will be a battle to the death to keep you all. Let’s go with refusing to allow the newcomers to become property due to their different beliefs.”
My brother acknowledges with a head tilt. “I will support you in any way I can.”
More of my tribe approach, and of course, in the lead is Shen’robi with her best friend Misha. Behind them stands the male they share. Twelve more of her followers surround her, while the rest of the tr
ibe stands slightly apart.
“Eretar. I see you are back and with a whole new language. And yummy new males.” Shen’robi purrs, and next to her, Misha snickers.
“Have some respect for the others who are helping us to learn new ways,” Hekran orders. The snickers stop, but I am sure it is only a temporary reprieve. My brother has lost a lot of power in my absence, and we must work on reestablishing that.
“I want one.”
“Stand down!” Hekran barks. His voice is loud and sharp, a clear warning for Shen’robi.
“What’s going on?” Atan growls.
“The others are trying to lay claim to you even though you are not of our tribe. Even though I beat her ass last time she tried this with one of your kind.” I’m careful not to say her name, not wanting to add fuel to the fire.
“Eretar,” calls out Nesha, one of the elders. “We would like an update on the teachings of the other Blaedonians.”
I nod and then begin. “Atan and Diont are willing to take half our tribe back with them. They will implant those with the new language to better communicate and then will teach them of their crops. How they survive, what their beliefs and traditions are. They also plan to take the group to what is called a spacecraft. It is a vessel from another world like ours that had come once and stolen their king. On a return trip, it crashed back on this world, leaving the humans who had been stolen from another place stranded here on our world. They are willing to share knowledge with us so we know of the dangers beyond our skies.”
“Will we be safe with just two of them to return us?” Misha asks. “Why wouldn’t they have sent more males?”
“They are strong enough.”
“They look strong,” Misha says. Then she takes the plunge. “Their seed should mix with ours.”
The room quiets. Even the small ones are silent. I force myself to stay calm, knowing she is baiting me. Knowing she has forced my hand. These two will not leave it alone, and now I have no choice.
“It does.”
The room bursts in chatter.
“You did not!” Shen’robi snarls. “You claimed the last one that was here!”
“I did.”
One of the elders raps her staff sharply on the stone. “There will be order in the court. Shen’robi, you forget your place.”
“Last I knew, she gave up her crown,” Shen’robi says mildly. “I may speak to her as I please.”
“My veins are still filled with royalty,” I snap.
“As are mine.”
“Really? When was the last time your line ruled?”
Her eyes narrow because I’ve hit a sore spot. Truth is her claim to royal blood is just that…a claim that can no longer be proven.
“You already own two. To try and claim four is ridiculous.”
Hekran and Atareek, technically. I shrug. We all know they don’t count. Atareek is not my love interest. I did it to keep Valencia from having to fight for him. And Hekran? I own my own brother to keep him safe from the evils of those like her.
“I don’t see why Eretar gets to claim two more males,” Shen’robi says. “A total of four? When Misha and I share one slave between us? He barely has time to cater to both of our needs.”
I raise my eyebrows as haughty as the throne I was born to. “Why should I not?”
Shen’robi gasps and then whirls around to face our people. “Can you believe her selfishness? Her self-righteousness?”
“Selfishness?” It is my turn to gasp. “I gave up my crown to give our tribe a better life. I knew I could not be the leader you needed, and thankfully, there was another within the line of royalty that could.”
“What is it? What is going on?” Diont growls.
I turn toward them and translate in their language. “Remember I said males are rare in our tribe? She does not believe I should have the right to two and is arguing that I own four even though that is a technicality.”
“And she thinks our own rights and beliefs should be taken away?”
“I will ask that.”
I turn back to the tribe. “What makes you think that males from their tribe are obligated to mate with ours?”
Shen’robi widens her eyes and the glossiness makes her look crazed. “They chose to come here. They should be held accountable to the laws of our tribe.” She meets the gaze of the others seated in the tribe, as she implores them for help. A few of the elders, who don’t know any other way, nod slightly.
“They are our guests,” my brother says harshly, and the elders hold their heads still. “They are not subject to our laws.”
“Eretar changed the laws when she fought Shen’robi for the other visitor from the surface dwellers. At’reek. She won and gave him to the hoo-man visitor,” Misha says.
There is silence.
“So do they wish to stay?” Shen’robi asks slyly. “If so, I can be generous. One can be yours, and one needs to be available for the next maiden who desires a mate.”
“You are jumping ahead of yourself.” My voice is tempered, even and sure. “They are our guests for the night. When daylight chases the monsters who roam the dark, they shall return to their own home. And should we—” My voice rings loudly. “—wish to continue to learn and trade with our cousins, we should keep the ties agreeable.”
Now the elders are nodding emphatically. But it is not enough.
“A false queen, who has two males under her possession, depriving us of their seed. And now, the same queen wants two more?”
“You challenged me for the last one and lost,” I remind her.
She smiles triumphantly. “And those same rules apply here. I challenge you for the dark one. And Misha will challenge you for the light.”
Misha’s eyes widen in shock. Shen’robi knows she can never best me in a challenge. She is too soft. And Misha? She is even worse.
“Accepted,” I say calmly.
“Good. Misha, come. We will take her together.”
Together?
I see my brother’s eyebrows knit together before he realizes what they have done. “You cannot challenge her together!”
“We can, Chief Hekran,” Shen’robi says demurely. “She has already claimed two males. To claim two more, in addition, subjects her to different rules. If you would like, we will wait while the elders check the scrolls.”
Our scrolls contain our laws and ancient facts of our people, such as our purpose. We are the Keepers of the Glow Rocks.
Anbetti, another of the elders, nods her head slowly. “Shen’robi is correct. In this case, they do have the right to challenge her together. And Eretar has already accepted.”
“She accepted before she knew what she was agreeing to!” Hekran snaps.
Shen’robi studies her fingernails as if testing the sharpness. “Unfortunately, that royal blood that she’s so proud of carries more weight than a commoner. She cannot go back on her word whether it was a mistake or cowardice.”
“I will not go back on my word.” As I am the only one wearing weapons, I calmly begin to strip them. The others watch, and as smoothly as I can, I hand my various tools off to Hekran, making sure he stands to the side with Diont and Atan. I know my males have their own weapons, and should things get ugly, I’d like to know the three of them have each other’s backs.
“Eretar, what is happening?” Atan growls.
“They have challenged me for you. There was a catch, and they agreed I could have one of you. I will not choose. I would rather take them both on and keep the both of you.”
“Two against one?” Diont says, narrowing his eyes.
“Yes.” I try to wink at him to ease his fears. “Do not worry. I had the best hunters for trainers possible. While these two have been lounging about for these last cycles. They have grown soft while I have honed my skills.”
“Are you sure?” Atan’s voice is soft—but deadly.
“If not,” I say slowly. “I want you to take my brother—” I am careful not to mention his name. “—and ge
t back to your village. There is still some time before the night creatures emerge. I think you may be able to find a safe cave for the night.”
“His safety is in danger?”
“If I am killed. There is no one else to protect him from rape, and rape is a female’s right. They will string him up naked and fight over his seed.”
Their faces are identical masks of incredulous shock.
“Get yourselves safe, also,” I say. “They will want you only because you are mine. May the Goddess protect you. And I will always and forever love you.”
“You will be fine,” Atan says. “You are fit and strong. Quick and brilliant. And we’re looking forward to growing old with you. So go kick some ass.” He gathers me into his arms and kisses me soundly. In the background, I can hear the gasps of a few of my tribe.
He passes me to Diont. “I agree with Atan. You will be fine, but do not worry about us and your brother. We will take him to escape if necessary. But for now, focus on those two ugly tramps.” I meet his lips eagerly, our tongues seeking each other, and the gasps grow even louder.
But for me, it is freeing. These are my males, and I just staked my claim.
Now I need to solidify it.
I turn to face the others. My brother looks grim, and the faces of the elders’ look tense instead of passive. There is glee across the faces of the group who follow Shen’robi. And disgust strewn on the faces of the group close to my side. I am not sure if the disgust is aimed at me for selfishly claiming two or if it is at Shen’robi for tricking me into a battle with two-against-one odds.
An area is cordoned off for the fight by the slaves. Shen’robi and Misha stand together in the circle, looking cocky.
Cocky does not equal confidence. I show them confidence as I hold my head high. It does not matter that I am terrified inside. What matters is that I know I am stronger for my weeks away. I know I am more flexible for all my training with the surface people. I know I have more to lose than my life because I have just sampled the love of two wonderful males. And I am not about to lose that.
The two cowards rush me at once.
