by Alyssa Hope
‘Right, yes, a baby.’ The look on Suki’s face promised Maru a talk later. ‘Love makes babies happen, little ones, love with our beloveds.’
‘Good answer, Suki.’
Suki passed the tray to Maru, and watched in amusement as Maru sniffed suspiciously at each plate before passing it on.
‘On the human’s earth they have this thing called a hound. I think you should be one of those.’
The human raised his head. ‘Hound dog?’
‘Yes! Hound dog! After supper we can look at pictures of your planet earth, and our green planet. And I think Karo was expecting results back from Cerulea and soon we’ll know who our blue friend here is. But first we eat.’
Maru started eating and then raised his head in outrage. ‘What is this? Dasu and Suna have food like this? This is incredible! This isn’t the slop the rest of us get!’
He was joking, but only a little bit. He was pleased to see that his two perked up and took more interest in the food, but he was also genuinely surprised. The meat was a tender prime cut, the vegetables were fresh and had a rich sauce drizzled over them, and the tubers had been sliced and baked in some kind of casserole which brought out the flavor of the herbs that had been added. The arboretum was obviously productive as well as beautiful.
It also didn’t hurt his two to think that they were this treasured, that they were getting the best of everything. Then he remembered why the two cooks might care so much.
‘The two cooks are both of our people, and their third is a human who was badly abused, who we only just recently rescued from slavery. Ivan is elderly, but they adore him.’
And then he remembered that maybe he was the idiot who didn’t adore the beloveds who had been given to him, and he shut up, because there was really nothing left to say.
Suki shook his head at him in disappointment, and spoke to him privately, in a tightly shielded conversation.
‘Do these two know that you are stupid enough to think that you can shelter them by pretending not to care? That there may be a few of their torturers on the ship?’
‘No, and they don’t need to know. They’ve been through enough already.’
‘You don’t think that having some power back, some control over what happens to them, might help them?’
‘No. Enough.’
‘Not enough. Having control is very healing, believe me. You’ll regret this.’
‘I already regret this!’ Unfortunately he was practically yelling in his mind by the end of that, and his two raised their heads and stared at him. He couldn’t think of anything to say that would make it any better, and they moved away from him and over to the end of the bed, once again curling around each other protectively. The brown eyes of the human stared at him accusingly over his partner’s head.
Suki glared at Maru, and Oki came into the room to see what was upsetting Suki.
‘Him. Maru. He’s an idiot.’
‘Yes, beloved, we know that. Can you encourage these two sweet things to eat a bit more, and I’ll take Maru outside into the hall and have a little chat with him?’
As they went out the door they caught a glimpse of someone or something moving away around the corner, and Maru stiffened in outrage. Torn between wanting to follow that one and kill it for offering a threat to his sweet ones, and staying where he was and protecting them, the need to protect won.
‘It could be a coincidence that they were here’, Oki pointed out.
‘Yes, but if I kill them I’ll feel better.’
He sighed and collapsed against the wall. ‘Gods, I’m being such an idiot. Is all bonding so difficult? Is this just the morphing hormones?’
Oki shrugged. ‘I fought my bonding with Caleb for a long time, just because he is a human, but he was not in need like your two are, and Suki was always there for both of us. This isn’t all on you, you know. Or all about you.’
Maru flinched. He tried to think of words to explain how he was feeling.
‘It’s confusing, sir. They are so beautiful, so brave, and yet so totally different from what I expected. But I would die to protect them, honestly I would. It’s just the loving them that is difficult. I don’t know how to do that. My human thinks he has to protect the other one from me, which is just wrong. Although I also know it’s my fault that he thinks that.’
Oki shrugged again. ‘Maybe just try living, Maru, and letting them live, instead of trying to control everything? Maybe talk to Dasu and Suna, who simply accepted their old human and love him unconditionally. That seems to have worked for them, and him. And there is a rumor that at least one of the three is bearing already, which would be wonderful.’
‘Well, I think that maybe I do love my two, sir, and I admire their courage, but …’ He sighed and slid down the wall. ‘How could these two love someone who’s such an idiot as I seem to have become?’
Oki looked down at him and smiled. ‘That’s an interesting change of view. You’re growing up very quickly. I’m proud of you. Your home triad will be proud of you, too. Have you told them yet?’
Maru flinched. ‘No, I am going to …’
‘Why don’t you do that right now?’ Oki suggested. ‘You can use the comm in my quarters, and I’ll stay with your sweet ones.’
It wasn’t the easiest message he had ever written. After many writes and rewrites, he settled on something close to the truth.
“Blessed ones, I hope you are all well. You will be pleased to know that I have found my triad partners, although under sad circumstances. The Crusader rescued them from a slave ship, and it will be a long while before they are healthy. One is of our people, and we are still waiting to hear back from the Registry to find out who he is and who his family group is. The other is a beautiful earth human who has been bonded to our beloved third since they were children. They have remarkable courage and I am honored to be part of a triad with them. I will be bringing them home to Cerulea as soon as they are healthy enough to transport that distance safely. Your loving child, Maru.”
He slipped back into the sleeping chamber where his beloveds were.
‘Thank you, Captain. I’ll admit I’ve been stalling, even though I knew I had to get that over with.’
Oki gave him a strange look. ‘Get it over with? They’ll be celebrating now, surely.’
‘I hope so.’
‘Ah. You’re an only child, aren’t you, and many expectations on you?’
‘Yes, but it will be fine. It has to be. If they don’t welcome us, we will stay on the ship. If that’s alright with you, sir?’
Oki just shook his head. ‘Still a ways to go, young Maru.’
Chapter 4.
After their meal they all settled down with a tablet, and Suki, Caleb and their adopted baby helped Maru go through pictures of things that they thought his two might know. Just like they were children, he thought. But they weren’t children, just badly hurt adults who had been living as slaves for most of their lives, and were just now learning how to live in this very different world where they were free and loved. Although he was the one who had to learn how to love them, he thought. Why was that such a difficult lesson?
The human had responded to ‘hound’, so Maru found a picture of that animal first, but got no response.
‘There is an old human song,’ Suki offered, ‘maybe that’s it?’ He tried humming what he knew of the hound dog song, and the human brightened and hummed along.
‘Once this nonsense is over, maybe Tad can join us with his flute, and we can practice children’s songs, with all of the little ones. In the meantime ...’
They were quickly able to establish that the human knew little or nothing of the human earth. Whatever planet he had spent his early years on was very different from that.
Suki thought about it. ‘Genetically he is an earth human, Karo says so, but he may have spent his early years on one of the colonies? Norin and Lora’s third, who is human, was born on a colony, and sold into slavery by his own parents, if you can believe such a thing. Maybe
from the same place? I wonder, if we ask them ...’
The blue one had only vague childhood memories of Cerulea, but had obviously been there as a child. He had memories of some parts of that planet, and of having been loved.
‘He must have been very young when stolen, although not as young as Jevan was. At least he has some happy memories of it, and of being loved by his family. I hope they’ll love him still.’
Suki gave him a strange look. ‘Of course they’ll still love him. They’re his family. How could they not?’
They got better responses with pictures of generic trees and flowers, and animals and birds that any school child would know, and it became just a happy matching game which the baby won more often than not, although everyone was laughing by the end of it.
Maru was still thinking about names for his two, if they never got their memories back.
‘Why did you name your little one “Robin”?’
‘Caleb says that Robin Blue is the color of an earth bird that is the same soft light blue as our darling Robin’s skin. It’s a lot lighter than our own blue, but very beautiful, don’t you think? The blue-black hair, we don’t know where that came from, but it’s beautiful too, isn’t it?’
Oki, Suki and Caleb all adored their little adopted one, even if he was a different color than any of them, and had black hair on his hair. They were positive that he was beautiful as well as clever, and he was growing up happy and self-confident because of that. Maru made a note on the right way to raise children, just in case he ever needed it.
Maru stroked the soft dark hair, and both of his beloveds reached out to stroke it as well. Babies didn’t seem to be as threatening as big people, and this little one gurgled happily at everyone. They definitely liked babies.
‘Baby.’ He smiled at his two. ‘This is what Suki has in his stomach. Another one of these.’
They reached out cautiously to touch Suki’s belly, and his baby chose that moment to kick. They flattened their hands against him, and looks of bliss crossed both their faces.
‘We can have a baby, some day?’
‘Some day, sweet ones.’
Suki brought the talk safely back to trees.
‘Jevan should be here, he knows a lot about plants and trees and things. Maybe your sweet one and him are related? We found out that Jevan is from the same house as Lora, who is the steward of many of the forests back home. Those in that house have an innate connection to the natural world. Jevan would be delighted to be related to this little one.’
‘Maybe. And he’s not that little.’ Maru realized that he didn’t really want to find this one’s home group. He wanted to be their home, for both of them.
‘We can take them to the arboretum once this risk is dealt with,’ Suki suggested, privately. ‘It’s peaceful there. Jevan spends much of his time there with their adopted one. He says it’s very healing, for both of them.’
They played more children’s games, identifying plants and animals, until the two were tired, although that didn’t take very long. They were falling asleep before Robin was. Maru eased them down onto the bed, curled up together as usual, and tucked a large soft blanket around the two of them, being careful of their wounds. He kissed their heads gently, and they didn’t pull away this time. The human didn’t even glare at him, for a change.
He looked up to see Suki and Caleb watching him.
‘What?’
‘If I didn’t know better I’d say you were getting fond of them.’
‘I would say the same thing, if it wouldn’t put them at risk, if it wouldn’t mean I couldn’t protect them as well.’
Suki sighed. ‘I would say you still have your head up your ass.’
‘Not physically possible, my friend. But thank you.’
Suki sighed again and hugged Caleb, their rounded bellies bumping together.
‘I am lucky in you, beloved.’
‘He’ll come around, my darling one. He’s not as clever as you, but he’ll figure it out. Eventually.’
Maru glared and they both laughed, then Caleb picked up Robin and the two of them slipped back through the door into their own quarters. Maru didn’t bother locking it, as the outer doors were already secure.
He curled up around his two little ones, and tried to think of what they’d do if his home triad didn’t welcome them. Would his beloved’s home group welcome them? Surely one or the other would? Maybe they could just find a quiet place in the country where his little ones could heal under the sun, and he’d have them all to himself. Them and the babies they’d eventually have.
He let himself picture them there in the sun, his two beloveds and their rounded bellies, close to giving birth, or even with babies in their arms as they lay in the grass next to him. That was love, surely. He was just working this out, building a picture of it in his mind, when they had another visitor.
Oki slid through the door quietly, and Maru jumped to his feet, trying not to disturb his two in doing so. They were sleeping already, and the poor little ones needed all the healing rest they could get.
‘Captain, sir …’
‘I’ve talked to the humans who were on the other ship who worked with us to take down the slavers, Maru. They say they arrested six crew members at the time, and half of them were human and half of some other species, although humanoid in type. That’s at least two less than there should have been for a ship of that size, given the crew quarters. The freed slaves who chose to relocate to Veria have identified two more there, trying to hide among them, who were actually crew. Those have been arrested as well. That may be it, then.’
‘Yes, sir. It may be.’
‘You don’t believe it is?’
‘No, sir.’ He thought about it. ‘These two don’t either, I think. They don’t seem to feel safe, and I trust their instinct on that.’
Oki looked at the two thin beings curled up together on the bed, and sighed.
‘It was no accident that the escape pod had a malfunction. It was shot from behind, and at close range. It’s actually a miracle it held together as long as it did.’
‘Shot at from the slave ship as it was being ejected or shortly thereafter?’
‘Most likely. We’ll continue with precautions, Maru, until we all feel more certain. At some point we’ll have to ask them if they can identify any of the crew members as the ones who abused them. You know that?’
Maru winced, but nodded. It wouldn’t be easy for his little ones, but the creatures who had treated them this way couldn’t be left to get away with it.
‘They’re strong, sir, and once they’re healthier they’ll be able to.’
‘These two, they’re becoming more and more precious to you, aren’t they?’
‘Yes, sir.’ He hesitated. ‘They are my beloveds, sir. I just don’t know how to deal with that, how to love them…But I’m learning.’
‘Good. Suki will have my head if you don’t take care of them.’
‘Yes, sir. Sir? How do you balance loving someone with protecting them?’
Oki thought, then shook his head. ‘I don’t know. I can’t always separate the two, Maru. I do the best I can. Sometimes my beloveds look after me. I think it’s a question I’ll have to deal with every day, many times a day, once we have all the little ones. Four babies! A richness …!’
The two of them leaned on the wall to think about security, and how to best keep those they loved safe without smothering them.
‘Sir, when the traitor tried to kill Caleb, he set off a false alarm that drew Caleb out of your quarters?’
‘Yes. What are you thinking?’
‘What if we do that in reverse? I would guess that those we need to catch know where these two are already, and may be watching. What if we set up guards, but then have them pulled away by an alarm?’
Oki looked at him thoughtfully. ‘Sometimes I almost think there’s hope for you, Maru. Set a trap?’
‘I think a trap would work, sir. It’s worth trying, isn’t it? It�
��s not good for these sweet ones to be living in fear. And I’d like to get them to the gymnasium and the arboretum, and to the bathing pools. We can keep them safe when they’re locked up here, but it’s just another kind of prison for them.’
‘If we do that, and have guards in the outer chamber as well, that no-one knows about ...’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Fine. You’ve grown a brain again, Maru. I’m proud of you. I’ll talk to Kaji about setting it up.’
Before they had time to set up anything, they had news back from Cerulea. Karo came to tell them that Maru’s little blue beloved wasn’t from Lora’s house after all, as much as Jevan would have liked to be related to him. His name was Cara and those of his house were deliriously happy to know that he had been found. And, they asked, when was he coming home, him and his beloveds? To have him back, with the added bonus of his triad partners with him, was everything they could ask for.
All of a sudden Maru had to think of the well-being and happiness of even more people, and his vision of a quiet little country residence evaporated. Making plans and decisions had been easier when he was single.
‘Cara? Do you remember being called Cara, little one?’
The blue one raised his head and stared at Maru, and then held firmly onto his partner. ‘Cara. Both Cara.’
Karo shook his head in disbelief. ‘I’ve never seen any two so closely bonded as these. They must have been together for a long time.’
‘It’s possible, isn’t it?’ Oki asked. ‘Our people can recognize their own triad partners from a very young age, long before they are old enough to morph, even. If these two met when they were young, and as slaves, that would have made the bond very strong. No wonder they’re the whole world to each other.’
Something passed between Cara and his human beloved, and they held on to each other even tighter again. Then, hesitantly, another name.
‘Samil?’
‘Cara?’ The human asked hesitantly.
The blue one hugged him back, with more animation that he’d shown before. ‘Samil?’
Maru fought back jealousy, and hugged both of them. ‘Maru. I am Maru. Samil, Cara, Maru. We are a triad, darling ones, we three are one.’
