Bhyr

by Penelope Fletcher

  ‘Good. Hiss Boldly at the Dark Sun had concerns. You cracked that hard head of yours, and he worried you might suffer amnesia once he’d finished the repair.’ She nodded when I looked at her in alarm. ‘You heard me. A fractured skull, breaks of the tibia and fibula, dislocated shoulder, sprained wrist, collapsed lung, internal bleeding from a liver laceration, and so many cuts and bruises, we gave up counting around eighty.’ Her voice was light, but her expression was awful. ‘You also have a bald patch behind your ear. It’s not attractive.’

  ‘Bhyr?’ I asked.

  ‘He’s doing better. Venomous, Beowyn and Ohx had to wrestle him, so he didn’t hurt anyone, but he calmed down as soon as Hiss Boldly stabilised you. He was amazed. You didn’t sustain a single injury that would have threatened your life on its own.’

  ‘Uh huh. They didn’t hurt Bhyr? Did they?’

  She snorted. ‘No.’

  I looked down at my body.

  I prodded areas of skin that appeared lighter and felt tender compared to the surrounding tissue. The Rä surgeon had done a superb job.

  ‘There was a bird who was also a man.’ I fanned my fingers over my head. ‘Feathers.’

  Cristina chortled. ‘Captain Serenvox? He’s Baxnonian. A trader the First hired.’

  A story for another time.

  ‘What happened to the queen and her followers?’ I asked. ‘Did Venomous and ThunderClaw kill them?’

  Cristina stared. ‘No.’

  ‘The Horde?’ It surprised me they intervened. It had been a Challenge between female dominants. Even Bhyr inserting himself to save me when it was clear I was about to lose would be dishonourable in their eyes.

  ‘Bihter helped with his Gift when you dragged that bitch out of the sky, but Indie, you killed her.’

  I stilled. ‘Did I?’

  ‘You rammed a knife up her cunt. Death was pretty much a given.’ Cristina snorted. ‘Bihter says that area of their body paralyses a male, but also leaves them vulnerable. You ruptured something inside her and she bled out. The last bit? Where she slapped you with the ground? Those were dying spasms.’ Her mouth pinched. ‘She wanted to take you with her.’

  Okay then.

  Fat tears seeped from my inner eyes to wet the crease of my nose and tickle my jaw.

  Cristina sighed. ‘It was the right thing to do, you know?’

  Touching my chin to my chest, I scrubbed the tears from my face. ‘What?’

  ‘Freeing them. It was the right thing to do.’ Cristina blotted my cheeks with her sleeve. ‘She made her choice.’

  ‘She didn’t know better.’

  ‘Maybe. It was still the right thing to do. You should cry, but do so knowing you did the best you could.’

  ‘Her minions?’

  ‘Grabbed males from the defeated and took off like their asses were on fire. Good riddance as far as I’m concerned.’ She sniffed.

  I couldn’t agree more.

  ‘She’s dead, and I’m healed?’ I double checked.

  ‘Don’t even think about getting out of that bed. I see the look in your eye.’ Cristina’s fists went to her hips. ‘You should be dead, too, Indie. After the fight, you looked inhuman. Bones sticking out and blood fountaining from every goddamned orifice.’ Pallor greying, she shook free of the memory. ‘Yes, you’re healed. The changes from the healing pod gave you an edge, but you shouldn’t have survived. Why do you think the First lost his mind? You weren’t supposed to be quite so resilient.’ She squinted. ‘It was a mystery. With the First’s permission, Hiss Boldly ran tests on you while you were under.’ Her gaze swept over me. She perched on the edge of the table to fuss over me. ‘He confirmed you’re different now. Genetically.’

  I scowled. ‘We all are.’

  ‘Some more than others.’

  Disgruntled, I batted away her hands. The dress I wore was a gauzy thing the colour of charcoal. My arms, back and feet were bare. They had been painted in waede with Vøtkyrnai glyphs and symbols. I scrunched my toes, wondering of their significance. From what I could decipher, the design recited what happened during the battle in poetic verse.

  ‘Hiss Boldly says it’s a combination of factors,’ Cristina said. ‘The alterations from the healing pods. The suns’ radiation, the food, the water. Energy coming from the planet core.’ She held my hand. ‘Do you remember how dazed we were when we first landed here? Before the Testing.’

  ‘Well, of course, we were. The transition was stressful. We’d been abducted.’

  ‘Uh huh. We were also sick. Our bodies were in a state of flux. Those of us who have been out in the suns, eating raw foods and wandering the land will have absorbed the planet’s radiation before our bodies settled into their unchanging forms.’ She gave me a pointed look. ‘Are you following?’

  I was. ‘Oh.’

  ‘You went traipsing over Vøtkyr on your own, in a move I haven’t yet decided was genius or idiotic, and absorbed more of the aforementioned. You’ve changed the most.’

  ‘I have not.’ I had but I didn’t like her saying so. I’d pushed my body to extremes I know would have broken it before I’d been augmented. ‘Perfect. Just perfect.’

  Cristina ignored me. ‘It’s why when you fought the queen, she didn’t crush you with the first blow.’ She paused, eyes twinkling. ‘She just kicked your ass. Your reputation took a serious hit, by the way.’

  I scrubbed my palms over my face. ‘Go on, then. Get it out of your system.’

  ‘What?’ She touched her fingers to her breast. ‘Are you insinuating I’d tease you?’

  ‘It’s sort of our thing, and I’m kind of a freak show.’

  Smile disappearing, Cristina kissed her teeth. ‘Don’t be basic. You know you’re awesome. You tackled the queen while the Horde stood back. Afraid.’ She nudged me with her shoulder. ‘They’re boasting about you. The same way they do about the First. They call you First Female, thumping their chests, all serious and shit.’ She laughed. ’It’s cute.’

  ‘First Female?’

  ‘It’s a new era. We have a First Male, too. A new calendar. The whole shebang.’

  ‘How embarrassing.’

  She shrugged. ‘You brought it on yourself.’

  ‘She tried to take Bhyr! What was I supposed to do?’

  She grabbed her crotch and pretended to quail. ‘Don’t stab me.’ When I growled, she tugged on my skirt and avoided my gaze. ‘You scared me.’

  ‘Didn’t mean to.’

  ‘I know.’ She finally looked up, eyes shiny. ‘Best day of my life when I met you.’

  ‘Didn’t you throw your sippy cup at my head?’

  ‘You have to let that go.’ She swallowed. ‘We’re supposed to grow old together, our mates beside us, so no more heroics.’

  ‘Hm. I can’t promise not to get into danger, but I will promise to drag you with me next time I go adventuring.’ I wiggled my little finger.

  She hooked it with hers.

  ‘Deal.’ She sniffled. ‘You look pretty.’

  I glanced down at the dress. ‘Thanks. So do you.’ Her braided coronet looked fierce.

  ‘I woke up like this.’

  ‘You’re so funny. Now get me out of this place before that thing in the corner eats me.’

  ‘It’s a Zýt. It’s harmless.’

  ‘Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.’

  Having dragged on leggings under my dress, wrapped on my boots, and draped myself in a hooded cape, I navigated the snaking hallways of the Rä ship. The mist doorway was called the haze. Cristina tried to explain it to me, but once she started talking about being careful as it could turn solid and trap me inside it, I stopped listening for the sake of my mental health.

  A bubbly feeling built in my stomach at the knowledge I’d get to see Bhyr soon.

  We were about to leave the ship when I stopped.

  Holding up a hand to stall Cristina’s questions, I turned, hearing a heated argument bustling towards us.

  ‘You don’t honestly believe Indira is g
oing to ignore the First when she wakes up?’ a disgruntled voice asked.

  ‘Probably not. She’s weak when it comes to him.’ Ashleigh turned the corner and pinked when she spotted me waiting. ‘Erm. Hi.’

  ‘Ouch.’ I folded my hands over my heart. ‘Warn a girl.’

  Cristina snickered.

  Mayumi paced. ‘I want my Drayg. I miss him.’

  ‘They’ve not grovelled enough,’ Ashleigh said.

  ‘You are drunk on power.’ Mayumi threw up her hands. ‘We made our point. Now we’re being spiteful.’ She spared me a harassed smile. ‘First. It’s good you’re awake.’

  I’d peeked behind me before it clicked. She referred to me. ‘Um, thanks?’

  ‘We hold the line,’ Ashleigh declared with the fervour of a union rep. I half expected her to unfurl a flag and blow a bugle.

  Done with playing games, Mayumi shoved Ashleigh aside, a surprising level of strength powering through her diminutive frame. Bellowing for her mate, she left the ship at a sprint. Drayg appeared as if by magic, his face brightening.

  Mayumi threw her arms around his neck as he swept her off her feet and spun her around.

  I rubbed my chest. ‘Aw.’

  ‘I can’t believe she broke the line.’ Ashleigh pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked at me. ‘You feeling okay? How’s that bald patch coming along?’

  ‘It’s fine.’ I mock glared. ‘I’ve been better, but I think everything is going to be good now. It helps.’

  ‘Yeah.’ Ashleigh glanced around until her eyes lit on Ohx. ‘We’re going to be fine. I’ll update you on the official stuff you missed later. If you’ll excuse me, I have a mate to torture with silence.’

  She marched down the ramp and sashayed past Ohx, whose open arms dropped along with his joyous expression. He bolted after her.

  I chuckled. ‘It’s been days. You’re still punishing them?’

  ‘You have no idea,’ Cristina said with relish. ‘Except for Mayumi, the turncoat, it’s been brutal. Trust me. They will never make this mistake again.’

  Bihter sidled up.

  Her manner switched. ‘I swear, Indie, Vayhalun is paradise.’ She gushed, while ignoring her frustrated mate. ‘I might go back there. There’s sunshine. The kind that makes your skin glossy and golden and smell like salt. Alien palm trees that are so pretty. Sandy beaches. Warm, crystal clear water as far as the eye can see.’

  ‘We have beaches,’ Bihter said loudly. He flung an arm towards the barren, wintry strip of pebbles being beaten by a choppy crash of waves.

  Cristina blinked.

  She turned back to me. ‘And the food. Orgasmic. I put on three pounds. Worth it.’

  ‘There is delicious food here.’ Bihter smacked a fist into his open palm. ‘I feed you well.’

  ‘You didn’t serenade me and hand feed me cake.’

  ‘Seriously?’ I felt a tad jealous at the visual.

  ‘It was heaven.’

  Cristina’s gaze slid to the side when Bihter made a rough noise of sadness.

  ‘He really did miss you,’ I confided.

  Shooting me an exasperated look, she rolled her eyes. ‘You’re on his side?’

  ‘He was brave, he fought like mad to bring you home, and he saved my life.’

  She gasped. ‘Really?’ She whirled to face him. ‘Oh, Sweetheart–’

  Walking past, He, Fiercely Comes the Night shuddered.

  ‘–I love you.’ She reached as if to stroke his cheek, but instead grabbed his spiky ear and gave it a vicious twist. ‘That said, don’t you ever pull this shit again.’ Her lip curled. ‘Do you hear me?’

  He swallowed. ‘Yes.’ He picked her up and buried his face in her neck. ‘I missed you, my cloudless sky.’

  She planted a scorching kiss on his lips, which segued into them making out like horny teenagers at a rave.

  Gagging at the borderline pornographic public display of affection, I wandered off to give them privacy. Waving to the warriors that hailed me, I searched for Bhyr. I gave up. I didn’t want to distract him if he did something important.

  Our reunion could wait.

  People celebrated, an air of jubilation turning the air honeyed despite the sobering fate of our enemy. I felt detached. I ended up sitting alone away from the encampment, embracing the wilderness I’d learned to thrive in. Stars that never slept on Vøtkyr twinkled. They were familiar in design yet alien in formation. Wind tangled my hair and rustled my dress. The sun warmed my face. The cold ground was an old friend.

  My body relaxed.

  Bihter was right. The sea was stunning. I made a mental note to suggest the site to Mayumi as a hotel location.

  Picturesque as the coast was…. ‘I should have stayed on the spaceship.’

  Vayhalun sounded amazing. Maybe I’d visit the Verak planet another time.

  King ThunderClaw seemed a nice enough guy–if a bit lecherous–and it would be nice to meet Lumen and Sìne.

  The heat of Bhyr’s body settled next to me.

  ‘I’m proud of you,’ I said.

  He pushed my hood down to better see my face. ‘Why?’

  I twisted my head to gape at him. I wasn’t prepared. He dazzled me. ‘For everything you accomplished.’

  Being a hero wasn’t slaughtering your enemies.

  It was the everyday hard choices. It was choosing to do the right thing even if it caused you pain. It was striving to be better than you were the day before. Bhyr was my hero not because he’d won a war, but because he’d ended one.

  ‘Everything I accomplished.’ His arms folded around me and pulled me onto his lap. ‘Silly female. Who am I without you? Everything I accomplished, I did because of you.’ He cupped my cheek. ‘How can you not know, I did it for you.’

  ‘Oh.’ I gazed into his alien eyes. My future unfolded in a radiant banner. ‘Take me home and put me on my belly.’

  ‘Human, you think to command me?’

  ‘Oh, yes. Haven’t you heard? I’m First Female.’ I kissed the space between his nose slits, grinning at his expression. ‘My word is Law.’

  ‘So it is. I spoke with Zython’s Avatar.’ A quiet look of satisfaction claimed his face. ‘I am forgiven.’

  I licked the hinge of his jaw. ‘I’m so glad.’ It had troubled him to be Venomous One’s enemy. I’d worried the Rä male wouldn’t abide forgiving Bhyr’s trespass, however, that same male had rushed across the universe at the Great Alpha’s behest to help Bhyr win his war.

  ‘We spoke of marriage.’

  I stroked a finger over the clasp of his breechclout, the hearing part of my mind disconnected with the reasoning part. ‘Uh huh.’

  Proving he was on a wavelength that didn’t include removing said breechclout, Bhyr dropped me off his lap then went to his knees.

  My brain realigned with a fizz. ‘What fresh hell is this?’

  ‘Marriage me.’

  My face burned.

  ‘Say yes.’

  ‘Do you understand what that word means?’

  ‘It is a ceremony to bind you to me in your human way.’ He straightened his shoulders. ‘There will be vows. I will put golden rings on your fingers. There will be burned, leavened grain coated in sweet.’

  His face contorted.

  ‘Cake,’ I corrected.

  ‘Supplicants will give tithes.’

  ‘Friends will bring gifts.’

  ‘I will buy you new things, trade for old things, and raid for stolen things.’ He paused then said with deep contemplation. ‘I am the blue thing.’

  I bit my cheek. ‘That sounds mostly legal, but do you know what I’d love for our marriage ceremony?’ He braced. ‘For you to ride a goodbeast to the alter. Ohx will play his drum.’ He blinked. ‘I’ll wear a fur wrap you make from a beast you’ve hunted.’ It would do for a sari. ‘The Horde will cover our hands and feet in waede glyphs for good fortune.’ Bhyr’s mouth widened and his eyes narrowed as he smiled. ‘We will walk around the Mother Rock in the Gathering Grotto,
and take our first steps as husband and wife.’ I grinned, knowing he’d love the next bit. ‘Then you will mark me here,’ I pointed between my brows. ‘with waede to show I am claimed.’ It wouldn’t be the most traditional Indian wedding, but close enough.

  ‘You will be mine and stay with me always.’ He hesitated. ‘And you will be happy?’

  I cupped the sides of his neck. ‘Will you?’

  His gaze softened. ‘Will you honour me with an heir?’

  Heir.

  Not son.

  Oh, Bhyr. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then we will be happy. Marriage me.’

  ‘As if I’d tell you no.’

  He kissed me.

  A cheer went up from behind us.

  I startled and whipped around to find everyone gathered a short distance away, big smiles on their faces.

  Cristina was on Bihter’s shoulders waving her arms in the air and giggling like a madwoman. ‘Woohoo! Hashtag Destination Wedding!’

  Ashleigh gawped at her from where she snuggled into Ohx’s embrace. ‘You’re pregnant. Get down from there.’

  Bihter froze, head snapping back so he could stare at his mate. ‘Wait. What?’

  Laughing into my hands, I leaned into Bhyr’s side, feeling I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

  Home.

  After

  the kinky “thank fuck we didn’t die” sex….

  ‘Sir,’ I greeted.

  ‘Indira.’ Prime Minister Weston’s bright blue eyes popped from their sockets. ‘Good God.’ She clutched the pearls at her throat, staring as if she’d seen a ghost. ‘We thought you were dead.’

  ‘Not yet.’ I laughed, rueful. ‘Just relocated.’

  Weston blew out a breath. ‘Are you set to return?’

  ‘That depends on you,’ I replied.

  ‘Oh? How so?’ Her eyes went huge and her face pale.

  I twisted my head and smiled as Bhyr stepped from the shadows and stopped at my side. He inclined his head. ‘Good Greetings, human leader.’

  ‘Prime Minister Weston,’ I mumbled in correction.

  Flustered, Weston tugged on her tweed jacket and offered a cordial nod. ‘You are?’

  ‘I am the First Male of the Aztekan Horde and the Avatar of Destruction.’