by J. S. Wilder
His face softened. “Very well. I’ll allow you to live someplace other than the palace, but there will be a contingent of my guards at your side at all times. All times, Catherina. I think you fail to understand how important you are. The fate of the galaxy is literally in your hands. I can’t risk having you hurt or killed.”
“That’s worse than living here!”
He shrugged. “Those are your only two options. In the palace, you can be kept safe by guards that control the grounds and the palace's defenses. That’s not true elsewhere. I’m sorry, Catherina, but I have to keep you safe.”
I stewed. At least in the palace, I had my room where I could be alone if I wanted to be. “Fine, dammit! I’ll stay in the palace.”
He smiled. “The matter is settled then. Any other demands?”
“Order your staff to stop doting on me.”
He chuckled. “Done. Anything else.”
I smiled. “No.”
“You have asked a great deal,” he said seriously, and I felt my heart flutter. “Not jumping at your every sneeze is going cause the palace staff lots of stress,” he added with a grin. “Some may suffer through many sleepless nights.”
I giggled. He was having me on now. “I’m sure they’ll get through it. They’re Fires. Surely they can handle a single unruly guest.”
He chuckled. “We’ve never had to deal with the likes of you, Catherina Hume. Leave us!” He ordered with a wave of his hand, and six people, three of who I didn’t even know was there, left the room. “Now we’re alone. Better?”
I smiled. “Much. Thank you.”
Chapter Six
Stevan
“My Lord,” Catherina said as she knelt and lowered her head. Every time I saw her proved that she was a fast learner.
“Rise and approach,” I ordered.
She stopped in front of my desk. “Yes, my Lord?” she asked.
Having her speak first was incorrect. She shouldn’t speak unless spoken to or I give her the freedom to speak, but I wasn’t going to call her on it. I’d summoned her and she couldn’t be expected memorize all the little details in only six days. And, she was my guest.
“Where do you start?” I asked, getting down to business.
We had spent the previous evening enjoying a leisurely dinner, not talking about the agreement just concluded, but today was a new day. Wasting a few days would make no difference in the outcome, but I was anxious to find out if she could help us.
She scratched her face. “I would like to start with…”
Her voice trailed off and her color came up. Humans were so easy to read. Something was upsetting her.
“What?”
“I’d like to see how Fire People make love. Perhaps a video or something?”
“Why?”
Her face became redder, “I think the problem you’re having with the Waters, the Aquallian,”—she butchered the name, but it was close enough that I recognized what she was saying—“is in the Fire’s approach to love and sex. Quathaul is trying, but I could tell she was very put off by how she has been treated.”
“The Aquallian, the Water’s as you call them, have been treated as honored guests, just as you have been!” I objected.
“I know. But she feels like she’s being raped.”
I leapt to my feet, causing Catherina to stumble back, her hand coming up in front of her face. “I will gut the pigs myself,” I snarled, drawing my blade. “Who?”
She made placating gestures, her eyes wide with fear. “No! That’s not what I meant! She admits no one has forced himself on her!” She paused, waving her hands frantically in front of her. I slowly sheathed my blade and took my seat as she sighed in relief.
“She impugns the honor of my people,” I rumbled. “Every man that laid with a Water woman volunteered to mate with a woman he found repulsive.”
“Repulsive? Quathaul is lovely!”
“Beautiful, yes. But weak. They stand for nothing and will allow anyone to use them. If it weren’t for the protection of my people, the Water’s would be preyed upon by the dregs of our worlds.”
“I understand, my Lord. But it is that kind and caring nature that the Fires are lacking, correct?”
I sighed knowing that she has raised a valuable point, “Yes.”
“I’ve seen the honor of the Fire people, and I know you’re not preying on the Waters, but something is happening. I need to see for myself in order to formulate a plan on how to move forward.”
I scrubbed at my face then opened a portal. “Kergah. Report to my office immediately.”
Ten seconds later, Kergah stepped through the door and knelt. “My, Lord.”
“Rise and approach,” I said. “I have a request. Catherina wants to see a bonded pair… mate. This is not an order, and if you refuse, no dishonor will follow…”
I hesitated in what I had to say next, “But will you allow her to watch you and Getther mate?”
Kergah extended his hand to Catherina. “I believe this is the customary greeting on your world?”
She smiled and took his hand. “It is. Catherina Hume… Human.”
Kergah chuckled. “Kergah Tagtherattchatchu, Firaspatciti.”
I smiled as Catherina winced, as she always did when she heard our words. It was as if our words pained her in some way.
“Will this help, I believe you call us the Fire people, endure?” Kergah asked.
I smiled. Kergah was a reliable as the rising star.
“I hope, Kergah. Otherwise, I wouldn’t want to see it, believe me,” Catherina tried to reassure him, that this was crucial.
Kergah glanced between Catherina and myself. “Agreed,” he said, then smiled at her as her words had managed to convince him. I could tell whatever he said next was going to be for his amusement and mine at the expense of Catherina. “Will you be joining us?”
I had to work hard not to smile as her eyes opened wide and her face turned a bright red.
“What? Heavens, no! I just wanted to… I don’t know what I wanted. But I didn’t expect to watch you and your wife, your mate, make love.” She began to shake her head. “Thank you, Kergah, but that’s not necessary.”
Kergah looked at me, then back to Catherina. “If it will help my people, all our Peoples, then I want you to watch. I’m bonded to Getther, and we may never have children, but there are others not so bonded. I won’t selfishly deny them the opportunity to have offspring, nor will I be party to condemning my people to the long darkness.”
I nodded. “We will watch through a portal and I will join Catherina to answer any questions. Thank you, my friend,” I said as I grabbed his shoulder in ceremonial brotherhood. “We will not speak of this again.”
Catherina nodded vigorously. “I will never repeat what I see or spread rumors. You have my word.”
Kergah nodded. “I will have to eat an extra helping of Gath tonight if we’re going to have spectators.”
I chuckled, and slapped him on the shoulder. Kergah knew I was releasing him with the simple gesture.
“Gath?” Catherina asked after Kergah left.
I grinned. “It’s said to give a male stamina and prowess, though mating with Getther should be enough to give any male all the stamina and prowess he would need.” I looked at her. “Kergah is extending you a great honor. Don’t break his trust.”
She looked down, then looked back up and held my gaze with her own. “You can trust me.”
-oOo-
“Enter!” I called at the chime. I was in my bedchamber. Kergah had contacted me and said he had made Getther aware of what was happening and they would begin mating soon.
Catherina entered and dropped to her knee. “My Lord.”
“Rise and approach,” I said softly.
Though she was joining me in my bedchamber, she was fully dressed, as was I. This was business. We’d discussed the best place to observe Kergah and Getther, and decided my bedchamber was appropriate, considering the subject matter, and the fact
that I could explain any questions she may have.
“Speak freely.”
She nodded. “I’m having second thoughts about this.”
“Staying to help or watching?”
“Watching this in your bedroom.”
I smiled. She was lovely, but this was still business. “You have nothing to fear.”
She nodded as I opened the portal. Kergah’s bedchamber was empty, but after a moment, Getther entered.
“That’s Kergah’s wife?”
“His mate? Yes.”
“She’s lovely.”
I smiled and nodded in agreement. “Kergah is a good man. She’s lucky to have him… and him her.”
The two lovers smiled at each other as the stood in the middle of their bed and then began to disrobe. I was more interested in Catherina’s reactions than watching my friend mate. She settled into one of the chairs and I smiled. I’d given her my word, but having her lounging on my bed as Kergah and Getther mated would have tested my resolve.
“Oh my God! What are they doing?”
I glanced back at the portal. “Those are mating blades.”
“What…?” she began, then stopped as Kergah and Getther attacked each other with the daggers, slashing and blocking. They were skilled warriors and the blades snicked and sang as they slid against each other.
“You have to stop them!”
I chuckled as Kergah slashed Getther across her breast. Getther moaned as a lurid red line appeared. Kergah paused, smiling as he stepped back and waited for her to recover and resume her guard.
“They’re mating blades,” I repeated. “They’re not hurting each other.”
I rose from by chair beside hers and retrieved my own blade. The blade was a gift, given to me by my father, but I’d never used it. It was tradition that a father gave his son a blade when he reached manhood, as a mother gave her daughter. I returned to my chair and pulled the blade from its scabbard and drew the blade lightly across my arm. A faint pink line appeared as my flesh prickled with pleasure.
“Long ago, only the strong could survive,” I explained as I watched the pink line disappear. “Blades were used to weed out the weak. Males and females would join in combat with their proposed mate to prove their strength.”
I paused as the lovers attacked again, the blades flashing as they fought.
“Now the combat is part of the mating. Not all engage in the ritual, but many do. The mating blades, they no longer maim, but provide pleasure.”
I moved the blade slowly toward Catherina’s face. She flinched away at first, then held her ground as I drew the blade softly against skin. She gasped as the pink line appeared, then slowly faded.
“The blade isn’t real. It’s a projection, but it triggers the nanites in your body to stimulate the nerves and to leave behind the mark.”
Kergah groaned as Getther got through his defense and plunged her blade into his stomach, smiling as she held him by his head and twisted the knife. I smiled as he roared and surged away from her hold to bury his own blade in her back. Her back arched as she cried out before he pulled his blade and plunged it into her chest. Again she cried out, her body shuddering in pleasure as they grappled, their blades deep in their lover’s bodies as they strained against each other. Again Kergah roared, pulling her blade from his stomach and tearing it from her grip. He threw it aside before pulling his own blade from Getther’s chest to cast it aside. They lunged at each other and Kergah threw her to the bed before plunging his manhood deep inside her as she cried out in pleasure.
I drew the blade hard and fast against across Catherina’s chest, making her cry out as her eyes closed and her head tipped back. She groaned as her eyes slowly opened and she looked at me.
“The harder the stroke,” I continued softly, drawing the blade gently along her neck, “the more intense the pleasure.”
She said nothing as the blade left the line, no longer watching the mating occurring in front of us. She tore her gaze from mine and watched Kergah and Getther mate, her fingers softly caressing the skin of her chest where I’d slashed her with the mating blade. We watching as the lovers tumbled in their bed, finally crying out their completion and collapsing in a sweating, panting, heap.
She sat for a moment longer then rose. “I’ve seen enough. By your leave, my Lord,” she said softly, lowering her head.
“You may go.”
She looked at me, her face unreadable, then turned and left my bedchamber.
After the door closed, I returned the blade to its place beside my bed. I smiled as I began to disrobe, shaking my head in wonderment. I’d had the blade for twenty years, and this was the first time it had touched the flesh of a woman. I’d had many mates, but none that I wished to bond with.
Many women had wanted to me to use the blade on them, but I’d refused. I would use the blade when the time was right, with the woman I would spend the rest of my life with. Many used their blades in their games, but I respected the symbolism it represented and I would use the blade only as it was intended.
I crawled into bed and waved off the lights. Catherina and I hadn’t mated, but watching her close her eyes and cry out softly in pleasure as I slashed her with the blade had stirred something within me. Something I hadn’t felt before. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I stared at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to take me, but it was a long time in arriving.
Chapter Seven
Catherina
I woke stretching and yawning. I hadn’t slept well last night. Between watching Kergah and Getther make love and the thing with the mating blade, I had been unable to shut off my mind. Even Quathaul’s soft breathing hadn’t been able to lull me into sleep.
If that was how the Fire men were mating with the Water women, no wonder Quathaul was upset. What I’d seen last night, even discounting the mating blades thing, would have been called rape back on Earth. The only thing was, I wasn’t sure who was raping who.
I crawled across the huge bed to touch Quathaul gently on the shoulder. She had already been in the bed when I returned last night, and I hadn’t woken her. Now I understood why the Fire’s had such large beds. They needed the room for their fighting and rolling, tumbling, love making.
“Yes, Catherina?” she murmured as she looked at me with her enormous eyes, sitting up and yawning herself awake.
Her eyes were at least twenty-five percent larger than mine, and their color and depth still took my breath every time I gazed into them.
“When you were mating with the Fire men, did they use their blades on you?”
“Their mating blades?”
“Yes.”
She smiled. “Once I allowed it, though I couldn’t use my blade in return. The thought of using the blade, even one that gave pleasure, disgusted me.”
“The blade, did you enjoy it?”
She looked at me for a moment. “Physically, yes, it was very pleasurable. But the thought of a male using the blade on me was upsetting. So, no, I didn’t enjoy it, and wouldn’t allow it again.”
I licked my lips as I nodded. “And the mating?”
Quathaul looked down. “They are beasts and brutes.”
“Why are you here?”
“I told you once before. We are giving the Fire men our bodies in the hopes of conceiving.”
I shook my head. “No, I mean why are you here? Here on the Fire planet. Why didn’t the Fire’s go to Water?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Would you like to return home?”
“Very much.”
“Would you feel safer there?”
“Yes, much safer.”
I smiled. “Return to your room and begin to pack your things. Have the other Waters do the same. You’re going home.”
“But what of attempts to conceive? Is there no hope for us?”
I smiled. “Oh, there’s hope, but I’m about to change the rules. Now go.”
-oOo-
“My Lord,” I sai
d as I stepped into Stevan’s office and took a knee. He’d kept me waiting for hours as he attended some other state function, but I had twenty minutes where I could pitch my idea.
“Rise and approach. We don’t have much time, so speak quickly.”
“I think I know what the problem is, and how to fix it.”
His eyes widened with the news. “Already?”
“Yes. A start anyway. I want to move the Waters back to their planet. You said it was a hormonal problem, right? I think these women need to feel safe and protected in order to conceive. The combination of being here, away from their surroundings, and the way the Fires approach mating, is preventing that. Getting them someplace where they feel safe is the first step in that.”
“They’re safe here! Safer here, in the palace, than anywhere on their world!”
“Maybe so, but they don’t feel that way, and that’s the important part. My Lord, I believe Quathaul is trying, and I assume the other women are as well. She admitted to me she is deriving no pleasure from her mating, but she is still giving her body in the hopes of making this work. I think it’s time the Fire’s to try to give something back.”
Stevan stared at me for a long moment. “You really think it will make a difference?”
I shrugged. “It can’t hurt. You’re getting nowhere now.”
He growled. “I can’t deal with this now. Go, return to your room. I will send Kergah to you. Tell him what you want and he will see that it is done. We’ll discuss this more, later. Leave me.”
I pursed my lips. I knew it was nothing personal, and Stevan was clearly under a lot of stress at the moment, but I didn’t enjoy being dismissed like a child. I gave him the curt nod of respect before I turned and stomped out of the room.
The palace was huge and I could easily get lost except for my trusty escort, Sereni. She had become almost as much a constant in my life as Quathaul. By the time I reached my room, Kergah was waiting. He could travel across the galaxy faster than I can walk down the damn hall.
