Battalion's Bride

by C. J. Scarlett

  “I never thought of such for myself.”

  Ember added warmly. “Perhaps you should. I’m certain you would draw the interest of many and perhaps even sire another queen.”

  The man looked emotional. “It would be nice to sire a little queen without having to worry about hiding her away to avoid the transformation.”

  “How long did you keep her hidden?”

  Ember’s curious question made the old her man’s eyes jump to hers. “For nearly fifty years. She is a fully mature queen in her own right, but it took her hatch mates and I working every angle we could think of to keep her out of the public eye. Someone going thought an old census found evidence of her birth and they came looking for her. Most of the queens transition on our world before they are mature. Their young bodies are more susceptible to the symbiont.”

  “That’s horrible. I’m glad you managed to get her to safety.”

  “I am still confused about why a queen would wish only one drone when she can have many?”

  Ember thought it over. “Human queens are looking for love, not service. Doing things for ourselves is a way we enjoy independence. Not only do we not need men to wait on us, we crave the intensity of a one-on-one bond. In my case, being with two just felt very right, so I went with it.”

  “It seems so different from what we have known.”

  “We have over a hundred and fifty human queens on our vessel. Perhaps you and your sons could spend time with them in the dining hall or one of the recreation programs and try to get them. It will become clear that we are all very dissimilar. Perhaps even one might be interested in a larger clan if that’s what you had in mind.”

  “That is kind of you, Queen Ember. I believe our time will be best served tending to our injured family member.

  His fiery queen’s face fell. She reached out to take the older man’s hands. “I’m really sorry to be the one responsible for injuring your daughter. If there was any other way, I would have taken it. I hope you know that.”

  The man looked flustered. “I have never had a formal apology from a queen before. It is a very healing experience.”

  Smiling warmly at the old man, she grasped his hands tighter. “All will be well. The Shardon clones are the best healers in this region of space. I have confidence in their abilities.”

  I pray that you are right, Queen Ember.”

  The time drug on and eventually the healers decided to keep her for monitoring over the next sleep cycle, so they parted ways with the family.

  *****

  Entering the dining hall, Haroc was surprised when several human queens came running over to them. They clamored around Dark, who was beginning to look panicked. There were warriors lining the walls, human queens packing the place and even newly the freed Golugua running all around.

  Ember walked over and literally swatted the queens away from her spawn mate. My brother his hot and I understand the interest, but give the man a chance to eat. You want him energized and ready to go, don’t you?”

  Haroc heard lots of human giggles and flirting. As soon as they closed ranks around the buffet table, Dark spoke to him quietly. “I’m not trying to steal attention away from the drones. I now these are brides for your home world and have zero interest in messing that up.”

  “We did not purchase them, trade Earth Gov for them or negotiate contracts with them. They have all elected to visit our home world and explore the possibility of joining our family units of their own free will. You are now a member of my extended clan and have as much right as any male here to pursue a queen. The males of my clan will be strong advocates for your rights in this matter.”

  “This is overwhelming.”

  “To bad you didn’t ask the Shardon to clone you a set of wings. If you had, you could simply fly away.”

  “You’re a real funny guy, Haroc. I’m glad my sister hooked up with you. She can always look forward to a good joke if nothing else.”

  All the things he’d rather be doing with the human male’s spawn mate, floated through his mind, but he spoke not a word of it. That was clan business to his mind.

  As they sat down to eat in the rowdy dining hall, Haroc shoved food into his face like a starving drone about to be deprived of food. He was absolutely famished, and barely able to stop long enough to chew. Looking across the table at Valic, he realized the other man was doing the same. When their eyes collided with one another their three pronged dining implement hung in midair as the similar thought popped into their heads at the same time. Valic dented his bottom lip with a row of razor sharp teeth. Haroc nodded slightly. Drones normally had a huge increase in appetite when they were spawning and there was no hint of his mating scent hanging in the air. That added up to some pretty exciting news. They both forced themselves to slow their eating and relaxed into the conversation flowing around them.

  Haroc tasked Dargon with sticking near their new queen’s hatch mate. Dargon hated sitting around their quarters while they slept, so he was up for anything that might hint at being more fun.

  Later in their quarters, they were relaxing and catching up on messages and such. Haroc’s mind turned to the issue of Talon. His beautiful queen seemed closed to the idea of having a third and did not appreciate Talon asking them to lie to her about her brother.

  Though they would not know for several more days if they were spawning, it made sense to begin a dialogue on the situation. Suddenly, Ember began laughing. Noticing the two of them watching her, she replayed the message and bumped the three-D image up to the largest setting.

  Queen Penny’s pretty face zoomed up into the air. “I know you are with Haroc and Valic right now and you need to know they are not available for mating. I staked my claim on Talon ages ago…”

  Snorting a laugh, Valic stated. “Turn that off.”

  Haroc couldn’t help but smile at the young queen. “Perhaps we should discuss the situation with Talon before we reach our home world.”

  “We should make a list of the pros and cons of having four people in our clan.”

  “Do you love us?”

  Ember’s head swiveled around to look at Valic and Haroc knew where he was going with that question. “Valic asked a valid question, my queen. I think you should answer him.”

  Sitting up, she drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs. “You know that I’m absolutely crazy in love with you two. I already told you that.”

  Shaking his head, Haroc replied. “You told me that you loved me. You never acknowledged your feelings for Valic.”

  Without hesitation, she stated sincerely. “I’m crazy in love with both of you. You both bring something different and unique to our relationship. I feel so strongly about having Valic that I don’t know if I would stay with you without him, or stay with him without you. I see you as a package deal.”

  Seeing the slight edge of worry wiped from his longtime friend’s face was such a relief. Gathering his wits about him, Haroc continued the conversation. “We asked ourselves how another drone would fit into our relationship and I think we’ve had time to think it over. I think we should each be honest about how we feel about adding a fourth and about adding Talon in particular.”

  A silence hung in the air, which was broken by Valic. “I find myself feeling quite selfish. If we accept a fourth I will be forced to share my space with him, since Haroc is your queen maker.”

  “I don’t make differences between you and Haroc.”

  Pure joy slammed through Haroc’s chest when the import of her words finally registered with Valic. His friend looked away and seemed to be getting his bearings before speaking again. “I can never give you female children, therefore I am intrinsically less valuable to you than Haroc. I understand my place.”

  “You really don’t, cause I’m telling you straight up that I don’t value you any differently than your friend. As far as not giving me female children, humans don’t make differences between girls and boys. Male chi
ldren are just as important. In the history of humans, we once placed a higher value on male children, but such has not been the case for at least fifty years.”

  Valic tilted his head and fought back the emotions he was clearly feeling. “Thank you for clarifying your stance on this issue. I still have no wish to share you with anyone but Haroc.”

  Haroc spoke softly. “I am willing to share you equally with Valic but I think that I would grow to resent another person. Valic and I were raised together like hatch mates, we trained together and were assigned to be an elite fighting unit. We care for each other deeply and normally share everything. Therefore, it is natural for us to share you. Talon is an honorable drone, but after having had you in our arms, seeing you with another would wound me.”

  Nodding, Ember spoke somberly. “I honestly don’t want another clan mate. I was under the impression that to get the two of you, I had to accept your clan leader. I was willing to try my best to learn to care for him so I could keep you both close. The thought of losing you pains at my heart. Is it possible to accept another female into our clan for Talon?”

  Shaking his head, Haroc explained. “The only purpose of a clan is the care for their female. If you truly do not wish another member, we would be better served to withdraw from the clanship and form our own family unit.”

  “I hate leaving Talon out but it looks like he has other interested parties.”

  “Talon has many interested parties, all too young to clan.”

  Grinning like a mad fool, Ember quipped. “You got to hand it to young women who know what they want.”

  “Our drones shy away from queens that have not seen at least twenty summers.”

  “Well, it looks like that girl is hanging in there for the long haul.”

  Valic asked, “So shall I list our queen as the clan member when I register our clan?”

  Ember replied casually. “I think we should register as a tri-bond where everyone is equal partners.”

  Haroc nodded his approval of that plan. “I will contact Talon myself.”

  Ember cautioned. “Do not forget to list Dargon as sentinel.”

  Valic screeched a laugh. “Armon is going to skin him alive.”

  “Who is Armon?”

  “Armon is Queen Penny’s Golugua. Dargon his nephew, the one who is always in trouble and the one they barely claim.”

  “Well, I like him. You are going to have to talk to him about licking his privates in public, cause that’s a deal breaker for me.”

  Haroc laughed. “They all do that, and many other offensive things as well.”

  “Roger that. I’ll try not to look but you know he has some huge gargoyle junk. It’s hard to miss.”

  “You are not the first human to compare the Golugua to that particular mythical earth creature. At least he spends most of his time observing, rather than talking. My spawn mate’s Golugua is tiresome, arrogant and condescending. I don’t know how Arac manages him.”

  Chapter 15

  Manning Up

  ~ Haroc ~

  Music Mix

  Ember asked curiously. “So are there nights when we just hit the sack or sex always going to be on the agenda.”

  “If you do not have sex with us, we will just have sex with each other.”

  Bolting upright, his new queen’s eyes flew open. “Really?”

  Laughing, Haroc shook his head. “I was attempting to make an Earth joke.”

  “Shoot, I thought that I’d get to see you two kissing for sure.”

  “No kissing, but if you are nice to us, perhaps you can chose what you wish us to do together this night.”

  “I wish to do to you what Valic did to me with his mouth.”

  Both men bolted upright. Haroc whispered, “I was not done before the human queens came to our home world. My spawn mate invented the reverse Halabow.”

  “Human women have been doing that for thousands of years. Your brother is probably great and all , but did not invent oral sex.”

  Valic gasped. “It sounds so naughty when you say it like that.”

  A soft smile slipped onto her face. Tilting her head, her voice dropped. “It is really naughty. I like getting on my knees before my clan mates. I know you’ll both look really sexy with your clothes off, waiting patiently for me to pleasure you. I’ll use my mouth on Haroc and my hands on you, at the same time.”

  Suddenly, Haroc was rock hard. “You would kneel before a drone?”

  “Heck yes. I love the idea of worshiping you that way.”

  Haroc groaned. His new queen was naughty in addition to being flirtatious and fun loving. She was making it very hard to be a responsible drone this night. Forcing himself to do the right thing, he jerked his head toward the cleansing room. “Go, enjoy some time with, Valic. I must communicate our decision to Talon, register out clanship and speak with my father about the queen we captured.”

  Ember frowned. “I believe the word you are looking is rescued, not captured.”

  “Yes. That is the word I will use. All will be well in that regard, my queen. Now go, before I shirk my duty in favor being worshiped by you.”

  “I plan to do a lot of worshiping.”

  “Then I must make sure I earn such devotion.”

  Valic stood, scooped their queen up and strolled into the cleansing room with her. Once the door slid closed behind them, Haroc forced himself to the task at hand. Talon’s angry face came up on the screen, and Haroc spoke. “Greetings, Talon.”

  The man’s face fell. “I am no longer being addressed as clan leader.”

  “You will always be a close and respected friend. Please do not think for a moment that you are being respected personally.”

  “Can you tell me why?”

  “Our queen came into our bed immediately and into our hearts shortly after. The human queens are so open to loving us, share themselves freely, and become attached so quickly.”

  “This I have noticed as well. It is a constant source of amazement to me.”

  “Our new queen is a very practical person. It honestly came down to something as simple as getting used to having us on either side of her while we slept. Sleeping together involves a very specific ritual for human queens. They like to press their bodies to us for warmth. She became accustomed to having Valic on one side and me on the other. If she but had a third side, I’m certain she would have been happy to have you there.”

  Talon’s expression shifted from angry to curious and finally to amused. “I must say that I am relieved that it wasn’t me in particular.”

  “How could it be? She never even met you.”

  “In that case, I wish you well with your new queen. Don’t forget to register your new clanship.”

  “My queen wishes to call it a tri-bond. Apparently, there is some limited familiarity with the concept of mating between three individuals on her home world and that is the term they use for it.”

  “I will add that to the registration form right away. Perhaps offering a more familiar family configuration will lure more of the too us.”

  “Those were my thoughts as well. I have a several other matters to make you aware of. Queen Penny messaged our queen to warn her that you clan was not available for mating and that she had already staked a claim on you. Though our decision had already been made by that time, I think that if you wish a human mate you will have to deal with her interfering in your mating.”

  “That youngling is annoying persistent, but I never thought she would be so bold.”

  “One has to wonder if your life wouldn’t be easier to just accept her.”

  “She has only seen eighteen summers. She will not be ripe for mating for another two seasons.”

  “Not to be disrespectful, but she seems more than rips now. Humans mature on a different time line and eighteen is the age of choosing.”

  “It seems wrong. What else did you wish to discuss?”

  “The human male is well a
nd will be joining our extended clan. We expect him to be accorded all the rights as other members of our clan.”

  Talon sighed. “I have been thinking on how to proceed with this. Our world needs citizens desperately. We do not yet have enough warm bodies to fend off a full scale invasion on our own. It matters little the person’s genetics, so long as their heart and loyalty are to our people.”

  “Dark has fought at my side and killed to protect me and my new queen. I trust him to do right by us.”

  “I will make it known that he is considered a citizen of our world.”

  Swallowing hard, Haroc stated cautiously. “You may wish to brace yourself for the following report. It is highly classified.”

  Talon’s expression filled with dread. “Speak.”

  “I was tasked with fending off an invasion by a young queen.”

  “Tell me that you destroyed her, Haroc.”

  “Better, we captured her and even now have her sedated in a medical unit aboard one of the Shardon vessels.”

  Talon screeched his disapproval. “Why would you do such a thing?”

  “I have a short video for you see. Once you see everything will become clear.”

  After quietly watching the images of the young queen’s quiet plea for rescue or death, Talon’s eyes drifted shut. “Gods of chaos, do you even know what this means?”

  Haroc knew full well what it meant. “The symbionts are preying on our females, forcing the transition on them whether they wish it or not. They have enslaved our people for so long, no one can even now remember a time when we free of them.”

  Talon’s eyes opened and his head dropped down as look of pure hatred slowly transformed his features from tame to fierce. “This means war.”

  “The Shardon healers are clever, resourceful allies to have. They managed to remove the parasite from the Maruvian queen’s body. I am certain she will prove her worth in the coming war.”

  “She seems so innocent and normal compared to the Maruvian queens we’ve known.”

  “We’ve not ever known a Maruvian queen, only their symbionts.”

  “All her drones have aligned with us?”