“Those who know the Casiquas could never feel that way. Does he think his ability would be presented differently when Ayana cannot conform? It would be better to cut your losses and begin with a mate you can bond with.” Tian brushed his fingers through Sharell’s hair, and the warm smile she gave him brought a smile to his face. “Our mate has suggested her friend from the Manerea might be interested in joining us on Actana.” Sharell’s smile and hopeful glance at Nisanta overshadowed his jealousy.
Tian felt only a moment panic from Chaya. “It would please our mate to have Janella so near. Be forewarned, even these primitives have limitations.” Sharell’s smile faded to a scowl, until Chaya winked at her.
“Jerk.” She returned her attention to Milana’s painting.
The second twins were called into chambers, and no one noticed Ayana’s shimmering presence follow them into the hall. Much of what was discussed confused her, but she did gather that within the week she was being taken away from her mate, Chaya, for failing to bond with him. Ayana felt heavy sadness at her failure to escape the guards and win him from her pretty sister.
Chapter VII
Over the next few days, Ayana escaped to join Sharell when she was alone outside council chambers. She remained in fade, and spoke with her about the beautiful gem stone fields in the outlands close to the finions. Sharell’s talent with painting was minimal and she became frustrated watching the Actana mates’ pictures evolve. She was left for hours on the portico while Tian and Chaya discussed the journey to Rashilla Three when the other two ships were in orbit. Eventually, Sharell spent most of the time absently adding color and listening to Ayana speak of her adventures.
“Come see the pretty, pretty,” Ayana coaxed.
She always spoke in a whisper, and Sharell decided Ayana was either observing the relative silence while the women worked, which was doubtful, or she was trying to evade detection for escaping again. Her twins never seemed to be searching for her, so Sharell decided it was probably easier on everyone to let her have her excursions.
“I can’t,” Sharell whispered back. “Tian and Chaya will be coming for me soon.”
“Hours.” Ayana pointed towards the sun and shadows. “We’ll be back.”
Sharell really wanted to look more closely at the fascinating field of jewels. She gazed at the muddy scene on her canvas and frowned. “Just a quick run, Ayana. I’ll probably get into trouble for this.”
“Quick run to pretty, pretty,” Ayana agreed. Her lavender eyes became visible narrowed slits for a moment when Sharell whispered to Milana.
“I’m taking a walk. I’ll be back shortly.”
Milana had seen the purple eyes. Trained to perfection, she withheld a gasp of surprise. She had not seen the Casiqua in fade before. “Sister, you do not have your mates’ permission to leave the portico.”
“I suck at this, Milana. I need to clear my head and try something new tomorrow.” Sharell scanned the women, all intent on their artwork. “Maybe I’ll join Farisa and the weavers.”
Milana had no idea how to deal with her distressing circumstance. Mates just did not disobey their twins or walk anywhere without one of them present. Sian was always with her to handle questionable situations, but it would be a while before he left chambers. While this ran through her mind, she sat silently with her brush in her hand and watched Sharell slip around the side of the stone building.
There was excitement in Ayana’s voice. “Come see pretty, pretty.”
They walked quickly down the pathway, slipping behind vistanza bushes whenever they heard voices approaching. Soon, the shadows and trunks from the trees opened to afternoon sunlight sparkling across the field of multi-faceted jewels. It was beautiful and covered with emerald brezans, ruby cillians, sapphire lirellias and nelam diamonds. In the distance, the shuttlebay rose from the landscape with the larger cavern containing the Cathisis further beyond.
The field of jewels had been swept to the sides, forming a walkway to the ships. Sharell lost herself in picking up gems to study, and replacing them as Ayana led her towards the spacecraft. When they reached the shuttlebay, the Cathisis seemed much closer. “Can we walk over to the ship? I want to get my reading tablet.” Sharell counted on Ayana knowing how to lead her through the confusing corridors to her twins’ room. She knew the Casiqua spent most of her time on board roaming to different areas.
Ayana’s eyes lit up and she nodded. Sharell noticed the woman seemed to enjoy constantly changing her appearance to match the gems surrounding her. It took thirty minutes to reach the Cathisis, and another hour to walk around the huge ship and finally admit there was no way to enter the sealed vessel.
They left the hangar, and Ayana pointed to gems sparkling off the cliffs. Sharell smiled and followed her, climbing the rock to the entrance of a small cavern. The gems embedded in the walls were exotic and so different from those on the ground. Sharell lost track of time while she discovered the beautiful colors and textures of the stones. When she glanced towards the entrance of the cave, she panicked at the sight of the sinking sun. “We have to go back. Ayana, we need to go now.”
There was a growl from the dark passage off the cavern and Sharell’s stomach rolled. Though frightening, it was not the slithering sound of the pelach waking to make their journey to the finions that caused her terror. This panicked her, but what made her freeze was the look of triumph in Ayana’s lavender eyes as she spread against the wall and faded to shimmering gemstones. “Mine. Chaya is mine. I win, sister.”
It had been so easy to fool the primitive, Ayana was almost disappointed. She thought the game would last much longer. Still, she was excited at the thought of Chaya finally claiming her. He was a strong, intelligent warrior, able to capture her when the others had failed aboard her ship.
She had infused her scent into his thoughts and he could always find her. Ayana had shown her intelligence by escaping the guards, and her devotion and commitment by winning this contest over Sharell. Ayana watched excitedly as the lizard beasts moved forward, their razor teeth and claws shining like the silver gems she had blended in with.
Sharell searched her mind for the bookcase and drapes and the child’s voice that always comforted her. They were gone. She felt a blast of tranquility from somewhere in the distance. Calm yourself, Sharell. We are coming for you. Sharell recognized Tian’s voice, and she sat in a corner silently crying while the vicious creatures slid over the mouth of the cave.
Ayana was livid. Why do they not attack?
Pelach had pitiful senses. They were blind, and their hearing and ability to scent was poor. Just from the masses pouring out of the cavern, a few had brushed against Sharell’s folded legs, leaving cuts from their rough hide. Towards the back of the herd, the older animals moved more slowly. One lifted his pointed snout smelling the blood, and his beady red eyes turned in Sharell’s direction.
* * * * *
Tian and Chaya panicked when they left council and found Milana sitting alone. The first twins came running out when Sian felt Milana’s terror. Chaya stood over her glaring while Tian held his brother’s fisted hands by his sides.
Sian ran to her, washing her with comfort, and she burst into tears and buried her head into his chest while he wrapped her into his arms. She was shaking, and Laiya reached down and swept her into his arms. “Why are you frightening my mate?” he demanded.
“Sharell is gone,” Chaya blurted.
“Our mate is not charged with watching her,” Laiya answered. A part of him knew it had been an unspoken agreement that the two women would remain together, but his instincts forced him to protect Milana. He stormed to the finion with his trembling mate in his arms.
Farisa walked over, frowning. “I thought she was painting. Perhaps she grew tired and returned to your pod.” Danilo and Enilian left council and stood beside her.
Tian shook his head. “Sharell would never ride the lift alone. I’m checking the baths.” He dashed off, and Chaya scanned the remaining women,
hoping for a glimpse of long dark hair or flashing green eyes.
Danilo finally talked them into returning to the gathering room to decide what to do. Tian caught up to them when they boarded the lift. “She would never go up by herself.” He felt a sense of dread he tried to hide from Chaya, and searched with his mind. There was no sign of her and he felt empty.
They walked into the gathering room to find their brothers and Milana. Laiya was lowering the screen and Sian said, “Milana is too upset to tell us what happened. You scared her, Chaya.”
Chaya paced around the room. “I’m sorry, brothers.” He turned to face them, and both of them recoiled at the fury and worry in his eyes. “My mate… Sharell. Does Milana know where she is?”
Milana was trembling and quietly crying, despite Sian’s attempts to calm her. Her watery eyes looked towards the screen and she fast-forwarded until the slit of Ayana’s eyes appeared over Sharell’s head. It took a moment for her own mates to see them, but Chaya noticed right away.
“Ayana? Her twins brought her to the portico?”
Milana shook her head. She reeled the scene slowly so they could see Sharell lifting her arm to the invisible hand. She was being tugged towards the side of the building. She quivered, and absorbed tranquility from Sian and wound back to Ayana coaxing Sharell to join her.
Chaya watched the confusion fill Milana’s face when the two women walked off. She was so upset she trembled and laid her brush down, staring at the entrance to the council chambers and obviously wishing her mates would come to her and explain what to do. Chaya threaded his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry, my brothers.” He broke formality and looked down at Milana. “I’m sorry I upset you. There is no way you could know what to do, and you are forbidden into council.”
Laiya said, “Milana, do you know where Ayana has taken her.”
In a whisper she answered, “To the outlands. I think Sharell might try to get her tablet from the ship. She wanted to share her books with me.”
Danilo could already see the shadows drawing longer outside the window. “Milana, how long have they been gone?”
“A long time, dark father.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “A very long time.”
There was commotion on the lift platform and Danilo walked outside. They heard his voice thunder a moment later. “We know she is gone. She has convinced Sharell to walk into the outlands. Why did you not report her missing?”
Nisanta’s voice traveled through the open door. “My brother has told me she has left every day I have traveled to council. He thought she was hiding to watch me.” His dark twin was in their pod, too embarrassed to face the quorum with his failure.
Chaya felt a rush of terror and realized it came from Tian. He turned to see his face pale and his eyes midnight blue. “What is it?” Tian said quietly, “Calm yourself, Sharell. We are coming for you.” He shook his blonde mane and stared at his light father. “She is terrified, and I have taken her comfort of hiding in her mind. On board the Cathisis I replaced it with the promise of my comfort… and now I’ve left her alone. I have dissolved her past passages so completely, I can read her thoughts.” He stared at his brother. “Chaya, I can twin-speak with her.” He had never known it was possible.
Can you find her? Tian, do you know where she is?
God, Chaya. She is hiding in a pelach cave.
No one asked what the silent exchange had been. The sick look on Tian’s face and the utter panicked fury in Chaya’s said as much as to them as stripping off their tunics in front of Milana and donning their hunting vests. They grabbed their weapons and ran to the lift.
Danilo and Jifa watched them run by, and they dashed to their pods to organize the band to go with them. Two men alone on the outlands after dark was suicide.
Tian almost stumbled as they ran to the caves and he felt his mate’s mind freeze in shock. Something was sending her spiraling down her safe tunnel again, and she was fighting its safety to stay with her twins. Tian felt her presence and he pointed. “That one.” Already pelach swarmed from the opening.
Chaya and Tian burst into the cave followed closely by Laiya and Nisanta. Bringing up the rear were Danilo and Jifa. All wore open black vests, and Sharell saw sweat mixed with the light spray of blood across their muscles. Even Tian, blue eyes dark and dangerous in anger, his blonde waves a wild flying mass, had a look every bit as terrifying as the dark twins. Nisanta was just as angry. His dark twin remained outside to dispatch any pelach that returned to their den early.
Tian swept Sharell up into his arms, infusing her with love and tranquility, while Chaya stepped forward and grabbed Ayana around the neck and peeled her away from the wall. She shimmered to visibility and stared at him through wide, panicked eyes. “I win,” she quivered. “I win my mate from my sister.”
“Chaya, please,” Nisanta gasped, watching Ayana’s eyes begin to shudder closed.
Danilo stepped forward. “Chaya, stop, son. Listen to what she has said.”
Chaya loosened his grip on the strangling Casiqua. “I am not your mate,” he growled.
“You found me. You searched my ship and you found me,” she persisted. “I am yours. Have I not won the game against my guards to join you? Many times I have done this.” Tears spilled from the lavender eyes, and her face filled with despair.
Danilo could see the confusion in the young woman’s eyes. “Ayana, who is your mate?”
“It is Chaya. He found me,” she trembled.
“I am your mate,” Nisanta stated, once more trying without success to calm her with his abilities.
Ayana sneered at him. Through angry tears she hissed, “You are not worthy to guard Chaya’s mate. You are stupid, and your brother cannot protect what he cannot find. Only Chaya carries my scent to see me in fade.”
Chaya, that explains why you kept finding her. Tian had often wondered why his brother could locate her and yet Tian never sensed her.
“Your Commander did not explain this to us, Ayana.” Chaya understood the uncomfortable truth that Ayana had always thought she belonged with him. I put our mate in this risk.
None of us could have predicted this, Chaya. She thinks she has failed you, and failed herself by not proving worthy enough for you to keep.
“Ayana, with so many more women than men, how do you choose your mates?” Danilo asked. He felt a sense of dread, and a building urgency to get to Rashilla Three.
Ayana shrugged and wiped her eyes. “Our males choose their women, and the one who survives is strong enough to be claimed by him.”
Jifa’s eyes widened. “You murder each other?”
Ayana’s brows knit. “We challenge each other with contests. As with all species, the smartest and strongest survive to breed.”
“And the males choose who will fight for them?” Danilo turned to Jifa. “The Casiqua men might be choosing Earth women. They will never stand a chance against the Casiqua women fighting for them.”
Sharell had calmed in Tian’s arms. He refused to put her down and was anxious over the scrapes on her legs. Sharell looked at Ayana. She should be royally pissed off, but instead she felt an overwhelming sadness towards her. “Ayana, the Actana are different. Their rules are different. I am only beginning to understand them.” She struggled, until Tian finally let her stand. “Ayana, if you rejoin your people, will you have a chance to find another mate?”
Her face brightened to a smile. “Yes. I have not scented a Casiqua.” She turned to Chaya. “You do not want me?”
Danilo answered. “You are a fine competitor, Ayana, and you fooled us all. But here, Chaya and Tian have chosen Sharell even before your contest began.”
“Will you tell my people I failed?” The news would set her at a decided disadvantage. Her thoughts dropped from Chaya. At least, even though she lost, Sharell would not kill her. She thought of Veprana, a man from her ship.
Danilo said, “We will tell them the Casiqua are incompatible. You will all be returned, so it will not appear any hav
e failed.” He was certain that when the council realized how dangerous the species was they would want them off planet immediately.
They returned to the finions and the decision was made the next day at council. Even if given the choice, all twins decided to return the Casiquas. The Cathisis took the entire group of them, and Sharell was once more on ship. The Fontisa and Naresis trailed behind. It was agreed all three Commanders, accompanied by twins for security, would go on planet to meet with the Casiqua Commander and Earth Chairman.
Nisanta and his brother joined in Chaya’s quarters for meals, leaving Ayana locked into a cage in their room. They would not risk her escaping to hurt Sharell again, though she seemed excited to be rejoining her people. It gave Sharell time to tell Nisanta about Janella. They laughed over the stories on the tablet, and she assured them Janella read them too.
Fighting had already broken out on the surface of Rashilla. The Casiqua women were transported down and simply released. Finding the Earthlings barricaded in their ship had not been much of a surprise. Apparently, Officer Metzer had been marked quickly by a Casiqua male when she left on a patrol. She had not been seen in three weeks. A woman from Navigation, Cynthia, had also disappeared when she slipped out to look for her friend.
While the women were terrified to leave the vessel, most of the men had deserted the ship. The Casiquas had established settlements, and they found themselves courted by several sexually talented women. Turquoise skin and baldness aside, the men had little to do except lay down and be sexually satiated. It sure beat the hell out of working prison shifts for Manerea.
Jerome was livid. Attempts to meet with the Casiqua Commander had been snubbed, and he stormed down the corridors of his ship cursing the Actana’s duplicity. He was still eating crap from the meal packs and sat for hours looking out through the viewport at the depressingly empty landscape. Even Bruce had opted to leave and meld with the Casiquas. He was now liaison to the alien Commander who was trying to negotiate for control over the Manerea.
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