by J. S. Wilder
She looked at me in confusion, until I glanced at the back of the room. She smiled, understanding suddenly dawning. She rose and slowly walked to the back and sat down on Quilob’s lap. “I’d like to see Taluh Face,” she breathed.
I held my tongue, willing Quilob to say something, anything. “Please… come on,” I muttered under my breath too softly for anyone to hear.
“This is where you invite to take me, you thick-headed Eld,” Bleu said softly.
There was another moment of silence. “I’ll take you, Bleu,” Quird said.
“No!” Quilob said suddenly before Bleu could respond. “No. I’d like to take you, Bleu, if you’ll go with me.”
Bleu kissed him softly on the lips. “I’d love to.” She turned to me. “By your leave, my Lady?”
I gave them a wave of my hand. “Go.”
The cracks in the dam that formed when Quillat asked Garretu to Taluh Face finally gave way and the final four Waters asked the Estaans to join them on a date. I had to call a break because I needed a moment to get myself together. I had never been prouder of a group of people in my life.
I stepped into the hall, waving Peval back when she snapped into a battle stance and began to approach with a look of concern. I stepped a few meters down the hall and stopped, breathing hard, leaning against the wall as I tried to get control of myself. I didn’t cry, but it was near thing. The Waters had finally risen to the occasion, all because of an attack on me. I felt a new wave of tears threaten, but I fought them off, then laughed, my voice thick with unshed tears.
I’d never had one hundred percent success pairing up members of a class. Yesterday, if someone had told me the Waters would be the first, I would have laughed at them.
I took several deep breaths and I felt the rush of excitement start to overtake the tingle of pleasure that I sometimes felt when someone does something unexpected and pleasant for me. I still had a lot of work ahead of me with these Waters, but they’d finally taken the first step.
Taking a deep breath, I turned back and saw Peval standing, giving me space but watching me carefully in obvious concern.
“It’s okay, Peval,” I said. “We’ve just had a major breakthrough in there and I needed a moment to compose myself.”
“What kind of breakthrough?”
“What would you said if I said every Aquallian has asked one of the women to be his companion for the evening?”
She stared at me for a moment then smiled. “It wouldn’t be polite to accuse my Lady of lying.”
I giggled. “Had I not been in the room and seen it for myself, I wouldn’t have believed it either. But it’s true.”
“Why the sudden change?”
“The attack on Boforous. It, somehow, motivated the Waters to try harder, to go beyond themselves. I could tell as they did it, it was one of the hardest things they’d ever had to do, but they did it.”
She looked at me strangely then sniffed out a brief laugh. “The more I know about the Aquallians, the less I understand them.”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure I understand it either. It seems what motivates them is doing something for the greater good, or the good of others, or something. I don’t know, but maybe, with the help of these women, I can figure it out.” I smiled. “Maybe all they need is to feel like their mates need them to mate with them.”
Peval smiled. “I can understand that. I’ve met men that I needed badly.”
I grinned. “Yeah, but these are Waters. You can’t just walk up to them and say, ‘I need you to mate with me… right now.’”
Her smiled widened. “Their loss.”
I snickered and shook my head as I turned back to my pupils waiting inside.
-oOo-
I stepped into the ward where Tokalas was recovering. Unlike the last two times I’d seen him, he was awake, and like both times before, Henmop was there.
Henmop was a Peragin, a lovely people that reminded me of the Highland Scots more than anyone I’d met so far. Peraginisis was ruggedly beautiful but not suitable for farming or fishing. The Peoples there had become renowned for their animals and for food and products they provided. They were all kind, caring people that were gentle, yet fearless when protecting that which was important to them. They generally lived solitary lives in family groups as their families traveled over vast distances following their herds, living for a few months in one of their dozens of homes before moving on to the next.
Because of their semi-nomadic lifestyle, they weren’t firmly attached to any one place, like the Hedordians, and because their planet’s water was in millions of freshwater lakes, they viewed water more like the Fires, as a resource to conserve.
“Henmop, good to see you again.”
“The pleasure is mine, Lady Catherina.”
“How’s the patient?”
“He’s better,” Tokalas said.
His voice was far stronger than I would have expected and I give a small shake of my head in amazement as I smiled. He should be dead, yet in only a little over two days later he was sitting up in bed, talking.
“That’s good. You scared the shit out of me!”
He dipped his head. “My apologies, my Lady,” he said with a smile. “They said it would be two to three weeks before my heart and spine are fully healed, but by tomorrow I should be able to feel my legs.”
I gave him a pat on the arm. “Don’t push it. Take all the time you need.”
He nodded. “Henmop has invited me to Peraginisis as soon as I can move on my own.”
I smiled at her. “Are you going to go?” I asked, returning my attention to him.
“I think so. I’ve been relieved of duty until I am fully recovered. I’m sorry that I won’t be at your weak side, my… Catherina.”
“Don’t worry about it. Peval is still with me and she’ll take good care of me.”
“It’s bearing season. I’ll show him how to deliver a cyruh and maybe an aadumiter.” Henmop grinned at him. “We’ll see how tough he is then.”
I smiled as he rolled his hand over on the bed and she took it. There was chemistry between these too. I’d introduced them only days before the attack, but clearly, there was a connection there.
Henmop stood. “I have to go. I need to check on the pregnant females, but I’ll be back in a few hours.”
I saw Tokalas give her hand a squeeze before she released him. I stepped back to give them room. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and a smile before she stepped back. She turned to go then stopped and faced me again.
“I’m sorry. By your leave, my Lady.”
“You may go,” I said with a smile.
She stepped away from the bed, opened a portal, and stepped through, disappearing as if she’d stepped behind a mirror. I looked at Tokalas. He’d obviously been schooling her.
“I’m not her Lady, Tokalas. She doesn’t have to request my leave.”
I didn’t expect anyone to do that, but the Fires clung tightly to their traditions and I’d stopped fighting them. He looked at me, his eyes alive.
“I didn’t tell her she had to do that. She asked why everyone said that, and I explained it to her.”
I smiled softly. She’d done it for him. “I like her.”
He smiled. “So do I, even more than Lurell or Paulten. I’m just sorry that…” he paused and waved his hand over his legs.
“But you’re going to make a full recovery. If she doesn’t wait for you, she wasn’t the right one anyway,” I said as I gave his hand a soft pat.
“Yes. I’m hopeful that the third time is the charm.”
I smiled. “I think the chances are good. She invited you to her home, after all.” He crossed his fingers and I giggled. “Do you even know what that means?”
He smiled. “No, but I’ve seen you do it in situations when you want something to happen. If Lady Catherina does it, that’s good enough for me.”
I giggled again and crossed my fingers on both hands and held them up for him to see. “
For you, Tokalas.”
Fourteen
Stevan
“Rise and approach,” I said as Kergah knelt in the entrance. “You have news?”
“Yes, my Lord. There have been official requests submitted on seventeen worlds to call a council of thirteen.”
I frowned. “And?”
“And, so far, none of the leaders petitioned have elected to call for the council.”
I sat back in my chair and twisted my lips to the side as I pondered. The council of thirteen was the mechanism by which the Peoples ruled themselves. The leader of a People can call for a council to decide an issue. If twelve others elect to join, then the council is formed. Other Peoples can then present their arguments, either for or against the action. Once all arguments are heard, or the prescribed amount of time has passed, whichever is shorter, the council votes, and the result is considered binding on all Peoples.
A council wasn’t something to convene lightly, and it has been over seven hundred years since the last council voted. There’d been numerous attempts to call a council in the subsequent years, but all had fallen short of the required thirteen members. The dilemma was, do you call a council and hope a majority who support your position joins, or do you wait and hope twelve worlds refuse to join?
“Do you think anyone will call for the council?” I asked.
“I don’t know, my Lord. The attack on Lady Catherina makes it doubtful, but those that wish to have you removed were smart in quickly condemning the attacks.”
I rapped my fingers rapidly on my desk. “Fuck!” I snarled. Kergah looked at me oddly. “It means to mate with someone vigorously, but it’s also an expression of great frustration or annoyance,” I explained.
“Ah. A human word,” Kergah said, his voice flat.
I grinned. “Yes. Catherina uses it occasionally.”
“To mean mate vigorously or as an expression of annoyance?” he asked with a teasing smile.
I snorted in amusement. “Both. Fortunately, not at the same time.”
Kergah nodded as his smile spread. “If she were to do so, that would be most unfortunate.”
I snickered. “Yes… most.” I paused as I pondered the problem. “We’ll make no comment on this matter unless I’m called to present testimony. I knew this was a possibility, and I accepted the risk. I will abide by the council’s decision, no matter what it is.”
“An honorable decision, but you have no heir. To have the Lordship pass to Litherbatherytus Mewertherantiganly would be most… unfortunate… for the People of Firaspatciti.”
I nodded slowly. My line, the Gerretterdedsath line, had ruled Firaspatciti for over a hundred thousand years. We had wrested control from the Mewertherantiganly when their Lord hadn’t produced an heir before his death. By agreement, if the Gerretterdedsath Lord fails to produce an heir, the Lordship would revert back to the Mewertherantiganly line.
Nobody but the Mewertherantiganly wanted that. The Mewertherantiganly rule had been notable for its bloody wars and political backstabbing that had brought Firaspatciti to the edge off ruin, and nobody wanted a return to the bloody years, as they had become known.
“A problem to worry about another time,” I finally said.
Catherina had made it clear she wasn’t ready to bear children, and I hadn’t, and wouldn’t, urge her on the issue. We were still young and had plenty of time.
“Yes, my Lord.”
I smiled at my dearest friend. “Don’t worry. She wants children, just not now. She’s so consumed with this dating agency of hers, she doesn’t feel she has the time to raise a child.”
“My Lord, she would have the best nannies available to help her.”
I made placating gestures with my hand. “All this is known, but I won’t press her on this matter. She will be the one to carry the child. The choice must be hers, and hers alone. I’m confident she’ll tell me when she's ready.”
Kergah dipped his head. “As you wish, my Lord.”
I rose from behind my desk and clasped him by the shoulder. “No worries, my friend. Even if the council is called, I could still produce an heir before I am removed from my position.” I smiled at him. “Then you can advise and guide a new Lord with the same wisdom as you have me.”
“I’m not as young as I once was, Stevan.”
“I know,” I said with a smile. “But I think you have one more Lord in you, don’t you?”
Kergah smiled and grasped my own shoulder. “Perhaps. He, or she, will have difficult steps to follow in.”
I released his shoulder. “With your steady hand, I have no doubt he, or she, will surpass me.”
Kergah looked like he was going to say something, but released my shoulder instead. “By your leave, my Lord.”
I smiled. “Go.” When he turned away I spoke again. “And Kergah, thank you.”
He turned back to face me. “For what, my Lord?”
“For all you have done for me and the Firaspatciti People, and for all you will yet do.”
He gave me a fatherly smile. “I stand at your weak side, my Lord. I always will.”
Of that, I had no doubt.
-oOo-
I stepped into our quarters and barely had time to react when Catherina threw herself into my arms, covering my face in fast kisses.
“They’ve done it!” she cried before kissing me hard on the lips.
“Who, and what?”
“The Waters! Today they finally broke out of their shell and asked the Estaans out on a date!”
I’d been around her enough to know that date wasn’t just the name of an Earth fruit but was also another name for asking someone to be a companion for a time. She still fell into her Earth slang when she was excited, and I smiled at her. She was glowing with triumph.
“Excellent news! What did you tell them that did it? Was it the tales of the Amazons?”
“No! That wasn’t working very well either! It was nothing I did. It was the attack on me on Boforous.”
“I don’t understand,” I said as she squirmed out of my arms.
“I don’t either, to be honest. I still have a lot of work to do with them, but something about it snapped them out of whatever malaise they had gotten into. They’re not Fires, but for Waters, today they were acting like hulking brutes. Two of them even argued, briefly, over who would get to take Bleu to Taluh Face. You could have knocked me over with a feather when they did that.” She giggled. “That means I was surprised and shocked.”
“Ah,” I said with a grin. Another Earth idiom to add to my growing collection. “This calls for a celebration.”
She pulled at the hidden closure on my clothing, causing the fabric to immediately loosen. “It certainly does,” she purred, stepping in close. “You said two days. Have you rec—”
I cut off her question by taking her lips with my own and kissing her deeply. She pulled me in, her tongue darting. Catherina was a mass of conflicting desires. Some nights she wanted to be treated like an Aquallian and handled gently. Other nights she was Firaspatciti and demanded that I, to use her term, ‘fuck the shit out of her.’ Sometimes the challenge was knowing which she wanted, but her desires were clear tonight. Tonight she was a Firaspatciti.
As we devoured each other, I picked her up, carried her to our bedchamber, and threw her into the center of the bed. She bounced to a stop, then smiled wickedly as she rose to her feet and slowly disrobed and flung her garment into the floor, her eyes never leaving me and her small smile promising much pleasure. I disrobed, leaving my clothing on the floor then joined her in our large bed.
As I crossed the bed, she retrieved her mating blade and drew it from its scabbard, smiling at me as she taunted me with her blade. It had been months since we’d renewed our bond with our blades and I smiled. When she’d first started working with Peval, she’d been anxious to try her new skills on me. I had only allowed her to touch me with the blade, but I had thrilled in devastating her with my blade, watching her shudder in rapture as I plunge
d the projected blade deep into her body, trigging her nanites to give her pleasure, her cries of passion inflaming me until we tossed our blades away and I ‘fucked the shit out of her.’
I retrieved my own blade, smiling as I slowly drew it. She knew she was no match for me, and I was going to destroy her with pleasure. She smiled as she took a battle stance and flipped her blade over into attack position.
“Ready to get some?” she sneered, teasing me.
“Always. Have you set your nanites?”
She paused and I saw the playful sneer leave her face.
“No.”
I smiled and nodded at her, indicating I would wait while she set her nanites to prevent her pregnancy. She touched the control to trigger the nanites and brought the handle of her mating blade to her temple, but stopped before she touched it to her head. She lowered the blade and looked at it, her face twisting into something I couldn’t read.
“What’s wrong?”
She looked up at me. “I thought I’d lost you on Boforous.”
I smiled at her. “I’m still here.”
“I know. But what if…”
“Catherina, we’ve already been over this. Nothing is going to happen to me. I’m Lord Stevanualfutherac Gerretterdedsath, the mighty warrior!” I said with exaggerated bravado.
She looked at me and smiled, but the fire had gone from her eyes. I tossed my blade to the bed and walked across the soft surface.
“Come here,” I said, taking her into my arms. “Nothing is going to happen to me. I have my security force with me at all times. Nothing is going to happen to you either. We were complacent, and that made our enemies bold. But no longer. You’re safe, Catherina. You’re safe and I’m safe.” I pushed her back and tipped her head up so I could look into her eyes. “Have I ever lied to you?”
“No.”
“I’m not lying to you now.”
She nodded but tossed her blade aside. “I’m sorry. I’m suddenly not in the mood to use the blades tonight. Are you upset?”
She knew I enjoyed the blades, and it ceremoniously renewed our bond, but she was again in need of reassurance. The blades could wait.
