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Icarus Rising

Page 15

by Bernadette Gardner


  Behind Jidar, Namara broke into a grin, joy radiating from her

  at the prospect of finally having a child of her own.

  "Unmated individuals will not be eligible for this part of the

  breeding program. Those who have not been mated from the

  last cycle will be assigned to human mates from among the

  list of volunteers assembled by Dr. Danson. He says there are

  already five more eligible candidates from the research team

  and dozens are on the way from the research colony on

  Daedalus."

  Now Zara's tears began to spill. In less than a year the

  Icarian aeries would ring with the cries of newborn babies. In

  ten years, scores of Icarian/human hybrid children would take

  to the air on the wings of their own symbions and hundreds of

  abandoned aeries would fill with families again.

  And somewhere, perhaps, her child and Caleb's would

  meet and become friends.

  "The two of you are unmated adults and therefore eligible

  for the original phase of the breeding program, only Namara

  convinced me that neither of you will be truly happy with

  Icarian mates."

  Zara swiped at her tears and glanced at Caleb. Would Jidar

  leave them unmated then?

  "Therefore I see only one solution, and that is to assign

  you to mate with each other."

  After a moment of pregnant silence while the news sank

  in, Namara clapped her hands. Clearly this was a battle she'd

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  Icarus Rising

  by Bernadette Gardner

  fought hard. Tears glistened on the Icarian female's cheeks as

  well, and breaking protocol, she jumped up from her

  submissive position and embraced her husband.

  After twirling his mate around and setting her back down

  on her feet, Jidar turned his solemn gaze to Zara and Caleb.

  "Perhaps you did not hear me?"

  Zara shrieked and jumped up also. "We heard, of course

  we heard!" She flew into Jidar's arms and hugged him

  fiercely, for the first time unselfconscious about his nakedness

  or her own.

  The Icarian leader embraced her for a moment, then set

  her down in front of Caleb. "Here is the man you should be

  hugging, Dr. Abbott."

  Zara did as her liege instructed and threw her arms around

  Caleb's neck. The Icarians did not have a marriage ceremony,

  only the decree of the leader, so in effect, as of this moment,

  Caleb was her husband. She hugged him, tears streaming

  down her face while she laughed and sobbed at the same

  time.

  "Yes, my liege, I'll be happy to embrace him forever."

  "I will expect in ten years to see your child on the edge of

  the royal island prepared to accept a symbion of his or her

  own," Jidar said, one pale brow raised.

  Namara squeezed Zara's shoulder and brushed her wing

  tips over Caleb's arms to show her joy and support of the

  union. They owed her a debt of gratitude. Clearly her opinion

  had influenced all of her mate's decisions today.

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  Icarus Rising

  by Bernadette Gardner

  "Of course, my liege," Caleb said as he grabbed Zara's

  hand and squeezed it. "We will get to work on that right

  away."

  With a wave of his wing, Jidar dismissed them. They ran

  laughing to the edge of the island and bounded off into the

  blue-green sky, sailing toward the brilliant sun and off into a

  glorious future together.

  The End

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  153

  Icarus Rising

  by Bernadette Gardner

  About the Author:

  An avid reader all her life and an aspiring writer since the

  age of ten, Bernadette Gardner realized her dream of

  becoming a published author in 2005. Inspired by the

  romance she devoured as a teen and the science fiction

  classics, she hoped to combine those elements into her

  stories. Since beginning her career, she has branched out

  from science fiction romance into paranormal, contemporary

  and even historical genres and hopes to continue bringing

  sexy adventurous tales to her readers for decades to come.

  Bernadette currently lives in the NY-NJ Metropolitan area

  with her husband of eighteen years, two creative children, a

  slightly neurotic Dalmatian and two spirited black cats. When

  not hard at work on a novel or short story, she spends her

  time reading, quilting and haunting the local craft stores.

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