Acorus, speaking slowly, in the same language as before, told the group what the Council had decided. At various points in his speech, there were sighs and oohs and ahs from his audience. When he finished speaking he turned to Ileya and Jo and told them that they would go into the officer’s mess and have refreshments while the Chomanay decided what to do.
He gently helped Ileya to her feet and turning to Jo held out his hand to her. To Jo it felt strange that the ‘monster’ in front of her was behaving so gently. She knew it would take a long time to feel at ease with him in his body armour. With the guards following, they left the building. Jo noticed that Ileya moved very stiffly and when they got outside one of the guards went to the back of the vehicle and removed Ileya’s little hover scooter. Jo frowned; maybe there was more to Ileya’s stiffness than just age. However she didn’t ask any questions just walked along beside her.
As they moved towards the barracks there was a lot of jumping to attention and slapping of chests. Acorus simply put his right hand on his left breast, a lot easier, Jo surmised, than slapping up and down. They were met in the officer’s mess by a high ranking officer. He led them to a table that was laid with snacks and drinks, Acorus held a chair for Ileya and then just as naturally for Jo. Jo could feel the officer watching her but couldn’t work out what he was thinking.
Acorus gave permission for all the other lower ranks to sit and remove their helmets.
Soldiers acting as batsmen took each officers helmet and placed them on special racks at one side of the room. Drinks were poured and food was passed round. Jo sat there thinking what a contrast there was now, between the soldier’s heads, none of them ugly, and their hideous body armour.
She couldn’t help but notice the way all the soldiers kept looking at her and she started to feel very self conscious. She nibbled at the food, offered to her, but drank the wine gratefully. Acorus and the senior officer were talking in their own language, and Ileya was listening and occasionally, when deferred to, making a comment of her own, so Jo was left out, she realised not deliberately, but that didn’t make her any less uncomfortable.
Mostly she kept her eyes down, but occasionally couldn’t help looking up. As once again, she looked up; she locked eyes with one of the junior officers, and with sudden clarity could ‘hear’ what he was saying to one of his companions. She was so shocked at what he was saying that before she could stop herself she said, out loud “How dare you?”
Acorus stopped speaking and turned to Jo asking “What did you say, Jo?”
She looked down and shook her head “Sorry, it was nothing, I didn’t mean to speak out loud”.
The officer whose comment she had heard didn’t know where to look. He certainly didn’t dare to look at Jo. Acorus spoke to the senior officer who stood up and going to Jo said that they should change seats. She demurred but he insisted so she got up and took the seat next to Acorus.
Ileya turned to the officer and engaged him in small talk while Acorus looked at Jo and asked what she had meant by her ‘how dare you? Jo didn’t know what to say, how could she explain it? The last thing she wanted was to cause trouble, or anger Acorus which would be even worse.
As she was sitting looking down, saying nothing, Acorus realised that she was upset, not angry. He leaned closer to her and said “I can read your mind, something has upset you badly. Tell me or I shall have to spank you, in front of everyone!”
Jo looked at him in horror, her mind saying ‘Don’t you dare ‘at which Acorus burst out laughing. She looked at him again, in astonishment, and saw that his eyes were twinkling, so she started to laugh too.
“That’s better” Acorus smiled, then his tone changed and sternly he said “Now tell me what you heard that upset you enough to make you, snap, out loud”.
“I don’t want any unpleasantness, it doesn’t matter” Jo said.
To which Acorus replied “It matters to me. You are mine. If anybody insults you they insult me. Now tell me”.
“It’s silly” she answered “but I ‘heard’ someone say, if that were mine she wouldn’t be able to sit on that arse of hers, it would be permanently hurting”.
He frowned and said “You don’t speak Sceria. How did you understand what was said.
“I’ve been practising with Tchu. Both Sceria and telepathy and if I look straight into a person’s eyes, I can understand what they are saying. Don’t ask me how. I can’t explain Tchu might be able to but I can’t”. Jo tried hard not to let the tears start.
As she bit her lip and frowned to stop the tears, once again Acorus realised how much she meant to him.
Angrily he asked “Who said it?
Jo shook her head and told him that causing a scene would not help her position among his officers. Despite his anger he had to agree that she was right. He drank his wine and considered what he should do. Turning to Ileya he quickly told her what had been said. Then he told her what he’d like to do about. Ileya put her hand over his and nodded her agreement.
When Acorus stood up, Jo looked at him in horror. Was he going to make a fuss over what had been said? She went to put her hand on his arm but his look made her remove it quickly. Her heart was beating so hard she felt that she could hardly breathe. As she glanced sideways she saw that Ileya was smiling at her and nodding her head.
Of course when Acorus stood, all the officers jumped to their feet, but he raised his hand and told them all to remain seated. He spoke in English so she could understand what was being said. He reminded the officers of why the Earth females were on Scerior and that in only three or four more years the first female half breeds would be old enough to mate, at which there was a cheer from the younger officers. He also reminded them of the sacrifices those same Earth females had made for Scerior. Abducted, terrified, some ending up dead to the shame of the Sceriae. How those same females had, in the majority, become valued members of their society.
The young officer, who had made the remark about Jo, was sitting there with his head down, but somehow he felt her staring at him, and looking up found her eyes on him.
Jo could almost feel his shame and realised that he wasn’t being derogatory about her, just full of frustration at not having a mate of his own.
Then she heard Acorus say her name and dragged her attention back to what he was saying, “As you know, when the Chomanay, named Haaka attempted to kill me it was Jo, Jo-Anna, who spoilt his aim. But for her the Xenorii would be having a great feast in celebration of my death. When she was told why he had tried to kill me, her quick, logical, l mind worked out that to keep the Xenorii down and fearful of the Sceriae, the logical thing to do would be to rescue Haaka’s clan. As you know this we did successfully, and we destroyed an important part of the Xenorii’s fleet.
At this the officers were cheering and stamping their feet. Acorus gave them time to settle down then continued “Because of Jo-Anna’s important contribution to Scerior, never mind the fact that she is already with child” and he grinned wickedly as he said that, and the officers whistled and clapped again, causing Jo to go bright red and Acorus to laugh at her before he carried on, “The Council are allowing me to name her as my mate, second only to Lady Ileya, who holds Jo in high esteem. Next week it will be declared that the earth female Jo-Anna is to be named a citizen of Scerior with full Sceriae status. And in future will be named Lady Jo-Anna and honoured by ALL” and Acorus put full emphasis on ‘all’.
Jo looked around in amazement as, although shocked by Acorus’ speech, the officers all stood up and saluted her including the senior officer and Acorus. As she sat there looking round at all the young men, she felt as if she could burst with pride. To think that the hideous nightmare she had experienced, had ended up like this was mind blowing!
Turning to Acorus she thanked him for the honour bestowed on her, and told him once again that she loved him. To her delight he bent down and
whispered “And I love you too, I’ll show you how much later!”
Jo laughed as he raised a devilish eyebrow at her, then Ileya leaned over and congratulated her and Jo thanked her saying that she would strive to continue to deserve such honour. As the room settled down a soldier came in and going to the senior officer gave him a message. He stood up and told them that the Chomanay had reached a decision and were waiting for them.
Chapter 17
When they arrived back at the gymnasium the Chomanay were standing in rows waiting for them. As Acorus, Ileya, and Jo walked towards Haaka, he bowed deeply as did the rest of his clan. He spoke to Acorus in his own tongue, and when he stopped speaking Acorus turned to Ileya and Jo to explain what he had said. They had decided that it would be best for them all if they accepted the offer to stay on Scerior.
Acorus turned back to Haaka and spoke at some length. While he was speaking Jo was looking round at the females and youngsters. She could see that some of them had deep bruises on their skin, which wasn’t covered by clothes. She pointed this out to Ileya who turned to the senior officer and asked him what had been done to alleviate their pain.
Jo didn’t need to speak fluent Sceria to know what his shrug meant. Ileya spoke sharply to him and he in turn issued sharp orders to some of his soldiers.
Acorus turned to see what was happening and Jo pointed out the sorry state of some of the females. He looked around him, then turning to the senior officer questioned him in Sceria. By the time Acorus had finished with him, he was standing there rigidly. Jo could see that Acorus was giving him a good bawling out, so wandered away not wanting to be blamed for his telling off.
As Jo met face to face with one of the Chomanay females she put out her hands compassionately, and smiled sympathetically. She looked into Jo’s eyes and Jo could feel the pain she was in. By this time Ileya had joined her and she asked the female if she spoke Sceria. When she nodded Ileya asked her what had caused the terrible bruising.
She told Ileya that she was called Dhota and that she and her sisters had all been beaten and raped by the Xenorii repeatedly while they were captive. The ones who had fought hardest were dead, so she and her sisters were the lucky ones. By the time Dhota stopped speaking tears were running down her face. Jo found that she was crying copiously too and even Ileya had damp eyes.
Acorus saw that Jo and Ileya were distressed and went over to them. As he got closer Dhota tried to pull away from Jo’s hands, cowering in fear. Jo turned on Acorus and said “Can’t you see how these females are suffering. You look as terrible as I imagine the Xenorii do. You must all remove your helmets again, so that these females can see you are not a monster”.
Acorus was taken aback by her tone and also the tears still streaming down her face, but he saw that she was right, so he stepped away from Dhota and removed his helmet saying “There is no need to fear the Sceriae. We mean you no harm” you will be cared for and I hope you will be happy in your new home”.
Then turning to his soldiers he ordered them out of the gymnasium and ordered medical supplies to be brought in. Ileya turned to Dhota and asked her to get her sisters organised to enable them to be treated. Part of the gymnasium was partitioned off to give the female Chomanay some privacy, and when the medical supplies arrived Ileya started examining the females. Jo helped as best she could and some of the less wounded Chomanay helped too. Some injuries were pretty bad; a lot of them were bleeding from being cruelly raped.
Ileya cleansed cuts and bruises, and stitched deep wounds, administered drugs and painkillers. Jo pushed down her nauseous feelings at what she was seeing and worked hard alongside her. Acorus had sent his soldiers for clean clothes for the Chomanay and once their wounds had been seen to they were able to get rid of the rags that were covered in their blood.
By the time all who needed medical treatment had been, seen it was growing late, so with strict orders to the senior officer to make sure the Chomanay had a really good meal, Acorus insisted that Ileya and Jo had done enough and took them back to the villa. On arriving at the villa, Ileya excused herself, but Acorus insisted on seeing her to her quarters, so Jo entered her quarters by herself.
Tchu, Tjai and Tsu were waiting for her, and were horrified at the state she was in. They took her through to her bathroom, insisting that they undress and wash her. Jo allowed herself to be cosseted, partly because she was so tired and partly because she was upset at the injuries she had seen. The three Escorii asked no questions, just did everything they could to make her feel better.
When she was dry, Tchu slipped a fine lacy nightgown over her head and settled her down in bed. Jo tried to say she was alright and could eat at the table, but Tchu insisted that she let them look after her. As she lay back on her soft pillows, she couldn’t stop her mind going over what she seen and heard. When she thought how frightened she had been when she woke up in a spaceship, and had been treated with kindness by the Escorii, her imagination worked overtime at the thought of what Dhota and her sisters had been through.
She had been terrified at the thought of the ‘monster Lord general’ raping her, what must it have been like to be raped repeatedly, by a real monster?
Tsu who had gone to fetch food and drink, came back with a little table, set with the food and drink she had collected. The little table fitted perfectly over Jo’s knees. She had thought that she wouldn’t be able to eat anything but the smell of the food tempted her to try. Once she had started eating she realised how hungry she had been, she hadn’t eaten much at the officer’s mess as she had been upset by the junior officer’s remark. As Tchu and Tjai sorted out her dirty clothes and tidied the bathroom Tsu sat on the bed and chatted away about trivial matters.
When Jo thought how nice it was to be home, then frowned at herself, because home surely was Earth. Then she realised that now home was where Acorus was. When Tchu and Tjai came into the bedroom and she told them what Acorus had told the officers at the camp they gasped with delight. Not only was Jo raised in status, to be acknowledged as Acorus’s mate and called Lady Jo-Anna, but as her maids Tchu, Tjai and Tsu were raised too.
When she told them how the Xenorii had treated the Chomanay, all three lowered their heads in sorrow. But when Jo told them how Ileya had treated them with Jo helping, they told her how brave she was not to have fainted or be sick. As they chatted about Jo’s day the door opened and Acorus came in followed by Kheta. They headed straight for the bathroom and very quickly Jo heard the water running in the shower. The door opened again and Khala entered carrying food for Acorus, which he laid out on the table, then he too went into the bathroom.
Acorus came out wearing a kaftan and with a thank you to all the Escorii dismissed them. Going to the table he helped himself to food and then joined Jo on the bed, placing his tumbler of wine on her little table.
After he had satisfied his hunger he turned to her and said “Are you feeling alright Jo?
You’ve had a tiring day and must be careful in your condition”.
She laughed and said “It’s been an interesting day! I’m so proud of the honour that’s been bestowed on me, but the terrible state of the Chomanay females makes it shrink into insignificance. Once they are settled I will be able to enjoy my new status. I hope you understand”.
Looking at her with glowing eyes he replied “The reason you are being given this honour is precisely because of the way you think about others before yourself”.
He lifted the table off her lap, added his plate to it and getting out of bed, placed it on the dining table.
As he got back into bed he shrugged off his kaftan and turning to Jo took her in his arms.
She sank against him willingly and as he gently kissed her forehead, eyes and finally her mouth she responded with passion. With one sure movement Acorus threw off her nightgown and then he moaned as he felt her soft skin against his own. He ran his hands over her body, increasin
g her need to have him inside her. Then to his astonishment she pushed him onto his back and straddled him.
He went to pull her into his arms but she pushed against him and said “No, stay there, it’s my turn to ride you” and then she took him inside her and rode him until they both came together.
As she lay there on him, breathing heavily he lifted his hands up to her face and taking it in a gentle grasp turned it so they could see each others eyes. The love in his eyes made her gasp and tighten around him and he quickly moved his hands down her body so she couldn’t move.
“Stay still” he ordered “it’s my turn now” and he slowly moved in and out of her, causing her to moan with the need to come. Then he said “If you come before I give you permission I will spank you!” then he tormented her until she was screaming with the need to let go, and then he murmured “Come for me Jo” which she did in a gasping, twisting relief.
Chapter 18
Jo could hear drums. She had been floating along in a boat made of flowers, the sound of the water beneath the boat a gentle murmuring and then the drums started. She felt Acorus leap up beside her, and then she woke up fully, someone was banging on the door.
Acorus jumped out of bed and shouted “What is it?” while picking up his kaftan and pulling it on.
The door opened and Tsera gasped “Lord, it is Kylie. She is not well”.
At that Acorus strode to the door, quickly crossing the living room to Kylie’s room. Jo got out of bed and opening a cupboard grabbed a kaftan for herself. She hurried to Kylie’s room to find that she did look extremely ill. Her face was grey and she was moaning with pain.
Tsera was saying to Acorus that they had sent for Lady Ileya, and that they’d never seen anything like this before, and didn’t know what to do. Acorus was by Kylie’s side, holding her hand and stroking her head. Teya and Tsuma were wringing out cloths in cold water and bathing her body with them, trying to reduce her temperature.
Scerior Page 17
