“Why don’t you just grab a line on one side and pull?” Alek asked, shrugging. “See where it leads. If it doesn’t lead anywhere, I’d say we have transmit boosters. I don’t know what a transmit booster looks like, but we can send the boys out to look for one in the trees or wherever.”
“Apparently checking the line that way will take longer. Aeron ordered a ground imager but it won’t be here until after the baby comes. She is very focused on getting this done. Now.” Bron looked at them hopefully, an almost desperate plea on his face as he wanted to please his pregnant wife. “So have you seen the updated plans?”
“Updated as in the ones from fifty years ago?” Mirek frowned. “Did we even have plans? I don’t ever remember seeing them. I seem to remember Sper just making it work. He’d go out with tools and come back later with everything working again.”
“Alek?” Bron prompted.
“No clue,” Alek said. “I think Sper kept all the plans in his head. When he died, he took the information with him. Though, come to think of it, after he died the network stopped breaking down so much. I wonder what that man was doing?”
“Intergalactic transmissions,” Mirek answered. Sper never married, never even tried to marry. He was a very rare exception to the Draig culture in that way. “Something he called moving, moodies, movies?”
“Blast!” Bron frowned. “That’s what I was afraid of. Aeron is not going to be pleased. She is a very organized woman.” To Mirek, he said, “She was always like that, but it’s getting worse. At first, she just arranged clothing in the closet according to styles and color. But then I caught her trying to alphabetize your giant trade agreement reports in my office in the middle of the night.”
“Wait until your bride starts hiding your favorite throwing knives,” Alek said. “I wish Kendall would merely reorganize reports.”
“I believe that is part of the joys of pregnancy,” Mirek offered. “I’m told women do that kind of thing.”
“Kendall is doing many strange things. When I threw a couple knives in the house she scolded me for ruining the wood on the new throwing post. Then she tried to take away all the sharp objects and put them really high in the home so not even I could reach them. How’s it going to be a throwing post if I can’t put weapons in it and soften it up for my boy to learn? And how is my son going to reach the weapons if they’re glued to the ceiling? You’d almost think she didn’t want the child to have a sharp blade.” Alek took a deep breath and lowered his voice to a near whisper. “Then, as I’m rubbing her wonderful giant belly and tell her I want at least thirteen children, she tried to hit me with a plate of chocolate and an ore sample she was looking at. My Kendall is not a violent lady.”
The fathers-to-be shook their heads, completely at a loss.
“One visiting dignitary told me he and his wife called it nesting,” Mirek said. “Toward the end time women start doing strange things to the home. They can’t help it. You should probably help them. I don’t like the idea of my pregnant sisters climbing high and lifting heavy objects. They seem a little off balance of late when they simply walk down the hall.”
“Like a baldric slaughtering prey to make nest bedding,” Alek concluded. “That actually makes complete sense. Perhaps that is why she is putting the knives up high. She’s building a nest.”
“Nesting. Aeron has been taking all the covers and pillows and surrounding herself with them at night. And quite frankly, some of the strange things she’s been eating resemble food a baldric might enjoy—not in taste so much, but it looks disgusting. I think you may be right, Mirek. We should find a way to help them with this nesting process.” Bron shared a determined look with Alek.
“At times like this I miss our mother. She would have told us what to do,” Mirek said.
“How hard can it be to build a nest?” Bron’s bearing seemed lighter than before. “Mirek, thank you. I’m glad someone in this family understands these women things.”
Alek stood and spoke toward Bron. “You know, now that Mirek has something else to occupy his time, I’m guessing we can finally tell him we don’t really read those report things. No reports, nothing for your wife to organize.”
Mirek’s expression fell. “What? You nagged me for months to make fully detailed accountings of my trade missions and then you begged me for more…”
Bron smirked and looked guiltily away. Alek began laughing anew.
“Do you know how tediously boring those things are to write?” Mirek demanded.
“Not as boring as it is to read all two hundred pages of them,” Alek answered.
“You had me inserting dignitary eye color and breathing patterns,” Mirek growled and made a move to hit his brother. Alek dodged the somewhat playful attack and jogged down the hall away from them.
“You’re lucky I don’t feel like chasing you right now.” Mirek turned to Bron, unamused.
“To be fair, we never really thought you’d agree to do them, and then it just became kind of funny to see how much we could get out of you. You do take your work very seriously, brother. After a while, we didn’t have the heart to tell you to stop.” Bron held the parchments in front of him like a shield.
Mirek grumbled by way of an answer.
“Where are you heading? I figured you’d be locked inside with your bride. Do you have an appointment coming into our airspace?”
“No, all my appointments are via communications devices. Is Vlad home? I have some updated orders I need to tell him about. I want to make sure we can handle it while manpower is diverted to cleaning up the mine toxins.” Mirek reached over his head and stretched his sore stomach muscles. His wife might be insatiable, but he could hardly protest that she wanted him—in a variety of interesting ways and positions. “Vlad is at the mines with Kendall. Clara is here helping Alek with the ceffyls. Their new breeding program seems to be going well. Soon the far pens will be full of solarflowers and ceffyl babies.”
“And the mines? How’s clean up? I haven’t heard anything recently,” Mirek asked.
“Alek doesn’t want Kendall out there so close to her end time with the pregnancy. She, of course, ignores him and goes anyway. And now that her parents are no longer gracing us with their presence, Clara will go to Mining Village to stay with Vlad. I’m not sure when she leaves. They want to have the baby there with Arianwen as midwife.”
Mirek was excited for his brothers and prayed that he too would someday have a child to add to the family’s good fortune. Though, after what the Medical Alliance doctors had told him, he wasn’t sure if and when that would happen. Mostly, he tried not to think about it. “It makes sense that he would want to be near the village where he was born. And the miners love Lady Clara as their new protector goddess of the mines. It will be good for morale to have a village baby born after the alien invasion.”
“I’m going to get these old plans to Aeron. They’re not the newest version by any means, but maybe it will help her figure out what she needs to. She’s been sad today and won’t tell me why. I thought with Riona waking she’d be ecstatic. Though marriage is teaching me the more I think I know about women, the less I really do. I will consider this nesting and figure out a way to help her.” Bron adjusted the papers in his arms. “Since it appears Riona is well, we should have a celebration. Since we had to cancel the mining festival this year with everything happening, I think the people would love the chance to meet our wives. You should also send one of the runners down to the palace to deliver the news to the king and queen. They asked about you last time I was down there to discuss possible peace treaty implications with the Var. They’re worried about Riona as well and will be pleased to hear the family is finally complete.”
“Good idea.” Mirek nodded. “I’ll send a messenger today. And I’ll send word with Clara to the mines so Vlad will know about the new orders.”
“I’m sure it will be fine. We should have some surplus ore left over.”
Mirek didn’t bother to tell the high duke
that surplus often went away really fast when mining operations were stopped for long periods of time—like the months it took to clean up the mines from the Tyoe chemical dump.
Instead, Mirek said, “As to a celebration, maybe not so soon. The princesses are all pregnant, my sisters are pregnant and the new Breeding Festival is coming up in a few months. There will be much to celebrate, and finally a reason for Alek to reveal the contents and location of great-grandfather’s liquor stash.”
According to family legend, their great-grandfather had broken into the Var palace and stolen several bottles from the cat shifter king’s liquor storage. Alek had found where it was hidden and had lorded it over his brothers ever since, teasing them with what he claimed was a very fine bottle of Qurilixian rum.
Bron started to walk only to stop. “These are politically strange times, are they not? I think the gods waited to bless us this year on purpose to give us support and hope. We had aliens trying to take our mines. They kidnapped me and tried to poison the land in the process. It looks as if we will reach a peace settlement with the Var now that King Attor is dead.” He shook his head. “Though I welcome an end to our planetary battles, I don’t foresee peace lasting long. King Kirill is Attor’s son, and I doubt we can ever trust a cat shifter.”
“As long as they stay on their side of the planet…” Mirek let his words trail off. He didn’t really see peace lasting either. They had been warring with the Var for a very long time, so long that many didn’t even know why they were fighting. Luckily, the brothers didn’t see many battles being so far north. The king preferred they handle off-planet relations at the mountain fortress.
“Lady Riona, forgive me, I almost didn’t see you there,” Bron said, causing Mirek to turn his attention back around. “I am pleased to see you awake. I am Bron, married to your sister.” He smiled at her. Riona nodded and drew her arms close to her body in a protective gesture. Bron continued, “I didn’t have a chance to wish you many blessings on your marriage, but I offer them now.”
Riona nodded again. “Is my sister…?” She frowned. “Is she…?”
“Are you worried about her condition? I promise you, she is healthy. The baby is well. I have ensured she has the best medical care. Alliance doctors come monthly to check all of our wives.” Bron slowly continued to move away. “Have Mirek bring you by our home later. Aeron has been very anxious for you to wake up. She’s been by your side almost every day and she has terrorized your doctors to figure out what was going on with you.” Bron nodded at Mirek. “As has your husband. Between the two of them, I’m surprised the Medical Alliance will even agree to come back here.”
When Riona merely stood not really answering him, Bron left them alone in the corridor. Riona moved toward Mirek.
“You should have just asked him what you really wanted to know,” Mirek said. “You’re worried you hurt Aeron’s feelings.”
Riona didn’t meet his eyes.
“Would you like me to take you to her?” he offered. “I can show you which hall is hers, though maybe you already know? I’ve been meaning to ask, how did you make it outside? Most people are confused by our corridors if they don’t know their way around.”
“No one showed me,” she said. “I got lucky the first time and have a knack for memorizing my way around new locations. Today I just followed the same path and then heard you talking. I followed the voices.”
“You are very resourceful, wife.” Mirek reached for her cheek. His stomach might be sore and his body drained, but if she asked it of him, he’d go to her and make love to her again—anything to please her.
“What’s this about the Var?” She changed the subject. “The Galaxy Brides uploads said something about territorial skirmishes, but the way you were talking about peace treaties makes it sound like you are at war.”
“We call it war because we do not get along and fight whenever our paths cross, but the fighting has been more covert as of late. They try to invade us. We defend ourselves. They try to kidnap and kill our princesses, we kill their king.” Mirek motioned that Riona should walk with him. Instead of leading her deeper into the mountain fortress, he took her toward the home’s entrance. The corridor led to a larger one. “While we’re here, I should point out these five hallways—you know the way to our home, this center hall we came from leads to the common rooms. The first hall was Bron’s, but now that he is married he took the tower rooms so you go down that hall and then take the stairs up to see your sister. Second hall is Alek and Kendall. Vlad and Clara are on the end. If you take side halls they’ll lead to dead ends and mazes, so be careful.”
Riona nodded.
“And this way is outside,” Mirek said, before picking up the conversation where it had left off. “The Var have a new king. He claims to want peace, but we will see. Not many Draig will believe the cat shifters capable of honor.”
“So dragon shifter and cat shifters? Are there any other kinds on your planet?” she asked.
“Just beautiful women.” He gave her a playful look, grinning.
“So cat shifting enemies on the planet. Tyoe attacking from offworld. A plant that puts me into a coma. It doesn’t seem very safe here. Especially for me, since you can add killer dragon boys with rocks to my list of worries.”
“They meant no harm.”
Riona rubbed her scalp. “Tell that to my head.”
“You have nothing to worry about regarding the Tyoe. That threat has been taken care of.”
“So I guess Aeron was wrong. We didn’t really need to come here after all.” Riona paused as they reached the entrance. She looked around the yard, taking in the nearby forest and open sprawl of the valley. In the mountains, the trees were skinny and tall, not like the fat round trunks of the forest near the festival grounds. Noise carried better here. The mountain home blended with nature to create what Mirek thought of as the perfect balance of convenience and beauty. The shout of a young boy sounded from the far end of the valley and she stiffened.
“The gods brought you to me,” Mirek stated. In his heart he felt it to be true. To put her at ease, he tried to dismiss her fears. “As to other threats, I will give my life to protect you. Even the Var know women are special and to be protected. King Attor was a madman, but he is gone now. They won’t harm you. As for the yellow, you just need to avoid the forest by the palace where it grows. If you find yourself near it, don’t put your face on the ground.”
* * *
Riona eyed the part-reptilian, part-mammal creatures locked behind the wooden bars of the stalls. “So this is a ceffyl.” She glanced at Mirek. The bright sunlight from outside shone in the stable doors to frame his body. It obscured his face and distorted his figure.
“It is.” He tilted his head and yelled, “Out, boy!”
Riona jolted in surprise. A young boy popped out from behind a post and kicked at the ground as he walked out of the stables, making a wide arc around her. She automatically eyed his hands for rocks. He carried none.
“Like the mines, the ceffyls are a family responsibility. Alek manages the herds and breeding. Until recently, they’ve only had about a fifty percent live birth rate. If we lose a herd, it is not easy to repopulate since the beasts have a three year gestation period.” Mirek came next to her and lifted his hand toward the animal that had caught her attention. The animal slithered its long, narrow tongue in response. “You’ll want to move slowly until they know you better.”
“What happened recently?” Riona found the creature’s reptilian eyes fascinating.
“Clara has a form of telepathy and can communicate with the animals. She learned why they are obsessed with solarflowers—a native plant that normally makes them sick. However, it appears they need the flower for healthy pregnancies. So far, results of the new diet had been promising. Alek raised the birthrate to about seventy-five percent in less than a year just by changing their diet.”
“I know Kendall from the ship, but I don’t think she likes me very much. I don’t
remember Clara. I’m usually very good with faces and names.” Riona lifted her hand toward the beast. Apparently, she didn’t do it slowly enough, because it tamped the ground with its large hooves and swung its head side-to-side while backing away from her.
“She is from Redde and did not come by way of the same ship you arrived on,” Mirek answered. He slipped his hand under hers to hold it steady. The warmth of his body invaded her fingers, traveling down her arm to her side. She took a deep breath, smelling his familiar scent. Her body responded.
The ceffyl licked her fingers, ticking them. Riona pulled her hand back. “I think I can ride it.”
“You want to ride it? Have you ridden creatures like this before?” Mirek stroked the animal’s face.
“I’ll admit, the giant horn coming out of its head is daunting, but what’s a little danger?” Her heart beat in the familiar call of excitement. “Besides, when will I get another chance?”
Mirek dropped his hand. “What do you mean? There are always ceffyls here.”
Riona looked at the ground before forcing herself to meet his eyes. “Mirek, I know you want to be married. I get that. Your culture is very traditional and geared toward family. There is nothing wrong with that. You have good hearts. I can see that. Any fool could see that. But this isn’t my life. You said it yourself, every bride has a purpose here. Aeron is fixing communications. Clara is a ceffyl talker. Kendall is cleaning mines. I’m not really useful to onworld living. I can fly ships, but I really don’t want a job as a pilot. And I doubt you have use for a professional vagabond.”
“But the gods—”
“Mirek, please, listen. I really do like you. You’re a good man. I see that. This is nothing you did. I think the gods sent me to bring my sister and that’s it.” Riona still wasn’t sure she believed in gods and fate, but Mirek did with such conviction it was hard not to acknowledge the possibility. “If this is what Aeron wants, then I won’t interfere. I heard your conversation with your brothers. I know he cares for Aeron. She deserves to be happy.”
The Impatient Lord Page 11
