“I’m not leaving you Becca, I love you, want you as my mate and want you to bear my children. My father and part of the army are returning to Scerior tomorrow, but I am staying here as Master of Earth. You will be my consort; one day our children will return to Scerior and there is no reason why we can’t visit. I’d love for you to see my planet but there is a lot we can do on Earth”.
“You can’t give up the crown of Scerior for me. I won’t let you”. Rebecca spoke emphatically. “You would grow to hate me as you got older, it is your birthright”.
“Actually it isn’t, Scerior has always had a queen. No male has a right to inherit automatically. If I gave you up I might never be king, so would have made myself miserable for nothing. I want to take care of Earth with you by my side, that is more than I ever thought possible”.
“But who will be king when your father dies?”
“He has tens of years ahead of him and I have many brothers, pure Sceriae. One of them could be king, who knows perhaps it would be one of their children. But it doesn’t matter, all that matters is that you love me. My father knows how I feel as he feels the same for Lady Joanna, he defied the council for her, refused to be our leader if he didn’t have her by his side. So you see, we have his blessing”.
Rebecca allowed a shadow of hope to show in her face, and he took her into his arms and kissed her. Then despite his best intentions he made love to her again, deep into the night, until they both fell asleep, sated.
Chapter 17
The morning came all too quickly for Allorus; from today he would have innumerable duties that would tax his patience and strength, and little time for wooing Rebecca.
Gently he kissed her awake and felt his body quicken as she smiled at him and stretched like a cat. She seemed even more alluring than usual and the thought struck him that she was starting to ovulate. To her surprise he leaped out of bed and said “Stay there, I’ll shower and dress then we must have a talk”.
Bemused, Rebecca was happy to sink down into the soft pillows and relive what had transpired the night before. She could feel that her body felt stretched and she ached in places she had never noticed before, but the fact that Allorus wanted her as his wife, or as he would say, mate, thrilled her. After losing her family she had longed for someone who loved her as they had, and hopefully she had found him. She was surprised when he emerged from the shower dressed in his armour.
“Aren’t we going to have breakfast together?”
He stood a distance from the bed and told her why he was leaving. Explaining as best he could he told her that she was about to start ovulating, today or tomorrow; then he explained what would happen if he made love to her when that was happening and she would undoubtedly become pregnant.
Rebecca was surprised but she was a mature sensible young woman, and not ready to have children yet, so she told him she was pleased that he was so thoughtful about her welfare. Allorus raised the question of birth control and she agreed saying she’d look into it that very day. Pleased at the way she calmly accepted the fact of Sceriae mating practises he kissed her quickly on the forehead and explained that they mustn’t be alone together until she was safe.
Pouting she said “Well as long as you make it up to me when I’m safe, I’ll forgive you. However you’ve wetted my imagination and I’m looking forward to when we do want to have children!”
Allorus smirked and his ever ready shaft gave a lurch against his armour. “I’ll definitely make it up to you my love, have no doubt about that. Now I must go, remember, other Sceriae will know you are ovulating, so don’t get into an awkward situation with one, as you might be embarrassed at their reaction to you.
“Oh gosh!” Rebecca swallowed with visions of all the doctors and soldiers lusting after her. “Should I just stay in my room?”
“No, it is only mated pairs who have to be careful, no one will have the same strength of reaction as me. I love you Becca, never forget that, even though I may seem distant at times as I take over my new role”.
“I love you too and I understand how busy you’ll be, so go do your duty and don’t worry about me”.
When he left she got out of bed and going into the shower room stared at herself in the mirror. Her breasts were slightly swollen as was her labia but otherwise she was the same, but not the same. She felt more mature and she looked more sure of herself. She was a woman and not a girl anymore and she looked forward to the role she would play as consort to the Master of Earth.
Giggling at taking herself so seriously she showered and dressed, then headed to the canteen for breakfast.
***
The day proceeded in an orderly fashion; the ship from the Atlantic moved to America’s east coast and Allorus, his officers and men changed places with the other crew. Patients were moved either to one of the new hospitals or, as in the case of the women that the Escorii were treating to the ship that Allorus would live in. He’d had the captain’s quarters enlarged and prepared for the fact that Rebecca would now sleep there with him. A simple job thanks to the way rooms were made on the Sceriae’s starships.
She was excited at the thought of her new life but sad to leave Reed’s wife, who was well enough to return to life in one of the new towns. She would attend the hospital there weekly until the doctors thought that she was completely recovered. As Allorus’ mate she didn’t need to work, but Rebecca just naturally assumed that she would continue nursing the women that the Escorii would treat in the future. Allorus was pleased that she’d have something to occupy herself with while he was busy adjusting to his new role.
Jo was extremely busy making sure that all the councils in the new towns were introduced to the women taking over her role. She had chosen Natalie as the coordinator and spokesperson for all the councils, and was pleased that she got on so well with both Allorus and the new president of the United States of America. Both sides owed a debt to Natalie as she had been the one to get Acorus’ offer of help, against the Xenorrii, to the then president. Her father was a senator, highly thought of in the old government, and in the new.
Other countries had already got somebody in the role Natalie would take on and she seemed well able to communicate with different cultures.
Jo was sorry to leave Earth but concern for Scerior and her children came first. Without the Sceriae Earth would be at the mercy of the hated enemy. Finally content that she had done everything in her power to ensure that things on Earth would keep on improving, she sought out Acorus.
He was on the landing deck making sure that the officer there had everything stowed and secure when she caught up with him. When he saw her he left the officer he’d been talking to and strode towards her, “What is it Jo, is there a problem?”
“No, no problem. Everything has gone well and I am free of my duties. However, I wondered what you thought about having a ceremony handing over to Allorus as Master of Earth and naming Rebecca as his official mate?”
Acorus nodded “If you can arrange it quickly, we leave in ten hours”.
“I’ll get it sorted then. It will be best to have it on Allorus’ ship as we’ll be able to leave whenever we want, without halting the celebrations”.
She quickly sent messages to all the heads of state in the stable countries inviting them to a dinner to meet the new leader of the Sceriae on Earth. Most answered in the affirmative which meant that there would be forty heads of state, their partners and entourage to seat and feed. Their security guards Sceriae and human would eat in the officer’s mess; the Sceriae and Escorii chefs were used to feeding many hundreds so a hundred or so more would be taken in their stride. The Escorii changed the large central room into a dining room with a gigantic round table, to ensure their were no ruffled egos. Within three hours all was prepared and the heads of state were on their way. Jo then sought out Allorus and told him what was going to happen. To her surprise he frowned a
nd said “I wish I’d known sooner, What if Rebecca says no?”
“No to what?” Jo asked, perplexed.
“No to marrying me!”
“Marrying you?”
“Yes, as well as my father’s blessing of her as my mate, I’d like to marry her as a human would”.
“Oh!” Jo raised her eyebrows, “well off you go then and make sure she says yes, leave the padre to me. oh and tell her I’ll be along shortly with a dress for her to wear”.
Allorus opened his mouth, then saw the look in Jo’s eyes and surrendered, hurrying off in search of Rebecca.
Chapter 18
By the time the heads of state arrived all was ready. Acorus and Jo met them, dressed in ceremonial wear; Acorus had his navy blue dress uniform on and Jo matched him in a silver and blue gown.
The dining table gleamed in white linen and shining silver; a small dais had been placed at one side of the room, with large vases of flowers on either side and the padre was fussing about with candles. Allorus stood rigidly at one side, also in navy blue uniform and a young starship captain, similarly dressed stood with him, looking slightly bemused.
Once all were seated Acorus stood up and quiet descended “We are leaving you to go and find our mutual enemy, to rid the universe of their menace once and for all. Your countries are stable and with the force I leave behind all Xenorrii still hiding on Earth will be dispensed with forever. At your request we are leaving a Sceriae army to ensure that each nation can go forward as its people wish and not be overcome by a stronger nation. If you wish to save the human race you must befriend and support each other. You are too few to be at war with each other, whether over religion or racial differences. I am leaving you a strong Sceriae leader who will ensure that you keep the peace. My son Allorus is named Sceriae Master of Earth. As you all know he is fair but decisive and strong, and understands humans better than I ever could. He is taking a human mate, Rebecca, and I name her his consort. On Scerior that would be enough but he has asked that they be married in the human way and luckily Rebecca said yes,” he paused as everyone laughed and clapped, “so please welcome Allorus’ bride Rebecca”.
As he sat down the tune `here come the bride` played throughout the room and the large doors opened to reveal Rebecca on Reed’s arm with Heather behind as matron of honour. She was wearing one of Jo’s ceremonial dresses, all white and gold and she shimmered as she glided along on Reed’s arm. He was smartly dressed in an American army uniform and Heather had on another of Jo’s dresses, pink with tiny rosebuds embroidered all over it.
Allorus turned to see his bride and the look on his face was transparent, love tinged with lust as Rebecca was now definitely ovulating and as far as her mate was concerned causing him great discomfort. Doing a sterling job of covering his natural instinct, to fling her over his shoulder and find an empty room, he turned to her and took her hand. She realised the effect she was having on him and to her consternation her body was responding. They got through the ceremony somehow and when the padre said `you may kiss the bride` Allorus groaned as if in pain and touching his lips to hers backed away quickly.
All the Sceriae in the room were trying to contain their mirth and the humans looked around trying to work out what the private joke was.
Finally to Allorus’ relief it was over and he took the seat next to Jo while Rebecca sat next to Acorus, who, too. suddenly felt some discomfort. sympathy for and admiration for his son, caused him to cough to hide his feelings. Jo knowing what was going, poked him in the side hard and said “Control yourself, she’s your daughter now”.
Luckily food was brought in and all settled down to enjoy what had turned out to be a wedding breakfast, and heads of state, who would not normally relax and chat with each other in public, did exactly that. Allorus’ wedding had oiled the wheels for the `entente cordiale` between nations and his reign as Master of Earth had started as he had hoped.
***
Jo and Acorus stayed until dinner was over, listened to Allorus’ speech saying how honoured her was to be both Master of Earth and Rebecca’s husband. he promised to do his very best to be fair in all his dealings, pointing out that he had no religious or racial prejudices. Then turning to Jo and Acorus he toasted them and said that he hoped to be able to live up to their example.
Smiling Jo said that she was sure he’d make her proud of him and Acorus told his son that he trusted him completely to do his duty to Scerior and Earth. Then they left and returned to Acorus’ starship; all was ready and within an hour they had left Earth and taken station just outside Earth’s atmosphere to wait for the rest of the fleet.
Once the fleet was assembled Acorus pointed his starship towards home and once they were through the asteroid belt called for maximum speed. Until they reached the wormhole he handed control over to his first officer and he and Jo retired for the rest of the night. Jo was exhausted and taking off her armour washed her face and cleaned her teeth and fell into bed. Acorus was tired too but one part of his anatomy was not. He was always ready for sex when he was near Jo and Rebecca sitting next to him for the evening had not helped.
As he climbed into bed Jo opened weary eyes, saw the expression on his face, and his rampant shaft that was growing as she watched. she sighed and Acorus grinned as he continued to slide towards her.
Jo couldn’t help laughing “You look like a pet dog, who knows that it’s up to no good but is trying to fool it’s master that it isn’t!”
Reaching her he pulled her into his arms and said “This dog has been a good boy all evening. I didn’t even flirt with Rebecca and now I want my reward”.
As he found her lips with his Jo bowed to the inevitable and responded to his kiss. As usual he swept her up in his desire and quickly had her gasping for him to enter her. Taking her quickly to orgasm he allowed himself to find his release more easily than usual, as he knew she was very tired. Sated they spooned together and fell asleep almost instantly.
Chapter 19
The journey to the wormhole passed uneventfully. Sceriae ships were patrolling both side of it so there was no danger of a Xenorrii attack as they passed through. This precaution had been taken since Belain had been badly injured when his ship was first through the hole on a return from Earth carrying some of the abducted girls. Jo had joined Acorus on the flight deck, once again wearing her armour. All on the deck had their helmets on as this was a dangerous part of space, the passageway from one galaxy to another.
Acorus returned to his seat next to Jo and checked her harness; he still did this even though she was a seasoned inter galactic traveller. She didn’t mind as it made her feel loved and cared for, which she now knew she was. The fact that he’d left everything to search for her when she ran away had proved that, it would have been easy to just send a force to bring her back. Putting his hand over her’s Acorus gave the order to lower shields and immediately the windows were covered and an officer started counting down as their instruments showed that the wormhole was close.
Within seconds they were sucked into the vortex and Jo clasped Acorus’ hand tight. No matter how many times the Sceriae did this it was still a dangerous manoeuvre. Many ships had been lost in the past, but luckily none in Acorus’ lifetime. Flung out of the other side of the hole the window shields rose and they were through into Scerior’s galaxy, a much more inhabited galaxy than Earth’s. As well as the Sceriae there were the Cholmanay, Wracki, Terrans, and Pinaarans; all lived in peace and traded with each other, thanks to the Sceriae’s protection of each planet. The Xenorrii were the only troublemakers and this time Acorus intended to get rid of them for good.
Now they were able to communicate with Belain and the Sceriae forces searching for the enemy. To Acorus’ relief they had not attacked Scerior but reports were coming in from Sceriae outposts, on different planets, telling of a large fleet that had been seen by the traders plying their trades between the
inhabited planets. To their surprise the Xenorrii had not attempted to catch them or fire on their merchant ships. It was this that had caused Belain to put the army on high alert, in the past the Xenorrii had never let prospective slaves escape.
Acorus was pleased to find that Belain had the protection of Scerior well in hand, although he had expected nothing less, and that he had also sent out spy ships to discover where the Xenorrii were going. The fact that all was under control caused Acorus to order his main fleet to make straight for Scerior. However he left five more starships to protect the wormhole to Earth’s galaxy. He wouldn’t leave the flight deck until they were safely docked on Scerior so Jo retired to their quarters by herself. Tchu and Tjai joined her and after she’d showered and Tjai had given her a massage they ate together and chatted about their homes and families.
“I’m so looking forward to seeing my girls, Jacki will be going on for thirteen now. She was bigger than me when we left so goodness knows how much she’ll have grown”. Jo sighed.
“Mmm, when children are growing we just turn our backs and they are fully grown. I am a grandmother many times over and still not used to how soon childhood is ended”. Tchu said surprising Jo as the Escorii rarely spoke about their private lives.
Tchu saw her surprise and smiled “We are old friends Joanna so I feel easy speaking of my family with you. We love our young as you humans do but we are naturally more private than you are”.
“Because we are friends and I respect you a great deal, and love you, I have never invaded your privacy. But I would love to know your children”.
“Only the females are close, our males are very private even from their mates. Once a male is eight years old he then lives in the adolescent male’s quarters. Their minds have to be carefully trained or they could have difficulties later. A very old female once told me that they are `wired` differently to other species and us females. This is why we have to choose our mates so carefully as they find it hard to understand us as we do them. They could injure a female with the force of their minds if we are not right for each other”. Tchu was trying hard to explain such a complex being to a human.
Scerior Part II Page 16
