Interdict

by 1

  They remained tied together mentally as their connection was confirmed and by the time Cynthia was able to take in the world around her again, the sun was setting and her stomach growled.

  Garo’s chuckle made her smile. He informed her, “I believe that my mother is expecting us for dinner.”

  She frowned. “I don’t have anything to wear but the Introduction gown.”

  He sighed and looked embarrassed. “Check the wardrobe. There should be something in there that is suitable.”

  Cynthia wanted to disentangle herself, but her muscles were locked. “I need a little help here and definitely a shower.”

  He snickered and used his wings to propel them upward. He landed squarely on his feet.

  “Nice move, Garo.” She unclenched her legs and let them slide down. His cock slipped from her and the trail of semen down her inner thigh made her blush.

  “Oh, Cyn, I have moves you have not even seen. I look forward to showing you over the oncoming years.” He wrapped one arm around her waist and escorted her to the bathing chamber.

  Showering with a Drai was a skill that she did not yet have. Ducking away from the wings caused slips and slides. His reflexes were the only things that kept her from making intimate contact with the tiles.

  When she was reasonably clean and far-less sticky, she exited the shower to let him have all the space to himself. Wrapped in a towel, she pattered into the bedroom and got the shock of her life.

  Opening the wardrobe, she saw the standard Drai clothing. Gowns, long tunics and trousers. Beside them proudly were three pairs of jeans and three t-shirts. A set of handcrafted running shoes were at the bottom of the wardrobe next to sandals and boots.

  Despite his doubts, despite his anger, he had had facsimiles of human clothing created just in case.

  She laughed and put on a set of Drai underwear before slipping into a pair of jeans. The breast band gave her the support she needed and the t-shirt went on next.

  The jeans were a little baggy in the seat, but a few solid meals would soon set that right. The t-shirt was a bright blue that made her smile as she brushed the soft and stretchy fabric.

  “It was something that kept coming to me in my dreams. The clothing has specific textures that I thought you would enjoy. Memories of your home.” Garo was towelling his hair dry behind her, watching her.

  “Even when you thought I was coming to destroy your family, you still did this?”

  He smiled sadly. “The image of you with a child in your arms was so strong that I wanted to be prepared for anything.”

  Cynthia had never been able to find an image of the rest of her children in any archive. Coral would be the first of seven but the only one to stay on Drai. Cynthia knew that her heart would break when six of her offspring left her and escaped into the Alliance, but that was not something she would share with Garo until he needed to know.

  Livin had dropped the bombshell that had caused her to ask dozens of questions on the night before she left. None of the Alliance records had any trace of additional children, but while Coral’s line was a straight and unbroken link of daughter-to-daughter, there were six others born to the time jumper and they had scattered amongst the stars.

  Livin had opened a worn picture in a folder and turned it so that Cynthia could see it. It was a family photograph never copied into the Alliance archive. Cynthia, Garo and seven children all smiling and laughing into the camera. The boys had wings, the girls had bright green eyes and their hair varied.

  Seven children were at risk with his decision and thankfully, he had come around. Coral was the only one that had a recorded lineage and so she was the one Cynthia had focussed on.

  Livin had handled the image with the greatest of reverence and when she had closed it, tears pricked her eyes. “The records of your life are the greatest secret we have. Make sure that everything turns out all right or Vasu will be pissed.”

  Vasu had crossed his arms and nodded. “Be sure to tell me that my suit makes me look fat. It was a joke that I went through in training. No one knows about it but me. The only other flight member that knew that phrase died in training. I won’t like it, but I will listen.”

  “Good to know.” She had wiped at her cheeks, removing the tears that had started the moment she saw the image of her future family so far in the past.

  Blinking rapidly, she finished dressing and waited for Garo to get his own clothing on.

  He faced her with a smile and said, “We need to travel fast. I am afraid our bonding took a little longer than I anticipated. Will you ride me?”

  She snickered. “I believe that was what I was doing for most of the day, so why stop now?”

  As he walked to the huge balcony, she trailed after him with a slight wobble in her gait. Her legs were bowed slightly, but she made it into the dimming light. He shifted into his dragon form next to her and she followed the instructions that Livin Hael had given her for dragon riding.

  With a surge and a plummeting fall followed by an upward swing, they flew across a mountain range before settling in for a landing at Corleen and Garrik’s home.

  It was time for her to greet her in-laws and no more secrets would be crafted from this point on. It was both freeing and terrifying.

  Chapter Ten

  The family was welcoming as Cynthia Norman took Garo Weelich to be her husband and all the paperwork was filed with the Council representative who joined them for dinner.

  Councillor Echkin Hael was amused by the proceedings. He gladly gave his authorization as well as his blessing when the meal was completed.

  Cynthia knew that all but one of the technicalities had been completed, but as Corleen wanted no doubt as to paternity, the formal wedding had to be registered as quickly as possible.

  “That is an interesting outfit.” Mercuros was drinking a glass of wine and smiling down at her.

  “Yes, a little bit of home. Garo was thoughtful to have provided this for me.”

  “He had to interview seventeen weavers and nine seamstresses to get that right. Now, dear sister, can you tell me why he has treated me so oddly since you arrived?” Mercuros took her by the arm and led her away from the impromptu party.

  She sighed. This was much too quick for her liking. “He saw something. He saw that my arrival would mean you would leave. It hurt him.”

  Mercuros blinked and leaned against the balcony railing, grinning at her. “Why would I leave?”

  She rubbed her forehead. “Do you want the honest answer?”

  “Please.”

  She took a deep breath and tried to make it not sound crazy. “Because your true mate is one thousand years in the future and the only way to get to her is to leave Drai, find a world and become a sleeper.”

  His astonishment was palpable. “How could you know that?”

  “Because she was in the same class of Volunteers that I was when we left Earth. She was altered to be a suitable mate for a Draikyn, just as I was. I was thrown one thousand years into the past to save the seeds of the Drai shifters and they are beginning to wake up in the future that I just left behind.”

  “You must be joking.”

  “I am not. You recently came awake on a planet with short blue folk. At least three of the others have joined the Sector Guard and are living active lives with their mates, only one of which is a Drai female.”

  “What are the others?”

  “Terrans who have been altered like I was. Of course, the tech for that doesn’t exist yet, so I had to get it done before I left.” She smiled and shrugged like it had been nothing. It had been two weeks of pain and time in a tank. Cynthia had been left incompatible with her own kind but with the hope for a future in the past.

  “So, you are trying to tell me that you are from the future.”

  She grinned at the part he got stuck on. “Yes. I am stating it outright.”

  “Why come back here?”

  She thought of all the reasons for her to have come so far and to be here on
a planet whose population didn’t welcome newbies and finally settled on the one that mattered. “I met my granddaughter and she convinced me that it would be best.”

  “Your granddaughter?”

  Cynthia stood tall with pride. “Yes. She is a member of the Sector Guard. Her call name is Fury and her partner is Beast.”

  Mercuros was astonished. “You are serious.”

  “I am. She bears my genes in her system and the talent that she has can shake a world or drown it in fire. I am so proud.” The tears in her eyes were genuine.

  “So, you want me to break the interdict, leave my world and sleep under the surface of a strange world for a thousand years?”

  “It isn’t what I want, but it has to happen for things to move smoothly in the future. You can choose your path, but dream on it tonight and just see if the woman you find doesn’t bear a striking resemblance to someone of my species.”

  Mercuros nodded. “I will.” He paused for a moment. “How many of us will be going?”

  “Over a dozen. Not all at the same time.” She reached out a hand to touch Mercuros’s arm.

  Garo loomed behind her. She could feel him. “You don’t have to leave now, Merc, not ever if you don’t want to.”

  Mercuros smiled. “I will cross an ocean of time to find the woman who will be mine and I know that you would have done the same if your female hadn’t beat you to it.”

  Garo wrapped an arm around her waist and squeezed her. “You told him?”

  “Everything he asked. No more secrets.”

  He pressed a kiss to her hair. “No more secrets.”

  She sighed and relaxed against him.

  Mercuros asked another question. “Do you know the names of the others?”

  “A few of them. Just the first name though. Vasu, Hyfor, Orell, Tridell, Esur and Harusk. As far as I know, the others have not yet woken.” She shrugged.

  “I know most of those names.” Mercuros was shocked.

  “They are all shifters and with your planet sealed to new blood, their talents will die with them if they don’t seek out mates off world.”

  He crossed his arms and frowned. “How will we find our women in the depths of space?”

  Wrapped in Garo’s arms, she couldn’t help but smile. “Terran women will come to you. It is one of our most annoying traits.”

  Garo exhaled and she could tell he was grinning at his brother. “A week ago, I thought my dreams were a sign of madness and now here is my female, in my arms with the paperwork ratified. What more could I ask for?”

  She snickered as she remembered the one item that they had not yet covered. “I believe I need to approve of your home.”

  Mercuros barked a laugh. “You forgot to get her approval before you bedded her?”

  “He originally intended to bed me to get me out of his system. There wasn’t time for approval and certainly no time for a tour.”

  Garo was squeezing her so tightly that she couldn’t breathe. She slapped at his arms and he eased up.

  Corleen joined them on the balcony and beamed at them both. “That was wonderful. One son wedded and the next in line. When do you think it will be for you, Merc?”

  He looked at Garo and his eyes focussed on Cynthia. “I think, Mother, that you will have to wait for a long, long time for me. It would be best to concentrate on the other two.”

  And with that, he returned to the rest of the party. Friends, neighbours and acquaintances had all been gathered as witnesses. They were all enjoying the novelty of being at a wedding that was supposed to be impossible.

  No alien had married a Drai in over four centuries. This was quite a day for the history books.

  Corleen smiled at the happy couple. “So, you got it all sorted out?”

  Garo nodded. “Yes, we did. I still saw what I saw, but now, I have context. It made a helluva difference.”

  Corleen beamed. “Talking things out has that effect. So, how long is gestation in your species?”

  Cynthia looked up at Garo’s curious face. “Well, in my species it is usually averaging two hundred and eighty days, but with my Drai compatibility alterations, it will be more like four hundred Drai days.”

  Corleen had an expression between horror and delight. “That soon? You had better begin her Introduction gown then. You will need time to learn the embroidery techniques.”

  She smiled. “Well, since my employment options are nonexistent, I may as well begin my practicing. Can you teach me?”

  Corleen looked the woman who had fallen through space and time just to become wife to her son and mother to her grandchildren. “It will be my honour.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The flight to their new home was accomplished by starlight and moonlight. As they approached the house he had built for them, floodlights came on.

  A massive and Terran-style house was set in the side of a mountain in Drai fashion. A huge balcony of stone was mounted on all sides to allow for easy landings and entertaining.

  Part fortress, part castle, part bungalow, it was a work of styles that should never have connected and yet worked very well together.

  Cynthia stifled her surge of emotion and simply hung on as Garo came in for a landing. The balcony barely held his dragon form, but he quickly shifted back into his normal shape with arms and legs.

  “So, do you approve?” There was nervousness beneath his tone.

  “I haven’t had the tour yet. Come on, show off.” Cynthia grinned and looped her arm through his.

  They went on a slow tour of the house. The kitchen bore a remarkable resemblance to Corleen’s, which would give it a comfortable familiarity.

  “Where does the money come from for something like this?” She had never let it enter her thoughts before, but she was unfamiliar with trade on Drai.

  “Money?”

  “Currency, credits, gold, gilder. The goods for labour representation.”

  “Ah. My status as Wing Leader gives me the right to request anything I wish from any other citizen. We do a labour-for-labour transfer.”

  She bit her lip as they toured the inner garden. “Will anything happen because you chose me as mate?”

  He gave her a tight smile. “I don’t know. We will have to cross that difficulty if it comes.”

  She sighed. “What will I do all day?”

  He grinned and led her through the house to stand before two huge doors. “I thought that what I saw in your mind might make for a fascinating hobby.”

  Garo reached out with a flourish and opened the doors to a library that took up half the house. Books, scrolls, reams of paper, walls lined with shelves twenty-feet high.

  Cynthia walked into the library and turned around in circles, trying to take it all in.

  He smiled and handed her a leather-bound book. “I recall that you write in something every night and given that you arrived here with nothing. This would be a good start.”

  Silent tears tracked down her cheeks as she recognized the exact pattern of leather that she had taken from Livin, but these pages were pristine and none of her adventures had touched them yet.

  “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

  She smiled brilliantly and lunged up to hug him. With this journal, her future had finally clicked into place. Whatever the future held, it started today.

  * * * *

  Ten months later…

  “You are starting your journal now?” Garo’s amusement was fighting with his tension.

  She chuckled and exhaled slowly. “Of course. It makes perfect sense. I could never figure out why I skipped all of the gory details of my first few months here. Why it all seemed so pleasant. There was only one possibility. I had to be really, really distracted when I wrote it and there is only one time that I would be that unfocussed while writing.”

  He pressed his hand lightly to her abdomen and felt the contraction. “This would qualify as distracting.”

  She scribbled a few more lines between contractions regarding her
first day on Drai, then paused to breathe. “Is the physician coming?”

  Garo took on another expression, this one filled with tension. “He won’t attend an alien birth. It is beneath him.”

  She grunted. “Then call Echkin Hael. He’s a healer though he doesn’t like it to be common knowledge.”

  He scowled at her. “How do you know that?”

  “When we were doing our subterfuge call for sleepers, he tried to enlist quietly. I told him that he couldn’t.” She panted as another band of fire wrapped around her belly.

  “Why not? Was it his age?” Garo was keeping her talking while keying information into the com.

  “No, it wasn’t that.” She grimaced and relaxed before resuming her frantic notations.

  Garo seemed upset with her sudden lack of conversation. “What was it then?”

  “You have never asked me our granddaughter’s last name.”

  The light of understanding came into his eyes. “What is our granddaughter’s last name?”

  She grinned. “Livin Hael. Now, ask me who her mate is.”

  He groaned, “Do I want to know?”

  She laughed. “Probably not.”

  She let her mind drift to Vasu and his recalcitrance to join the sleepers until she took him aside to give him the phrase he had given to her a thousand years from now. The pain brought her back to the present.

  “Echkin is on his way. So is Mother, Father, as well as Mercuros, Vikkar and Neral.”

  Vanya and Marli were already in the kitchen preparing a feast for those waiting through labour.

  “It will be a fairly full house,” she muttered as she kept writing. She was still in the library. It was her favourite place on the entire planet. When she and Garo fought, she retreated here and simply looked at all of the books, the tales of other worlds and histories she had never dreamed of. It cooled her ire and enabled her to return to his arms to work it out.