by C F Rabbiosi
“Yes. And it’s what powers our ships. Long lasting, incredible power your race had not harnessed yet.” She points at the lights embedded into the ceiling. “After the atmosphere had settled once more, a few of our remaining ships out in the universe came here. No one was left to fight any longer.” She continues to style my locks into their unique braid. This story she tells is not the one I know, but I know it’s the truth.
The door slides open and another Koridon female enters, her long braided mane slightly lighter in color than Efaelty’s. Statuesque, she holds a steaming cup of liquid which Efaelty takes. “Gravan dontan, Ariquoi,” she says, then hands it to me. “Drink this.”
The one she called Ariquoi watches me and, like all of them, her expression in unreadable. I can’t tell if she’d like to tear my guts out or is waiting to see if I’ll like her drink. “What is in this?” I ask.
“Nutrients you need. It is made from a violet and orange flower that grows in the forest. Drink.” She tips it up toward my lips. “You will be entering into matedom in an hour’s time.”
After gulping down the earthy tasting fluid, I wipe my mouth. It warms my throat and a strange but comforting heat washes over me. “What is it like?” Efaelty picks up a charcoal stick and glides it over my eyelids and under my lower lashes.
Memories disturb her iron-clad demeanor. She did it once, laid with Kassien in front of the others. “It was mechanical. We have this tradition to teach the younger ones. When there were younger. But also to present our bond to the others. Also, there is no question about the conception.”
Trying to mimic her perfect expression, one worthy of her prince, my mouth twitches and tears burn down the onyx liner. “Will I be—That is, I know it’s going hurt today.” And in front of all these beings. “But will I survive this?”
Ariquoi snaps her head toward us. Efaelty pauses, the charcoal in her hand drifting down. “Kassien speared through you already. You know what is to come.” Her sharp voice is expected but still chills me. I can’t imagine what she’s feeling as she prepares a human to marry her prince.
“He scares me. I’m afraid he will lose control and rip me to shreds.”
With a glimmer of sadness, she resumes her smudging. “Be assured, little one.” She pulls back to meet me face to face and warmly says, “You are not so little.”
Her kindness pushes through my heart, but the muscle still trembles. “When Kassien found me, I had been raped.” I ball my fists to keep them from shaking, the pain and terror reimagining itself through my tactile memory. “That was my first time, and still another had crawled on top of me when he saved me.”
Her full lips puff out slightly and the gentle but quick blink says much.
“It appears that you are irresistible to your own race as well,” says Ariquoi.” Even with a blank expression, her words are drenched in poison.
With careful thought, I address her. “No. My kind find me to be unattractive. I am unnatural and have always been an outcast.” Finn’s sweet smile enters the forefront of my mind. “Well, for the most part. When Alexander dragged me through the dirt, it was to feed his perversion. Just as it was with Brekter.” The blood drains from my face as I realize that Ariquoi could be Brekter’s mate. Oh, hell.
“But it isn’t that way with Kassien, is it?” I take a deep inward sigh of relief as the questioning takes a different turn. Ariquoi means to cut through me, but the thought of what he means only stirs my heart. With a ghost of a smile touching my lips I feel him, trembling, struggling to breathe over my every subtle whimper and my touch as he tries to decipher them.
Efaelty steps back, my tell-tale face far too expressive to ever be Koridon, and crosses her arms. “You must be strong today. Yes, it will be painful to take a male’s sex into you, but you must not cry. You must show everyone you are fit to be a Koridon’s mate.”
What I don’t say is that I’m scared but also excited. Every time I’ve felt him inside me, I’ve wanted more, though I chose against it at the last moment. I would never cry or plead, I would never disgrace him. If the urge to scream or cry surfaces, the intruders will be choked back down because, for more than my feelings and more than my fear, I must do this for my people.
I swallow the remaining drops of the tincture Ariquoi brought and set it on the table. “You are amazing, Efaelty. Thank you.”
She bows her head but a tense air engulfs her. “What you do today is bigger than anything I might feel. Of course I would never allow my…emotions to interfere with something so important to our survival.”
She walks out, Ariquoi behind. I call out, “Wait. Do you love him?”
She stops abruptly but Ariquoi continues, waves of irritation abounding from her strong presence. Efaelty speaks without turning around. “That word does not exist to us.”
23
~Calypso~
Rising out of my chair in the empty room, I touch the transparent wall and look past my reflection. More forest looms: darkness through the trees, shady paths and moss-covered boulders. A Koridon crosses through my dreamy gaze and I instinctively step back, unsure if she can see me. The magnificent cobalt sheen of her long, untamed hair catches the sun and her towering form moves with predatory grace. The thought drives in, I still haven’t met Brekter’s mate. Suddenly, she disappears, a clear, liquid wall materializing into sight. As I squint, it forms a bubble in the small clearing behind the ship.
My blazing lust for Kassien disappears and is replaced by a cold, creeping feeling. This is going to happen. There’s nowhere to run now. The girl in my reflection surfaces on the glass. Her smile glows with laughter, the opposite of what’s boiling inside. Glittering hair like sunshine upon snow lies in an ornate braid down my back, and the gown of sapphire gems enhances my icy irises with a supernatural glow. Even my skin glimmers with incandescence. Efaelty has transformed me into a bride fit for a Koridon.
“It is time,” comes a voice from overhead. Whose, I do not know, but as the door slides up, I move down the hall. Another door slides up and I move through it. Then another and another, until I exit the great ship toward the rear. A younger male stands in front of the clear, yet living forcefield and beckons me toward. Summoning all my strength, I lift my chin and walk through the strange barrier.
The air warms my skin and tastes mildly salty upon my tongue as I step foot into a striking green wonderland. Vines blooming with large red and yellow flowers twist up the sides and overhead, and the ground is alive with plants and more flowers of wild reds, blues and purples. Every particle, every fleck of color seems to vibrate. Several Koridons in black silk stand in a circle and iridescent flames shoot up in little bursts all around them. Gulping hard, I am compelled to walk forward through the circle where an altar fit for the mating of two bodies rises from the ground.
Efaelty, dressed in her ritualistic robe, takes my hand and sits me upon that altar. Where is he? I ask her silently, but she turns away. A Koridon approaches, one with rougher skin and a dulling beard. Everyone bows as he towers before me. “I am Tanak,” he says, his voice gravelly with a note of kindness.
I bring myself to my knees and join in bowing to him, feeling the utmost respect. “I am Calypso, sir.” He lifts me back up gently and sits beside me on the altar.
“You are special, young one.” He peers deeply into my eyes as his fingers brush over my long braid, and uneasiness roils my stomach. “We need you and are incredibly grateful for your sacrifice.” His touch falls to my thigh. “I need you.”
His hand becomes a venomous bite upon my leg. Feeling the color drain from my face, I turn to Efaelty, who has taken her place in the circle. “But, Kassien,” I choke on his name and fight to keep my fear from spilling out. He won’t allow me to be given to another; something’s wrong. “What’s keeping him?” Have they overthrown him?
Tanak pulls his heavy look from behind me and says, “The prince wants what is best for not only his people but for you as well.”
My hands and feet become c
old and tingle, panic setting in, but gently I tell him, “I must speak with Kassien. I’m sorry.”
Brekter appears. The transparent barrier pulls around him as he floats through and a metal plate covers his mouth. Liquid metal straps around his neck and limbs, their vise hold imprinting into his flesh. Kassien enters from behind and my spine buckles.
He’s come for me. Somehow, his scent consumes me as though I am nestled into his neck and his ethereal kiss whispers across my lips. My blood roars. I bolt up, and the older Koridon’s touch falls away. “Kassien!”
His eyes flick up and put out my fire. So cold, they send my heart through the floor and my hand finds Tanak as I stabilize myself. That one look says that he means for me to be given to another. “Tanak, this isn’t right.”
“I understand your fear and disappointment,” he says. “But your feelings for Kassien will fade as your chemicals subside. What you do for us will still make you of highest ranking in our society.”
He’s right, but it hurts so much, I don’t know if I can stand it. Prepared to lie with one that has become very dear to me, how can I now go through with this terrifying day with a complete stranger? A complete alien stranger. “Is that all I am, Kassien? Do you believe that?” The others upon their knees around us remain still, the torches glimmering off their faces.
He stands outside the circle behind the empty spot awaiting him and I feel so small in his gaze. A tear slips down my cheek, one I just can’t hide. As it falls, his perfect mask of indifference falters and he rushes to me. “Calypso.” He hits his knees and his forehead falls against my chest. “You must do as Tanak asks. He is my second. I trust him.”
“I want you.” I never should have stopped him. What a grave mistake. Maybe if I had allowed him to mate me at the lake, or even in the bathing room instead of feeding his desire in other ways, he would have no choice but to claim me now. I curse myself for such a thought. How desperate and weak. No choice. No, I made the right choice. If I am not worth fighting for now, I was right to keep him away. “I don’t understand why you’re giving me away.”
“I do not trust myself with you,” he breathes. “If you could only experience for yourself the red twisting agony that overtakes me. By reason, we should not be together.”
Stroking his head for the last time, my misted blink releases drops of longing upon him, and I know what I have to do. I’m a little girl with dreams. He’s a warrior prince far exceeding my years. Of course he can make the right decision, while I can’t see past my young heart.
“I know that with one word, you could change my mind. With one touch, you could alter me forever. So take that with you,” he stands and moves backward, Brekter behind with such satisfied eyes, “into your new union, but be a dutiful mate.”
“You love me,” I say. “There’s no doubt that you’ve discovered it. With me.” I take a step forward and he raises a hand.
“It is a biological to bond between two so they will have a child. Nothing more.”
I shake my head and continue to make my way toward him as the others watch in silence. “You have discovered it and yet you still don’t understand it.”
“Return to your altar,” he warns.
We are just so advanced, so intelligent, aren’t we? We can look at exactly how cells reproduce, how wounds heal, and have discovered the molecular science behind love. It moves us away from the magic of existing and makes us more mechanical, more animal. I envy Romeo and Juliet, love being so real and powerful, more magic than science, so much so that it took them to their grave. Better dead than not allowed to feel. People of the past were able to just enjoy it, cherish it, never questioning why. It just was, and that is happiness to me. Close enough now for him to touch me, sense the scent on my skin, I say, “Just because you have broken down the ingredients of the potion, does not make the spell it casts any less potent.” I fight for magic. I fight against reason and I am damn proud of it.
“You will be mated by Tanak.” His voice is low and despondent. “We are all eternally grateful for your sacrifice.” He kneels with the rest. “Proceed.”
From behind me, Tanak slips the straps off my shoulders and slides the dress down my hips. My anger boils at the reveal of my body when the spirit within is so damaged and afraid. Don’t do this, I plea silently, but I’ve never been more sure of anything. This is going to happen.
Both the males and females watch on, little more than interest splashing their features as my nakedness is bared in the glimmer of the brilliantly colored torches. My breath quickens at the thought of yet another taking my body intimately, enjoyed and used without concern for how my soul cries. With rough strength but utmost care, Tanak lifts me from behind and lays me across the altar.
The temperature rises as my legs are opened and Tanak places a hand on my lower belly. “Ernak vist tonderlin.” He translates, “Today we celebrate. Griven vist. We are saved.” As he lowers himself over my quivering form, I turn my head to the side to find Kassien. The air sizzles between us. I shake my head and mouth, Please!
“Tanak, this isn’t right. Efaelty! Stop this!” She does not move. Like stone, she sits and her tightened lips hold back whatever relief he may be holding inside.
Tanak releases himself from the confines of his robe and a whimper falls from my lips, my blood spiking at the sight of what hovers near my vulnerable opening. From a young age, my mother taught me that happy endings only appear in between the pages I read. What a silly girl I was. Hope felt stronger than logic. But being denied by Kassien after what he provoked in me, he might as well have physically ripped my heart from beneath its breastbone. Logic wins, and I hurt so bad. “This will haunt you, Kassien,” I growl as the crown of Tanak’s steely shaft pushes in. “Damn you for your betrayal!”
I tighten up, every muscle burning. Under my breath, I say, “There must be another way.”
Tanak brushes his cheek against mine. “Please forgive me.”
I appreciate his kindness; at least it isn’t Brekter hurting me and enjoying it, but it still does little to ease my fear. For some reason, I look at him, Brekter, in his strange restraints floating above a cascade of beauteous flowers. His eyes dart frantically and he groans through his mouth cover. Muffled hysteria breaks through the silence and jars me. A quick flash to Kassien next and his unfeeling demeanor sends me burrowing sorrowfully into Tanak’s heavily muscled chest.
The pressure in my lower region becomes unbearable and, unable to spear through, he stops and hitches my legs wider. I open for him, intrusive cool air unnerving the vulnerable tissue that isn’t just flesh but a part of my humanity.
Brekter snarls and fights the restraints as Tenak moves closer toward his goal. Closing my eyes, I let the evil lover who pleasured me in the forest make all the agonal racket I am bursting with. Is he so desperate to be the one who claims me? I will never understand this consuming need for power, though Kassien doesn’t seem to suffer from it as he so easily threw me aside. Damn him; if he tore everyone apart to take me back now, I think I would spit in his face. Coward. Traitor.
“Can you not do something with him?” Tanak requests Kassien about the disruptive Brekter.
“He has to observe this!” Kassien drops a fist into the earth. “We all must so it will be set in the stone of our minds.” Wicked, black-lined eyes search wildly for sanity. “Just do it, Tenak.” His words send a cold chill through me. .
“Why you?” I ask, trying to understand, trying to hold off the inevitable as Tanak guides himself through my tormented flesh, treacherous force against my delicate walls.
“I am older. I have self-control and will not hurt you when we knot.”
“But you are hurting me.” My body isn’t giving way to his unnatural lancing. Dry and tense, he will have to hurt me. I remind myself that, with everyone watching, I must not scream. I must show myself to be worthy.
“What can I do to help you, Calypso, my fated?” He brushes the dewy strands of ice-blue hair off my forehead. Kassi
en’s kiss had me bathing him in my arousal. It seemed easier along with the gentle rocking of my hips and the longing to feel him deeper. Tenak backs off and spears a finger through my slit. He holds my neck, pluming my depths, and I grimace at his raw movements. Brekter rattles his floating cage and his desperation reminds me of his tongue, intrusive warmth splitting the intimate place between my legs. Should I ask Tenak to do that? I cringe at the thought. I could never.
My minds spins, searching for a way to avoid the painful stretching he will cause. A room full of Koridons will hold me down if I don’t comply. Still, something inside me wants to fight so badly, to act with my heart, though the outcome will be the same. “You need to help me become…aroused, I suppose the word is. This doesn’t feel pleasant. But it could, if you help me become slick.”
“I understand.” He nods in such a way that makes me doubt that. He’s trying, a very kind Koridon indeed. I lose myself in his quicksilvers for a moment, so like Kassien’s they could be his, lined in charcoal and fiercely beautiful.
“What do you do to ensure your female is ready to take such size into her body?” That’s when sense bleeds back and it dawns on me that his own mate watches us. Ariquoi. Back in the ship while Efaelty readied me for the ceremony…her angry treatment of me should have told me then, but I had no idea my mate had been switched. With a horrified face turning toward her, I mouth the words, I’m sorry.
“My mate has always taken it without complaint.” Tanak’s middle digit softly strokes my depths. Of course she has: a warrior female taking her position to breed. “But we haven’t any children and had to give up.” He embraces my small form. “It is just us now. Do you understand?”
“It is unnatural for me to let you have me like this in front of all these…” I don’t know what to call them. They are purely monsters to me.