The Daughters of Persephone, A Space Opera Special Edition

by Julia Barrett

  “Before I caught her trespassing, before I took notice of her,” Aytan interrupted.

  “No, Horse Master, before ye loved her, before ye shared her blood.”

  Aytan’s feet failed him and he stopped short. The Empress patted his arm.

  “We think ye underestimate Us, sir. Even after months thy body gives off the scent of a man who has shared with a woman of the Blood.”

  Aytan turned toward his Empress. Although he tried to hold them back, the words spilled out. “The last thing I remember is her face above mine, her lips against mine. She returned us to this time and place. She shared her blood with me to help me recover from the journey and we made love. My Lady. I don’t mean to be crude, but yes, we made love. For two days, in some future time and in the here and now, Tem Bokinan was mine. I fell asleep with her wrapped in my arms, but when I awoke she’d vanished. I haven’t seen her since. No one has.”

  “We have seen her. We have spoken with her.”

  “What the hells?” Aytan had to stop himself from grabbing his Empress and shaking her. “You knew how I suffered. Why didn’t you tell me? How could you keep this from me?”

  “Because ye were not certain of thy feelings, Master Kirrae, and Tem Bokinan needs certainty at this time in her life. Do ye love the woman?”

  “Someone asked me that months ago and I told him I had no love for her. I came to regret those words later that same day.”

  “Tempus Fugit.”

  “What’s tempus fugit?”

  “Tem’s true name. Old Latin, it means, time flees. She has fled from thy words. We must repeat Our question. Do ye love her?” The Empress laid her free hand on his arm.

  “In truth? Yes and no, and I don’t know. I only know I want her back with me. No other woman will do. Where is she? Where has she been?”

  “Tem returned to old Earth, to see her daughters.”

  “To see her daughters? What daughters?”

  “Perhaps ye should sit.”

  “Perhaps I should,” Aytan said. He didn’t want his knees to knock in front of the Empress.

  He led the old woman to a large, flat rock, the same rock where he’d waited for Tem to return with his stallion. He helped her to sit on the sun-warmed surface; then he lowered himself into the grass at her feet and leaned against the rock, his head in his hands. Nothing made sense.

  “We are here, young man, in this time and place, because Tem Bokinan possessed the foresight to take herself into Earth’s deep past. She had the strength to leave behind her own Daughters of the Blood, the genetic blood lines that would one day be the salvation of the human race.”

  “I don’t understand,” Aytan mumbled.

  “Ye are not meant to understand, yet ye have been a friend to Us so We will try to explain. Because of the female children Tem left in Earth’s past, the human race survived the end times. We were able to bring eighty thousand men, women, and children here, to Persephone, where humans prosper.” Aytan felt the Empress’s hand on his head. “She scattered the genetic lines through history, the bloodlines that would one day be required to shape Us. She is both Our descendant and Our ancestress.”

  Aytan did his best to understand, but the Empress’s story was like a riddle. “She abandoned her children in the past, you say? Thousands of years in the past?”

  “Aye.”

  “How could she do such a thing?”

  The Empress pressed her hand harder against his head. “For ye, Master Kirrae. She did it for ye.”

  “Me?” He stared up at his monarch. “That’s impossible. She didn’t even know me.”

  “Ye are of the human race, are ye not?”

  Hearing the amusement in the Empress’s voice, Aytan raised his eyebrows. “Of course.”

  “Then she did it as much for ye as for anyone.”

  The two sat in silence for a few moments while Aytan digested her words. “Will she stay with them, then? Will she remain in the past with her daughters?”

  “No. They exist in different times, different places. Tem wanted to see them, to touch them, to say goodbye.”

  Aytan’s heart thudded, heavy in his chest and he felt a moment of pure panic.

  Was she long dead then?

  The Empress answered his unasked question. “No, lad, she lives. She carries another child, one she does not intend to leave behind.”

  Aytan leapt to his feet. “My child? You mean to say she carries my child? Where is she then? Tell me where she is and I’ll go to her.”

  “Be calm, Horse Master, there is much to consider.”

  “What is there to consider?” Aytan paced before the seated woman. “She’s pregnant with my child.”

  “As ye say she heard thy words. I bear no love for the woman.”

  “Godsdamn it.” Aytan picked up a loose rock and heaved it as far as he could. “I didn’t mean it. If I could take those words back I would do so in a heartbeat. I want her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Without Tem Bokinan, I feel as if my heart’s been torn from my chest.” He waved his arms at the herd. “I swear the horses have stomped on it.”

  “Ah, if that is true We will tell ye where she is. She is one hundred years in the future. She awaits transport alongside the first wave of settlers bound for Calen.”

  “Take me to her,” Aytan said. “I know you can do it. Wherever she is, I want to be there.”

  Book IV: The Red Demon

  A young woman with long dark mahogany hair waited in the crowded line for processing like the rest of the settlers.

  The hot midday sun of Persephone beat down on Tem’s head, slicking her skin with sweat. Her shirt stuck to her back, her breasts, and her growing belly.

  Tem plucked at the material, trying to pull it away from her body, but she gave up after a few useless attempts. She lifted her thick plait of hair and held it away from the back of her neck, flipping it over her shoulder, wishing for a cool breeze. Some air would feel nice right about now, but she did not intend to use her powers to make the wind blow.

  Ahead, she could see the checkpoints. Her papers would be stamped and her bag searched to make certain she carried no banned fruits or vegetables.

  Whenever the line moved forward, her fellow migrants glanced at her. In their eyes she saw the unasked question. Why does a Red Woman travel in steerage instead of piloting a transport? Tem shrugged and looked away. The question was immaterial.

  All that mattered was the child she carried. He would be born on Calen where he would grow to manhood, cherished by his mother, protected by the Red Demon. The purest line of the Royal Blood would survive in the wilderness, unrecognized and untamed, for three thousand years. The baby kicked, bringing a smile to Tem’s lips. In response she rubbed a gentle hand over whatever tiny appendage he pressed against her.

  A tremor passed through the crowd and from somewhere behind her, Tem felt a shift in time and space. Her nostrils flared as she caught the scent of the Empress Ya and she spun around, only to come face to face with Aytan Kirrae.

  “What in the seven hells are you doing here, Horse Master?”

  Ice blue eyes bored into her own while a big, warm hand settled on her belly. Tem sucked in a breath. How many nights had she cried herself to sleep, longing for the touch of this one stubborn pig-headed man?

  “You would disappear without a single word? You would leave me forever and take my son?” His voice rumbled over her. Tem expected to hear anger. She was stunned to hear regret.

  “You have no love for me, Kirrae. You’ve said it yourself. I have lived without love for too long to settle for lust. Lust wears thin after a time, and you would weary of me.”

  The man snorted. He sounded like one of his horses. “Do you think I risked my life and the lives of twelve of my prized horses to come all this way because I lust after you? Even if you are the best fuck I’ve ever had?”

  Tem’s cheeks burned and she burst into embarrassed laughter, as did everyone within earshot.

  “Give me so
me credit, woman. I came for you.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over her belly. “And for him. You are my woman, this is my child, and I don’t intend to argue with you.”

  “I have nothing to say about this?” Tem’s temper flared. “What will you do if I refuse? Turn me over your knee again?”

  Aytan’s eyes looked her over from head to toe. The heat in his gaze scorched her. Tem ached for a life with this man.

  “After our child is born, if I have to, then yes.” Aytan grinned, his eyes crinkling. “That’s exactly what I’ll do and I’ll enjoy the hells out of every single smack.” He lifted the heavy bag from her shoulder and swung her up in his arms as if she weighed no more than a feather. Pliant now, Tem wrapped her arms about his neck.

  “Come, demon, I have a private cabin waiting for us on the first transport.”

  “Are you in love with me, then?” Tem whispered, burying her face against his shoulder. “Because I think I love you.”

  “That’s good,” answered Aytan. “I’d hate to think I came all this way for a woman who detests me.” He strode through the crowd and it seemed to Tem as if the people parted before them like water.

  “You haven’t answered my question.”

  Aytan stopped moving. Tem thought he might set her down, but he kept her in his arms. “Red Demon, I discovered without you my life means nothing. With you it is everything. I forced the Empress to bring me here to you. By the Gods, whatever time is gifted to me, I want to spend with you and with our children. You will not flee from me again, Tempus Fugit.” His voice sounded fierce and he gave her a gentle shake. “Do you hear me?”

  Tem wound her hands in his long golden hair. She knew when they reached Calen she would braid it for him in what would become the way of all Calen men. “Then you do love me.”

  “I suppose I do,” was all he said.

  Tem lifted her head. “Will you kiss me this time, Horse Master?”

  The corner of Aytan’s mouth twitched and he shifted her slightly in his arms, attempting to get a better angle. At last he said, “I’ll have to set you down if I’m going to give you the kissing you deserve.”

  “Then take me to our cabin,” she teased. “Because once you begin I won’t be able to stop.”

  Aytan tightened his grip on her and on her bag. As he hurried his steps, Tem heard the deep rumble of his laughter; she felt his chest shake beneath her cheek.

  She heard the Empress Ya’s words as if the woman stood right beside her.

  Find the place ye like best and a life will come to thee. Can ye ride a horse?

  Tem knew she had found the place and she would ride a very big horse.

  Glossary

  * * *

  basha—A small bear-like creature; occasionally kept as pets.

  beacon star—A star that gives off a regular energy pulse and can be used to navigate by.

  bisha beast—a large member of the cat family. The females have multiple sexual partners and come into heat monthly.

  black frocks—An old underground priesthood that believes in human sacrifice, specifically the sacrifice of Women of the Blood. They drink the blood as they believe it gives them superhuman powers—and it does give them the sight for brief periods, but if taken too often, will drive them mad and kill them.

  bramah—An antelope type horned creature. They travel in large herds. Their hide is quite soft.

  brill—An animal like a cow, provides milk.

  cabba—An hallucinogenic herb that can be smoked or soaked in oil and eaten with bread.

  calen—A rich agricultural planet, very earth-like, with fertile soil, large herds of livestock and many horses, which are generally not allowed by the Coalition. All Calen-men traditionally wear their hair long and braided.

  chigalla—A tribe of primitives living in isolation on the edges of the galaxy who murder and torture for the sheer pleasure of it. They are not allowed off their home world—a curse word among civilized men.

  chitta whore—prostitutes drawn from the ranks of the poor, the desperate, the abandoned, the widows—women who have no other options open to them. They live in a brothel managed by a madam who is herself merely assigned by the Coalition.

  darrok—Oaf, fool.

  dryebread—Enriched bread baked hard and packed for space travel. A nutritiously complete food.

  eir-edan—A lawless planet on the margin of the galaxy. Even the authorities avoid it whenever possible.

  fassa tree—A tree with a smooth bark that grows on Persephone; a very tall tree with thick branches and large, dark green leaves.

  gack—An animal that grazes in marshland, somewhat like a moose, and has very odiferous excrement.

  giant forest rat—A large possum-like creature found in the forests of Persephone and builds nests in hollow trees.

  gona desert—Primitive world where the Coalition’s corporal punishment consists of staking criminals and Resistance fighters out in the desert sands for the sun and insects to kill them.

  iga beast—A lumbering cattle-type animal that is considered stupid and useless as its meat is very tough and tasteless, valued only for its thick coat in cold climates.

  ishat—A kept woman, a courtesan trained in the finer arts of sex play. Has a much higher social standing than a whore.

  kekki tree flower—A very fragrant flower with amber tones that is used in perfumes.

  kesa—Captain Aram’s base of operations, a moon on the edge of a sparsely populated solar system.

  khalia dancer—a beautiful woman specially trained to dance for wealthy male patrons. Khalia dancers existed before the coup. They have become fewer in number and their dancing is restricted to only upper level members of the Coalition.

  kig—A measurement of distance, approximately a kilometer.

  kirrae—A breed of horses developed soon after leaving earth by a man named Aytan Kirrae.

  matsu—The planet Matsu is the Imperial Capital, the Imperial city itself is also named Matsu.

  ottorum—A small planet on the fringes of the galaxy. The headquarters of the Black Frocks.

  packra—A marsupial that carries its infant in an abdominal pouch

  the pikes—An enormous asteroid belt male pilots avoid‌—‌too many large rocks with gravitational forces and gravitational currents and eddies.

  the plains of sithia—the site of the deciding battle between the Resistance forces supporting the Empress Aja and the forces of the Coalition. Lies two kigs outside the capitol city of Matsu and was originally used as communal grazing land. Now left in its natural state as a memorial to the men and women who died during the overthrow of the Coalition.

  sauran asteroid belt—Home in exile of the Royal Family.

  stunner pilot—A crazy, fearless, accurate, second-to-none pilot‌—‌very rare that a male pilot possesses these characteristics. Most stunner pilots (males) die young.

  sipa spice—A spice similar to cinnamon.

  tionay nebula—A vast nebula filled with intense electronic storms and vortexes‌—‌although it is the shortest route to the Galactic Core or center, most pilots avoid it. Women pilots used to fly through.

  tisa—a hard liquor made from the fireflower‌—‌a spicy orchid-like flower native to the tropics. The flower is an epiphyte. It grows on a host tree and derives its nutrition from the air. It was originally discovered growing wild in the jungles of Ephan, but the plant is now cultivated throughout the Empire.

  tree spata—A squirrel-like creature that eats nuts and seeds. Also stores them for the winter.

  veercat—a large feline predator that hunts on the tall grass prairies of Calen.

  warthdogs—Animals that resemble hyenas. They hunt and scavenge in packs.

  About the Author

  Dear Readers,

  I’m a big fan of science fiction and fantasy. I have been since the moment I picked up a copy of Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet, by Eleanor Cameron. So to all the many science fiction and fantasy authors I love, I dedicate this
Space Opera, Daughters of Persephone: Exile, Return, Reborn and The Red Demon. Enjoy!

  Julia

  * * *

  J. R. Barrett has lived many lives, but the one central theme of each is her writing. She’s written prose and poetry since she was a child. Her grandmother was a playwright, an uncle a noted journalist, another uncle wrote college textbooks, and her father acted as an advisor to the Iowa Supreme Court. She’s had articles published in various medical and nursing magazines and poetry published in various literary journals.

  Julia and her family live on the West Coast with an entire food chain of animals.

  She can be reached via her website: Julia Barrett's World

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  Other Works by J. R. Barrett

  Beauty and the Feast

  My Everything

  Winner of the 2011 Lorie’s Best Published Single Title Mainstream Romantic Suspense

  “You Might Just Get It” (short story)

  “The Artist” (short story)

  “Is It Spicy” (short story)

  “Liz and Me” (short story)

  Poems of Love and Hate (poetry)

  Book I: The Soul Series Incorporeal

  Book II: The Soul Series In the Flesh

  Book III: The Soul Series Stay

  The Soul Series: Special Edition

  * * *

  Writing as Julia Rachel Barrett

  Captured

  Winner of the 2011 Bookseller’s Best First Book Award

  Anytime Darlin’

  Come Back to Me

  Pushing Her Boundaries

  One Four All (a ménage)

  Ghosts? Guardians? Archangels? Transmigration of Souls?

  Incorporeal: As much as she wishes otherwise, Sara Wise sees ghosts. When a five hundred year old incorporeal being appears in her shower she orders him to leave, but he refuses. Sara knows he’s not her usual spectral visitor. Is Nathan de Manua a ghost? Her guardian angel? As her feelings for this incorporeal being grow, so do his powers. Will Nathan save Sara, or will her love redeem his tortured soul?