by L P Peace
‘Gahdi Inria is our father’s mother. She is the matriarch and law master of our clan.’
‘Law master? I thought the Temerin didn’t have laws.’
Kentor smiled. ‘We don’t have laws like the rest of the sector does. But we do have guides to how to live and treat each other,’ he said. ‘And outsiders. We break the laws of the galaxy, but only go as far as the law master says.’
Danielle nodded, still a little confused as she followed Sidha and Kentor from the bridge. Haddis followed.
Sidha broke off and went into his and Kentor’s room, leaving Danielle to follow the guys alone.
When they got to the hold, Bedvir and Aerdan were waiting. As soon as they arrived, Aerdan opened the hold and stepped back as the ramp lowered, revealing groups of Temerin stood before them.
‘Remember, Danielle, you are our lover.’ There was a strange look in Aerdan’s eye, almost a promise.
Bedvir came up behind her and touched her hip. ‘Don’t worry, Danielle. You’re among family here.’
Danielle followed as the guys led the way onto the soft ground. Almost immediately, Haddis and Kentor broke off and approached their mita. A moment later, Bedvir did the same, approaching his own mita Danielle hadn’t noticed initially. Like him, their markings were a cross of grey and orange, though the mix was to a lesser or greater degree depending on the individual. Danielle found herself fascinated by the variety of the markings. When a younger Temerin male from Bedvir’s mita caught her eyes, his face hostile, she realised she’d been staring.
‘Let’s have a look at you.’
Danielle turned to find Gahdi Inria standing in front of her. The older woman stared at her with blood red eyes. Her markings, similar to her son and grandsons, stood out over her neck and shoulders like a mantle. She studied it for a moment, seeing the greyish skin slash markings through the red skin.
Looking up into the older woman’s eyes, she saw fierce intelligence staring back at her.
‘So you’re the female my grandson is claiming along with Aerdan and Bedvir,’ she said, watching Danielle closely.
‘Err, I guess,’ Danielle smiled weakly.
‘You guess? Are you not sure?’
‘No, I’m sure. Just—’
‘Gahdi Inria!’ Sidha appeared at her side and gathered the old woman in his arms.
‘Sidha,’ Gahdi Inria said, an unmistakable fondness in her voice. ‘Welcome back to us, my dahi.’
Dahi?
Sidha withdrew from the hug, but kept Gahdi Inria in his arms and turned her to face Danielle. ‘Isn’t she beautiful? Haddis, Bedvir, and Aerdan are very lucky males. If I were so inclined, I would have fought them for this beauty.’
Danielle felt her face flame up.
‘You say such pretty words,’ Gahdi said, cupping the side of Sidha’s face. ‘They rarely have any content. But in this case, I agree.’ She turned her attention to Danielle. ‘You are very beautiful.’
‘Thank you,’ Danielle said, trying to force a smile to her lips. Her gaze was drawn to Bedvir as he brought his mita forward.
‘These are my cousins.’ He turned back to his mita. ‘This is Danielle, our female.’
A few faces smiled at Danielle, but the male who’d watched her with hostile eyes sneered.
‘I love your markings,’ Danielle said. ‘They’re very beautiful.’
‘Is that a joke?’ The male stepped towards her. ‘Are you mocking us?’
Danielle stepped away from him, her instinct telling her to run. Bedvir stepped in the way and placed a hand on the male’s chest.
‘Garim, step away.’ Bedvir’s voice was so harsh and firm it made her stomach flip.
‘Why would that be a joke?’ she asked.
The Temerin caught the male’s eyes. Something crossed over his face, and tension drained from him.
‘She doesn’t know, Garim. I’ve never told her.’
The male looked stricken. He turned to Bedvir, then back to Danielle. ‘My apologies, female. I assumed you knew.’
‘Knew what?’ Danielle looked at Bedvir.
Everything was silent until Gahdi Inria stepped forward. ‘Mita Vadra are made up of the bastards of other mita who were cast out during a dark period in our history. We had just discovered space travel when the purity of bloodlines nonsense erupted on our world. The illegitimate offspring could only be whores or mate each other. Many chose the latter, and Mita Vadra was born. There are still some among us who believe in those backward ways.’ Gahdi Inria rolled her eyes dramatically. ‘We’d never even thought of the concept of children as being illegitimate until fools brought it back to us from other worlds. What a ridiculous idea.’
‘Oh no. Earth used to care about that stuff, but not for a long time,’ Danielle said, looking at Garim. ‘But I get it. Like I said, they used to care.’
Garim hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Whispering caught Danielle’s attention, and she turned to find Haddis and Kentor in deep discussion with their father, who did not look happy. Haddis looked enraged and Kentor seemed to be mediating between them two of them. Finally, Haddis walked towards her, his eyes seemed to shine with anger.
Kentor said something to his father before pulling him into an embrace, then followed Haddis back.
‘Well, enough of that nonsense,’ Gahdi Inria said. ‘Let’s go to the market.’
She turned around, holding her arm out which was taken by her son and together they led the way back into the forest.
‘Market?’ Danielle asked, looking at Bedvir and Aerdan.
‘Yes, we have to get you something other than that uniform to wear,’ Aerdan grinned.
Despite how angry Danielle still felt at Aerdan, his grin did stupid things to her. She stifled the reaction and followed the various mitas who’d come to greet them and were now walking into the trees.
One, however, had broken off and was boarding Compound Errors.
‘Where are they going?’ Danielle asked.
‘That is the crew of Donifer. They are doing some repairs on the ship I can’t do,’ Bedvir offered.
‘That’s nice of them,’ Danielle said.
‘It is not.’ Bedvir smiled. ‘I will have to perform repairs on a ship called Afion. The engineer of Afion will perform repairs on Colidor and the crew of Colidor will perform repairs on Donifer.
‘A trade?’
Bedvir nodded. ‘You will find much of who we are as a people relies on trade, bartering and cooperation. Come, let’s not get left behind,’ Bedvir said, placing his hand on her lower back and guiding her to catch up with the others who were waiting for them a few meters ahead.
* * *
The scent of the ocean was strong in Danielle’s nostrils by the time they reached the market. It wasn’t quite like it was on Earth; the saltiness of the ocean was there, but there was something else that was almost sweet. It kind of reminded her of fairy floss, or cotton candy as Americans called it. Memories of the beach in Sidney flashed through her mind. Despite her loneliness, Danielle had managed to make some friends at university. Spending time with them on the beach were some of her happiest memories.
Another smell quickly overtook as Danielle was guided into the market by the guys. Food of all types. She tried to look around her escort even as her stomach growled in response to the fragrance. Haddis gave her a grin.
‘Our female’s hungry. Let’s get her some food.’
The whole group seemed to cant in a new direction. Kentor and Sidha walked hand-in-hand in front of them, leading the way, with Haddis and Bedvir on either side and Aerdan at her rear. It was strange how safe she felt, even though thousands of Temerin were moving around her, rushing from one place to another.
Stalls of all shapes and sizes had been set up among the trees, using them as a natural canopy to protect from the orange sun. People were haggling as they walked by, and instead of exchanging credits, there was a healthy system of bartering. It seemed the deal was done when neither pa
rty were happy with the result.
They stopped in front of a stall, and Sidha went into a protracted negotiation with the male behind it.
Danielle turned to Haddis. ‘What was that about with your father?’
Haddis sighed. ‘He wants me to come back to his ship. He thinks we should abandon Compound Errors, let someone else have it, and leave with them.’
‘And you don’t want that?’
‘No.’ He sighed. ‘I love my father. Respect him. But I can’t live with him.’
Danielle nodded. ‘He loves you.’ She shrugged. ‘He wants his family around him.’
‘He wants me to be like him,’ Haddis said. ‘When my father is done leading our mita, it’ll be up to me to take over. I want to go to war with the Bentari and take our home back.’ Haddis looked at her. ‘He doesn’t respect me.’
‘I’m sorry, Haddis.’ Danielle leaned into him and gave him a hug. When she tried to withdraw, Haddis tightened his grip and she relaxed into him, listening to Sidha and the stall holder barter.
When they were done, she took some trinkets from a huge bag Kentor was carrying, and they each had a small paper container of meat and herbs.
The smell was rich and divine. Danielle looked at Bedvir, who picked some of the meat up and dropped it in his mouth. Figuring it might be weird to them to ask for utensils, she took a piece and bit into it.
Oils, salty and herby, dripped over her chin. The meat fell apart and Danielle suddenly found herself having to push the rest of the cube into her mouth before it fell down her top.
A thumb wiped at the oil. Danielle looked up to find Bedvir watching her, a smirk on his full lips, an adoring look in his eye.
Danielle’s stomach rolled, but while there was still the sick feeling she got last time, it was subdued compared to the butterflies that erupted and the tingle on her skin where his thumb gathered up the oil. Bedvir stuck his thumb in his mouth.
‘Delicious,’ he murmured, a twinkle in his eye.
Danielle’s mouth went dry as she realised he wasn’t talking about the flavour of the food. She swallowed down a suddenly dry throat.
‘Here,’ Bedvir said before reaching for her chin again. He wiped the lingering oil off her chin with his sleeve.
‘Drink,’ Sidha said, handing Danielle a small plastic-like container.
She tore her eyes away from Bedvir’s, breaking his spell on her, and took the drink from Sidha.
Suddenly conscious of the other guys, she turned, thinking she’d see Aerdan angry, possibly even Haddis hurt. Instead, they both watched her with the same look in their eyes as Bedvir had.
Something had changed, and the thought of what and why worried her.
‘Time to get you some new clothes,’ Aerdan said.
With that, the group moved on through the market.
They walked for a few more minutes as Danielle observed the Temerin. They dressed modestly, though always showing off their mita markings. They moved through the forest with a grace and ease that Danielle was envious of, and everyone seemed to know and care for each other.
The males walked through, talking to people and guarding and guiding their families, while the females did most of the shopping for supplies.
‘Where are the kids?’ Danielle asked Haddis.
‘They’ll all be at the beach,’ Haddis said.
‘Alone?’
Haddis smiled at her. ‘The older children watch the younger ones. They are responsible for their younger siblings and they take that responsibility seriously. Don’t worry, Danielle. They are safe.’
‘Here we are,’ Kentor called.
‘Danielle!’
Danielle turned when she heard the familiar voice of Imalia calling out to her. She found her standing in a stall with fabrics and dresses, some half-made. Imalia stepped out of the stall and ran over to her, pulling her into a hug. Danielle felt discomfort flare through her body but forced herself to return the embrace.
When Imalia was done, she stepped back and looked at Danielle, giving her the once over, an assessing look on her face.
‘Clothes?’ She looked at Aerdan.
‘Yes.’
‘What do you have for me?’
‘These,’ Kentor said, pulling out two reams of fabric from the bag he was carrying.
Imalia’s eyes lit up before she masked her enthusiasm. ‘Let me see.’
Danielle turned to Aerdan while Imalia was looking at the fabric. ‘You know, if you just brought me to Tessa, you wouldn’t have to buy me clothes.’
Aerdan’s smile was tender and breath-taking. ‘We want to buy you clothes,’ he said simply.
‘Is this Qureshi fabric?’ Imalia said, running her fingers along one edge of one of the reams.
‘It is.’
‘Hmm.’ Imalia looked at Aerdan. ‘Seven dresses.’
‘Twelve,’ Aerdan countered.
‘I can’t go higher than eight,’ Imalia said. Her face and voice seemed regretful, but her eyes shone with a light of deviousness.
‘I can’t go lower than eleven,’ Aerdan said. ‘Or I’m practically giving the two reams away.’
Imalia shook her head. ‘I can go to nine, but that’s going to start eating into any profits I could make.’
‘If you can go nine, then you can go to ten,’ Aerdan said. ‘After all, Danielle is your friend.’
‘I can go to nine because she is my friend,’ Imalia said, reaching out and smiling at Danielle.
‘There would be no justice in it for Danielle if you left it at nine. Give her ten. Ten dresses.’
‘Can I have some pants?’ Danielle almost snapped.
A look of triumph appeared on Imalia’s face. ‘Nine sets of clothing.’ There was a finality to her tone that brooked no argument.
Aerdan sighed. ‘Fine. Nine, but she gets as many pants as she wants.’
‘Fine,’ Imalia said.
As weird as their interaction was, it just seemed to support Danielle’s theory that bartering was about the systemic spreading of misery.
‘Danielle, choose your fabrics,’ Imalia said, spreading her arm out to show the various reams, folds, and hangings of fabrics she’d set out in spectacular eye-catching design throughout her stall.
‘I don’t just get them?’ Danielle pointed at the two reams in Imalia’s hands.
‘You can have whatever patterns and fabrics you choose.’
‘I will get off to Afion,’ Bedvir said, looking around.
‘Very well,’ Aerdan said. Haddis and I will wait here with Danielle.’
‘We’re going to go,’ Kentor said, glancing at Sidha. ‘We have a few things to arrange.’
Aerdan nodded, and the two of them disappeared into the crowd.
‘Danielle.’
Danielle looked up at Bedvir, who smiled down at her, before bending over. He brushed his lips over hers lightly, but it seemed to set every nerve in her body on fire. ‘I will see you soon,’ he whispered.
Danielle nodded, too stunned to speak. Without another word, he turned and disappeared amidst the Temerin.
‘Come, let’s get you measured and something better to wear than that. I have several dresses I can easily alter for you.’ Imalia put her arm around Danielle’s shoulder.
‘Wait a moment,’ Aerdan said.
Danielle turned back to him, only to find Haddis in front of her. He bent down and brushed his own lips over hers, licking her lower lip. There was a devious smirk on his face when he backed away. Then Aerdan was there. There was trepidation on his face, but he repeated Haddis and Bedvir’s actions, giving her the lightest kiss.
Still too shocked to think, Danielle let Imalia pull her away and into a small curtained section at the back of the stall.
The curtain to the fitting room closed behind Danielle. The feel of her lips against his burned in Haddis’s gut and threatened to descend lower. She sparked such a fire in him, and he wanted to burn with her.
They were standing in the middle of a forest, sur
rounded by a pop-up market on a world they’d never visited. Aerdan and Haddis looked at one another; they knew what this meant.
Even now, their scientists would be going through the trees, scanning and cataloguing the plant and animal life by its scat. By the end of the day, they’d have catalogued thousands of things, and the Temerin would know what they could eat, what they could utilise for their crafts and wares, and what they should leave alone.
There were so many worlds like this. Worlds where intelligent life had never emerged. Worlds where they could make a home if only the Bentari and Fedhith would leave them be.
Ultimately though, the goal was to return to Temir. To reclaim their home from the aliens who’d taken it from them.
‘How’s your hadda?’
Aerdan’s question sounded innocent, but it wasn’t.
‘He wants me to return to the mita and begin my training to replace him. I told him I’d replace him, but not so I could carry on his ways.’
Aerdan’s nod was noncommittal, and it annoyed Haddis. When he’d joined Aerdan, Kentor and Bedvir, he’d raged for days about his plans to throw the Bentari world into chaos and reclaim their world, and Aerdan had never said a word about it. Never for nor against, just simply let him rage. Over time, Haddis had taken this to mean Aerdan was not committed to helping him, but at least he wasn’t committed to stopping him, like Haddis’s father.
However, the more time that passed, the more it grated on Haddis that his people, while committed to saving as many Temerin as possible, weren’t planning a way to get their home back, and Aerdan, more and more, was becoming the focus of his anger.
‘It’s always confused me that your mita is the only one that doesn’t elect their leader,’ Aerdan said. ‘You pass the mantle down to the most suitable leader, but it’s always of the same bloodline.’
Haddis shrugged. ‘I didn’t begin the tradition. But it makes sense for a warrior family. The current leader has a greater sway over raising their sons to take their place, and they choose the one who’s the most suitable.’