“Many of our scholars purport that we have good and bad gods. For instance they claim the last god who inhabited the druid in the highest seat, Shindray, was an evil god, who caused us a hundred years of ruin. This could be no further from the truth. The sterner gods bring us periods of darkness in order to make us stronger and more resilient. We always come out better in the period afterward. Shindray gave stern rules for our women, which led to their revolt and ultimately a severe drop in our birthrates—particularly for female Dak-Hiliah. Now we’re few, but the few are mightier than the multitude that preceded us, and all that are born from this generation are just as mighty. Shindray knew that we needed the women’s power to be checked so that the work of men toward the ultimate goals of our race could proceed without hindrance. I carry on his legacy because I’m not so foolish to presume it damaged us. Shindray was wise, perhaps the wisest in our long history.”
She lifted her head toward him. This caused him to turn from the images he showed her on the screen and meet her eyes.
“Yes?”
She pursed her lips. “How were the women a hindrance before?”
He tapped at his tablet and summoned up pictures of the Dak-Hiliah home world. The images showed dozens of male and female Dak-Hiliah in a crowded city street. There were couples of male with females, some smiling to each other. At an outside table of a restaurant a female was perched on a males lap while tilting her head back in laughter.
Selena stared at the scene. Dak-Hiliah females had the same shape as human females, but with horns growing from their heads and shoulders. They had the same coloration as the males. She found them beautiful.
“The druid before Shindray decreed that women could decide the sex of their offspring. This was during a time when men and women were equals. Women fought as soldiers, conducted business, and had all the rights and freedoms as men. When the druid Irat gave them the right to decide the gender of their children they suddenly had more power than men. Men became subordinate—emasculated. This was a period of great stagnation for us. Our borders ceased increasing. No new words were conquered. There were revolts on our slave worlds. We saw our great empire beginning to crumble. The root cause of it all was diminishment of the men. This had to be addressed in the most aggressive way possible. That’s what Shidray did all through his hundred year tenure.”
Selena felt dubious due to her ‘narrow culture’ influencing her. The society she saw in the pictures looked flourishing. So what if they regressed a little. That was natural in the process of growth. Shindray had turned a minor regression into near-extinction.
“Our scholars call Shindray evil because our numbers are so few, however it was Irat who caused us to lose numbers. He was the one who allowed the women to choose to only have male offspring. Had that power never been given to them this catastrophe could have been avoided.”
“Hmm.”
He sent her a narrow-eyed glare. “I warn you to think before you dare try to argue with me. You have very little perspective and our lesson has only just begun.”
“You’re right. I’ll be quiet.”
Xaroth hesitated, then tapped at his tablet again. For a while no new images appeared on the screen. Xaroth grumbled and set the tablet down. “I’m preoccupied with what you intended to say. Go on then. I give you permission to be argumentative.”
“I wouldn’t argue. You’re right. I don’t have perspective. I still want to know how things turned out last time you guys had a dark age. Maybe it is good for you. I don’t really know.”
Xaroth screwed his lips. “That’s not what you were going to say.”
She sighed. “It just reminded me of a situation we had on Earth.”
“Do tell.”
“There was this religious group that had the same attitude as Shindray did towards women. Not only did they need to stay home and not work and would get beaten if they didn’t please their husbands, they also had to be covered up with these black shapeless dress things whenever they went out. It was because women were an evil temptation to men. Like men couldn’t focus on anything but sex if a woman was around and wasn’t covered up.”
Xaroth’s brow rose. “How interesting. This black dress you’re wearing was Shindray’s invention. He felt that women should dress modestly.”
She looked at her dress. It covered her from below the neck, but her hands and feet and ankles were visible. “This dress actually would have been fine on Earth before the war. It’s great fabric, and clings to my natural shape. The clothes these women had to wear were like big black sheets. There was just a net area over their eyes that they could see out of. You had no idea what the woman underneath looked like.”
“I shall have to research this culture when time allows,” Xaroth said.
She looked away from him. “I always felt pity for those women. I had a great life in what I thought was a very enlightened country. The women from this other country were suffering.”
“Perhaps for the betterment of their society?”
She frowned. “Aren’t women part of society, too?”
“Mmm.” He became lost in concentration.
“I wanted to ask one of these guys, ‘What if you had been born a woman? Would you want to be treated this way?’”
Xaroth raised a finger. “Ah. Compassion is precisely that. To imagine yourself in the other person’s circumstances and change your behavior based on what you perceive they would feel.”
She blinked a few times. “Is that bad?”
“It is when it could mean that all your people will die. If we had had compassion for Earth, and had not waged war, our race would go extinct eventually.”
“I don’t think anyone reasonable could fault you for trying to survive, even when it devastated us. We could argue that you should have conquered us differently—”
“Blame Lord Elentinus for that.”
“But you needed to find new women. I get that. So here I am, being your bride. Someone like me shouldn’t be mistreated by you, don’t you think?”
He looked down his nose at her. “Have you been mistreated?”
“No. I don’t feel I have.”
“Well then.”
“But if you follow the rules of Shindray it sounds like I would be very mistreated. I don’t think I deserve that.”
“I agree.”
She swallowed.
“Under the Surrender Agreement with Earth you should not even be removed from the slave colony to be a bride for us. Since you volunteered for such a thing you should be granted special consideration. To place undue restrictions on a human as gracious as you would be inhospitable.”
She stared at her hands. “I’m grateful you feel that way.”
“There may be humans whom I do not feel deserve such protections as what the Surrender Agreement gave to you. If I should…discover…any such humans, I would feel justified in utilizing those women in a manner that would be of greatest benefit to the Dak-Hiliah. Particularly the soldiers under my care. I would feel no obligation for compassion.”
Her brow furrowed. “What would you do to them?”
“Utilize them.” He tapped on the tablet. A planet appeared on the screen hidden beneath dense clouds. “Utilize their bodies, as well as their breeding capabilities.”
Her throat began to feel tight.
“Let me tell you of our slave worlds. They are the luckiest slaves in the universe—I can say this without doubt.”
The lecture continued until he declared it was time for lunch. Selena had tried to focus. Some elements were truly fascinating—but she still worried about Europa Colony. It sounded as though all Hern’s misgivings were justified.
Xaroth brought her to the same lounge area where they’d eaten their breakfast. He placed an order with a robot then chatted with her about some of the less contentious information given in his lecture.
Selena felt at ease. Then she saw Hern from the corner of her eye. Both she and Xaroth looked at him as he approached. A thread
of longing tugged at her middle. She’d had enough of Xaroth for one day. Hern’s bewitching eyes made her ache.
He gave her a tender nod before addressing Xaroth.
“I thought we might lunch together, but I see you already have a date.”
Xaroth’s eyes grew cunning. “You’ve never sought to dine with me before. I think you knew very well we were together.”
Hern smiled. “Fair enough. I wanted to see how you two were getting on.”
“Tell him, my dear,” Xaroth said.
She smiled at Hern, but knew a greater message was conveyed to him by her sad eyes. “General Xaroth was giving me a lesson about the Dak-Hiliah culture. It was fascinating.”
“How kind of you,” Hern said to Xaroth.
“Not at all. I wish to have an educated spouse.”
“She still calls you General Xaroth.”
Selena’s stomach tensed.
Xaroth smiled at him. “I see where your priorities steer you. Indeed, your doting flower has not been besmirched by me.”
“I just worry about you hurting her.”
Xaroth gave an incredulous scoff.
“Human women are delicate.”
Selena began to fidget with her hands under the table.
“I’ve more experience with their kind than you have.”
“It’s the result of your last experience that makes me worry for her.”
Selena’s eyes bulged.
Xaroth’s face darkened. “Is this the effects of love on you, Hern? That it makes you crass and insulting?”
Selena realized Hern’s hands were trembling. He balled them into fists. “I suppose so.”
“Amazing,” Xaroth said, while still looking angered. “I’ve never seen you so careless with me. One wonders why you chose to share her in the first place.”
“Hern…” Selena let the soft word escape.
He lowered his head. “Forgive me. Please.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “I had no right to say that.”
Xaroth tilted his head back and hmphed. “Find a chair and join us. I’m intrigued by your…new disposition.”
Hern obeyed and sat at the table. The robot came to bring Xaroth and Selena their food. Hern rattled off a quick order for himself.
“Xaroth…” He seemed to have difficulty finding his words. “Selena has evoked so many new emotions in me. Not just love. She’s made me want to protect her—more than anyone else ever has. And now…now I feel jealousy. I had no idea it would be like this.”
“I excuse your insult. It’s clear you’re not yourself.”
Hern bowed his head. “Thank you, Xaroth.”
“You’re giving me a most worthwhile education on the effects women have on men.”
Selena felt a sting inside her. It dispersed into an electric crackle through her spine.
“I’m better for having Selena to love, Xaroth. She inspires me. She makes me wish to fight for my ideals even more.”
Xaroth stirred his food. “Your ideals of compassion.”
“To have a wife like Selena would give any man a richer life.”
“But will such influential distractions be of any benefit to the Empire?”
“If it’s an Empire that’s composed of both men and women, then yes.”
Xaroth made a low scoff.
“I’m not trying to make him feel jealous.” She looked at neither of them as she spoke.
“You don’t need to try, my dear,” Xaroth said. “Women contaminate the mind by the mere virtue of their presence. Just look how careless you made Hern.”
She put her face in her hands.
“She’s not contaminating you,” Hern said.
“I’m immune to her charms.”
“That’s because you’ve yet to experience them.”
She felt her face become hot. “Oh my God.”
“It sounds as though you’d prefer I do no such thing.”
Selena looked up. Hern had a grimace. His eyes searched the empty space on the table before him.
“No,” he said. “I want you to have her.” He looked into Xaroth’s eyes. “Because the only thing she contaminates someone with is compassion. That’s what you sorely need.”
Xaroth lifted his drink as though toasting him. “Now that’s the Hern I know. Placing aside everything that’s dear to you in order to beseech me. Bravo.” He sipped.
Selena reached over to clutch Hern’s arm beneath the table.
“How far will you truly go, Hern?”
Hern’s shoulders were slumped. “What do you mean?”
“We are both her husbands. We should have her together.”
Hern locked a steady gaze on him. “You want me to be present for your matrimonial joining?”
“That’s how it should have been for both of us.” He ate a bite of food. “Wasn’t sharing a bride supposed to unite us? How is taking turns with her a unifier? If she’s the glue to bond us together then let the three of us be as one.”
Hern continued staring at him. His mouth had fallen slightly open and his brow conveyed dubiousness. Selena watched him with her heart racing. What Xaroth suggested was either obscene or acceptable. She felt it entirely up to Hern to decide her feelings.
Xaroth smirked at him. “I see. The thought of sharing such intimacy with me repulses you.”
Hern finally broke his gaze from him. “It neither repulses me nor appeals to me. I just don’t understand your motives. I thought I understood them when you made your proposal.” He looked at Selena. “But…I think my assumption was wrong.”
Xaroth continued eating. After swallowing a bite he said, “You are an extremely charming man, Hern, but sometimes the gears in your brain grind too slowly. I have no patience for such sluggish epiphanies. Will you join me and the woman in bed tonight, or not?”
Hern still looked at Selena. He raised his brow to her in question. She lowered her head to consider it. Of course, she’d rather not go to bed with Xaroth at all. She felt no spark of chemistry with him, no attraction. When he lectured her he became more like an older schoolteacher than a husband. She could imagine him as a mentor and friend, though not so much a lover. Perhaps in an illicit, purely carnal way—with the eroticism of taboo. That was not at all like the pure love she’d found with Hern. It would be an act without meaning. But since she had to sleep with him—wouldn’t it be better if Hern were there? To keep him from being too rough, if nothing else?
She finally nodded to Hern.
“Are you sure?”
Xaroth started paying attention. “You’re letting her decide?”
Hern ignored him.
“I’ve said yes,” she said to Xaroth.
He smiled while tipping his nose at her.
“But…” she looked at Hern. “It’s going to be so embarrassing.”
He soothed her hand.
“Could I get a little drunk, maybe?”
Xaroth chuckled.
“Of course,” Hern said. He brought her hand to his lips. “And if you change your mind you don’t have to do this.”
She cast a love-soaked gaze at him. He made her feel warm inside and secure. Xaroth ceased to exist at that moment.
“Tonight then,” Xaroth said. “In my quarters.”
Xaroth set her free after lunch. A robot came to take her back to her quarters. Hern stayed at the table with Xaroth, engrossed in a conversation about whether to allow their lowest caste to become soldiers.
Selena accepted the solitude of her chamber for the rest of the afternoon. She didn’t dare try to seek Hern. The robots had become enemy spies to her.
After a few hours Hern’s knock was at her door. She brought him in to sit beside her on bed. Hern drew her against his side with a strong arm.
“How do you feel, my love?”
“Nervous. Full of anticipation. I thought he wasn’t going to bother with me until I started ovulating tomorrow.”
“It’s puzzling to me, also. I don’t see what advantage he hopes to gain f
rom this.”
Selena leaned back to gape at him. “Um…Hern, it’s obvious to me that this isn’t a political play.”
He tilted his brow with uncertainty.
“He just desires you.” She turned up her palms. “That’s why he proposed and that’s why he wants the threesome.”
“That seems so unlike him. He’s never struck me as someone lustful.”
“I think you’re going to change your mind after tonight.” She thought of Shol-Ignar and Let-Shurit with a twinge of anger. “You should have heard how he spoke about you. He sounded in love.”
Hern looked astonished.
“I don’t see how you can be so oblivious. Even the way he talked to you at lunch today—every word was just dripping with longing. He tries to be harsh and clever, but that’s just to hide how much he wants you.”
“Selena...”
She frowned and turned her gaze away from him. “I guess you’re not the only one who can get jealous.”
He laughed and hugged her tighter. “My gods, what if you’re right? It seems so ridiculous. That stubborn old brick.”
“Laugh while you can. You’re the one he’ll be interested in tonight, not me.”
Hern made a sound of disagreement. “That’s not how these things work. I’m there to enjoy you with him. Not to be enjoyed by him. He’ll know better than to cross that line. We are not in a three-way marriage. You’re the focus for us both.”
She moved her lips to one side. “Hmm.”
Hern produced a vial of blue liquid. “Here. I brought you a potion to drink.”
Selena hesitantly took it.
“This is better than alcohol. It will enhance your pleasure and take away all your anxiety. You’ll actually be able to enjoy tonight.”
She stared at it. “That…sounds good.”
“It won’t harm you. And you don’t have to fear losing your inhibitions. I’ll be there to watch over you.”
She nodded with her lips pursed. Taking a drug was a scary prospect, but her trust for Hern was strong. “Should I drink it now?”
“Yes. If you’re ready to go to his chamber.”
She nodded, and then drew a long shuddering breath. She popped open the lid with her thumb and drank. The liquid had no taste, but the instant it drained down her throat she began to feel its hypnotic effects. The room began to drift pleasantly around her.
The Complete Alien's Bride Page 47