"Well, as close as it comes. It's about making promises to each other and standing up in front of everyone that you care about and making public vows committing yourselves to each other."
"We can do that."
"You don't have to do this, Ty. I know that we are mated. That's enough for me."
"I know I don't have to, I want to. I want to give you the experience that you would have had if you had ended up with a human man. I want to know that your commitment to me means the same to you."
"It means more to me, Ty. I love you with everything I have and I am fully and completely committed to spending my life here with you."
"Do you have friends on Earth? A family?"
"A few, I suppose. My mother is there. Though I rarely see her. She hides from my stepfather even more than I do."
"Wouldn't you want them to see you get married? We don't celebrate bonding here. It is a very personal experience, as you know." She smiled and glanced away briefly, "But I think that there is nothing in this galaxy worth celebrating more than what I found with you. I waited for you for my entire life and I know that I resisted you at first, but that only makes me love you all the more because I was so close to pushing you away. I could have lost you forever and I would have spent the rest of my life alone and longing for you rather than spending each moment treasuring you. So, please, Samira. Bring me back to Earth and marry me."
"Then we'll come back to Uoria?"
"Of course."
Ty watched her eyes and saw them sparkle. A smile broke across her lips and she jumped forward into his arms.
"Yes. Yes, I will marry you." She pulled back and looked him in the face again, "Thank you, Ty."
The moment between them broke as a hush fell over the meeting hall. They turned their attention to the opposite side of the room where the king and queen were entering. Creia climbed onto the stage and reached down to help Theia up, leaning forward to touch a kiss to her fingers that he held as she settled into place beside him. He looked out over the crowd and one by one the warriors approached, standing three deep and several across in front of him. They lowered to their knees and bowed their heads to the king, who reached over them with one hand. Ty left Samira's side and joined them, taking his place at the back of the group, now both a warrior and a nurturer.
"I have never been more proud that I am tonight to be the king of this great tribe," Creia said, his voice low with emotion. "Tonight, these men," he turned to look directly at Samira, "and women, put their lives at risk to protect our compound, our people, and our future. We lost one of our warriors. Though he was just one of our great numbers, his life was not inconsequential. We will miss him in everything that we do, and remember his sacrifice for generations to come. Even he, though, would not want this night to be about sadness. We will mourn for our Jem tomorrow. Tonight is a night of celebration."
A cheer rose up from the crowd and the warriors climbed to their feet. Ty rushed forward to the king and queen, calling to Samira in his mind for her to join him. As soon as she was by his side, he stepped close to the edge of the stage.
"Sir," he said, and the king turned to face him.
His face lit up and he reached out to touch Ty's hand, crouching down at the edge of the stage.
"I heard magnificent things about you, Ty. I am so proud of you, and your father would be, too."
Ty felt emotion burning in his throat and nodded his acknowledgment.
"Thank you. I come to you with an official request."
"What can I do for you?"
"I need permission traveling to Earth along with a few of the warriors and the human women."
"Is everything alright?"
Ty turned and smiled at Samira.
"We're getting married."
There was a high-pitched scream behind them and Ty whirled around to see Eden standing just a few feet away, one hand clutching her belly and the other covering her mouth. Pyra ran to her side and wrapped his arm around her.
"Eden? What's wrong? Is it the baby?"
Eden shook her head rapidly and pointed at Ty and Samira.
"They're getting married!"
A ripple of whispers and exclamations rolled back through the room and Ty could pinpoint when each of the human women heard the news. While most of the Denynso didn't even know what the word "married" meant and were questioning the entire concept, each of the human women let out a delighted scream.
"You want to get married?" the king asked.
"I am the only one of my kind to have my power, I might as well be the first of my kind to get married." He chuckled, but then his face grew serious, "With everything that Samira has done for me, there will never be enough ways that I can show her how much I love her. This is just one more way that I can try. You want to promote understanding and cooperation with the humans. Since so many of them have found their way to us, don't you think it's time that we learn about their customs as well?"
"I do," Eliana said and the other human women laughed.
"You have my absolute permission and admiration," Creia said and stood so that he could go back to his wife.
Ty turned and kissed Samira. Behind him he could hear the other human women talking to their mates. He laughed against Samira's mouth. He had a feeling his was not going to be the only wedding the Denynso saw. He turned and saw Pyra nod, then reach down and rub Eden's belly again. Ty smiled. There was so much waiting for them in the future. Now with Samira's hand in his, the threat of the Klimnu gone, and the demons from his past no longer tormenting him, Ty finally felt ready to face each moment and discover what lay just ahead.
( The End )
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UORIA MATES II
Complete Series (Books 1 – 10)
___
Ruth Anne Scott
#1 Sci-Fi Alien Romance Series on Amazon.com
Book 1 – The Alien’s Mission
Chapter One
The Denynso warriors were lined up along the center of the compound facing the meeting hall, creating a powerful wall of intensity and strength. Each wore a black band around his arm, bold white stitches creating a "J" in the center. They were silent, stoic as they stared at the front steps of the hall where Creia, the king of their people, had appeared through the massive wooden doors.
Creia wore long black robes that stood in stark contrast to the blue of his usual clothing. The white of his hair intensified the darkness of the black ribbons woven through it that reflected the woven pattern through the hair of each of the warriors that faced him. There were several moments of dark, tense silence that hung over the compound and then the doors behind the king opened slowly.
Though they remained silent, the warriors stiffened. They all knew what was coming, and none of them felt prepared to handle it. It had only been twenty-four hours since the battle and they were all still trying to cope with the effects of the horror that they had seen. To overcome it, however, they knew they had to honor what was lost so that they could internalize their pain and anger, and move forward with even greater determination. The Klimnu were gone, but that didn't mean that they were always going to be safe, or that they would forget what they had to go through in order to get rid of those creatures.
Bannack fought the urge to shift in his position in the line of warriors. On either side of him were Pyra and Gyyx, both staring unblinking at the doors as they opened. The anger that built inside him was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Even as a member of a spe
cies of warriors known for being aggressive, intense, and powerful, he was volatile and unpredictable. Younger than most of the other warriors, Bannack had not seen as many battles as the others, but this had been something that he could never have fathomed. What he had seen had scarred him in a place deeper than he understood, and as he stood there watching the first of the women appear at the door.
Tall and strong, the Denynso women seemed far more powerful than the females of the other species they had encountered, but in that moment each stood at the door with tears streaming down their faces. None made a sound despite the tears. They stayed strong, keeping their eyes focused ahead of them with the same concentration and intensity as the warriors. After standing in the doorway for a few moments, the women stepped forward and the black cloth they held between them came into view.
The cloth held a folded tunic and a small dagger in the center, and the women held it as if they could feel the strange lack of weight that usually accompanied the funeral cloth when they made their processional down the steps of the meeting hall and toward the wide lake at the back of the compound. Suddenly the king's voice broke through the intense silence that felt like it was suffocating the warriors.
"Today we honor one of our own who has fallen. Jem fought valiantly in our battles against the Klimnu and in his last moments he made the most courageous decision that he could. With his last breaths he chose to sacrifice himself for the good and the future of our kind. With his death he took with him the last of our most hated of enemies, securing for us a future that is free from their torment and primed for the joy that will come. We will never forget what he did for us and though we cannot properly honor his body, we honor his memory and the bit of him that will continue with us forever."
As Creia fell silent again, the women continued forward from their place to the meeting hall and down the imposing stone stairs. Those stairs always represented the strength and stability of the species and the security of the compound, but now they seemed to emphasize the pain that radiated through the row of warriors and the women who carried the empty shroud down them. As they descended, the women didn't make eye contact with any of the warriors. This was their way. The women carried the dead, a final symbol of nurturing and care, while the warriors stood vigil as a sign of continuous protection and respect.
Bannack could see the tears sparkling on the women's cheeks and felt discomfort in his stomach. The women of their kind were not known to be emotional and only one other time in his life had he seen one of them shed a single tear. Now they were all crying, though restraining any noise, and he knew that it was not just for Jem, the warrior who had sacrificed himself in the final battle of a lengthy war against the evil Klimnu species. They were crying for everything that their kind had gone through in their years of battle against the slimy creatures who had been so determined to capture and kill their beloved king Creia and take over the compound, and the entirety of the planet of Uoria. They were crying for everything that those creatures had put the Denynyso through, and everything that they had done to the human women who had come to the planet and become a part of the clan. It was perhaps these women, the smaller, more delicate human women, who had suffered the worst at the hands of the Klimnu in recent times, and it was them that had given the Denynso warriors what they needed to finally defeat them.
The women carried the black cloth with Jem's tunic and dagger, the personal items they had taken from his home to represent him in the absence of his actual body, down the steps and through the center of the compound, passing through the line of warriors that separated silently as they approached. Bannack felt the anger become even more intense as his eyes fell on the empty tunic. This wasn't fair. This wasn't what one of the strongest, bravest, and most selfless men to have ever been in their clan deserved for his final memorial. He deserved to have his body honored in the way of the men that came before him, and to be offered the same respect that any of the other warriors would expect if they were the ones who had given their lives to finally bring the conflict with the Klimnu to an end. It was if the slimy, vile creatures had gotten their last bit of vengeance even though they were eradicated in the battle. By giving himself, wholly and completely, Jem had saved the Denynso, but had also given the Klimnu a grasp on the history of the clan that they would never be able to shake free. Whenever someone thought or spoke of Jem, they would be forced to think and speak of the Klimnu as well.
Bannack kept his eyes forward as the women passed through the line of warriors, trying to tear his mind away from the thoughts of that final battle that had been tormenting him for the last day. They flashed in front of his eyes as if they were still happening, filling his mind with reverberations of the sounds, the smells, and the gut-wrenching pain. He remembered the exact moment that the battle had ended. It was unlike any other battle that they had ever experienced with the Klimnu. Those battles had ended with the Klimnu retreating, running away from the vastly more powerful Denynso so that they could go back to planning their next attack. This battle, however, had ended when the final three Klimnu approached Jem on a branch in the mysterious mirrored world that existed just beneath the compound.
Though Ty, a young Denynso who had just learned to utilize a hidden gift that he had inherited from his father and had never used before to step out of his usual role and become a warrior, had attempted to save him, Jem knew what was better for the rest of the warriors, the compound, and all of Uoria. He had fought the power that would have lifted him out of the battle and saved his life. Instead, he grabbed onto the final three Klimnu and threw himself off of the branch, disappearing into the reflected sky and taking the creatures with him. The Denynso didn't know where he went or what had happened to him, but they knew that he would not return.
The ending of the battle had been so sudden, so intense and final, but Bannack still felt the aggression and anger that fueled them through the fighting. Entering that mirror world had been like nothing Bannack had ever experienced. In that world he felt more powerful, more intense, and more aggressive than he ever had in any other battle. There was something brewing inside him that he couldn't fight and he felt like he was on the brink of going insane.
Chapter Two
Bannack took his place near the edge of the lake and mimicked the position of the other warriors, reaching over his shoulder for one of the arrows tucked in the quiver on his back. His opposite hand held a bow painstakingly handcrafted from one of the trees in the forest that they had only the day before discovered was covering the mysterious and dangerous underground lair that the Klimnu had been using to infiltrate the compound with the help of a human flight attendant who sympathized with the Klimnu's hatred for the Denynso. This was a treasured weapon, but one almost never used for actual combat. Instead, it was an item that every Denynso warrior made for himself in his early life and kept as a reminder of their heritage and the ancestors. Occasionally the bows made an appearance during a battle or were used to hunt some of the species that would come to the land near the compound once a year. Most often, though, they were kept displayed within the warriors' homes and taken down only when it was time to pay homage to the dead.
The women carried the cloth to the edge of the purple water, its color darker and more saturated than the smaller pond near the cliffs on the other edge of the compound, and lowered themselves to their knees. They moved in concert, never turning their eyes away from the intense focus directly in front of them, but moving at the same moments and in the exact same way as all of the others. The first two women lowered their corners of the cloth into the water and the women behind them handed their sections forward, passing the edges of the black shroud through all of their hands so that the first two could guide it down into the lake.
As the water took hold of the cloth and it started to drift forward, the warriors drew their arrows and lifted their bows. When the cloth made it nearly to the center of the lake, Creia walked down the row of warriors, lighting the ends of the arrows with the t
orch he held. The warriors lifted their flaming arrows at the same moment, pointing them sharply toward the expanse of dark blue above them, and let them fly.
The arrows hit the cloth just as it reached the center of the lake and a massive whirlpool began to churn beneath it. This majestic phenomenon was why the earliest members of the Denynso tribe had chosen this lake as the place where they would put their cherished warrior to final rest. The whirlpool began when something touched the center of the lake and would churn as it did now, pushing upward into a funnel of water that lifted the flame-engulfed cloth, tunic, and dagger toward the sky. After several seconds, the column of water lowered and the flames, along with the memorial to Jem, disappeared into the depths. They didn't know what happened to the honored men that ended up in the water, but they believed that by giving them into the water that surged under the ground and gave life to the plants that thrived on Uoria, they were giving their beloved warriors continued life.
Bannack could only hope that it was true now. Jem's death was a confounding and infuriating mystery that none of the warriors, and not even Creia or his wife, the queen of the Denynso Theia, could explain. What lurked beneath the compound was a place that seemed to directly reflect the land above it, as if a mirror had been placed just at the ground line so that what looked like branches of massive trees were actually the roots above, what looked like roots were actually branches, and what looked like water covering the floor of the massive cavern was actually a reflection of the sky. This is where Jem fell. He jumped down into this reflection of the sky, giving himself over to it without knowing what would happen, and none knew where he ended up.
Bannack hoped that even though they could not properly inter his body in the lake, that Jem's spirit would continue on through all of them and give them the strength and courage that he possessed, because even though they had eliminated the last of the Klimnu, Bannack did not believe that it would be the end of the threats to the Denynso. There would be more. There would be more battles to fight and more wars to win, and each warrior was going to need every bit of intensity and power that he could have if he was going to be able to help his kind continue to thrive and dominate their part of Uoria.
Rilex & Severine's Story (Uoria Mates IV Book 6) Page 39