The Skies of Mahdis

by Rayne Forrest

  "Trista, tell me. I know there is something.” He rolled onto his side to face her but she rolled away, then inched back to fit into the warm curve of his body. He pulled the blankets over them and wrapped his arm around her. His hand rested on her breast.

  "When we leave here, it will all change,” she said.

  "Not all, but certainly much. My duties as kaden are very different from what they were as an avaki. More will be required of me now."

  "What am I to do? Sit at a loom all day?” she asked, a touch of bitterness seeping into her voice.

  "No. I will need you to be with me as I brief the Kaden-ati."

  "What, exactly, is that?” she asked. “You've never fully explained."

  "It is the Council formed by the highest ranking kadens. Everyone takes orders from someone. That is where the kadens of my rank get theirs."

  "Why will you need me? What help can I be?"

  "Just your presence will serve to remind them why we must hunt the Raku,” he told her.

  "Will the Anakin be part of the hunt?"

  Q'winn took a deep breath. This was part of it then, that he would be one of those charged with killing. No matter that it would save billions upon billions of lives. The lives of Raku, as alien and as ruthless as they were, still held value. He understood, but he did not like to dwell on it.

  "Yes. The Anakin will likely one day be a part of it. And I will likely be in command of her one day when she does. I have no personal hatred of the Raku. I have no wish to kill. But I want my people to survive. I want your people to survive."

  "I don't want to go home, Q'winn, and I'll never forgive you if you leave me behind."

  Q'winn moved her hair aside and kissed her neck. “You will be with me, love. I promise. It is not yet time to consider returning you to Terra, and I will not abandon you. Do you believe me?"

  She didn't answer immediately. Q'winn sensed her struggling with her answer. She was still for so long he began to think she'd fallen asleep. He hoped she had. The next few days would be physically demanding on everyone. He began to feel drowsy. He was on the edge of sleep when she spoke.

  "I believe you, Q'winn. I have to."

  * * * *

  The highest tower of Mahdis Keep rose black and gleaming against the blue sky. Trista's bogga seemed to know the journey was almost over. She tossed her head and quickened her pace.

  "Don't get too excited, Seabiscuit. You still have that big hill to climb,” Trista said to her. The bogga flicked her ears back and listened for her voice. A little kindness had won Trista a devoted friend and servant.

  Trista urged the beast a little faster to catch up with Q'winn and W'eylin. They started the climb and Q'winn grabbed her reins so she could hold on to the leathers with both hands. He handed them back to her as soon as they reached the trail that ran parallel to the ridge.

  They were still about an hour away from the Keep. Q'winn had told her that she was to ride through the gate beside him. She disliked politics but knew that Q'winn had good reasons for his request. He wanted their relationship in the open from the beginning.

  She was weary. And dirty. And hungry. And worried.

  "It will not be long, love. Once in the Keep, I will see to our boggas. You go ahead to my rooms—our rooms—and get settled. I will be there as soon as I can."

  "Are you sure the Elders won't call for you today?” she asked Q'winn.

  "If they do, I will not go before tomorrow. We will bathe, we will have a decent meal, and we will rest. All else can wait."

  Trista didn't respond. His mind was made up. He'd defy the order if it came. She chewed her lip anxiously. She'd seen a new side to him these last two days. It was as if he'd shed the last of his avaki robes and their peaceful influences for the full armor of his kaden rank.

  "Don't worry, love,” he said more gently. “The order will not come today."

  Trista did not respond. She was looking at the swelling crowd at the outer gate of Mahdis Keep. It parted like the Red Sea as they approached. The noise grew louder as they were welcomed. They reached the stairs that led to Q'winn's rooms. He dismounted and motioned for a young boy. The courtyard was rapidly becoming chaotic.

  The boy nodded eagerly and snatched the coin Q'winn offered. Trista handed the lad her packs then Q'winn helped her dismount. He took the reins to both their mounts and led them towards the stables.

  Trista stopped on the top step and looked around her. Young boys were collecting coins all over the courtyard. Some were carrying packs upstairs, some leading boggas to their stalls. No one seemed to be paying any attention to the fact she was entering Q'winn's rooms. She looked for W'eylin and Vanteen but did not see them.

  She offered the boy a larger coin if he would run and find them a suitable dinner, and a large, sufficiently chilled crock of the dark malt brew Q'winn liked. He smiled broadly and hurried off. She tacked a rope across the door to the alcove and hung a blanket over it. She dropped her clothes in a heap and hopped into the tub.

  It was heavenly.

  She was still soaking when she heard Q'winn come in. He peeked around the edge of her blanket curtain and smiled at her, but left her in peace. She knew he'd be eager to bathe, too, and quickly finished.

  She slipped on one of Q'winn's tunics. The long robe she'd brought from Damali needed laundering. She'd have to ask the boy about that when he arrived with their meal.

  She didn't have long to wait. The boy showed up with a feast. They'd have bits of this meal for days. He nodded happily when she asked about laundry. His mother would be glad to do it. Trista tossed everything into a sack and handed it to him. He promised to return by dark.

  Trista poured a glass of the malt for Q'winn and carried it to him as he lay soaking in bath water so hot steam was rising from it. His hair and beard, shaggy from the last weeks, were wet and dripping.

  "You look like a drowned rat."

  "Rat? I look like a rodent? Such a compliment, love."

  "Perhaps you will shave?"

  "Oh, Sioda,” he sighed heavily. “We've shared a domicile for all of an hour and already she begins."

  "Funny. The food has arrived,” she said as she handed him the glass and watched as he downed it in several large gulps.

  "Good, because I'm starving.” He stood in a shower of droplets. Trista handed him a large towel. He dried off then wrapped the towel around his waist.

  They both ate voraciously. Breakfast had been many hours ago and they had not stopped for midday meal. When they'd finished, Q'winn agreed to go to Trista's old rooms and retrieve some of her clothing.

  Trista busied herself cleaning up from their meal while he was gone. It got later and later and Q'winn did not return. She began to pace nervously. Finally, she heard his boots on the steps.

  One look at him confirmed something had happened.

  "It's begun. We destroyed two Raku ships at a planet called Rylek."

  Twenty

  Q'winn was rapidly involved with the Kaden-ati. Trista was given access to their war room and spent several long days with Q'winn as he and the others received information from Dannarri ships scattered over twenty-odd surrounding solar systems. She watched in fascination as they plotted courses on a three-dimensional screen. She watched Q'winn with even greater fascination.

  She had never thought Q'winn stupid, but she was embarrassed she had not seen the width and breadth of his intelligence. He was several moves ahead of the others when they plotted strategies on that large screen. He received new information and applied it while many of the others still read. It was clear the members of the Kaden-ati respected him.

  What these men would do if they learned his secret seemed to plague Q'winn more than it had previously. They had talked about that possibility in their bed. Trista had few words of reassurance for him. All she could do was stick close by his side.

  Five days after the attack, everyone seemed to breathe easier. Q'winn had explained that they'd finally located the nearest Raku ships and they see
med to be unaware of what had happened. They were on a course away from Rylek, and Dannar.

  The word came in that the Anakin would be arriving in one week. Q'winn would command her on her next flight out. Trista was instantly involved in preparations. She and Vanteen set about acquiring extra clothing, toiletries and foodstuffs that were not regular ship issue. She dropped onto the couch each night, tired and sore. Q'winn was in even worse shape.

  Trista sat his dinner before him and sank onto her chair with a weary sigh. He raised his head and looked at her.

  "I've not been spending much time with you, love. I will remedy that tomorrow. We will ride down to the ocean."

  "Can you take the time to do that?” she asked.

  "Yes. We are ready to go as soon as the Anakin is checked and refueled. It is our custom to spend the last two or three days before a flight with family, resting."

  "You'll see your father before you go?"

  "Perhaps. I'm sorry that he refuses to meet you. It is nothing against you. It is his anger at me,” Q'winn told her. He raised her hand to his lips.

  "I understand. I don't mind for me so much, but I do for you."

  "It hurts his pride that I left the Order. I accept the way he feels. I cannot change it."

  "And a philosopher, too,” Trista murmured, looking in his heavy-lidded eyes. “A sleepy one."

  Q'winn snorted. “I'm sorry about my lack of attentiveness there, too."

  "Maybe tomorrow,” she replied with a smile.

  "Definitely,” he said, smiling back at her. “I'm going to bathe, unless you wish to."

  Trista motioned for him to go ahead. She cleared the meal as he stripped then shaved. She smiled. If he were shaving, he was serious about making love tomorrow. She started to grin as she heard the tub filling. Tomorrow could take care of itself. He was naked now.

  She dropped her clothes on the pile with his and slipped into the steam behind the curtain. He smiled up at her and sat up so she could get in the tub with him. It was a tight fit but they managed to get comfortable and soak. By the time they'd finished washing each other, many towels were needed to sop up the water on the floor.

  Looking at him, she reconsidered her plan. He needed sleep. But then he surprised her. They settled under the blankets and he pulled her close and kissed her with unmistakable intention.

  They came together in a quick coupling that left them both panting and practically asleep before the last pulses faded.

  The last thing Trista remembered before she drifted into sleep was that Q'winn had rolled to her side of the couch. She sighed and curled up against him.

  * * * *

  "Wake up, sloth."

  Q'winn didn't know exactly what Trista had called him, but he didn't care. His phallix tightened and he inhaled sharply. Her mouth was somewhere in the vicinity of his navel and if she'd just go a half-inch lower, she could call him anything she wanted.

  "I know you're awake,” she said. As if to prove her point she licked down the length of him. His back arched as a sudden shimmering heat engulfed him.

  "I'm very awake,” he gasped. His phallix throbbed and his maleness felt painfully rigid.

  "Good,” she said as she straddled him. “Get up and get dressed. You said we could go to the ocean. In case you've forgotten where you found me, I like the ocean.” She hopped off him and reached for her clothes.

  "Are you going to leave me like this?” he asked, half in amusement and half in disbelief. His legs were comfortably sprawled, and he was completely naked and with his maleness totally displayed. He knew her. Surely she didn't plan on leaving him like this.

  Did she?

  She flipped the blanket over him. “How's that?"

  "Not what I was thinking. Come back here.” He flipped the blanket back off.

  "What's it worth to you?"

  "What's it worth...!” he exclaimed, eyes narrowing in disbelief. He'd always heard the Okarran females put a price on sexual activity. It was their way. She'd likely got the idea from Vanteen.

  He rolled off the bed in a fluid display of strength and grabbed her pants out of her hands, then pounced. He picked her up and tossed her onto their couch. She lay giggling as he knelt over her.

  "Let me go,” she said as she squirmed away.

  He dragged her back to him with a grin.

  "I should fix your zhecr,” she laughed as he let her wiggle out of his grasp again.

  "You should,” he agreed, straight-faced as he leaned over her again. “And you will. Later."

  "The sun is already over the ridge. The first horn sounded an hour ago."

  "Well, then. Had you awakened me, I would already be up and dressed and sipping my zhecr. But now I must attend to other matters.” He nipped the inside of her thigh. She tugged on his hair.

  "You will be patient,” he purred. He stroked the dark, silky curls that lay a few inches from his mouth. She kicked his hip as he teased her with his breath.

  He slid up across her and settled his weight on her. She had told him once that just the feel of him lying on her gave her great pleasure. His slipped one hand beneath her head, cradling it. She sighed contentedly into his mouth as he kissed her.

  Let her be content for a few moments, he thought to himself. He'd make her scream his name before he was done with her this morning. He still had several days worth of inattention to her to make up for and he intended to make up for it properly.

  Last night had to be counted as a poor beginning. They'd bathed, gone to bed and done what she always called a ‘quickie'. He'd taken her then promptly fallen asleep. He felt like he had to make up for that, too.

  He decided it was a good thing he had two days to spend with her with no responsibilities to intrude on them.

  He kissed her again and it was he who sighed now. Just lying in her arms was blissful. Her lithe body arched up to him and bliss quickly turned to hunger. He nudged her legs open with his knees and teased at her with the tip of his phallus.

  She was liquid beneath him, pulling at his flanks with anxious hands. He tensed his muscles against what he knew would come next. It didn't help. She ran the tips of her fingers lightly along the cleft of his buttocks, a fleeting caress that jolted through him made him crave a more violent taking.

  He resisted the compulsion to plunge into her. He kissed his way down her body and fastened his mouth on her. She was quickly flexing her hips up to him, unable to be still.

  "Q'winn, I want you. Now,” she said in a low, breathless voice.

  He didn't take his mouth from her to answer. He was sure she did want him. The bedding was damp beneath her, proof her body yearned for his.

  "Q'winn, let me do that to you."

  Heat licked at him. He suddenly knew. She had been doing that to him in his sleep.

  He carefully sucked on the small bud, the center of her pleasure. Her hips flexed up to him again and she cried out, a long, low sound that almost made him come. He raised his mouth from her and sucked in a few deep breaths to try and calm himself. Her nipples were peaked and he licked his way up to them. Her hand closed around his phallus and stroked firmly.

  "Don't,” he managed to wheeze at her. She suddenly pushed at him. His pulse leaped as she stretched and suddenly flipped onto her stomach. She raised her bottom and he moved to bury himself in her welcoming body.

  He shuddered and reached for control as her body clenched him. He began to move in her and she loudly told him of her pleasure in it. His phallix tightened to the point of pain. He gritted his teeth against the swell of sensation that threatened to hurl him over the edge without her.

  "Touch me,” she pleaded to him, grinding her hips back against him.

  He cupped her, applying firm pressure. He held her and continued his onslaught inside her. He bent his lips to her spine. She suddenly drenched him and tensed. He thrust into her harder as she came.

  She rippled around him and he groaned in exquisite agony as her body caressed his with its pulsing. She went limp in his gras
p and he gripped her hips and let his orgasm come. It rolled down his back and through his genitals and up to rip a hoarse cry from his throat. His heart was hammering so fast in his chest he thought he was going to black out.

  He coaxed her to lie flat, going down on top of her. They lay, still joined, trying to catch their breath. He nuzzled at her neck and could see the corner of her mouth twitch in a smile.

  She should smile, he thought smugly. A horn sounded a short, sharp note.

  He raised his head and looked at the window. The horn sounded again.

  "Oh well,” came Trista's muffled voice.

  The horn sounded a third time just as thunder echoed off the mountain ridges.

  Trista twisted enough to look at him. “I guess we'll have to stay in bed all day."

  Q'winn grinned at her. Everyone had to endure some sort of hardship in their lives.

  * * * *

  The day passed quickly. The storm passed but left a dripping gray fog in its wake that enveloped Mahdis Keep in a soulful quiet. Trista and Q'winn lit a fire in the hearth and built a nest for themselves in front of its cheery flames. They settled in, cocooned by the blankets and each other's arms. They would love, then nap, only to wake and love again.

  Trista could occasionally sense Q'winn's thoughts moving ahead to the Anakin. She accepted it silently. She woke, early in the evening, and found herself alone by the fire.

  "Hey,” she said as she rolled over and spied him dressed and sitting at the table sipping hot zhecr.

  "There's more tea if you want some,” he said and was rewarded by her smile.

  She climbed out from under the blankets and found her night robe. She looked at him and frowned. There was a puddle of water just inside the door.

  "Were you outside?"

  "No. A messenger came."

  "Was it important?” She knew it had to be. Why else would anyone have been sent out on such dreary evening?

  "Come and sit with me,” he said looking at her.

  Something in his look sent a frisson of apprehension down her back. She saw caution, and disappointment in his eyes. And a shadow of something that might be hope that she wasn't going to be too upset.