Jaraels Lioness

by Ja-Rael's Lioness [MF] (lit)

  He didn’t depart, which Elise found disconcerting, particularly since she was the only one in the room naked. He did retreat a short distance, however.

  As Ja-rael generally did, Tania examined her first with his eyes and his hands. When he’d finished, he stepped away to pick up an instrument and placed one end in his ear. The other, he placed upon her abdomen, moving it to one spot, pausing, then moving it again. Finally, he removed the instrument, studied her for several moments and approached Ja-rael.

  Elise strained to hear what they were saying but both spoke in low voices and she could only catch a word here and there.

  “Is there something wrong with its heart?” she demanded when Tania and Ja-rael both approached her and began to move some sort of scanning devise into position above her.

  Tania’s smile was a little forced. “We’re going to find out.”

  Elise did her best not to allow her imagination to terrorize her but when they had turned on the scanning devise and both of them simply stared at the screen, transfixed, she began to get very scared. “What is it?”

  “Two,” Ja-rael said as if he’d never heard the word before, then glanced at her face. “Two.”

  “Two what?” Elise demanded, more frightened still by the look of panic on Ja-rael’s face.

  “This is--unprecedented,” Tania breathed in awe.

  “What?” Elise demanded.

  “If I wasn’t seeing it with my own eyes, I would never believe it.”

  “Goddamnit to hell!” Elise yelled at them. “Tell me!”

  “Two,” Ja-rael repeated, apparently unable to formulate any other words at the moment.

  “Give me that damned scanner!” Elise growled, sitting up abruptly and turning it so that she could see the screen. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but the image on the screen was startlingly clear as if the muscle and tissue that separated her from seeing within her womb were virtually transparent. A thrill of joy went through her. “They’re beautiful! I should have known it was twins, the way they were growing--and the activity. Believe me it feels like the two of them are playing soccer with my organs.”

  “Twins?” Ja-rael repeated, examining the unfamiliar word.

  Elise giggled. “Yes! Twins! Who’d have thought--and girls! You don’t mind do you, Ja-rael?”

  “Mind?”

  Elise frowned at him. “What is wrong with you? You knew I was pregnant!”

  “But two,” he said again.

  “That’s what twins are--two.”

  It finally sank in on him that she wasn’t nearly as surprised as he was. “This is something you know?”

  Elise was puzzled. “Having twins?” she finally asked cautiously.

  “You have a word for it,” he said with sudden incite.

  Elise nodded. “Twins for two, Triplets for three, Quadruplets for four, Quintuplets for five, and Septuplets, I think, for six.”

  Tania and Ja-rael exchanged a look of disbelief. Tania laughed. “Now you are teasing.”

  Elise frowned. “No, I’m not.”

  “Your people have--liters?” Ja-rael demanded, aghast. “No wonder your world had population problems!”

  Elise glared at him. “I told you we could have multiple births, but we damned sure don’t have liters! Twins are fairly common, but the others are fairly rare. It does happen occasionally. The reason I’m not that surprised is because I’m genetically likely to have them. It runs in my family.” She frowned as a thought occurred to her. “God! I hope the next isn’t quads.”

  Ja-rael was strangely subdued as they left Tania’s office and went to find a room for the night. As accustomed as Elise was to his reticence, she noticed it was more than that and when they’d finally settled for the evening she began to prod him to try to find out what was wrong.

  “Did Tania find anything wrong?”

  Ja-rael stared at her for a full minute before he spoke. “Besides the twins?”

  Elise was offended. “You’re not happy that it’s twins?” she asked tightly.

  He looked torn. “I have never been more terrified by anything in my life. I don’t know anything about twins--nothing. I don’t think any Meeri has ever had two at once.”

  Elise settled beside him on the bed. “I’ll be fine, Ja-rael. It’s not that much different.”

  He nodded, but he didn’t look relieved or the least bit reassured.

  To her great disappointment, although they shared a bed, Ja-rael was too distant to share his body with her. Sighing, Elise turned her back to him, shifted until she found a reasonably comfortable position and finally went to sleep.

  If anything, Ja-rael looked worse the following morning and Elise suspected he hadn’t slept at all. When she fussed over him, however, he snarled at her, apologized profusely and thereafter gave her the cold shoulder.

  It was barely daylight when they boarded the shuttle again for the flight back to Modun. As weary as Elise was, she noticed the stares. She should’ve been used to it by now. She couldn’t go anywhere on Meeri without having small fingers pointed in her direction and curious, but embarrassed adult stares. Whispering had been added to the stunned stares, however. At first, Elise thought she was imagining it, but each time the shuttle stopped to take on passengers, they would stare at her all the way by and then the excited whispers would begin again.

  Ja-rael seemed oblivious to it, though, and after a while Elise finally decided her imagination was running away with her.

  It wasn’t. When they reached Modun, the terminal was clogged with people.

  “I wonder what’s going on?” Elise asked, nudging Ja-rael. “This isn’t usual, is it?”

  Ja-rael stared at the throng as if just awaking from a dream. Finally, he frowned in puzzlement. “This is not usual, no. I can not imagine what is happening.”

  They weren’t left in the dark long. The moment they emerged from the shuttle someone screamed, “There she is. That’s her!”

  Elise glanced around sharply, but saw no one.

  Ja-rael’s hand tightened on her arm. “Mother of Meeri!” Ja-rael ground out the curse. “They know!”

  “Know what?” Elise gasped as he dragged her quickly around the side of the shuttle, glanced frantically from side to side in search of something and then swept her into his arms and began to run with her.

  Under the circumstances, it was impossible to talk, but Elise was growing more and more alarmed as she saw the Meeri begin to surge around the shuttle behind them. Ja-rael rounded a corner and the mob disappeared from view. Spying an exit sign, he raced toward it, snatched the door open and then set her down long enough to disable the door by ripping the handle off.

  “What’s going on?”

  “They know about the twins--maybe even that you are not Meeri. I don’t know. Tania did not seem to believe that part, but he obviously could not keep the news of the twins to himself,” he said absently, grabbing her hand and leading her down the stairs to a second door. When they emerged, Elise saw that they were near a wooded area. After glancing around again, Ja-rael led her into the woods.

  “This is about the twins?” Elise gasped, completely stunned.

  Ja-rael gave her a look. “We Meeri do not have twins. We rarely have two at all, let alone together. You have not noticed this for yourself?”

  Elise felt real fear for the first time. “What will they do to me if they catch us?”

  Ja-rael shook his head. Dragging her toward him, he kissed her hard on the mouth. “I do not intend to find out.” He shook his head at the look on her face. “I think they are only excited, but it is a mob. They could hurt you without intending to.”

  He dragged her quickly deeper and deeper into the wooded area. When he saw that she was holding her side, he swept her into his arms and carried her a while. Finally, he stopped near a like trickle of water that was more of a ditch than a stream, settled her on the ground and looked her over keenly. “You are alright?”

  Elise nodded. “As well as can be
expected considering I’ve just been scared out of ten years of life.”

  Ja-rael looked alarmed.

  “It’s just an expression. What are we going to do?”

  Ja-rael thought it over for some time. Finally, he looked at her apologetically. “I expect the excitement will die down with time. I’m worried about the ‘until then’ part. I think I must take you to stay in my ship until the cubs are born.”

  “Alone?” Elise asked weakly.

  Ja-rael caught her face between his hands. “How could you think that, meesha?”

  She studied his earnest expression for several moments and finally relaxed. “I don’t mind.”

  “I do,” Ja-rael said wryly, “but I can think of no other way to keep you safe. For now, as much as I hate to, I must leave you alone for a little while.”

  Elise felt a knot form in her throat, but she didn’t argue.

  He shook his head. “I must get things that I will need to care for you. I’ll need to get the glider, too. You can’t run. I don’t want to take a chance that you would get hurt.”

  It made perfect sense, of course, and she still didn’t like the idea of being left alone. Regardless, she knew she would only be wasting time to argue. “I understand.”

  He swallowed audibly. “I don’t believe they will follow, but they will recognize my scent. Yours--I don’t think they will. I want you to follow this steam in that direction until you are near the clearing on the other side. I will meet you there in an hour with the glider.”

  Elise’s chin wobbled. “I’ll get lost. You know I have a terrible sense of direction.”

  “Walk in the stream. If the water peters out, stay in the hollow it has formed. You won’t get lost. I won’t let you.”

  Elise wasn’t happy about it, but finally she struggled to her feet with Ja-rael’s help and stepped into the water carefully. It was cold and a shiver went through her. Forcing a tight smile for Ja-rael’s benefit, she turned and started to walk carefully along the streambed. When she looked around again, Ja-rael had vanished from sight.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  After fleeing for their lives, the uneventful trip from Mordun to the site where Ja-rael kept his ship was almost a let down. True to his word, Elise heard Ja-rael’s glider settle in the clearing at the edge of the woods only a little over an hour later, but it was nearly dark by the time Elise finally managed to make her way through the woods and nothing short of a miracle that she’d done so without getting lost. She was so relieved to see Ja-rael when he came racing toward her in the woods that she promptly burst into tears. Ja-rael was immediately convinced that something terrible had happened and insisted upon examining her despite her protests. When he’d assured himself that she wasn’t hurt, he carried her to the glider and settled her inside with great care before climbing in himself. The flight took just over an hour and a half, but it was already dark by the time they landed in the small clearing Ja-rael had used before and they were still miles from the ship.

  Elise had braced herself for the landing, but Ja-rael exercised patience for once and took the vehicle in slowly to keep from jarring her. Relieved, she smiled at him. “That wasn’t bad at all. What now?”

  Ja-rael brushed the backs of his fingers along her cheek in an affectionate caress. “I carry you as I did before.”

  Elise looked at him a little doubtfully. “I’m heavier and rounder than before,” she pointed out.

  He chuckled, caressing her belly. “I will manage. I mean for you to have a bed to sleep in tonight.”

  They waited until the moons had risen to leave. With their light Elise could see almost well enough to walk herself. Although he made it clear he wasn’t happy about it, Ja-rael allowed her to have her way until she began to grow tired. When she asked to stop and rest, he swept her into his arms and carried her the remainder of the way.

  The ship seemed more cramped than ever, particularly after all the time Elise had spent in the comfortable little house that Ja-rael owned, but she was glad for the chance of a bed all the same. It made it all the more delightful that Ja-rael, after securing the hatch, climbed into bed beside her and curled close against her back. Elise smiled sleepily as his arm settled over her. “This is nice. It will be the first time we ever shared a bed to sleep.”

  Ja-rael spent most of the following week working on making their ‘nest’ comfortable, which primarily consisted of thoroughly cleaning the hold which smelled none too lovely from the animals that had been there. When he’d thoroughly cleaned it and aired it, he began working on the hatch and gangplank, devising and installing a simple security bar.

  That task made Elise uneasy, but she discovered her fears were groundless. Ja-rael never left her for more than a few hours at the time--which made her wonder where he was getting the supplies he kept returning with. When she finally asked, he told her he had worked out a rendezvous point with Clautz who would gather the things he requested and bring them. All Ja-rael then had to do was meet him at the pickup point.

  Elise didn’t think too much about Ja-rael’s practice until she realized that they had been ‘camping’ for nearly two months and Ja-rael had not so much as mentioned the need to leave to see about them. As loathe as she was to broach the subject, she finally asked him one evening while they were sitting around the campfire Ja-rael had built for them in the clearing.

  He merely shrugged. “I made arrangements with the other healers to take care of them until we get back. You are by far the most important of my patients.”

  Elise, who was sitting between his legs and using his chest as a backrest, glanced around at him. “You did? Aren’t you worried that you won’t have any patients when you get back?”

  “No.”

  She frowned in surprise, but decided not to pursue it. Instead, she settled comfortably once more, staring up at the night sky. “What is that?” she asked after a time, pointing to a bright dot in the sky larger than all the others.

  Ja-rael was silent for so long that she thought he would tell her he didn’t know. “Tor,” he said finally. “It grows nearer as it does each year around this time.”

  “Oh,” Elise responded, wishing she hadn’t asked.

  Tightening his arms around her, Ja-rael dipped his head and kissed her neck, then placed his cheek against hers. “I know that I made a promise to you, Leez, and I have been an abominable mate, but you said that you had changed your mind. Will you stay with me?”

  It took a strenuous effort to keep from bursting into tears and all she could do to speak around the painful knot that formed in her throat. “I was afraid you wouldn’t ask,” she managed to say finally. She lifted a hand to stroke his cheek. “When I said I didn’t want to go back because I hated it on Tor--well, it’s true, but that’s not the real reason I wanted to stay, and it certainly isn’t the reason I wanted to have your baby.”

  “You wanted to have my baby?” Ja-rael asked, his voice sounding strangely hoarse.

  Elise drew a shuddering breath. “When I saw you that day with Zelia’s infant I knew I loved you and it hurt so much to think I might not be able to give you the family you wanted that I knew I had to try. I realize now that it was a terribly irresponsible thing to do, but I wasn’t thinking very clearly just then.”

  He shifted, touching her cheek and making her look at him. “Do you, love me?”

  “With all my heart.”

  A slow smile curled his lips. “Even though I’m--not of your race?”

  Elise smiled. “I’m not sure love recognizes race. It’s too--deep to have anything to do with any concept of the mind. It just happens. It just is.”

  His gaze flickered over her face. “I can not tell you how deeply I regret the time I squandered when I could have been with you. It was….” He paused. “I could not think very clearly.”

  “You’re with me now.”

  “But I can’t get back what I threw away.”

  Elise studied him a long moment and finally struggled to get to her feet. P
uzzled, Ja-rael helped her up. She grasped his hand then, leading him toward the gangplank.

  “What are you up to?” he asked, chuckling.

  “Making up for lost time.”

  Laughing, Ja-rael pulled her to a halt when they’d reached the top of the gangplank. “We should not.”

  “Don’t start that again!”

  “The twins?”

  “Can complain about it later. When they get here we’re really going to have a lot of time to make up for.” She paused. “Unless--you don’t want to?”

  He gave her a look and a wall of desire crashed over her.

  * * * *

  The twins arrived early. Elise had known they very likely would, but she had decided that there was no point in alarming Ja-rael unnecessarily, particularly when there was nothing either of them could do about it. He was already uneasy about attending his first multiple birth. Most likely he would have been anyway, but his anxiety was compounded by the fact that they were his.

  Despite his fears and her inexperience, the birthing was straightforward and without complication--almost a month ahead of schedule, but otherwise completely unremarkable.

  Elise didn’t have time to anticipate birth pains, which she thought was just as well since she would have been tensed against it otherwise. As babies so often do, she went into labor at the most inconvenient time--just as they were going to bed--and arrived just at daybreak, but in the interim, Ja-rael finally showed her why he was referred to as a healer, rather than a physician. He controlled her pain, muted it to a bearable level without any need at all for drugs of any kind, merely by touching her.

  When both had arrived, Ja-rael very carefully lay the squalling infants side by side on the mattress so that they could study and admire them. A strangeness washed over Elise as she studied her infants--a sense of alienation, for they bore the markings and coloration of their father. Concern touched her and she wondered why it felt strange to her when Ja-rael felt as completely right to her as her own body.

  Curiously, she examined them with her hand, uncurling tiny fingers to count them, studying the tiny toes. Finally, she scooped the one nearest her up in her arms and cradled it to her chest. At once its wails began to subside and within moments it was snuffling hungrily at her chest in search of dinner. Bemused, Elise looked up at Ja-rael and discovered that he’d cradled the other infant just as she had and suddenly it felt just exactly right.