Jewel reminded herself that Adel was supposedly explaining why she and Kole had to have sex in a few minutes, but she simply couldn’t see the connection.
“Those that meet the academic and physical criteria undergo an intense program designed to further weed their numbers. This program subjects them to extreme psychological stresses, surgical enhancement and—”
“What kind of surgical enhancement?” Jewel interrupted.
Adel clearly did not appreciate being spoken over, but she answered the question just the same. “We’re altered to facilitate work in hostile environments.”
When Jewel’s questioning expression did not change, she sighed and explained further. “You’ll see this in a few minutes with Lieutenant Delling anyway.” She lifted her shirt to expose her ribcage just below her bra. The thin and broad blue-black bands of her tribal tattoos were present there as well, catching Jewel’s eyes as they traced intricate patterns across the hard flesh of the older woman’s abdomen. The effect was mesmerizing.
Adel lowered a tight band of mesh which covered the area just below her breasts. Beneath the mesh were three horizontal slits in her flesh on either side of her torso.”
Jewel felt her mouth dropping open. She didn’t know why she recognized the purpose of the slits, but she did. “Are those gills?”
Adel returned the mesh to its original position and pulled her shirt back in place.
“Why would you—” Jewel began to ask, but then she suddenly knew. “You do this to help you mine armenium,” she accused. Then she saw the absurdity of her suggestion and started to correct herself. “But that isn’t—”
She broke off again when she saw Adel nod in agreement.
“All Empyreals begin their careers in the armenium mines working to secure the strength of the Hegemony.”
Jewel felt her mind spinning out of control trying to make sense of everything. She struggled to articulate the ideas in her head. “And Kole and I need to consummate our marriage now because as an Empyreal he has to go back to the mines right away?”
Again a hint of expression penetrated the spiraling tattoos that covered Adel’s face, but it was so difficult for Jewel to decipher what it meant. Could the older woman really be feeling regret? “No, Lieutenant Delling’s circumstances are unusual. He’ll not be returning to the mines.”
“Then why—”
Adel picked up her explanation. “There are side effects to the process of ascension, physical and psychological side effects. One of the most common of these has to do with fertility…”
Jewel felt her eyes widen in shock. “Oh.”
“Empyreals rarely succeeded in having children,” Adel told her.
“But…”
“And a significant percentage of male Empyreals are unable to even try to have children.”
Jewel didn’t think it was possible, but her eyes widened even further. “Oh, but our marriage…oh!”
Adel nodded grimly. “This is one of the reasons that Rear Admiral Delling opposed this union. If his nephew is physically unable to consummate his union with you, then that will bring great shame on the entire House of Delling. They will be responsible for breaking the contract. As it was, with your parents’ false dealing and failure to present you at the agreed time, the shame was all theirs.”
Jewel nodded slowly, still trying to work out the implications of this in her mind. “Then why did you support the marriage?”
Physician General Ina Adel reached across the table and cupped Jewel’s hand between her own. “Because I believe in the Unity, Jewel. You touched the Unity when you nearly died in the depths of the Northern Sea in the Valkyrie System. And you were given back to us. Because of my faith, I have to believe that there was purpose in this. Walk through my thinking with me. A young woman with damaged honor is given a second chance at life. And she’s betrothed to a young man seeking his path after heart-breaking tragedy. If you and Kole aren’t meant to be together then there is no Unity and no purpose in life.”
Abruptly Adel rose to her feet, releasing Jewel’s hand. “Our twenty minutes are nearly up. It would be rude of us to keep the others waiting.”
Jewel rose to her feet as well. “Wait a minute! What tragedy? What are you talking about? And what if Kole physically can’t have sex with me?”
Adel left the table and crossed the room to the door. “The tragedy is something Lieutenant Delling will tell you about when he’s ready. I strongly advise you not to ask him about it today. As for your marriage, the honor and fortunes of two Houses depend upon you finding a way to consummate your union with Lieutenant Delling today.”
Jewel started to protest, but Adel pushed the button on the wall and the door swished open revealing not only Kole and Foreign Liaison Captain Wynne, but Justiciar General Ren Farl and Rear Admiral Hoyt Delling standing outside in the hall.
“It’s about time, Ina,” the rear admiral said. “Let’s get this over with.”
To Jewel’s horror, the Empyreal pushed past Kole and strode into the room as if he planned to witness the legal completion of the marriage.
Chapter Two
You Have the Gall to Speak of Honor
Justiciar General Ren Farl followed Rear Admiral Delling into the small chamber. “I suppose that Hoyt is correct. If this union is not going to last, we might as well find out now so we can start working on our back up plan.”
Farl seated himself at the table like he was planning to stay.
“Wh-what do you think you’re doing?” Jewel asked. She hated the stutter at the beginning of her question, but she was just so shocked that the Empyreals had invited themselves in like this that she couldn’t help herself.
The rear admiral took a seat next to Farl. “Lieutenant Delling has to prove—”
Jewel had heard enough. Who did these arrogant bastards think she was? “Get out!” she shouted.
Shock blossomed on the faces of all five Armenites, but Jewel didn’t care. She grabbed Rear Admiral Delling by the arm, hauled him back out of his seat, and propelled him toward the door. “Get out of here!” she shouted again.
The physician general recovered from her surprise enough to speak again. “Jewel, I just explained that we have to know—”
Jewel refused to listen to her. “Then give me a lie detector test tomorrow morning. I am not a holo star! I do not engage in public sex! And you will not disrespect me or my husband by acting like the intimate acts of our marriage are spectacles for your amusement!”
The justiciar general stood. His spiraling facial tattoos made him look angry, but his voice was calm and patient. “No one is attempting to disrespect you, Ms. Delling, but in a matter this important—”
Each attempt they made to justify their intrusion only served to further exasperate Jewel’s rage. “Get out of my—”
“Jewel?” Kole Delling’s voice radiated calm but when he touched the bare flesh of Jewel’s sleeveless arms a shock of heat passed through her body. “They’re not trying to insult you. It’s me they don’t trust anymore.”
Jewel didn’t care what their pathetic reasoning was. She had no intention of conceding on this point. No one was going to sit around watching her have sex with her husband. “Right now!” she shouted. “They’re out right now or the Hegemony is going to have three fewer Empyreals when I’m through here.”
Again shock radiated from the Armenite faces, not that any of them appeared worried by Jewel’s threat. Kole’s uncle, Hoyt Delling, opened his mouth to protest again, but Ina Adel had apparently gotten the message and raised her voice to speak over him. “That’s enough, Hoyt. We’ve obviously encountered a cultural barrier here. I suggest we retreat from the marital chamber and rethink our solution to this problem.”
The rear admiral didn’t seem able to believe that Adel was siding against him in this matter. “Cultural barrier? Have you ever seen what these Cartelites call entertainment on their holos and vids? They’re all exhibitionists and voyeurs. The only reason for her to p
rotest like this is that she plans to perpetrate a fraud.”
“Get out!” Jewel’s shouts transmuted into a screech of anger and she shoved the admiral as hard as she could. Surprised, he staggered backward into the foreign liaison captain and both of them fell hard in the hallway. Delling popped back on his feet immediately and charged forward, rage contorting his tattooed face, but before he could reach Jewel, her new husband stepped between them, blocked his blow, and sent an answering punch hard against the older man’s chin.
Kole’s blow clearly surprised the Armenites even more than Jewel’s shove had, but they acted anyway, with the justiciar general rushing past Jewel to grab Kole and Adel slamming the admiral up against the wall of the little room.
“Control yourselves!” she snapped.
“I want him up on charges,” the rear admiral shouted.
“Kole, you’ve just struck a superior officer,” the justiciar general still sounded shocked by the youngest Empyreal’s actions.
Kole’s anger radiated off his face, but unlike his uncle, he did not in any way appear to be out of control. He turned on the Justiciar General while pointing at the rear admiral. “That man attacked my wife after she made it crystal clear he was to leave her bed chamber and he speaks of charges? Is there no honor or decency left in the Hegemony?”
Kole’s words further enraged the admiral. “You have the gall to speak of honor?” He transferred his anger onto the physician general. “You are ultimately to blame for this. The entire marriage is a farce. The boy has lost his backbone. Despite your hopes for some sort of miracle, the whole marriage has obviously failed.”
“Really?” Adel asked him. If she were impressed at all by the other man’s bluster, Jewel couldn’t see it. “It seems to me we’re already seeing progress. It’s not every young lieutenant who will strike a superior officer to prevent him from dishonoring his House.”
“Dishonoring my House?” Delling sputtered.
“We all unintentionally insulted Ms. Delling,” the justiciar general pointed out. “But while Ina and I were working to calm the situation, you purposely pumped hydrogen into the flames. Tell me, Hoyt, do you oppose a relationship with all of the cartels, or is it only Khaba that you despise?”
“They’re all degenerate,” the admiral hissed. “And we’re becoming just like them. We should refine our own armenium, pull back from the subhumans and make them come groveling to us.”
A moment of silence followed the admiral’s statement as the others digested his words. “I see,” the justiciar general finally said. “You disappoint me, Hoyt. Your position has been argued since we first joined the Unity. If we had followed it at the beginning, then mighty Armen would be no more, ground under the heels of our numerous enemies. If we followed it now, then we must sever honorable relationships that have served the Hegemony well for two hundred years.”
“No honor can be derived from dealing with outsiders,” Delling insisted.
“Honor is internal,” the physician general reminded him. “It derives from all of our proper actions no matter who we are dealing with.”
Delling tried again. “Perhaps severing those relationships would be too great a step, but do we have to expand them? Contact with these creatures,” he shook his finger at Jewel for emphasis, “can only add to the shame of my House.”
“Hoyt,” Farl asked. “Where is your faith? She’s a sign, Hoyt. A sign!”
Delling clearly disagreed with Farl’s assessment. “I seriously doubt that you are correct, Ren, but even if you are, is he the one to guide her?” He pointed disdainfully at his nephew. “You know why I know you don’t believe any of this nonsense? If you really thought the Unity was acting through this woman you would insist she travel home with us to be properly educated in the Hegemony.”
The rage within Jewel threatened to boil over again. So many things had been tossed out in Delling’s rant that she didn’t even know where to begin with her questions. “Wait a minute. What’s this about a sign? And why are you so down on Kole? He’s an Empyreal, isn’t he? And what do you mean we’re not traveling into the Hegemony?”
For half a second, Justiciar General Farl hesitated. Then he composed an answer which every instinct within Jewel screamed he didn’t believe in his heart. “Of course, Lieutenant Delling is an Empyreal.”
“Then what is the problem?” Jewel insisted. “I’m very tired of hearing the three of you make vague allusions to some higher purpose and then questioning either Kole or my place in that purpose.”
Adel stepped back into the conversation. “The only problem right now is that we need to make certain that your marriage is completely valid under Armenite law.”
“Is my veracity now being challenged?” Kole asked. “In our interview earlier this morning, the three of you informed me that my new responsibilities include learning about Cartelite culture and customs while educating the Cartelites about Armenite practice and belief. We have now learned something small but important about Cartelite ways. Are we going to use our new knowledge to improve relations between our peoples, or to throw up yet another barrier between ourselves and our partners in the armenium trade?”
He looked at each of the other Empyreals in turn. “Do any of you really believe that I would lie about my ability to consummate this union?”
“No,” the physician general quietly assured him.
“No,” the justiciar general agreed.
Kole’s uncle stayed noticeably silent.
Kole chose to ignore him. “Then why are we insisting on an archaic practice which offends the sensibilities of my Cartelite wife?”
“Because it is the principle of the thing,” Delling shouted at him.
“What principle?” Kole challenged him.
Again, Adel tried to cut off the argument. “I believe we can trust—”
“No, we can’t,” Delling insisted. “A man who has failed to do the correct thing once, can never be trusted to do the correct thing in the future. We cannot trust him.”
Jewel felt her brow knit in concern. The rear admiral had finally come out and said it. Kole was guilty of something in the Empyreals’ eyes—not guilty enough to be put in prison, but guilty enough for…
“Oh, no,” she said. Her eyes sought out Kole’s but he wouldn’t meet her gaze. For most of her life she’d received a vid-message from him every three months detailing his latest string of accomplishments. What could have happened to bring him down like this? She turned to Physician General Adel because she thought she was the most likely to give her an answer. “What could Kole possibly have done to deserve exile?”
The justiciar general stared angrily at the rear admiral, while Adel searched for words to explain what had happened. “The initial fault,” she finally said, “was not Lieutenant Delling’s.”
“Yes, it was,” Kole’s uncle interrupted. “He simply wasn’t strong enough, as he’s repeatedly proved in the year since his failure.”
“Hoyt,” the justiciar’s voice was soft, almost pleading with the other Empyreal to guard his tongue.
“They’re angry because I didn’t kill myself,” Kole interrupted. His demeanor felt more subdued than calm to Jewel—and utterly heartbreaking as she realized he was serious. “For reasons I respectfully refuse to explain, I didn’t kill myself and my society cannot forgive that.”
Kole’s uncle answered with undeniable disdain. “The reason is cowardice, obviously.”
Kole appeared unmoved by his uncle’s derision. “The evidence does support that conclusion. It is not my only reason.”
“No, Kole,” Adel disagreed. Without her tattoos, her face might have carried a motherly hint of compassion. “The evidence does not support that conclusion. You were trained well enough to understand that. Cowardice is not sufficient explanation of your failure to restore your honor.”
“Restore your honor…” Jewel quietly repeated. She’d heard words similar to that recently. She turned to the justiciar general. “Is Kole’s circu
mstances similar to that of a woman caught in adultery? With her honor irreparably compromised, she’s expected to commit suicide.”
“That’s an imperfect analogy,” Farl answered. “Lieutenant Delling is not guilty of any inappropriate act. But yes, to answer your question, Armenites—no, Empyreals, in his circumstances are expected to kill themselves.”
She twisted around to look at Kole again. “And you didn’t, so they…what? Needed to get rid of you?” She looked to Adel again because she consistently seemed to express the most compassion for what Kole was going through. “Is this why the marriage negotiations were resumed? His family needed to get rid of him and I was a convenient excuse?”
She realized too late how that must sound to Kole, but the words were already out and she couldn’t censor herself.
Adel picked her words more carefully. “Most of us in the Unity believe that the relationship between Delling and Khaba is beneficial to all concerned. If it also permitted Lieutenant Delling and his House to escape an uncomfortable situation, then that would be a double good. Your people do not believe suicide is ever an acceptable alternative, so the fact that the Lieutenant has not availed himself of this option should not cause you concern.”
“But Rear Admiral Delling disagrees,” Jewel said. “Do you think Kole should have been killed for not committing suicide?”
For the first time in several minutes, the rear admiral looked calm enough to hold a rational conversation. “No, honor cannot be restored in such a fashion.”
The justiciar general added to the admiral’s explanation. “Hoyt believes that the Lieutenant should have been made as uncomfortable as possible until he began to see suicide as preferable to all of his other options. Ina and I do not see how honor could result from that circumstance. But honor can derive from providing benefit to the Hegemony which the lieutenant’s marriage to you surely accomplishes.”
Bride (The Unity Book 3) Page 2