“They think I’m a stupid little girl they can push aside with no effort at all,” Ellina said, getting angry all over again and pacing faster, so that her long skirts swished against her legs. “Just someone to be gotten rid of so the High Priest can rule all of Helios Beta while Hennessy whiles away the time playing with whores at my expense!”
“I dare say they don’t think that about you anymore,” Ty said dryly. He smiled. “You really put them in their place.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Ellina allowed herself a moment of triumph, before sighing deeply. “Oh, I know this is going to lead to trouble with the High Priest and I should have behaved in a ‘more politic fashion’ as Grandmamma would say, but I just couldn’t help myself. They made me so mad!”
“Sometimes it’s good to get mad,” Ty said. “Just like it’s good to let Kikbax and his minion know they can’t push you around.”
“I was glad you came in when you did,” Ellina admitted, stopping her pacing, to smile at him briefly. “I don’t think I could have made Hennessy get on one knee to apologize myself, no matter what I threatened him with, if you hadn’t been there.”
“He’s a bastard,” Ty said shortly, a hint of a growl still in his deep voice. “He’s the one who tricked you into kissing him and then made fun afterwards, right?”
Ellina was surprised he’d remembered the name.
“Well, yes.” She nodded. “But I’d like to think that long-ago insult isn’t the only reason I wouldn’t have him for my consort. Some people outgrow their meanness and the nasty habits they had in childhood—he hasn’t.”
“I could tell,” Ty remarked. “Did he really expect you’d join with him, knowing that he planned to break his vows and cheat on you?”
“Apparently so.” Ellina shook her head. “Even for Hennessy, that’s brazen.”
Ty frowned. “What I don’t understand is why the High Priest thought you’d go for it.”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head again. “He seemed to think that I was about to go into my Heat Cycle and as soon as I was joined and pregnant, I’d be much easier to get out of the way. Maybe that was why he was so eager to see me with a consort—any consort, even that awful Hennessy Tolland.”
“My guess is that Tolland was Kikbax’s first choice because all he wants to do is play,” Ty said. “He doesn’t seem to have any interest in running the kingdom, which leaves the way free for the High Priest to do as he pleases.”
“But why would he think I’d take such awful terms?” Ellina asked. “He must really think I’m stupid. Or desperate.” She frowned. “He seemed awfully certain that my Heat Cycle was about to start.” She looked at Ty anxiously. “Do you think he knows something I don’t? Something about the Potentate’s Cycle that my Grandmother didn’t tell me?”
Ty frowned grimly.
“I don’t know, but maybe you’d better find out. Can you contact your grandmother now?”
“I’ll try.” Putting up a hand for Lor, she waited until the little chewchie scampered from the top of her head to her extended palm and brought him down so she could look into his big, liquid black eyes. “Grandmamma?” she said, knowing that Lor would automatically reach for his link with her grandmother’s chewchie, Shel, and relay her message.
There was a longish pause and then Lor spoke with her grandmother’s voice.
“Yes, my child? Are you well?”
The voice was so faint…so much weaker than it had been the last time she spoke to her grandmother, that Ellina completely forgot her own troubles.
“Grandmamma!” she exclaimed. “Are you all right? You don’t sound yourself at all.”
“I’m fine, my dear,” her grandmother replied through Lor. “I’ve simply caught a bit of a chill—that’s all. Nothing that a bit of hot mugworp tea won’t cure.”
A cold fist of anxiety seemed to form around Ellina’s heart.
“I want to come see you,” she said urgently. “I want to see for myself that you’re being cared for—that you’re all right.”
“Nonsense, my dear—you know that isn’t possible.” Some firmness had returned to her grandmother’s voice, which did much to comfort Ellina. “We cannot be together in the same room—or even the same part of the palace. You know that,” Lor went on in her grandmother’s voice.
“But Grandmamma, I’m worried about you. And I miss you!” Ellina pleaded. “We saw each other for such a short time during the coronation. Please, can’t I just come see your for a moment? I’ll bring my entire guard with me to be certain I’m safe.”
“You’ll do no such thing!” Her grandmother’s voice grew positively sharp. “You know if you come to me you’re not only risking your own safety but the safety of the entire planet, Ellina! If something should happen to both of us, Helios Beta would fall into dire straights. For only a female Potentate with the Sacred Blue skin can lead our people. If anyone else tried, the Blue Crystal of Peace at the heart of the temple would split and earthquakes would ravage the land, collapsing all our tunnels and killing everyone—so says the Book of Thufar!”
Ellina wanted to say she didn’t care what the Book of Thufar said, but she knew her strictly religious grandmother would call that blasphemy and be upset if she did.
“All right, Grandmamma,” she said at last. “But please tell me your servants are taking care of you.”
“My maid, Lullabella is as good as gold to me, as you can see,” her grandmother assured her. Staring into Lor’s eyes, Ellina suddenly saw a vision she knew must be sent by Shel. The little chewchie must be perched on the end of her grandmother’s bed because Ellina saw the thin, frail form propped up on pillows and covered warmly with blankets while her maid waited to spoon another bite of steaming soup between her withered lips.
The vision did, indeed, make her feel a bit better, though it disturbed her to know that Grandmamma was feeling ill enough that Lullabella had to feed her. Her grandmother never usually put up with such things, preferring to do almost everything for herself, despite her royal status.
“Well, if you’re sure you’re well…” she said reluctantly.
“Quite well,” her grandmother insisted. “Though I am in the middle of my dinner, as you can see. Was there something you wanted, child?”
“Um…”
Now that it came to it, Ellina found it very difficult to voice the question she’d originally called to ask. But Ty, who had been watching the whole exchange, made a ‘go on’ motion with one hand, and she knew she had to at least try.
“Grandmamma,” she said, gathering her courage. “Do you remember when you told me about…about a Potentate’s Heat Cycle?”
“Yes, why? You know this is a private subject, Ellina,” Lor said reprovingly, in her grandmother’s voice.
“I know,” Ellina said. “I just wondered if…if there was anything else you could tell me about it?” She hated to be so vague but she was well aware that Lullabella was listening in on the other end.
“I can only tell you what I’ve already told you.” Her grandmother’s voice was faint and weary. “Can’t this wait for another time, child? My soup is getting cold and I’m so dreadfully tired….”
“Of course, Grandmamma. I’m sorry. I’ll speak to you later,” Ellina said. “I love you!”
“I love you too, sweet child.” Her grandmother’s voice was nothing but a tired sigh now. “I’ll speak to you tomorrow.”
“Yes, Grandmamma.”
And with that, Ellina had to be contented as the connection between Lor and Shel was broken.
“Well, I’m afraid we don’t know much more than before,” she said to Ty, who had been looking on thoughtfully, his arms crossed over his broad chest, as he watched the exchange.
“No, we don’t,” he acknowledged. “I guess you’ll just have to monitor yourself and watch for signs of your, uh, Cycle starting up.”
“I suppose.” Ellina sighed and glanced at the chronometer on the wall. “Oh dear, we have to go! I’m due at
my public appearance at the Holy Mists within half an hour!”
“We’d better hurry then,” Ty said. “I haven’t been to the Holy Mists yet. Is there any special equipment I need to bring?”
“Just your skin,” Ellina told him.
He frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You’ll find out.” She sighed and beckoned to him. “Come on or we’ll be late.”
Fourteen
Apparently most people had to go through a long, arduous ritual purification process to get into the Holy Mists. Luckily, Ty thought, Ellina wasn’t “most people.” As the Potentate, she had a private entrance all for herself, as well as a private changing room for the two of them.
There were two wooden booths in the room and Ellina went into one while Ty went into another—though he still had no idea what he was supposed to change into. He looked in vain for any kind of bathing suit or swimming trunks but though there were hooks hanging on one wall, there was nothing hanging from them except a Sacred Blue robe which looked like it would be considerably too small to fit him.
“My Lady?” he called to her. “What am I supposed to wear?”
“I told you—just your skin,” she called back. “Take everything off—males must be naked in the Holy Mists.”
“We must?” Ty frowned. He didn’t mind going nude—he didn’t have any body image issues. But where was he to put his weapons? His expanding shield was built into his arm but everything else was external. “What about my blaster?” he asked? Or all the rest of his arsenal including his many knives, his poison tipped darts, his garroting wire…
He might be acting as a bodyguard on this mission but he still had all the tools of an assassin on him as well. One never knew when they might come in handy, especially if someone important was trying to hurt the Potentate and he had to take care of them quietly. That bastard Hennessy Tolland, for instance, who had broken her heart when she was younger and now thought he could come back into her life and do as he pleased…
But Ellina’s next words startled him out of his thoughts.
“You must leave your blaster here. No weapons are permissible in the Holy Mists. In fact, it is a grave offense to bring them.”
“What?” Ty demanded, stepping naked out of his dressing room. He didn’t bother with the too-small robe. “I don’t like that, Ellina. I can defend you with my bare hands if need be, but what if someone else brings a blaster or some other weapon I can’t defend against with hand-to-hand combat?”
“Where would they hide it when everyone is naked? Or as good as naked?”
As she spoke, she, too, emerged from her dressing room. And she, too, was completely naked.
Ty forgot what he’d been going to say as he gazed at her. Her luscious curves were fully on display as he had never seen them before. And now he saw the truth of what Asher’s new bride, Lisa, had told him.
On the front of her chest, three full breasts and three ripe, dark blue nipples were clearly visible—though the one in the middle seemed strangely flatter than the ones on either side of it. Ty’s eyes lingered there a moment, then flickered downward before he could stop himself. Sure enough, he saw two vaginas, one in the usual place between her legs and one directly above it and just below her belly button. Both had neatly clipped Sacred Blue curls, the same color as the hair on her head, and the one above had a very prominent clit which was dark purple in color.
“How do you like my purification garments?”
Ellina’s soft voice dragged Ty out of his rapt contemplation of her body and he realized he’d been standing there, staring at her in the rudest way imaginable. He supposed he was surprised that she was willing to stand before him nude, when she had always been so very modest before. But of course, if this was part of her people’s usual routine, she would no doubt be used to it.
But just because she didn’t mind showing herself was no excuse for staring.
“Forgive me.” He looked away quickly and then realized belatedly she’d asked him a question. “Um, garments?” he asked, darting a glance back at her. “But…you’re not wearing any garments.”
“Of course I am.” She reached to her waist and pulled at something—it was a stretchy piece of fabric the exact color of her skin, Ty realized. And it covered her from the waist down to her crotch. He frowned. She showed him a similar area of stretchy fabric above as well and he began to understand. Could it be that she was wearing undergarments with pictures of her genitals printed on them? How very strange. But that was what it looked like.
“They’re a complete lie, of course.” Ellina sounded sad yet somehow resigned. “But they’re necessary in case we meet some common people. They must not know that their beloved Potentate is deformed.”
“Deformed?” Ty managed to ask. Did she mean because she apparently had three breasts and two vaginas, or sacred mouths, as they were called here? But didn’t all Chorkay women have such attributes? Asher’s mate, Lisa had certainly seemed to think so.
Ellina only shook her head.
“Never mind—let’s get this over with.”
“Wait.” Ty barred her way when she would have gone out the golden door which apparently led to the Holy Mists. “Before we go out there, I need to know what to expect. What are your duties today? Are you simply supposed to walk around and be seen?”
“For the most part.” Ellina nodded. “But then I must choose someone to bring into my private purification chamber—it’s the room beside this one…” She pointed to another golden door which apparently led into the next chamber. “I will wash him or her with my own hands, which symbolizes the fact that the Potentate serves the people, rather than the other way around.”
“What? You have to wash a naked male in front of everyone?” Ty didn’t like the sound of that at all. A low, possessive growl rose to his lips when he thought about the curvy little Potentate putting her hands on some one else’s naked flesh. She was his, damn it, and he wasn’t going to stand by and watch her touch someone else intimately!
Of course, he had no right to claim her in that way and his rational mind knew it but the primitive, possessive part of him couldn’t be overcome. He couldn’t let her do that, damn it! No way in all the Seven Hells!
“I’m afraid I can’t permit it,” he heard himself saying. “It’s not safe. What if you choose someone dangerous? Someone who means you harm?”
“It won’t be me choosing—it will be Lor,” Ellina explained patiently, pointing to the little Sacred Blue chewchie who was chattering quietly on top of her head. “And it won’t be in public—I told you, it’s going to be in my private purification chamber. If it makes you feel better, you can bear witness to the act. It’s not necessary to have a witness but some Potentates do.”
Ty wanted to say he didn’t want to witness her touching anyone else—especially not naked—but this was beginning to sound more and more like some kind of religious ceremony.
“Is this really necessary?” he asked her, frowning. “I mean, you have to wash some naked stranger? Some male you’ve never seen before?”
“Or female. It just depends on who Lor chooses.” She looked up, again indicating the chewchie sitting on to of her head. “And yes, it’s necessary—it is The Rite of Humility and it’s one of the ceremonies all Potentates must observe yearly in the presence of Thufar.” She looked worried. “In fact, the High Priest himself is supposed to preside over it.”
“Well, that ought to be fun,” Ty said dryly. “Especially considering how your midday meal with him ended.”
“I know, I know—don’t remind me!” Ellina bit her lip, her long hair swirling around her bare shoulders. Looking at her, Ty thought she was beautiful, despite the extra accoutrements she seemed to possess.
“Well, maybe it won’t be so bad,” he said, trying to console her. “He might simply want to get it over quickly.”
“I know I do,” she said fervently. “Come on—are you ready to go now?”
“I am, but I still
don’t like this situation,” Ty growled. “Stay close to me at all times. And I want you to know if whoever, uh, Lor chooses you to bathe gets too familiar, I’m taking him out.”
“Don’t worry, my protective guard…” Ellina made a soothing motion with both hands. “Whoever I must bathe is not allowed to touch me. I can touch them, but they must not lay a finger upon my royal person.”
“Well…all right.” It was somewhat better, though still not anything he liked, Ty thought. “Let’s go then,” he said. “But stay close to me—especially around that bastard, Kikbax.”
Fifteen
However, when they stepped out of Ellina’s dressing room into the swirling steam of the Holy Mists, it wasn’t the High Priest who greeted them but one of his underlings.
“Greetings,” he said formally, bowing low, as was correct when greeting the Potentate. “Forgive me, oh Goddess in the Flesh,” he said to Ellina when he straightened up. “But the High Priest of Thufar is unwell. He sends his regrets and begs you will accept me as a fitting replacement to lead you through the Ritual of Humility. I am Natillus and this is my wife, Lambada.”
“Greetings, your Majesty.” Lambada bowed low as well.
Ellina felt a surge of relief. Of course Lord Kikbax was offering her an insult by not appearing himself—The Ritual of Humility was an important yearly ceremony—one of the Great Rites of Thufar—which ought never to be deferred to an underling. Still, she couldn’t make herself be angry—she was much too relieved at not having to deal with Kikbax again.
Besides, she knew Natillus and his mate and liked them. They were lesser nobles who had bonded at a very early age due to their chewchies being a matched pair and they had never had very much interest in anyone outside the two of them. But they had never been cruel or joined in the mean games the other noble children had engaged in—they just kept to themselves.
“Hello, Natillus, Lambada,” she said formally, nodding to them. “I am pleased to allow you to guide me through the Ritual of Humility.”
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