by Shae Mills
Korba took another sip of the liqueur and then pushed past her and propped himself on the pillows. He smiled. "Maybe... originally, Chelan. But as the true nature of the mission became more apparent, it became mandatory that I lead it. Besides, fighting is my life. It is hard for me to turn down a battle, no matter what the circumstance. But the Rigilean mission as a whole is not the incident to which I refer." Korba reached out and brushed his hand affectionately along her arm. "It seems that a while ago you entered into a conversation between Fremma, Dar, and Solis. I believe it was you who picked out the proper target site."
Chelan looked up at him, her eyes wide with surprise. "I, uh..." She hesitated. "I merely mentioned that an area on the map looked strange to me. The geology was inconsistent, and when Dar pointed out a ship to me in another location... well, what I saw looked like fighters we have on Earth." Chelan looked down and smirked. "Solis nearly threw me from the Command Center, and I left in humiliation. It was obviously not my place to comment on such things." Chelan drew in a deep breath and looked at him. "The next thing I knew was that you had imposed a blackout and that the Emperor had stopped the progress of the ships. When no word was heard, we assumed all was lost, and that was the last I heard of the mission."
Korba placed both their drinks aside and reached for her, pulling her to him. He laid her head on his chest and hugged her softly. "Well, let me fill you in, my Lady. As bad luck and shortsightedness would have it, the last colony on that planet turned out to be the main military base for all the colonies. The whole ROPE system was dependent on that installation, and while we waged war over the faces of all three planets, that area remained silent, waiting patiently for us to wear ourselves down. When we were exhausted and our resources critically depleted, they knew they would have us. As it turned out, the area that we suspected as the main underground power source and life-support center was actually a decoy. The area you spied was the true site. Dar's orders were to do extremely low-altitude, high-resolution scans, which fortunately picked up the shrewdly camouflaged vessels. The results were delivered to me personally, in time."
Chelan remained silent.
"So you see, my Lady, I am here today to love you so deeply because of your keen eye and your insight." He touched her face tenderly. "I didn't know what you had done for me until Dar talked to me when you had gone from Fremma. It makes me shudder to think that I would have taken Marri to my bed after all these years when the woman I truly loved had not only waited for my return, turning down all temptation, but had also saved my life." His voice deepened with emotion. "And then to think that through my own stubbornness and ignorance I had nearly driven her away to seek the arms of others, and worse."
She looked at him lovingly. "But all is well."
"And so it is."
Chelan lifted her head from his chest and propped herself up on her elbow. "Speaking of others," she whispered. "When I went to Fremma yesterday, I told him something." She glanced into Korba's eyes and then began to fidget. "I told him I would... that we would... he and I, that is... I mean..." She sucked in a deep breath and then blurted it all out. "I told him that we would do something, and I don't know if it was right, mainly because I'm not sure if I really understand your people and their ways. I promised him something, and I'm not certain that I'm comfortable with it."
A small smile touched Korba's lips. He rolled to face her directly, tucking his arm under his head.
Chelan flinched. "I told him..." Her sentence trailed off as she tried to choose her difficult words wisely. "I remembered what Dar told me about your people and their relationships." She stared at his chest as she wallowed in her dilemma. "I told—"
"You told Fremma that you would make love with him," he interjected helpfully.
Chelan averted her eyes, discomposure overtaking her. "I could never hurt you," she uttered frantically. She looked back to him. "Even a little bit. And I don't know if my decision would hurt you or me, or both. And yet if I go back on my word, it definitely hurts Fremma." She looked away. "I made a mistake."
Korba remained silent.
Chelan chewed at her lip. "On Earth, in some cultures, if I carried out my promise, that would be construed as grounds for you slaying Fremma or me. And if I were on Earth, I would have never spoken my words in the first place. But Dar said..." Chelan let her shoulders drop in frustration. "I honestly never dreamed that I would ever consider being with two men. And basically, I'm not handling the situation at all well."
Korba ran his fingers down her arm. "If I had not returned from the mission, would you have slept with Fremma?"
Chelan felt a chill overtake her. "Yes," she replied sheepishly.
"Why?" he asked, his voice soft.
Chelan hesitated, fearful of some sort of recrimination. "Because I love him," she whispered cautiously. "And because I thought you were lost to me." Chelan paused again. "And because I wanted to experience the ultimate act of love with someone special."
Korba smiled at her. "I think you have just hit on a point Dar may have left out, which is making your decision more difficult than it ought to be, Earth values aside. Even though our two cultures have vastly different mores, ours is not usually one of rampant promiscuity. The circle of people that one unites with usually is a circle of close loved ones, not simply strangers in the hall or in the streets. We have learned to accommodate the fact that a person can love more than one, and for that reason we have adjusted our lifestyle so that no choices have to be made. No one is forced into monogamy, although many may choose it. We are not cold and heartless where our mates are concerned. Some loves are stronger than others, and that is understood, but no one in our world condones flagrant disregard for others' feelings."
Korba looked deep into her pretty eyes. "Yes, I would be hurt if you decided arbitrarily to choose just any man to share your bed because that often serves no one's purposes in the long run. But I understand the deep love that you and Fremma have for one another, and I know that your relationship with him is not shallow or frivolous. I also know that you hold your Earth values close or you would have succumbed to Fremma's advances long ago, but that is irrelevant to the situation when it comes to us. I feel your commitment to me no matter what your values. I know that you will never leave me as my mate even if you choose to sleep with Fremma."
Korba hesitated, watching Chelan shift her weight uneasily. He brushed her arm reassuringly. "And in a way, I am comforted by your decision. There will be many times in the future when it will be impossible for us to be together. And I find solace in the fact that you can go to another who is so familiar rather than being left alone. And I am relieved that the other person is a close and trusted man, someone who would care for and protect you as diligently and as fiercely as would I.
"I know that on Earth this situation would tear one of the two relationships apart, as you would be forced to choose. As a result, all three of us would be hurt, the emotional trauma great. But with us, there is no choice forced. I can leave you, feeling secure that you will be happy and well cared for in my absence. And my mind will be at ease knowing that you will be well upon my return. Weeks, months, or possibly years of loneliness would not impel you to seek a stranger for comfort or companionship or force you to struggle with self-imposed abstinence.
"Chelan, I have chosen you as my mate after a very long time of withdrawal from intimate relations. My decisions, both then and now, are based on personal circumstances that occurred decades ago. I want you to understand how special you are to me, and that I respect you unconditionally no matter what your decisions. If I did not, I would not have taken you. But there is something else you must understand. I know of your Earth values, and I know that it is difficult for you to walk in both worlds. For that reason, I choose to be loyal to you to the exclusion of all others, a decision made easy for me both because of my past and because of my love for you. But I want my decision in no way to influence your choice or to make you feel in any way disloyal to me. I will love you no
less if you lie with Fremma, and I know that is hard for you to understand. But you will see that it is true."
Chelan's mind attempted to absorb all his words. "I don't know what to say," she whispered.
Korba drew her into him. "There is nothing to say, my Lady, as I have said it all. Your role now is to merely experience my words and my world."
Chelan looked into his loving eyes, her mind and soul at peace. Her lips met his, and their kiss was long and tender. Finally they parted, and Korba spoke. "Now, before I become bogged down with work when I resume my command, and since Stose has us on hold, I think it is time that we had a little discussion about your future, both on and off the ship." He smiled. "Or rather, should I say, our future."
Chelan smiled back, but she felt a wave of ambivalence washing over her. "I'm not sure I want to hear this," she said gloomily.
"Oh, come on now. Your future with me is far from uncertain."
Chelan looked at him from under her brows. "In other words, I may travel with you on all your missions?"
"That would not be safe for you. I do not always use the safety of RIBUS 7. And on some missions, even the RIBUS may be in peril."
"Safety, it seems to me, anywhere in your world is strictly a relative term, with no absolutes. Besides, I have this feeling that if I get left on Iceanea, my future is far from certain. I don't exactly fit the bill of a genetic pool of perfection."
Korba chuckled at her. "Maybe not. But you will undeniably fit the bill of a Warlord's mate if I say so, and there are few men foolish enough to challenge my word. Therefore, your safety on Iceanea is assured." He hesitated, looking into her skeptical eyes. "Relatively," he added, his smile broadening.
Chelan smiled at his small sally, but her amusement did not last long. "But Iceanea is the home of the Emperor. So what happens if he disapproves of your choice of mistress?"
"First of all, you are not my mistress. To use your Earth terminology, a more appropriate term would be wife. And secondly, Ticees has a vastly weakened Empire without Dar and me, and whose side do you think Dar will support? Besides, Ticees has always respected my decisions regardless of whether he agrees with them." Korba smiled. "And I have no doubt in my mind that Ticees will be taken by you, as you appear to be two of a kind."
Chelan looked at him warily. "What do you mean?"
Korba smiled. "Our dear Lord God Emperor is not Iceanean, Chelan. I'm sure that the sight of you will ease his weary eyes. In other words, I can't see him turning away what we casually call an off-worlder, when he is one himself."
Chelan was surprised. Nothing in her literature had said much about Ticees' background, and although she had known that the original Imperial lineage was not of Iceanea, she had assumed that the present rulers were of Iceanean descent. After all, the complete Imperial fighting force was Iceanean.
She was puzzled. She wondered why a race that was so concerned with genetics and purity would put up with having an off-worlder as their Emperor. Now she was curious about the man, and she was becoming somewhat excited about meeting him. But her mind shifted topics quickly.
"Wife," she repeated quietly to herself. She looked at Korba intently. "Does that mean you intend on Letting me?"
"No, I don't," he replied crisply.
Chelan was not sure why the sting of his decision was so sharp. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I was being far too presumptuous. I apologize."
"No, Chelan, you have not presumed too much. I know how important a ceremony signifying a permanent bond is to your people. My comment was in no way meant to indicate that I am not committed enough to you to become Letted to you. It is simply that I would never allow you to experience the Letting ceremony." He hesitated, his voice becoming soft. "It is not for you, my Lady."
"Why? Is it because I am not Iceanean?"
"No, no. It is something I know you could not accept, and it is something I would never want you to endure."
"Why won't you tell me about it?"
"It is not what you expect, Chelan. It is a barbaric ritual formulated by, and necessary to, our ancestors. It was adopted and modified by the Breeders, but it is not fit for you."
"But your laws..." she faltered, somewhat stunned by what she had been about to blurt out. She vacillated, rethinking her words.
Korba looked into her eyes, something in the tone of her aborted comment riveting him to his spot. "But our laws, what, Chelan?"
Chelan squirmed. "But your laws say that you must be Letted to bear children."
Korba's heart nearly stopped. "Traditionally, yes, but not between us. The Breeding Guild will not dare to interfere with my decisions regarding you and our future together."
"I understand," she accepted quietly.
Korba caught her downward motion of her chin with his finger and raised her head back up. "Do you understand, Chelan?" he asked.
She bit her lip nervously. "I don't know what you expect of me," she whispered.
He leaned forward and kissed her lips tenderly. "I demand nothing from you, my Lady, except your presence and your love, as long as you are willing to give them to me." Korba took a deep breath and hesitated. "Anything else that you wish to give to me, my pretty woman, will be your decision."
Chelan measured his words against lingering anticipation sparking between them. "I want to give you your child," she offered timorously.
Korba exhaled sharply. He clutched her tightly to him, and he buried his face into her silken hair. "Nothing else you could have said would have made me so happy, Chelan." He drew back from her and looked into her bewitching eyes. "There is nothing that would fulfill my life more than to have you bear my child."
"I love you so much," she said, her words choked with emotion. Chelan watched him as a smile began to traverse his lips. "What's that for?" she murmured dreamily.
Korba's smile grew. "It's a smile at myself for my valiant and desperate attempt to keep from strangling Stose for the moratorium he has placed on us."
Chelan began to laugh as she scrambled farther up the bed and hugged his head to her chest. "Patience, my Lord," she teased. "As you said, we have forever. Besides, it should be me you strangle rather than Stose. If it had not been for my selfishness and uncontrolled hastiness, the moratorium would never have been necessary." Chelan released him and pushed him over to his back. She lay across his chest and looked down into his beautiful blue eyes. "And furthermore," she breathed, "it gives me time to complete what I had started before we were interrupted by Marri."
"And what was that?" he whispered as he stroked her flaxen mane.
Chelan did not reply. She bit her lip as her fingers travelled down his ebony uniform, seeking his most intimate softness. She caressed him and teased him, liberating him from the confines of his clothing with enrapturing slowness. She manipulated him, touched and tantalized every square inch of his powerful bronze body, her soft lips and moist tongue sending him into delirium. She moved her sensuous, lithe body over him, onto him, and around him, the mere sight of her nearly causing him to explode from within. Her insatiable desire to please him brought him to countless, powerfully intense orgasms, the likes of which left him mortally weak.
The hours passed, and each time he thought she would be too exhausted to begin on him again, she surprised him. Time went on, until eventually she left him in a quivering, gelatinous mass, every ounce of his energy spent, every muscle in his body crying out for rest. It was only then that Chelan slipped up beside him and hugged him closely, allowing him to recover.
"Ah, woman," he moaned, unable to raise his head off the pillows. "I count the hours until it is your turn."
Chelan kissed his moist, salty skin. "You have already done that, my love, by allowing me to please you."
Korba shook his head weakly. "Oh, no. You're not getting off so easily. Soon, if I recover, I'm going to put you in the same weakened condition that you have left me, as I will show you no mercy."
Chelan grinned and traced his powerful muscles with her fingers.
"Well, there is one thing you can do for me right now."
Korba chuckled. "You may be dreaming, Chelan. I doubt I can move."
"Oh, no. All I want you to do is to explain the Letting ceremony to me."
Korba groaned and stretched his aching body. "Trust you, woman, to attack me when I'm down for the count, weakened by your love and easily seduced by your soft words."
Chelan began trailing moist kisses down his chest, his abdomen, and she then settled between his legs. She pressed her breasts into his maleness and looked up expectantly into his azure eyes. "Talk," she ordered silkily, "or I will show you no mercy." And she nestled deeper into him, tucking all his flaccid manhood between her heavy breasts.
Korba reached for her and slid her up his body before her seductive move resurrected him. "I assure you," he began quietly, "that it is not something you will enjoy hearing about, let alone participating in. And remember, no matter what your reaction, it won't happen to you. I won't permit it."
"Are you trying to avoid my question? Because I really feel there is no need to. I understand our commitment to one another and our mutual decision to have a child. But I won't drop the subject because I can't contain my curiosity. And all the information on the computer you left for me skirted the issue. So out with it." And she dug her fingers into his ribs.
Korba squirmed feebly. "Okay," he conceded. "But remember, you asked for it, and I retain the honor of being able to say I told you so when I look up into your pretty face and see it distorted by disbelief and revulsion."
"I think you're making a mountain out of a mole hill," she chided.
Korba's face became serious. "I think not, Chelan. It was a ritual that had its time and place when the Breeders and our people were doing their utmost to perpetuate the strongest of our species. Our life was hard, our planet harsh, and the ritual was imperative to our survival. We could no longer endure the diseases and deformities that we did not have the immunology or technology to deal with. They were weakening our society as a whole, and they had to be eradicated. To ensure our survival, the Breeders of our world dedicated their time and effort not only to the study of genetics, but also to the study of blood chemistry and hormonal balances. They wanted a sure way to keep desirable and hardy blood lines pure with no accidental or clandestine cross-inseminations occurring."