When she returned dressed in a coral gown and wearing the gold ribbon and tassels in her hair, he hid his concern and led her out the back door and through the garden to a gate set in the rock wall.
"I thought we were going to father's house?"
"We are. He lives next door."
She drew to a halt and glared at him. "You mean all this time I could have walked over and seen him anytime I liked? Really, Valan, you might have told me."
"I didn't tell you, because I don't want you running off and spending time with him. There's no telling what the two of you would do if I wasn't around to stop you. My father and Borg have a very odd sense of humor and they love to torment me."
"What a horrible thing to say about your own father and Borg!" She went through the gate and saw the house. She'd admired it from their chamber window and wondered who lived there.
It was a large, two-story rock house, covered with a flowering vine, and surrounded on all four sides with shady porches. Valan led her onto one of them, to a door framed with crystal windows. Before she could ring the bell, he opened the door and walked in.
"Father?" His voice echoed through the hallway.
"In the dining room, Son."
As he led her through the house, she admired the shiny wood floors and softly textured walls. Eirik was sitting at a round table, eating lunch. When he saw her, he jumped up and hugged her.
"This is wonderful. I'm pleased to see you, Lia."
"We've come to eat lunch with you, Father," Lia said.
"Wonderful. Valan get Lia some lunch. Lia come sit with me." Holding her hand, he led her to a chair.
Valan rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen. He carefully selected Lia's food, deciding from now on he would prepare her meals. Fixing a tray for himself, he selected ale for himself and stinkgoat milk for Lia. Borg said she needed to drink lots of milk. He would make sure she had it with every meal. This pregnancy business was harder than he'd thought. He heard Lia's laughter and smiled. Since he couldn't manage both trays and both beverages, he took Lia's meal to her and ignored her frown when she saw the glass of stinkgoat milk. Then he returned to the kitchen for his tray and ale. Morna was leaning on the counter by his tray, waiting for him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I live here now."
"You should go to one of your other lovers."
"Your father is a very virile warrior, Valan. But, he's not as good as you." Slowly, she sidled over to him, and rubbed her breasts against him. "I've missed you, Valan."
"My father wouldn’t share sex with you if you were the last female in the galaxy," Valan said, as he pushed her away from him. "Stay away from me."
She grabbed him and buried her hands in his hair then crushed his lips with hers. He grabbed her wrists and threw her from him. She laughed when she hit the counter. "I love it when you're rough."
"Time for you to move on. There’s nothing for you here." He picked up his tray and ale, and went into the dining room. When he sat down across from Lia, she gave him an odd look, then glanced at the kitchen door. Before he could say anything, the door swung open and Morna sauntered in carrying a food tray and a glass of wine.
"How lovely. Eirik you didn't tell me Valan was coming to lunch," Morna said.
"Morna…"
"And, he brought his little Wrothian with him." Morna set her food on the table and took the last empty chair.
***
The odor of the brocco-beans on her tray hit Valan, and he gagged. His chair crashed to the floor behind him as he jumped up and ran from the room.
Eirik chuckled then said, "Lia, go after Valan."
"No." She'd recognized the other woman as soon as she entered the room. This was the woman she'd seen in the garden, twice. Once alone, and once with Valan. They'd been together in the kitchen and that's why Valan's hair had been mussed. They'd been kissing and touching each other. Fury unlike anything she'd ever known rushed through her. She hated him! How could he betray her love? She wanted to kill him.
For a moment, she froze, then without further thought, she jumped up and lifted Morna's tray and dumped it over her head. The older woman gasped, sputtered, and jumped up from her chair. Brocco-beans slid from her hair and face, leaving behind a slimy trail. They cascaded onto the floor and squished beneath her feet.
A giggle broke from Lia's throat, then another. She couldn't believe what she'd just done. Morna looked so funny! Suddenly, a sob caught in her throat and she covered her mouth and ran out of Eirik’s house, through the gardens, and into Valan's house.
Five micro-units later, she stood at the window in their chamber and saw him appear on the path leading to the house. She wanted to run from him and hide. The bands on her arms prevented it. Suddenly, she realized if he caught her in their chamber, she wouldn't be able to argue with him. Rushing to the door, she fled into the hallway. Before she could get to the stairs he was there, staring up at her. She froze and their eyes met.
"Go back to our chamber, Lia."
"No."
He climbed several of the steps. "We're going to talk. In our chamber."
"No."
He climbed several more steps. "It wasn't what you think. I didn't touch her."
"She touched you!"
He climbed several more steps, until he could almost touch her. "Are you jealous, little cat?"
"No."
He reached for her, and caught her arms. "Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not. I don't care what you do."
He pulled her close and lifted her. "Then why did you run away?"
"I just felt like leaving."
He laughed and carried her into their chamber. "You didn't tell my father goodbye. He's worried about you."
"Put me down, Valan. Now!"
"Watch it, little cat. Don't forget our agreement."
"Valan!"
He sat on the bed and held her on his lap. "I don't want her, Lia. I don't want anyone but you. I told her a long time ago to go to one of her other lovers."
"Are you sure you didn't touch her?"
“Only to push her away." His hands had strayed to her legs and were rubbing them. Each time he lifted the hem of her gown a little higher, until it was as high as it could go.
"I don't like her!"
"I noticed as soon as I saw her covered with, uh, those things."
Lia giggled. He couldn't even say brocco-beans without gagging. "Is Father angry with me?"
"No. Just worried. He's sending Morna to Alteria. She won't ever hurt you again." His fingers found what they'd been searching for and his father was the last thing on his mind now.
"We should go back and tell him I'm all right."
"Later."
***
The next cycle, it started, and it was the one thing a warrior dreaded facing more than a hoard of Zylian slugs or a one-eyed Witvian mindstealer—at least they could be challenged and defeated. But, Lia's tears were undefeatable. Within cycles he stopped calling her his 'little cat' and began calling her his 'little cloud’. She cried when he made her happy. She cried when he spoke too abruptly. In the mornings when he was ill, she snuggled next to him and cried for him. He was becoming an expert at comforting her.
Valan’s misery was complete when his father and Borg gravely told him they had something very important to deliver. Thinking it had something to do with his journey to Zhang, he'd taken them to his den. Eirik glumly handed him a large envelope with an official Council seal while Borg told him how truly sorry they were to be bringing this to him. Valan opened the package, his heart full of dread, until a dozen small, pink hankies fell into his hands. He'd risen to his feet and roared at them to get out of his house and never darken his door again. They'd only pounded him on his back and nearly broken his eardrums with their loud bursts of laughter. His shouts and their laughter brought Lia running into his den to check on him and it hadn't taken the two schemers long to wheedle an invitation to dinner.
The three of them wer
e driving him crazy. His only consolation was his warriors looked as tense and harassed as he felt. When he and Lia arrived at the training field earlier to begin her training they'd passed a group of giggling females at the entrance to the academy and another group as they’d walked to the training fields. The females were accompanied by several young warriors eagerly explaining the academy to them.
Now, he scanned the area around the training field and frowned when he saw it was encircled by a crowd of colorfully dressed chattering females. He and his warriors stood in the center. Sardonically, he wondered if they should surrender or try to fight their way to freedom!
Royce Garrikson wandered over to stand next to him. "Commander, I couldn't leave my bondmate at home. When I tried to leave she started, uh, well, you know. I couldn't just leave her like that, so I brought her with me. Just for this cycle."
"I know, Royce. I suppose the others had the same problem?" Valan asked.
"Yes," Royce said then hesitantly offered to send his bondmate home.
"Tor, no!" Valan said. "She'll start crying and then they'll all start, and we'll never get any training done. No, let them stay."
Royce breathed a sigh of relief. "Did you ever imagine it would be like this, Commander? Tor, if I'd known, I would've let a Zylian slug slime me during our last battle."
Valan laughed. The slime from of a Zylian was extremely acidic and dissolved anything it touched. The Council, led by his father, had planned this perfectly. They'd deliberately decided to let them discover on their own what having a bondmate was like—after it was too late to back out. He had to admire their cunning. He looked around and decided he would begin Lia's exercise program. If the exercise was good for her, it would be good for the other bondmates as well and it might get them out of his way so he and his warriors could train. "Find Angus Arlunson and bring him to me, Royce."
"Right away, Commander."
While he waited he watched Lia. She was with Minda, and they were surrounded by a group of females. All of them were chattering and laughing. Now, he thought, she'll settle down and be an obedient bondmate as he had planned.
"Commander?" Angus asked as he rushed up to him.
"Angus, I want you to choose three more trainers then take the females to the cadet gymnasium and begin training them."
"Training them? I don't understand, Commander."
"Doctor Veeson said they need exercise. I want you to give them some. Start them with something to build their muscles. Nothing too strenuous because of their condition. But, don't under any circumstances give them any weapons." No sense taking any chances or giving them any ideas, he decided.
Angus sent him a ‘why me’ grimace, and then a reluctant nod.
Valan introduced him to the females and told them where he was taking them and why. Slowly, the females followed Angus from the training field. Lia sent him a cheerful wave, then she and Minda followed them.
Cam strode up to him, grinning. "Very cleverly done, Valan. You're becoming as crafty as your father and Borg."
Valan grunted at the back-handed compliment. "I want you to gather the warriors and inform them of the new plan for Zhang. Then, I want them to practice hand-to-hand combat, just in case some of the Wrothians aren't drugged."
His warriors hadn’t laughed when they'd heard the plans for the raid on Zhang. Like him, they'd all recognized the danger in assuming everything would go according to plan. They wouldn’t drop their guard during the attack. Sooner or later they knew one of them would confront a fully aware Wrothian and they wanted to be prepared.
Valan separated them into ten groups of twenty warriors each, and put one of the more experienced warriors in charge of each group.
He and Cam strode from one group to the next and observed the fighting. When he saw a clumsy kick or punch, he corrected the warrior's technique, then moved to the next group. It was tiring and sweaty work. Without thinking, he pulled a cloth from his loincloth and mopped the sweat from his face. When he looked up, his warriors were staring at the pink cloth in his hand. Glaring, he told them to get back to work.
Royce Garrikson grinned at him, then held up a similar cloth. One by one all of the warriors in his group did the same. Valan looked from them to the other groups around them. Almost every one of the warriors was waving pink cloths in their hands. "I see my father and Borg have been busy."
Cam was the first of the warriors to laugh, followed by the other warriors as they related stories about their bondmates weepiness and how they were handling it. When their laughter finally died down, Valan ordered them back to work and the fighting improved.
***
Angus Arlunson had a major problem on his hands. None of the females could budge the weights in the gymnasium, much less lift them. Exasperated, he tried having them lift one of the weights as a group. They giggled, and gathered around it. Delicately, they wrapped their hands around the bar and rolled it across the floor.
Now, he stood with the other trainers and tried to decide what to do with the females. They argued back and forth, until he was ready to knock their heads together to shut them up. Commander Eirikson expected him to train these females, and by Tor, he would do it! He just needed to figure out a way.
"Uh, excuse me, Trainer Arlunson, could I speak to you for a moment?" Lia asked.
He turned, looked down, and nodded.
Lia smiled. "I thought you might be interested in how we exercised on Zhang. We danced."
"Danced?" Gruffly, he shook his head. "This exercise is intended to build your muscles and make you stronger."
"Oh, but it is really very hard, and it's good exercise. Dancing will make us stronger and we already know how to do it." He still looked doubtful, so she quickly offered to show him and he grunted his permission.
Lia moved to the center of the floor and signaled Minda and four other females she knew to join her. Quickly, she explained what she wanted them to do. They took their places on either side of her, forming a straight line and in unison began to move.
Trainer Arlunson watched and was stunned. He glanced at his assistant and said, "I’ve never seen anything like this. Their movements are perfectly in sync and they move so rapidly it’s hard to keep up with them. They don’t need training. They just need a place to practice." His assistant nodded as he watched the dancers move faster and faster until they came to an abrupt finish and laughed.
Lia and her friends panted with exertion while they waited for the trainer’s verdict. When he sent them a nod of approval, Lia formed the rest of the females into groups of six and they practiced the same dance. The dancing turned into a competition to see which group could move the fastest and still perform the steps in sync. Giggles filled the air when one of them missed a step and threw her partners out of line.
Trainer Arlunson and his assistant leaned against the wall and watched the different groups perform. The only time they interfered was when one of the females became fatigued and they had to order her to sit down and rest. Finally, he called for their attention and advised them to wear something looser the next cycle, as the gowns they were wearing were too tight to allow for easy movement. He also told them to bring an extra gown, so they could freshen up after the class. When they nodded their understanding he ordered them to form three lines and follow him. As he led them back to the training field the three neat lines rapidly disintegrated into a rag-tag bunch of giggling, chattering females. He just shook his head and ignored them.
The training warriors heard them before they saw them. One by one, they stopped fighting and watched the path for the females to appear. When the trainer appeared around the corner of the building, with his students following behind him, Valan dismissed his warriors. Eagerly each warrior reclaimed his bondmate and left. He and Cam waited for Lia and Minda but Angus Arlenson approached them first.
"How did the session go, Angus?" Valan asked.
"It went well. At first, I wasn't sure what to do with them. None of them could lift the weights or pun
ch a training form. I was at my wits end trying to figure out what to do when your bondmate suggested I let them dance."
"Dance?" Alarmed, Valan searched Angus' face. The only dancing he'd seen Lia do was not for the eyes of any other warrior.
Angus didn't notice his alarm. "It was the most amazing sight I've ever seen! You should have seen them Commander. Of course, their gowns were too ti…"
"They didn't take them off?" Cam asked, alarmed as well.
Angus laughed. "No. Of course not. I told them to wear something looser tomorrow."
Relieved, Valan sighed. "Excellent."
Angus Arlenson nodded then said, "It was very energetic. As hard as any training I've ever taught the cadets."
Lia and Minda joined them before he could ask Angus what he meant. Lia smiled at him, then hid a sleepy yawn behind her hand. "Can we go now, Valan?"
Grinning, he leaned down to her ear. "Are you tired, little cloud?" He received a punch in his belly from a tiny fist for his teasing. Grasping her waist, he gave her a gentle hug. "I'll see you after the sun's zenith."
Together the four walked home. They stopped at the gate to Valan’s home and he told Cam he and Lia would be at his home in sixty micro-units so they could go to the marketplace and purchase looser gowns for them. As soon as Cam and Minda walked away Valan lifted Lia into his arms and carried her towards the house. Her arms slid around his neck and she nuzzled his cheek. Sleepily, she told him she could walk.
"Don't go to sleep, Lia. I want you to eat something before you take a nap."
She shuddered in his arms. "If you try to force one more glass of that horrible milk down my throat, I'll throw up all over you!"
"It’s good for you."
"It’s disgusting and you know it. I have to hold my nose to drink it."
"Borg said it was good for you, and the babies."
"You know what I think? I think you are doing this to get back at me for the broc—."
"Don't say the word, Lia. I'm warning you." When he saw her rapidly blinking her eyes, he added, "If you start crying I'm going to beat your bottom."
"You, Valan Eirikson, are an unfeeling barbarian!"
Valan's Bondmate (Zarronian Warriors Book 1) Page 19