The Tigrens' Glory (Soul-Linked Saga) (Volume 9)

by Laura Jo Phillips

  “That makes sense to me, Dr. Honey,” Jackson said. Clark and Rob agreed, but Hope wasn’t so sure. “Saige and Lariah both had daughters and none of them have shown signs of being shifters, have they?”

  “No,” Honey replied. “But then, as Jackson pointed out, you have a stronger genetic connection to your ancestors than they do. Please remember that I’m theorizing here, Hope. I don’t really know the answers.”

  “Is this the first time you’ve seen this?” Hope asked.

  “Yes, it is,” Honey said. “I’ve been examining you regularly and this is the first time I’ve noticed this. None of the other Arimas currently pregnant with females are as far along as you are, but I’ll be keeping an eye on them for this phenomenon. In the meantime, please remember that all three of your daughters are healthy and strong.”

  “Thank you, Honey,” Hope said, though her forehead was still creased with a frown.

  “Don’t worry,” Jackson said, placing his hands gently on Hope’s shoulders. “We live in a time of change, and we are grateful for it. We’ve seen the first Arimas come to our people in many millennia, who gave birth to our first daughters. We’ve seen the return of Clan Owlfen after an absence of seven thousand years, and now our own daughters bring another change to aid in securing the future of our people. These are all good things, Niha.”

  Hope nodded. She agreed with everything Jackson had said, but these were her daughters they were talking about and she didn’t want them to be different. She tried to smile though she knew her Rami would sense her true feelings no matter how hard she tried to hide them.

  “Hope, I don’t want you to worry about this,” Honey said. “The stress isn’t good for you or your daughters. It will take time to get used to the idea, of course. That’s normal. But if it becomes a problem, I need to know about it.”

  “We’ll keep an eye on her,” Jackson promised.

  Honey nodded, knowing that Jackson meant what he said. When it came to their women, Jasani males took no chances.

  “Hope, I’d like your permission to inform the council, specifically Elder Vulpiran, of this phenomenon.”

  “Of course, Dr. Honey,” Hope said at once. “I don’t think this is something that should be kept secret. In fact, I think the more we learn about this the better.”

  “I agree. Knowledge is power,” Honey said. “But Hope, think of it this way. Your daughters will be born the same as the males are born, already able to shift into the clan they will one day become a part of. They won’t have to go through the risky, and painful conversion process that the rest of us had to go through. That’s a good thing.”

  “When you put it like that, it does help,” Hope said, relaxing a little.

  After the Bearens left, Honey remained in the exam room for a few minutes. She placed her trembling hands on her own flat stomach and closed her eyes. A few moments later she opened her eyes and sighed. It was far too soon to tell. Not that it mattered. Her daughters were what they were, the same as Hope’s daughters. There would be no changing it.

  The real question was, should she tell her men or not? They were working so hard right now, as were all Jasani, clan and citizen alike, and she didn’t want to add to their worries. She shook her head. Not yet, she decided. She stood up, grabbed her file viewer and went to see her next patient.

  Chapter Three

  Following the simple directions Lariah had given her earlier, Glory walked from her guest house to the Dracons’ home. It felt wonderful just to be outside walking after her long journey, so she took her time and, to her immense surprise, she enjoyed herself. By the time she knocked on the Dracons’ front door she was relaxed in both mind and body, a very rare occurrence for her.

  “Hello Glory,” Lariah greeted her with a wide smile as she led her into the dining room. “Did you get settled in?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Glory replied. “River House is quite beautiful.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” Lariah said, gesturing toward a chair which Glory took. “If there’s anything at all that you need, please let us know.”

  “We will have our meeting here?” Glory asked.

  “Yes, if you don’t mind,” Lariah said. “We can use the office, if you prefer.”

  “Not at all,” Glory said. “On Ramouri a meeting such as this, between royals of different families or worlds, would take place amongst much pomp and ceremony. This is much more to my liking.”

  “Good,” Lariah said. “We Jasani can be formal in some ways, but for the most part, we’re fairly relaxed.”

  “May I ask you a personal question?” Glory said, surprising herself. She was used to hiding the raging curiosity that had been the bane of her existence for as long as she could remember, but for some reason she felt completely comfortable with Lariah Dracon. She had a strong urge to apologize and withdraw the question. But she didn’t.

  “Sure,” Lariah said, taking a seat opposite Glory and reaching for the pitcher of juice and a glass from a tray in the center of the table. She offered both to Glory with a questioning look.

  “Yes, please,” Glory replied, then cleared her throat. “Earlier, at the airfield, you had detailed images on your arms and shoulders of the dragons you and the Princes shifted from, yet you no longer wear them. I am curious. Were they not tattoos?”

  Lariah passed the glass of juice to her guest, then poured a glass for herself. “The beasts are called dracons, like our name,” she said. “And the marks aren’t tattoos. Watch.” She held out her arms and, as Glory watched, the images reappeared.

  Glory smiled. “They are so life like. Can you change them? Display different animals?”

  “No,” Lariah said. “These are called lau-lotu, binding marks. They occur when a male-set is linked with their Arima. They’re my Rami’s dracons, Garen on my shoulders, Trey on my left arm, and Val on my right. They each carry an image of my dracon in corresponding places on their bodies. Since we’re shifters, we can make them appear and vanish as we like.”

  “I see,” Glory said. “Thank you for explaining, Lariah. They are quite beautiful.”

  “What’s beautiful?” Garen asked as he, Trey, and Val entered the dining room, each of them pausing to kiss Lariah before taking seats at the table.

  “I was explaining lau-lotu to Glory,” Lariah said. “How’re the children?”

  “All napping, finally,” Trey said with a smile. “The boys still refuse to sleep unless we put them all in the same crib though.”

  “Your mother said you three were the same way,” Lariah said, then arched a brow. “You still are, as a matter of fact.”

  Glory was surprised when the Dracons laughed at Lariah’s teasing. She’d never seen such open warmth and adoration between men and women, and found herself fascinated by it. Not because there were three men to one woman, which was shocking in itself even though she’d been prepared for it. It was the easy, relaxed manner they had with one another. There was true affection and caring between them, something she’d rarely seen among adults of the opposite sex, and never to this extent.

  The Dracons helped themselves to juice, and Garen turned to Glory, a friendly smile softening his otherwise stern face. “Would you like to begin, Glory?” he asked.

  She nodded, glad she’d given a lot of thought to what she wanted to say. “I would first apologize to all of you for using my status as Third Princess of Ramouri to gain an audience with you. My reason for being here is my own, and has nothing to do with my world, my people, or my family. My only excuse is that I’m growing more desperate by the day. When I heard about Jasan, I felt very strongly that I would find answers here.

  “Your apology is unnecessary, but is accepted, of course,” Garen said as he studied the solemn young woman sitting across the table from him. Her metallic bronze eyes were startling, her warm brown skin with its subtle golden sheen exotically beautiful, her every movement lithe and graceful, while at the same time hinting at severe restraint. For all her beauty, Glory was a woman
who did not invite attention. There was an air of quiet dignity about her that, even while apologizing, remained unruffled, though he had no doubt her words were sincere. “After what Nica said earlier today, we are anxious to hear whatever you would tell us.”

  Glory nodded and reached for her drink with gloved hands, using the moment to gather her courage and remind herself of Nica’s words. “For most of my life I’ve dreamt of three creatures that resemble bengali, animals who roam the jungles of Ramouri. Except that those I dreamt of were extremely large, and not truly animals. Beneath their fur and claws I knew that they were men, though they never appeared to me in their human forms.”

  “Excuse me, Glory,” Lariah interrupted. “What is a bengali, please?” Her tone was gentle, but her heart had begun to race with excitement. Though Standard was the most commonly used language in the Thousand Worlds, she’d been a historical librarian on Earth, and was fluent in Old Modern English. The word bengali was not unfamiliar to her.

  “The bengali is a striped, feline creature native to some Ramourian jungles,” Glory explained. “They are quite fearsome. In the old tongue of Ramouri they are called tigren.” The Dracons’ shock was palpable. “This is a name that has meaning for you?”

  “The Tigren, whose alter-forms are tigrenca, are one of our Lost Clans,” Garen said. “They were forgotten by our people until quite recently. Are there tigrenca, or men who shift, living on Ramouri?”

  Glory felt hope radiating from the Jasani Princes, and hesitated. There was one whom she’d long wondered about, but that was suspicion. Not knowledge. She bowed her head in solemn regret. “I’m sorry, Highness, but if there are, I’ve found no sign of them, and I have searched.”

  “Please continue, Glory,” Garen said, not even trying to hide his disappointment.

  “Other than what I’ve already told you, I remembered very little of the dreams upon waking. Not even their names.” Glory paused, her palms sweating beneath the thin leather of her gloves. She wrapped her hands around the glass of juice to cool them.

  “About a year ago, a distant relative, and his family, took a vacation tour of the Thousand Worlds. Their ship was attacked by the Xanti, and his eldest daughter, Thara, was taken, along with three other young women. A few months ago a Jasani ship rescued a number of women held prisoner on a small moon, and soon after that, Thara returned to Ramouri.

  “She spoke of three men and a woman, the Katres, who shifted from human form to large cat-like creatures that fought with bravery and intelligence. Although Thara’s description of the Katres did not match the giant bengali that I searched for, they were still the first shifters I’d ever heard of, with the exception of a race of small, semi-intelligent creatures known as raktsasa.”

  “That’s why you came here?” Garen asked. “To see if we’re truly shifters, and what we shift into?”

  “In part, yes,” Glory replied. “We have vid-terminals on Ramouri, but it isn’t possible for a female to access off world information, not even if she is both princess and warrior. For that reason, I was unable to learn more than the name of your world, which I already knew from Thara’s story, and its general location. It was still more information than I’d ever found before, so I immediately began making plans to visit Jasan. Just after I began my journey, something changed.”

  “Changed?” Lariah asked.

  “In all of the years I’ve dreamt of them, the bengali…tigrenca, came to me only when I slept,” she said. “They now come to me when I am at rest and my mind is unoccupied with other matters, yet still awake. Not dreaming. It’s as if I’m touching their minds in the now. I’m able to ask questions, and since I’m actually awake, I remember the answers afterward, though they often don’t. In my dreams they’ve always been strong and protective, but now they seem weak and confused. Kyerion, the eldest, is strongest, and the one I speak to most often. Kirkeon is next, then Cadeon, who is youngest and weakest.

  “I’ve dreamt of these tigrenca men for years, but I never knew their names until a few days ago when I connected with Kyerion during my journey here. In these waking dreams they don’t always know me, nor do they always remember themselves. The one thing Kyerion has repeated several times is that their time is running out, and I know that he’s right. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know why, or even what that means any more than I do.”

  “Tell us where they are and we will go at once and free them,” Garen said, his golden eyes blazing, his body tensed as though ready to leap up that very moment.

  “I don’t know where they are,” Glory replied, the tightening of her shoulders the only outward sign of her frustration. “I’ve asked them many times, and in many different ways, but either they don’t know, or they don’t remember. Which reminds me of something Nica said this morning. She referred to a people called Klanaren. Do you know who they are?”

  “Clan Jasani are Klanaren,” Garen said almost absently.

  “I’ve never heard that word before,” Lariah said in surprise.

  “It means the clans, or the people, in the old tongue,” Garen said. “We now call ourselves Jasani, or Clan Jasani, because most people in the Thousand Worlds name themselves for their planet.”

  Glory nodded, then looked straight into Garen’s eyes, allowing her mask to drop for just a moment so they could see the true depth of her desperation. “I admit that a part of me has always feared that I might be delusional, but thanks to little Nica, even that last doubt has been put to rest. No matter what it takes, I have to find them. I’ve given them my word that I’ll never stop searching for them. I came here in hopes that you would be able to help me, or at least point me in the right direction. If there is anything, no matter how small, that you can tell me that might help, I would be eternally grateful if you would share it with me.”

  There was a long silence as the Dracons tried to think of some hint or clue in the old legends that might help Glory’s search, which was now their search as well. This was the first sign they’d ever had that Tigren might still exist, and they wouldn’t allow it to pass them by.

  Lariah toyed with her glass as she thought about all that Glory had told them. She’d known Glory was important, but she hadn’t realized how important. Finding the Tigren and restoring the Jasani to nine clans was necessary in order to secure the future of their race. It took precedence over all things, including stopping the Xanti. Her eyes widened in sudden understanding.

  “Nica insisted that we take Glory with us,” she said. Garen froze as he considered the implications of that statement.

  “The Xanti,” he said, spitting the word out like a curse. Lariah nodded.

  “The Xanti?” Glory asked. “Are you saying that the Xanti have them?”

  “It would seem so, yes,” Garen replied.

  Glory’s hands tightened on her glass. “Because I’m a warrior, I was given knowledge of the Xanti, though in general women are not told such things. As far as I’m aware, the location of their home world is a secret.”

  “It’s a secret no longer,” Garen said. “What we would now reveal to you must not be shared with others at this time. Will you give your word to keep our secrets?”

  “I’ve given the Tigren my word that I’d search until I found them,” Glory said. “There is little I’ll not do to keep that promise. Therefore, I hereby swear upon my life to keep your secret until my death, or until you release me from this oath.”

  “That’s more than sufficient,” Garen said. “Over the past several months we’ve gained access to a large amount of information on the Xanti. Information that the Xanti don’t know we have. In a few days we will launch a surprise attack on the Xanti home world, Xantara. One of our people has discovered a number of new jump points that will allow us to reach their galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud or, LMC, in about a week. Once there, we intend to remove or destroy all technology on Xantara, thereby stranding the Xanti on their own planet.”

  “You don’t intend to destroy them?” Glory asked.

&nb
sp; “Not if we can avoid it,” Garen replied. “This must be the journey Nica spoke of. Not only are you welcome to come with us, I believe you are meant to do so.”

  “I will join you, of course,” she said. “If there is fighting, I am not unskilled.”

  “We hope to accomplish our goals without much hand to hand fighting, but your skills will be appreciated if it comes to that,” Garen said. “If we’re able to find and rescue prisoners at the same time, so much the better. If, by some miracle, we’re able to restore Clan Tigren to our people, we will be forever in your debt.”

  Glory wondered if these Jasani really believed they could convince the Xanti to give up their ships and weapons so easily, then let the question go. It didn’t matter. Nica was very young, but Glory believed what the little girl had told her. She needed to go to Xantara with the Jasani. If she had to fight the Xanti, so be it. She would do whatever was necessary to find the men of her dreams.

  Chapter Four

  Narliq-Li read the partial transmission from the Leg Leader she’d assigned to Onddo and squealed with fury. She’d been tricked. In spite of all her precautions, her constant vigilance, and her careful preparations, she’d still been maneuvered into a deadly position by her youngest sister, Xaqana-Ti. And, now that she thought about it, she realized that the Queen Mother had to be a part of the plot against her as well. She’d accepted the Onddo territory only after the Queen Mother had verified it to be a legitimate offer, free of trickery and deception. Her fury gave way to fear, then despair. She couldn’t hope to win the great game against both Xaqana-Ti and the Queen Mother. Her death was imminent. Of that there could be no doubt.