Behind Jidar, Namara broke into a grin, joy radiating from her
at the prospect of finally having a child of her own.
"Unmated individuals will not be eligible for this part of the
breeding program. Those who have not been mated from the
last cycle will be assigned to human mates from among the
list of volunteers assembled by Dr. Danson. He says there are
already five more eligible candidates from the research team
and dozens are on the way from the research colony on
Daedalus."
Now Zara's tears began to spill. In less than a year the
Icarian aeries would ring with the cries of newborn babies. In
ten years, scores of Icarian/human hybrid children would take
to the air on the wings of their own symbions and hundreds of
abandoned aeries would fill with families again.
And somewhere, perhaps, her child and Caleb's would
meet and become friends.
"The two of you are unmated adults and therefore eligible
for the original phase of the breeding program, only Namara
convinced me that neither of you will be truly happy with
Icarian mates."
Zara swiped at her tears and glanced at Caleb. Would Jidar
leave them unmated then?
"Therefore I see only one solution, and that is to assign
you to mate with each other."
After a moment of pregnant silence while the news sank
in, Namara clapped her hands. Clearly this was a battle she'd
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fought hard. Tears glistened on the Icarian female's cheeks as
well, and breaking protocol, she jumped up from her
submissive position and embraced her husband.
After twirling his mate around and setting her back down
on her feet, Jidar turned his solemn gaze to Zara and Caleb.
"Perhaps you did not hear me?"
Zara shrieked and jumped up also. "We heard, of course
we heard!" She flew into Jidar's arms and hugged him
fiercely, for the first time unselfconscious about his nakedness
or her own.
The Icarian leader embraced her for a moment, then set
her down in front of Caleb. "Here is the man you should be
hugging, Dr. Abbott."
Zara did as her liege instructed and threw her arms around
Caleb's neck. The Icarians did not have a marriage ceremony,
only the decree of the leader, so in effect, as of this moment,
Caleb was her husband. She hugged him, tears streaming
down her face while she laughed and sobbed at the same
time.
"Yes, my liege, I'll be happy to embrace him forever."
"I will expect in ten years to see your child on the edge of
the royal island prepared to accept a symbion of his or her
own," Jidar said, one pale brow raised.
Namara squeezed Zara's shoulder and brushed her wing
tips over Caleb's arms to show her joy and support of the
union. They owed her a debt of gratitude. Clearly her opinion
had influenced all of her mate's decisions today.
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"Of course, my liege," Caleb said as he grabbed Zara's
hand and squeezed it. "We will get to work on that right
away."
With a wave of his wing, Jidar dismissed them. They ran
laughing to the edge of the island and bounded off into the
blue-green sky, sailing toward the brilliant sun and off into a
glorious future together.
The End
[Back to Table of Contents]
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by Bernadette Gardner
About the Author:
An avid reader all her life and an aspiring writer since the
age of ten, Bernadette Gardner realized her dream of
becoming a published author in 2005. Inspired by the
romance she devoured as a teen and the science fiction
classics, she hoped to combine those elements into her
stories. Since beginning her career, she has branched out
from science fiction romance into paranormal, contemporary
and even historical genres and hopes to continue bringing
sexy adventurous tales to her readers for decades to come.
Bernadette currently lives in the NY-NJ Metropolitan area
with her husband of eighteen years, two creative children, a
slightly neurotic Dalmatian and two spirited black cats. When
not hard at work on a novel or short story, she spends her
time reading, quilting and haunting the local craft stores.
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