by Alyssa Ezra
“Rayer, my son,” the King spread his arms as he descended the steps slowly. “I believe you are even more commanding than when you departed. Your Prime has afforded you quite a presence. I trust that you have returned with a mate, yes?”
“Of course.” Rayer turned his body and extended a hand in Cole’s direction. Farth gave her a sneaky push, forcing her to step out from behind Rao, toward the prince for her official introduction.
*
Blast! I should have asked Rao about her full name…It has to be better than calling her ‘Cole’ to my father.
Cole’s hand slipped into his own and he pulled her forward to stand at his side. Rayer noticed the subtle widening of his father’s eyes, and had to fight the urge to cuff the older man when his father’s gaze slid down, assessing Cole’s bountiful figure. If he had to guess, Rayer suspected that his father had expected him to return with a hag, not an attractive woman.
“The small world called Earth appears to be home to a uniquely exotic treasure,” the High King Balkar practically cooed to his son’s new mate. “And what do we call you? I can’t go about referring to you only as ‘my son’s mate’ – he will take exception with me.”
Cole rewarded his father with a soft laugh, instantly charming the old man. Rayer forced his face to remain expressionless – if Montala and Graith hadn’t been in attendance, Rayer could honestly claim that he would have allowed his disgust to show. However, they were not to be trusted.
After the mating rites, I will have to tell Cole to be very careful with them. Montala will try to manipulate and squash her. Rayer refocused on the matter of introductions, but as he prepared to handle the matter, Cole’s smoky voice stopped him.
“Coletta Moore Harper is my name, but I prefer to be called Cole.”
Coletta. Coletta – it suits her. A strong sounding, yet feminine name.
“It is a pleasure to see that my reserved son has selected a woman who might have a hope of complementing his silence. I am sure that you would like to rest – but preparations have been underway, and everything is ready for the Rites Exchange Ceremony. It would be best to get that done today.”
“Father…” Rayer began but stopped when Balkar’s luminescent, lavender gaze whipped up to meet his own.
“The whole city has been on edge waiting. The rites will be held this afternoon. According to the guard posts, the citizens are already making their way to the shield. It is expected and it would be inconsiderate to put off the ceremony another day.”
“Yes father,” Rayer gave in.
*
Cole could tell that her alien was giving into his father, but she ignored the byplay. She had assumed that things would happen quickly once they had arrived. Instead, she covertly kept her focus on the other two members of the Royal family. Where they stood, behind everyone else, apparently they felt safe enough to allow their true feelings to play across their faces. From what Cole could see, they hated Rayer. As in, they quite probably wished him dead, hated him.
As she stared at her reflection in the mirrored glass, a couple of old women dressed her in robes the color of old minted gold. Each layer was adorned with subtle embroidery. They had tried to convince Cole to wear a much more flamboyant set, but had backed off when it became apparent that she was not willing to dress herself in a manner that made her think of the twentieth-century circus clowns.
The pleated lapels of what appeared to be the top layer – I refuse to wear this much on a day-to-day basis! – sat, flared, over her breasts. Then the women turned their fussing to her hair. They seemed at a loss of what to do with the untamable mass of curls. After they got two combs stuck in her hair, Cole brushed their hands away and went about first detangling the combs. After she had successfully extracted the implements papilla torture, she gathered her hair together, and wove the spearing, decorative picks into the mass.
The women seemed to realize that the hair of a mixed race Earthling was not always manageable. As far as Cole had seen, the most riotous hair native to the planet had found its home on Prince Rayer’s head. Compared to Cole’s, the man’s dark tumbling mane was as tame as a robo-pet.
Finally, the women, who hadn’t cared to or didn’t feel it was their place to have a conversation with her, quit their adjusting, straightening, tugging and prodding. They stepped away, and Cole glanced back at the mirror. She stared silently, thinking how far she had come from a stained blouse and the cheapest non-slips on the market.
Cole figured that since her feet were bare, they would remain so, but when a soft chime sounded one woman bustled to grab a last item from the large trunk that had held all of the robes. In her hand were a delicate pair of slippers, Cole could see that there wasn’t a single hope that they would fir her feet. Each of her dressers took a slipper and crouched in front of her. They lifted the layers of golden silk out of the way but when the first tried to force the slipper she held onto Cole’s right foot they were forced to face reality.
“Oh…” one of the women began.
“I could have told you that there was no way that they would fit.”
“We have nothing else available,” the other lamented.
“Wait,” interrupted the first, “The High Queen’s wedding slippers?”
“I am not going in there; we have all heard her ranting and raving these last many days.”
“Not the Second Queen’s! The High Queen Arati’s. I know that they are larger than standard – The High Prince takes after his mother.” For a moment, the two women crouched at Cole’s feet and silently seemed to debate. Finally, the one given to panicking responded.
“But, where are the slippers?” Her whisper barely made it past the swaths of silk to Cole’s ears.
“I think the High Prince has them in the tower.”
“There isn’t time!”
“There is if you get one of the boys to run!” Both women stood and the more rational woman took Cole by the arm and led her to a stool by the door. The other woman bustled out the door and called to a young man, probably no more than a teenager and sent him off to find her alternative footwear.
*
Rayer lounged on a pile of floor cushions – his ceremonial garb was carefully laid out, but as he stayed as far as possible from the accenting frills, it would take him mere moments to get ready once the second chimes sounded. As he lounged, breathing slowly, finding his inner calm so that he could tolerate the upcoming fanfare, Rayer heard the door into the lounging level open. A young worker, the runner that had been assigned to the two older maids assisting Coletta in getting dressed for the mating rites, almost fell head over feet as he slid to a stop once he noticed Rayer in the room.
“H-high Prince.” Rayer watched the panicked youth desperately search for what he should say; always more pitying than his father’s second mate and her son, Rayer decided to help the boy out.
“Is there an emergency?”
“The slippers don’t fit!” In no way is that the response I was expecting.
“And that brings you here because…”
“I was sent to see if the wedding slippers of the High Queen could be borrowed.”
“That is entirely up to her – I am not the person to ask about that. I thought it was common knowledge that I avoid my father’s present mate as often as possible.”
“N-no sir. They sent me to ask about High Queen Arati’s wedding slippers.”
Rayer stared at the young man in silence for a minute. His mind had all but seized – no one ever asked about his mother’s affects. His father had stowed them all away, and no one had touched them until the day Rayer had found Montala digging through them. He had protested loudly and at length to his father. The High King had finally given in to his son once he had realized that Rayer was a stubborn as himself. Rayer had then sequestered his mother’s belongings in the tower and had claimed the space as his own.
Rayer finally stood. The request was not coming from Montala. No, it was coming from the women who had he
lped his mother get ready on the day she and his father had shared the ceremonial rites. Not only them, the request was coming on behalf of the woman who would bear his heir, and secure Rayer’s claim on the High Throne to rule over the Sii.
Rayer wandered over to a case of shelves along one of the walls of the room and from the bottom shelf he pulled a box. He handed the box to the runner, continuing to hold it until the boy was sure of his grip. Finally he released the precious box into the youth’s care.
“You may tell Lady Coletta that she may use whatever she wishes from this box. After she has made her selections, return the chest to me and I will gather whatever she uses myself.”
“Yes, I will relay your message exactly, High Prince Rayer.”
As quickly as he had hurried into the room, the runner bolted from Rayer’s domain to deliver the precious remains of Arati’s wedding costume to her son’s soon-to-be mate.
*
The mating ceremony was surprisingly simple. It was very similar to the marriage proceedings on earth with an exchange of promises. But in addition to the vows of commitment and oaths of mutual respect, a whole passage about Cole’s commitment to providing Rayer with a naturally born heir of his blood was included in the proceedings. Judging by her mate’s narrowed eyed expression, that verse was a new addition to the chronicles of the mating rites.
After the culmination of the ceremony that unlike Earth was not finalized with a kiss but with a binding of their wrists – his right to her left with the fingers of their respective hands interlaced. Newly mated, at least by law, they were ushered up several flights of stairs onto the top of what Cole had thought was a wall, but turned out to me a massive raised courtyard. At the far edge, a jutting cliff out from the mountain face, they were made to step up on the edge. Only once she was sure of her balance, Cole looked out and found that what was likely the entire population of the main city had gathered on the lawn-like grounds of the compound below.
Once the ecstatic cheers of the people filled the air and reverberated off the stone of the mountain and the High Royal Compound carved into it Cole realized two things. First, the people of Siiger loved the man who stood beside her as her mate. Second, when she glanced around her, Cole found that there were only two people around that did not cheer. Montala and Graith.
Chapter 6
Cole couldn’t decide how she felt about alien libations. She did know one thing, they were sneaky. The two women who had helped her get dressed in the afternoon had finally come to collect her. Cole had learned that the calm one was called Glanna and the more dramatic of them was Shali. Shali tugged and Glanna pushed Cole up flight after flight of stairs. They bitched the whole way up, in between the wheezing. It appeared that they did everything they could to avoid the never ending stairs, and once they finally reached a door at the top of the stairs, they made sure that Cole was safely situated where her drunken ass would not go tumbling to her death and bent over at the waist to wheeze and call down a number of curses on Rayer’s head.
From what Cole could gather, most of the people who lived or worked in the palace couldn’t understand why the High Prince would choose to claim the tower as his domain. Cole could understand though. The place would have the best view, it would be quiet, as no one wanted to face the stairs; and it more practically, Cole couldn’t imagine anyone being able to sneak up on Rayer.
A throat cleared a couple of steps below the landing. Cole glanced over, as did Shali and Glanna as they straightened. Rayer!
“High Prince! You are not supposed to be here yet!” Glanna sputtered.
“I will take things from here.” Rayer retorted. His tone, while calm and even, booked no room for debate. “Thank you Glanna, Shali. Please be careful as you go down the stairs.” The two women glanced at each other and then at Cole. When she merely cocked a brow at the women, they both heaved sighs and proceeded to slip past Rayer and descend the stairs.
After their footsteps faded, Rayer ascended the last few steps to the landing and considered Cole with a long, silent stare. She had realized during the course of the evening that Rayer was simply more reserved, as opposed to cold or menacing. Though, as he stared at her, Cole did wonder what he was thinking.
*
I wonder if I can convince her to only ever wear gold…
When Coletta had entered the ceremonial hall, he had been waiting under the pains of multicolored crystal that cast a rainbow of colors over the floor. His father, the High King, was the officiator, and the old man’s gasp had been Rayer’s cue that the human female had arrived. He had turned, as was custom to receive her. At the vision of his mate in the doorway, Rayer had stared in awe. The gold silk had completed his impression that she was as stunning as a breathing work of art. The small crowd in attendance had turned and shared in his father’s gasp. Glanna and Shali had pushed her forward into the room.
Coletta had chosen to add not only his mother’s slippers to her wedding costume, but she had donned the glittering spangles, the elders of the Kaltar had bestowed on his mother in celebration of her mating with the High King. The orange-copper toned solar stones had cast an explosion of light around the ceremonial chamber from where they hung in small clusters from the lobes of Coletta’s small ears and in heavy gold-set constellations at her throat and across her upper chest.
The mating rites had been exchanged, including his father’s unwelcome addition of a commitment to bearing an heir to secure Rayer’s claim on the throne. The fanfare of the celebration that commenced after had been mind-numbing. Music and dancing displays, a feast that had spread across the entire lower lawn in addition to the upper courtyard, as well as the free flowing Gialti Nectre – a libation it appeared his mate had indulged in.
Now, with the maid’s dismissed and his mate at the door of his domain, Rayer was content to take a moment to bask in the beauty of the female in front of him, and the peace and quiet of the tower. Coletta simply stared back at him, she was no longer hesitant or retiring, not that there had been much of an opportunity for her to show her hesitations to him. Rayer was sure that she held some doubts, but the Earthling had shuttered them away for the time being.
“What now?” She asked, apparently finished with the lingering silence.
“I would say that we should go in,” Rayer suggested. He was met with an amused snort.
“That is obvious, but I meant after.”
“Well…that depends I suppose.”
“On?”
“Do I need to explain what we are going to do?”
“Ahh, are you referring to sex?”
Rayer cleared his throat awkwardly. “Yes, I am referring to sexual intercourse. Obviously, there will be a goal of getting you pregnant, but I would like you to know that I aim to bring you pleasure.”
*
Cole smiled, she was definitely buzzing on whatever drink they had been refilling her cup with. However, she did manage to hold back some of her mirth. Rayer was just being so sweet. Sooo sweet! He was concerned about having sex with her.
“You don’t need to worry,” Cole commented as she reached out to pat his arm reassuringly, before she decided to slide it up to his shoulder than over his silk-clad chest. “This isn’t my first time. On Earth, sex is known to be one of the joys of life.” Cole waved at the door, “Why don’t you open that and we go in. If you want to talk, we can talk. I’ll definitely want to talk tomorrow, since I don’t normally move so fast; however, I have had enough liquid courage that I am up for accelerating my normal timeline. Also, I suppose circumstances are different in this case than I would normally be dealing with.”
Rayer seemed hesitant as he reached for the latched handle to let them into his domain. After a moment, he shrugged and opened the door before reaching out and tugging Cole out of the path of the door’s swing. She giggled causing Rayer to scowl down at her.
“I will have to watch you with the Gialti Nectre, I see.”
“Is that what that pink drink was?”
&nbs
p; “Yes.”
“Oh, but it was so smooth.” Cole complained, causing her new mate to exhale a blusterous sigh. Rayer ushered her through the door, quickly stepped in behind her, and flipped the latch on the inside of the door.
*
Rayer glanced around, gold silk flashed at the corner of his eye. Rayer turned his head and found Coletta at the window, gazing out into the Siigerian night.
“You can see forever from here,” she sighed dreamily.
“The tower is above the mist cast by the falls over the forest city.”
“Is that the city that we drove through from where we landed?”
“Yes, we skimmed the outer edge of the city.” Rayer shrugged out of his over robe sighing when the heavy, embroidered fabric fell from his shoulders. He caught the expensive garment before it hit the ground and laid it over a narrow bench.
“I would love to go back and look at it up close – it looked so pretty there.” Cole turned a sweet smile back on him, her green-gold eyes imploring.
“It is quite beautiful, I would be happy to show you around it.” Maybe we can do that tomorrow…today actually…no – we’ll do it tomorrow since it is already so late and there is more to come before either of us sleep. “You said that you would like to talk.”
“No, I said that we could. Honestly, I would rather take advantage of this time, before I am sober again, to skip awkward lead ups.”
“Why would they be awkward?” Rayer asked, bringing a surprisingly wry laugh from his mate’s lips.
“Come on, I am not exactly a prime catch, I am simply the only woman that presented herself that is genetically compatible with you. I have no illusions Rayer. I am well aware that I am not the most beautiful…”
“What are you talking about?” Rayer interrupted as he crossed the room to stand in front of Coletta. “I think you are beautiful. I was thinking just a short time ago of seeing to it that you never wear any color but gold. Sii women don’t look anything like you. Most are very straight, and while there are plenty that find a slim frame to be ideal, I find the way you are shaped to be quite pleasantly feminine. But more than anything, it is your face that is so very striking to me. You are quite exotic…your eyes, your lips…” Rayer’s trailed off as he reached up to stroke his thumb over her petal soft lips again.