The Dracons' Woman: Book 1 of the Soul-Linked Saga

by Laura Jo Phillips

  It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her why she had been hiding her glorious hair beneath a wig, but he didn’t. She had already displayed an unwillingness to discuss that topic, and they had all agreed not to push her. They wanted her trust, but they would have to earn it. They could not force it from her.

  “Lariah, what do you know of Jasan?” Trey asked, changing the subject.

  Lariah fiddled with her glass, taking a moment to think before answering. She thought there was something a little too casual about his question.

  “I know you have an agrarian-livestock economy,” she replied carefully. “I know you have no heavy industry and that you limit certain technologies. I know there are no big cities and that, as a people, you don’t talk much about yourselves.” Lariah stopped there, not really sure what they were fishing for.

  “What do you know of our culture?” Val asked. “Our customs concerning relationships between men and women in particular.

  Lariah blushed, and set her glass down on the table. “I know that there are few women here,” she said, hedging a little.

  “You arrived on a shuttle with many contract brides,” Garen pointed out. “Is that why you came here?”

  “No,” she replied honestly. “I came here because I know there is a sanctuary on this planet for women. A place where they are protected.” She hesitated a moment, as though she wanted to say more, then bit her lip and remained silent.

  “Why do you need a sanctuary Lariah?” Val asked.

  Lariah’s face paled. She shrugged one shoulder, a half-hearted attempt to indicate it was not important. But she kept her eyes on the table in front of her and did not answer the question.

  Garen decided that was not a good line of questioning at this time, and shook his head at Val. Lariah appeared to be worrying about something else entirely. Garen considered her for a minute.

  “Lariah,” he began, “there is something bothering you. We ask that you tell us what it is. Perhaps we can help.”

  Lariah hesitated, picked up her glass, then put it down again without drinking from it. Finally, as though coming to some inner decision, she took a breath and looked up at Garen. “A couple of things,” she admitted. “When you asked if I came here for the reason the brides came here, the answer I gave you was true, but at the same time, not. I came here for sanctuary. But I also have always…” she hesitated, blushed even redder than before, and groaned with frustration. “I have always been…intrigued by your culture,” she said finally, hoping they could read between the lines because honestly, she simply could not say it more clearly or she would die of embarrassment.

  “The idea of yourself with three men excites you,” Val said.

  Lariah sighed with relief, wondering why she couldn’t have said it that simply herself. “Yes,” she admitted. “It’s not why I came here, but I feel it would be less than honest not to tell you I have thought about it.”

  “We are very glad it excites you Lariah,” Garen said. “For us it is normal, the natural way of things for our people. We realize of course that three men and one woman together in a relationship is not considered usual for humans. In truth, many women who come here as brides are unable to accept that necessary fact of our species, and end up leaving as a result.”

  Lariah frowned. “I don’t understand that,” she said. “I have seen the contract bride information from many planets, including Jasan. What I read made it perfectly clear that a woman who contracts as a bride on Jasan will be entering a marriage with three brothers.”

  “We try very hard to be clear on that issue particularly,” Garen said. “Many human women believe it is a life-style choice, and that, once they are here, they will be able to convince one of the males to change his ways and marry her without his brothers. But it is not a life-style choice for us. It is a part of the biology of our species.” Garen sighed. “It is difficult for a male-set to believe they will have a mate, and then to lose her because she cannot accept them for who and what they are.”

  "I am sorry,” Lariah said softly, sympathy in her eyes.

  Garen was touched by her compassion for his people, but he did not want her to feel sad.

  “It is better that they learn such things before the mating ritual,” he said. “Though it is difficult, it is best for all involved.”

  “I suppose,” she replied. Her expression changed from sad to curious. “What is a male-set?” she asked.

  Garen smiled, enjoying her curiosity, and pleased that she seemed so accepting of their ways. So far, he reminded himself silently. There was still much for her to learn, and it was more than likely that she would balk at some of it.

  He realized that Lariah was still waiting for an answer to her question. “I apologize,” he said. “My mind wandered a bit. We call male triplets a male-set,” he explained.

  “Oh,” she said easily as she reached once more for her drink.

  “There was something else you wanted to tell us,” Garen reminded her.

  Lariah sipped slowly from her glass before setting it back on the table. “Yes,” she agreed. “There is something else.” She took a moment to study each of the brothers one at a time, a long searching look. She shook her head a little when she was finished.

  “I don’t understand why I feel like I know you,” she said finally. “It’s just so odd. I know that Garen is the leader, the serious one, always thinking carefully before acting. Trey is the impulsive one, quickest to anger, but also quickest to laugh. Val is the quiet one, the most introspective and easy going. How can I know these things? I barely know any of you.”

  Garen raised an eyebrow. “I thought I was the most easy going,” he quipped. Trey barked a laugh as Val shook his head. “And I thought I was the funny one,” he added.

  Lariah rolled her eyes dramatically. “Did I say any of you were funny?” she asked archly. “I don’t think so.”

  They laughed at her and for a moment she basked in the warm feeling of belonging that enveloped her. And that, in itself, was confusing. “I seem to always know which of you is which, without having to even see you. I know if it is Val who just left a room, or Trey who touches my shoulder from behind. I can sense you somehow. How is that possible? I just don’t understand it.”

  Garen got up from the table and walked around to stand beside her. He held out his hand. “Come Lariah,” he said, “let’s go into the other room and get comfortable. Then we will explain as best we can.”

  Lariah put her hand in his and looked up at him, her eyes hopeful. “You mean that there is a reason for this?”

  “Yes,” replied, “there is a reason.”

  Standing, Lariah let Garen guide her out of the dining room and into the living room, over to a large sofa with big fluffy cushions where he sat down, pulling her gently down beside him. When he had her settled into his side, Trey sat at the other end of the sofa and pulled her bare feet up into his lap. He began to stroke her ankles with light, soothing motions as Val settled himself on the floor facing her, his hand resting lightly against her hip.

  She couldn’t help but think that she should feel surrounded, closed in, overwhelmed by the three large men always touching her, holding her, placing their bodies close to her. But she didn’t. She felt safe, protected, cared for. But again, that didn’t make sense. She’d only known them for a day, which had to mean that she didn’t really know them at all.

  Chapter 5

  “Lariah, tell us, what do you know about Jasan aside from what we discussed at dinner?” Garen asked.

  “Not a lot,” she replied easily, no longer feeling suspicious of the question. “I’ve been interested in Jasan since I first saw images of it as a child. I’m a historical librarian, so I have access to just about everything ever printed on Earth, its colonies, and a couple of other planets as well. Even so, I was never able to learn very much about this world. There just isn’t much information out there.”

  Garen nodded, not surprised at her lack of knowledge. The Jasani kept tig
ht control over information concerning their planet, people, history and culture, and they had good reason for it. But she needed to know more.

  “How do you feel about history?” he asked. Lariah smiled. “As I said, I’m a historical librarian. As was my mother before me,” she replied. “I grew up with history. I think it’s in my blood.”

  “Good, because you are about to get a history lesson,” Garen said. “Please understand that our true history is something we guard carefully. We do not share this with other peoples, other worlds. It is ours alone.”

  Lariah nodded solemnly. “I understand,” she said. “Whatever you tell me goes no further. I promise.”

  “Thank you,” Garen replied. He paused a moment, trying to decide where to begin. Since she liked history, perhaps the beginning would be best.

  “We call ourselves the Jasani,” he began, “but that has not always been our name. Once, our civilization was based on what you call magic, not technology. The ability to control earth, fire, air, and water was only the beginning of what our people could do. What technology enables the peoples of the galaxy to do now, we did with magic more than four thousand years ago. We could quickly travel to, and communicate, with any point on our own world, cure diseases and injury, control the weather and the seas, and shape the very land we lived on. Our magic even allowed us to venture into space and, faster than our warp ships today, cross the vast gulfs between the stars.”

  “Do you have magic?” Lariah interrupted. She immediately blushed with embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” she said, “that was rude of me.”

  “There is no need to be sorry,” Garen assured her. “That you show interest in us, and our people, pleases us. To answer your question, yes, we do have magic.”

  “May I ask what you can do with it?” she asked, hesitant even though Garen had said he didn’t mind her questions, but too curious to bite her tongue.

  “Each clan is different. We are strongest in air and fire,” Garen answered her easily. “We can make air solid, to put it simply. We are able to use it as a shield, to blur our appearance, or someone else’s. We can use it to move objects from a distance, or prevent them from moving. We can also make air…thinner. I suppose that is the best way to put it. If we wish to move very fast, we can make the air push us along from behind, while thinning it out in front so there is less resistance slowing us down.”

  “That sounds like fun,” Lariah said with a grin.

  Garen grinned back. “Sometimes it is,” he agreed. “We are also able to control fire. We can ignite objects with our will, even things that ordinarily would not burn, such as the very air. We can also direct which way fire grows and moves and can extinguish any flame instantly. We can make objects hot, or withdraw the heat from them and make them cold.

  "We do not have strength in earth, and only a small amount of strength in water. Water is the magic that is used for healing by those who are so gifted. We are not gifted with the ability to heal, but we can use it to help relax another, send them to sleep or wake them up. At times we can gauge the extent of one’s injuries or the seriousness of an illness.”

  Lariah smiled up at him. “That is so amazing!” she exclaimed. “You will have to show me later, but for now, please continue your story and I will try not to interrupt again.” She paused. “Too much,” she amended.

  Garen laughed, as did Trey and Val. “Interrupt if you wish, sharali,” Garen said again, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. He had to think a moment before he remembered where he’d left off.

  “The higher land animals on our world were all mammals,” he resumed. “They all had fur and gave birth to live young. Even the dominant animals which lived in our oceans and flew through our skies were mammalian. The name of our planet was Ugaztun, which in the ancient tongue means mammal.

  “When we first ventured into space, we discovered a sister planet, a virtual twin to our own. It orbited the same sun as our world, had moons almost identical in number and size, but it was different. Every complex creature on our sister planet was reptilian. The name of that planet was Narrastia, which, in the language of its people, meant reptile.

  “We believe that life evolved on both planets in much the same way. Our evolution seemed to have occurred on much the same time-line, and some of the creatures on one planet were closely matched on the other. The most significant difference between us was that they were reptilian, and we were mammalian.

  “Whether it was the differences between us or the similarities that fostered our instant hatred for each other is a debate that has no end. It really does not matter. What matters is that from the instant of first contact we hated them, and they hated us. So began a war between our two worlds that lasted for many centuries because their magic was equal to our own. In the end, both worlds and both civilizations were destroyed.”

  Lariah gasped. “Destroyed?” she asked. “Do you mean completely gone?”

  “Yes little love,” Trey answered her, his voice sad. “Nothing is left of either. Where they once existed there is now only two massive asteroid belts.”

  Lariah could only shake her head sadly. What could she say to someone who’s entire native planet had been destroyed?

  “Do not be sad for us, my heart,” Val said softly. “What we tell you now happened over three thousand years ago.”

  That made Lariah feel a little better, but the story still made her feel sad.

  “Shall I continue or do you wish to stop now?” Garen asked her, remembering Riata’s warnings about Lariah’s need for peace and rest.

  “Please continue,” Lariah said without hesitation. “I really do want to hear this.”

  “Very well,” Garen said, unable to help feeling relieved at her response. Having begun this, he preferred to finish it if possible.

  “When it became known that our world was about to be destroyed just as Narrastia had been, there was time…very little time…to send out hastily created pods. They carried few survivors, less than 20,000 out of nearly a billion, away from their home world. We had done very little exploring of other star systems during the centuries of war with the Narrasti, so there was no specific destination in mind. It was more like a tossing of seeds in the wind. The goal was simply to put as many people in as many pods as possible and get them off the planet before it was destroyed. Hopefully, a few of them would find a hospitable planet to land on and, if luck held, our species would not perish from the universe forever.

  “Unfortunately, during the time that we were at war with Narrastia, our culture underwent a change. Where once our women and children lived with their mates in family units, it was deemed safer to place all of the women and children in specially designated areas which could be more easily guarded against attack. This was not that hard to do as our species always had many more times men than women.

  “When the pods were created and filled, it was done quickly and systematically, by area. Ten pods in area 1, filled with people from area 1, ten in area 2, filled with people from area 2 and so on. Nobody stopped to think it would be wiser to mix both men and women in each pod. There was simply no time. The pods were filled with the people closest to them when they were created. The result was that the majority of pods had either men, or women and very young children.

  “Five pods landed here, on this planet. Once it was discovered that there were no intelligent life forms already inhabiting it, the survivors who landed here named it Jasan.”

  “What does Jasan mean?” Lariah asked softly.

  “Endure,” Garen replied. “Jasani means roughly, those who endure.”

  Lariah nodded her head, and Garen felt her small hand reach up to where his rested on her shoulder and stroke it soothingly. The simple gesture touched his heart and he had to swallow hard past the lump in his throat before he could continue speaking.

  “The five pods were filled with males, about 500 in each pod. Once they were able to settle and ensure their own survival, they began searching other planets for survivors. I
t was slow and difficult work. In a nearby system they found two pods filled not with people, but with important artifacts of our race, and a few select Elders who knew and understood them best. It was a miracle that those two pods were found. The contents of them are the only material remains of our ancient culture.

  “By the time those two pods were brought here, the survivors realized that they had another problem, aside from simply searching for more of our own people. Our species could not continue with only males. They desperately needed females. To make matters worse, the magic of the survivors was, inevitably, beginning to weaken. Whatever was going to be done, it needed to be done quickly.

  "It was decided that those with the strongest magic would search for planets likely to contain life compatible with our biology. Those with lesser magic would continue to search for pods. Because of the way our magic works, it wasn’t possible to do both at the same time.

  “The end result was that two more pods of males were found. And, one of the teams looking for worlds with a species compatible to our own found a distant planet with a very young civilization. The planet was Earth, but the civilization was so young, and its people so superstitious, that it was difficult to find women who could cross space, and then adapt and thrive in a new world. About 900 women were eventually brought here before the magic weakened so much that it was no longer possible to make the journey. Of those, 24 were lost due to madness. Each loss was a blow to the entire population. The rest adapted and eventually chose mates among the unmated male-sets, but not one of our own females was ever found.”

  Lariah frowned. “I don’t understand something,” she said when Garen paused for a sip of water.

  “What’s that?” asked Garen.

  “Why did the magic fade?” she asked. “You said it was inevitable. Was it the new planet?”

  “No,” Garen replied, “it was the lack of women.”

  Lariah blinked in surprise. “Once you brought human women here, didn’t that help?”