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

by Laura Jo Phillips

  Chapter 8

  The moment Lariah stepped into the kitchen wearing the baggy outfit she had worn when they had first seen her, Garen knew she was upset. His first instinct was to ferret out the reason for it and try to fix it. But, another look at her face told him to leave her be. She was trying very hard to hide her feelings, indicating to him that she didn’t want to discuss them. He met his brothers’ concerned eyes, and shook his head slightly. They would allow her this privacy. For now.

  “I need to find a bank so that I can access my money,” Lariah said.

  Garen frowned. She was facing them, her eyes forward rather than focused on the floor as she sometimes did. Her silky, red-gold hair was pulled back from her face and gathered into a long ponytail, so she was not hiding behind it. But, for all of that, she didn’t look at any of them directly.

  “We said that we wanted to buy you some new clothes,” Val said, emphasizing the we in his statement.

  “That’s not necessary,” Lariah replied, looking down at her pants and brushing away some non-existent lint. “I have my own money, and am able to purchase my own clothing.”

  “Lariah…” Trey began warningly.

  Lariah sighed. “Fine, whatever you guys want,” she said. “I have no desire to argue about it.”

  Garen gritted his teeth. He had already decided to leave her be, and he would stick with the decision. But it wasn’t easy. There was a sad note in her voice that bothered him a great deal. What could have happened between the time they left her to her shower and now? He sighed, wishing for one brief moment that their mother was here. Then he winced inwardly. On second thought, trying to understand one woman was difficult enough.

  “Let’s go,” he said finally, leading the way out of the house, feeling Val and Trey’s disapproval of his decision. Well, he thought to himself, he didn’t much agree with it either, so it was unanimous.

  Lariah knew that the guys could sense her unhappiness, and that it bothered them. She felt guilty about that. They hadn’t done anything wrong, and they didn’t need to be worrying about her. She knew that if she didn’t pull herself together, she was going to ruin this trip for all of them, and that would not be fair. She firmly decided to set her own problems aside.

  At first, she wasn’t sure she could actually live up to her decision. However, after Trey drove the ground-car out of the building it was housed in, she looked out the window beside her seat and all of her worries fell away.

  She had never seen so much sky, grass, and trees, such wide open nature, in her entire life. It was all so beautiful she didn’t think she would ever get her fill of it. And the animals! There were cows, horses, birds of all description, rabbits, squirrels, and even some sheep. She knew that they were all originally native to Earth, but such animals were not plentiful on Earth any more and hadn’t been for a very long time. The first time she saw a horse with someone riding on its back she squealed with delight. The brothers smiled at her indulgently and answered all of her questions patiently. They even agreed to teach her to ride. It was all she could do not to beg them to take her back to the ranch and begin at once.

  The ride from the ranch house to a large arch stretching over the road took nearly an hour. Trey slowed the ground-car to a stop and jumped out. Lariah watched curiously as he walked quickly to one of the thick towers that supported the arch, opened a panel and began to fiddle with something. She turned to let her eyes roam over the herd of cattle grazing nearby, a thought suddenly occurring to her.

  “How do you train all of those cows?” she asked.

  Val’s brows rose in confusion and he looked quickly to Garen. Garen followed Lariah’s gaze out the window. He saw the cow herd, then shifted his gaze to Trey standing at the field tower. He started to shake his head when it suddenly hit him. He grinned, pleased with himself as he turned back to Val. “She wants to know why the cows don’t wander away when there are no fences to keep them in,” he said.

  Lariah looked at him and grinned, pleased that he understood her. She knew that her brain had a tendency to get ahead of her mouth sometimes, and that she often said things that others did not understand. That they even tried to understand her was a first. Most people just ignored her.

  “Ah,” Val said, smiling at her as though he enjoyed her, not as though he thought she was strange. Another first.

  “We use magic in combination with technology to create an energy barrier,” he explained. “It works better than a fence as we are able to program it to prohibit specific items or life forms to cross it, while allowing others.”

  “So you are able to program it to let people through, but not cows or horses?” Lariah asked.

  “Exactly,” Val replied. “We can, and in fact do, program it to block energy weapons from crossing, or certain types of ground-cars by specifying their energy source.”

  “Can you program it to block a person?” Lariah asked, attempting to keep her voice as casual as possible.

  Val shook his head, frowning slightly. “No,” he answered. “We can program it to allow all humans, or bar all humans, but we cannot program it to bar one specific human, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Oh,” Lariah said, her disappointment obvious.

  “What person would you like barred, sharali,” Val asked.

  “I was just curious,” she hedged. “So is that what Trey is doing?”

  “No,” Val replied slowly, as though he were considering pressing her. Then he seemed to change his mind. “He is checking to see if the towers need to be recharged. We must periodically recharge the parts of the system which require magic. The dissipation is never predictable.”

  Lariah nodded her head vaguely. It was clear that some of her enthusiasm had left her, and both Val and Garen felt frustrated by her refusal to allow the subject they wanted to know about the most to be raised. They had given her several openings, but she had shied away from them. They had all agreed not to press her on the subject. From Riata, they knew that she had suffered, and they did not want to force her to relive any of that. But the knowledge that someone had so severely harmed her, and that the person was still out there somewhere, was very nearly more than they could stand.

  Trey climbed back into the car, sensing the change in mood at once. He arched a brow at Garen, who shook his head. He looked over his shoulder at Lariah, the expression of poorly concealed fear telling him all he needed to know. He clenched his jaw and continued the drive into town.

  Lariah’s spirits lifted again as they sped through the countryside, reminding Garen, Trey and Val of what Riata had told them about her. She was, indeed, a naturally happy and optimistic person. She continued to ask them questions about the animals, plants and trees, but the land they were in didn’t change much for several hundred miles, and before long she fell quiet. Garen could see by the expression on her face that she was thinking of things more serious than the view outside of her window. After awhile she turned toward him, biting her lip the way she did when she was nervous. He reached out slowly and rescued the delicate flesh from her teeth.

  “What is it sharali?” he asked.

  “Well, I’d like to ask you some questions, but I don’t want you to think I’m rude. Most people do, though. It’s why I’m a librarian.”

  Garen’s eyebrows rose. His earlier success at deciphering her meaning encouraged him to work harder at solving this latest puzzle, but in the end he shrugged slightly and looked to Val and Trey. They both shook their heads.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean,” he said finally.

  Lariah smiled faintly. “I like to know things,” she said. “People say I’m nosey, but I don’t mean to be rude. I’m just really curious. Being a librarian means I usually have a way to find the answers to my questions without having to ask anyone. “

  “I see,” Garen replied, disappointed that he hadn’t figured it out for himself.

  “Would you mind if I ask you some questions? If I ask anything I shouldn’t, you co
uld just say so,” she added quickly, “I wouldn’t mind.”

  “You may ask us anything you like, sharali,” Garen said, smiling. “We will not be offended. If it is something we are unable to answer, we will tell you.”

  The look of mingled relief and curiosity on Lariah’s face made all of them smile. “However,” Garen added, “I would like to ask you something first, if I may.”

  Lariah’s face suddenly closed down, her eyes dropping to her lap. “That’s fair,” she said slowly, though they all heard the reluctance in her voice. It made Garen sad to see her excitement disappear so quickly. But he had no intention of asking her about the subject she obviously feared. That was something she would have to offer them, not be tricked out of.

  “The information we gave you last night, about our people and our history,” he began as though he hadn’t noted her reaction. Lariah’s head came up, surprise and relief in her eyes.

  “I told you that we prefer to keep much about our race to ourselves, but I did not tell what we do, and do not, allow others to know.”

  “Oh,” Lariah said, “I thought you kept all of it to yourselves.”

  “Some things it is not possible, or necessary, to keep secret. As we discussed last night, we are a planet with a shortage of women, and we let it be known that women who wish to come here to marry and have families are welcome. Obviously those women need to be informed of certain facts when they arrive. For example, that their mates, and their children, will be shifters. Also that their children will always be males, and triplets.”

  “Yes, I can see how keeping that information quiet might be difficult,” Lariah said wryly.

  “Exactly,” Garen replied. “However, we do not share our history. As far as the galaxy at large is concerned, we have always lived on Jasan, always been Jasani. Nor do we reveal information about our magic, or our mating rituals, especially information about soul-linking.”

  “I think it is your right to keep information private if that is your wish,” Lariah said.

  “We thank you for your confidence,” Garen said. “May I ask you another question?”

  “Sure,” she replied with a shrug, no longer worried that he was going to try to trick her into speaking about things she didn’t want to speak about.

  “We are curious about your reaction to what you have learned about us. You seem to accept much that many women cannot. We wonder, why is that? ”

  “I don’t know. It just seems…” she paused, frowning thoughtfully as though searching for the right word. After a moment she shrugged again. “I know it will sound odd, but it all seems sort of normal to me. I guess I’m just more open-minded than most.”

  Garen was shocked. A quick glance at his brothers showed they were as well. Interesting.

  “I thank you for allowing me to ask you questions,” he said, not wanting her to notice his reaction to her statement. “Now it is your turn. What would you like to know?”

  “I suppose the first thing I want to ask is, what does it mean that you three are princes? I would have expected royal princes to live in a big fancy castle and have lots of people running around doing things for them every minute of the day. But you guys don’t live like that at all. So, are you really princes?”

  Val grinned, then laughed. “We are, but obviously we aren’t the kind of princes you are familiar with. Maybe we need to go wherever they are.”

  Lariah thought about sticking her tongue out at him, decided it was too childish, then did it anyway. Val only laughed harder so she tilted her chin at him and turned back to Garen.

  Garen smiled at her antics, pleased that she had a sense of humor.

  “”Dracon male-sets have always been royal princes among our people,” he told her. “But we are not all powerful.” Garen thought about it a moment, trying to think of a way to explain that Lariah would most easily understand.

  “As you know, our people are shifters. Our alternate form is an animal. Many higher animals live in ranked groups. In such a group all members know their own ranking, and the ranking of those around them. That way, they live peacefully together, always knowing what they can and cannot do according to their rank.”

  Lariah nodded. “Yes, I’ve read about that,” she said. “Particularly among wild canines of old Earth. I can’t remember what they were called though. Please go on.”

  “The Jasani are ranked according to the animal we become. Dracons are the prime beast, or alpha beast among our kind. Dracons are the largest, fastest, wiliest and fiercest of all the clan beasts. Therefore, dracons are, and always have been, the royal family. All of the other animals, or as we call them, clans, are ranked in the same manner. Within each clan its members are also ranked, with the highest ranked member holding the position of Consul. We are the Consuls of the Dracon Clan, as well as the reining Princes of Jasan.

  “However, we have a very small population of Jasani, Lariah. We are also a very old race, with very set ways of doing things. Each clan governs its own people under an umbrella of Jasani rules, but also with its own rules. This is very necessary as the animals we transform into have much to do with our temperaments and instincts. Rules and customs that will fit for a dracon will not fit for a bearenca or a katre.

  “We are all taught, as a race, the importance of self-control. We have no crimes, no criminals among our own people. As a people, we have not been at war since the Dark Time, though many of us have, individually, chosen to aid certain peoples in their own wars if we feel it is right.

  “As royals, we have certain powers, but we do not abuse them. Most of the time, we are like everyone else. We have our ranch, home, people, and we live our lives. Once a year, we go to Enclave, a gathering of the clans.”

  “Are there many other dracons?” Lariah asked curiously.

  “No,” Garen replied, and she thought he looked sad. “There are, in truth, only a few of us. We had two sets of older brothers,” he said. “Our middle brothers, along with their human mate and infant sons, were killed in a transport accident 200 years ago. Our eldest brothers were killed during the race war of Pilorat about 50 years later, as were our father’s elder brothers, the reigning Princes at that time. They had not mated, so had no sons. Therefore the title passed to our fathers, who were the second, and last, male-set of their mother. However, when their elder brothers perished, our fathers and mother were already dealing with the deaths of six sons and three grandsons. Their hearts were broken and they had no desire to reign as Princes of our people. They declined the title and passed it to us. We have reigned for 150 years.”

  “Are your parents still alive?” Lariah asked.

  Garen smiled. “Yes, they are. They travel a great deal now that they have few responsibilities. In fact, they are the reason we were at the spaceport on the day of your arrival to Jasan. They are now on their way to New Peloponnesia for a month or two.”

  “So they live nearby then?”

  Garen shook his head. “No, they live on the other side of our world. Each year after Enclave they come and spend a few weeks on the ranch with us. This year, instead of going back home, they decided to take a vacation off-world.”

  “I am happy for you that you still have your parents,” Lariah said softly. “You have lost so much family in your life.”

  “Yes, we have,” Garen agreed. “The worst of it is that it is so difficult for us to replace the members of our race that are lost.”

  Lariah wasn’t really sure what he meant by that, but the subject seemed to be making him sad so she decided to change it.

  “Don’t you guys have to do anything to run your government?” Lariah asked.

  “Not really,” Garen replied. “There is a council that manages inter-stellar relations, sends out and receives ambassadors, concludes trade agreements and similar affairs. Matters of greater significance, such as treaties and alliances with other systems are decided during Enclave. But we keep our lives simple here. We have much security on our planet, and we make generous use of techno
logy enhanced with our magic to prevent much of our true lives from being observed. For example, when we call our dracons, and fly through the sky, we know that no off-world satellite or sneak ship will be able to view us.”

  “That is just so…” she searched for a word, and Garen expected something like strange, or backward or isolating…instead she said, “wonderful. I love how you live.” She sighed. “So peaceful and simple.”

  “We are a people who know war, and its consequences,” Val said. “We, personally, have been in battle. It is our nature as dracons to be warriors, yet at the same time, we enjoy peace. We crave family.”

  Lariah felt her heart leap at that. She, too, craved family. Aside from her sister who was often away on business, she was alone and had been since the age of 16. To have a family of her own, and children, was her deepest wish.

  Thinking of that made her wonder about something else. She bit her lip, hesitating. But she really wanted to know. “So, you guys are over 400 years old,” she began, “you’ve been to war, traveled a bit I suppose.” She paused uncertainly, but decided to just spit it out. “Have you ever been mated or married before?”

  “No sharali, we have never been mated. You must understand, for Jasani males, it is only possible to take one mate. Once done, it cannot be undone, or repeated with another female.”

  Lariah’s eyes widened at that.

  “We could have taken a human woman,” Garen continued, “as all of our people must, and there were times over the long years when we considered it.”

  “Why didn’t you?” Lariah asked. She was fiercely glad that they had never married, but at the same time, she couldn’t understand why they had waited centuries for something they seemed to want so much.

  “When our people first landed on Jasan, a prophecy was spoken. It was said that a male-set of the royal family from our generation would find their Arima.”

  “But you just told me you had two sets of elder brothers, and one of those sets was married,” she pointed out.