by L P Peace
The table went completely quiet. From the small smile on Vernaya’s face, she’d known exactly how the news would be received and was loving the reactions.
‘You sold his ship!’ Calla’s face lit up with admiration. A moment later, the Kerisian females dissolved into puddles of laughter.
‘I don’t know why I come here,’ Ronin growled.
‘Because you adore us, little brother,’ Adiette said, pulling Ronin into the same one-armed hug he’d inflicted on Calla minutes earlier. ‘Did you get your ship back?’
‘I had to buy it,’ he said, pulling away as Adiette struck out, smacking the side of his head so quickly Sophia’s eyes couldn’t track the motion.
‘You had to repurchase your own ship!’ Adiette crumpled into more laughter.
‘And it’s still registered under her name.’ Ronin’s voice was stern, yet there was a touch of humour there and in his eyes.
‘Oh, please, Sophia, tell us the whole story,’ Adiette continued.
Sophia had taken a bite of one of the veanna. It was like an actual cake, fluffy and light, but strangely savoury with a pungent herb flavour. She swallowed it down quickly and looked at Vernaya. ‘That’s delicious.’
Vernaya smiled at her before Sophia launched into the story. Ronin jumped in with how his time in the escape pod had been, which only added to his family’s enjoyment of the story.
After the veanna was gone, they continued on preparing the evening meal. At one point, Adiette got up and started a fire under a large burner in the centre of the courtyard. At the same time, Vernaya took the chovra and brought them inside to boil them up.
While everyone else was talking amongst themselves, Ronin pulled Sophia closer. ‘We’re not going to be able to get any planning done here, so we’ll stay the night, then tomorrow I’ll take you somewhere we can talk in private.’
‘That sounds like a plan,’ she said.
‘You’re taking her to the atolls?’ Calla called from across the table.
‘No, I’m not going to the atolls,’ Ronin growled. ‘I’ll take her somewhere peaceful, where we can be alone.’
‘So the atolls,’ Corintea added. The table’s attention had turned back to them.
Adiette arrived back from stoking the fire. ‘What’s this?’
‘Ronin’s taking Sophia to the atolls tomorrow.’
‘We’re not going to the atolls,’ Ronin complained.
‘Oh, that will be nice,’ Adiette said. ‘The atolls are spectacular. How long will you be there for?’
‘We’re not going to the atolls. But we’ll be gone a few rotes.’
‘Oh, you can’t eat just fish for a few rotes. We’ll prepare some things for you to take. Though Ronin knows where to get the best sea vegetables. We’ll prepare you a pack to take with plenty of water and fruit.’
‘We’re not going to the atolls,’ Ronin said a little louder this time.
Calla got up from the table and ran into the house. ‘Mother, Ronin’s taking Sophia to the atolls tomorrow.’
‘Oh, that’s nice,’ Vernaya’s voice called back. ‘Get the pack for them. We’ll get them some food and pull the filters out of storage.’
Sophia turned a grin on Ronin as the voices continued, Adiette joining the fray. ‘I guess we’re going to the atolls,’ she said.
‘I’ll buy you a breather,’ Ronin groaned, his eyes closed, his face turned to the sky as though summoning strength from his maker.
‘I love your family,’ Sophia said as Ronin turned his chartreuse eyes on her. His face softened, and he looked into the house where the entire female contingent had gathered. They walked around the kitchen, grabbed things, put them into two packs, and stopped to order or argue as they did.
‘As do I,’ he admitted.
Sophia seemed to fit into the family as though she had always been there. Ronin watched his mother and sisters fuss around her, measuring her for the swimsuits and other clothes they were insisting on buying for her. Sophia let them move her around and manipulate her arms and stance like she’d been born to it.
‘The clothes will be here first thing in the morning. Same for the suit, Ronin,’ his mother called out. ‘I want you up early so we can go through it together.’
‘I’ve already been through it,’ he replied. His eyes connected with Sophia’s, and she grinned at him. Something in his stomach flipped, and he found himself smiling back at her. That had been happening a lot. He seemed to be coming to a point where he couldn’t even think about her without smiling.
‘Ronin.’
Ronin turned to find his father and Adiette’s mate, Ganian, approaching him. ‘I wish I had known you were going to be here. We could have done with you on the hunt.’
‘I could have done with being on the hunt this rote, instead of here, with judgement.’ He called out the last part pointedly to the females of his family.
‘What is—’ Ganian moved closer to him. ‘Why is there a human female here?’
‘It is a long story. I need everyone here to keep her presence strictly to themselves.’
‘Did our neighbours not see you bring her here?’ Ronin’s father asked.
‘She was wearing my suit, with the helmet down.’
‘I’ll hang the colga,’ Ganian said, moving over to the cold store.
Ronin tried his best to focus on the fact that colga had to hang before it was ready to eat. Dismissing the image his mind presented of Sophia tied up, hanging, naked, helpless, ready for him. He’d never thought such things before she suggested it!
‘What’s that?’ his father moved closer to him, eyes fixed on where Ronin scratched his stomach.
‘Oh, I think it might be a reaction to the human. I should see a doctor while we’re here.’ He scratched at the sensitive spots again, grateful he was able to get to them so quickly without his suit on.
‘You got them after meeting the human?’ His father stepped closer.
‘Yes. I wonder if anyone else is getting them?’ He looked into the house. He hadn’t thought about that when he brought Sophia here. He turned back to his father, who had lifted his own top up, revealing the same golden marks on his skin.
‘You haven’t even been near her,’ Ronin said, alarmed. Should he call someone? Would they have to get the house decontaminated?
‘Ronin, come with me.’ His father moved towards the cold store.
‘Ganian, would you help Corintea at the fire, please?’ Ronin’s father said as they walked in.
Ganian looked at them a moment, noticing father and son together. He nodded and walked out, handing the colga to Ronin’s father and leaving them alone.
They stepped down into the dark cold store. It was dug enough into the earth to make the room a natural heat sink, which allowed the short-term refrigeration of food. The colga would hang here for a cycle before they began to strip the carcass.
Ronin’s father walked over to a worktable and began preparing the animal for hanging.
‘You know what these spots are?’ Ronin walked to the bottom of the table and watched his father move with practised hands.
‘You had a hard time growing up,’ his father said. ‘I know your sisters did too. But I know the people were cruellest to you.’
‘Children can be cruel,’ Ronin shrugged.
‘Unfortunately, the fully grown can be just as bad,’ his father said. ‘Help me with this.’ Ronin helped his father heft the colga up. Together, they moved it to one of the ceiling hooks. Both males worked together to lift the heavy beast. It swung in place when they let it go. Ronin reached out a hand and steadied it.
His father watched him closely, then let out an audible sigh. ‘You know why I stayed?’
Ronin nodded. ‘You bonded to mother during your first mating. You had no choice.’
Bonding was shameful. It was a throwback to the Kerisians’ distant past. There were males who, having seen the signs of bonding, moved out to atolls or left the planet to avoid the female who provoked the u
rge in them for the rest of their lives.
‘Bonding isn’t just about live or die,’ his father said. ‘It comes with intense feelings of love, protectiveness, an instinct to provide, and a stronger bond to my children than other males have.’ His father smiled. ‘I have never regretted the bond, or the decision to mate your mother, and she never regretted it either.’
‘I know,’ Ronin said.
‘And now you have the same decision before you,’ his father said.
‘What…’ Realisation struck Ronin so hard it flinched. ‘The spots?’
‘They are what bonds the female to us,’ his father confirmed. ‘They are conductive and allow the passage of hormones and electrical signals that rewrites the female’s biology, making them ours.’
‘I’ve bonded to her!’ Ronin took several steps back, mind reeling.
‘You’ve begun the process.’ His father crossed the floor and took hold of him. ‘You don’t have to complete it. That is up to you. But if you copulate with the female, you will never be able to leave her.’
‘How have I never seen these markings on you before?’
‘Because they only occur when we go into heat. Males drive the heat. That’s why we’re not in the mountains. The rest of the family is staying here. We’re going next rote to burn the heat off.’
‘I don’t know…’ Ronin shook his head, unable to process what was happening. ‘I don’t know what’s happening,’ he admitted finally.
‘What’s happening is you have a decision to make,’ his father said forcefully. ‘You have to decide if you want to be one of those vrokking vashni who act like this is a curse and run away, or embrace this for the gift it is and decide to spend the rest of your future with that female.’
‘I… I don’t…’
‘What do you want, Ronin?’
‘I want her!’ he admitted. ‘But that’s this.’ He touched the spots.
‘It is that,’ his father confirmed. ‘But if you didn’t have that, would you still want her? Even if only for a while. Think about it, my son. I hope you choose to be happy.’
‘What if she doesn’t want me for life?’
‘That you must discuss with her.’
‘Did you know? When the spots appeared the first time, did you know what they meant?’
His father nodded. ‘We both did. We chose this.’ With that, his father walked out, leaving his last question ringing in his ears.
‘Would you still want her?’
Ronin feared he knew the answer all too well.
Ronin was still reeling from his father’s revelation when he finally braved leaving the cold store. He passed by the fire to see his grandmother peeling the chovra alone.
‘Where is Ganian? He was meant to help you?’
‘I sent him away. He is slow,’ his grandmother scoffed.
Ronin approached her. ‘Let me help.’ He took position beside her.
‘Ronin, I love you, and I like that human you brought. You should settle down with her. But you are also slow. Send me Calla.’
Laughing, Ronin dropped the chovra he was working on and kissed his grandmother on the cheek before crossing the courtyard to Calla, who was still fussing around Sophia.
‘Grandmother wants your help with the chovra.’ He pulled Calla from the group of females and into another hug.
‘I can help,’ Sophia said, extricating herself from the females in Ronin’s life. She grinned at Ronin as she walked by, Calla linking arms with her. Ronin turned and watched her approach the pan. It was like she was a part of the family, and Ronin warmed at the idea. At the sight of her here, as though she belonged.
‘I like her,’ Catielle said, stepping up to his side. ‘I’m sure those strange things on her head must be a dirt and germ trap, but as long as she maintains it properly, I’m glad to have her in the family.’
With that, Catielle walked away. Ronin stared after her, mouth open. Catielle rarely spoke and rarer still with approval. What was happening to his family?
A short while later, they sat down to their evening meal. Ronin was seated next to Sophia as the family exchanged pointed looks and smirks. Sophia looked around the table and shook her head, grinning to herself.
‘Sophia will be staying in your suite tonight,’ Ronin’s mother said. ‘I’ve already set up your guest room for her.’
‘Guest room suite,’ Sophia waggled the strange fur above her eyes. ‘Fancy.’
‘It’s normal in Kerisian society,’ Ronin said. ‘We live together as family groups, so we have suites where we can have privacy and guests.’
‘How does it work with multiple generations?’ Sophia looked across the table. ‘Like, I’m guessing you guys,’ she pointed to Adiette and Ganian, ‘will have kids someday. Then when Ronin does, will you expand the property?’
‘Oh, no.’ Adiette sat forward. ‘Grandmother is the owner of the property.’
‘When I die,’ Corintea took over, ‘Vernaya will inherit it, and when she passes, Adiette will inherit it.’
‘So it’s matriarchal?’
‘It has to be,’ Adiette said. ‘Males in our society don’t usually stay with the female once their children are over a certain age. Father is unusual in staying, but he bonded to mother. Usually, he would return to his childhood home.’
‘Oh.’ Sophia went quiet for a moment, and her face darkened before she looked up at Adiette. Ronin got the impression she was purposely avoiding looking at him. ‘So are fathers involved in the upbringing of their children?’
‘To an extent,’ Ronin’s mother said. ‘They’re there for their child and usually give hunts and funds to help provide their children’s needs. But they don’t have to. Most prefer to though.’
‘But you hung around?’ Sophia said, looking at Ronin’s father.
‘Occasionally, males of our species trip an ancient and defunct bonding instinct. I was one of them.’ He reached out to his mate, and the two of them gazed at one another, sharing a look that was familiar to Ronin, but excluded everyone else and always had.
Growing up, Ronin and his siblings had attracted censure and ridicule for his father’s condition. Ronin had vowed never to do the same, but to stick to tradition.
Technically, he still could. Once he and Sophia parted ways, he could, eventually, find a Kerisian female to bear his children. He’d thought he’d found her before. She revealed herself as fickle when the events on Tessa, and his subsequent humiliation, had caused her to break it off.
But the thought of touching any female but Sophia suddenly made him feel sick.
More, he realised that what he had always considered a biological trap when he was a child had actually been something they chose. Thinking about the stories he’d heard of other bonded Kerisians living together and miserable about it, Ronin realised how hard his parents worked to make bond work.
‘What about your people? What do you do?’ Adiette asked the question, but Ronin found all of his attention on Sophia as he waited for the answer.
‘Oh, that’s a tough one. My people don’t tend to do the same thing from one place to another.’ Sophia put her utensil down and seemed to take a moment to gather her thoughts. ‘Traditionally, we raise children in a family unit like this one: mother, father, and children. Sometimes with grandparents living with their children, but generally, we leave home at a certain age and are expected to support ourselves, provide our own home. But some people do it differently. There are single mothers and fathers, where one parent takes the responsibility, or a parent dies. Some families have more than two parents—’
‘Like Amarans or Adosians.’
Sophia seemed thoughtful again. ‘Yeah. But human children only have two biological parents. Just that the parents aren’t exclusive, and people decide what their family looks like.’ She shrugged.
‘What about your family?’ Ronin was surprised to hear himself ask the question.
Sophia glanced at him and swallowed. ‘My family are religious. A lot of people
in my country are. We believe that parents should be committed to spending their lives together. Not just to raise children, but because they love each other and want to be a part of each other’s lives and support each other.’ Sophia swallowed again, her face seemed to become more thoughtful, and for some reason, it looked wrong. Sophia should always be laughing and joking. She should always be smiling, happy.
Ronin reviewed her words. He expected the old taunts and humiliations to rise. He expected to be disgusted at the ideas she spoke of. Instead, he found himself considering them. What would a life like that look like?
‘My mother and father have been together for forty years. They’ve barely spent a night apart in all that time. They have to spend most days apart, because of their jobs, and they always act like they’re seeing each other after weeks have passed.’ Sophia smiled. ‘What they have is really special.’
‘Sounds like you two,’ Catielle said to her sister, her voice low.
Time passed, and the conversation turned to other things. Ronin and Sophia ate in silence as he listened to his family discuss what they had done with their rote. Inevitably, the subject of Sophia stealing Ronin’s ship came up once again. His father and Ganian joined in, laughing at Ronin’s losses. He looked at Sophia basking in his family’s praise and smiled.
Ronin felt like he should be annoyed, but he couldn’t be. Instead, he found he was proud of her. Once more, the image of the Kietta came to mind. The resilient little insect with its tiny pincers. Sophia and the Kietta had much the same attitude, and Ronin couldn’t help but admire them both.
The evening meal finished as the yellow sky darkened to green then teal before becoming a dusky green shimmer against the darkness of space.
Animal calls broke out outside the walls of the houses, and Sophia jumped.
‘All is well.’ Ronin reached out to her, his hand touching the warm skin of her arm. ‘The suburban areas are kept wild to minimise upsetting the wildlife,’ Adiette said, leaning across the table. ‘We claimed this land even though there was wildlife already here, so we try to ensure we do as little to disturb them as possible.’
‘How is it safe to walk out at night?’ Sophia asked.