Feral Fever
Page 32
"After I've convinced the Queens that I'm making progress. I see the matriarchs are still huddled together here in fear of returning to their provinces."
"Oh yes. But my news could change everything," I whispered.
He pivoted to the four watchful females. "It's been a long and arduous journey trying to bring order to the chaos of two worlds, including your own. I think you will be as surprised to learn what I have. My Marshals have been working with the Slakens to stop a secret movement among their population."
The Queens rustled upon their thrones but didn't interrupt Goro.
"The majority of the Slaken population disapproves of the invasion of your world. However, a group of renegades furtively raids your realms. How? My operative has married into the Slaken government and uncovered a second portal. A portal the Slaken government knew nothing about. And unfortunately, had nothing to do with the raids for centuries. So, they again invite a marriage between Slaken and Luvk nobility. A union to create peace."
Oh shit. Frenyl is out of the marketable female loop. Wasn't she the only acceptable match to the Slakens? Where would Luvk find a marriageable female to marry to a Slaken noble? What else could go wrong? I certainly wasn't about to take on a Slaken prince too. I had enough mates already.
But it was good to hear the second portal I detected had been part of the raids. That Mart hadn't died in vain. That everything I did was for the greater good of Luvk. So where did that leave Calen? What was I going to do about Calen? And just what did he intend to have me do to help him achieve his goals? Maybe all those problems just vanished with Goro's announcements. I realized Goro had been speaking.
"So, what will we do?" Ishan asked.
Goro stared down the Queen where she lounged upon her dais. "Send another female. Send a queen to wed the Slaken nobleman. Offer yourself." He pivoted and met my gaze like he'd just dropped a bomb and waited to be blasted across the large room.
Or worse. Don't you dare suggest I take on this Slaken mate.
"Come with me, Aisling." Goro strode past me.
Another bullet dodged. I followed my commander with my mates on my heels. Goro led us aboard the shuttle where we waited for debriefing. Or the standard horrible news…
The spacecraft was larger than the one that had brought me to Slaken. But it had to have a food replicator. And although I wasn't showing a micron yet, I could eat like a horse with two babies in tow. Okay, maybe my fevered sexual appetite required I eat more too. I hurried through the shuttle's cool dark interior to where the food replicator better be stored.
Steak. Hamburger and fries. Fried chicken. Coffee. Chocolate cake. Where's the damned food replicator?
"Aisling," a familiar voice called.
Darla. In her black leather, Goro's level-headed brunette mate still looked as formidable as the day I met her. Even after she'd been through a pregnancy. And shouldn't she be raising her infant? Dragging a child of legend around the universe to go visiting friends isn't particularly safe when a monumental event is supposed to occur in the child's future. "What are you doing here?"
"I've come to check on you. After Goro told me you were his best choice for this assignment given you're so open-minded, I thought I better come see for myself just what he'd done with my favorite little healer." She halted a step away with her infant daughter bundled in her arms.
So that was what landed me this job. "You know how I have no business opening a tuna fish can let alone touching an injured person." I smiled at the joke.
Darla chuckled and scanned my wall of masked mates standing behind me. "And you have your own little army now?"
Did she know what they were? Would she care I had multiple mates? "They're my mates."
She froze for a moment then blinked. "Four?" She canted toward me. "Aisling, do you really need four?" She smiled thoughtfully. "Albeit, they are large and, oh my God, I'm into muscles."
I choked back a snort. "Actually, I had six at one time. Let's just say life on Luvk is brutal."
Darla giggled a little and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh. But you'll be happy to know Goro got a good shock when you pushed that button." She winked.
A mere electric jolt was nothing compared to the culture shock I experienced.
"I heard that." Goro brushed past us and shot his mate a wary glance, motioning us deeper into the shuttle. "We came as quickly as we could. It's one hellacious trip jumping quadrants from Four to Nine. But Crellon secret technology makes the impossible happen." He scanned the ceiling, then slid his gaze back to me.
Now that the Marshals located Luvk, the portals were no longer important for traveling between worlds. "I found a second portal on Luvk. We must close it at once. But there's a priest who says the doorway needs to be closed from the Slaken side."
Goro nodded and nudged my elbow toward a black seat. "Sit. Listen. I've brought additional Marshals to help you until Johnson has deconstructed the portal from his end. And yet even more Marshals are guarding the machine he's disassembling. We want to know how the portal works. So, we need to take our time. However, raids will be impossible now. So, sit back and visit with Darla. She has a wild idea. She wants to raise Lianna here."
Darla smiled the craziest smile at me and sank into a seat at my side.
Darla had no idea how different life was on Luvk compared to Earth. Especially for her daughter. Thank goodness Lianna had dark hair. She wouldn't be perceived as a Pure Heart no matter how pale and plain her skin color. "Why Luvk?"
"Titan is so cold. The Marshals don't marry and have children there. I need a place to raise Lianna among children."
Oh boy. "Where do I begin? The Luvk culture is very different from where we grew up. And for girls, I just don't know if you understand what you're getting into with that suggestion." I scanned my male entourage's wall of masks and leather pants then turned back to Darla. "Is there more to the legend of your child changing the universe, Darla? If you raise her here, I can't imagine her values being anything but warrior values." I met Darla's adamant brown gaze. She meant to make her idea happen. "You really need to learn about the Luvks before you make that decision."
"We need a place unknown to the rest of the universe," Goro interjected. "Straightarrow and Trekaar raise their child of legend in secret. We must do the same."
They should just relocate The Order of the Marshals here. Additional psychic mates would help settle bickering among the seven realms. The clans probably wouldn't even need a council then. Goro could recruit from the surplus of Royal Guard warriors. Royal Guards could have their own were-mates. Problems solved. I met Borun's gaze. "I have an idea."
He snaked his bulging striped arms across his chest.
That action definitely held more warning than cynicism. I couldn't help but smile a little. "A moon is an excellent hideout, Goro. But why not train Marshals here? There's an enormous pool of telepathic unwed males who need purpose in life. If we can bring peace to this world, those males will have the opportunity to join The Cause and find mates they so desperately need."
All my mates shot curious glances between themselves.
Were they contemplating jumping ship? "Don't get me wrong." I warned. "I'm not releasing any of my mates from their duties."
Darla burst out laughing. "Hell, who'd give up four husbands who looked like that? Those pants alone are to die for. Do all Luvk males dress like this? Let me tell you, the psychic females from earth will line up to join the Marshals if they catch wind of these terminator types."
Goro inhaled. "Do you see why I need to get her off that moon? She claims to have cabin fever." He pivoted, the tails of his long black coat whipping around to snap at me. "I'll speak to you alone, Aisling."
Why did I suddenly feel like new orders were on the agenda? As long as they had nothing to do mating with Slakens, I'd be fine. I followed the snapping heels of Goro's black boots into an empty private cabin full of plastic crates.
The shuttle door whisked shut at my back.
"That's not why I've brought you here to speak secretly."
Secrecy? Not a word to ease my churning thoughts. I stared into the commander's fiery conspiratorial orange eyes and waited for the bomb to detonate.
"Calen is our problem." Goro's mask never flinched.
My heart did the wincing for him.
"What about Calen?" I asked.
"He is uniting the clans as we speak. Many royals acknowledge his priestly training as his right to reign over the clans."
I hadn't caught wind of the shift yet. Anything to bring the clans together was good though. "What do you have against clan unification?"
Goro exhaled ever so slightly and bore holes through me with his penetrating gaze. "The Queens are losing ground as Calen rallies the Royal Guards to action against the Slakens. He's killed Kruk of which such a feat has gained him the respect he requires to oust the Queens from their thrones. At this moment, the Royal Guards listen to Calen and ignore their mothers' summons." Goro scratched the black hair behind his ear and paced out a short path among the crates. "Your mates are privy to the mindspeak I'm receiving. And this is not a joke when I ask you, Marshal Aisling, what do you have against clan unification?" His stern gaze riveted upon mine.
"Me? Absolutely nothing." How dare he ask. "But it isn't my place to resolve the conflict between the clans. I'm only here as the Marshal to handle off-world aggression. You know my ethics are the strongest given my education. I'm an observer and suggestion box. Only. Not the person who makes choices for the Luvks. Albeit, I've provided them with many options."
Goro's head swung left until only his left eye studied me relentlessly. "Calen is claiming Luvk's throne. The Queens are being replaced by their sons. The rest of their sons have formed a council. And there is nothing to seal the changes in place except an heir to the kingship."
Kingship? "Calen's King? Why does this have anything to do with me?"
"Calen wants the heir to be birthed by Luvk's Marshal," Goro stated flatly.
"Impossible. Absolutely so. My mates will not allow it."
"The decision isn't theirs. You make the call. You're their Queen. For the greater good of planet Luvk, you must bear the child of Luvk's new king."
He had to be joking. "But marrying the planet's ruler goes against Marshal Code. Marshals are forbidden to hold both were-assassin power and the power of a monarch. The duties of each job conflict." Wasn't that how Voldon rose to power and set off the Blood Wars ages ago? How the Marshals originated?
Goro eyed me warily. "It's done. You give him a child. And he goes his way. No other ties. He will only bed a female he trusts. He distrusts all noble Luvk females. You are the only option to give him his heir. And, if all goes well, the ancient kingship will be rejuvenated."
"Please don't do this to me. Calen could very well be insane."
"In a little way, each of us is insane."
?
Chapter Thirty-Two
Aisling choked on her heart where she stood before her mates' unmasked worried features in her guards' quarters. They had to hear my heartsong. They had to know my announcement was killing me.
"What can be so horrible? Tell us, little one," Borun insisted.
Oh, the fact I must mate with Calen. But I'm not supposed to actually keep him around like my mates. A Marshal marrying a planet's ruler is out of the question. That's a conflict of interests gaining the Marshal the wrong type of power within a culture. No, I'm just supposed to bear Calen a child. One. And then I'm off the hook. I sucked in a deep breath and looked into each set of glowing eyes. "Maybe we should sit down."
The warriors eyed each other and descended when I did.
All I could think about was the ridiculous lines from Ring Around the Rosie. I'd definitely been hit by the annihilating rays of a proverbial torch-burned to nothing but ash. Ashes. Ashes. Aisling's falling down.
Universe, save me.
"Tell us now," Borun demanded.
"Goro has ordered me to produce, I mean give, Calen an heir."
The shadowy room was so silent I could hear nothing but the pop of the fire's disgusted retort to the ridiculous plan to appease a planet's whining noble...
My mates just stared at me.
They had to be arguing and cursing up a storm in mindspeak.
Borun rose gracefully and disappeared through firelight and shadow to the bath.
Gone. My Borun left me. For good? I'd die without his soothing voice. His hot breath on my skin. The way he wrapped himself around me at night to keep my dreams from distorting into nightmares.
My heart slowly dropped in an aching swan dive toward my gut.
What had been said among my mates? I studied each one's unyielding gaze and fought a wave of fear trying to kick up choking tears from my chest into my throat and eyes. "What did he say?"
The trio rose, silently, grabbing weapons, yanking on their masks, and went their way.
Gone, all of them. My hearts. Kicked to the corners of the continent because Goro couldn't keep his nose out of Luvk affairs. Why? What did the Order of the Marshals stand to gain from my loins birthing an heir to the Luvk throne?
Or worse. Was I just divorced?
* * * *
"She's crying," Lehd said in Borun's mind. "Borun, we can't leave her in there now. Alone. She hurts. Can't you sense it? Even if her reaction is caused by her brooding body, we can't abandon her."
"I'll return as quickly as possible." Borun headed to Calen's temporary lodge and shrugged off Lehd's thoughts. Mother in all her glorious wisdom had given the priest king housing near her quarters. Was this a tactic to spread her legs for Calen? To gain power in our shifting political arena? If so, that explained Calen's insistence on bedding Aisling instead of a conniving Queen. But I wouldn't know until I faced him. And asked him.
The dark wood of Calen's door shut out the sunlight. But nothing else in the silence I heard facing the thick impenetrable slab of Whatel boards. What dwelled in the lodge's silence? I pushed out with my mind. "Calen, speak with me. It's Borun."
The door squealed, falling inward. Calen's blue gaze bore through me from where he studied me through the holes in his leader's mask.
Nothing need be said. He had to have expected me to show myself after he convinced Goro that Aisling was the only vessel capable of carrying his youngling.
"Come in." Calen stepped rearward, allowing me room for passage.
Why did he still wear the mark of power in the mask from the Sunrise clan? He'd broken tradition and demanded his mother step down for him to take power. Therein lay another mystery to solve while I'm here. I crossed the shadowy threshold of Calen's lodge.
He waved me toward the flames in his dancing hearth.
"I see my mother hasn't moved in," I jested drily, with my voice in order to isolate our discussion from eavesdropping telepathic minds.
Calen chuckled. "She's tried every day since my arrival." His footfalls followed me across the space toward his hearth.
My gut curdled at Ishan's pathetic attempt to grasp for control.
Well, never pass up an opportunity to satisfy your curiosity. "Why haven't you accepted Ishan's offer?"
"She can't be trusted." Calen sank onto a pillow two steps away from me and waved for me to follow his lead.
I knelt instead. Just in case I'd need to slit the fool's throat. "You know why I'm here."
Calen yanked off his mask and locked his gaze upon mine. "I don't want my heir to have ties to the Queens and their horrible leadership practices. All I ask is for one heir. One for luck. Each noble son needs only one heir. I do even more so. I'm uniting the clans as the priest who knows Luvk's lost history. I must pass on my knowledge to my youngling. It's the same with those Royal Guards who have chosen to join the Order of the Marshals over forming a Luvk council of nobles."<
br />
What will Calen do if the youngling is female? If the Queens lose power, a daughter will do nothing for him now that females do not rule and priests need sons to carry Luvk's knowledge. "How do you know the youngling will be this male you seek?"
Calen stared me down with a gaze as sharp as a dagger. "I can only hope there will be no problems. If the youngling is female, I'll start a new tradition. That's what the future is about, molding new traditions. Maybe the Marshal's idea of creating a priesthood and teaching young males Luvk history is the solution. I won't know until I have a youngling. A daughter can be wed to the next king… Whether son or daughter, I must have an heir."
Why did the bastard have to be so agreeable? "I'm totally against this, Calen. But you've skirted Aisling in this little procreation venture. And she's threatened. I have no choice but to allow her to do as she is ordered by her superior. My choice is not selfish. Mine is one meant to comfort and protect my mate. She's my mate. Not yours. You can never comfort and protect her because I refuse to allow you rights of a mate. You will only be allowed in my lodge to breed with Aisling."
"You can't decide that," Calen said smugly.
"All of Aisling's mates have. You skirted her for Breeder's Rights with nothing but your lust to purchase your access to her. Very well. We decide everything else."
"What if Aisling decides to take me as a mate, completely?"
She knew better by her mates' reaction to this catastrophe. "That won't even become an issue until you've earned her trust. Because, Calen, since you understand the concept of trust so much, you can certainly grasp the significance of my words. Listen closely. You will not have breeding access to my mate until she has recovered from bearing my younglings. This is my right. I make the choice. And when she has fully recovered to mating status, you will be summoned to breed with her. You will have the three months to plant your seed during breeding sessions monitored by all four of her mates. If and when the breeding mark appears on her belly, you will remove yourself from our lives. She will not be bothered with your unusual behavior-"