by Poppy Rhys
He waved a hand, giving her permission to continue. Lucia opened her mouth, but before she could utter a word, Gi’Ren slid a wide box across the table toward her. When she wrinkled her brow in confusion, he gestured for her to open it.
Her heart squeezed a little that he got her a gift… until she opened it.
“Um…” Her eyes roved over the black velvet inside. Upon the cushioned interior sat a full set of… finger gauntlets? They were similar, but their tips looked too sharp, and each one was connected to a very tiny, delicate silver chain attached to a thin ring that fit around the base of the finger. “Thank you?”
“It is for marking,” Gi’Ren grunted, like Lucia should know this. Then he looked at Soren, who was rubbing a hand along the back of his own neck. “You did not tell her.”
“Tell me what?”
“You must mark Val’Ja. Since you have no claws, you will need those to do it.”
Lucia looked back down to the gift and the intricate scroll work on the silver caps looked oddly familiar.
The Voushan.
This was Eyora’s work. A small smile played across her lips as she realized how thoughtful the custom made gift was.
Then that all shattered.
“Wait, what? Mark him?”
“It will show he is your mate.” Ren pointed along the bulging biceps of his upper set arms to show where she was supposed to mark Soren.
“This is insane.” Lucia shut the case with finality. “I will not!”
All three of the brothers shared a look of confusion.
“You will not do this for me?” Soren asked, something akin to disappointment hovering in his tone.
She took a breath and tried to think if she could, even if she wanted to. The thought of actually digging those claws into Soren’s flesh just made her stomach flip. It felt wrong, like wounding an animal. Not to say that her mate was an animal.
Well, he kind of is.
“I don’t think I can…” she gulped.
Even when she worked with Raz’s crew, she had two rules for herself; never kill anyone and only wound if it meant her life was in danger. Lu had never had to resort to wounding, much to her relief, not even the Treps that had nearly gotten her that first time. The thought of willingly stabbing Soren with those things, it just didn’t sit well with her.
The ships sensors sounded their arrival, changing everyone’s train of thought. She groaned, feeling completely unprepared.
Why didn’t I ask more questions sooner?
Chapter 2
Soren inwardly frowned, not wanting Lucia to see how her words had bruised him.
She is not Melier. She does not know our ways.
Her refusal to mark him not only wounded his pride, but made his heart hurt. Even when he reminded himself that she didn’t know or understand his people’s ways yet, it was still hard to swallow it down. If he didn’t carry her mark, she wouldn’t be considered his mate on his planet.
Soren didn’t think it wise to tell her that just yet. She was already nervous, and there was little he could do about it.
Many times he voiced that she would be safe, protected, no matter what kind of reactions were to be had on his home world. Lucia was stubborn and wouldn’t be satisfied with any answer until she experienced it herself.
He loved and hated that about her.
She is a strong female.
Being mated to one such as her made his chest swell with pride, even if it was filled with a great weariness at the same time. His lack of her mark would be one more thing his people would point out, but he would not ask her to do something she was uncomfortable with.
Soren shared another concerned look with Val’Zun as they both rose from their seats.
****
Gi’Ren settled Lenny back into Lucia’s arms and then disappeared for a short time to set the ship into orbit. Soren guided her to the ships set of four seater transport pods. Once she settled into one of the pods white chairs, he made sure to strap her in carefully and securely without disturbing the babe in her arms too much.
Lucia watched them strap into their own seats, Soren taking the one beside her positioned behind the two piloting chairs. Gi’Ren began working the pilot controls, initiating the airlock of the pod while Val’Zun hailed the Melierun control tower in the region they were landing. The lyrical language of the Melier floated through the speakers and Lu took a couple deep breaths to prepare.
She watched through the glass that wrapped around half the pod as a pocket of the ships side lifted and the expanse of space came into view, Melierun hovering within it. Lu squeezed her eyes shut for just a moment as the tethers disengaged from the pod and it floated from the ship, and at that moment, she was nearly shaking with anxiousness.
Val’Zun turned off the connection between control tower and the pod, nodding toward Gi’Ren who in turn, gently pressed forward the piloting lever, and slowly they glided toward Melierun’s surface. The green, blue, and lavender globe, she noticed, had more land mass than water from the side of the planet she could see. Lilac clouds swirled and swiveled, reminding her of a large multicolored marble. Slowly they entered the atmosphere and Lucia had to remember not to squeeze the life out of the babe in her arms. She vaguely noticed Soren was stroking her arm, like he normally did whenever he felt her tension.
The misty, lavender clouds encased them for mere seconds and then the planet’s surface was looming below. The terrain had more foliage than field, the greens ranging from bright and vibrant and nearly yellow, to dark, lush and nearly black. That was all she could see from their range, but as the pod continued descent, more things began to take shape.
It wasn’t just a sea of green any longer; it was trees with mists floating through their canopies and small flocks of multicolored birds soaring over them, searching for prey or a place to perch. They continued lowering and soon they were slowing through a large opening in the canopy.
Lucia’s heart kicked up a beat, causing her breath to hitch in her throat when they landed on a yellow sandy clearing of ground with a hiss. To the far of the clearing was a waiting group; some standing, some on large beasts.
Lucia immediately noticed most of the Melier there were of different colors. She was confused, since it never even occurred to her that Melier may have different skin tones as humans did. Well, maybe not quite like humans, since they really didn’t come in purple or green or hot coal red.
“I thought all Melier were blue,” Lu spoke aloud, almost to herself.
“Only royal Melier from a specific bloodline are blue.” Gi’Ren said, finishing the landing sequence, and as the airlock disengaged, the door began sliding open. Lucia inhaled deeply, the hot air flooding the pod while Soren began to unstrap her. It smelled fresh, and heavy with plant life. Again she inhaled a lungful, feeling that sense of excitement she always got when visiting a new planet. It was welcome, since she was a ball of nerves already.
Soren helped her up and from the craft, behind Gi’Ren and Val’Zun. One step down and her slippers were stepping on the yellow sand, cushioning around her feet. Lenny made a purring sound as she slipped back into the sleep she’d been momentarily woken from.
Lu’s eyes swept all around her, eating up everything in sight while their entourage continued forward to where the group was waiting. Her crazily curled hair already felt heavier with the high humidity wafting through the air. Her sleeveless peach colored robe that clasped at her hip was already more fabric than she was comfortable in with the temperature. It was much hotter than Curra, as Zun had said it would be.
“My son,” one of the blue females sighed and smiled the closer they got.
The queen.
Her white dress was thin and barely there, hanging from a strap around her neck, covering her chest and exposing her entire back and sides before it sailed to her ankles. She was willowy, taller than Lu but shorter than the males, and her black hair nearly swept the ground. Her four arms were adorned with tiny webbed gold chains that sto
od out against her cobalt skin and scales. The claws of each hand would make anyone uneasy, as they were longer, thin and sharpened to black needles.
How does she not gouge her own eyes out?
Queen Gi’Moy stepped forward as Soren did, and they embraced for a long while. Lucia felt her heart do a little flip, happy that Soren was actually loved by his family. Suddenly the tension that had been caused from her hounding Soren about the memory retrieval procedure seemed like a small price to have paid.
It had brought him home.
Soon they detached and a yellow male who Soren called ‘father’ embraced him next, and then another blue female Lucia assumed was Gi’Calla.
She took in the rest of the group awaiting them and noticed they regarded her with a mix of revulsion and curiosity. Her stomach churned, pulling back up that ball of nerves to clog her throat.
Males of various colors in long black robes of a slightly shimmering fabric held staffs that Lucia assumed were weapons of some kind. They looked official, with their golden belts about their waists adorned with some kind of seal. Two flanked the queen while three sat atop the large beasts.
Her attention arrested on them next.
They were muscular, cloven footed beasts with short white fur and black spots lining the underside of their eyes and along the spine. Its eyes were slightly bulging, rolling green orbs with a black rounded pupil at their centers, flanked with long black lashes to bat away the tiny insects that wanted their moisture.
A lone, curved horn began on its slightly elongated black fleshed snout; thick and white at the start only to fade into orange and be tipped in black. Ears that were nearly as big as its own head, stuck upward and outward, long wisps of black hairs adorning them. They flicked whenever a sound would emit from the expanse of the forest around them.
Along its lengthy, bushy tail, shimmering orange feathers dotted its white fur, getting thicker toward the end where they whipped back and forth with each flick of the appendage.
They were beautiful and strange. Lucia had never seen them before in all her travels.
“So it is true? You bred her?” The queen’s voice pulled Lu’s attention away from the beasts and back to the conversation at hand.
“Mother,” Val’Zun warned. The queen regarded her then and Lucia tried to remember not to squeeze the life out of Lenny, once more. She did her best to bow from the waist down, as Zun instructed, much to Lenny’s displeasure since she let out a whine before settling back into slumber.
“Queen Gi’Moy,” Lu dipped her chin in greeting once she stood upward. “It’s nice to meet you.”
The queen ‘hmph’d’ and came closer. She peered at Lenny, her fingers lifting her tiny hand. Lu tried her best not to go berserk about the sharp claws getting so close to the fair skin of the babe.
“She is deformed,” Gi’Moy said dismissively and looked over to Soren. “She has no claws, half her limbs, and barely any scales. How will she control her mate, or at the very least, protect herself?”
Lucia startled at all of that and her brain was hurling words toward her tongue, but Soren stopped her by placing a hand upon her back and rubbing. In the nick of time, Lu bit down and swallowed whatever was going to fly from her mouth.
“We will not need to worry about such matters for a long while,” he answered. “Many species have learned to live with one set of arms, as will Re’Len.”
“This is not good,” the king said with one shake of his head while he regarded Lucia and Lenny with distaste. “Your union is unnatural.”
The silence ensued and Lucia gulped down the rising ball in her throat while her eyes swept around at all the faces staring back at her.
So much repugnance met her gaze and it was hard to ignore the painful sting in her sinuses and eyes as her body threatened to overflow with the severe need to disappear.
Her arms protectively tightened on her youngling, wanting to shield her from people who thought them both lesser.
I shouldn’t have come here.
Val’Zun moved to stand on the other side of her, his butter colored eyes lighter than Soren’s looked down at her with something similar to sympathy while the backs of his knuckles brushed along her arm comfortingly. The brother’s small gestures helped to relax her just a hair and remind her this reaction was to be expected.
Lucia inhaled once and exhaled, trying to expel the bad energy threatening to choke her silly.
Another male stepped forward, hugging Soren with gusto and they both laughed as they pounded on each other’s backs.
“The favored one comes back,” he jabbed. “Maybe mother will leave the rest of us alone now, eh?”
The queen huffed.
“Loo-Sha,” Soren said. “This is Val’Koy”
Lu dipped her chin and a small, tight lipped smile that didn’t reach her eyes curved her mouth.
Val’Koy resembled his brothers, but he was leaner like Zun, and his cheekbones were almost too knifelike, creating a harsh look that bordered ugly. Upon them sat eerie, pale green eyes that watched her with a sense of curiosity, and mischief. He too, lifted Lenny’s small hand and examined her for a quick moment before focusing back on Lucia. The slits of his pupils were so thin they were only black slivers in a sea of paleness.
Tiny hairs on the nape of her neck stood on end.
“What is it like to fuck her?” he cocked his head to the side ever so slightly, the corner of his lips kicking up slowly to show the glint of his dangerous teeth. Lucia felt her face burn with embarrassment.
“Val’Koy,” Soren warned. Val’Koy scented the air and Lucia took a wary step backward. Three distinctive clicks of a rumbling, rolling growl sounded from Soren, Zun, and Ren, which only made Val’Koy fully smile and bark a laugh. He turned his attention to Soren and draped his right arms over his brother’s shoulders.
“Come, we will feast to your safe return!” He motioned toward one of the guards to bring the extra beasts forward. At that point, Lucia realized it was getting darker as the late afternoon slipped on by. “Many await you for your banquet.”
Lucia’s insides turned to a churning mess. She wasn’t sure she could handle eating in a room full of Melier if they all looked at her like these few had. Soren must’ve noticed the fall of her face, because after he lifted her onto one of the beasts and settled in behind her, he kissed the top of her head.
“It will be alright,” he whispered, his lower set of arms settling about her middle while the other held onto the reins.
Everyone else began mounting and the party moved along with two guards in front, the king and queen next, then Val’Koy and Gi’Calla. She and Soren were in the middle while Val’Zun and Gi’Ren rode their mounts on either side of them and the remainder of the guards brought up the tail. For such a large animal, the ride was smooth and Lucia barely felt jostled.
“What is this mount called?”
“Orana,” Soren responded. “Good mounts when tamed. Wild, they are very dangerous and territorial.”
Lucia tested the name on her tongue as her eyes flitted about. The mists clung to parts of the forest around them as they traveled the yellow sand road at a leisurely pace. A trickle of sweat slid down her temple and she wiped it away while watching a fat, armored, green critter scurry along the road and then dive into a bright red bush.
Upon closer inspection, a particularly prominent species of tree along the road kept changing color. One moment its foliage would be green, the next it would turn pink or pale purple, seemingly doing so for no apparent reason.
All around her, the calls of wildlife broke the silence, giving no peace to anyone; it was comforting.
It really is fucking hot.
The creases of her limbs were beginning to grow slick with sweat as the heat and humidity worked on her body. She wasn’t even exerting herself by walking and she was turning into a mess. Her curls were getting heavy on her head, becoming an unruly jumble.
Another swipe of her hand over her forehead smeared the beads
of moisture away, and that’s when she noticed the palace looming in the distance and the two yellow suns far in the sky.
No wonder I’m roasting.
Lucia turned her head to glare over at Zun. His eyes were trained ahead, but as if he had a sixth sense, he eventually turned to look at her. His hairless brow rose.
“You didn’t tell me there were two suns on this oven of a planet,” she whisper yelled. “I’m literally melting.” Again, she wiped at sweat, this time along her jaw.
“Yes, I am aware,” he returned his attention ahead. “Your scent is very potent.”
Soren’s chest rumbled amusement at her back. Lu elbowed him with her arm that wasn’t holding Lenny and was satisfied with his grunt.
“Her pheromones are all I can smell.”
“It is worse when she sweats,” Soren agreed.
“It’s rude to talk about people like they aren’t there,” she waved a hand. They’d been doing that a lot lately.
A large bird squawked from overhead and Lucia nearly jumped out of her hot skin. Her gaze lifted to the canopy above them and saw an extremely huge red and yellow bird soaring above the tree tops. Her eyes widened and she hoped it wasn’t a people eater. “How dangerous is this planet?”
“Do not worry,” Soren kissed the top of her head again. “You will not be harmed.”
Lucia stared at the beauty of the palace as they got ever closer. It was made of a blue and white stone that reflected the suns in certain spots, with dark blue multiple domed tops which sprung from an enormous, square foundation. The sandy yellow road they were traveling led straight to it.
The trees all around the path thinned and changed species as the forest fell behind them. They were tall, skinny and barely had any foliage except above in the canopy. Low laying flora could be seen for stretches among the roots of the trees ranging from bright, vibrant yellow to dark orange and broken up by bits of dawn blue flowers that reminded her of Lenny’s skin.