Bride of the Trogarians (7 page)

It was a statement. His tone was fierce, protective. Iris tore her eyes away from the picture and looked up at Zios.

“Yes,” she said.

“He was gentle?”

“He was,” she admitted, remembering now and feeling guilty for implying that they were savages. “Utak… he took me to the spring. He was kind to me. He bathed me. He held me in the water. When he… took me… I wanted it.”

“Did you find your pleasure?”

She felt herself flush. “Yes.”

“Before him? That is also our way.”

A warrior race that wore animal skins and ate insects was also a race that decreed females must achieve sexual release before the males? Iris would have laughed at the ironic absurdity had she not felt so ashamed of her own assumptions about these men. They could have kept her tied outside and there’d have been nothing she could have done. Instead, they had brought her here to this private chamber, for instruction, for protection.

“I am sorry,” she said. “I did not mean to offend you.”

“We understand your ways are not our ways,” he said. “But you must adapt. My brother has claimed you. Soon I will claim you. Then we will claim you together. On that day, you will become completely Trogarian.”

Iris felt her pussy quicken with a rapid series of pulses. “Together?” She squeaked the word.

“Yes. Our seed will mingle within you. Take root. When the All that Is sees fit, life will be breathed into what we have made, and it will grow into a son of Trogar.”

The touch of his hand on her pelvis sent another flush through her, a flush of desire. This was followed by another spike of guilt. She’d wanted Utak when they’d been in the springs. She wanted Zios now. It had been easier to cast them as savages preying on her helplessness than to acknowledge that she was excited by these two muscular strangers who spanked her as if she were a child whenever she disobeyed them.

She looked back at the tapestry. “So why are you here on TraoX39?” she asked. “Is the planet under attack?”

“The senators appealed to us to come set up an outpost based on intelligence that a threat was imminent. They have been hearing rumor of possible invaders, of a battle plan to destroy the Traoians and take their resources.”

“I thought the Traoians have an army.”

“They do,” Zios said. “At one time it was a great army under Augustus Bron, the general who became a senator seeking peace. He is on a diplomatic mission, and the army he leaves behind protects the inner dome. But they have grown unskilled in the kind of outside combat of which we are masters. Trogar is a wild planet full of beasts and mountains. We tame our first gyrand while still younglings.” When Iris looked puzzled, he clarified by pointing to the tapestry, directing her attention to a rendering of a Trogarian male on one of the beasts she’d seen them riding the day she arrived. “The Traoians have been spoiled by peace. Their starships now can prevent most threats before they reach the planets. But sometimes threats slip through, landing on the other side of TraoX39. Should they make it through the pass, the domes and all inside would be vulnerable.”

Iris looked back toward the city. “And those outside the domes? The miners and scrappers?”

“They would fall first,” he said. “We have been asked to keep a presence here, to deter.”

It made sense to Iris, and yet it didn’t. She’d been in the Acclimation Center for a year, and during that time the matrons had never expressed fear of invaders. They’d only touted the peace the planet enjoyed, often extolling the culture and security of TraoX39 over that of Earth in the kind of condescending way that often had Iris biting her tongue.

But she dismissed these thoughts; governments often hid information from their people to avoid mass panic. Likely the pampered elite under the domes were kept ignorant of a lot of things that lurked beyond their glass houses.

Zios had begun speaking again. “To be a true Trogarian, you must become stronger.” He reached out, squeezed her arm. “I like your softness, but you must be stronger. You must learn to ride a gyrand.”

“Ride…” Iris swallowed in fear. As a child, she’d been taken to the county fair by her aunt and uncle. It was the last year before the drought, the last year of bees. There had been a pony in a pen. She’d gone to pet it and it had bitten her. Later, when her girlfriends had sobbed over news that horses and ponies and nonessential livestock were being slaughtered, Iris had not felt the same grief. Her experience at the fair had made her afraid of horses. And while the gyrands looked more like furry, swaybacked crosses between giraffes and camels, in her mind, anything that carried a rider was in the horse-and-pony category, and therefore dangerous.

“Oh, I don’t think I can,” she said.

“You have no choice.” He led her out, picked up the discarded dress, and handed it to her. Lija appeared at her side, smiling kindly as she handed her a pair of boots. She looked proud, and Iris realized she must have made these as well, and this time remembered to show gratitude.

“Thank you,” she said, and sat down to don the boots, which came up to just below her knees and fastened with crisscross straps. They were surprisingly comfortable, and when she walked out of the tent this time, flanked on either side by Utak and Zios, she felt less self-conscious. The Trogarians still looked at her, some with curiosity, some with amusement. But no one showed signs of disrespect. Iris wondered if this had something to do with the position of the two brothers who now considered her theirs.

The outpost was larger than she realized, and Utak pointed out the piles of scrub that ringed the perimeter. There were, he said, wild and dangerous beasts in the forests above and on the other side of the ravine. She should never venture out alone; to do so was forbidden, and would bring severe punishment.

Iris couldn’t imagine why she would. The terrain was rocky, wild, and unforgiving. And if she had any doubt that the stories of beasts were embellished to frighten her, that doubt was dispelled when Utak pointed to the skull of two beasts that had been recently killed not far from camp. The largest was nearly as long as her body, the long teeth indicating a fearsome predator. Zios showed her a necklace made of its claws; huge, hooked appendages he said could tear through rocky soil. The beasts were large and fierce, and adapted the successful pursuit of prey. If it climbed a tree, the beast could grasp the trunk and shake it free. If something they pursued slid down a hole, the beast could excavate until it was reached. If it ran, the beast could overtake it.

“We killed this one,” Utak said, his face proud. “It took two of us.” He smiled at her. “A little female would be no match.”

She didn’t intend to test his theory. It was daunting enough to face the domesticated beasts they now had her approach. The gyrands were almost cartoonish in appearance with huge Roman heads with floppy ears. Their legs were short, which made them look off balance given that their necks were long. Their wide, padded hooves, large nostrils, and long eyelashes made Iris think of camels, but camels had humps, where these creatures had distinctive dips in their backs instead of humps. There were three waiting for them at the edge of the encampment.

“I’m to ride alone?” Iris couldn’t help but feel nervous; she’d assumed she’d be riding with one of the brothers, not by herself. In response, Utak lifted her onto the back of the smallest gyrand. The animal was wearing a saddle made of fur and leather. It wasn’t uncomfortable, and the dipped back cradled Iris, making her feel as secure as she could, given the circumstances.

The brothers mounted their own gyrands. The one carrying Iris watched passively until the others began to move. Zios called over his shoulder, telling her there was no need to steer, that the gyrand she’d been given would walk after the others and that this lesson was intended to help her find her seat.

The creature snuffled as it walked. Its gait was a fluid and rolling, and when the others sped up, Iris at first cried out for them to slow down, but then realized that the lope was no harder to sit than a walk. It felt like being on a carousel horse; the great padded feet acted as shock absorbers. The three gyrands lumbered briskly, covering the ground between the camp and a stand of trees far more quickly than Iris would have imagined. And she felt a measure of pride in how easily she kept her balance, and a measure of surprise by how much fun it was.

They were heading toward the trees, but then she saw the brothers pull their animals to a sudden halt. And her mount, obviously not expecting a stop, locked its feet, sending Iris up on its neck. Her arms went around it and she grasped tightly, breathing heavily as she sank back in the saddle.

She was going to ask why they’d stopped, but didn’t have to. A shuttle was speeding toward them. This one was different than the one that had been used to transport her to the outpost. It moved soundlessly, and was shiny and emblazoned with the Traoian shield.

“Wait here,” Utak said, and Iris thought the command seemed like a senseless one. The brothers had already dismounted and their obedient gyrands stood lopping grass as they waited. She felt a tug on the reins as her mount lowered its head to eat with the others. She could hardly run off on such a herd-bound creature, not even if she wanted to.

She watched as Utak and Zios approached the shuttle on foot. Several Traoians were exiting. She recognized the senatorial robes and sashes of high-ranking officials. One stepped forward who was far shorter and stouter than the brothers. The portly Traoian’s expression turned grave as he gestured toward the encampment and the pass. Utak and Zios exchanged looks, nodded between themselves, nodded at the official.

Utak and Zios continued to speak with the delegation. There was more gesturing, this time toward the pass between the mountains. The senators’ expressions looked urgent as they spoke. The brothers’ gyrands moved to another patch of vegetation closer to their owners. The one under Iris followed. The talking stopped as one of the senators looked up at her.

“So, the human is still among you?” he sneered.

“Is there a reason a mate we were given should not be?” Zios asked.

“No, of course not.” The senator gave a false smile. “You are pleased with her?” He was staring at Iris. She could see the disappointment in his eyes. Traoian leadership no doubt expected her to be miserable, not to see her clean and dressed and in the company of the powerful chieftains.

“She is a fine female, and will be a good mate. My brother and I are grateful.”

“Then show your gratitude by protecting the people of our planet,” the senator was saying. “The threat I describe to you is very real, and hesitation on your part could cost many lives. The plan of attack we have recommended against the Odh is the best, based on our intelligence of their movements. If there are survivors in this first wave, more will come, and all will be lost.”

“We will honor our promise to protect the lives here,” Utak said, and the senators smiled and turned to file back into the shuttle bay. Iris’ gyrand lifted its head and blew a nervous blast of air as the vehicle lifted into the air, rumbled, and then shot across the plain.

Utak and Zios were talking quietly when they came back to their gyrands.

“We must gather the Council of Warriors,” Zios said. “You have done well today, little one, but we must go back now.”

Iris felt a sting of disappointment at having their outing cut short. The brothers seemed distracted. They did not look back at her as they rode ahead of her. When they arrived in the encampment, Utak issued a high, ululating call and suddenly, large male Trogarians were rushing toward the tent. The brothers dismounted, and she was lifted off the gyrand by Zios, who carried her inside and deposited her on the far side of his chamber.

“Do not move from this spot,” he said gruffly. Through the flap of the partition, she could hear the sound of concerned male voices. She edged closer to the partition, catching snatches of conversation.

She had never heard of the Odh, but from what the Trogarians had been told, Traoian intelligence had indicated the race from a relatively newly discovered star system was planning to launch a series of attacks. The first would involve landing somewhere on the remote, unpatrolled portion of TraoX39, followed by a sweep through the pass. This first exercise, they’d been told, would be part test, part reconnaissance. If the party survived, the full army would be sent. The Traoians had painted a bleak picture of what would follow if any Odh was left alive.

The debate among the Trogarians was spirited, and as Iris listened, she realized how wrong the Traoians were to paint these people as savages. Utak and Zios and the other members of the council were measured in their debate; they’d sworn to protect the planet, but uneasy about attacking a strange race based on Traoian intelligence alone.

“They have been honest with us thus far,” Zios was saying, and behind the partition, Iris frowned. She could tell them a thing or two about Traoian honesty. But as the council edged closer to acceptance, she took comfort in their satisfaction with their allies. The senators had assured them that they had backup military at the ready, should the Trogarians need it. To doubt their allies in the face of an unknown attacker could be disastrous not just to the planet they’d sworn to protect, but to the females and younglings in their own encampment. They would face this threat, the council decided, and cut the Odh down as they came through the pass.

They were starting to filter out of the tent. Iris still kept her ear to the opening in the tent flap, ready to move when she heard Zios approach. She jumped in alarm when the panel opened, and she looked up to see him staring down at her.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I-I…” She wanted to say she was just listening, but the words died in her throat. He’d told her not to move from where he’d placed her. She’d disobeyed, and in his dark eyes she could see that he would make her pay for that mistake.

Chapter Six

“I meant no harm,” she said defensively. Iris scrambled to her feet and backed away. “Besides, what’s wrong with your females knowing what goes on?”