Sheala (23 page)

Sheala nodded. “I noticed that in the bathroom. At first I thought I’d have to ask to have hot water sent up.”

Teena chuckled then sipped her tea. “Centuries ago, we Gattan were nomadic herdsmen. Our lives revolved around our huge horse and cattle herds.”

“Horse?”

“That’s what we call our riding beasts. Anyway, technology has made the Gattan nomadic way of life obsolete. However, there are some Gattan who cling to the old ways, and every tribe still had its traditional herd of horses. The
Leonine
tribe, especially, still takes pride in its horse herds. No matter how technologically advanced we become, we will always retain those. But I think it might be better if you asked questions, and I answered them.”

Sheala nodded. There were things she wanted to know. “How many different tribes of Gattan are there?”

“Seven. Our tribe,
Leonine
, is the largest, followed closely by the
Tigre
tribe. Radris is of the
Pantra
tribe. Though a small tribe, they have some of the finest warriors and have traditionally provided much of the king’s guard. The
Snopards
are our tribe of priests, seers, and sages. No major decisions are made without their advice and, in most cases, approval. They also provide warrior priestesses who are the queen’s guard. The final are the
Jagar
, the
Lynex
, and the
Celet
.”

Sheala sipped more tea. “And you all look different?”

Teena nodded. “Superficially. The
Lynex
, of which Sosha is a member, look a great deal like the
Leonine
, except they’re smaller and are the only tribe without tails.”

“I noticed Sosha didn’t have one. At first I thought Bakom cut it off until she told me all members of her tribe are born like that.”

Teena nodded again. “
Tigres
have striped skins, and
Celet
and
Jagar
have spotted skins though the
Celet
are smaller in stature, about the same as the
Lynex
. The
Pantra
usually have black skins and the
Snopard
are mostly white with ivory or cream-colored spots.”

“Do you intermarry?”

“Generations ago, raiding and warring among the tribes was the norm until the
Snopards
demanded a halt. If we didn’t stop fighting, they said, we’d exterminate ourselves within ten generations. We had no reason to doubt their pronouncement. Everything they’d ever told us before had come true.”

Sheala sipped her tea.
Snopards
. All conversations about Gattan came back to them. She’d have to learn more about them. They seemed to have more power than the queen.

“They also told us we had to choose a queen. All tribes but the
Snopards
were to choose a champion from among their female warriors, not just one who was brave and skilled in battle, but one who also excelled in riddle games and debate, among other things. The women would be tested seven different ways. She who had the highest score would become queen.”

Sheala smiled. “And the
Leonine
won.”

Teena nodded. “Yes, and was immediately challenged for the position by the
Tigre
.”

“But she was defeated.”

“Yes, and claimed the contests were unfair. The
Snopards
allowed the challenge since it was the only way to bring harmony. The
Tigre
lost. The royal line has descended from our tribe ever since.”

“Don’t the tribes intermarry?” she asked again.

Teena sipped more tea. “As the years passed, there was more and more intermarriage. Our current queen is
Tigre
. However, like I said, the royal line passes through the
Leonine
tribe. She had to marry into our tribe in order to become queen.”

Sheala snorted. “I’ll bet there were some angry
Leonines
when that happened.”

Teena laughed. “You have no idea. But she’s a good woman and a good queen.”

Sheala’s mind leaped to another question. “What about that riding beast—the horse—of the colonel’s?

She winked at me. At first I thought I was seeing things, but then she winked at me again.” She stared at her mother-in-law. “That mare wasn’t just blinking, was she?”

Chuckling, Teena set her empty cup down. “No. She is a
pholola
mare, very rare, very special.
Phololas
are as intelligent as humans. Most are mares. If
pholola
manifests in a stallion, he is sterile.”

Sheala also set her cup down. “You can’t breed them?”

Teena shook her head. “No.
Pholola
mares do not necessarily birth
pholola
foals. Once we had the technology to understand DNA, our scientists tried to study
pholola
.”

“Tried?”

“The scientists were unable to learn anything. The five mares they studied submitted willingly to all of their tests, watched with amusement in their eyes, then walked away after twenty days. No one on Gattan understands how or why
pholola
are born. They just are. And now, with the advent of technology and the lessening of horses’ importance to our lifestyles, fewer and fewer
pholola
foals are born into the herds of the tribes—except for the herds of the
Snopards
. They have at least several born every generation.”

“
Pholola
are important then?”

“When one is born, it’s treated with more reverence than the queen herself. Ancient myths and legends speak of the consequences of ignoring the importance of
pholola
or hurting them in any way. In our more warlike past, when tribe fought with tribe,
pholola
foals were exempt from the many raiding parties that swept through the herds. To steal one was a sure death sentence—from the
pholola
mares themselves.

Every foal is born in a specific place and time with a specific purpose.”

“How do you know if a horse is
pholola
?”

“
Pholola
s are always completely white with velvety brown eyes. No other white horses exist on Gattan.

Phololas
choose their riders, not necessarily from within the tribe where they are born.”

“So the Colonel was chosen by that mare.”

Teena nodded.

“Who exactly is he?”

“Colonel Radris Nardinson is head of the King’s personal bodyguard and the acknowledged hand-to-hand combat champion on Gattan. Surprisingly, he was not a member of the
Leonine
tribe since the King’s champion usually was. However, Radris and Krondal have been best friends since they were boys. Besides, no one on the planet could defeat him in any type of personal combat. He is the best one to protect the king.”

A knock sounded at the door, and an older woman servant walked in. “The evening meal is ready to be served. The family only awaits you and your daughter-by-marriage.”

“We’ll be right there. Come along, Sheala. The men become grumpy if their evening meal is late.”

Smiling, Sheala followed Teena from the room. Men were the same everywhere.

* * * * *

“I had my mind on other things.”

Deni laughed softly. “So I heard.”

“Go to bed, Sheala,” Teena commanded gently. “You still aren’t used to the time change.”

“Or our long meals,” Deni interjected with a grin. “You’ll get used to it. Go on. Sosha has already gone to bed.”

Sheala didn’t try to hide her next yawn. “I am tired. Please excuse me.” A bit tipsy from the potent Gattan wine she’d drunk at dinner‚ Sheala smiled at her husband and said, “Stay and talk with your family, Marljas. I can find my way to our rooms without you.” With those words, she kissed his forehead and left the room.

Radris chuckled. “You should show her the way. I can remember getting lost in this warren you call a house.”

A contemplative look on his face, Marljas nodded and rose. “You could be right, Colonel. If you will excuse me,” he said. Nodding first to his mother and father and then to the others, he disappeared after his wife.

“I too shall bid you good night. My deepest thanks for the invitation to your table,” Beti said with a short, formal bow.

Radris broadened his smile. “Good night, lovely Aradab flower of Mediria. May your sleep be blessed with dreams of strong and virile warriors.”

Beti eyed him speculatively and then did a rare thing for an Aradab, she chuckled. “All those strong and virile warriors, no doubt, being black of skin and hair with pointy ears, claws, and tails. Tread carefully, Gattan. I may be too much woman for you.” With those words, Beti left the room.

Radris roared with laughter.

“I’ll be damned,” Wendjas said as he pulled Deni to her feet. “I think you were just propositioned, Colonel.”

His laughter dying to a slow chuckle, Radris said, “I believe you are right, Wendjas. I will have to do something about this.”

“Such as?” Deni teased, raising one eyebrow.

“Why, defeat her in hand-to-hand combat, of course,” was his answer.

His laughter followed them out of the room.

After he left the library, Marljas didn’t follow Sheala to their room. She had relaxed more and more during their long evening meal, and he wanted to give her time to get to their room and get comfortable.

So, he took a more circular route, stopping once to check with the guards who had been placed in a strategic position to watch Kadis’ door. He didn’t trust her not to try and murder Sheala in their bed.

After a few brief words with the guards, he turned left down another corridor, stopped and knocked softly on another door.

“Come in,” said a soft voice.

Opening the door, Marljas found Sosha propped up in her bed reading.

“How did you know I would still be awake?”

“I remembered that once you told me you like to read at night,” he answered from just inside the door.

“I stopped to see if you need anything.”

Soshas smiled. “Four maids, Denieen, and your mother have already asked the same question. Why are you really here, Marljas?”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, swallowed, then said, “I want to thank you for what you said to Kadis today. If it is what you truly wish, I will talk to Sheala, and we will work something out.

Sosha, I will marry you if that is what you want.”

For the first time in what seemed like years to her, Sosha laughed—laughed until tears ran down her cheeks.

She laughed so hard, Marljas became disgruntled. “I’m not joking.”

Hiccupping as she regained control, Sosha smiled through her tears. “I know. Thank you, Marljas Drefeson. First Bandalardrac and now you, these proposals will go to my head. But as with Ban, I am not the woman for you. Sheala is as much wife as you will ever want or need.”

Marljas smiled and bowed gracefully. “You will always have a home with me and mine, Sosha Kanicsdotir, bloodsister to my wife.”

With those words, Marljas left the room.

Staring at the closed door, Sosha sighed softly. It had felt good to laugh.

Sheala awoke slowly. Warm breath caressed her neck, and the firm arms around her waist held her close to a hard body. Sighing, Sheala snuggled closer.

Soon, soft kisses meandered their way down her neck and onto the shoulder her nightgown no longer covered. Humming softly, she turned her head towards her pillow so that there was greater access to her neck. Simultaneously, Marljas slid his hand along her side to her breast, and Sheala moved back against her husband. The combination of him cupping her breast and rubbing his hard cock against her ass brought her fully awake.

Gasping, she tried to pull away. Unfortunately, both she and Marljas were tangled in a sheet and light blanket, and he still had one arm wrapped around her.

Bakom’s face appeared before her. She couldn’t get away! She was a prisoner! She reacted violently.

“No!” she screamed, trying to turn in his arms and shove the flat of her hand against his windpipe.

“Don’t touch me!”

Luckily, Marljas held Sheala too closely for her to do any real physical damage, but she did deliver a glancing blow beneath his eye, and he immediately released her. Propping himself up on his elbow, he watched as she rolled away. The panic and terror on her face were genuine. His heart clenched as he gritted his teeth and growled with frustration. “I will
not
hurt you!”

Sheala burst into tears. “I am so…so…sorry, Marljas. I can’t help it. I thought you were…”

Throwing the blanket aside, Marljas rose from the bed, strode across the room, and gripped his wife’s upper arms. In the back of his mind, he noted the fact that she did not cower away from him. It seemed as if his cock was the only part of his body she feared. Unfortunately, yesterday’s oral stimulation in the barn notwithstanding, his sexual frustration was beginning to override his common sense.

“I
am
not Bakom, and I
will
not harm you. Didn’t I prove that yesterday? Sheala, you must get over this fear of me. You enjoyed my body before.”

Standing limply in his arms, Sheala dropped her gaze from his. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’ll free you to take another wife. Don’t waste your time with me.”

Anger flared in his eyes. “No! I don’t want another wife! I want you.” Releasing her, Marljas turned and disappeared into the bathroom.

Sobbing quietly, Sheala stumbled back to the bed and collapsed.

When he left the bathroom, Marljas paused momentarily when he saw the dejected picture his wife made. However, he did not go to her. Instead he left the room without saying a word.

Sheala was sure she heard her heart break.

Sosha watched as Marljas closed the door firmly behind him. Shoulders slumped, he leaned his head against the closed door.

After a minute or so, he straightened and stared at her.

Sosha knew he’d been aware of her presence. The fact that he let her see just how dejected he was spoke volumes for his mental state.

“Please, Sosha, help me. You’re her bloodsister. Talk to her. Convince her I won’t hurt her.”