Cursed: Brides of the Kindred 13 (21 page)

“A what?” She frowned at him uncertainly.

“It is a word in my native language—I suppose it doesn’t translate, even with the translation bacteria. It means a goddess in corporeal form. A deity who has deigned to grace a mortal male with her presence. I feel most honored to have you by my side.”

Charlotte’s cheeks got red and he wasn’t sure if she was upset or pleased by his compliment. Yet again, he wished that he could sense emotions and not just physical pain. He wanted desperately to know what she was feeling.

“Thank you,” she said at last. “That’s very…nice of you. Now how about we sit down and eat? I’m starved.”

“All right.” Stav motioned her to the table which was low—only a foot or so off the ground—and surrounded by cushions which were placed on the smooth pale wooden floor around it. Actually, the cushions appeared to be
part
of the floor because they didn’t move. He chose one on the end of the table and sat down, letting his legs slide down into the recessed area under the table that seemed to be for that purpose.

“Okay,
this
is an interesting table.” Charlotte seated herself on a cushion across from him so that they were facing each other. There were two other couples at the table and they nodded briefly as she got settled.

“Yes, it is.” Stav wished he could think of something more intelligent to say but he was too busy trying extremely hard not to look at her breasts. It was strange—he was surrounded by females wearing the exact same outfit as Charlotte yet she was the only one he could see. The one who drew his attention to the exclusion of all else.

“It’s really cozy and—oh!” she gasped, jumping a little and looking down at her cushion. “What the…I think this thing just got fresh with me!”

“The
gundar
is simply conforming to the shape of your body,” the female sitting beside Charlotte explained. She had pale blue skin, as did her mate, and thick, fleshy tentacles for hair which were writhing slowly, as though they had a mind of their own. “It wishes to make you more comfortable—that’s all.”

“A
gundar—
that’s what it’s called?” Charlotte looked at the pale purple cushion uneasily. She was halfway off of it, as though she couldn’t decide if she wanted to continue to sit or get as far from the
gundar
as she could.

“It’s all right—it won’t hurt you,” the girl with blue skin said. She smiled at Charlotte. “I’m
Ssstha
by the way and this is my mate,
Hsssthnk.”

“Oh, uh, pleased to meet you. I’m Charlie and this is Stavros.” Charlotte offered her hand automatically in the Earth greeting Stav had often seen. She clearly meant to shake hands with the alien female but
Ssstha
just looked at her outstretched hand, mystified.

“It’s a greeting from my bride’s home planet,” Stavros said, joining the conversation. “They clasp hands firmly and then shake them up and down a time or two before letting go.”

“Oh—like this?”
Ssstha
took Charlotte’s hand carefully in her own which had six long, blue fingers and pumped it exactly twice before letting go.

“Just like that.” Charlotte smiled at her, clearly amused. “And how do your people greet each other?”

“We are from
Thsssartha,”
her mate said, speaking up for the first time. “And we generally entwine tongues in greeting.”

He opened his mouth and the longest tongue Stavros had ever seen slithered out. It was bright green and forked on the end. It twitched sensitively, as though he was tasting the air around him. He leaned across the table to his mate and
Ssstha
extended her tongue as well. The two slippery ropes of flesh wrapped around each other in a slimy embrace.

After a moment, they disengaged and then, tongue still extended,
Hsssthnk
looked at Charlotte. Raising his eyebrows at her, he leaned forward, clearly intending to greet her in the way of his people.

“Uh…” Charlotte’s face went blank and Stavros could tell she was struggling not to show what she really felt—which was probably disgust and unease if her body language was anything to go by.

“You must excuse my bride,” he said to the male. “But in our culture it is strictly forbidden for a female to have oral contact with any save her mate—me.”

Hsssthnk
withdrew his tongue and sat back, looking faintly offended.

“Forgive me—I did not mean to contravene your customs.”

“Not at all,” Stav said heartily. “How could you know what is taboo for our people?”

“Is it a sexual act then?”
Ssstha
sounded curious. “Something so simple as using your tongue?”

“Indeed it is.” Stav case a meaningful glance at Charlotte. “When we entwine tongues, it leads to feelings of eroticism and pleasure. I plan on using my tongue on my lovely bride quite a lot while we are here.”

Charlotte kicked him under the table but she wasn’t wearing shoes so it didn’t really hurt—except for the fact that she stubbed her toe on his shin. The pain Stav felt echoing from the hurt digit was considerably sharper than the impact of her foot against his leg.

Reaching down with one long arm, he caught her foot under the table and massaged her toes, easing the ache for both of them. They felt dainty and fragile in his hands and he was struck at how much smaller she was than him though he believed she was about normal size for an Earth female. He could circle her slender ankle with his thumb and fingers which he did now, keeping hold of her firmly as he rubbed her toes.

“Let me
go,”
she muttered, frowning at him. Then, seeing that
Hssthnk
and
Ssstha
were looking at them oddly she said, “What my husband—uh, mate means is that he plans to
talk
to me tonight since that’s the only way his tongue is getting anywhere near me.”

“You appear to have some…interesting ideas,”
Hsssthnk
said neutrally.

“Anything new can appear strange.” Stavros released her foot at last and straightened up a little. “Regrettably, we cannot entwine tongues. I would, however, offer you a warrior’s clasp.” He held out his forearm and after a moment of hesitation, the other male took it, gripping near Stav’s elbow with his long, six-fingered hand. “Well met, brother,” Stav said, looking him in the eyes—which were golden with slit oval pupils.

“Well met.” The other male smiled. “A strange greeting but satisfying somehow. It makes me wonder what other strange customs you have on your planet. For instance, how do you—?”

“Shh!”
Ssstha
, his female suddenly hissed and gave him a look of caution.

“What is it?”
Hsssthnk
looked irritated at the interruption.

“A Joined One. Look—over there!” She nodded her head and several of her hair tentacles rose and pointed in the direction she was indicating.

Turning his head, Stavros saw a startling and loathsome sight—acreature with two faces was striding towards them.

Clearly it was a
Hossan
like Nar’sa and Ta’no. Its body looked normal with two arms and two legs but from the neck up it looked like some genetic merging accident had gone horribly wrong. Its faces were not arranged with one in the back and one in the front. Instead, it had one massive, bulbous cranium which looked as though it had once been two separate heads, now slowly melting together.

The faces of these joined heads were side by side and to Stav one looked distinctly female and the other just as certainly was male. Also, one half of the head was bald and the other had the same lush, floating halo of iridescent hair he had seen on Nar’sa and Ta’no. The skin was completely transparent and even the blood vessels looked faded. The creature had on a black robe so Stav couldn’t see if its internal organs and other inner structures were faded as well—not that he
wished
to see. In fact, he wanted to look away but somehow he couldn’t stop staring, though he knew it was rude.

Two sets of eyes, one glowing red and the other brilliant orange met his. Suddenly Stavros found he
could
look away after all. He turned his head and after a moment
Ssstha
whispered that the creature was gone.

“What…what
is
that?” Charlotte asked and Stavros was surprised to hear a tremble in her voice. Looking at her, he saw that her face was white as a sheet. Then he felt a sharp pain in his palms—what could be causing it? The others at the table seemed to be fine and Charlotte had her hands in her lap. Suddenly he understood that she was clenching her hands into fists under the table—clenching so hard that her fingernails were biting into the flesh of her palms.

“Charlotte?” He gave her a worried look. “Are you well?”

“Fine.” She gave a false sounding laugh and made a visible effort to relax. “It’s just…I thought the whole see-through skin was bad but
this
…”

“It’s a Joined One,”
Ssstha
murmured. “It is what happens to the
Hossans
when they spend too much time swimming in the sacred cleansing pool together. The plasma melds them together until two become one.”

“And…they
like
that?” Charlotte sounded incredulous.

Hsssthnk
nodded. “It is their highest ambition—to be forever joined to the one they love.”

“But the joining makes them somewhat…odd,”
Ssstha
said. “As well as irritable.”

“Can’t imagine
why,”
Charlotte muttered, some of her old attitude apparently coming back. “Being stuck to another person like two marshmallows that got melted together in the microwave would make me feel just
peachy.”

“Well
Hsssthnk
and I would not like it at all,”
Ssstha
said seriously, clearly not picking up on Charlotte’s sarcasm. “Luckily it takes centuries of swimming in the cleansing pool together to achieve such a level of Oneness.”

“In the mean time though, you must be wary of what you say around the Joined Ones,”
Hsssthnk
said. “They are the disciplinarians here and they are quick to take offense if they hear anyone discussing their home planets, customs, or past.”

“We are supposed to be striving towards the future only,”
Ssstha
said. “The penalties for doing otherwise can be…severe.”

“But I thought this place was all about love,” Stavros said, frowning.

“It is. But according to the Joined Ones, love must sometimes be stern.”
Hsssthnk
sounded skeptical.

“Huh. Tough love,” Charlotte muttered. “Tough
alien
love. Now I’ve heard it all.”

“Just be careful what you say and do around them,”
Ssstha
cautioned them. “You do not wish to incur their wrath or earn yourself a punishment. Those are…not pleasant. Especially the Temple of Regrets.”

“We will be certain to be careful,” Stavros said. “And thank you for the warning.”

“Of course.”
Hsssthnk
nodded at him cordially.

“What in the world is the Temple of Regrets?” asked Charlotte.

“It is—”
Ssstha
began.

But just then, Ta’no and Nar’sa came towards them, both holding a platter in each hand. Each platter appeared to be woven of long blades of blue straw and they were all piled high with little multicolored spheres in brilliant colors.

“Here are your last meals.” Nar’sa put one platter down in front of Charlotte and one in front of
Ssstha.
Ta’no deposited his in front of Stavros and
Hsssthnk.
“You do know the rules of repast, do you not?”

“We do,”
Hsssthnk
said, nodding before Stav could say otherwise.

“Well then, we hope you enjoy this humble fare,” Ta’no said. “We will conduct you to your evening classes when you are finished.”

He and Nar’sa turned and glided silently away leaving Stav to stare down at the pile of little balls on his plate.

* * * * *

“Well
these
look yummy,” Charlie muttered, poking one of the balls—a bright orange one—so that it rolled gently to the other side of her woven-grass platter. The balls, which looked like brightly colored Play-doh, ranged in size from peas to golf balls. None of them looked particularly tempting unless you’d been the kind of kid who liked eating paste and other crafting materials, Charlie guessed.