PowerofLearning (7 page)
She chuckled. “And I can see the fascination with mating. It does seem like the thing that one would enjoy repeating given every opportunity.”
“I am glad. I intend to learn every sensitive inch of you and then using my knowledge for evil.” He trailed his lips along her neck and nipped at a section of shoulder. That slight nip got her body working up its enthusiasm in one tiny flicker of sensation.
He lifted her thigh and slid into her while continuing to worry at that one spot until she dug her nails into his arms and shook in his grip.
She groaned when she realized that he hadn’t followed her into release. It was going to be a very long night.
The debriefing the next morning was mercifully short. Sitting was awkward, as was keeping her thighs together during the meeting.
She explained her subject matter and that the farmers of Kladdian were now capable of baking some dreadful holiday cakes, a lovely whipped fruit bombe and crafting their own bath products.
Relay’s smile grew wider until she couldn’t stop laughing. “Thank you very much for your services, Brainstorm. Your compensation has been transferred to your account.”
She blinked. “Brainstorm?”
Relay shrugged. “It is customary if someone acting for the Sector Guard has family, to give them a call sign to reduce the exposure that their loved ones might suffer.”
“All my life I have been wary of brainstorms, to be called one is a sort of a combined twist of personal meanings.”
Relay beamed and Hosh laughed.
Yavil wrinkled her nose and thought to herself, it could be worse.
The moment Relay released them, Hosh and Yavil were back on their way to the Citadel. She had a lecture in the afternoon and Hosh was supposed to be at a demonstration of battlefield sutures in an hour.
“So, I am Brainstorm?” She twisted her lips. “I wonder how they got the idea for that.”
He gave her an innocent look as he parked the skimmer. “I merely mentioned it in passing. Who knew they were going to hang it on you?”
“I think you may have guessed. Do you have a call sign?”
He scowled. “Patches. It is less than flattering.”
As they walked back into the Citadel proper, she nudged him with her hip. “I like it, Patches.”
“You will pay for that.”
“I look forward to it.” They entered the lab where his students were waiting and the lifelike mock-up was ready to show what a living body would look like when injured.
She patted him on the butt. “Get cracking, Patches.”
Chapter Twelve
“I don’t believe it.” Yavil paced up and down the length of their rooms.
Hosh was lying on the bed, his arms behind his head. “I can tell. You have said that you didn’t believe it four times.”
“I can’t…I mean we can’t…can we?” She looked over at him and cocked her head. “What do you think?”
“I have no objection if you don’t. I am sure that Turnari would not have a problem with it. There are provisions in your contract after all.”
She shrugged and ran her hands through her hair. “I will have to cancel lectures.”
“Turnari will agree.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am, now come to bed.”
She frowned and crawled into bed, covering him from neck to knee with her own body. She dropped onto him with a thud and tucked her head under his chin while his arms wrapped around her.
“My brother and sister’s wedding. I never thought they would invite me to the ceremony.”
“Despite their confusion, your family loves you. They want you there on the happiest day of their lives.”
She snorted. “It is hardly the happiest. They will have to break the connection with their twin before joining with their new mate. The new joining does not always work smoothly.”
“Not like ours?”
Yavil chuckled. “No, not like ours at all. They are far more repressed when the moment comes for the two to become one. They greet it with fear and distrust. Because of the sibling link, they never have to trust anyone else. Giving yourself up to a stranger, no matter how well you like them, is always a frightening proposition, and they will have to fight that fear.”
“You didn’t have any fear. Your mind clamped onto mine like it was starving.” He feathered a kiss against her temple.
“I am aware of that. It was horribly embarrassing at the time, but as I got used to you, I actually enjoyed it.” She kissed his neck.
“So, what do we wear?”
“As little as possible, though if they are having off-worlders, we will be allowed something.” She snorted. “Perhaps a headpiece for me.”
“Nothing for me?”
She rose up on her forearms and smiled into his amused gaze. “I think I like you just like this. A piece of my jungles come to life.”
He stroked his hands down her back. “And I like you just like this, a sliver of moonlight turned into warm woman.”
After confirming their link in the most delightful way possible, Yavil curled to sleep in Hosh’s arms. A wedding on Tebr was always an occasion, and if Ardu and Yellan wanted her to visit for the event, she was finally able to be there for them, because Hosh was there for her.
The wedding clothing that they had picked out for her was surprising. There was an elaborate headdress, a short white jewelled breast band, minute briefs and coverings that went from elbow to wrist and knee to ankle. “Why am I dressed like the primary?”
Yavil swished her long tail of hair around and smiled at Hosh’s jewelled hip wrap and matching wrist cuffs.
Yellan looked at her and bit her lip. “We want you to give us away.”
Ardu was fiddling with his deep purple wrap, and he nodded in agreement. “You know how to manage these things, and mother and father are clueless.”
Hosh asked, “What is the primary?”
Yavil grimaced, “The primary makes the key speech before instructing the couples on releasing their sibling link and joining with their new partner.”
Hosh chuckled. “You seem to be precisely equipped for that particular task. Will you lecture them on it?”
She winked. “I may unleash the power of learning on them.”
Ardu was worried. “So, you will do it?”
She sighed. “Of course I will do it.”
The chronometer chimed the hour. Ardu and Yellan stood close to one another and walked together out of the Rikhana house, down the pathways and to the great hall with Hosh and Yavil bringing up the rear.
The great hall was packed with dignitaries and Tebr family representatives.
Yavil practiced her breathing as she stepped in front of her siblings.
Hosh slipped up the aisle and took the open spot next to her parents.
With him tucked away, she took the lead, and drums swelled as her siblings followed her to the table where their mates waited.
The Rikhana family was higher ranking than the Honnials, so the Honnials waited while the Rikhana came to them. Ardu and Yellan took their seats at the table across from their prospective spouses and the official began the requests for objection and the other formalities.
When the paperwork had been filed, all was ready.
“And now, the primary, Yavil Rikhana.” The official stepped aside and gave her free reign.
Yavil came forward and inclined her head, the beads of the headdress clashing with her movements. “Joining with another soul is a blessing that all Tebr experience. Breaking the first bond to form the second is the most difficult moment in a life. The only way that the Tebr continue on is to break one bond to form another, but I have a theory that no bond based in love can ever be broken. It can be thinned, but it will always be in the heart.”
A few older Tebr nodded and some younger ones frowned.
“We are blessed. We are designed to go through our life with someone at our side, in our minds and hearts. I speak from experience when I say that a single Tebr’s mind is not a pleasant place. It craves love, affection and understanding and will reach out to others in an effort to find it.”
She turned to address the couples. “Ladies and gentlemen, kiss the cheek of your twin and pull your mind back along the link. Do not break it yet.”
Yavil watched as both couples stood and did as she directed.
“Walk to your life mate and put your hand in theirs. Now, face them and put your other hand in theirs. Feel the warmth of your mate, the heartbeat that will join yours. Press your forehead against the one you want and breathe them in.”
She watched as both couples did as she said. “Kiss your mate, and with the kiss, draw their mind to yours and let them do the same to you. Allow them to make a place for themselves within you. Feel the joy at this link as it grows and strengthens. Feel the link with your sibling thin into a silver strand that will always connect you until death. This link can be severed by either party, but for now, let the warmth of your mate wash over you and the link to your sibling cool and fade.”
As she ceased speaking, the two couples began to make out in a display of passion that few ceremonies ever achieved.
“When you feel you have acquired your link, you can cease the kiss. If you are inclined to continue, you may want to take it somewhere private.” She grinned and inclined her head.
“Before those assembled, I have discharged my duty as primary. Thank you all for coming and sharing in our most honoured day.”
She walked down the aisle, and Hosh got to his feet, kissing her in front of all assembled.
When he lifted his head, he chuckled. “I think your parents like me.”
“The head of the Tebr council doesn’t. He disapproves of kissing in public. He thinks it will lead to the moral decline and dignity of the population.” She leaned up and kissed him again.
“I thought he disapproved.”
“Oh, he does.” She grinned and nibbled at his lower lip. “I don’t care. Guess what I just figured out.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist with the entire assembled crowd looking on.
“What?”
“I don’t live here anymore.” She laughed as he lifted her in the air and spun her around and around. As revelations went, it was beautifully simple, and there was nothing like an open mind and a place to let it run free to make someone feel at home. Add in a gorgeous hunk of a green Wyoran who shared her every hope and dream, she was set for life.
Author’s Note
Ask anyone, I can talk about anything for hours. Yes, it is horribly true…I gave her this talent, because it is something that folks around me deal with every day. I will lecture folks on the metallurgy of medieval weaponry or the best way to get a soft cinnamon bun. I just like to talk.
Having her linked to a Wyoran just made sense. If your mind loves logic, part of it must crave companionship to keep the balance.
I hope you enjoyed it. Light of Battle is next, and when you are raised with fighting as your only purpose, you tend to stop planning for the future.
Viola Grace
About the Author
Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.
Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.