Page 48

Her father was drawing. A picture of her mother this time. But not as she was – stern, sharp, uncompromising – but as she appeared to his eyes. Tempestuous, strong, passionate.

Loved.

“You’re a lot like your mother, peanut,”

he told her while he sketched. Kara watched her mother’s face come to life on the paper.

“I don’t look like her,”

she pointed out.

“No. You look like me. But you have your mother’s determination.”

He put the charcoal stick down and lifted her onto his lap. Kara rubbed her hand against his chin, giggling at tickle of his stubble.

“Why don’t I have brothers and sisters?”

she asked.

“It wasn’t meant to be,”

he said. “And anyway, you’re plenty for us, peanut.”

“Mommy says I’m more trouble than I’m worth.”

“When did she say that?”

Kara shifted guiltily.

“When I spilled milk on her computer.”

“Ah.”

Her father smiled. “Well, you know your mother doesn’t mean it. You are as precious to her as you are to me, and you always will be.”

“Ethan’s mommy went to heaven. It made him sad.”

“Who’s Ethan?”

“Boy at school.”

Kara looked at her father anxiously. “You and mommy aren’t going to heaven, are you?”

“Not for a long time, I promise. But even when we do, we won’t truly be gone.”

Her father hugged her close and rubbed his chin on the top of her head, making her squeal. “You’ll always carry part of us inside you. And when you have children, we’ll be in them too. That’s how we live forever, peanut.”

Kara drifted from sleep to wakefulness, the memory of her father as sharp as citrus. He hadn’t kept his promise, she reflected. He’d died less than a year later.

“Were you dreaming, kalehsha?”

Vahn’s question made her open her eyes. He was facing her, his head on her pillow.

“Yes. About my dad.”

She draped her arm around his neck. “Can I ask you something? Why are you so sure we can have children? Even couples of the same species have trouble conceiving, how do you know you and I can?”

“Because Vannla sent you to me as my fated mate. She would not have done so if we could not procreate.”

“Procreate. So sexy,”

Kara teased.

He gazed at her intently.

“For Vraxians, procreation is the most romantic thing two mates can do. To fill your belly with my seed, to watch our hatchling grow within you, to see you bloom with new life. I cannot imagine anything more sexy.”

Well, when he put it like that…

“But what if we aren’t biologically compatible?”

Kara persisted. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“You could never disappoint me, beloved. And if the gods decide it isn’t to be, it won’t change my feelings. I will still love you and worship you till the day I die. But if it makes you happier, there is a ritual to determine if a Zhaal and his Zhaalini will have children.”

“A ritual?”

Kara’s brow wrinkled. “Do you mean like a medical test or something?”

“No. It is a sacred ceremony that is performed when the Zhaal is ready to create an heir. My father and mother went through it, and my grandparents before them, and so on for hundreds of years.”

“I don’t understand. What kind of ceremony?”

Vahn suddenly looked uncomfortable.

“It’s performed by the Handmaidens of Vannla. Their High Priestess has the gift of foresight and she…”

“What the fuck?”

Kara was gobsmacked. “Are you seriously telling me some religious nut is going to tell us if we can have kids?”

“It is not what you imagine.”

Vahn tried to explain. “Normally when two mates wish to start a family, they do so without any interference. But for a Zhaal, the future of the Empire is at stake. So for generations, royals have used the services of the Handmaidens. They can predict if and when the next Imiri will be born.”

“I don’t believe this. You can’t move on Vraxos for high-tech gizmos and mechbots. And now you’re telling me there’s some magical cult that gives fertility advice?”

“They’re not magical, Kara. The Handmaidens are an ancient sect with the gift of precognition.”

“You mean they’re a bunch of fortune-tellers?”

“In a sense, yes. They have psychic abilities.”

Kara snorted and he looked pained. “If you cannot respect them, at least respect our traditions. They might be able to give you the answers you seek.”

She realized he was being serious.

“You genuinely trust these people?”

“If anyone knows whether a human and a Vraxian can procreate, it is the High Priestess. She can even tell us what our hatchlings will look like, if that’s what worries you. But only if you’re willing, my kalehsha.”

He waited patiently for an answer.

Kara didn’t know what to make of it. The whole thing seemed nuts. She knew what her mother would say; science is the only thing that gives concrete answers. But it was clearly important to Vahn.

Her father’s voice came back to her.

Children are how we live forever.

She looked into her alien’s yellow eyes.

“I love you, snake-boy. And I do want children. Correction – I want your children. So let’s do it.”

He felt his heart swell.

“You’ll allow the High Priestess to perform the ritual?”

“As long as there’s no human sacrifice involved, count me in.”