Page 17

17

NORA

They kept to the curving path through the jewel-toned jungle for some time until they came to a large clearing that was filled with small, straw-thatched huts. It looked primitive but clean and neat to Nora , who looked around in wonder.

It occurred to her that this place looked much too primitive to have the technology to speak with spacecraft or send coordinates. But maybe they were kind of like the Mennonites or some other religious sects back home on Earth and only used technology very sparingly.

In the center of the village was another smaller clearing where a lot of people were sitting. They were in a circle around the perimeter of the clearing and in the center was what looked like a tangle of purple roots and vines. It was shaped into a kind of rectangular platform that was raised several feet off the ground. The people of Primus Nine — Nora wasn’t sure what to call them—were sitting around it as though waiting for something.

This time she was better able to tell their sexes. The smaller ones had breasts and the larger ones didn’t. Also , though their clothing was made of leaves, like The One , it was more form-fitting and showed bare arms and legs. Presumably to keep the wearers cool, Nora thought.

She was beginning to wish her own t-shirt and jeans were cooler. It really was warm and humid here on Primus Nine . Xarex didn’t seem to be having any trouble with the temperature, however—even though he was wearing all black including tall black boots, tight leather trousers, and a long-sleeved black uniform shirt. Nora wondered if maybe his W’rx DNA allowed him to control his body temperature in some way? She really should learn more about that half of him.

The One who Cares for All led them to the center of the circle, standing beside the rectangular platform of leaves, vines, and roots. Nora noticed that in the very center of the platform there was an extra mound of long, purple, green, and blue vines. They seemed to be woven in a pattern and she thought she saw something shining in the spaces between them. What was down there under the mound of vines?

Before she could look more closely, The One who Cares for all began to speak.

“Welcome to all of you,” they said in a clear, neutral voice like the rustling of leaves. “ As you can see, tonight we will be hosting some visitors from another world. They have come seeking Syrilla’s Bloom so they must be tested and tried to see if they will be found worthy. We are hopeful that the Bloom will shine for them during their sacrifice so that they may pluck it.”

Nora wondered what the “sacrifice” would be but this didn’t seem to be the right time to ask. Instead , she nodded at the people around them and tried to smile but she got no answering smiles in return. Instead , everyone extended a hand and began patting it on the ground. The sound of many palms slapping against the hard-packed earth of the circle made a rhythmic thumping sound. Was this the Primiens ’ way of applauding or showing approval?

“Thank you for your welcome,” The One said, when the patting had ended. “ Your kindness in extending a greeting is noted. Now , who will volunteer to help them through the feast? It must be noted that they do not wish to change sexes,” they added.

At first none of the people in the circle said anything and Nora began to worry. What if no one wanted them to sit by them during the feast? What if they rejected her and Xarex and didn’t even give them a chance? What if?—

Then a small Primien , ( Nora wasn’t sure what else to call them) with prominent breasts rose and nodded her head. The tall Primen beside her also stood and nodded.

“Jammu and I will accept them and help them through the feast,” the smaller one said.

“Ah, thank you, Twilla , for your kindness.” The One nodded gratefully. They turned to Nora and said, “ You , Nora , must go and sit by Twilla and your mate, Xarex can sit by Jammu .”

“Thank you,” Nora said. She made her way around the circle to Twilla , who greeted her with a smile. Her teeth were pale blue instead of white, Nora noticed and her eyes gleamed both emerald green and ruby red, depending on which way she turned her head.

Twilla made a gesture, spreading both arms wide in what Nora assumed was a welcome.

“Welcome, off-worlder,” she said in her soft, musical voice. “ We are so very pleased to meet you.”

“Thank you so much. My husband and I are grateful for your hospitality,” Nora said, smiling back. “ Er , should we sit down?” she asked, looking at the circle.

“In a moment. First allow me to bring you to my living space so that you may change into feasting garments,” Twilla said. “ If you are to seek Syrilla’s Bloom , you must be properly dressed to do it.”

She stepped out of the circle and Nora started to follow her, but Xarex put a hand on her arm to stop her.

“Wait— I prefer to accompany my wife,” he rumbled. “ To be certain she is safe, since we do not know your planet.”

“You are protective of her—good, that speaks well of you as a male.” It was Jammu speaking—his voice was much deeper than Twilla’s . “ Come ,” he said. “ Since Twilla and I are mates, our shared living spaces are connected. You can both change into feasting garments at the same time.”

“All right.” Xarex nodded and they followed Twilla and Jammu out of the circle and into the maze of huts.

There didn’t seem to be any road or path that led down the center of the town. Instead , the straw-thatched huts were just built all over the place. In some places there was room to walk between them and in some places you had to go around. Nora was thoroughly lost when they came to two adjoining huts near the edge of the village.

“Come, this is the female living space,” Twilla said to her, pointing to the closest hut. She nodded at the other one adjoining it. “ It is connected to the male living space so the two of you will not be separated by more than a grass door.”

That seemed fine to Nora and Xarex didn’t object, though he did look sharply at the two huts. She followed Twilla into the female living space and looked around.

Inside, the hut looked fairly primitive. There was a packed dirt floor, a fire pit in the middle of the large room, and a raised cot made of branches and covered in what looked like a quilt woven out of many different colored leaves. On one wall there was a door made of long, dried grasses that had been bound together in a flat sheaf.

“Oh, that’s beautiful!” Nora exclaimed, bending down to examine the leaf quilt.

“Do you like it? I have some feasting garments you may wear made of the same pattern,” Twilla said. She went to one side of the hut where a kind of wooden wardrobe sat and pulled back the curtain of hanging ivy that covered its interior. After rummaging around inside for a moment, she brought out a gorgeous-looking dress that was indeed woven of leaves like the quilt on the bed.

There were golden leaves as large as Nora’s head and smaller red and orange leaves as large as her hand. And interwoven with them all were tiny blue and green leaves the size of her thumbnail that seemed to hold the larger leaves together.

“How gorgeous!” Nora said, examining the leaf dress. It shimmered and glimmered in the dim light of the hut, almost seeming to give off its own light—maybe because the leaves had that same golden shine that all the vegetation had here on Primus Nine . “ But how do you keep the leaves from wilting once you pick them?” she added.

“Oh, we simply dip them in the juice of the stay-fresh berries that grow near the village,” Twilla explained. “ And that keeps them fresh for at least three cycles of the moon. Would you care to try it on?”

“I would be honored,” Nora assured her. From the other room, she could hear the low rumble of male voices and assumed that Xarex and Jammu were having a similar conversation. She wondered what Xarex’s feasting outfit would look like.

At Twilla’s urging, she took off her t-shirt and jeans and also her shoes. All of the Primiens were barefoot and Twilla stared in surprise as Nora slipped off her tennis-shoes.

“Oh— I thought those were part of your feet!” she exclaimed as Nora set them aside.

“What? Oh no—those are shoes . We wear them to protect our feet,” she explained. “ Don’t you have any protective coverings to keep your feet safe in the jungle?” she asked. “ I mean, aren’t there thorns or briars that might hurt you?”

“We do not wear foot coverings, for none are needed. Those who are one with the Spirit of All need have no fear of the Wilds ,” Twilla answered serenely. She motioned at Nora’s bra and panties. “ Please remove those as well. You must be bare beneath your feasting garments, especially if you wish to seek the Bloom .”

“Why, though?” Nora asked anxiously. “ I mean, what kind of sacrifice are we going to have to make in order to pick the Flower of healing?”

Twilla spread her hands.

“As to that, the sacrifice is different for everyone who seeks the Bloom .”

And that was all it seemed she was willing to say. Sighing , Nora turned her attention back to the dress. She felt strange about getting completely naked in front of someone she’d just met, but she reminded herself she was there for Anna and she didn’t want to offend these people. So she just nodded and stripped off the clothing while Twilla watched with unabashed curiosity.

“Ah— I see that you have breasts and a receiving pouch,” she remarked, nodding at the V between Nora’s legs.

“A what?” Nora asked uncertainly.

“A place to receive a male’s phallus,” Twilla explained. She sighed. “ I have grown weary of receiving myself. I have decided tonight that I will become male again for I long to be the thruster once more.”

“Oh. And , uh, will your mate, Jammu , become female tonight?” Nora couldn’t help being curious about this. Could these people really switch sexes any time they wanted?

“He has not decided but I believe so, yes. If he does not, then I must find a new mate with a receiving pouch who is willing to accept my phallus—when I grow one,” Twilla said.

As she spoke, she was helping Nora into the leaf dress. It was surprisingly stretchy and molded to Nora’s curves. The leaf sleeves were short, covering only the tops of her arms and the hem fell to the middle of her thighs. Once again she had reason to be glad of the float-dots that Kat had given her—they kept her breasts perky and gave her a lovely hourglass shape in the new clothes.

The only problem was the fact that her nipples kept popping out between the holes in the leaves. Nora tried to hide them by tugging at some of the larger leaves to get them to cover them but she was afraid to pull too hard, for fear of tearing the delicate foliage.

The leaves felt cool and waxy against her skin and it felt strange to be wearing a dress with no panties underneath it, but other than the trouble with her nipples sticking out if she wasn’t careful, Nora liked her new feasting outfit.

Twilla seemed to like how it looked on her too.

“There—you look lovely,” she said, nodding approvingly as she straightened the dress. “ You’re all ready for the Feast of Transformation and your chance to pluck the Bloom now.”

“Thank you for loaning me this beautiful dress,” Nora said, really meaning it. “ I’ve never worn anything like it.”

“Oh, this is no loan— I am giving the dress to you,” Twilla said. “ It will not fit my male form once I change and by the time I am ready to become female again, it will have wilted. So you may wear it as long as you are here among us. And take it with you when you go as a remembrance of me and the People .”

“Thank you so much!” Nora said, smiling. “ I only wish I could take a picture of myself in it to show my little girl when I get home.”

“Ah, so you have young ones?” Twilla asked. “ We do as well, but they live in the children’s village not far from here.”

“Really? Do they live by themselves with no adults?” Nora was surprised, but Twilla shook her head.

“No, we take it in turns to watch them. There is always one male and one female caretaker for the young ones. Who is watching your young one while you are here?” she asked.

“My mother and also a doctor—a healer,” Nora explained. “ You see, my little girl— Anna —is very sick. That’s why I’m here, to try and get the Flower of Healing for her. Otherwise she’s going to…to die.”

She could barely get the words out but she made herself say them anyway. She wanted her new friend to know what was on the line here and why she’d come all the way to Primus Nine .

“Ah, how terrible to lose a young one!” Twilla’s jewel-like eyes were sympathetic. “ I will pray that your sacrifice tonight is acceptable and that the Bloom shines for you so that you can pluck it. But I can tell already that the flavor of your feelings will be nourishing to all.”

“Er…the flavor of my feelings? Are you saying you can taste emotions?” Nora asked.

Twilla nodded.

“Oh, certainly! We feed each other as we may, but it is always a treat when visitors from other worlds come to share their feelings with us and feed us on their emotions.”

Suddenly the need to give an emotional sacrifice became clear to Nora . If these people actually could taste and feed on the feelings of others, it made sense that whoever came seeking the Flower of Healing would have to offer them something in the form of emotions in exchange.

“What do my emotions taste like?” she asked curiously.

“Hmm…” Twilla seemed to think about how to describe it. “ Salty , like tears…and sweet with hopefulness. I also taste the strong flavor of determination—you will not fail your young one if you can help it,” she said at last.

“And what about Xarex —my husband? Can you taste his emotions too?” Nora asked.

“Oh yes— I tasted his at once for they are even stronger than yours,” Twilla told her.

“Really?” Nora was surprised. She would have thought that the Dark Kindred’s feelings would be more muted, but maybe without the emotion damper’s influence they were more intense than she would have expected.

“Oh yes—he gives off the strong, dark, slightly bitter flavor of protectiveness and possessiveness,” Twilla said, nodding. “ His feelings for you are deep and intense. He also gives the fiery, hot flavor of lust when he looks at you. It nearly burned my mouth when I was near him!”

“It did?” Nora raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Oh yes—such a fierce emotion!” Twilla nodded again, vigorously. “ He wants you badly—which is well, since the two of you are mated,” she added.

“Oh, um. That makes sense, I guess.” Nora could feel her cheeks getting hot with a blush.

“You must not have been mated for long,” Twilla remarked. “ The intensity of longing and desire that comes from him when he looks at you means his fire for you has not yet dimmed.”

“We just got married—er, mated—yesterday,” Nora explained.

“Ah, then it makes sense that you have no baby in your belly yet,” the other woman said. “ I was surprised at first not to smell one in you, especially given the intensity of your male’s love and devotion for you.”

“Wait—you can smell if someone is pregnant?” Nora asked, raising her eyebrows again.

“From the very moment of conception. Why , are your people unable to smell pregnancy?” Twilla asked, looking as surprised as Nora felt.

“No, we have to wait for a while and take a pregnancy test. We , uh, pee on a stick and see if it comes out positive or negative,” Nora explained awkwardly.

“You urinate on a stick? What kind of stick? Does it grow in the jungles and forests of your world?” Twilla asked, looking interested.

“Not exactly.” But just as Nora was going to try and explain further, Jammu could be heard from the other side of the grass door.

“Are you two females ready for the feast?”

“Yes, love—we’re ready,” Twilla called back.

“Then come. The rest of the People will be waiting for us,” was her mate’s response.

“All right—we’re coming out.”

Twilla led Nora out of the hut and she was surprised to see that Xerex was now wearing a pair of trousers made out of closely woven blue leaves. They were just a shade darker than his dusky blue skin and had a leaf vest to match. His muscular arms were bare and she could see his six-pack abs, since the vest didn’t fasten in the front. All in all, she thought her new husband looked mouthwatering.

Xarex must have been thinking the same thing about her because his silver eyes were suddenly half-lidded as he looked at her.

“You look lovely, ellana,” he rumbled, his deep voice laced with lust.

“Oh…thank you. You look good too,” Nora told him, feeling her face get hot with a blush.

“Whew! Taste that lust! It sets my mouth afire!” Jammu exclaimed, looking at Xarex .

“Come here then.” Twilla beckoned to her mate. “ The tender desire coming from our new friend, Nora is sweet as wild Burra honey—it will cool the burning of your tongue.”

“They can taste our emotions,” Nora explained, when Xarex gave Twilla and Jammu a confused look. “ Apparently different feelings have different flavors,” she added.

“Is that so?” Xarex frowned. “ It seems to me that such people would starve on my planet. We have no emotions on the Dark Kindred home world,” he added, speaking to the Primien couple.

“No emotions? But how terrible!” Twilla almost looked like she might cry. “ How did you survive there?”

“I left and came away to a place where I could feel without fear,” Xarex answered honestly. “ That is why I live aboard the Kindred Mother Ship now with my lovely bride.” He nodded at Nora who blushed even harder.

“Ah, her embarrassment is so crisp and refreshing!” Jammu remarked. “ Truly we are in for a treat tonight, I believe.”

“Come, it is wrong of us to keep all their delicious emotions to ourselves,” Twilla remarked. “ Let us go back to the feast.”