The Melier: Home World (Women of Dor Nye Book 2) (5 page)

One corner of his mouth twitched as he turned his attention back to the crowd around them. She continued to glower, but then she noticed a familiar beasty stalking their way.

Gi’Ren was dressed as his brothers and it was the best dressed she had ever seen him. His scar was painfully obvious in what he was wearing, and there were small tracks of more scars along his shoulder that she had never noticed before. She wondered if there were more underneath his robe, and how he ended up with them.

And then he was collapsing onto a pile of cushions on her other side.

“I hate these gatherings,” he groused. Zun sounded his agreement. “How is Re’Len?”

Lucia crunched on a peppery yellow vegetable and looked into the green eyes that regarded her. It kind of squeezed her heart that Gi’Ren worried over the babe.

“I hope she is well,” she admitted, wondering if the new nanny was taking good care of her. “Thank you for sending Sola.”

He grunted, and that time she could tell it meant
‘you’re welcome’,
which made her smile like an idiot that she’d
finally
deciphered a grunt!

“You are strange,” Gi’Ren grimaced, turning his attention back to the crowd. She shrugged and went back to picking at the plate. Her eyes continued to watch Melier move along around them, catching tidbits of conversation here and there, as well as plenty of curious and unfriendly stares.

“Does this remind you two of
old times
?” she swung her eyes between the both of them and finished chewing the succulent pink flesh she tried. She wasn’t sure how she survived those weeks without meat during her recovery.

Both stared at her expectantly.

“‘
Why must we babysit the human?
’” she said in a deeper voice, trying to mimic Gi’Ren.

They both groaned while she bubbled with laughter.

When she was finished sucking up her amusement at their expense, she continued her tasting of the items Zun had piled onto the plate. She pinched pieces between her fingers, lifted them to sniff and then nibble to make sure she wasn’t going to spit it back out and really embarrass herself. It was a gamble however she looked at it, since she had no idea if she was allergic to any of the items. The possibility of having fat, swollen lips
–or worse-
for the remainder of the night made her very cautious.

“I have a question…”

“When do you not?”

She tossed a glare at Zun, but asked anyway, directing her question at both of the grumps. “What did your mother mean when she asked how Re’Len would
control
her mate without any claws?”

Zun and Ren shared a look over her head.

Lucia licked the tips of her fingers and then brushed them on the cloth beside the plate when she finished eating. Why did they always do that?

“Royal females have always chosen their mates,” Ren explained. “Sometimes it is not always an agreeable pairing.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The male the female chooses as mate, he may not want to pair with her.”

“He’s
forced
?” Lucia’s eyes widened when Gi’Ren nodded once. “What do claws have to do with it?”

Gi’Ren grumbled to himself before he went on to explain. “They are meant to control the male during the mating, in the event he does not want to couple with her.”

“She
rapes
him?” Her voice raised a notch and she flustered, Ren and Zun telling her to
hush
.

“It is not considered
rape
among our people,” Ren continued in a quieter tone as her shrilling garnered more attention than they had previously. “It is simply a difficult pairing.”

“It’s
rape
,” she whisper-yelled. “No matter how your people try to slice it. Is that how
your
pairing will go? Or yours, Val’Zun?”

They both chaffed and shook their heads.

“We are royal males, royal females will not choose us,” Zun curled his lip. “That would be incestuous.”

Lucia buried her face into her hands as she thought about how
disturbing
their culture was to her. Multiple mates, concubines, lovers,
forced
pairings.

“How does the male even,
you know…
if he doesn’t want to?”

“There are certain… chemicals that will trick the body.” Ren sounded as disturbed as she felt about the entire thing.

“Is that what your mother did to your father?”

“Yes,” Val’Zun answered. For some reason, that didn’t surprise Lucia. “Our mother is a great force; she often gets her way.” He said this with a mix of distaste, seemingly conflicted to love his mother, and dislike her methods at once.

“Is that why your father is yellow and not blue, he is not royal born?”

They both nodded.

“Are kings ever royal born?”

“They are not. They come from noble bloodlines, but they are never born royal. Again, that would be incestuous,” Zun supplied.

“But their younglings are always blue?”

“Yes, the original bloodline dominates any pairing.”

“None of the princes will ever be king?”

“No,” they said in unison.

Lucia rubbed at her throat while she absorbed the information.

“In the event something did happen to the king,” Ren went on, “the first son would take care of his responsibilities until the queen paired with a new male, or the next queen ascended with her chosen male.”

“That’s Val’Koy, right?”

“Yes. He is the diplomatic one, stuck with the bulk responsibility of dealing with our allies, and initiating negotiations of various kinds between our world and others.” They both grunted then, as if they were glad it wasn’t
their
job.

“We simply aid in the process,” Zun added. “Thus, why we were near Dor Nye when Val’Ja made contact.”

They were all silent for a brief time, as Lucia realized that was when she had been aboard the Trepnil ship.

“Do your parents at least… love each other now?” She finally spoke, still stuck on the pairing. She knew Earth’s history and how there were plenty of cultures that had arranged and loveless pairings from the peasants to the ruling class. But it just seemed
awful
.

“I think they have a deep admiration for each other,” Ren mused, his eyes landing on the king and queen as they mingled far across the room. “Sometimes that is enough for two people.”

Lucia’s throat grew tight as she watched the king and queen as well. Why did she feel sorry for them? She thought about how happy the pairings were in her own family; her parents, grandparents, and even her sister. They were all happy, and
loved
their partners.

“If I were to mark Soren, as you say is your custom…,” she gulped, still highly conflicted. “Would others think I
forced
him to pair with me? Do all females do this to their males or just in forced pairings?”

“All females mark their mates,” Val’Zun said this in a tone that was a little more understanding, and then he nodded toward a few different mated males around the gathering. Many had marks a paler shade than their own skin upon their biceps that she hadn’t noticed previously. “It is a mark of pride for Melier males. The first mating between a forced pair is much different.”

“How?” She was almost afraid to ask, but she had to know. Maybe it would help her grasp the reason Soren wanted her to mark him, aside from letting the world know he was
hers
. They had a babe together, and
loved
each other; why did she need to scar him so others would accept their union?

“The female will control the male by pinning three of his limbs with her own while a single hand digs into his chest. If he refuses to cooperate during the mating, she pierces his heart and kills him.”

Lucia’s expression contorted to one of horrified disbelief.

“It is a show of her dominance,” Zun said with a reassuring tone, brushing his knuckles along her arm again, though it was anything
but
reassuring.

So basically, the queens are cold hearted bitches.

The sadness she’d been feeling about the queen’s relationship was now a mixture of various emotions. She felt bad for the king for being forced into a pairing. What if he had loved someone else, and one day was just plucked from his life and forced to pair with the queen, and take on a responsibility that he may have never wanted?

It was fucking depressing!

Soren’s eyes caught her attention as he made a beeline for her, a small grin on his lips. Soon he was dropping to his hands and knees before her, stealing a kiss and making her giggle. Her sadness about the king and queen was soon forgotten as he stole her entire focus.

Her fingertips rubbed and scratched along the smooth scales of his neck, instantly starting up his loud purr that vibrated against her mouth. She pulled back to twitter at the tickled feeling of her lips the vibration caused. Soren was on his back in no time, head in her lap as he sprawled in front of her.

“Such a big suck,” she teased while her hands continued to rub and scratch under his chin and along his jaw. His eyelids drooped lazily while he continued to purr so loudly she was sure everyone could hear it. She leaned down to kiss his nose and he exhaled, his purr revving. “Have you been enjoying your party?”

“I am now,” he flashed his big, toothy smile and Lucia giggled again.

Zun and Ren grunted.

She turned her attention to them both as they sat there looking sour. Lu figured it was for two different reasons, but she smirked and reached out both of her hands to rub under their chins too. Ren
tried
to resist, but her fingers were becoming Melier scratching experts, and ever so slowly, he began to purr.

Zun was much easier, and once her fingers found a spot behind his ear his deafening rumble burst forth like he couldn’t control it anymore. He even lost his balance as he tipped sideways to lean further into her hand.

Lu fell into a fit of laughter at this, causing both the brothers to jerk away from her wicked fingers and relax against their own cushions. Their purrs didn’t cease though, much to her entertainment.

She was surrounded by three dozing, purring beasties.

“Disgusting.”

Her eyes whipped up to where Val’Koy was standing with a red female at his side. It was she who made the comment. Her dark blue eyes were unsettling with the amount of hatred they harbored as they bore into Lucia. Involuntarily, she tremored, which only made her angry. When did she turn into such a coward?

Since you landed on a planet where literally everyone hates you.

Not everyone.

Okay, everyone but three.

“Princes, lounging around a
creature
,” she continued. “It is disgraceful.” Val’Koy laid a hand on her shoulder, essentially quieting the female when the purring stopped and Soren began growling. His heated response drew gazes from curious onlookers.

“You will apologize,” he ground out, deftly getting to his feet. Zun’s growl started up as well while he glared at the red female, causing the tiny hairs on the back of her neck to stand up.

“I will not,” she glowered and curled her top lip menacingly, revealing sharp teeth, smaller compared to the males. “You
weaken
the bloodline with
filth
.” She turned and left, Soren baring his teeth as he started after her but Val’Koy stopped him.

“You would insult your blood in defense of a beast?”

The new addition to the conversation turned out to be the
queen
. She stood not far away, looking upon Soren like he was a stranger.

Soren’s heated gaze, as he continued to bare his teeth, turned to his mother. His chest heaved with his anger while Val’Koy still held a hand on his shoulder to keep him from doing anything stupid.

Lucia found herself getting to her feet, causing Zun and Ren to do the same. She made her way to Soren, her fingers tentatively reaching out to be laid on one of his arms.

“Soren?” she whispered. He continued to glower at his mother for a period of time, and then his gaze swept down to her and softened. He turned to her and ran a pair of hands over her curls, petting her in a fashion while she looked up at him. “Woosah,” she smiled, finding it ironic she had to tell
him
that.

His lips twitched and then he sunk down before her so they were better leveled. “You are not a
creature
,” he whispered and nudged her chin with his nose, a small, pained whine sounding in his throat. Her hands found their way to his neck as she dipped her face closer to his, resting their foreheads together.

“As long as
you
don’t think so, that’s all I care about.” Her fingers rubbed the skin and scales beneath them and a slight purring started up. Her lips pulled into a small smile before she pressed her mouth against his. When sounds of revulsion floated to her ears, she pulled away and mentally willed the crowd to shut their fucking mouths.