TirzahsAllure (7 page)

“Sit down and eat, daughter. And your Cain. Tell him to sit and eat. He is welcome, but you understand we have to be careful.”

“He is perfectly harmless, Mother. You will find out tomorrow when I tell everything. Sit,” she said to Cain in English. “Eat.”

“I’m rather amazed at everything here,” Cain said as he sat down. “Metal tables?”

“From the ship. The elders take all from ship to build house and table.”

“Fantastic work. I wonder how long ago they actually crashed,” he said while wolfing down the fish on his plate.

“Many moons ago.” She held up her fingers several times.

“Wow. And they are still alive?”

“Our people have very long life.”

“Will we sleep together?”

“No. The elders will not like. I sorry,” Tirzah said between bites. “Mother, where will Cain sleep tonight?”

“I don’t know, child. I’ll discuss it with the elders. I’ll tell them you trust him.”

“I have been with him for a long time. Yes, I trust him. He is safe and not a flesh eater. He is a very kind man.”

“Daughter, you haven’t known him long enough to judge that,” her mother told her tersely.

“Believe me, he is good. I have given my heart to him.”

Her mother’s sharp eyes bored into her. “What else have you given him?”

“Myself.” She wasn’t going to lie.

“Girl, I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into. But there will be no sleeping together until your mating ceremony. The Festival of Flames is soon. I will talk to your father when he’s in a better mood. Maybe we can hold the mating ceremony that same night. That’s if the elders will allow your mating. That is to be determined yet.”

After they ate, she walked to the waterfall with Cain. “Mother say we have mating ceremony first if the elders allow.”

“They are your parents. I can understand it. What if they don’t allow us to marry?”

“I will go with you.”

“You would go against your family and the elders?”

“Yes.”

 “Honey, while you were talking with your mother, I was thinking about a lot of things. I have no idea how to get you a social security number, a birth certificate, even less how to procure those items for so many people. On Earth, in America, people have to have those.”

“What is that?”

“Paperwork to prove who you are. When a baby is born, the government gives you a birth certificate and a social insurance number. You need those to get a driver’s license and other things.”

“Oh. We cannot live your city.”

“I don’t know what to do. I have to make some inquiries.”

“Your elders? They help?”

“You mean our government. The dudes who run the country. Oh, my darling, you would have no life left and neither would your people. You’d be questioned, probed, examined and whatever else. They would probably hold you in a special place. No aliens have ever visited Earth, so you and your people would be very special. TV, newspapers, the tabloids, they would hound you if they could get near you. No, no one must ever know where your people come from.”

“Do people know you are cat?”

“No.”

“Your mother and father? Brother? Sister?”

“I am an orphan. I have no family.”

“Orphan?”

“The name for a child with no parents.”

“You have name, Cain.”

“Yes, that is what the nuns named me when I was found.”

“Where?”

“Apparently some old homeless man found me in a park and took me to a convent.”

“Sorry. It not good no family.”

“I survived. That waterfall looks inviting. Is it cold?”

“Yes, but it clean.”

They stood under the cascading water together. Cain kissed her several times, but that was all. It wasn’t fair. The heat within her raged and she wanted him desperately. How to find privacy? Where? Unless they could sneak out late at night and go beyond the fence.
Too dangerous
. They would have to wait.

“Mother say we mate Festival of Flame in two nights.”

“I can wait,” he told her and patted her bottom. His hand left a burning imprint that surged into her abdomen.

Arms around each other, they walked back to the compound. Reluctantly, she kissed him goodnight and watched him walk toward his designated sleeping quarters. After he’d entered, she turned and opened the door to her parents’ home to find her mother waiting for her.

“Mother, you’re still up.”

“Of course, child. We need to talk.”

“If it is about your Cain, I don’t want to talk.”

“Indirectly, it is. It’s about his species. Pour yourself a cup of tea and come sit with me. I’ve missed you, daughter.” Calira patted the bench invitingly.

Tirzah hesitated. The last thing she needed or wanted was a lecture from her mother about her mate. “Where is Father?”

“He has to get up early. They are going on an expedition to find material to build more houses. When they return, you have to appear before the elders and report everything you’ve learned during your absence.”

“Mother, there might not be a need to build more houses. I have so much to tell you.” Tirzah quickly poured a steaming cup of tea made from a root her mother had discovered in the forest. She joined Calira and sat cross-legged on the bench made out of two tree stumps with a tree trunk split in half making up the seat.

She sipped her tea and allowed it to soothe her. Its herbal effect was calming, soothing her adrenaline into submission. “I’ve seen so much, Mother. There are people just like us far beyond the forest. They have different skin colors, hair and eyes, but they dress in clothing and they live in cities not unlike the ones on our home planet.”

Calira looked at her daughter, her face showing obvious interest, her eyes alert. “Go on.”

“When I came closer to the city, the villages and natives changed. They did not behave like the ones we’ve studied. I continued and arrived at a vast sea like the ones you’ve told me about. Then I came to a city with buildings and houses, shops where people bought food, clothing and other things. People ride in transports that move on four wheels, and some on two wheels. Mother, it’s something to behold. You see, you never explored far enough.”

“Is there hope they can help us return to our own galaxy?”

Tirzah sighed. “Cain says there is no hope of that. Their technology isn’t advanced enough. But we can all move to the cities.” She watched a dreamy expression form on her mother’s features.

“Oh, Tirzah. To live in a normal home again, to live a normal life. Well, as normal as it can be on a strange planet…it’s a dream.”

“It’s a dream that can now be real. Cain says he can help us achieve this but it will take much planning.”

“When you appear before the council, you must tell them every little detail. If the people are so many different colors, what kind of shifters are they?”

“Cain told me he doesn’t know of other shifters. He was abandoned when he was a child. He has no parents, no brothers or sisters. Someone found him in a park.”

“Isn’t that interesting? That brings me to what I need to tell you. It is never spoken of among us, and I had actually forgotten about it until one of the elders reminded me. Once upon a time, many centuries ago, there were black cat shifters on Alishur. The black and white cats were at war with each other, both wanting dominion over the planet. The white cats won the war. It was such a savage war, cat fought cat, tearing each other to pieces. Many were killed. That’s when we stopped eating the flesh of four legged animals. The reports say the fighting in the last war was terrible, a bloodbath. What remained of the black cats—and apparently, there were only a few—retreated, and my theory is that they left the planet. They were never heard of or seen again. Some of our people thought they fought among themselves and became extinct. We call them the lost tribe. I am wondering if they landed or crashed here. Did you find out the name of the galaxy this planet is in? The name of the planet?”

“This planet is called Earth. The galaxy is called The Milky Way.”

“Mm, not a galaxy that is familiar to us. Your Cain told you there are no others like him?”

“Not that he knows of.”

“Does he have our abilities? The black cats on our planet had the same abilities as us and we developed space travel eons ago, as did they.”

“No. Unless the ability never developed in him. That’s possible, isn’t it?”

“It is. Especially since he didn’t grow up among his own kind. Daughter, you’ve given me much to think about. I’m so glad you’re home but I’d like to go to bed now.” Calira embraced her daughter briefly.

Tirzah kissed her mother and went to the room she shared with several of her siblings. After settling down on her cot made from branches and leaves, she placed her hands behind her head and gazed up at the ceiling. Was it possible? Could Cain’s ancestors actually have been from Alishur? The two tribes had been at war. Their species was a pure white, so she doubted any cross breeding had ever occurred. Thinking about her lover and imagining his arms around her rekindled the fire inside her. She inwardly cursed having to share her room. All she wanted to do right now was play with herself to relieve the ache between her legs. Clamping her hand tightly between her thighs, shoved hard against her moist female parts, she drifted off.

Chapter Seven

“Tirzah, daughter of Calira and Henke, you broke our laws. More serious still, you desire to mate with one of the forbidden tribe. You stand before us accused. It is our responsibility to sentence you, the first to stand trial in all the years we have lived on this planet.”

Tirzah almost felt guilty. Yet she couldn’t. Not daring to move or look at the bleachers, she knew Cain was there watching the proceedings. Not that he could understand any of it.

“How do you plead?”

“Guilty to the first charge. Not guilty to the second charge.”

They had not even given her a chance to tell her story. The council had decided to put her on trial immediately before she could tell them all she’d discovered. How stupid of them. Straightening her back, she looked at the tribunal, five of them, two women and three men. Gazing into each council member’s eyes, she finally stood firm. “If you would let me tell you what I have discovered, you would not be putting me on trial.”

“Silence. You will only answer the questions asked. Tirzah, you blatantly ignored the law that states no member of our tribe is to go beyond the walls into the forbidden zone without permission. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“You have indulged in sexual relations with one of the forbidden tribe members. Is that correct?”

“No. I don’t know him to be a member of the black cat tribe.”

“You may explain. The man Cain, he is a shifter, correct?”

“Yes. But he doesn’t know where he’s from. He was abandoned and matured with no parents or siblings.”

“If there’s one of him on this planet, there must be others.”

“Cain hasn’t found anyone like him.”

“Many centuries ago, we were at war with his species. Their tribe left our planet after we won the war for dominion. They obviously settled on this planet you call Earth.”

“Maybe their ship crashed, like ours?”

“Silence. Black cannot mate with white. It is forbidden.”

“Those are ancient laws. Haven’t we grown beyond that?” Tirzah dared say. Vaguely she wondered what her punishment would be. As they’d said, she was the first to stand trial since they’d landed on the planet. What would be the penalty? She watched them as they kept their gazes trained on her, but she knew they were communicating telepathically and blocking her and anyone else from hearing them.

Finally, Opek stood. “We will take a recess while we deliberate. We will return after lunch.”

Tirzah rushed from the chamber, which was basically a round clearing surrounded by a tall wall made of tree trunks and branches. The bleachers were made of trees and tree stumps. Only the table the elders sat behind was made from the materials of the ship. She scanned for Cain and spotted him right away. His black hair and body stood out amongst her people. Rushing to him, she grabbed his hand. “Cain, we need talk.”

“What went on in there? Be nice if I could understand your lingo,” he muttered.

“I in trouble for leaving compound. But I in trouble because you are forbidden tribe.”

“Huh?”

“Come. We lunch.” She pulled him along to the tables where lunch was ready. “Cain, you are forbidden tribe.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Many, many years ago, before me, before my parents and their parents, my people on our planet war with black cats. My people won. Black cats left planet. You are black cat from forbidden tribe.”

“Impossible. This is Earth. I was a toddler when someone found me. I’m not old enough.”

“Maybe you belong to forbidden tribe. Maybe forbidden tribe had to run far. You lost.”

“I was lost alright. You’re trying to tell me I might have family here? Somewhere? How can anyone lose a child?”

“Cain, I do not know. The elders say you are forbidden tribe. They will punish. Mating with forbidden tribe is not allowed. Black and white not mate.”

“This is the uttermost nonsense I’ve ever heard. Baby, I love you and I know you love me. I’m not from some tribe. I’ve always lived on Earth. I know nothing of what you’re telling me.”

“I love Cain. I love black cat. I am first to stand on trial. I do not know what punishment will be.”

“Sweetheart, you’re not locked up. We can always leave and return to civilization.”

Her heart somersaulted in her chest. Never see her parents again? Her siblings? Would the elders force her to choose?

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I can see you’re hurting. I don’t have the right to ask you to leave your people.”

“You are my mate. I will follow you. But yes, my heart will be sad to leave my family.”

“Maybe your sentence will be light. If they haven’t had a trial in all these years, I doubt they’ll go heavy on you.”

Tirzah toyed with her food. She wasn’t really hungry so she only drank her juice. The tribunal would reconvene soon, and she’d be sentenced.
Banishment?
She’d rather leave with Cain now. The temptation was great, but neither did she want to abandon her people just like that.