Venomous: Erotic Science Fiction Romance (Alien Warrior Book 1) (76 page)

It took longer, but the crowd grumbled concurrence.

It wasn’t a well-liked opinion, but the populace recognised the unfairness of what the Great Senate asked, and the validity of what my mate said.

Dare Viper to Bite pushed onto his feet. “You are out of order!”

“I speak truth!”

“The sacrifice of your clan means we shall avoid war. How dare you put the needs of your clan above the want of our people! Many outweigh few. It is that simple.”

Fiercely was quiet, head lowered under the gravity of the statement.

His face lifted, determined. “Less than half of our world’s population is mated.”

“We are aware of this,” Dread the Darkness grumbled. “It is why each mating is celebrated with a festival.”

“We may not say it aloud, but we all know this is because we stopped mating with offworlders, and my mate–”

“Even if that opinion is proven as truth,” Dread the Darkness interrupted in a dangerous tone, “that is not relevant, and will not further your cause in any way.”

“Very well.” Fiercely’s eyes narrowed. “I put it to you, none of the a’Rä miss the touch of their mate. Wake each morning dying to once more feel the joy caused by something so small as a smile from them. This is because the a’Rä feel no urge to mate until they mature. At present, the
need
of my clan for our mate is greater than their collective, vague want. You cannot want what you have never had, as much as needing what you have lost.”

“
Truth
,” a Rä’Vek shouted in a pained rasp. “I am He, who is Widowed, Thorn like of Deadly Flowers.” He held up his arm so they could locate him. “He speaks truth. I lost my Rä’Na three solars past. Nothing comes close.
Nothing
. She eclipsed everything I, as an a’Rä, imagined she would be.”

Fiercely bowed his head in thanks. “There you have it. Confirmation from one who has experienced the loss my clan fears.”

Uncertain, Dare Viper to Bite angled his chin down. “What do you do? I do not understand what you hope to achieve here.”

“I am explaining why I dare place the need of my clan over the need of my people.” Fiercely shifted, awkward, realising his argument stood on shaky ground. “Rä’Veks are the strongest of us. We are strong as a species because we were born to a hostile environment, and even our Rä’Na are mighty warriors and hunters. We can survive for moontides in the wilderness without water if needs be. Lumen comes from a softer place. Her species evolved accordingly. She has no claws to fight with, no fangs to spit poison. Three rotations without water, and she will die. As of this moment, on the whole of Rök there is no physically weaker sentient being. Even the youngest of our offspring are physically stronger. She needs the protection of my clan, and the Great Senate more than any other Rä. Many may not
want
her to receive it, but that does not change the fact she
needs
it. It is a responsibility, no,
an honour
for the strong to protect those who are weaker. We do not sacrifice them like savages.”

“And what of the people’s needs?”

“Out of those who need protection, Lumen’s need is the greatest because she is the weakest.”

Chagrined, I harrumphed.

I glanced up at my mates only to find them nodding.

The Elders didn’t think it nonsense either; they exchanged pensive glances.

Many of the Rä surrounding us clapped and called out in support.

The mood of the public shifted in our favour.

Because they thought I was freaking
weak.

I spun and yelled, “I’ll have you know my scream is gnarly! And that ‘hatchling’ who jumped me weighed, like, a tonne.”

“Of course,” said a kindly a’Rä in a placatory tone.

His lined face creased deeper in pity as he leaned on his cane and squinted into my hood.

Stooped as he was, he was still a foot taller than my height. “You are a ferocious little thing.”

“This is absurd,” Dare Viper to Bite grated returning our eyes to the holoscreen.

I started shouting an agreement before Cobra slapped a hand over my mouth.

“It is not.” Offended, Fiercely’s glower filled the display. He chafed the back of his neck. “It is truth. You cannot deny my words or ridicule them because they do not support your agenda.”

“
You are
–”

“Be silent,” Calm as Thunder interjected. “We heard you. Let him speak.”

“You are an alien sympathiser,” Dare Viper to Bite accused.

Calm as Thunder’s mouth whitened.

“Do you not hear yourself?” another Elder asked. “You speak as if her compassion and fairness is to be reviled. I will hear our citizen speak if it means I am remembered as just and fair rather than hidebound.”

Fiercely rolled his shoulders. “As I said, Lumen is Rä. If you do not believe the instant Venomous One claimed her she was made so, you cannot deny she became so after the bonding ceremony approved by the Northern Senate. We do not sell our people to slavers. I will not let you sell my Rä’Na for a peace the L’Odo have no intention of honouring.”

Pride in him choked me.

He was so brave as he stood up for our crazy/beautiful family.

I stepped forward and tugged my astounded mates after me. “Come on.”

Passing through the hologram and
the haze
into the air conditioned building, we rushed through the immaculate, echoic corridors.

We screeched to a halt at the back of the jammed conclave.

Setting me between them, to keep me from being jostled, Venomous and Cobra shouldered us a path through the middle.

Gasps and whispers followed in our wake then spread through the assembly.

We reached the front as Calm as Thunder stood.

Her voluminous, silver robes draped in sumptuous folds over her statuesque frame.

“We have heard the testimony of He, Fiercely Comes the Night on behalf of his clan. It was put to the Great Senate that She, Lumen of the Stars be given to the L’Odo aggressors, as they have stated it is a prerequisite of maintaining peace. Your Elders will now vote. Speak yes or no.”

Despite the tension thickening the air, the Rä’Na’s distinguished face was tranquil.

Her rosy brow scales rose as she declared in a voice that rang clear as a bell, “I vote–”

“–n
o.” She, Calm as Thunder glanced at those who exclaimed in surprise. Waved a hand in a ‘be as it will’ gesture. “I say, the L’Odo broke peace with us when they enslaved He, Venomous One. For over an aeon, he toiled for them, and his kindred mourned him. It is an offence we cannot forgive.” A thunderbolt of anger darkened her expression. “Truth, we are already at war. There simply has not been a formal acknowledgment.”

The rest of the Great Senate followed her example. “–I vote no.”

“–No.”

“–Grandfather shelter us, I vote no.”

“–I, too, vote no.”

“–No.”

“I vote no,” Dread the Darkness boomed gazing at his Rä’Na seated at his side. “We are strong. Let us not allow the threat of war to break us. Existing for existence sake is not what we revere. We fight for life, but only so we may
live
with those who bring us joy.” His gaze landed on me. He inclined his head. “I refuse to cut the joy from the lives of others in fear I might lose my own. Only the former is definite, and may be controlled. The latter is up to fate.”

Dare Viper to Bite looked dumbfounded.

He dropped onto his cushion in an ungainly sprawl. “She must be considered Rä. To vote otherwise for no reason would make me a fiend to abhor. We do not give up our own. I ... I vote no.”

The four remaining Elders voted no.

“We are unanimous,” Calm as Thunder stated. “She, Lumen of the Stars is Rä, and
we do not
betray our own. Let the L’Odo do as they are wont to do. If we must fight because they will not listen to reason then we will fight.”

She sat.

And I developed a girl crush because she didn’t look ruffled in the least.

Fiercely’s mouth popped open. “Gratitude. I ... will ... go over there now.”

He jerked a bow then stepped back looking bewildered.

It took him a while to come back to himself, and realise we surrounded him.

He scowled at me even as his arms wrapped around my shoulders and waist. “You were not supposed to come here.”

Lips curving, I rubbed my nose against his warm, peppery throat. “Good to see you too, sweetheart.”

“Perhaps now there will be a topic other than the ‘dangerous’ alien in our midst at next conclave.” Wind Dancer’s amused voice came from behind us. “One may hope.”

Surprised, I pulled away from Fiercely to face him, concerned. “Why aren’t you on the Great Senate?”

He glanced his forehead across mine in a paternal gesture of affection. “Venomous One is my offspring. You are his mate. These conflicts of interest were raised. This was truth. I abdicated my place to Dread the Darkness. Temporarily, of course. It was a good choice, I think.”

I hugged Dawning Light, and let him fuss over the folds of my robe until his nest mate yanked him off.

The conclave grew quiet as the looming shadow of war engulfed it.

Motionless on their cushions, the Elders took a moment of reflection.

Soon they might bear the unfair cost of doing what was good and right.

“Okay, Lumen, pretend you have big brass balls.” I inhaled the combined scents of my Rä’Veks, gathered my courage, and then nosily cleared my throat. I pushed my hood back to show my face. “May I speak?”

Hundreds of pairs of gleaming, black eyes turned to me.

She, Calm as Thunder cocked her head. “All Rä may speak here.”

Giving my mates a ‘this is it’ smile, I let go of their hands.

They walked with me for a couple of strides, but stopped when Venomous held out his arms.

Cams swivelled to follow me with a mechanical whirring.

Swallowing, my palms grew moist.

The cams projected my image to personal communicators and holoscreens planetwide.

Praise Zython, I changed my clothes
, I mused in a rare moment of female vanity, and liking the way my softsuit glided over my curves, how my robe shimmered in the sunlight after Dawning Light’s intervention.

There was no helping the hair the Rä found so unattractive.

It was big, wild, curly and kinky.

I looked like a tiny marching ball of fluff.

They just have to deal with it.

“
What the fuck is she doing
?” I heard Fiercely hiss, only for Cobra to hiss, “
Shut the fuck up
,” back, only for Venomous to hiss, “
Both of you shut the fuck up
.”

Deep into the crowd, someone whispered, “What does
fuhuck
mean?”

And then, I just dove right in.

“Before I do what I need to, I’d like to say thanks to the people who have been kind to me, and who helped me since my arrival. Many of you know I was taken from my home. I guess Earth, my planet, is a closed world too, in a sense. I’d never seen aliens. The existence of life on other planets is ... fiction to my species. So when the L’Odo threw me into the arena, and I saw Venomous, I was
terrified
. He was alien, not like me. At first, being with him was
bad
.”

I heard a sharp intake of breath behind me.

I didn’t turn.

“Then it got better, and better, until he became my whole world. He treated me with respect. Building on that, we became friends, and then we became lovers in the truest sense. We forged a bond that will never be broken.”

I did turn then, and beamed a smile at my primary mate.

“Ever,” he vowed.

I grinned wider then spun back around.

“I worried about coming to Rök. I believed the Rä people would never accept me because I was different. But Venomous told me he mated a
who
not a
what
. He said that he would be my voice until I felt welcome. On the journey here, I met Fiercely.” I patted my chest. “And he carved a place out for himself in my heart by fighting for my life, as only a mighty Rä warrior can. He was victorious! He protected me from the dishonourable Dei San!”

Many of the warriors in the assembly growled and stomped their booted feet.

“So after defeating actual space pirates, they got me here.” My voice was as baffled as my expression. “And I was amazed. Rök is beautiful, and there are kind souls that have touched me, and have taught me lessons about myself and this endless universe I live in. But some reacted with hostility and fear. Afraid,
of me
.” I shook my head. “Despite being alone, the only of my kind, lost in space, to them,
I was the terrifying alien
. Not all of you acted that way.”

I looked over my shoulder and found Deathly As It Goes towards the front.

I glanced at Wind Dancer, Dawning Light, and then, finally, my gaze rested lovingly on my Cobra.

“Some of you accepted me without question,” I whispered. “Saw to the heart of
who
I was, and did not fear
what
I was. That’s when I knew I could make a home here for me and my clan. That my hatchling would be safe on this amazing planet, so far from my own.”

I faced the Elders again, voice growing strong.

“Venomous once told me, on his home world, the people were heard by their leaders. I didn’t believe him.” I paused. “I watched Fiercely stand before you, and was scared. I thought you’d ignore him, humiliate him for standing up for what he believed in, but you didn’t. You listened. You accepted his reasoning as your own. Thank you, Elders, from the bottom of my single, hardy, human heart. Your acceptance of me, an alien, means the faith of my mate in his people,
in your integrity
, is justified. It took you a while, long enough to shake that faith, but you’ve proven him right. It means there is a chance what I have to offer will be heard, and resonate as deeply as it is deserved.”

Folding her hands, Calm as Thunder lowered her head.

She spoke quietly, but with passion. “You humble us.”

“Speak on, Rä’Na,” Dread the Darkness urged.