Page 15 of Right Next Door
Davard’s confusion cleared, and he inclined his head. “As you say, honored char. I will return to work then, if there is nothing else.”
Tsok waved him away, already focused back on his work.
They were in a very delicate position right now. His greatest political rival, the one most opposed to the cause that Tsok was currently championing, had released his official stance on the topic of mating and True Match today.
While it was known that Senior Boktare was vehemently opposed to mating, he had never actually officially come outagainst True Match before. He had voted against allowing the location to open on Kree, but he had accepted the vote of the majority of seniors without complaint. Though, he did express his regret and concern after that loss, he had never so loudly expressed his discontent.
Apparently, the fact that Tsok had found his mate through True Match and brought her to Kree had inspired him out of his silence.
Tsok’s announcement had been released yesterday. Though there had been rumors that he had brought an offworld mate before, he had gone through a lot of trouble to ensure that no one actually knew Misty or her reason for being here until he was ready to have it announced.
All the work she was doing on Fellbud Manor, all her cosmetology lessons, those were done either completely anonymously on the subnet or through one of his staff – mostly Davard. Of course, the fact that Fellbud Manor had been restored couldn’t be hidden, and it’s historical significance might not have been common knowledge before, but those that did know made sure to inform everyone else, so it wasn’t a hard guess to figure out what was going on.
However, the fact that his mate was human was a total secret, and one he’d kept right up until yesterday when, at a time of his choosing, he let the world know.
Tsok figured there would be backlash against that.
Humans were so soft. So helpless. They set off every protective instinct in the brain, and the idea of mating one was abhorrent only because of the fear of hurting them. There was only one known human-kreecharma pairing, and it was the founder of True Match himself. People considered him something of an eccentric for that, but, in a way, it was expected.
Hehadcreated True Match, after all. His name was Vigo and he had been one of the scientists that originally studied humans when they joined the Coalition. The first half of his mating had been caught on camera, in fact. Seeing the way he had reacted to her, the way hehadn’treacted to her, had been what brought up all this discourse in the first place.
Mating was dangerous for the kreecharma. For the female, specifically. Having a human female for a mate only raised the odds. However, Tsok had already underestimated human females once. He’d looked at them and, certain of their weakness, tried to prevent them from becoming a protectorate of the Coalition at all.
He had been proven very wrong.
However, never let it be said that Tsok did not learn from his mistakes. He had opposed the idea of humans joining the Coalition. Now, he stood proudly behind them. If anything, he felt like it was fate that he also had a human mate. Nothing could be more fitting.
The problem was that, unlike Vigo, founder of True Match, Tsok was a highly respected, powerful, public figure. At the end of the day Vigo was a common citizen, and his mating could be written off as the eccentricities of an oddity, the same kind that could appear in any species about any topic. There were always going to be those that disagreed with the majority about something, no matter how otherwise universally agreed upon it was.
But Tsok? He had been against humans being protected by the Coalition. He was a proud and distinguished andtraditionalmale. He was the char – the one meant to represent the kreecharma on the intergalactic stage. Which meant he needed to be the absolute pinnacle of what it was to be a kreecharma. He, more than anyone, needed to embody his people’s beliefs, their pride, their determination, their laws and traditions.
Andhewas the one who had now mated a human and was fighting for mating to, once again, become the primary method of reproduction on his planet. Something that had been done away with centuries ago, and for good reason.
But here he was, mated – sort of – resisting that expectation.
Senior Boktare had a great deal of ammunition to use against him.
And now, just a day after Tsok’s announcement, Senior Boktare released his criticism of his choice. Not a condemnation. Mating wasn’t illegal, technically, though the rules and regulations around it were so tight, it might as well be. Boktare couldn’t condemn Tsok for mating someone, but he could pull the old ‘disappointed’ argument.
Which he did, to great effect.
Tsok spent the rest of the day reading reports and articles about the greater majority of the planet agreeing with Boktare. His concerns were legitimate; Tsok’s choices were odd. Some were outright calling for Tsok to resign or be ousted by the seniors.
Tsok’s only real saving grace was the fact that he could, and did, point out to people in his original announcement that, while Misty was his mate, he had not mated her. His nasal filter remained firmly on his face, his body remained that of an unmated male. He had met his mate and chosen not to do anything to her. He had chosen to not actually mate her.
So, while most people were discontented, there wasn’t enough rage or demand for him to resign for their displeasure to be a threat against him.
For now.
He was walking a very thin line. If he messed up at all, if anyone even thought he was at risk of rutting his female, all the hardwork he’d done, all the arguments he made, all his reasoning, would be rendered completely moot.
The entire movement he was championing would be set back by decades.
The future of his people, the direction their society would take, was currently resting on his self-control around a female that was, easily, the most beautiful he’d ever seen.
Never had he been so grateful that the charina had her own manor. He didn’t know how long he’d be able to resist holding her, touching her, if she were nearby at all times.
Even better, she was obviously independent and content on her own. She didn’t need him. She could take care of herself just fine. Not once had she attempted to contact him in order to begin deepening their bond. In fact, he’d even asked Davard to listen out for some sign that she was angry or discontented with Tsok in any way.
