Page 53 of Double Cut

“We are sorry for your anger,” Horas added.

“It’s humiliating. Degrading.”

“We do not like it either,” Sarus said, surprised that he agreed for he’d never before given the collar and leash any prior thought. “But we cannot give the general superior or the crown prince any reason to separate us. An adult female parading without escort or the collar is assumed to be unmated and available for claiming.”

“The emperor—”

“The emperor is weak and dying. Prince Gudren will soon assume the throne, and we must not give him any reason, no matter how slight, to remove you from our protection.”

She sighed. “You won’t make me wear it when we leave here?”

“No, we will not make you wear the leash after we leave, except—” Horas assured her.

“Except youwill,” she snarled with deep resentment.

“—in the more urban areas with substantial outworld populations. We will evaluate your safety and act accordingly,” Horas finished. He, too, found himself mildly surprised at their mate’s perspective and decided he agreed with her. It seemed that an intelligent, sentient being should not need to be put under such tight control and treated like a prisoner.

An alarm chimed. Sarus grunted and muttered, “It’s time to ready ourselves for Evangeline’s meeting with the science master general.”

They quickly washed and changed, then headed to the royal compound’s building that housed the science laboratories.

The meeting with the science master general was anticlimactic. Evangeline was glad to meet with an already mated male of a different breed who did not look upon her as something to dominate or be played with. They spoke of soil samples, climates, seasons, irrigation, obtaining seeds and fertilizer from Earth, and eventually of importing livestock.

“Where are your mates assigned, my lady?” he inquired.

“I don’t know yet,” she admitted.

“When you do know and are settled in your new home, inform me. Colonel Horas has my direction. We shall begin with a test area there.” He gave her a small smile, his short, pointed teeth barely revealed, and ran a hand over his bald, crest-free pate. “I agree with you in that we Ahn’hudin have been remiss in applying our technological attention to our society’s agricultural needs. And growing more forage for human hybrid brides to meet their nutritional needs is wise.” He paused and said, “I wonder if that explains why there have been no offspring from matings with human brides?”

“No offspring at all?” Evangeline inquired.Considering all the sex I’ve had, it’s a wonder … no … am I pregnant? Maybe not, since I haven’t had my period. Elodie and Marisol didn’t look pregnant, but it’s early days yet. If past brides and their mates are also this lusty, wouldn’t they have had children?

“It’s a pity, but no, none at all,” the scientist said.

Memory sparked in Evangeline’s brain. Elodie’s period had suddenly stopped. Louella had been reassured that she need not worry about her period starting. There was a “vitamin” shot that Phil had promised to administer to her the morning after the meet-and-greet—a morning which did not happen as anticipated. Because she had no proof beyond suspicion, she said nothing about the human brides’ collective infertility and instead directed the conversation to a brief discussion of suitable crops for initial testing.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Evangeline sighed with satisfaction. She leaned into Sarus’ embrace and admitted, “I’m exhausted.”

Horas stroked the back of a finger down her cheek. “Then we shall return to our quarters so you can rest.”

“Thanks, guys.”

Chapter17

A few days later, they arrived at their new home in an arid valley halfway around the planet. A military training base and small town lurked in the distance. Applying common sense, Evangeline assumed the town had grown up to support the needs of the base.

They used the underground transportation system that reminded Evangeline of pneumatic tubes until they disembarked near the shore of a large body of water. They switched conveyances to cross the water before climbing into a hovercraft that skimmed across another immense expanse of dry land. She looked out the porthole of the aircraft and thought she discerned the faint signs of former agricultural activity, large fields that once produced crops or where livestock had grazed. She made a note to find out how far the valley was from the enormous lake.

The hovercraft took them to their new home. Her jaw dropped upon seeing the large building.

“It’s a castle!”

“It’s not built for defense,” Horas said, looking at the building with a critical eye.

“But it is new construction,” Sarus added.

“How can you tell?” Evangeline asked, because the building looked old to her eyes.

“That style of building wasn’t in fashion until I was born,” Sarus said as Horas nodded in agreement. “We should find it outfitted for comfort with all the necessary amenities.”

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