The Morcai Battalion: Invictus Part 21

She rolled over onto her side, grimacing because the growth spurts were coming closer together and she was uncomfortable. "I don't find anything about you distasteful. I never could."

He stared at her for a minute, deep in thought. Finally, with visible reluctance, he touched a spot on his wrist.

The being lying beside her was enormous. He was tall and muscular, far bigger than any human male. His fingers were shorter, broader, his hands bigger than they had appeared. He had a short black mane around his handsome face. His nose was a little broader than a human's. But otherwise, he looked just as he always had.

She only smiled. He relaxed and touched her face gently.

"You have no fear of me."

"Of course not. I think you look quite handsome," she replied, her eyes warm with affection. She curled into his body and slid her arms around his neck. "I always did, even when it was against regulations."

He drew her close, embracing her hungrily, his face buried in her throat. "I never thought to have such feelings again for a female. I fought them."

"I noticed."

He rubbed his cheek against her hair. "I still keep secrets. This is not the only one."

"Your father said I'd cope. I will."

He closed his eyes. "Yes. You will."

She drew back and looked up at him curiously. "There's just one other thing."

"What?"

She pulled the fabric away from her collarbone and indicated the way he'd marked her. "Women comment on this. They giggle but they won't say why. What does it mean?"

He traced it lightly with his forefinger. His eyes were that soft, incredible shade of gold that indicated great affection. "It is our symbol for infinity. When a male marks a female with it, the symbol becomes a solemn pledge. It is a promise of fidelity. It indicates that regardless of the time we have together, I will never take another mate."

She was shocked. "But...but your life span is so much longer than that of a human. You could live for a century or more after I die," she protested.

He nodded. His eyes searched hers intently.

"You said you were fond of me," she stammered and her voice broke.

He smiled. "I am." He traced her eyebrows.

She was speechless. What he was saying indicated a feeling much more intense than simple affection.

"Komak's injection may have unknown effects in the future," he added gently. "We do not know how long you will live, but Komak said that you are still alive in his time, far in the future. Your lifespan may equal my own. It does not matter, however," he told her. "I will never mate again. I meant what I said, when the Rojoks came to kill us on Dacerius." His face tautened with emotion. "I will not live without you."

She burst into tears and held him very close.

His arms enfolded her. He buried his face in her throat with a rough growl. "I did not wish this to happen," he confessed. "I did not want to be vulnerable again."

She smiled through her tears. "I can understand that. You loved the Dacerian woman..."

"I did not," he whispered at her ear. "I only thought I did. I was very young." He lifted his head and looked into her wet eyes, and smiled. "I know the difference now." He brushed his tongue against her eyelids, licking away the tears. He stiffened. "This is another of those covert feline behaviors. If you find it offensive..."

She pulled his head back down. "Don't be absurd."

"You have to show the crew how the Cehn-Tahr truly appear," she told him a few minutes later. "You have to," she added firmly. "The bonding ceremony won't allow you to be camouflaged. That's why Caneese said the emperor is barring vid recorders from it. The crew can't attend if they aren't allowed to see you as you are."

His jaw clenched. "They will run for the exits and beg for court-martials so that they do not have to remain in the Holconcom."

"You underestimate their respect for you," she replied. She smiled. "And their affection. They'd all follow you out the airlock if you asked them to. How you truly appear won't matter. I promise."

He gave her a long look.

"I promise," she reiterated.

He sighed. "Very well. I will call a s.h.i.+pwide meeting tomorrow to announce it."

She smiled her approval.

She had a gown fit for an empress, of a terribly expensive royal blue fabric with real gems sewn into the gold embroidery. Rubies and diamonds and emeralds glittered like tiny suns when she moved, a little heavily, to study herself in the mirror. With her hair pinned on top of her head, and the creamy skin of her neck and shoulders revealed modestly, she was beautiful.

There was a thin silky panel over the mark of bonding which would be removed, she had been told, at the bonding ceremony. The mark of bonding was displayed by females only in rare public events such as this, to prove relations.h.i.+ps.

There were no rehearsals for the event, but as she tried on the gown for the final fitting with Caneese, she was given a brief overview of the ceremony, which would take place later in the week.

She turned to Caneese, who had approved the construction of the gown at every stage. The older female nodded with critical appraise.

"It is quite well made," she said to the weavemaster, who bowed and flushed with grat.i.tude at the praise.

"It's fit for royalty, though," Madeline worried. "These are Imperial colors. I thought only the Clan Alamantimichar was permitted to wear them. Although the commander wore them to the Altairian reception," she recalled with some curiosity, "and at our first bonding."

Caneese didn't answer her. "The emperor himself approved them for you," Caneese said with sparkling green eyes. "He is quite impressed by you. So are his 'Pretorians.'"

"But they don't know me," she protested.

"They have certainly heard tales of you from the kehmatemer," Caneese said, averting her eyes.

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that," Madeline said. She grinned. "It's quite bad for my ego, all this praise."

"You are not a conceited person," Caneese said with praise.

"Not much to be conceited about," Madeline chuckled.

"We could disagree about that."

She studied the alien woman with warm affection. "It's nice that you share your true appearance with me,"

she said. "I've only realized that it is an honor. You never reveal yourselves to outworlders. The commander was afraid that I'd run from him. Fat chance," she drawled. "I'd crawl to him on broken gla.s.s on my knees," she added with a sigh.

Caneese found the imagery impressive. "You have changed him, as well as the emperor and our government," she said complacently. "As I said, you carry the future within you."

"We're going to name the baby Komak. I wasn't sure, at first, but I do like the name. We were very fond of Komak."

"As was I," the other woman agreed. She frowned. "You still have concerns. I do not pry," she added quickly. "Your thoughts lie on the edge of your consciousness."

Madeline turned, sad. "I'm still a common soldier, and the commander is not only an aristocrat, but quite famous...."

Caneese laughed. "The emperor himself was a common soldier," she confided, "with no aristocratic ties and rough manners. Yet he achieved greatness."

"I'd forgotten that." She brightened. "Thanks. That makes me feel a little better."

"You still underestimate the affection our people have for you," Caneese said. "But it will become apparent. I must-"

Caneese broke off as she heard a chime and moved away. "The dignitaries begin to arrive," she said, interrupting the conversation. "I must be on hand to greet them, and there are still many preparations that must be made. We will have much time to talk, after the ceremony. You are not nervous?"

"I'm shaking in my combat boots," Madeline sighed. "But I'll try not to embarra.s.s you and the commander's father in front of the emperor."

That brought another green laugh from Caneese's eyes. "There is no possibility of that," she a.s.sured her.

"The emperor and his consort were notorious for the breaking of protocol at every occasion."

"I've heard about the empress," Madeline laughed. "I think she must be a very special person. Not only for ignoring traditions, but for inspiring the emperor to conquer whole solar systems in order to win her."

Caneese had a secret smile. "She was quite flattered. He was an amazing warrior. He still is, despite his age."

"I saw the old fellow as a young Cehn-Tahr soldier, in my mind, when he saved my life on Akaashe,"

Madeline recalled. "He was very impressive, too."

"Yes. So is your consort."

Madeline laughed. "n.o.body is his equal."

"And that is as it should be."

Madeline allowed the a.s.sistants to remove the gown. Under it she was wearing brief robes, but she added heavier ones to them, so that she was discreetly covered. "I'll see you at the ceremony day after tomorrow?" Madeline asked. "You and Dtimun's father are both coming?"

Caneese gave her an amused look. "Yes, indeed."

Madeline sighed. "I'm told there's going to be a great crowd of foreign dignitaries and flash media there.

Because the commander leads the Holconcom, of course, and is a high military official. I hope I can find you and Dtimun's father in the crowd."

"I would not worry about it," Caneese said dryly. "I imagine it will be possible for us to find each other.

Even in a crowd."

"I'll be the one in the gorgeous, princess-type gown, standing next to the most attractive warrior in the room. You can't miss me," Madeline said, tongue-in-cheek.

Caneese laughed like a girl. "I will remember!" she promised.

Dtimun was apprehensive about confronting the human half of the Holconcom with his true appearance.

Despite Madeline's surprising reaction, he worried that some of the crew might rather face court-martial or execution rather than remain with a s.h.i.+pload of such alien creatures as the Cehn-Tahr actually were under their sensor nets.

"You worry about shadows," Madeline said gently when they arrived at the s.p.a.ceport where he had ordered the crew to a.s.semble aboard the Morcai.

"Perhaps." He walked beside her, tall and commanding in his uniform. She was wearing robes. He glanced down at her and smiled. "At least your condition will not shock them. They already know about it."

"Well, the officers do," she corrected, and sighed. "I suppose it will come as a shock to some of the crew."

He chuckled. "It came as a shock to me. Despite Komak's rea.s.surances, I did not think it would be possible for us to breed."

She smiled. "Neither did I, really, but I think he put something in that injection that a.s.sured a pregnancy."

He stopped and turned, frowning. "I wish we had been able to ascertain his Clan," he said. "He used the name Maltiche, but there is no such Clan on Memcache."

"In the future, in his time, there might be such a Clan," she pointed out. "I read that the Cehn-Tahr can create Clans in the Dectat to honor especially brave and heroic soldiers."

"Yes, but that has not been done in decades."

"We don't know what they might do in the future."

"True."

They started walking again. "I know that the old fellow, I mean your father, wants us to call the child Komak, and I agreed, because I think it's a wonderful tribute to our fellow crewmate," she added, frowning. "But I don't understand why he would make such a suggestion."

He stopped again, scowling. "He said that Komak had shared knowledge with him that he was not able to share with me. Perhaps he knows some things that we were not permitted to learn."

"Perhaps. I still wonder about that shadowy human DNA in Komak."

"So do I." He chuckled. "Would it not be amusing if your colleague and Rhemun produced a child one day?"

"You think that's who Komak might be?" she wondered aloud.

"If he has human DNA, it is one possibility."

She was having odd random thoughts herself. Her hand went to the growing mound under her robes. She had the odd impression that the child was laughing. She caught her breath. "No. It couldn't be...!" She looked up at Dtimun. "What if he's our descendant?" she exclaimed. "Perhaps a grandson or great-grandson?"

"That is a possibility," he replied. "Perhaps the old fellow will divulge what he knows at some point. And there is the data vid that Komak left with him, for us to view after the ceremony."

"I'd really like to know the truth. I miss Komak," she said quietly.

He hesitated. "So do I," he confessed tautly.

She laughed abruptly.