The Ardoon King Read online

  Chapter 29: A Plan of Attack

  “A virgin!” exclaimed Thal, unable to conceal her shock. “But you’ve been wed for months. How is that possible?”

  “It is complicated,” Fiela replied, leaning her head forward so that the other woman could more easily brush her hair. “Ben told me that I was being pressured by Lilitu to surrender myself to him and he would not take advantage of me in that way. I told him that Sister was not pressuring me - not really.”

  “Fiela, she whipped you for failing to consummate the union!”

  The girl winced. “Only because I was too slow. It’s not like I didn’t want to. Anyway, she cried afterwards, Thal. She was very apologetic. I felt bad for her. I put her in that situation. She was under a lot of stress.”

  “You shouldn’t be sorry. You were the one tortured, not her.”

  “It was not torture. It was punishment and I deserved it. Anyway,” Fiela added quickly, not wishing to dwell on the memory, “later, when Ben was ready, I ruined everything because I was scared.”

  “It is natural to be scared.”

  “It was not that.”

  “What, then?”

  Fiela studied her nails. “I have a condition. For some reason, when he and I are together, and I get, you know…”

  “Aroused?” offered the other woman.

  “Yes. When I do, with Ben, I get this weird feeling.”

  Thal laughed. “That sounds very healthy, actually.”

  Fiela rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. It’s like that, but different. I feel almost like I’m…oh, I don’t know. Possessed? Like I’m losing control of myself. Not in a good way. It’s scary. Even when it seems like Ben is willing to…do that…I end up chickening out. Then he thinks I don’t want to and that makes him think that I’m being pressured to again!”

  She threw her hands into the air and moaned. “Oh, Thal! It’s hopeless!”

  The other woman laid the brush to one side and hugged Fiela from behind. “It is not hopeless. You are Peth. You are charged with overcoming your enemies. This sexual impasse is your enemy, is it not?”

  The girl nodded, clasping Thal’s hands in hers. “But how? I do not understand it. My enemy evades me.”

  Thal put her chin on the girl’s shoulder and said, “You have two issues: One, your odd reaction to stimulation, and two, your husband’s guilt.”

  “Just so.”

  “Let us address your reaction first. Do you have the same response when you are with others?”

  Fiela slowly spun around on the bed, her heels tucked up under her. “I’ve only been with Lilitu,” she replied, looking ashamed at her lack of experience.

  “Oh,” said Thal. “What about Persy?”

  Fiela made a face. “Yuck.”

  Thal laughed. “Be fair. She is attractive.”

  “I guess. Everyone says so. Lilitu is smitten by her.”

  “Okay, then. When you are with Lilitu, you do not have this reaction?”

  “No.”

  “But you do achieve release?”

  The girl laughed. “Orgasm, you mean? With Lilitu? Please! It is quite impossible not to. But in truth, I am aroused by a bumpy road. A slamming door can send me into convulsions.”

  Thal cleared her throat, and glanced away. “Well. Lucky you.”

  Fiela smiled. “Yeah.”

  The other woman cleared her throat. “Do you think your reaction to your husband is psychological? Or biological? Do you think it’s because he’s not Nisirtu? Genetically, that is? Perhaps it was engineered to prevent you from mating with someone genetically inferior. Have you ever read your breeding report?”

  Fiela shook her head. “Mine was destroyed somehow. My uncle and Lilitu are the only people who ever saw it. Uncle is missing and Sister won’t tell me anything except that I was like a special project. Some weird mix. But that’s part of my problem. She said that if I came out okay, I was supposed to be the…” She sighed and searched for the word. “She told me in English. ‘Prognosticator,’ maybe?”

  “You are that,” laughed Thal, “but that can’t be the right word. Nature makes plenty of those without any interference by the Nisirtu.” She thought for a moment, then turned her head quickly. “Fiela, did you mean ‘progenitor?’”

  “Yes!” exclaimed the girl. “That’s it. Progenitor. First of the line, right?”

  “Just so.”

  The girl nodded, “Which means I’m kind of wired to make babies, which means I’m like almost always horny. I feel like a damn rabbit. Outside of fighting, I pretty much only think about sex. Sometimes even when I’m fighting.”

  “But only with males.”

  “Right.”

  “Because sex with males makes babies.”

  Fiela looked at the woman. “I never thought of that. Yeah, I guess. Huh!”

  “So do you think your aversion to Ben is because he’s not the right ‘kind’ of male?”

  The girl shook her head. “It’s not that. I am not repelled by him when this feeling overtakes me. It’s just the opposite. I am super attracted to him. Like an animal. A crazy, starving animal. I can’t think straight. I gnash my teeth.”

  “You gnash your teeth?”

  “Yeah. Really hard. My gums get sore, too. It is hard to describe. It is almost uncontrollable. I’m worried about what I might do.”

  Thal leaned backward. “Do you think you would hurt him?”

  “I don’t know!”

  The other woman stewed on the situation before saying, “You are sure it is tied to your sexual response, though.”

  “Yes.”

  Thal shrugged. “I would think the remedy is obvious. Control your arousal.”

  Fiela moaned. “I’ve tried! I try to think about other things but my mind just keeps going back to, you know…that. I can’t help it.”

  “No, Fiela. I am saying you should satiate your lust before you go to him.”

  Thal looked at her, and made a slight motion.

  “Oh,” the girl said. “Self-service. No problem there. Ever since the marriage ceremony that’s pretty much all I do in my free time. Sometimes even when I’m supposed to be doing other things. Sometimes while I do other things.”

  Thal blinked rapidly, unsure of the appropriate response. The girl’s reply did explain her poor study habits, at least. “Perhaps you could be more strategic with your timing, then. Just before you are with him. You will still need to play your part.”

  “Fake it, you mean.”

  “That is not wholly accurate. You would simply be ‘recreating’ it. You would not want him to think he is undesirable. This isn’t a permanent solution, of course. It would be unfair for you to never enjoy your relations with him. But if your primary objective is simply to consummate the marriage...”

  “That might work,” admitted Fiela.

  “It will require careful planning. Timing is everything.”

  “As you say.”

  “I think I may also have a solution to your other problem - why your husband won’t do his part.”

  “Really?” The girl seemed beyond surprised.

  “Yes. I believe Ben wants a ceremony.”

  The girl went limp. “We had a ceremony, Thal! We drank from the same cup and burned the proper incense and my sister and I repeated the proper words. I think we were quite desirable. But even then there was a misunderstanding about her voyage through the ether which foiled things.”

  The other woman shook her head. “That was a Nisirtu ceremony, Fiela.”

  The Peth’s eyes went dark for a moment, then widened. “I had not thought of that. It was a Nisirtu ceremony! Shall I explain it to him, you think? Will that put his mind at ease?”

  “I’m sure he realizes the purpose of the ceremony, but it was a Nisirtu ceremony and he was raised Ardoon. Do you know if he is religious?”

  “A little. He’s some kind of Christian, I think.”

  “Is there a Christian priest in Steepleguard?” />
  “I do not know of one.”

  “Perhaps we can find one among the Ardoon survivors. Then we can arrange for a Christian marriage ceremony.”

  The girl’s eyes lit up and she squeezed the woman’s hands. “That’s brilliant! I am sure you are right, Thal. Ben is afraid that his gods have not recognized the marriage. That is why he is unwilling to consummate the union. He does not think we are truly married!”

  At this, her joy disappeared. She looked at the other woman with an anguished face. “He does not think I am his wife?”

  Seeing the hurt, Thal said quickly, “You are his fiancé. It is almost the same. You are still bound.”

  “Is the ceremony very difficult?”

  “It need not be. It may take only a few minutes.”

  Fiela regained her composure. “Then I shall find a priest!”

  There was a knock at the bedroom door.

  Thal and Fiela jumped to their feet simultaneously. Neither had summoned a fetch. They eyed one another.

  “Who beckons?” challenged Thal loudly as she took a step forward and moved in front of Fiela. Fiela thought it absurd that her mentor – a scientist – believed it necessary to guard her. Then she saw the pistol in the woman’s hand.

  Where the hell did that come from?

  Disparthian’s booming voice penetrated the thick door. “Lady,” he yelled from behind the door, “my apologies, but Annasa Fiela has been summoned by the king.”