Gateway to HeVan (17 page)

“Of course, Regent,” Malpha answered.

Giving
her a short nod, she left the room.  By addressing Glynnis as Regent, Malpha was giving Glynnis her proper title and letting the Council know they had to tread softly.

The Council waited until Malpha left the room.

“She called you
Regent
,” said the woman standing at the head of the group.

“Yes, I recently
joined
with her uncles.  I decided to stay here in Purgat instead of asking them to move to the House of my ancestry,” Glynnis said.

“She didn’t call you
Nam-Nin
, or queen,” stated the same woman.

“That’s correct.  The
Nam-Nin’s
arrival has been delayed.  She’s helping the KowLer with a small fertility problem they’re having.  She and the three hundred pregnant women in her retinue will arrive soon,” explained Glynnis in a clear voice. 

Just then, Malpha returned, carrying Glynnis’s purse with her. 

Michelle and Cassandra came to the door.

Seizing the opportunity, Glynnis looked and turned to get up from the chair behind the desk.  For a moment, her back was to the room.  She looked Malpha in the eyes and glanced over at Cassandra and back, then raised an eyebrow.  She smiled at Malpha’s very slight nod.

With a politician’s smile, she walked over to the woman who had been speaking and held out her hand. 

“Allow me to introduce myself.  I’m Glynnis MacTavish,
recently of Earth and now
joined
to Rale, Recca, and Rufan Kolrami.  I am descended from Tamiel, as have the daughters of my lineage.  My granddaughter was the one who discovered
Nam-Nin
Tamiel where she lay in stasis.  It was she to whom the
Nam-Nin
passed her powers.  She is the
Nam-Nin
now; I’m only here to help with the transition.”

“Why are you holding out your hand?” asked the woman in front.

“It’s a method of greeting on her planet,” explained Malpha. 

She then went on to introduce each of the men and women of the Council to Glynnis, Michelle
, and Cassandra.  The members of the Council were amazed to see a pregnant woman.  It distracted them for a few moments.

As
soon as the introductions were concluded, Michelle hurried Cassandra from the room.  They didn’t want her to have a vision in front of the Council.

Glynnis took her purse from Malpha with a thank you and took out a memory saver. 

“Let’s just plug this in, shall we?” Glynnis asked.  “I’m sure it will clear things up,” she said.

She walked over and plugged the crystal into the viewer on the wall Malpha had used yesterday.

“Now, everyone please find a seat; make sure you can see the viewer,” she said.  She waited until they were all seated before starting the recording.

The screen lightened and then cleared.  Everyone in the room could see Addie in the gel chair in her quarters in all of her very pregnant glory.  On either side of the chair were two of her Great Danes; behind her stood her three
Ankida:
Arjun, Rune, and Kylan.

“Hello,” Addie said
, as she started to glow and throw off golden sparks in the air.

“I am Aditya Marie Perez Azazyel,
descendant of Tamiel and
Nam-Nin
of the Nephilim.  One of the women suffered a miscarriage yesterday.  We are proceeding with care.  It is imperative we have immediate medical knowledge on Nephilim pregnancies.  My grandmother is acting in my place.  Her words must be obeyed as coming from my voice.  There are two things which must be changed immediately and put into law.  The first, a Nephilim female has the choice to stay in her House or go to the House of her
Ankida
.  This is to be her choice from this day forward.  Second, all of the women I’m bringing with me come from a distant planet.  More will be arriving.  After they are
joined
, if they wish to take their
Ankida
and visit family back on their home planet, they are allowed to leave HeVan.  We do not keep prisoners.  Thank you for your attention.  We will speak again upon my arrival.”

The screen went dark.

“Well, this memory saver should answer all of your immediate questions.  Now, Marga, as head of the Council, would you please gather the requested medical information and have it brought here in four hours?” asked Glynnis.

“Why do you need four hours?” Marga asked.

“Because that’s when Malpha is leaving to take it to Addie,” she explained.

“But she can’t leave; she’s the Regent,” said Marga.

“No, she’s not the Regent; I am.  I thought we made it clear earlier,” said Glynnis patiently, as if she were speaking to a four year old child.

Marga came close to where Glynnis stood and lowered her voice.  “The House of Purgat is in debt to the Nephilim.  Now
, since the queen has been found and will be returned, it’s time for them to pay the price of ten thousand years of…”

“Stop right there,” Glynnis said in a sharp whisper.
“You will not hold the child guilty for the acts of her grandmother.  If there is any debt, it is owed to Malpha for taking the task of holding a people together for so long with no thanks and little help.  You all just barged your way in here as if you had the right, which you don’t!  You can all just take yourselves off and send a warrior back with the requested information.  We can speak again tomorrow after I’ve calmed down and you’ve grown some compassion and some brains,” Glynnis ended in a near shout, hands on her hips.

Her
Ankida
, hearing her, entered the room, “Glynnis, is everything okay?” asked Rale.

“The Council was just leaving; perhaps you should help them on their way,” she said.
  “Keep one thing in mind,” she said to them as they were filing out.  “The re-birth of the Nephilim people has come.  It’s time for positive, constructive thinking.  Your job is going to be to provide the queen with help and advice.  I’d suggest you begin gathering data.”

After they left, she turned to Malpha and said, “Let’s go see Cassie.”

The two of them quickly went into the other room.  They didn’t get far; Cassie was out cold on the floor, twitching.

Recca had followed them in and quickly bent over to place her on the bed.  He turned to the women, “What happened?”

“Cassandra met the Council,” explained Malpha, giving her uncle a close look.

“I think we shouldn’t wait for the Council to send us information.  We can download what we need from here and send the rest later.  I think Malpha should leave right away,” Recca said.

Just then, Cassandra sat up, “Sabotage!” she said.  “You have to leave before they can sabotage the ship. I have to go with you.  I have a lot to tell Addie,” she explained.

“Damn, I wanted to write a long letter to Addie explaining a few things.  Now there’s no time,” said Glynnis.

“If Michelle and Cassandra don’t mind quickly packing the rest of my clothes, I’ll show you how to use the inter-planetary high-speed transmitter.  You can record a message and then send it off in a compact high-speed transmission.  Even if you send it tomorrow, it will get to the KowLer system before we do,” explained Malpha.

“That’ll work
—show me,” said Glynnis.

For the next twenty minutes, everyone worked frantically.  Within the hour, Malpha and Cassandra were in the shuttle and on their way.  Just before take-off, a warrior, not part of the regular crew, was caught trying to board.  He was detained and brought to Glynnis.

She was working at Malpha’s desk, reading over her diaries, trying to get a feel for what had been happening lately when the man was brought in.  He had a belligerent look on his face. 

Letting out a sigh, Glynnis once again turned on the memory saver of Addie speaking.  While the Council hadn’t openly reacted, she knew
, in general, the warriors had a very strong reaction when they saw Addie’s glowy routine.  This proved true as the young man immediately went to his knees and held up his hands, palms up, when Addie started letting off her golden sparks.

“Now, tell me
, young man, why did you want to get on the ship?” asked Glynnis.

“I was told to
personally deliver a case of Seraphian brandy to the Lady Malpha to give to the queen,” he explained.

“Who told you that?” she asked.

“Councilman Hend of the House of Celestia—he knows Malpha’s fathers were from the House of Seraph and they’re no longer exporting brandy outside of their region.  Malpha is known for her preference for it.  Since she hasn’t been able to get any new supplies, the Councilman thought she would appreciate the gesture,” he said.

“I see.  Well, if that’s all, you may go.  Tell the people of your House to gather images of all warriors wishing to be
joined
.  We will transmit them to the vision matcher on Earth to find your
joins
.  Nearly all the warriors from the original expedition found
joins
.  Those she finds
joins
for and others chosen by the
Nam-Nin
will be making a trip to Earth to meet or find their
joins
,” she added.

“Thank you, Regent, I will,” he said
, as he got up to leave.

After he was gone, Glynnis tried out the new speed transmitter to send a message telling Malpha the case of Seraphian brandy was suspect and to toss it out the airlock.  Given the amount of brandy the woman kept in her cellar, she knew it would be hard for her to do, but necessary.

Next, she carefully worded a message for Addie, making notes so she wouldn’t forget anything.  It took nearly two hours but she had a lot to tell.  Finally, she called it done and sent it off.

“There, it’s in your hands now, baby,” she said to herself
, then getting up from the chair.  She was tired; she wanted to check on Michelle and Sergio and then find her
Ankida
.  She was happy to find them coming down the hall as she left the office.

BianCa was soaking in the tub.  Her body’s sore muscles needed the hot water.  All of the wonderful sex she’d been having since she was released from the medical bay ten days ago—well, she just wasn’t used to this much sexual activity.  It was a revelation; she’d wept when she felt her first orgasm.  She didn’t know what was happening and neither did Thors.  With so few women on HeVan and the fact he believed he would likely never have a mate, he had never studied how to please a female.  Then, for some reason he didn’t understand at the time, Arjun took him aside and gave him some pointers. 

Best of all
, was the memory saver which taught him how to perform the
Kuan Haddis,
a Nephilim pleasure massage the male performs for his mate. 

When BianCa thought back
, she couldn’t help but blush.  She couldn’t wait to try out the male version, Kālu Ki’, on Thors, which Grace had explained to her.  She still blushed when she viewed the instructions on the memory saver.  Though she would have to hide it from Thors, she didn’t think he would like her to be watching it, even if he did enjoy the results.

She and Thors had returned to KowLer the previous evening.  They had then spent most of the night christening her bedroom
in the city palace.  She would find the energy to tackle the previous duke’s rooms later.  Right now she didn’t want to think about him!

The water was starting to cool and she was considering climbing out and facing her people
, when Thors opened the door.  Running in between his legs and over to the tub were the two Great Dane puppies Addie had given her.  As they rushed across the floor, Dora, the female, slipped and slid the last few feet on her butt.  Barney, the male, gave her a sniff before putting his paws on the edge of the large tub.  As soon as he realized there was water, he jumped down and ran back to Thors.

Dora, disgusted with her brother
, leaped up to give BianCa kisses and fell into the bath water.  Both BianCa and Thors laughed as Dora tried to climb out and kept slipping back into the water.  Thors finally leaned over and pulled her out.  He got a good dousing, as she immediately shook herself, spraying water everywhere.

BianCa couldn’t stop giggling as she climbed out of the tub with Thors’ help.  As she reached for the towel Thors handed her
, Dora ran from the room.  She could see her jump on the bed and start rolling in the covers, which started BianCa laughing again.  Thors wasn’t paying attention; his eyes heated as he looked at BianCa.  He still had trouble believing he had been so blessed to have a
join
of his own.  He would miss his homeland and family, of course.  Having BianCa made any sacrifice worthwhile, however.  He knew with her by his side, they could accomplish anything.

“I see that look in your eye
, Thors; I know what you’re thinking.  As much as I’d like to spend the day in bed with you, we have duties.  You need to be introduced to the people you will be leading,” she said, wrapping the towel around her body, hiding it from his view.

Thors grabbed another towel and walked over to the bed
.  He began rubbing Dora dry as BianCa walked over to the drawers set into the wall to pick some lingerie.  As she started to pull on the silky fabric, she heard Dora yelp.  Turning around, she saw Thors, with a red face, petting Dora. 

“You distracted me,” he muttered as he rubbed the dog
, causing her to giggle again.

Turning to the large wardrobe
, she sighed.  She didn’t notice Thors had come up behind her. 

“Why did you sigh?” he asked
, rubbing his hands over her shoulders and down her arms.

“We’re introducing you to the officials of the House of LucenTio
and all their people.  A certain amount of ceremony is called for.  I’m afraid I got used to wearing comfortable clothes.  Wearing the full regalia again is going to be a chore now since I’ve spent so much time seeing how Addie and Grace get to dress in whatever they want.  I don’t mind, though; you’re worth it,” she said with a smile over her shoulder.

Thors turned her so she faced him.  He looked intently into her eyes. 

“I spoke with the queen before coming here.  She gave me some advice I didn’t really understand at the time.  She said, ‘Begin as you mean to go on'.  I understand now what she meant.  While I wish to embrace the culture of the KowLer people, I am not KowLer.  The sooner everyone here understands I will be a different sort of Proctor than they are used to, the better.  You should always feel assured, in control and safe.  I don’t wish you to be unhappy in your own home as you were before.  I intend for you to be a true duchess and rule by my side.”

BianCa put her arms around him and held on.  She was so happy and pleased he understood the way she felt before and wanted to change it.  Pulling back, she gave him a smile of such beauty, his heart nearly stopped in his chest.

“I think I understand, too.  Now I know what I want to wear.”

Giving him one last squeeze, she stepped to the wardrobe and pulled out the selected clothes from the very back.  She heard Thors chuckle from behind her when he saw what she had chosen.  He walked over to sit in a chair as he watched her dress.  He wasn’t familiar with female clothing; he’d had no reason to be.  The undergarments BianCa chose to wear had a strange effect on his pulse and respiration.  Today she was wearing two pieces in pale peach silk.  The top portion molded and lifted her breasts while barely covering her nipples.  The bottom piece just covered her mound with thin ribbons over her hips.  He grew hard watching her wiggle her hips into the dark brown leather pants.  He had to shut his eyes
, as his pants had become uncomfortably tight. He didn’t want to embarrass himself by coming in them. He took a deep breath and willed himself to relax. She sat on the end of the bed and pulled on soft leather ankle boots matching her pants.  The leather hugged her waist and hips, then fell straight-legged to her ankles.

Next, she pulled on a soft
, white woven fabric with gold embroidery around the neckline and wrists.  Finally, she pulled out a long burgundy banyan, which hung to mid-shin.  It had gold embroidery along the hem and front plackets.  When buttoned, it form-fitted to her waist and then widened out into a full skirt.  The sleeves also flared out, ending between elbow and wrist with a wide cuff.

“Why do you have your eyes closed?” she asked.

“Watching you dress, the way you move, it is too much.  I am unused to becoming aroused so quickly.  I don’t think I ever will be,” he said, taking another deep breath before opening his eyes.  “You are beautiful, BianCa.  You look like a strong, powerful woman.”

“Do I still look womanly?  Am I feminine enough?” she asked, biting her lower lip.

“With your curves, you will always look womanly and feminine.  You have nothing to be concerned about.  If you were any more womanly, I would say to hell with meeting your people and take you now.  As it is, I’m holding on to my control by willpower alone.”

“You say the nicest things.  Even better, I know you only tell me the truth,” she said
as she walked over to him.  Sitting on the arm of the chair, she leaned over to kiss the edge of his jaw.

“I will always tell you the truth,” he said seriously.
 

“I know.  It’s one of the many reasons I love you,” she said as she walked over to a cabinet.  “I think I’ll wear some of my jewels.  I have a chatelaine
which can double as a belt,” she mused.

Thors wasn’t paying attention.  Her words of love had blown through him like a fresh wind.  Each time she said it, it was like the first time.  He would never grow tired of hearing it.  Once again, he thanked the Goddess and his queen for choosing him for BianCa.  He came out of his reverie to see BianCa had placed a jeweled belt around her hips.  She looked totally kick-ass
, an expression he’d learned from Grace’s
Ankida
, and gorgeous at the same time.

“Okay, I’m as ready as I’m going to be,” she said.

“My love, you have nothing to worry about.  You’ll have them shaking in their boots.  They won’t stand a chance,” he said emphatically.

Thors was wearing leather pants, a black shirt made out of a body
-hugging material and fit like a second skin.  His boots came up over his knees.  Each boot had a built-in scabbard.  One held a blade and the other his stun stick.  In a corner of the room rested his warrior spear.  It was linked to his DNA and he had also linked it to BianCa’s.  The blades built into the staff would emerge and cut anyone attempting to take hold of the spear if their DNA didn’t match.  The long hooked blade at the top was the more visual reminder of its ferocity as a weapon.  He would carry it with him for this first meeting with his subordinates.  After that, he promised BianCa he would put it away unless there was a battle.  She didn’t want one of the puppies to brush up against it and get hurt.

As they were leaving the room, BianCa looked back to see Dora and Barney had fallen asleep in a pile on the bed.  Dora was still half-wrapped in the towel.  It reminded her of how babies
would fall asleep—moving fast one moment and then falling asleep quickly wherever they were.  She passed a hand over her womb.  She knew her child was there, even if it was too soon for the medical officer to tell her.  She knew the instant Thors’s seed had taken root in her womb.  She’d felt the ‘click', a change in her body, as it began a new life.  She held the knowing in her heart—her own personal miracle.

The two of them left their living quarters and walked side by side through the hallways to the office of the Proctor.

“Will we need to spend all of our time here in the city?” Thors asked BianCa in a soft voice as they went along.

“I always have.  But it was because I wasn’t allowed to visit the estate in the country.  It took me a
while to figure it out but I finally did.  It’s yours now,” she said.

Thors stopped and turned to face her.  “No, BianCa, it’s ours now.  We’ll speak to these people and then we’ll go visit this estate together.”

“I’d like that. After nearly three years, I’m also curious to see our country home,” she answered.

Thors took her in his arms; he had a fierce need to give his
join
a kiss.  Within moments, the kiss went from simple to simply outrageous.  BianCa was deep in the kiss when a sound intruded.  Someone was talking.  Reluctantly, they pulled apart.  BianCa dropped her arms that were wound around Thors’s neck.  Thors lowered BianCa back to her feet, giving her ass one last squeeze before pulling away from her.  Facing forward again, they saw a man standing in front of them.

“I apologize for…ah…interrupting you,
duke…ah…duke…” he stumbled to a halt when the large alien just stared at him.

“Rinok, this is my husband, Duke Thors, the new Proctor for the House of LucenTio.  Thors, this is Rinok.  He acts as secretary, making sure the people you need to see can gain an audience with you and those who might be wasting your time, are handled by others,” BianCa explained in a dry voice. 

On more than one occasion, she had found herself being handled by others when she’d been married to PietRo.

“Rinok, I sent word for the entire household to be assembled.  Have you seen to that?” Thors asked.

“Of course, of course—all is as you wish it,” he said, trying not to look at the duchess in her scandalous clothing.

Rinok tried to hide the fact he was extremely nervous.  He was a small, weasel-looking man who had made a place for himself near the old duke by doing whatever he had to.  Many of his assignments he found distasteful but he didn’t let it bother him.  He had been quietly skimming funds from the duke’s coffers and he knew so long as he scraped and bowed enough, he would be overlooked.  He didn’t think it would take long with this new duke.  The big ones were always stupid.  He comforted himself with thoughts of his mistress as he led the way to the main hall.

Jalen Rephaim,
Ankida
to Grace, had provided surveillance nanos to King Ben. Thors had placed them on all of the prior duke’s known associates.  Thors and BianCa had stayed up late the prior night reviewing all the downloaded data.  The time since the prior duke had attempted to kill Queen Addie had netted better results than they could have hoped.  Thors intended to clean house in a major way on this day.

Ten minutes later, they entered the back of the chamber and were standing on a raised dais before all the members of the House of LucenTio.  The women, unused to be included in formal proceedings, were crowded into one corner at the back of the room.  The remainder were milling around in groups.  Thors took his warrior staff and beat it against the floor several times to gain everyone’s attention.

“Please clear the center of the floor,” spoke Thors, waving his staff and parting the crowd. 

He kept gesturing until a fairly large area was cleared and the people were mostly pressed up four to six deep on the sides of the room.

“There has been upheaval in the House of LucenTio in the recent past.  Several of you stepped forward to act—both during this time and, as I’ve been informed, were in charge of key initiatives in the past.  When I call your name, please move into the center of the room so you may be recognized.”