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  Cor stood just outside the branch radius of the tree, and she lowered the staff, pointing the smooth power crystals at the trunk, willing the energy to leave the stone and enter the wood.

  The tree shivered dramatically, and while the girls were making shocked and frightened sounds, she continued to give the power of the sceptre to the tree.

  There was a shift in the shape of the tree as it twisted under the onslaught of power. It took on a bipedal form, and when it completed its transition, it was definitely male, well built and completely naked.

  Knowing who she was looking at, Cor went down on one knee, her staff pointing to the sky once again. “Welcome, Avatar.”

  His voice was deep and quiet. “You are not a sacrifice.”

  She looked up, trying not to let her gaze drag itself up his abs. “I am a guard for the sacrifice.”

  He was made of green and deep bronzy brown. His hair was as dark as pine needles, his eyes bright lime green. Everything else was in shades of rich browns.

  “It seems that Lero’s plan has brought me what I wanted, though not in the manner I had foreseen. Your name, child?”

  “Cora Lietta Rhodes of the Alliance Protectorate of Terra. Most call me Cor.”

  “Relak, Avatar of Lero, and very glad to meet you. Please, rise.” He held out his hand, and he lifted her to her feet.

  She saw images of him laughing, his green hair flowing back in the sun. Images of his attention solely fixed on her with his eyes intent. More images rippled in of her hands on his skin and not only the skin on his chest.

  Cor got to her feet and stood with the staff comfortably in her grip.

  Relak looked her over, up and down for an uncomfortable amount of time. “What in the name of nineteen stars are you wearing?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment then walked toward the fire. The costume had felt like a bit of a prank, and she now had proof.

  Chapter Three

  “Sox, grab your bag and change. These costumes are for the entertainment of our clients.” Cor ignored the man behind her and grabbed her small pack. The bodysuit that she flicked out was opaque, dark burgundy and considerably warmer than the costume she had on now.

  The sacrifices were staring at the man in horror but Cor didn’t care. With swift moves honed in mixed-gender change rooms, she peeled off the lizard-like cowl and the rest of the suit. Naked in the growing darkness, she ignored everything around her while hopping into her new bodysuit. Sighing happily, she turned to speak to Relak. “Pardon the disturbance. That suit was driving me crazy.”

  Cor remembered her manners, and she bowed low. “Relak, this is my partner, Socorea, and these are your prospective brides.”

  The girls were still frozen in place, four of them had their gazes firmly fixed on his cock and two looked like fainting was the next option.

  He grinned, and his body was covered with a soft tree bark in a matter of seconds. “If you will change your skin, so will I, but those women of Vahsh are not my brides.”

  Cor blinked, “What?”

  Sox stepped in, “What my partner means to say is they are the women sent here for the selection process and to wake you. If you are awake, you must be interested in one of them.”

  Relak inclined his head. “I do see your logic, but none of them woke me. It was your partner who lifted the control staff and blasted me out of my waking dreams.”

  Cor looked at the staff that she had picked up again out of reflex. With a grimace, she held it out to him. “Here you go. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to touch it.”

  Relak shook his head. “It is yours. You have inherited it from Lero. It is his gift to you.”

  Tobeena blanched, “My lord Avatar, please tell me that Lero has not just gifted the control staff to this creature.”

  Relak closed in on the young woman in a minute, inhaling deeply. He must have scented something he recognized, because he frowned and growled. “Your family has no say in this matter. You know of their guilt in this matter. She is Lero’s choice for me and therefore my chosen.”

  Cor blinked. “Wait. What?”

  Sox snickered softly, “It looks like you just got hitched by hallucinating.”

  Cor turned to her friend. “Finish closing your suit. It is hard to yell at someone who’s naked.”

  Sox grinned and sealed her dark blue suit across her breasts. “It has never bothered you before.”

  She shuddered, “It isn’t my fault that you sleep in the raw. Seeing you in the altogether once was enough for a lifetime. Bleah.”

  Cor finally realized that their quiet bickering had gained an audience. Back in her standard Alliance uniform, she twirled the staff between her palms, sending light dancing across the faces of those watching.

  Tobeena stretched out her hand. “Give me the staff, guardsman. You owe it to me as your employer.”

  Sox laughed, “You are not our employer. The Alliance is our employer, and they only contracted for two guardsmen to bring six of the Vahsh to the surface and remain with them for three days. Nothing else. No commands. We didn’t even have to feed you.”

  Tobeena frowned. “But, the last group of girls had service contracts with their guards.”

  Relak was watching the exchange with interest.

  Sox clarified matters. “That costs extra. Your people didn’t want to spend money on servants that you didn’t need. We are the basic package. We will defend you against outside threats, but that is where our obligation ends.”

  Tobeena paled. “They didn’t think he would wake.”

  She did something that Cor only thought of as stupid. Tobeena rushed at her and tried to grab the staff.

  Acting on reflex, Cor twisted the staff to one side, struck Tobeena in the ribs and pinned her to the ground using the very object she wanted.

  “What was that about? You are getting your flimsy dress dirty.” Cor kept her down and watched as she tried to grab the staff over and over, hissing as she did so.

  “Sox, can you grab her if I let her up.”

  “Sure, but I don’t think she will be grabbing again. I can smell scorched skin.” Sox lifted Tobeena, and the girl burst into tears.

  Cor inclined her head to Relak again. “Avatar, what is the purpose of this staff?”

  He moved toward her and placed his hand over hers on the smooth wood. “It controls the defences of Lero. It literally places the planet’s safety in your hands.”

  She was about to ask another question when he kissed her with a move that was as sudden as it was stimulating. He smelled of sweet wood and male musk with a hint of citrus. There was a scar on his lower lip that she could feel with hers and there was the slightest hint of freckles dusted across his cheeks. Her hand under his recognized scars, callouses and the soft skin in places where his palm was pressed to her fingers.

  His taste was the same as the fruit from the tree, and when he let her go, she licked her lips and blushed. “I am sorry for picking the fruit.”

  “I am not. It woke me, and from there on, I watched.” His hand caressed her cheek. “So soft for one who is in a life of violence.”

  “I prefer a life of protection.” She inclined her head. “Violence happens occasionally, but protecting those who cannot take care of themselves in all situations is a blessing in and of itself.”

  “Your charges here have nothing to fear. If they would open their minds a little, they would see what you see. I will call for the servants to join us. Will you have dinner with me?”

  Cor blinked. “You are kidding, right?”

  Relak’s eyes were completely sober. “I need to know what I need to do to make you mine and that means I must know more about you. So, will you and your partner join me for dinner? I will set a guard from the population, and they will be safe in the middle of my garden.”

  Cor was confused. “I thought this was supposed to be a dead world.”

  “Only when those who do not know the truth look at it. To anyone who opens their mind to see every
thing around them, they see what you see, what I see. What all the people on Lero see, that our world is ours alone for now. That time is coming to a close, and you will help us re-join the rhythm of life outside our world.”

  “I am currently under contract to the Vahsh.”

  “You will find, if you examine your agreement, that you have already fulfilled your contract. So, dinner in two hours?”

  She blinked. “Um. Sure. Two hours. Where?”

  “The servants will come and find you.”

  He pressed a kiss to her forehead and walked toward the hall where she had found the staff.

  Sox grabbed her arm the moment he was out of earshot. “I think he is serious, Cora.”

  “You only call me that when I am in trouble.”

  “I think this qualifies as trouble. You just woke a planetary Avatar, and he wants you to join him with a planet living in your mind. Don’t you find that a little peculiar?”

  Cor sat down on the ground and placed her staff across her lap. “Oh, you know these funny foreigners and their peculiar ways.”

  Sox sat down next to her and sighed. “You have landed it in this time, Cor.”

  Cor looked over at the group of girls examining Tobeena’s burned hands. “Oh, I am well aware of that.”

  Chapter Four

  Life returned rapidly to Lero’s surface. As if they had only been waiting for a signal, personnel filled the home and fires were lit in some of the open rooms.

  When two hours of watching folks filing in carrying crates, barrels and other sundries needed for a household suddenly came to a halt, four large, burly men of Lero came striding toward their small gathering.

  “Lady Cora, Lady Socorea, please join Avatar Relak in the room where the staff was activated. He is eager to hear of your people.” The male speaking was looking at Sox in a way that was not at all perfunctory.

  Cor stifled a snicker as Sox’s hormones went into overdrive and her scent changed dramatically. Apparently, it was not a one-way attraction.

  “Save it for later, Sox, dinner first. Sir, am I to understand that you are taking over the watch on the Vahsh maidens?”

  “I am Borik, and yes, we are here to guard the sacrifices. They will be here when you return.” He bowed low, and Sox mimicked his bow, taking in every inch of his structure and height as she slowly stood.

  “Come on, Sox, before you go blind.” Cor took the staff and headed through the darkness with the ease of someone who could see in another spectrum if she needed to. Sox caught up with her, and soon, they were walking the halls filling with busy men and women hanging drapes that billowed in the wind but allowed privacy.

  The room where the staff had come out of the floor was completed. A table was sitting central, a fire had been built to ward off the evening chill and covered platters were waiting for them.

  Relak was waiting as well, and he had changed clothing. A short hip wrap reminiscent of a kilt covered him from his flat waist to just above his knees. Come to think of it, the men who had come to guard the ladies were dressed in a similar fashion, but on them, it just looked like they were dressed, not like they were tempting Cor to undress them.

  She greeted him. “Avatar Relak, thank you for your invitation.”

  “Security Officer Cora, thank you for coming. Thank you as well, Security Officer Socorea, we need a chaperone for now.” He inclined his head and gestured to the table. “Please, ladies, sit.”

  Cora nervously took a seat so her left side faced the fire. Socorea mimicked her by sitting so that her right faced the fire. It left Relak with the option to sit facing the fire or have it at his back.

  He chose to have it at his back, his right hand touching Cora’s left as he casually placed it next to hers. “So, I hear that Terrans are settling all over the Alliance and some have even taken places in the Nyal Imperium.”

  A smiling female server brought in a bottle of wine and a bottle of water. As host, Relak poured for them. “Lero tradition means you will not refill your own glass.”

  “Interesting tradition.”

  “It is my duty as host to provide you with what you need. That was the mistake that the Vahsh made. They did not wait to be offered hospitality, they took it.”

  Cor frowned. “It was more than hospitality that they took. I can’t get those images out of my mind.”

  Relak nodded. “I am sorry for it, but Lero told me he was showing you the true images. I was on the station negotiation to help the Vahsh have a brighter future and they were here destroying the one bright spot in both our lives.”

  There was true grief in his expression and a low simmering rage.

  “Who was Dahla? She was not from Lero, that much I could see.”

  Sox looked up, curious. “You saw her?”

  Cor nodded. “I believe that Lero sent images of the actual events into my thoughts while we were being told the story.”

  Sox nodded in understanding. “It is why you said that the tale was excrement.”

  Relak arched his brow. “Did you now?”

  Cor chuckled. “Well, it seemed appropriate considering the smug attitude exhibited by the Vahsh. Now, what was Dahla?”

  The skin and the dark eyes had a haunting familiarity.

  “She was a freed slave of unknown origins. Her owners brought her here as a child, and Lero and I raised her. She was engaged in a courtship with a male named Acro, but he was with me on the station when she was attacked.”

  Cor stopped eating. “The Vahsh said she was your intended bride.”

  He snorted. “Alliance Common only recently penetrated their society. In Vahsh, the word for companion and lover are the same. Dahla was my companion, but she was not my lover.”

  Cor furrowed her brow, “So, when Lero demanded that the Vahsh send you wave upon wave of women, it was to give you a companion?”

  He shook his head. “No. It was to punish the Vahsh. They needed the threat of my taking one of theirs to keep them in place. I never thought that they would bring an acceptable woman to me. You were a surprise.”

  Sox laughed, “Cor is full of surprises, an amazing cook, an excellent dancer and a charming wit. She will make you an excellent companion.”

  Cor kicked out and Sox winced. “I am not on the auction block, Sox. I am an Alliance guard. That hasn’t changed.”

  Sox snorted, an unladylike noise that was peculiar for her. “You think that if it gives you comfort.”

  Cor blushed. It was well known that if a planet wanted possession of a Terran and it was not against the Terran’s nature, they would simply be handed over by the Alliance. It was all in the waiver she had signed when she joined the Volunteers, but she had never considered herself tempting enough to get the interest of any of the exotic males who crossed her path.

  Relak tried to put an innocent expression on, but there was a certain satisfaction in the set of his lips.

  He lifted covers off the dishes one by one and served each of them in turn.

  “Where was the population? The Vahsh thought Lero was uninhabitable.” Sox was smiling down at her plate.

  Relak smiled and poured wine for all of them. “There are underground cities all over Lero. There always have been. The core stone of the world powers all the advanced technology that the Leroans have created. Before the murder, Lero was willing to craft a sharing agreement with the Vahsh. They would provide transport, and we would provide the geothermic technology.”

  Cor nodded, “It sounds like it would have been a good match.”

  “It would have been, but though their administrators told me everything I wanted to hear, their representatives broke every law of decency, respect and guest-ship that has ever been written. The Vahsh have no respect for others, nor any interest in learning their customs. It makes them dangerous and unpredictable. Once these ladies are off the surface, their species will be barred from the orbital station and the surface of Lero.”

  Cor nodded and tried not to be obvious as she used her enhanced sens
es to mentally dissect the meals. The foods were surprisingly familiar. The flavours didn’t jar her like some of the local meals did when she travelled.

  She asked, “Were the locals lurking and waiting?”

  He nodded. “They watch the sacrifices closely. Your ability to see more than Lero wanted you to see was obvious the moment that you arrived and breathed in deeply. No one who sees the wind-swept ruin breathes in like that.”

  So, they had been watched. It explained the humming that she had felt but had ignored as part of the natural topography of Lero.

  Cor nibbled on something that resembled a green bean and smiled at the memories of snapping off the ends of the beans in her mom’s kitchen.

  It is a good memory.

  Lero?

  I am here once again. Your mind is arranged like Dahla’s was. Communication with you is surprisingly easy.

  Do you miss her?

  She was our daughter. We miss her very much. She grew here, played here, laughed and fell in love here. Her beloved died when she did. He would not live without her, and I was poorer for his loss.

  It must have been a bad time.

  Relak did not want a daughter, but when her owners abandoned that little scrap of life, there was no choice. She was too strange for any of my people to take her in, and so, Relak and I did our best to raise her.

  You did well. She was happy enough to let someone love her. That shows that she knew what it was.

  Thank you, Cora. Thank you for coming to us.

  Cora blinked rapidly as she re-joined the two at the table who were staring at her.

  Sox looked at her quizzically. “What was that?”

  “Lero was feeling chatty.”

  Relak blinked, “Lero spoke directly to you?”

  “Yes, is that unusual?”

  Relak leaned forward and gave her a deep look. “It is more than unusual, it is unheard of. The only ones who have ever spoken to Lero are my dearly departed Dahla and myself.”

  She cleared her throat and turned back to her meal. “Well, Lero did say that the structure of my mind was familiar.”