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  Orphia blinked, “What do you mean, she was to be yours?”

  Xeric cleared his throat. “Like many of our people, Orpheus is a wood spirit. A maiden is given to him in return for his protection and generosity. Inga was to go to him three days after she was taken. He went looking for her, and he found her village in ruins.”

  Orpheus looked miserable. Even his horns seemed unhappy.

  Orphia smiled and turned to the Negotiator. “What were the terms?”

  “Access to a local trade route and a woman of the same species. The prince doesn’t want to mix up his collection.”

  Orphia gave him a feral grin. “Tell him that the terms are accepted, and the exchange will occur at the palace at sundown. When he takes possession of me, the agreement is final. Will he abide by that?”

  The Negotiator nodded. “I will make sure of it. But, madam, are you sure?”

  She blinked, and he jerked back. She suspected that the Orb had let her eyes be visible for an instant. Orpheus was staring at her in shock as well.

  “As you wish, madam. We will see you at sunset.” The Negotiator bowed as low as his armour would allow, and he walked slowly out of the bar.

  “Xeric, does getting hammered impair our skills?”

  He wrapped his hand around the bare skin of her belly. “No. Why?”

  “Because I plan on getting plastered so that it will seem that Orpheus drugged me to make me comply. The prince is that kind of egotist, he doesn’t want a woman to come willingly. He wants to make them submit.”

  Xeric held up his hand, and the bartender brought over liquors in small glasses. With deliberate focus, Orphia put her attention to the serious task of getting drunk.

  Chapter Five

  Orpheus was carrying her under one arm as casually as if she was a sack of potatoes. She was dizzy and giggling, but part of her mind was crystal clear.

  The reason that the Nameless weren’t affected by drinking was because the Orb of Time was a designated driver.

  The palace gates were open. She could feel Xeric nearby, but the Orb was making him invisible as it had her.

  Inga was standing straight, her blonde hair rippling to her knees. Her eyes were a bright, vivid blue, and when she saw Orpheus walking toward her, her face changed to an expression of hope.

  Orphia sighed happily as best as she was able. It was good to see Inga’s face happy. She reminded Orphia of her grandmother. They had the same cheekbones.

  The prince was blinking in astonishment. “That was quick. I didn’t know there was another Terran nearby.”

  Orpheus grunted, “I always travel with a spare.”

  The prince didn’t know how to respond to that, but the Negotiator coughed through the speakers of his armour.

  “You have met the terms of the immediate agreement. Make your mark here, and the rest will be taken on contract.” The Negotiator held out a data pad where Orpheus made his mark.

  He set her on her feet and patted her on the back. “Go to your new master.”

  She wobbled and took a few steps before pausing to get her balance.

  Inga was unchained, and she didn’t waste time. She sprinted for Orpheus and fell to her knees. “Thank you for coming for me, my lord.”

  He lifted her carefully in his arms. “I will always come for you, Inga.”

  Orpheus started to move, and soon, he was a blur in the distance.

  Orphia wobbled toward the prince, and she had to laugh as guards surrounded her.

  The prince circled her, assessing. “You are a much better choice, stronger and more elegant. There is a confidence in you that I will enjoy breaking.”

  She looked at him in the eyes, and his guards struck the backs of her knees. She felt the skin part on one knee but didn’t cry out. “I don’t break.”

  The prince came toward her and leaned in. “You will.”

  She couldn’t help herself. She struck out at him, breaking his nose and causing blood to spew in every direction. The deep purple colour grossed her out, but she took another swing.

  The guards struck her and forced her to the ground.

  “Cheater! Can’t even take a girl without backup. No wonder you have to break your women, they can all kick your ass otherwise.” Part of her was glad that she was drunk when the guards struck her again.

  A low rumble came to her, and she grimaced. “This isn’t going to be good for you, scooter.”

  Xeric appeared in mid-run. He was fearsome, deadly and hotter than she had ever seen him. The leather shirt was a thing of the past, and his torso was exposed to her drunken and fascinated gaze.

  Guards went flying, and the prince was pinned to the wall by Xeric’s antlers. “Do not touch my woman.”

  “She is mine, Hirn. I bought her.” It was said on a gasp, blood seeped from the contact points.

  “She is mine, Tival, she was promised to me.” Xeric’s hands slowly throttled the prince until he drooped against the wall.

  Shaking his head, he freed his antlers from the prince.

  “Orpheus had better be on his way. I will not stand by while they hurt you.” He lifted her to her feet and slung her into his arms.

  She turned her head and spit out blood from the last kick of the guards. “I think they loosened a tooth.”

  A flash of light and they were back Home. Xeric sent warmth through her body and she felt the bruises recede.

  “That is a neat trick.”

  He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I cannot bear to see you injured. Why did you strike him?”

  She blinked and looked at him in surprise. “How drunk am I?”

  His smile became sheepish. “Ah, right. So, you like to pick fights when drunk?”

  She grinned. “Apparently.”

  “I believe you need a nap.”

  She belched, “It might be a good idea. A glass or three of water would be good too. What was I drinking?”

  “I have no idea. I only know that it smells horrid and seems to have killed your pheromones.”

  Orphia chuckled weakly. “So, that is the trick. I wondered why my body went nuts when I first saw you. Or smelled you, I am not sure what came first.”

  His smile was triumphant. “I see.”

  “And when the Orb came inside, my body reacted even more violently.”

  “So, something within you woke.”

  Her grin was beatific, “Apparently.”

  She was going to continue her observations, but she was sleepy. It would keep. Xeric would watch over her while she slept.

  Waking surrounded by green and the scent of the forest felt right. The pounding in her head was very, very wrong.

  A glass of water was sitting on a table next to the bed, and she slugged it down without thinking. The moisture was welcome, but now that she was awake, she could have sworn that there should have been a Hirn nearby.

  “Xeric?” The disaster of chain and scraps of fabric was gone, but the marks were still in sensitive areas.

  “In the dining area. How are you feeling?” He poked his head around the corner and grinned. “That good, huh?”

  She was still naked, but he seemed far more amused than aroused. Sighing, she realized that she might have missed her chance with him. Mind you, seducing a man while you were wasted on who-knows-what was never a good idea.

  The apartment that they were in was one large floor. A mirror was a centrepiece along one wall, and the view out the surrounding balcony took in all of the buildings that the Nameless called Home.

  “I don’t remember this view from the buildings that we were walking through.” Her voice was hoarse.

  He brought her a cup of hot tea. “That is because we are in the tower. The council objected to you interfering in your own bloodline.”

  She blinked and sat on a low chair, sipping at the tea with honey. “What do you mean?”

  “Inga and Orpheus are in your bloodline. It is probably why I respond so strongly to you, you have the marks of a Hirn within you.”

>   She remained quiet as she sipped her tea. “Inga looks like my grandmother, or rather, my grandmother looked like Inga.” She frowned. “Tenses are hard.”

  “You have just found out that a race alien to your own runs through your veins, and you are worried about grammar? Ah, Orphia, you are one of a kind.”

  Orphia looked up at the man whose very nearness set her heart pounding in more places than her chest. Her smile was slow, and she sipped at her tea, giving him a come-hither look over the rim of the cup. “Apparently, I am not.”

  Chapter Six

  “As enchanting as that look in your eyes is, I believe that you should look into your own history. That mirror will connect you to any point in time and space that you wish to look at. I would suggest that you look into Orpheus and Inga. It should prove what the council has decided.”

  She crossed the room and pressed her hand to the mirror and sat back to watch what it showed her.

  She jerked her hand back when she saw a tangle of pale limbs mixed with Orpheus’s darker green body. “Okay, that one I believe.”

  “Look for their child.”

  Wincing, she looked and saw the young man striding confidently through the woods. His skin tone gave the indication of the Hirn who had fathered him, and he paused for a moment and cocked his head. Nodding, he changed his direction and moved with a stealthy grace toward a pool where a woman was sobbing next to a horse that had fallen lame.

  He held the horse’s leg and stroked his hand down it repeatedly. When the animal got back to its feet, he spoke kindly to the woman, and she stared up at him, fascinated.

  His movement was abrupt as he leaned in, wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her lips to his.

  She fought him for a moment to the point of digging her nails into his neck, but he persisted, and she began to return his kiss.

  Orphia stopped that image as well. “Okay, so courtship was not his strong suit. I guess he got the job done.”

  Xeric laughed, “Interesting perspective. That was the point at which your bloodline gained the touch of the Orb.”

  She nodded, “So, anyone she had a child with would have continued the line of the Orb.”

  “More or less.”

  “So, when I made sure that Inga and Orpheus got together…”

  Xeric wrapped his arms around her, “You assured yourself me as your partner.”

  She smiled and stroked his arm. “As pleased as I am that you are happy, I need some food. Let’s head to the refectory and get something to eat.”

  The mirror was now simply a mirror, and she saw his wince. “I am afraid that you are now incarcerated here when you are not on a mission.”

  Orphia paused, “Then, how am I going to get food and clothing?”

  “We have a dispenser. You order what you want, and it arrives via a slot on the wall. From clothing to food to games, everything can be requisitioned.”

  “I suppose I should requisition some clothing then.” She bit her lip and looked at their reflection in the mirror. His hands were huge and the contrasts between their skins were fascinating.

  As she watched, his hand moved and cupped her bare sex, his fingers working in slow strokes while his gaze met hers in the mirror.

  His voice was low and hummed through her limbs when he said, “There is no hurry on the clothing. I prefer you like this.”

  Her body sent a surge of liquid out to greet his inquisitive fingers.

  His chuckle made her cheeks burn. “Apparently, you have no objection.”

  She gripped his hand and pulled it away, “I do right now. There is something about having sex while hung over that does not appeal to me. I would like to get some food that stays down and a lot more water, as well as some more clothing.”

  Her knees quivered when he lifted his fingers to his lips and he licked her juices from his fingertips.

  She cleared her throat. “Yes, well, food?”

  He laughed and released her. “Of course. Let it never be said that a Hirn could not provide for his mate.”

  She blinked at the mention of mating and walked toward the area he had been in when he came out with a cup of tea.

  He disappeared into the bedroom for a moment, but by the time he came out, she had located the dining room. The selector was on the wall, so she ordered food, a kimono-style robe and some underwear.

  Xeric appeared, and he had an extra leather shirt in his hands. “This will help you and keep my mind on what you are saying.”

  She slipped it on, and the deep vee of the neckline fell to just below her navel. She enjoyed the warmth of the shirt, but his scent was heady. Her own hormones kicked into high gear, but she took a seat at the table and waited.

  He placed an order and sat across from her. “So, why did you pick a fight with the prince?”

  She touched her eye, but there was no remaining damage. Even her ribs felt fine. “Um. I needed to keep his attention on me. Orpheus and Inga needed to get to their ship.”

  He shook his head. “They were not travelling by ship. He used an Admaryn gate. I believe they were gone before the first strike hit you.”

  She frowned. “That is bizarre. The Admaryn never had postings on Tival worlds.”

  Xeric smiled, “I did not say that they got to the gate alone. It was what delayed me from coming to your assistance. It is also the reason that I am here with you, aside from my unwillingness to leave you to your own devices. I helped one of my own kind and exposed myself as one of the Nameless. That is an unacceptable lapse.”

  “You did that for me?”

  “For you and for another of my kind. Orpheus was one of those who left our world to seek a mate of another species. He waited twelve generations for Inga to appear, and when she did, he synched his life to hers. They died on the same day, two hundred years after they first joined.”

  Tears pricked at the corners of Orphia’s eyes. “That is so sweet.”

  “Fortunately, that is not a fate we will face. The Nameless do not have children, but neither do they age.”

  “Convenient. I have been around enough aging and death to last me a lifetime or more.” She added the last with a twist to her lips. “So, why isn’t this place crawling with Nameless, if we all live so long?”

  He shook his head, the antlers moving in the light streaming through the wide windows. “There is a regular turnaround. While we do not age, we can and do die. The Orb frequently puts us into dangerous situations…as you just found out.”

  She rubbed the spot where the guard had struck her. “Yeah, but how did I heal so fast?”

  Orphia was amazed as a telltale darkening of his cheeks showed his blush.

  “Hirn are healers. It is not commonly known, but it is the same skill that your ancestor showed with the horse.”

  She blinked. “I thought it was just a Nameless thing.”

  “Oh, we can heal using a concentrated burst of time, but it ages the tissue that we heal. The healing is a much gentler method of bringing you back to full health.” His bright, boyish smile was incongruous on a man so large.

  “Thank you. It was not a pleasant moment for me, so having you remove the aftermath meant more than I could say.”

  “Whatever I can do to help you along, it is my pleasure.”

  A slot in the wall opened, and a covered tray appeared. “And there is my breakfast. This should straighten out my nausea.”

  She uncovered her selections, oatmeal, eggs, bacon, grapefruit juice and toast. If she could keep it down, this would set her up for the rest of her day.

  With the leather shirt keeping her warm, her body’s physical shock was somewhat mitigated. She added sugar to the oatmeal as well as some cream and began to eat.

  Xeric was looking at her food with interest. “May I try some? I am not familiar with Terran foods.”

  She smiled and mumbled, “Grab a spoon and dig in.”

  He did as she suggested, and soon, she was ordering another round of breakfast. Actually, she ordered two ro
unds. He had eaten most of hers, because he enjoyed the flavour better than the food of the Hirn.

  She grumbled at him, but secretly, she was glad that he liked the same foods that she did. Travelling and trying to find edible foods at funerals had been her biggest challenge, so having Xeric eat the same things she did meant her life had just gotten easier.

  She snorted mentally. Of course, for her life to get easier, she had to die. It wasn’t a career path that she normally would have selected.

  Chapter Seven

  Watching the mirror was the easiest form of entertainment available to her. She looked into and researched the other Terrans, and with some shock, she realized that they were probably above her in the tower.

  Xeric was in the wide recreation room engaging in a martial art that was fascinating to watch, but since Orphia had given up public masturbation, she decided to skip the show.

  Sex was constantly on her mind, even though she was now sporting Terran underwear, jeans and a t-shirt.

  Xeric had been disappointed that she didn’t want to wear his shirt as daily wear around the house, but when she explained that she needed to ease into having a male around all the time, he allowed her the minimal concealment that the cotton provided.

  Orphia knew that it was only Xeric’s good nature that kept him from becoming far more insistent regarding physical intimacy. If her hormones spiked again, his self-control might snap and that would not end with her on top.

  He joined her as she watched the exploits of Aura, Idara, and Sky. Three Nameless who had come from the same world as she, but they were all in the tower for inappropriate behaviour. Something in their assignments took them outside the norm for the Nameless, and since a life sentence was out of the question, locking them up in the tower until the Orb called for them again was the solution.

  “How often does the Orb call you?” She was watching Sky help an old woman across the street an instant before an out-of-control carriage rolled through.

  “In the past, it has been about once every two months. It means that we may have to find another way to spend our time.” He reached out and caressed her shoulder.

  “Um, not that that isn’t a great idea, but you are glowing, Xeric. What do you see?”