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  She fidgeted as the energy level started rising again. “So, what are your names?”

  The pilot looked at her. “It is inappropriate.”

  “Why?”

  “We are your consort candidates. To get on a verbally intimate level with all of us would be awkward. It might lead to conflict within our group.”

  Myra blinked. “Consort candidates?”

  “Yes. We have been selected from different families; we all have leadership experience, and when you choose one of us, we will take control of Kameraet people.”

  She blinked. “What if I can’t choose?”

  It was funny that her mind didn’t say wouldn’t or don’t.

  He gave her a solemn look. “Then, we will have to make the choice for you, so let’s hope it does not come to that.”

  She nodded and stared at the approaching city. A small suburb was clinging to the outer wall of the larger expanse, and the people there were a mix of female aliens and the Kameraet.

  “How many live in the city?”

  The man next to the pilot gave her a surprised look. “No one. The city sealed itself up centuries ago. All attempts to gain entry have been rebuffed by the capitol itself.”

  That made her curious, but she sensed that the curiosity would be answered in a matter of minutes. They were flying direct to the large entry gates of the city.

  Folk came out of the homes and followed them as they decreased to a slow crawl toward the gates.

  “Um, why are we being followed?”

  The pilot smiled. “Since the news came forth that you existed, there are several who are sceptics and need convincing. Everyone who can walk will be there to witness you opening the gates of the city.”

  The skimmer settled down on the main road near the gates. The crowd stayed well back, but a wall of emotion that was broadcasting from them.

  Myra rubbed the back of her neck and tried to figure out what she was supposed to do next. The guards beckoned her, and she kept her bag over her shoulder as she headed to the gate.

  Icons were embossed in metal showing the rising sun, the eclipse at noon and the night stars. The door was split through the centre of the eclipse and two huge handles were at chest height.

  “So, I just have to open this door?”

  Her guards were behind her, and she looked back over her shoulder. They nodded.

  How hard could it be to open a door? She pressed her palms to the metal, and to her shock, her hands sunk inside the solid-seeming panels.

  “Son of a bitch!” She tried to pull her hands free, but the doors hummed, and as they parted, they pulled her inside the city.

  A cheer rang out behind her, and she stepped forward quickly to free her hands from the clinging metal. It stretched but freed her before it snapped back into the shape of a rising sun.

  She looked around the interior, and instead of a city marked by decay, it was pristine, clean and had manicured green spaces. There was no colour beyond the green areas. The main wide road led to the central tower, and since she was already inside, Myra kept walking.

  Everything was made in a pale gold or white stone. The city was designed with light, and all structures reached for the sky. Spires and twists were everywhere, and her new energy wanted to flip her around and send her running along the skyline.

  She fought the new instinct and continued on her path to the centre of the city. Myra heard voices behind her, but she kept going. A quick glance behind her showed that her guard was lined up along the pathway, unable to follow. The gold band of light in between her and them was holding them back, but she pushed aside her unease and continued forward.

  The building with the tower had a similar door to the front gate, and she pulled it open the same way.

  There was a call, a summons that rang through her mind. She followed the call, and after half an hour of hallways, she was standing in a throne room with the great seat emblazoned with the same sun symbol that marked the doors.

  A voice whispered, Take the seat. It is yours. Take what is yours. This is where you belong.

  The voice was gentle, coaxing and warm.

  Myra put her bag down on the floor, and she stepped up onto the dais. The throne hummed when she touched it, and the moment she sat down, she was swallowed in a burst of light.

  * * * *

  Sek-Rah smiled as the energy of the Day clan ran across the surface of Fremiat. Her granddaughter contained all the power of her entire clan now. Myra would have to choose a consort, of course, but that too had been taken care of. She would know her match with a kiss.

  Sek-Rah took her staff and walked into the centre of the throne room. Myra was giving her all to the world, and Sek-Rah would be here when she came out of the power transfer.

  * * * *

  Across the world, greenery rustled and woke from their endless early stages, maturing as the Kameraet watched. Buds formed and waited for the next wave of power.

  * * * *

  Myra slumped in the throne and caught her breath with some difficulty. “What the hell was that?”

  “You woke up, child.”

  Myra’s head lifted with a snap. A cloaked figure with a tall staff stood in the centre of the room. “Who are you?”

  “I am the Avatar of Fremiat and your ancestor. My name is Sek-Rah. Welcome to my world.” A hand lifted, and the figure exposed a feminine face and masculine hands.

  There was a conflicting sense of gender around Sek-Rah. “You are not...You are not female, are you?”

  A rich chuckle ran through the room. “I am a functioning hermaphrodite. There used to be more of my kind, but they were killed with the rest of the Day clan.”

  “How is it that you are my ancestor?”

  The woman leaned against her staff. “Once, a long time ago, I wanted a child, so I engaged in a bit of personal experimentation. It wasn’t comfortable, but I had a daughter, and Fremiat claimed me, so I gave my child the blessings of this world. She passed them down to her children, but they always came to rest in the daughters throughout the centuries. She was the goddess of spring, and her children made Fremiat lush and fertile, leaving the animals and insects to me.”

  “What happened? Why did the Night and the Eclipse rise up against them?” Myra leaned forward and paused when her head spun.

  “The Day rulers were powerful but not always wise. They made mistakes that caused lives to be lost, and since the Day clan was restricted here, they were easy targets. Your ancestor was the only one who could escape, and it was only because he was already in orbit having an affair with a married Nyal noble. He stole her vessel and ran when he got the message.”

  Myra blinked. “He was fooling around with a married woman?”

  “The Day men did not remain faithful to their spouses or the spouses of others. The power that rested in them to create fertility didn’t remain something that they broadcast to the masses as you have just done. The men sewed their seed with as many women as they could seduce, and for a Day clan member, seduction is easy.”

  Sek-Rah leaned on her staff. “What is your name, child?”

  “Myra Musgrove. I apologise for not introducing myself earlier.”

  “Well, Myra Musgrove, I am glad that you have made it home. Your presence here has woken this world and your coming will change lives. Now, before I let your guard in, would you care to change into something a little less bland?”

  Myra blinked. “What are my options?”

  Sek-Rah beckoned. “Come with me. I will show you what I have prepared.”

  Myra got out of the throne, but her skin still glowed. “What is that?”

  “You are now the entire Day clan. The pale glow that marked your ancestors is concentrated in you.”

  She picked up her bag and followed the figure that had started her entire bloodline by fucking itself.

  The clothing was daring and fun. She selected a black bustier with some tight black pants and high black boots. A red sash completed the outfit, and Sek-Rah helpe
d her with her hair.

  She looked completely at ease in the clothing and that worried her a little.

  “Since you are my only family here, how do I choose a consort?”

  “Kiss them. In the moment of the kiss, you will see what they truly desire and what their heart longs for. If you do not see yourself more prominently than power, move on to the next man.”

  “What next?”

  “Seal the union so that you can complete the waking of this world. Fremiat was upset that I put so much power inside my child, but we waited, hoping that one of yours would return.”

  “Wait, one of mine?”

  “Oh, there are others.”

  “My grandparents.”

  “No. Others. As I said, the Day men were irresistible. I can count nineteen others on your world with a touch of the Day clan within them. It is not as strong as your bloodline, but it is still there.”

  They returned to the throne room, and Myra settled in her rightful place.

  Sek-Rah took up a position next to the throne, and she asked, “Are you ready?”

  “I suppose I am. Drop that shield.”

  The Avatar lifted her hand and smiled. “It is done. The Night clan should be here in four minutes.”

  “It took me half an hour to walk it.”

  “You get the power, they get the physical prowess. You can’t have everything, Myra.”

  “What does the Eclipse clan get?”

  “Intelligence and the ability to thrive away from a home world.”

  Myra nodded. It did explain a few things.

  She waited with the Avatar of the world she sat on and watched the light shifting across the floor. “Who kept the city clean?”

  “Fremiat. Despite her irritation with me, she honoured my decision to wait for the power that had taken root off world to return.”

  “I am still dealing with the fact that I have cousins, and now, there is a world that does housekeeping and tailoring? I think I need a nap.”

  “That will have to wait. Can you feel them? They are almost here.”

  Myra looked to Sek-Rah. “Why didn’t the Days fight back?”

  “Your clan can’t kill. This power has given you all the energy of a Night clan member, but you still can’t kill.”

  Myra nodded and sat back. She could feel the approach of the Night clan. In the distance were the normal population, but just outside the door, the six guards were on the approach.

  With a tap of her heel on the floor, the door opened and her guard spilled through. Their running defied gravity as they approached the throne. Finally, they halted at the base of the dais, and she was able to smile at them. “Hello, gentlemen.”

  They bowed low, which was impressive considering the armour they all wore. When they straightened, they bowed again to Sek-Rah.

  “My ancestor has given me advice on how to choose, so if you could all line up, that would be appreciated.”

  Sek-Rah chuckled. “It is the way Day women have always done things, and while their men might have strayed, they were still the priority.”

  Myra didn’t know about that, but if she had to choose, a kiss was a fun way to do it.

  Chapter Five

  “Scoot forward so that your toes are on the edge of the dais, please. You are a little too tall for this to work otherwise.”

  It was amusing that they did as she ordered. She didn’t think about it, she just walked up to the first man, put her hand behind his head and pulled him down to her for a kiss.

  Images spun in her mind of a laughing woman with a small child. The woman had blue skin and the baby had black eyes.

  She released him and slowly shook her head.

  The next man preferred men.

  The next had two mistresses and no children.

  She was surprised by the fourth. He had an image of her standing behind the golden throne with him sitting on it. That wouldn’t do at all.

  She desperately kissed the fifth and found the sight of a woman with red eyes and golden hair.

  Steeling herself, she faced the man that she had bumped into, the pilot of the skimmer. “Last chance.” She muttered it.

  He was smiling as she kissed him, and the image in his mind was definitely not of another woman.

  Myra had never seen herself tied to a bedpost with shadowed hands running across glowing-bright skin, but it was definitely an image in his mind.

  She tried to back away, but he snapped his arms around her, crushing her to the breastplate as his tongue teased her lips.

  She moaned and welcomed him, tasting him as he did her. He lifted her against him, and the kiss grew wilder.

  Her body was rioting. She wanted his armour off, wanted to see his face and wanted to wake up from her very weird dream and find herself back on Terra. It was a world of want, but it focused on wanting him.

  “Gentlemen, the High Lady of the Day clan has made her decision. Please leave and I will seal the building. The couple requires privacy.”

  Sek-Rah chuckled. “Her chamber is up the third staircase, down the hall, room with the double doors.”

  Myra wrapped her legs around his waist as her chosen consort began to walk. The breastplate frustrated her. She had never been one to throw herself at a guy, but the longer she kissed him, the more heated images of her limbs tangled with his flared and flickered in her thoughts.

  It was like silent dirty talk that didn’t end because one partner got embarrassed; it just went on and on. Psychological foreplay at its best.

  When he mounted the stairs, she came close to passing out. The rubbing of his armour against her clit was tantalising, but she wanted to feel skin beneath her palms as well as everywhere else. It was a torture of monumental proportions as he moved up the steps with fluid grace.

  He broke the kiss, and his breathing was ragged when they reached the upper floor. Myra shrugged and moved her attention to his neck, feeling his pulse thunder under her tongue and the sweet-salty tang of sweat on his skin.

  She stopped the part of her that hesitated and continued to nuzzle at his skin, listening to his thundering heartbeat and revelling in it.

  When he slammed through the doors, she closed her eyes as the sunlight blazed in through the windows.

  He placed his hands on her arms and pried her off him. “Lady, the clothing needs to come off.”

  She reluctantly unhitched her legs and slid down his body. She stepped back and untied her sash, letting it drop to the floor.

  Her partner removed his cloak, and with quick movements, his armour fell on the floor.

  She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off her boots before opening the closure of her tight trousers and working them down her thighs. She stood again and tried to watch as her consort stripped, but the fabric clung to her faithfully, and she had to tug it free. By the time she was done removing her pants, he was wearing nothing but the mask.

  With quick motions, she untied the closure of her bustier and let it fall to the ground. The only thing she was wearing was the hairpins.

  His skin was the same deep mahogany all over, his muscles rippled in waves across his abdomen and there was little to no body fat in evidence on his form.

  The penis jutting toward her was familiar in size, though a little wider than the average human’s. She had not done much experimentation back on Earth, but what experience she had told her that the friction was going to be delightful.

  The mask was strange but it suited him.

  She licked her lips. “What is your name?”

  “Arbor-Dren.”

  She took a step toward him. “Hello, Arbor-Dren. I am Myra.”

  He reached up and pulled the mask from his face.

  Tattoos marked his skin beneath where the mask had been, giving him a fierce appearance and turned his roughly hewn features into an intimidating snarl. Myra stepped forward with a smile and lifted a hand to his cheek, rubbing the markings with her thumb. “Definitely intimidating.”

  He looked down at he
r, but his eyes were so dark, it was hard to tell if they were crossed or not. “You are not repulsed?”

  She threaded her fingers through his dark hair and pulled his head to hers. She didn’t know what he expected from her, but she knew what she wanted from him.

  Her skin still glowed with light, and this would dim her down to a tolerable level. A whisper from her lips said, “You are not turned off by my alien pedigree?”

  Arbor-Dren pulled her to him, his erection pinned between them. “It is not even in my thoughts.”

  He kissed her again, and the images that flooded her mind were definitely not concerned with her point of origin.

  He moved his hands over her back, cupping her butt and pulling her up against him. She locked her legs around him and gripped the hard curves of his shoulders with her fingers. He walked to the bed with her plastered to him, and he lowered her to the yielding surface.

  He moved until she was up at the head of the bed before he pried her hands from his shoulders and unwrapped her legs from his hips.

  With the light streaming in through the window, she should have been nervous, should have been. Instead, the exposure to light made her more wanton. When he ran his hands down her body from neck to groin, she arched into his touch. His fingers were slightly rough, and the feeling was delightful.

  Kneeling between her thighs, he stroked both hands over her from shoulder to hip and everything in between. Her nipples ached as he abraded them gently, and his thumbs stroked a sensitive spot just above her pubic bone.

  Myra bit her lip as he familiarised himself with her skin. Every point that he touched glowed hot white. The brightness seemed to fascinate Arbor-Dren, because he had no urgency as he continued to stroke her skin.

  She giggled when he ran his fingers up the backs of her knees, and he smiled, slowly pulling his fingers across the sensitive skin again. She kicked reflexively and he chuckled.

  When Arbor-Dren moved one hand between her thighs, she held her breath until she was about to pass out. His fingers moved slowly over her folds and sought out her clit. There was a bit of fumbling, but he moved so deliberately that it didn’t matter. When his fingertips grazed his clit, she jumped, her thighs shivered.