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  “Say yes. You deserve a long life to make up for the one that was lost to you. The Roden pursue knowledge, and I know you wanted to go to school. So, with centuries stretching out before you, do it. Educate yourself. Learn what pleases you and enjoy life.”

  “Just like that?”

  “I prepared to be Resicor’s Avatar for years. Noma prepared for her life in her own way. I am guessing now that you saw into Resicor’s plans in that burst of power.”

  Wim shrugged. “I did, but you were learning what you needed to know as you went along. There was plenty of information for you to deal with.”

  Trala snorted. “Well, I say go for it and enjoy. Talk soon.”

  Wim turned the screen off and looked over at Benliar. “Well, if the offer is open, you can tell Roden that it is a yes.”

  His eyes darkened and he smiled, bowing gracefully. “He accepts. The joining is not a good idea in the hospital, but as soon as you are released, it will be formalized.”

  Wim swallowed. “When will I be released?”

  “That is up to the doctor, but if she keeps you past today, I will simply remove you and Spot.”

  “Spot doesn’t want to be an Avatar before he is mature and I agree.” She cuddled him close to her.

  “I will find Dr. Nejik and send her back in for a final check.” There was eagerness in his voice.

  She nodded and Spot rubbed his head against her chin. “I guess we are getting an upgrade.”

  The flight to his home was accomplished with her wrapped tightly in a dark cloak and Spot snuggled between them.

  She dressed in a long gown and a shawl, smiling nervously. She met him on the wide deck surrounding his home. Spot was inside on her bed, napping and snoring.

  “Once Roden is bonded to you, he promises to be circumspect and not intrude on your privacy more than is necessary.”

  “Good. Will I still be cold?” She bit her lip and shivered.

  “Only if you wish to be. I promise to remain nearby to warm you if it becomes necessary.” He stepped forward and held out his hands, palms up.

  Wimsah stepped toward him and slipped her hands into his. She looked up into his rainbow eyes as they darkened and he leaned in to kiss her.

  Curls of heat began at her feet and worked upward as the energy of Roden moved into her. It wasn’t the flashing blaze of Resicor, but that had burned through her, not eased inside.

  She held tightly to his hands as her skin tingled from the ground up. The energy level had just reached her breasts and was creeping toward her shoulders.

  His mouth moved slowly over hers in a delicate and careful motion as if he was petrified to frighten her. When the energy reached her mouth, she let go of his hands and pressed them to his chest, sliding her hands up to wrap around the neck that flexed at her touch. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush with his body and the rest of the connection flared around them in a bright wave.

  Their kisses picked up in intensity, and the world around them brightened as power danced in a glorious ball before shooting for the sky.

  The cessation of heat was a shock, but Roden had left a pilot light inside her. She could call the psychic flames whenever she wanted to.

  Benliar lifted his head and stepped back just enough to allow curls of heat between them to light the small space. “And so, you are now carrying a piece of Roden within you for the rest of your life. Even if you choose retirement, it will still be within you.”

  “What about the kissing?” She blurted it out.

  “What about it?”

  “The kissing was nice. I liked the kissing.”

  He wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her back tight against him. “I can manage the kissing without Roden.”

  She smiled and went up on her toes, kissing Benliar again. She paused, “I know there are a ton of Roden girls who are going to want to kill me, but right now, I don’t care. If I am going to be an Avatar and we are going to be together for a few hundred years, I think I should just jump and agree to share my DNA right now.”

  He tensed, “Are you sure?”

  “I have just had a planet bond to me. No, I am not sure, but I do want to feel something. It has been a very long time alone in my own mind. I just don’t want to be alone anymore.”

  He leaped over the building with her in his arms and walked through a doorway that opened at his approach.

  He settled her on the bed and stroked her dress up and over her body, pulling the shawl away and then twisting it into a rope.

  She got a little nervous. “What are you going to do with that?”

  He smiled. “What are we going to do? This is officially a three way. Roden wants you as much as I do.”

  “That wasn’t really in my plans. I thought he would give me privacy.”

  “He will stay out of your mind as much as possible. Mine is fair game.”

  “So whatever we do tonight, he is a part of?”

  “For now and forever.”

  She nodded and sat up to unclasp her hair, pulling the long waves of silvery white down over her shoulder with a smile. “Where would you like to begin?”

  Three hours of rolling, writhing and exhausting each other later, Spot managed to break into Benliar’s room and hop onto the bed with them.

  Her back was pressed to Benliar’s chest and Spot came in and pressed to her chest.

  They remained cuddled together until Benliar’s com chirped insistently and he rose to his feet, crossing the room as a wave of power spiralled upward and cleaned him up, including a few bite marks that Wim didn’t remember making.

  “A ship has made it through our global shielding and is approaching a rural area known for its physicists.”

  “You are heading out to defend your world?”

  He grinned. “You can come too if you put on the suit we had made for you. It is in your quarters.”

  She grabbed Spot, flipped back the sheets and sprinted out of the room without a stitch on.

  She set her Yaluthu down and went into her wardrobe wondering what he had meant about a suit, when a bodysuit with a black and white twist on it made it very obvious.

  Wim got suited up and she pinned her hair on her head.

  She could feel it when Benliar arrived in her room. “I have to say that the suit is warm. I might wear it all the time.”

  He looked her over and smiled. “I might insist on it.”

  “Spot. You stay here and have a nap or get the bots to bring up some food.”

  “They already have it in their morning protocols. They will make sure he is fed. Come along, Wim.”

  She got to his side and he wrapped one arm around her. This was not a damsel pose; she was going in like a Guardian.

  Chapter Six

  The ship coming in was filled with men in mech suits, and they were streaming out, seeking the inhabitants of Roden.

  “Where are you going to start?”

  “I am going to start in the town and cease their assault of my people.”

  “What should I do?”

  “Whatever comes to you.”

  He flew off and left her overlooking the town from a hill even with the landed ship.

  “Whatever comes to me?”

  She looked at the men in the mech suits and their prey. With a deep breath, she gripped the locals with her mind and gave them telekinesis and pyrokinesis, and the concentration to use it.

  The mechs didn’t know what hit them. They were driven back to their ship by waves of mental force and flames in a variety of hues.

  The locals continued using what she had given them until the invaders were helpless. She replenished what they had used of their own energies and removed the psychic powers.

  Benliar came roaring out of the town with four mechs gathered in his arms. He propelled them into the ship, and from her vantage point, Wim could see the ship rocking. Someone was getting their ass kicked.

  Wh
en he emerged from the ship, he was bloody but smaller. He really had been large enough to hold four mechs side by side.

  She absently gave a few of the folk in the town healing talent to mop up the damage and empathy to help with the traumatized.

  Wim sat on the hilltop and kicked her feet at the edge of the embankment. Her mind felt fine. It was strong and she could turn it on and off. That had to be progress.

  When Benliar came back to her, she retracted her psychic gifts and she smiled at him. “Everyone is healed, those with trauma have been taken care of and I am ready for breakfast.”

  He brushed at the blood on his suit. “Me too. The councillor of the town is eager to meet you, but I have told him that we are new to the whole mated Avatar schematic. We are feeling our way.”

  She snuggled to his side. “That was what you did last night.”

  He laughed and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Tease.”

  A wave of energy passed through them and the blood was gone, as were the green stains from the grass Wim had been sitting on.

  He launched with her locked against him, and they headed home. It might have been the suit or it could have been the touch of Roden, but she wasn’t cold as she flew with him.

  Spot waddled up to her, looking scruffier than he had that morning. He chirped happily and the bots rolled up. “He has requested greater protein input into his diet. We have complied.”

  Spot looked smug as Wim picked him up and he felt heavier. “How much did he eat?”

  “Half a kilo.” The pillars rolled away and left them.

  Benliar smiled, “At least there were no messages.”

  They headed inside and up to the bedrooms to change. Wim entered Benliar’s chamber first and she came to a halt. “Oh, hello.”

  The woman with the sunset-coloured hair sat up from her naked lounging. “Oh, dear. I did not know he had already picked up a companion.”

  Wim turned to Benliar and his skin darkened. “Companion?”

  He cleared his throat. “The adrenaline and energy of Roden builds up in my nervous system and there are a cadre of women who volunteer to help out with that. I can’t believe I forgot about it.”

  She stiffened her spine. “Enjoy your stress relief.”

  Wimsah cuddled Spot and headed to her quarters. She set him down on the bed, smiling at the nest he had made out of shawls and pillows.

  Her closet didn’t offer much, but she found a baggy coverall that suited her mood. Changed, she headed outside and began examining the plants surrounding her new home. That was all it was, she told herself, just a place to live that was safe.

  A small vehicle fired up and drove off. She felt Benliar’s searching mind before she saw him.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Examining plants. It seemed a good distraction as I haven’t entered any field of study yet.”

  “I sent her home. Honestly, I did forget. From the moment you arrived, I thought of no one but you, and then when you were ill, all other thoughts went with the wind.”

  She nodded. “Right. Well, you might want to post a note somewhere that their services will no longer be required to help you unwind.”

  Wim inhaled the scent of a broken leaf and nodded, cataloguing it in her mind.

  “How long have you been having strange women showing up at your door to relax you?”

  He coloured again. “It comes with the job of Avatar. Roden enjoys physical activities and that includes sex.”

  “So, Roden watches?” She blinked.

  “No, he participates. It has been Roden having sex with the women.”

  “Oh. That is unexpected.”

  Benliar held out his hands. “It is true. Will you come inside?”

  She dusted her hands on her coveralls. “Fine, but I am still not very cheerful about the situation.”

  “Understandable.”

  Wim placed her hands in his, and her consciousness was suddenly standing in her mindscape. Benliar was standing with her hands in his and a shadow approached.

  Benliar sighed, “Or we can just do it here.”

  The figure walked forward, and while Wimsah could see it was a Roden being, she could not make out any detail in the shifting features. The planetary power was hard to miss, it radiated from him in waves.

  “Wimsah, this is Roden; Roden, Wimsah.” Benliar made the introductions.

  “It is good to see you face to face, Wimsah.”

  She could make out his smile. “Um, nice to see you as well, Roden. Can I ask why we are back in my mind?”

  “Benliar fears that you think it is his lust that summoned the women to his home. It was not. It is my urge to experience all that a body has to offer that instituted the tradition of having a volunteer greet me when my Avatar returned home. The adrenaline felt by the host heightened my pleasure.”

  He was completely frank and it took her aback.

  “So, why did you want me here? You already had all the companionship you could want.”

  Roden paused in surprise. “Because you are you, Wimsah. Your mind is incredible; you have so much potential. I wish to be with you as you learn and grow. It is not a chance I have ever had before. The people of my world do not have talents and certainly never become puppet masters.”

  She cocked her head. “Did you know what I was when you first agreed?”

  “I suspected and I was more than willing to take a chance.”

  “Why take me as Avatar as well?” She wanted to put her hands on her hips, but Benliar was still holding them.

  “To save your life. The damage that Resicor did to you went beyond your mind. Without my ceasing the aging process, you would be dead in six months.”

  He reached out and stroked her cheek, leaving a crackle of static along her skin.

  She swallowed. “Perhaps it would be time for me to die then. It is better than being here alone and unloved.”

  Benliar whispered, “You are not alone.”

  Roden stepped toward them and put one hand on each of their shoulders. “You are not alone. I may have gone about it awkwardly, but both Benliar and I admire you for your determination and your ability to act when action is required. Benliar just likes watching you walk.”

  Benliar smiled, “That is not all I like, but I cannot lie here in your mindscape, you are definitely worth watching.”

  Roden sighed, “Do you understand now?”

  Wimsah shook her head. “No, but that is fine. I am used to confusion and uncertainty.”

  “What will it take to convince you?”

  She shrugged. “All my life words have lied, minds have lied; I need to see actions from those around me. I need time.”

  Roden grinned. “Time is the one thing I can give you.”

  With another flick, they were back in the yard, and Wimsah was cold. She shivered.

  “I think he is messing with my biological thermostat.”

  Benliar wrapped his arms around her and walked with her into the house. He cuddled up with her on the couch in the living area. “Let’s just watch an entertainment vid. Would you like to see something on the history of Roden?”

  She nodded and shivered.

  He pulled her closer and rubbed his hands up and down her arms. The vid screen slid upward and hovered near the couch. The tale of the waking of Roden began, and it proceeded up until present day.

  Benliar was lying across the couch and spooning against her back with a blanket over them both to help her with her body-heat issue.

  She dozed and squirmed against him, sliding his hand into her coveralls. The direct skin-to-skin contact warmed her like nothing else. It might have been the contact, or it might have been the foreplay, but by the time the documentary had reached the appointing of the twentieth Avatar, she had lost all interest in the history of Roden and was far more interested in the present in Benliar’s hands.

  Chapter Seven

  It was a look at her wardrob
e that decided her first realm of study. She was going to learn how to design her own clothing.

  The bots explained where she needed to go and how to register. Benliar was a little nervous, but the personal transport was set up and she learned how to fly it with Benliar at her side.

  The institute of fashion had a basic education requirement that had been waived for her. Wimsah entered the school on her first day of classes and had to catch up with those that had been studying for months.

  Surprisingly, Wimsah enjoyed her first class and even managed civil conversations with some of the more curious students. She hauled her data tablet and fabric bolts home to work on the first four assignments that the others had already completed.

  The bots already had her list of required equipment so that she could complete her course around her schedule.

  Wimsah had decided on a wrap shirt for her first assignment, matching trousers for her second, a short, open-robe top and a long, thicker-fabric robe with a painted scene along the hemline and sleeves. If she was perpetually cold, she was going to take steps.

  The flight from Ankor City to the Avatar’s home was forty minutes, and she spent the time in the air working on her mental designs for her assignments. Whether she succeeded or failed, at least she was trying.

  When she arrived home, she grabbed her satchel and hauled it into her bedroom. Spot was sitting in his nest with the bots attending him.

  He chirped hello when she arrived, and when Wim put her bag down, the bots carried it out and down the hall.

  “Hello, Spot. Are they treating you well?” she stroked his little bald face and he rubbed against her hand.

  She got an image of a huge pile of protein strips and the feeling of happy fullness. Wim smiled and continued to pet him, letting his cheerful calm seep into her bones. She could feel the new feathers sprouting under the skin.

  Another picture filled her thoughts. Three little dark bundles of fluff. They weren’t there yet, but they would be there by morning.