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  Skiria bit her lip. “I don’t want you to go a little water crazy. If it wasn’t for that dip on Yasku, I don’t think you would have made it this far.”

  His black eyes were calm. “I will wait.”

  Raygar sighed and grinned. “Excellent. Come along. The doctor is waiting.”

  Tyvor tensed but walked into her home with easy strides. His mother was waiting with a scowl on her features. “What took you so long?”

  Skiria looked at the array of medical instruments and closed her eyes. “You are the doctor.”

  “Good guess. Hold still. These will not be comfortable.”

  The warning came with the first jab. Skiria hissed and waited out the additional dozen injections to her arms, legs, neck and chest. Her muscles started to jerk almost immediately, and it took Raygar to hold her down while Yinka began the wiring, tubes and mask that would keep Skiria breathing in the tank.

  “Tyvor, do the honours. She is going to convulse soon and the tank is the best place for it.”

  She looked at him through blurry eyes. Her vision was changing already, and the transformation was barely started. She clutched at his shoulders as he walked up the steps surrounding the tank, and when he jumped in with her, his mother shouted and Raygar laughed.

  The Avatar leaned toward the tank and touched it. “We will increase the oxygen and nutrients, but come out now and then, Tyvor.”

  Skiria listened to Yinka shouting, but she was too busy starting to thrash to listen to the rage of her lover’s mother. Tyvor held her tight and stopped her convulsions; his mind wrapped around her body and kept her limbs from striking the interior of the tank.

  Ten days of soaking and watching her body change inch by inch were surprisingly fun when Tyvor shared the tank with her. After day one, he restricted his time to three one-hour sessions per day. With him inside the small space with her, she learned to use her budding fins to rise and fall in the water, and when her gills emerged, he kept her from freaking out as the cool liquid came in and she could remove the mask.

  Breathing through her neck and chest was a strange arrangement, but as he kissed her and she didn’t need to stop for breath, she conceded that it was a solid system and she supported it wholeheartedly.

  As the days passed, she realized that there was a new taste to the oxygenated fluid that she hovered in, it was mingling with salt water.

  On day eleven, Yinka stood in front of the tank and nodded. “The change is complete, though if Raygar hadn’t been driving it, I don’t think it would have been successful.”

  Tyvor was already in the tank with her, and at his mother’s words, he started to unfasten the wiring, pressing each tiny hole shut as he pulled the tube from it. When she was free, he held her close and nodded to Yinka.

  The idea of being flushed into the ocean had never occurred to her. With a tremendous pressure of air, she was propelled downward, and she slipped through a tube and was ejected out and into the depths with Tyvor holding her close.

  Her gills fluttered and her fins expanded as she stopped holding her breath and felt the rhythm of the water pulling at her.

  Tyvor slowly released her, and she floated free, moving around carefully before moving with purpose toward the surface.

  Why do you want to go there?

  I want to see it with my new eyes. I can feel the changes, but I want to see what the world looks like through these eyes.

  He followed her and swam circles around her as she propelled upward. She blinked away tears as the first stages of Salass courtship began. It seemed she wasn’t just the exotic fling she had convinced herself she was.

  She could feel his affection burning between them, and her own attachment to him made her heart ache. Twenty feet from the surface, she stopped and remained in place. With nervous uncertainty, she looked into Tyvor’s dark eyes and aligned her inner shields, allowing him inside.

  She felt him sliding his mind into hers with care, but he merely stopped at the seventh level and waited.

  What are you waiting for?

  For you to meet me. I do not need to delve into your thoughts to know you love me, just as I don’t need to tell you the same for you to know it. Some things go beyond words and some things lie beneath them.

  Physically, he was still a few feet away from her, but her heart pounded as she worked through the shift of knowing that he knew how she felt.

  I can see by your face that you are a little surprised. A woman like you does not seek out men in an observatory because they are bored or hormonal. We are connected beyond the obvious; even my mother had to admit that we are well matched once the DNA samples were registered.

  Registered where?

  He grinned and slowly circled her. She turned to keep him in her vision.

  At the mating office. While you were sleeping, your new colouration was recorded. It is lovely by the way. Reds and bright yellow is a rare combination.

  She looked down and blinked. That wasn’t there earlier!

  It happened when you were completely within the sea. Our children are born on land and enter the water at age two when their lungs and gills function. That is when they receive their colouration. Until that moment, they are the same base green as this stripe on my cheek.

  She watched his finger tap his cheek, and she smiled. Do they also have silver freckles?

  Raygar bequeathed them to all his descendants. I would rather have had his way with women, but one will do me.

  Skiria looked at him and laughed. Not anymore she won’t.

  I believe I can be persuasive. He reached out and skated his fingers up her ribcage and then down to her waist.

  Persuasive or not, I still need clothing. How will that be sorted?

  He sighed and wrapped his arm around her waist. Come this way. Raygar has arranged living quarters for us. Your clothing is there, though I do love you in nothing but your colours.

  As I do you, but if I am going to live here, and it looks like I will, I need to fit in and nudity was not something I saw in the crowds of the city.

  He squeezed her and shrugged. The folk of the city are not the standard you need to live up to.

  They skirted the city and the populated areas, leaving her tiny island behind. A gleam of silver under the water caught her eye. It was Lora, nestled at the base of another mountain.

  I thought she was near the visitors’ quarters.

  She was, now she is near our home. The mountain extends up and provides heat and power to this segment of the hemisphere. Raygar used to have a summer home here, but now, he has offered it to you, or us, rather.

  Once they were even with the mountainside, they began a quick surge toward the surface. The freedom from the suit was amazing, but it left a vulnerability in its place. She wasn’t a Salass, she was only a mimicry of the species and hiding her differences seemed very important at the moment.

  The sprawling summerhouse was lovely, and it contained clothing for both of them, as well as bots for housekeeping purposes.

  Raygar was making lunch, and he complimented her on the dress she was wearing. “Thank the spark of life. I can finally see you as an appropriate mate for my great-grandson.”

  She looked down at the halter-top that exposed her gills, the red sides of her body fading to orange, yellow and finally cream in the centre. Her skin was marked all over with the strange ombre pattern. Her lips and chin were their original colouration, but the rest of her was all Salass colours.

  She looked around. “Where is Tyvor?”

  “He is out getting fresh mint for tea. Now, I know this has been difficult for you, but you have been entrusted to my care, and I will make sure that you live to the heights of your abilities. You are being enrolled in the Citadel as a Master, and you and Tyvor will be available for missions that can use your talents. You will be the strongest team Salass has ever had.”

  She blinked and looked at Raygar as he easily sliced vegetables for a salad. “I don’t know that I qualify as a member of a Salas
s Citadel.”

  Raygar paused and walked over to her, cupping her chin in his hand. “Why not?”

  “Resicor rejected me and you took me in. I am grateful, but I don’t feel an attachment to this world, beyond Tyvor.”

  “Then know that you were requested, begged for and demanded, little one. Tyvor was the bait to create your attachment to this world. Resicor has guarded her children for eons, but now that they are threatened, she is willing to part with a few in order to save the many. She offered you to me so that I could make one of her children into one of mine. Your bloodlines are rare and very powerful. All the worlds who negotiated for Resicorians will treasure them and help them to live long and happy lives. We will sacrifice our own citizens to make that happen.”

  She blinked at the golden eyes that denoted Salass was speaking to her. “You sacrificed Tyvor to me?”

  “You needed a mate, and Raygar’s family lines are compatible. When he brought you here, we could see the connection crackling between you, and you had barely even spoken. Others were lined up, but Tyvor was the one that suited you best, and so we offered him to you. We are delighted that you have accepted.”

  Tyvor’s words were dry. “As am I. To think all those years I wished for a damsel in distress…I was the one who would be the prince tied to the stake.”

  Raygar snorted. “Unlikely, Tyvor. Your mind crackled the moment you laid eyes on her and your body wasn’t far behind. You tied yourself to that stake. You were just lucky to be in the running for her hand.”

  Skiria crossed her arms over her breasts and stuck her tongue out for a moment. “Or for the rest of me.”

  He laughed and handed the mint to Raygar as he passed him. With a swift move, he captured Skiria and bent her backward. “I plan on rescuing you from your own doubt as often as possible, princess.”

  She winked and whispered an inch from his lips, “The tying up is an option as well but consult me on the day, my prince.”

  * * * *

  Lora kept an eye on the sensors in the summerhouse. It was almost time to kick things off, but they had to wait until light and darkness were in their proper places. Once everything was set, Lora would be able to tell Skiria what was going on, but until then, she was on her honeymoon.

  The mind of Skiria Loradu Linz was just going to have to wait in the ship as she had for the last few centuries. It was time to see what was playing on Resicor. Everything had started with a certain song, and when she heard it, she would know it was time.

  Plus, the song had a catchy tune, so it was win-win while she waited.

  Author’s Note

  Almost there. Almost there. You can probably see where this is going, but if you can’t…hold your breath, because I don’t know everything either.

  We have met the twins; we have seen that thirty worlds have been contacted with Resicorians traded for the favour offered to Resicor. Lora is actually the mind—or copy of—Skiria, and Raygar is good in the kitchen. The Raiders are locking Resicor down and the government is killing talents to keep the planet in check.

  I have to confess that I wonder what happens next.

  Thanks for reading,

  Viola Grace

  About the Author

  Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.

  Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Author’s Note

  About the Author