fortuneswheel (60 page)

* * *

Meral took off, heading for the Valsgarth Estate this time. The gray light of dawn was touching the horizon as they landed. Lights began to go on as they got out of the aircar. Kusac led Carrie toward the front entrance, ordering the other two to stay on board.
His face was grim as he pushed the door open and strode into the center courtyard, pulling Carrie with him. The argument with his father some four days previously still rankled. Now he needed a confrontation to get it out of his system.
The night duty attendant hurried forward but was waved back by Kusac. "This doesn't concern you. Return to your post," he said, stopping by the fountain.
"Father!" he yelled at the top of his voice. "I want to see you now!"
His father hurried to the balcony, still trying to put his arms into the sleeves of his over-robe.
"Kusac, have you lost your wits?" he demanded angrily. "It's the middle of the night!"
His mother joined him. "Kusac, what's wrong?"
"I want to speak to you both," he said, lowering his voice slightly. "Come down to the study. You, too, Taizia," he added, seeing his sister come running.
"What's this all about?" said his father when they were gathered in the study. "Couldn't you have waited till morning?"
"No, I couldn't," said Kusac, pulling Carrie out from behind him where she was trying to hide. Her face was chalk white. Despite his block, Kusac could feel her fear and knew that his family could, too.
All to the good,
he thought.
Let
them realize what she's suffered since she found out about
the betrothal.
"You wanted me to life-bond and get legitimate heirs on my mate. Well, here she is, as of an hour ago." He pushed her forward, holding up their arms so both their bracelets were visible. "As for heirs, she's carrying your first grandchild now."
He paused, enjoying the shocked silence from his father as a recompense for his refusal to cancel the marriage contract with Rala.
"Our Link has changed us to the point where we're infertile with our own kind. The only heirs you'll ever have from me will be Carrie's children, too."
Feeling Carrie's mind begin to swirl, he grasped her around the waist with both hands. "Don't you dare faint on me," he growled in her ear, giving it a sharp nip with his teeth.
She gasped at the sudden pain and straightened up again.
"Kusac," said his father, sitting down in the nearest chair. "This just isn't possible."
Kusac's anger abruptly evaporated and he put a hand into his pocket, bringing out the cube. "Read this for yourself. All Vanna's tests, kept secret even from us, are there. Check Carrie, you'll see I'm not lying," he said tiredly, throwing the cube at his father.
Konis made no effort to catch it and it fell to the floor at his feet. He shook his head. "I don't need to check," he said. "I believe you."
"Have the data as a present anyway. You'll need it. There's going to be more of us. You've got a new species on your hands, Father. I hope you know what to do with it," he said.
He looked at his mother and Taizia. "An hour, maybe two, and the Challenge would have been unnecessary. Why couldn't you have waited?" Strangely he wasn't angry with them, only confused as to why they had rushed everything.
His mother came forward to put an arm around Carrie. "You were so determined to collide head-on with your father and Rala that you left us little choice. You're right, the Challenge is our responsibility," she said, "but because of your actions you bear as much responsibility for it as we do. Carrie is the innocent one in this tangle, so why are you hurting her? This isn't like you, Kusac." She frowned at him, beginning to turn away.
"We can argue this later if you're so minded. I'm taking your mate to the kitchen. She's had a bigger shock than any of us over the last few days and right now she needs something to eat, then rest, not to mention a small dressing on her palm." With that, she ushered Carrie out of the room.
Kusac sat down in the nearest chair, suddenly feeling drained. "That Challenge has got to be stopped, Father," he said tiredly. "I'm getting images of it going wrong, but they're so vague I can't pinpoint a precise cause."
His father stirred, bending to pick up the cube. "Precognition? A Terran ability," he said thoughtfully, turning the cube over in his hands.
"I don't care what you call it," Kusac snapped, "I just keep feeling a sense of danger. Whatever it is, I don't want it to happen!"
"With the genetic changes, all the reasons for your bonding to Rala are gone," said his father. "Not just that, you're already life-bonded," he said dryly. "Given those two facts, I can't see Rala's family objecting to my officially breaking the contract. The Challenge is another thing," he sighed. "In my position as judge, unless Rala agrees to canceling it, I can't do anything. Only the Temple can order her to drop it since it's an En'Shalla Challenge. I have a feeling that Rala will not cooperate."
"Just try, that's all I ask," Kusac said. "There are three lives at stake now. Ghyan has said he'll speak to her. Apparently, she's been going to the Temple during her stay at Valsgarth."
"In that case, he might be able to sway her. I can't understand why Carrie didn't tell you before now that she was pregnant," said his father. "Or why she issued the Challenge, knowing she was putting the child at risk too."
"Did she know?" asked Taizia. "We've been fairly close and she didn't mention it to me. Mother and I would never have suggested the Challenge if we'd known. As you've said, there would have been no need for it."
"I don't understand it either," muttered Kusac, rubbing eyes that felt like they were full of sand. "I picked up something from her about having no control over when she becomes pregnant, but I don't know." He shook his head and looked over at his father. "I was sure she couldn't be mine at first, but she is."
"An impossible pregnancy. This is where your Link with her has been leading all along. How do you feel about this child?"
"She's ours," Kusac said fiercely. "I want her to live."
"You two have given us a pretty problem to sort out," his father said with a sigh. "The Terrans will have to be told, including her father. What his reaction will be, I shudder to think."
"He doesn't concern us," said Kusac. "He's far enough away not to be our problem; he's yours, and you're welcome to him. We've got enough to do just trying to live our own life. The main problem at the moment is stopping the Challenge."
"We can do nothing about it until morning. I suggest you go to bed and get some rest. Are your people still out in the aircar?"
Kusac nodded.
"Then tell them to turn in for what's left of the night. They can use the same rooms they did before. Now go and collect your mate and let's all get some sleep."
Taizia jumped to her feet. "I'll go and tell them," she said, heading off.
Kusac caught his father's thought and gave a little smile. "She'll be all right with Meral," he said. "He's a good male, and at least you know she'll be safe with a Warrior."
Kusac collected Carrie from his mother and took her upstairs, still keeping the block up. He couldn't face the prospect of opening their Link again until he'd come to terms with all his own conflicting emotions. What should have been a time of wonder and joy for them was being marred by the specter of the Challenge, and that still angered him.
He left her at the bedroom door, unable and unwilling to explain. "I'll see you in the morning," he said, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Taizia caught up with her mother on the stairs.
"I should have realized that she was pregnant," said Rhyasha. "It was staring me in the face."
"Who'd have believed it was possible?" said Taizia. "We ignored all the signals because she's a Keissian, not a Sholan. We couldn't have known, Mother." She stopped, reaching out to catch hold of her.
"Their cub, what will she look like, can you tell yet? Will she be one of us or a human? The Gods grant she isn't malformed, a grotesque creature that has no chance of survival!"
Rhyasha's ears flicked backward in distress. This was no time to hide her feelings from her daughter.
"It's too early to tell anything but her sex. Carrie's not yet halfway through her pregnancy. In a week or two I'll be able to sense their cub properly. Even though they can breed with each other, so much could go wrong because they're from different species! Just pray your brother keeps his head if the child doesn't survive to be carried full term, or if she has to be terminated because she's nonviable. I can't begin to guess how Carrie would react to either of those situations! One of us would remain clearheaded enough to make the right decisions, but Carrie?" She shook her head, ears flattening backward.
"How do humans relate to their cubs?" Rhyasha continued. "Are their males as possessive and foolish over their pregnant mates as ours? We don't know enough about them as people!" She clenched her hands in frustration, claws pricking her palms.
"We have Carrie here with us," said Taizia. "There will be other humans soon. We can learn! At least we know what knowledge we lack. Gods! If only I'd never suggested that damned Challenge! There was no need for it."
"There's no point in self-recrimination, Taizia. As you've just told me, there was no way we could have known she was pregnant. The trouble now is we don't have the time to learn what we need to know. We need to know it now if we're to help them."
"Perhaps we're looking into too dark a cave," said Taizia, giving her mother a hug. "Everything may go wonderfully well for them."
Rhyasha took a deep breath, concentrating on pulling her ears upright again. There was nothing to gain from letting herself get so agitated now. "Perhaps you're right," she said, forcing a smile for her daughter's benefit. "Let's take things as they come rather than plan for a disaster that may never happen. You go and see your Warrior," she urged, gently pushing Taizia away. "I'm fine."
"Mother!"
Rhyasha gave a low chuckle. "I didn't pry," she said. "Your interest in him hasn't been exactly subtle."

Having informed the Protectorate of their location, Kaid initiated the securing of the perimeter of the Valsgarth Estate. No one, not even a jegget, could get into the grounds without security being aware of it. That done, he settled down on the balcony outside Kusac's and Carrie's suite.
Kaid knew what neither Kusac nor the rest of his family had yet realized, namely that each one of them was at risk as a potential hostage or worse. The missing dissident from the
Khalossa
had no scruples about using whoever he could to get close enough to Carrie or Kusac to kill them. As far as Kaid was concerned, he'd rather have them all safe under one roof.

* * *

Left on her own again, Carrie began to pace round the room. She felt trapped, caged by the very life she had left Keiss to escape. Though her cage was one of flesh and blood, no bars could have been stronger. With a sharp pang she envied Kusac his ability to run free as the wind across the estate. That was what she needed, to run and run until she collapsed from exhaustion, too tired to think. With an effort she pushed these thoughts and memories aside as she felt her own panic beginning to build inside her mind.
Her footsteps took her to the exterior balcony, and as she looked across the grounds to the wooded land, T'Chebbi stepped out of the shadows. No escape that way either. No matter how grand the jail, unless one wanted to be there, it was still a prison.
With a shiver, she wrapped her arms tightly across her chest and returned to the bedroom, this time noticing that a short robe had been left on the bed for her. Rhyasha's doing.
Picking it up, she ran the silky fabric through her hands remembering Rhyasha's reaction to Kusac's news. Strangely, his mother had been delighted. In fact, everyone who knew had been-except for Kusac and his father who had just been shocked. No one had thought to ask her how she felt, which was just as well, because she couldn't have answered them.
She frowned, remembering Kusac's anger. Well, she was furious with him. Anger didn't begin to describe how she felt, and as soon as she got the chance, he'd find that out in no uncertain terms. Rage burned so brightly that it dimmed the uncertainty and fears, making it impossible for her to think. Tonight's events hadn't changed anything, Kusac's behavior proved that. Why else would he still want to sleep apart from her?
She felt adrift, at the mercy of whichever wind happened to be blowing. The Sholans had another simile for it. Didn't they call it being tempered on the anvil of the Gods? She wished they'd use an ordinary hammer rather than one that felt like a meat tenderizer. She didn't know how much more bruising she could take. With a sigh, she began to undress.

* * *

Unable to sleep because of the onset of a throbbing headache, she lay in the darkness fretting: fretting at the heat, the flickering images that flashed through her mind, Kusac's intractability, and the beginnings of the siren call of their Link.

* * *

Kusac knew she was still awake. For the last hour and a half he'd tried to sleep but without success. Her proximity was maddening him, particularly since he was the one who'd chosen to sleep apart from her in the lounge. He wanted to be with her, especially now he'd gotten used to the reality of her pregnancy. His whole biological system as a male was geared toward finding the right mate, then helping rear the cubs they made between them. Being a telepath only strengthened this need. The family— his family— was all-important.
As well as that, the physical needs of their Link were making themselves felt in ways it was nigh on impossible to ignore. Coming to a decision, he rose and went to the bedroom.

* * *

Hypersensitive, she heard the door opening and sat up. Kusac stood there. With sardonic humor she realized he was having trouble maintaining his barrier against her. She knew why he was here, and for now he was dependent on her.