Page 1 of Temple

Chapter One

Sage lined up the farmvehicle and kept it on the straight path. Her team was down one event, and this was the last chance for them to catch up.

Harvest games were fun. She had been on Effenar for four years, working her way through the agricultural teams, and this was the first year she had been on a competition team for the harvest festival.

She drove the swather down the row and checked the weight of the collector bins behind her as the gathering unit loaded in the dry grain. Sage saw the end of the path, and there was only one pass left. She swung out of her track and did a wide left across the start of the next row, swung around, got back on the grain that her manoeuvre had missed in her original lane, and the slow loop caught everything. Back in the final lane, she controlled the harvester and saw her team cheering her on. After a few minutes, she cleared the row and brought her collectors to the weigh station. She locked the bins into the stations, uncoupled them, and drove the unit away, putting it in the harvester charging station. Once finished, she returned to the judging area. She wasn’t the first to finish, but she did have the cleanest run.

She joined her team, and they waited with their red tunics obvious. Members of five different species patted her as they waited for the numbers to come in from the harvesting.

Ninya whispered, “How did you learn that?”

“My dad didn’t like waste. He cut a triple wide swath to start and then used the space to turn in.”

“Smart. The—oh look—the scores!”

Sage looked and watched the numbers climb on her harvest. She held her breath as the glyphs climbed high, and then they stopped. The other teams were now together, and everyone was watching the red team’s numbers climb with scores for competency, skill, and speed.

Vorisikino crossed all of his fingers, which brought the total to forty. It was disturbing and impressive at the same time. “Come on.”

Their numbers rattled to a halt, and then they waited. Only Team Red knew what their numbers were.

Occoran muttered, “Good numbers.” His slate-coloured hide didn’t denote excitement.

Sage nodded. “I hope so.”

They waited as all numbers were tallied.

The announcer said, “In fourth place, orange team! In third place, yellow team! In second place, green team! And for the first time, in first place, red team!”

Sage grinned as her team members stood with quiet dignity. Sage whispered to Occoran and asked, “So, what do we win?”

He looked at her and burst out laughing.

Sage sat with the red team on cushions on the floor. The Hmrain and his consort were sharing a meal, and apparently, eating in the presence of the overseer was part of their win. If a Hmrain knew who you were and they liked you, benefits would come your way.

The rest of the space was filled with ministers, heads of state, and guild leaders.

They enjoyed the food, all grown locally, and then the dancing started. Thoreval nodded to his consort, and she smiled and stood to dance for the crowd.

Sage watched the woman move and cocked her head. It wasn’t particularly graceful or interesting. It was a mechanical action. The female wasn’t having fun, and it showed.

The musicians kept playing, and eventually, the woman went to curl up against Overseer Thoreval. He told everyone that they could join the party and dance if they cared to.

Vorisikino got up and held one of his four hands out to her. “Come, Sage, let’s demonstrate grace.”

Sage took his hand, and he pulled her to the floor, dancing and spinning with joy. It had been a tense few days, and the relief that it was over filled every inch of her.

He held her against him, and they swayed before separating into formal court dances. When she was thirsty, she nodded, and he stopped. They returned to their table and sat to rehydrate.

Vor said, “You are an excellent dancer.”

“As are you.”

“May I be your sex partner this evening?”

She had been about to drink and shook her head. “I am not compatible with the species here. It is one of the reasons I took this assignment. All the colour shifting and pheromones are lost on me.”

“The mating links?”

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