Page 20 of Reluctantly Abducted
He stops his methodical cleanup and looks at me directly. "My brothers made their choices. I am making mine."
Fair enough. I decide to shift the conversation slightly. "In my culture, we don't have anything like Council approval for relationships."
"Yes, I'm aware that human pair bonding is chaotic and inefficient," he says, a hint of disdain creeping into his voice.
I laugh. "Chaotic and inefficient. That's one way to put it."
"Am I incorrect?"
"No, you're not wrong. Though some human cultures do still have arranged marriages, where families choose partners for their children based on compatibility, social standing, that sort of thing."
"A more logical approach," he says with approval.
"Maybe, but it's pretty rare in America, where I'm from. We're big on the whole 'find your own soulmate' concept."
"And how effective is this method?"
"About as effective as you'd expect when you leave important decisions to emotions rather than logic," I say with a hint of bitterness. "We've got a divorce rate of nearly fifty percent."
"Divorce... that is the termination of your marriage bonds?"
"Yep. Happens all the time."
"And your own experience?" he asks, his tone cautious. "You mentioned previously that your marriage 'didn't work out.'"
Since I'd already told him about my marriage in the hydration chamber, I decide to fill in the details I'd left vague before. "He cheated on me. While I was deployed."
Ry'eth stops completely now, his full attention on me. "Deployed... in combat?"
"Yeah. Second tour. I was gone for nine months. Guess that was too long for him."
"Your mate formed another attachment while you were serving as a healer in combat?"
The way he phrases it makes it sound even worse somehow. "Yep. Classic story, soldier comes home to find someone else in his bed. Military relationships have a high failure rate."
"That seems... dishonorable," Ry'eth says, and there's genuine disapproval in his voice. "To abandon a commitment to one who is providing essential medical care in dangerous conditions."
"Yeah, well. Human relationships are 'chaotic and inefficient,' remember?" I try to keep my tone light, butsomething must show in my face because Ry'eth's expression shifts slightly.
"I did not mean to trivialize your experience."
"You didn't. It's fine." I wave a dismissive hand. "Ancient history."
He studies me for a moment, then asks, "In human marriages, is there opportunity for multiple attempts? Or is it, as you said, 'game over'?"
The question catches me off guard. "Multiple attempts are allowed, technically. Some people get married three, four times."
"And you? Would you attempt another human marriage?"
I consider the question, surprised to find myself answering honestly. "Probably not. Once was enough. I'm not good at the whole commitment thing, too much time away, too much focus on the job. Not really fair to the other person."
"I understand this reasoning," he says quietly, and I get the sense he actually does.
"So here we are," I say, spreading my hands. "You don't want a bond because you're married to your work. I don't want a bond because I'm apparently a human disaster at relationships. Seems like we're on the same page."
"Yes," he agrees, though his bioluminescence ripples in a pattern I haven't seen before. "It is... fortuitous."
"Exactly what the Council was going for, I'm sure." I can't help the sarcasm, but it draws a reaction I wasn't expecting, what might almost be a smile, quickly suppressed.
