Page 54 of Warrior's Captive
“Give her the soup, Agata,” one of the older women grunted. “Human blood is weak. Bring Abeyya,yadoana.”
Vivian realized the command was directed to Daobah, who darted back up the dais.
“The male’s circle is waiting for you,” Agata told Tai’ri. “Go. We know how to care for your bondmate.”
He stiffened, glancing obliquely at Vivian, then inclined his head and left as well. Agata patted a cushion and one of the other women helped her sit. Daobah and Abeyya appeared just as a bowl of steaming soup was placed in Vivian’s hands. A golden broth swimming with vegetables, some kind of small grain and slivers of meat she recognized as either fish or what passed for chicken.
She picked up the deep bowled spoon and took a careful bite as Abeyya found a spot on the couch and draped herself down, snagging a morsel off someone’s platter. The temperature was perfect, not too hot, and the broth flavorful.
Vivian paused. “Oh! I didn’t scan to see—”
Agata sniffed. “Really,yadoana.Though I’m glad you’re conscientious considering the stakes.”
Vivian took that to mean the soup was safe, and continued eating. “The stakes?”
“Your child. I spoke with young Ibukay. My mother oversaw her birth decades ago.” Vivian paused, startled, then resumed eating when Agata gave the bowl a pointed look. “Have they told you there is a complex battery of treatments human woman have to undergo to prime their reproductive systems to accept Yadeshi genetic material?”
“I believe I underwent those procedures.” Her mood darkened and instinctively she looked around for Tai’ri.
Agata touched her shoulder briefly. “I am beyond angry at what was done to you and my son. But we cannot bring ourselves to regret any new life.”
“It isn’t his fault,” Vivian said softly. “He’s been very kind.”
“So tell me about my son. Is he seeing to your sexual needs properly? Males can be obtuse about these things when we’re big with child.”
Vivian choked on the tea one of the younger women, perhaps an ‘aunt’, had handed her.
Agata patted her on the back, Abeyya watching with amusement. “Don’t be shy, we’re all mothers here. Many babies, many males.”
“Lots of sex,” Daobah muttered.
Vivian set her tea down, folding her hands on top of her bump. Sex just hadn’t been a topic of discussion growing up. Lineage, genetic matches, etc. . . but not the act that produced offspring. “We just met weeks ago, after a harrowing shared experience.”
Agata’s head tilted. “True. But he is your bondmate. It is his job to—”
“Mother.”
Vivian glanced over, a little intrigued by Tai’ri’s timing. He hovered at the top of the circle.
His mother gave him an irritated look. “We didn’t call you.”
“May I claim Vivian?” Tai’ri tone was scrupulously respectful. “I wanted to spend time with her this evening.”
Agata sighed. “Oh, fine. We’ll speak again soon, Vivian.”
Tai’ri descended the steps and approached to help Vivian rise from the soft couch.
“We have much to discuss as well, Tai’ri,” his mother added.
He cringed, though he was smart enough to have turned his face away first. A spark of amusement burst in Vivian’s chest, sending tendrils of warmth through her. It was hard not to find a tall, strong man who was afraid of a lecture from his mother adorable.
“They can be overwhelming,” he said in her ear as they walked away. “They didn’t interrogate you out of respect for the . . . circumstances. That will probably come after the baby is born and well settled.”
The vague ‘after the baby is here’ time in the future that she still had trouble imagining. The babe shifted inside her, punctuating the fact that the future was closer than the past.
Tai’ri rubbed the small of her back, escorting her to a dark corner of the room where there was a plush couch just enough for the two of them, frothy plants and a screen on either side offering some privacy. They settled onto the couch and a lanky young man approached moments later with a small tray loaded with bits of food, and a steaming teapot.
“Introduce your most stellar brother,” he said to Tai’ri.
