Page 60 of Taken to Voraxia
“No amount of times is enough. We will…not stop until our duties as Raku and Rakukanna commence tomorrow. Not…until the first meeting. I will not stop. I cannot stop.”
And he cannot stop. And I do not stop. And we let the fever take us through the solar and into the lunar and at some point I wonder if it is possible to die from too much happiness, even one drop too much, or if it is possible to live in that drop for the rest of eternity. I’d like to try, regardless of the outcome.
17
Xoran
It is not enough. It is never going to be enough. And yet,impossibly,I am satisfied.
It has been only five solars and yet, I feel as if she has been at my side all of my rotations. At the same time, she continues to surprise me and knock me off guard.
The solar before we left for our first meeting with Xa’Raku, in which we began discussions over the human females and their settlement, my Miari presented me with her third and final gift after the solarverse that now occupies its own place on a shelf in our living quarters, and the breeding belt concoction she’d wrapped around her body.
Unlike her first gift, which tenderized my insides, or her second gift, which had filled my mind with a rutting rage, her third gift had utterlyfascinatedme.
In the short solars she was apart from me, she managed to convert our guest werro into a makeshift laboratory, one in which she retrofitted a Droherion filament to a black glass dagger — just like the one I used to save her life on that human moon, except this one would not only cut through the flesh of a beast as tough as the khrui, it woulddissolveit. If I had had it on her moon, fighting the khrui, I’d have been able to kill it in a matter of moments and in only a few strokes.
I learned in a later meeting from Tri'Herion that he and the other xub'Herion had requested the Rakukanna to assist them in improving the design of this device and fitting it to even larger weapons — swords next — to create a whole new generation of fighting tool.
Even the ma’Renar had been fascinated with the idea and had requested council with Tri'Herion and the Rakukanna to repurpose this weaponry into new, more efficient cooking implements.
I could not have been more proud, and when the Rakukanna told me following our first meeting with Xa’Raku that she would like to request the human Svera to act as her advisor on all matters human, I was proud of her then too. More than I could have imagined.
Not only smart and capable, but also wise. For it takes a wise ruler to know when they don’t know enough, and a humble ruler to seek out others’ opinions. Something I don’t do enough. In a few short solars, I have already learned so much from her.
I take her hand now and kiss the back of her palm. As I lower it to the arm of her werro root throne, I do not release her, but engage in this act that she refers to ashand holding. I call it linking. And I like this linking very much. The very moment I no longer touch her — even for a breath — the world feels dark.
“Xa’Raku, we are honored to receive you,” I say as a small procession files into the room, Xa’Raku at its head. “Islu'Raku, Roth, Lemoria, Svera,” I say, stuttering over her name — I do not like speaking her slave name aloud, and I also do not truly know how to pronounce it. Krisxox bristles at the sound of the human’s name, likely as discomfited as I am. “Krisxox.”
I incline my head to each of them in turn, even though Svera is still technically a prisoner. Her trial, however has low priority. Extremely low. The other traitor female still bathes in the tub of merillian, Va’Raku honorably at her side, and first and most pressingly is the matter of Pe’ixal, who still awaits his reckoning.
The members that file into the war room take the chairs set out for them. I wait a lengthy pause for the room to settle, and then begin, “We come together to render verdict on Pe’ixal and the human settlement. I would like a progress report from each of you since our last meeting.
“Roth, as you are responsible for Voraxia’s internal security, I would like to hear from you first on the status of our fallen xub’Raku and the preventative measures that have been taken by you and the xcleranx?”
Roth stands and bares his forearms in the warrior’s greeting, a sign of ultimate respect from one warrior to the next. I return it. “Every precaution with Pe’ixal has been taken.
“He has been cordoned from communicators and barred access to Ixiria’s docks. We have limited his correspondence to you, my Raku, and to the xub’Raku. The xcleranx that monitor him are among the fiercest in Voraxia, present company excluded,” he says with a slight tip of his head towards Krisxox first, and then to me. I am not offended. Strength is honored here and Krisxox’s prowess is known.
“And there is nowhere he goes that they do not accompany. And they do not speak to him. They are not baited. They are loyal. He is utterly contained, Raku, Rakukanna.” He sits and I nod, turning my gaze to Islu'Raku.
The Islu'Raku of Cree’irn proceeds next. “Xhen'Raku dispatched to Cxrian as soon as you passed your final verdict in our last assembly. He has met with the xub’Bo’Raku and informed them of the Pe’ixal’s treason.
“There is upset in Cxrian. He was much beloved there by his male xub’Bo’Raku and the xcleranx that participated in the Hunting ceremony. They share concerns that they will be barred from partaking in the human females.”
“They will be barred,” my Rakukanna spits. It is a break in formality, but her human temperament is not as caged as the ridges allow ours to be and I forgive her for this, even as I lift my hand, demanding her silence.
“I have made it clear that the Hunt ceremony will no longer take place under the forced pact that the past Bo’Rakus have allowed. That said…” And here I tread more slowly than I would have a few solars previous.
The thought makes my mouth jerk in the semblance of a pleasure expression that I cannot give voice. Not here, in the war room.Xok…who am I now?Nox.Who has she made me?
I continue, “My Rakukanna and I have agreed that it benefits both Voraxians and humans for our two species to have increased interaction…” My Rakukanna shoots me a glare. These were terms I laid before her that I would not budge on.
“The hope is that more of the human females and the Voraxian males will prove to be compatible and that a healthy generation of offspring will be born of them.”
“Healthy offspring born ofhealthyrelationships. Ones that abide by thehumanstandard of mating.”
Her tone begs punishment and I glare at her, able to feel my xora rise at the thought. “Svera will give a report on what has been discussed to best achieve thishumanstyle of mating,” I say gruffly. “Thank you Islu'Raku. My Rakukanna extends her pride to you, for her outburst.”
