Norlanian Brides Volume One Page 24

  “When I was eighteen years, I was abducted by a Norlanian male and brought to his family’s wooing chamber on the other side of the mountain. I was terrified but I had resigned myself to my mate. The Norlanian male gave me a night to accustom myself to becoming his bride, and while I slept on the bed and he slept on the couch in the outer room, four males entered the chamber and stole me away. They are the ligaru.”

  Sloan shook her head. “Ligaru are nothing more than the stuff of children’s books. They’re not real, meant to frighten children with tales of being stolen from their beds.”

  Yelda tilted her head slightly. “Where do you think the stories came from? The ligaru have been setting captive females free for decades. They stopped when the males stopped using the wooing chambers. We believed that the males weren’t abducting females any longer. But now they’re going to other worlds? I don’t understand. You say you’re sterile?”

  “All Norlanian females are. At least those born in my generation. I’m thirty-five, how old are you?”

  “Forty-seven.”

  “And clearly not sterile.” Sloan shook her head. “Do you have more children than the male who brought me here?”

  “I have four children. Three males and a female, who is mated and has had children of her own.”

  Sloan’s mind spun. “I don’t understand. I saw a young girl out there. There hasn’t been a female Norlanian born in years.”

  A deep voice said, “Because you’ve been living on the wrong side of the mountain.”

  Sloan gaped at the huge male who stepped into the tent. He looked like a slightly older version of the male who had kidnapped her, who Yelda had said was named Villi.

  Yelda stood and hugged the male. “This is my mate, Nelari.”

  “What do you mean I’m on the wrong side of the mountain? According to our government, there isn’t anything on this side of the mountain except danger from toxic plants and menacing wildlife. It’s against the law to come to this side of the mountain.”

  Nelari raised a dark brow. “Your people have hated our people for generations. We know we’re horror stories in your land, but we’re not the things you’ve heard.” He told her of his forefathers time, when they once shared the same side of the mountain. A group of males was against the soul-walk and choosing mates through artificial means. When they refused to go along with the soul-walk, wanting to choose females based on mutual attraction, trust, and affection, they were shunned. Eventually they left, and some females went with them.

  “We’ve been here ever since. When males used the wooing chambers, we would drug the males and offer the females a choice – to come with us and make their own choice or to stay with the male who had taken them. Some stayed and some came with us. We’ve never forced a female to come or harmed a female in any way.”

  Sloan snorted, folding her arms over her chest. “Your son took me against my will.”

  Yelda frowned. “You were abducted.”

  “Yes, by your son. I wanted to be with Warrick. I love him.”

  Yelda and Nelari looked at each other in confusion. “I don’t understand,” Yelda said.

  “Neither do I. Warrick is my real soulmate. We’ve known each other for years, and I always denied the attraction because I’m sterile and I knew it was right for him to find a female who could give him a family. He chose me, though. He went to a lot of trouble to bring me to the wooing chamber, and the morning after we declared our love for each other, a group of males does something to Warrick and kidnaps me. Naked!”

  “I’ll be back,” Nelari said with a growl. Sloan saw fangs peeking over his lips as he stomped out of the tent.

  “Oh no,” Yelda groaned. “He didn’t ask you, did he? He didn’t give you the choice.”

  “No, he didn’t. I struggled and begged him and the others to let me go, but they refused. I’ve never been manhandled before, but it wasn’t pleasant, let me tell you.”

  Nelari returned with the four males. He growled at them and they hung their heads. “My son tells me that he thought you were in shock from being abducted and raped. In his haste to get you to freedom, he didn’t listen to what you said.”

  “You thought I’d been raped?” Sloan gaped at the males. Villi raised his head slightly and gave a careful nod.

  She’d been angry, but the feeling quickly left. She stood and moved to the four males. They were bigger than her. Broad and muscular, taller even than Warrick. “I thought Warrick was the only honorable male left on Norlan. I didn’t know there was a whole mountainside full of them. I’m not happy about what you did, but I think you acted from a good place. He didn’t rape me. He did abduct me, but I forgave him. I’d like you to take me back to him.”

  Nelari said, “We’ll bring your soulmate here.”

  The males disappeared from the tent and Sloan looked at Yelda. “Why won’t they take me to him?”

  “The drugs they use to knock the males unconscious don’t last very long and he’s most likely looking for you. It could be dangerous where he is on the mountain, and Nelari won’t risk you being harmed. Plus, you might want to stay here.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Permanently.”

  * * *

  Warrick cursed the hover-machen as it struggled down the other side of the mountain. Fleetingly he thought about the government ban on traveling to the forbidden side, but he would walk through fire to get to Sloan, so he couldn’t care less about the ban. The hover-machen moved roughly over the trail; the sharp rocks jutting from the mountain made it difficult to move swiftly at all, for fear of damaging the vehicle.

  A shadow passed over him and he heard a loud crowing noise. An enormous furry bird landed several yards in front of his vehicle, which stopped quickly to avoid crashing into the creature. He stared through the windshield at the black bird and the large male who sat on a saddle on its back.

  “I mean you no harm, Warrick,” the male said. “My name is Nelari and I’m here to take you to your mate, Sloan.”

  Warrick opened the door and got out slowly, keeping one hand on his gun. “How do you know my name and where is my mate?”

  Nelari said, “Suffice it to say that there was a misunderstanding and it’s been cleared up. Sloan is safe with my mate in our city. I’ll take you to her. Your vehicle won’t make it, so you’ll need to ride behind me on my zareb.”

  Warrick was skeptical, but he needed to get to Sloan as quickly as possible. It didn’t take a genius to see that he’d destroy the hover-machen if he kept going down the mountain, and then he’d be stranded.

  “You can bring your knife, but leave the gun. There are young and females in the city,” Nelari said.

  Warrick placed his gun in a compartment within the vehicle and walked to the male and his big bird. Nelari offered his hand, and Warrick stepped on the clawed foot that the creature lifted for him, settling behind the saddle with Nelari’s help. “I have to ask you to put this on,” Nelari said, handing a blindfold to Warrick.

  Grumbling internally, Warrick slid the blindfold on and held onto Nelari as instructed. The bird’s wings began to flap and it crowed loudly as it lifted from the ground. They were airborne swiftly, the wind rushing around them as the bird cut through the sky.

  I’m coming, Sloan, he thought.

  * * *

  Sloan finished stitching up the wound on the young male’s arm and then wrapped a fabric bandage from wrist to elbow. “You be careful in the ironworks from now on. Blades are sharp and you should treat them with respect.”

  “Yes ma’am,” he said, sheepishly.

  His father stood behind him with one hand on his shoulder. “He’ll be careful. Thank you for your time, Miss Sloan. We’re fortunate to have someone with your skill here in the city.”

  “You can thank Villi for not listening to me,” she said, smirking at the male who was standing at the doorway of what she’d been told was the home of the doctor who had taken care of the city’s residents for many years. He’d died t
he previous winter, and although there were women with some medical knowledge, they really did need a doctor.

  Villi made a face at Sloan. It hadn’t taken long for the male to get over his chagrin at kidnapping her from Warrick’s bed, and she’d been teasing him mercilessly ever since his father had left to find Warrick.

  “Anyone else need to see a doctor?” she asked, standing and stretching the kink in her back.

  Villi looked out the door. “No. You helped everyone.”

  Yelda smiled from where she’d sat nearby and watched. “It’s wonderful to have you here, Sloan. I daresay it was fate that brought you here.”

  Sloan raised a brow but said nothing. The ligaru, especially Yelda and Nelari, seemed to think that Sloan belonged with them. She had no intention of staying in their tent city, even though she had enjoyed being around the children and helping the people who needed it.

  “Can I ask you something?” Sloan asked.

  “Of course,” Yelda said as she helped Sloan put away the old doctor’s supplies. They followed Villi out and walked to Yelda’s tent.

  “Why did Nelari say that I was sterile because I was on the wrong side of the mountain?”

  Yelda turned at the doorway of her tent and gestured to the tents around them. “You tell me, Sloan. No females are sterile in our city or ever have been. We’re not a huge population, we number just sixty now, but there are several females your age who have had babies, and you’ve seen the female and male children. If we’re of the same people, why are none of our females sterile while yours are?”

  “Your males have fangs and ours don’t,” Sloan pointed out.

  Yelda waved her hand dismissively. “Nelari said the first generation of males didn’t have fangs, but the second did. Call it genetics or whatever you’d like, but we’re still Norlanians.”

  Sloan wished she had access to a lab so she could study them. Of course, they probably wouldn’t appreciate being poked and prodded, but the researcher in her was itching to work.

  “Wait, are you telling me that you think if I stayed here, that I’d be able to become pregnant?”

  “I don’t know about that, but you could do so much good here, Sloan. We need a doctor.”

  Before she could answer, a crowing sound filled the air and she knew that Warrick was close. She rushed to the fenced enclosure where the zareb would land. Her heart leapt into her throat. She knew she wouldn’t believe he was okay until she had her arms around him.

  Nelari’s zareb landed in the enclosure and Sloan braced her hands on the top railing and climbed over. When her feet hit the ground, she raced forward. Warrick, dressed in all black, tossed aside his blindfold and leapt from the bird. He straightened and smiled in relief when their eyes met. His long legs ate up the distance between them and he pulled her against him. “Are you okay, quello?”

  She reached up and touched his hair. It still felt the same, but it didn’t look the same.

  “War, your hair is brown.”

  Chapter 8

  Warrick was so relieved to see Sloan that he didn’t think he’d ever let go of her. Her confusion, though, was giving him pause.

  “My hair is brown? How is that possible?”

  Her brows furrowed. “Did you take the serum?”

  “No.”

  Her mouth fell open slightly and she seemed to have some kind of epiphany. “Oh.”

  “What, quello?”

  Shaking her head, she went on her tiptoes and kissed him. “I’ll tell you later. You won’t believe the day I’ve had.”

  “Oh really? Were you drugged while your soulmate was kidnapped by strange males?”

  She slapped his shoulder with a chuckle. “No, but I was flown away on the freakiest bird I’ve ever seen while my incredibly sexy mate was left unconscious on our bed.”

  Nelari cleared his throat. “If you’ll follow me to my tent, I’ll introduce you to my mate and we can talk. I have a feeling your mate has much to share with you.”

  Sloan whispered, “This is an amazing place. We’re safe here.”

  He was glad that she felt safe, but all the same, he’d be on alert. At the moment, he had no explanation for why Sloan had been taken in the first place. They followed Nelari, who was apparently the leader of wherever they were, to a large tent. Although rustic, the interior of the tent was comfortable. He and Sloan sat on a large couch that looked like it was made of sewn-together animal hides, not the machine-made fabric of the furniture used in Kyvern City.

  While they ate a meal of delicious roasted meat and root vegetables, Nelari and his mate, Yelda, shared the story of their people’s branching off from the rest of the Norlanian people. They were ligaru, but they weren’t the monsters of the children’s stories, simply males and females who had chosen to leave behind the use of the soul-walk and give females a choice in who they mated.

  “Let me ask you a question, Warrick,” Nelari said. “I overheard you say that your hair turned brown without the use of the serum that the government issues during the soul-walk. Why do you think that is?”

  He still had no idea what his hair looked like because he hadn’t seen a mirror. “I don’t know.”

  “The first generation of our males were born with blue hair, which changed to brown when they took their heart-chosen truemates. The next generation of males? They were born with brown hair, and there isn’t a head of blue hair in our city, and hasn’t been since.”

  Warrick frowned as he looked at Sloan, who looked just as confused. “What are you saying?” Sloan asked.

  “That the government you trust in all things is creating the blue-haired situation. That it’s not natural.”

  “That’s not possible. I’ve delivered many babies over the years, and all the males come out with blue hair,” Sloan said, shaking her head.

  Yelda smiled sadly. “You also give the mothers injections during their pregnancies, don’t you?”

  “Yes, of course. Vitamins and nutrients to aid their bodies as the baby develops. I still don’t…oh.” Sloan went quiet for a long moment and Warrick rubbed her back. He was lost, but Sloan was much smarter than him and he knew she’d figure it out and clue him in. “You’re saying the government is behind it all.”

  Nelari and Yelda both nodded.

  Warrick said, “Quello?”

  She squeezed his thigh. “The government orders all females to be given a series of injections during pregnancy. Nelari and Yelda are suggesting that, among their benefits, the injections turn the hair of the male babies blue. When the males later go on a soul-walk and take the serum, their hair turns back to brown, which is actually their natural color.”

  “Why in the stars would they do that?” Warrick asked.

  Sloan was quiet for a moment. “My guess is money and power. For a male to be mated in our society, he either has to go on the soul-walk – which is very expensive – or he has to choose a female on his own and purchase the serum, which is almost as expensive as going on the soul-walk.”

  Warrick knew just how expensive the serum was, because he’d bought it. But it sat, unused, back in the wooing chamber. “So why did my hair turn brown?”

  Nelari said, “You’d have to ask your brilliant doctor, since I don’t think the government will be spilling its secrets to you or the population anytime soon. If I had to hazard a guess, however, I’d say it’s because no matter what the government has done with your people and the resulting blue hair, expensive soul-walks, and serums, at the core of who you are, your soul wants its perfect match.”

  “Your hair changed color because we really are soulmates. Your body naturally rejected whatever the injections from your mother’s womb had done to you. It’s amazing and a little frightening, but my brother’s friend Paoli’s hair changed color when he mated the female he loved. I saw it myself.”

  Warrick shook his head. “I can’t imagine that generations of our people have been duped for money and power. It boggles the mind.”

  Sloan gasped. “What i
f the injections they give pregnant females actually cause the sterility in females?”

  “But females have only been sterile in your generation, and according to Nelari, the government has been injecting our people for much longer than that.”

  “The body has ways of rejecting things that are done to it chemically. Perhaps through the generations, the injections began to attack the females’ reproductive organs. I need to make sure that Ashley and Kate don’t take the pregnancy injections.”

  “Could the injections cause sterility in the alien mates, and also cause sterility in the babies?” Warrick asked.

  “I don’t know. If I start asking questions, I might get thrown in prison for treason. I’ll have to tread carefully.”

  Warrick snarled at the thought.

  Nelari stood. “I’d like to take you on a tour of our city. After the tour, we’ll have a city-wide dinner, at which you’ll be the guests of honor, and then you’ll be given a private tent for the night.”

  Warrick opened his mouth to protest that he simply wanted to take Sloan back to the wooing chamber on the other side of the mountain, but Sloan squeezed his thigh and he kept silent.

  “Thank you for your hospitality,” Sloan said.

  They followed Nelari through the city while Yelda went to help prepare the evening’s meal. The self-sufficient city was incredible. Fenced enclosures and barns held animals that were butchered for their meat and skin, and tracts of cleared land had been plowed and planted for fruit and vegetables.

  Warrick stared at an enclosure full of fourn, a black-skinned bird used for meat, and asked, “How have you stayed unknown for so long?”

  Nelari leaned on the top rail of the fence. “When the wooing chambers were being used, the males were drugged and the females given their choice to stay or come with us. The males wouldn’t remember what happened when they awoke. You shouldn’t have, either, but I have to assume that it’s because you are soulmates that you were able to retain your memories of the event and know where to look for her. Our patrols keep injections with them in case anyone happens to see us, but it hasn’t happened in so many years. We also have a cloaking device that covers our city with a mist above and around the perimeter. We can’t see it because we’re inside it, but from the outside, it appears to be simply an empty forest.”