Chapter Nineteen
Vrak was finally called to meet with the council. He was prepared for everything, and though he was sure he could come out of this victorious, it was good to know he had a friend to back him up.
“New information has reached us, and we decided to share it with you and Zag,” the main elder said, as soon as they settled down. “The healer taking care of the human female came looking for us to inform us the female is barren.”
Zag immediately jumped out of his kneeling position. “What? How is this even possible?” he ranted.
“The women’s fertility is not asked when they are interviewed by the agency,” Kahm explained. “And that makes sense. They will be marrying species completely different from them, not only physically but also genetically.”
“Your female got pregnant by you,” he pointed out, furious.
“I was sure that couldn’t happen. Knowing she was able to carry my child was like a miracle for me. But that’s doesn’t happen very often, and you can check with the people from the agency,” Kahm assured him.
“I don’t want a barren woman. I withdraw my claim on her,” Zag assured the elders.
“We imagined you would do so. Barren females are not accepted in our society, as future mates,” the elder said as he turned to look at Vrak. “But we would like to know your decision on the matter before we make our decision.”
“Decision? I don’t have to make any decision. Mine was made the minute I saw her, and the fact she can’t have children doesn’t worry me in the least,” he stated, with a firm tone.
“Well, then, there’s nothing else to say.” He took a deep breath. “We have reached a decision on this matter that we believe will keep the peace between Terrion and Sumitera.”
The words sounded like a threat and Vrak glanced at Kahm, sure he had taken them as what they were. He had.
“Please, tell us,” Vrak asked, with a sarcastic smile.
“We’ll accept your offer, regarding the cattle and you can take the female with you,” the elder finally announced. “As for you, Zag, we will overlook your actions, as long as you accept the female we choose for you,” he explained, with an ice-cold tone. “For centuries, we’ve rejected the idea of mixing our species with others and so far, we haven’t seen any evidence that we were wrong about it. Considering that, we will not allow the entrance of any aliens into our secluded world.”
“What if I don’t accept your decision?” Zag asked, clearly not pleased with being treated like a brat.
“Then, we’ll invite you to leave Sumitera, forever,” the elder replied, in a stern tone. “It’s your call.”
The whole audience turned to look at Zag. Some of the men that had been with him at the cave were there too, and Vrak wondered if they would challenge the other man to stand up for his words and let the council know he couldn’t care less about the council.
But no one opened their mouth. After a few moments, zag finally gave in. “I’ll accept your offer, but only if you give me part of the cattle you’re getting, to use as my dowry,” he tried to renegotiate the terms of his surrender.
“That wouldn’t be fair for the rest of the tribe,” the elder refused.
Vrak raised his hand and interrupted the men. “I’ll send an extra thousand cattle for your dowry,” he offered, willing to leave Sumitera. He had seen more than enough of the place.
“I don’t need your charity,” he ranted.
“Look at it as the compensation for all the trouble I’ve caused you,” Vrak insisted, urging the man to accept.
Zag stayed in silence for a few moments, clearly deliberating on his offer, before he finally accepted.
“Very well. With that cattle, I’ll be able to find a proper mate,” he said.
There was a collective sigh in the room.
“When can we leave?” Vrak asked, eager to jump up and leave the continent.
“We would like to offer you an apology, and nothing would honor us more if you would accept to have a mating ceremony here,” the elder said, and Vrak almost let out a roar of indignation.
A timely nudge from Kahm stopped him from making a huge mistake. “It would be my pleasure, I assure you,” he muttered, with a fake smile pasted on his face, while he considered the benefits of annihilating the Sumirions from the face of the planet.
“Very well, we’ll take care of everything, and the ceremony will take place tomorrow night,” the elder announced, pleased.
Vrak smiled again, but his smile was much more like a scowl than a smile. “When can I see Aliyah?” he asked, in his calmest tone.
“At the ceremony.”
The elder’s words almost made him roar with rage.
“That’s perfect. Perhaps we could have something to eat and drink. It will be a long wait,” Kahm suggested before he could speak.
“Certainly. You will be taken care of as our guests of honor. Meanwhile, the females will prepare the bride.”
“Thank you, that’s very kind of you,” Kahm said since Vrak was still struggling to control his temper.
They were escorted out of the council tent and taken back to the one they had used so far. Food and drinks awaited for them, and they were able to eat something.
Vrak was eager to know about Aliyah if she was alright and let her know they would be leaving as soon as possible, but he knew trying to see her would only cause more trouble and that was the last thing he wanted.
It was going to be a very long day.
Glynoy was finishing changing the bandages on Aliyah’s back when a group of females, these ones with as much hair – or their version of hair – as the males and much more colorful clothes, entered the tent. Their leader spoke to Glynoy in a tone of superiority and scorn that made Aliyah stomach’s churn.
“We’re here for the human female. She will be prepared for a mating ceremony,” she announced.
For a moment, Aliyah thought she had misheard the woman. She couldn’t have said mating ceremony, right?
Glynoy, with her eyes, lowered all the time nodded and stepped away. “Yes, Víf Almena.”
“Wait, what’s going on here?” Aliyah asked, astounded. “What mating ceremony? What the hell are you talking about?” she asked again, stepping back.
“We were ordered to prepare you for a mating ceremony, and that’s what we’ll do. You’ll come with us, willingly or we’ll call the guards to make you come,” the woman replied in a very arrogant tone.
“It’s better if you go with them, Víf Aliyah. There isn’t much you can do,” Glynoy muttered, clearly defying the other woman’s silent command of not interfering.
Aliyah opened her mouth, ready to protest, desperate to find a way out of the predicament she was on. If they were preparing a mating ceremony for her, that meant Vrak had given up on her, and they were mating her with god knows who, despite the fact she was barren.
But one look at Glynoy’s face told her she better do what she was being told. It wasn’t the moment to put up a fight.
She nodded, her hands clenched into tight fists. She would have to find a way to escape. She would rather die out there in the woods than to marry a man she had never seen when her heart had been fully taken by Vrak.
Deciding to marry a stranger had been a lot easier when she had never known love. Now, she knew she would resist being touch by another man other than Vrak. She simply couldn’t.
She followed the women out of the healer’s tent and into one not far from the main tent. The place was surrounded by guards, and her stomach dropped to the ground when she realized there was no way she could escape before the mating ceremony.
Wringing her hands nervously, she followed the women inside, unsure of what to expect.
“Who’s going to mate me?” she dared to ask when the cloth that sealed the entrance fell at their backs.
“We weren’t notified,” Almena replied in a cold tone. “Nor did we have any interest in knowing it.”
“Can you ask, please? I need to know…” she started asking, but the woman stopped her at mid-sentence.
“You don’t have to know anything. If they wanted you to know the name of the male desperate enough to mate a barren female, they would have told you so. You’ll know soon enough, at the mating ceremony, tomorrow night,” she stated not hiding her disdain for Aliyah.
Apparently, word about her infertility had spread through the tribe.