Chapter 6
Tsok
“Give your report,” Tsok said calmly, fingers working rapidly on his holoboard, writing out one of the many messages he had to send today.
In front of him, barely visible through the holodisplay, Davard was standing in front of his desk, waiting to be given leave to speak. Tsok could work and listen at the same time, so long as what he was doing didn’t require too much thought.
“The charina has settled in well,” his aid started simply. “The new renovations she asked for have nearly been completed. She has been selecting all of the new furniture and designs herself. She is about two-thirds through her allowance now, but at the current rate of her spending, she won’t run out before the next deposit. She is quite good at budgeting herself. She has not once run out of funds since she began this mission of hers.
“Furthermore, she is nearly completed with the cosmetology courses she began taking. At her current rate of work, she will be finished with all her lessons within the next two tendays. She has already scheduled her exam for licensure, and she has begun procuring all the things she will need in order to begin working.
“She has selected one of the outbuildings for her salon. She toured it the other day and declared it perfect for her needs. It is easy to renovate the area so that the public can access it without getting to the manor. The security teams have already drawn up plans to account for these changes. They’ll begin implementing them when the builders start their work.
“The chef has a full grasp of the charina’s palette now. She eats all her meals to completion without waste or a desire for more. Her health is stable, and she is agreeable to me managing her medical appointments and checkups. She was, of course, scanned by the ambassador before her arrival, but I thought you’d like a more thorough check. We will be completing that after she finishes her lessons, but before her test.”
Tsok’s fingers stopped moving and he leaned his head to the side, looking past the holodisplay to Davard. His assistant and steward wasn’t really looking at him. He was staring above his head, no doubt going through the mental list of things he wanted to report.
Tsok frowned as he continued talking.
“She had some of the staff move about half of her belongings downstairs. She informed me that they were full of supplies she brought from Earth that she used to use for her fur styling business. She told me that she is going to compare them to things she finds here to see if she can find equivalents since she can’t get the ones she’s familiar with.”
Tsok furrowed his brow. Davard just continued unaware of his boss’ growing annoyance.
“This morning, she woke at her usual time and ate breakfast alongside her beast companion. The creature truly is a terror. I would recommend some kind of training for it before it breaks and scratches everything in the manor. Otherwise, it is being fed a diet recommended by the charina that includes raw meat, fish, and eggs with some supplementation for health. At her request, I’m locating an animal clinic that is willing to look after this creature. Apparently, it is common for humans on Earth to keep unruly beasts like that, but there are no scans of one available. So, it has to be a clinic willing to work within that limitation.”
“Davard.”
“Personally, I see no purpose for the creature. It does not hunt, it is not strong enough to protect her, but is strong enough to be a nuisance. I cannot understand why the charina would be attached to such a thing, but she is. If I had to guess, it is a maternal instinct. It’s like she’s taking care of a kit that is capable of getting into trouble and nothing else. In that way, I would suppose, she will make a good mother if you ever decide to breed kits upon her. I just cannot stand the destructive little-”
“Davard.” Tsok’s voice was harder this time, cutting through his assistant’s rambling.
Davard blinked, focusing back on him. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Forgive me, honored char. I seem to have gone off on a tangent.”
“Indeed.”
“The point is, they’re both settling in well and she is good enough at self-regulation that I don’t think I need to pay any extra attention to her.”
“Very well.” Tsok returned to his message. “I’m satisfied then. Good work, Davard.”
“Thank you, char. I will, of course, continue to monitor and assist her with anything she should need.”
“Excellent.”
“I’ll be off then. I have to finish looking for that blasted animal clinic. Though, why anyone would want to keep such an annoying creature alive is beyond me.”
“Davard.”
Tsok’s call stopped his assistant before he could leave the room. Without looking up from the message he was writing, Tsok said-
“You do not need to give me such in-depth reports in the future.”
“Char?”
“I mean, I do not care to listen to such things from you.” Tsok paused in his writing again, looking at his assistant with undisguised annoyance. “Things like her altering one of the outbuildings and updates on security changes are important. Everything else you just told me was not at all worth being in a report.”
Davard hesitated, confused. “I’m sorry, char. Did you not order me to keep you updated on the charina’s actions?”
“I did. I did not intend for you to tell me every little thing about her daily goings on. You are in charge of her. Which means, if it is important or something you cannot, or do not, have the authority to handle, I wish to be informed. Otherwise, I do not need to hear about it in a report.”
“Er…”
“Do not bother me with unimportant things related to the charina again.”
Davard’s confusion cleared, and he inclined his head. “As you say, honored char. I will return to work then, if there is nothing else.”
Tsok waved him away, already focused back on his work.
They were in a very delicate position right now. His greatest political rival, the one most opposed to the cause that Tsok was currently championing, had released his official stance on the topic of mating and True Match today.
While it was known that Senior Boktare was vehemently opposed to mating, he had never actually officially come out against True Match before. He had voted against allowing the location to open on Kree, but he had accepted the vote of the majority of seniors without complaint. Though, he did express his regret and concern after that loss, he had never so loudly expressed his discontent.
Apparently, the fact that Tsok had found his mate through True Match and brought her to Kree had inspired him out of his silence.
Tsok’s announcement had been released yesterday. Though there had been rumors that he had brought an offworld mate before, he had gone through a lot of trouble to ensure that no one actually knew Misty or her reason for being here until he was ready to have it announced.
All the work she was doing on Fellbud Manor, all her cosmetology lessons, those were done either completely anonymously on the subnet or through one of his staff – mostly Davard. Of course, the fact that Fellbud Manor had been restored couldn’t be hidden, and it’s historical significance might not have been common knowledge before, but those that did know made sure to inform everyone else, so it wasn’t a hard guess to figure out what was going on.
However, the fact that his mate was human was a total secret, and one he’d kept right up until yesterday when, at a time of his choosing, he let the world know.
Tsok figured there would be backlash against that.
Humans were so soft. So helpless. They set off every protective instinct in the brain, and the idea of mating one was abhorrent only because of the fear of hurting them. There was only one known human-kreecharma pairing, and it was the founder of True Match himself. People considered him something of an eccentric for that, but, in a way, it was expected.
He had created True Match, after all. His name was Vigo and he had been one of the scientists that originally studied humans when they joined the Coalition. The first half of his mating had been caught on camera, in fact. Seeing the way he had reacted to her, the way he hadn’t reacted to her, had been what brought up all this discourse in the first place.
Mating was dangerous for the kreecharma. For the female, specifically. Having a human female for a mate only raised the odds. However, Tsok had already underestimated human females once. He’d looked at them and, certain of their weakness, tried to prevent them from becoming a protectorate of the Coalition at all.
He had been proven very wrong.
However, never let it be said that Tsok did not learn from his mistakes. He had opposed the idea of humans joining the Coalition. Now, he stood proudly behind them. If anything, he felt like it was fate that he also had a human mate. Nothing could be more fitting.
The problem was that, unlike Vigo, founder of True Match, Tsok was a highly respected, powerful, public figure. At the end of the day Vigo was a common citizen, and his mating could be written off as the eccentricities of an oddity, the same kind that could appear in any species about any topic. There were always going to be those that disagreed with the majority about something, no matter how otherwise universally agreed upon it was.
But Tsok? He had been against humans being protected by the Coalition. He was a proud and distinguished and traditional male. He was the char – the one meant to represent the kreecharma on the intergalactic stage. Which meant he needed to be the absolute pinnacle of what it was to be a kreecharma. He, more than anyone, needed to embody his people’s beliefs, their pride, their determination, their laws and traditions.
And he was the one who had now mated a human and was fighting for mating to, once again, become the primary method of reproduction on his planet. Something that had been done away with centuries ago, and for good reason.
But here he was, mated – sort of – resisting that expectation.
Senior Boktare had a great deal of ammunition to use against him.
And now, just a day after Tsok’s announcement, Senior Boktare released his criticism of his choice. Not a condemnation. Mating wasn’t illegal, technically, though the rules and regulations around it were so tight, it might as well be. Boktare couldn’t condemn Tsok for mating someone, but he could pull the old ‘disappointed’ argument.
Which he did, to great effect.
Tsok spent the rest of the day reading reports and articles about the greater majority of the planet agreeing with Boktare. His concerns were legitimate; Tsok’s choices were odd. Some were outright calling for Tsok to resign or be ousted by the seniors.
Tsok’s only real saving grace was the fact that he could, and did, point out to people in his original announcement that, while Misty was his mate, he had not mated her. His nasal filter remained firmly on his face, his body remained that of an unmated male. He had met his mate and chosen not to do anything to her. He had chosen to not actually mate her.
So, while most people were discontented, there wasn’t enough rage or demand for him to resign for their displeasure to be a threat against him.
For now.
He was walking a very thin line. If he messed up at all, if anyone even thought he was at risk of rutting his female, all the hard work he’d done, all the arguments he made, all his reasoning, would be rendered completely moot.
The entire movement he was championing would be set back by decades.
The future of his people, the direction their society would take, was currently resting on his self-control around a female that was, easily, the most beautiful he’d ever seen.
Never had he been so grateful that the charina had her own manor. He didn’t know how long he’d be able to resist holding her, touching her, if she were nearby at all times.
Even better, she was obviously independent and content on her own. She didn’t need him. She could take care of herself just fine. Not once had she attempted to contact him in order to begin deepening their bond. In fact, he’d even asked Davard to listen out for some sign that she was angry or discontented with Tsok in any way.
She never even mentioned him.
Tsok’s position hinged just as much on Misty as it did on himself. If she were miserable, if she were distraught, unhappy, or otherwise stressed, he wouldn’t be able to make the arguments he did against Boktare and the other traditionalists.
But she was happy. She had found a way to occupy her time, she was making Fellbud Manor her home, and she wasn’t cursing his name. In fact, according to Davard, she seemed perfectly content never talking about him at all.
Wonderful. She was, in fact, perfect for him then. He’d wait for her to ask for his attention and give it to her upon demand.
Yes, indeed, he was a very good mate. This was going perfectly.
That satisfaction of a plan well executed fueled him as he continued to work late into the night.