Chapter 41 #2
“All votes are in,” the High Imperium announced with the same smooth calmness they had with everything else in the last fifteen marks.
Far too much. “In regard to the protectorate status of the species known as humans: the motion has been met with unanimous approval. All species are in agreement. Earth shall be contacted by their sponsor and co-sponsor species and offered terms of a protectorate treaty. Terms acceptable to the Coalition shall be laid out between myself, as High Imperium, and the sponsor and co-sponsor species. Plans for establishment of first contact shall be determined by the same. Does the domini delegation have any questions for the Coalition?”
Scarlet had heard this line every single time at the end of the vote.
Almost no one took him up on the offer. The decision had been made and, if a group were truly determined to get their way, they would be better off approaching their naysayers in private instead of demanding more from them in public as a show of loss.
And none of those who got what they wanted questioned anyone.
But Scarlet couldn’t stop the blurted question from escaping her mouth.
“Why?” She asked, her voice amplified by the sound system.
She wasn’t looking at the High Imperium.
She was looking at Tsok in his box. “You… I mean, there were so many that were completely against our joining. Char Tsok, you said yourself that there was no reason whatsoever to offer humans protectorate status. I just… What changed? I am happy about it! Don’t get me wrong. I just… don’t understand…”
Her voice faded as she realized that she was looking a gift horse in the mouth. She should just take her victory and shut up. This was what she wanted. They were giving it to her on a silver platter. She was stupid for asking why.
But she had to know.
Why had they changed their minds?
Across the Rotunda, Tsok gave her an inscrutable look as he input his desire to speak into his console. To answer her question – for clearly it was aimed at him.
The High Imperium gave him leave to do so, and his box illuminated again.
“Female…” He started but stopped immediately.
His voice, so powerful and loud, amplified in the massive chamber, seemed so uncertain and…
pleading. “I must beg your forgiveness. I spoke out of ignorance. I knew not what I said. I paid you and your kind a great insult and you did not deserve it. I can only hope that my vote helps to make amends.”
Scarlet and Havali exchanged a look. But he seemed to know no more about what was happening than she did. It was Havali who spoke next, sounding much more elegant and refined than the flabbergasted question she had vomited.
“We appreciate your vote, Tsok. I think what Healer Scarlet means is: what exactly drove you to change your mind in the first place?”
“I cannot speak for every species that might originally have voted to deny their status,” he answered carefully, still looking right at Scarlet.
“However, speaking for myself, and relaying information I have gleaned by speaking to others I shall not specify – I leave it to them to speak if they wish – we are all in agreement that the birth of First Domini Atem’s youngling is what changed our minds. ”
Scarlet, stunned, could think of nothing to say.
Tsok cleared his throat, his ears lowered in shame, as he continued.
“I… We did not know what it meant for a human female to give birth.
I am sure that the Adassani did not wish her labor to be recorded, but I cannot deny that, in watching the birth, I came to realize that I spoke entirely incorrectly.
“Before, I told you that I denied Earth’s status as a protectorate specifically because there was no great threat to protect you from.
I was wrong. I did not know then exactly how traumatic, how torturous, the human process of birthing is.
I suppose it is obvious in hindsight. I hear that yours are the tightest sex in the universe, and you yourselves are so small compared to most other species.
It would only make sense, then, that birthing is difficult for you.
But, to my shame, I did not consider that when I spoke my earlier words.
“Having witnessed the human labor process, myself and many others all agree that forcing even a single human female to endure such a thing against her will is abhorrent and wrong.
Those who would take human females against their will for breeding purposes is small.
But even one, just one, is far too many to make suffer in such a way.
That is what you need protection from. That would be a great injustice and we would be equally guilty if we allowed such a thing to occur.
“With that in mind, I had no choice but to alter my vote. And I again offer my most sincere apologies, female, for my careless words. I will take greater care to speak more prudently and knowledgably in the future, and I thank you for the gift of this lesson.”
Scarlet wanted to speak, but she found herself struck dumb.
The labor?
That’s what had changed their minds?
No way. Peony’s labor, even with the complication of the necessary episiotomy, had been completely normal. Not overly long, overly difficult, or overly complicated. If anything, aside from it being a hybrid baby she pushed out, it was practically textbook.
And that’s what changed their minds? She couldn’t believe it.
But then, others that had put in their request to speak, to answer her question, began to add their voices to Tsok’s.
Confirming what he said. Offering more apologies.
Stating their dedication to ensure that not a single female human was forced to endure a human-hybrid labor.
Some even added that medical advancements should be shared early, despite the typical trade restrictions on protectorate planets, so that even on their home world, humans did not have to suffer so.
The High Imperium spoke last.
“I agree with most opinions expressed here. And should like to add, after the completion of the voting and the meetings that I must attend with other species afterwards, that I shall draft a law making the abduction, forced mating, or sale of human females to be a high crime, orders of magnitude worse than that faced by others. If only to discourage such acts from taking place. I request that members be on the lookout for that law to come your way so that you might sign it. I shall endeavor to complete this task as quickly as possible. Representative Havali, you and Representative Haviss shall meet with me after the voting has been completed so that we may discuss details of this deal to be offered to Earth. Now, we move onto our next order of business…”
Scarlet turned him out, struck dumb by what had just happened.
What had just happened?
Alanna actually managed to articulate that question to Havali – he didn’t need to listen to the closing arguments as he was casting Atem’s votes that were already decided.
He was explaining to her that, outside of the yearly Coalition meeting, new laws, especially those made in emergency, were sent around to the various leaders to sign electronically.
If there was a debate about the law, it would usually be pushed until the next Coalition meeting, but more often than not, just having the High Imperium push forward the law was enough for everyone to sign without lengthy debate.
Scarlet wasn’t really listening to the specific technicalities of Coalition legislation, however. She was still trying to wrap her mind around how immediately everything just changed.
Not only were they getting Earth an invitation to be a protectorate – Earth still had to agree – but it was going to become a high crime to assault human females? All of that just because they happened to see Peony giving birth.
Not a complex birth. Not a harrowing birth. Just a regular birth – excepting, of course, the hybrid status of the newborn.
She knew that domini females would only be in labor for about a mark.
She had even witnessed a few of them during the course of her Healer training.
The females certainly hadn’t looked comfortable, and a few had made pained shouts, usually right when the baby’s head emerged, but she just thought the stoicism was a result of domini being made of sturdier stuff than humans.
She hadn’t thought that was a trait the universe at large would share.
That humans were the odd ones for having such long, painful labors.
Nor would she think that just witnessing it would be enough to convince an entire room of hardened alien leaders to give them whatever they want.
No, more than that. They were going out of their way to accommodate them.
An entirely new law? Just to protect human females?
It felt like too much.
“Healer? Are you alright?”
She turned back to Havali. He was watching her with a curious frown.
“Is something wrong?”
She shook her head. “Just… surprised.”
“Good surprised? Right?” Alanna asked, leaning forward to see around him.
“Of course!” She hastened to say, but the corners of her lips couldn’t rise into a smile. “This is what we wanted. I just can’t believe that’s really all it took.”
Havali scoffed, casting his vote on the current topic. “That’s all, you say? As though watching Peony give birth hasn’t set me up to have nightmares for the next… Scarlet, how long did you say human females can be bred?”
She cocked her head, confused. “Naturally, until we’re about fifty. But I can use the medical technology here to expand that window. Just like we use it to extend our lifespans. Why?”
“And how old are you?”
She threw back her head, laughing, finally understanding. “Really? You can’t claim that you’re going to be having nightmares about me giving birth.”
He shuddered.
“Havali,” she lowered her voice, leaning in to whisper to him, “you get off on the idea of breeding me, so you can’t lie and claim you don’t want to get me pregnant.”
“Oh, I want to get you pregnant,” he agreed, leaning closer to her as well. “It’s the hours of torture I have to subject you to in order to give birth that I fear.”
She snickered. “Humans are designed to handle it, you know.”
“With modern technology, you are never going to have to. If you let me put a pup in your belly, I’m not letting you stray further than a single tree from our nest until it’s time for you to birth it, and then it will be straight to the healing center.”
She couldn’t smother her laughter this time. It was cute and adorable, how protective he was being over a perfectly natural biological process. And the laughter helped disguise the rush of heat between her legs at what he was saying.
Baby fever was real and powerful and evil.
But Viktor was so cute, she nearly squealed just at the memory of his squishy little face – no longer even alien after so long living among the domini.
Then, she realized what Havali had said.
Our nest.
Her head whipped around to stare at him, but he was answering a question that the current vote had put to him, and she couldn’t exactly interrupt. But he had said ‘our nest’.
The domini were indiscriminate about who they tried to breed with – largely.
Their low fertility rate meant that they were always trying.
They didn’t even have the concept of birth control because the idea was ludicrous when each pregnancy was a hard-fought battle you could only even attempt to win once a year.
But even if a pair conceived a child together, non-mated pairs did not share a nest.
The den was where an adassi built a nest, and the domin protected both.
But those terms were specifically for pairings that were mated.
A female pregnant by a male who was not her mate would still build a nest, but it would be protected by her guardian.
Likely, the sire wouldn’t even be allowed into the nestroom.
Yet, Havali had clearly said, ‘our nest’.
Scarlet’s heart was fluttering in her throat again, but this time her nervousness had nothing to do with the votes going on before her.
When her next opportunity to question him came up, she found she couldn’t force the words past her lips.
Had it just been a slip of the tongue? Did it mean something? Or was she just reading what she wanted into what was otherwise just harmless flirtation? Something sexy for the sake of being sexy? Like how she asked him to breed her last night, knowing it was impossible.
She wanted to know, but was too terrified to ask, and the result was silence.